Next wave september 2013

THE VOICE OF THE FIVEFOLD ROUNDTABLE | VOLUME 81 ISSUE 9 SEPTEMBER 2013

IN THIS ISSUE: THE POST APOSTOLIC CHURCH THE PROPHETS TRAINING MISTAKES OF PROPHETIC MINISTRY

others you will find yourself

THE NEXT WAVE www.icof.net PUBLISHER International Circle of Faith (ICOF)

THE POST APOOSTOLIC CHURCH David Tait

Saved From Suicide Lawrence Morin

The Next Wave - Contributing Editors David Tait, Lea Bates, Derrick Day, Bernie Wade, Robert Straube, Barney Philips, John Rogers, Doc Burkhart and others.

The Prophet’s Training and Maturation Process Robert Straube

Advertizing Inquiries

We’ve Lost Christianity Andrew Strom

For more information about advertising email administration@icof.net or call 502.410.4263

Editorial Submissions We welcome submissions and editorials. We

Who Is Jesus Christ E.N. Bell

The Measure of a Stone William Goins

assume no responsibility for the return of unsolicited submissions. Please send photos, articles, and documents to P.O. Box 72, Sulphur, KY 40070 Electronic submissions to: nextwave@icof.net

What is so Uncool About Cool Churches

Shem Kissed Ham Joel T. Barnaby

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RELIGITICS 2

men. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for

THE POST APOSTOLIC

the common good. 8 To one there is

CHURCH

given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of

By David Tait

knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines. (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

We have been able to follow the development of the early church

'Ministry' (meaning servanthood) was

through the writings recorded in the

regarded as a function, as a role, not a

Epistles. We have seen that informal

formal position, enabled by the Holy

groups of believers grew rapidly, relying

Spirit to train the people to do the work

upon the leading of the Holy Spirit, and

of the body of Christ - in unity!

the operation of spiritual gifts.....

11 It was he who gave some to be

4 There are different kinds of gifts, but

apostles, some to be prophets, some to

the same Spirit. 5 There are different

be evangelists, and some to be pastors

kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6

and teachers, 12 to prepare God's

There are different kinds of working, but

people for works of service, so that the

the same God works all of them in all

body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the 3

knowledge of the Son of God and

Dark Ages, through to today.

become mature, attaining to the whole

A summary of the traditional teaching,

measure of the fullness of Christ.

drawn from my book 'Eagles Fy High'

(Ephesians 4:11-13)

p41.

Traditional teaching (including mine),

100 AD Death of the last of the

has taught that the 'church' (we will

Apostles, John. Authority and unity of

look at its meaning and origin at a later

'apostleship' disappeared.

time), gradually lost these spiritual giftings and guidance, becoming fully formalized and organised through the

THE DECLINE OF THE CHURCH:

time Roman Emperor Constantine's conversion around 312AD, and the

130 AD - Laying on of hands becomes a

subsequent development of the formal

formal ritual.

Roman Catholic Church.

140 AD Ministry of the prophets vanishes.

150 AD Gifts of the Spirit are disappearing entirely.

160 AD Plurality of eldership fades away.

180 AD Local church autonomy diminishes as churches start to come under the control of Rome.

187 AD First infant baptism and sprinkling. Form over substance.

While, to a large extent, this was true for the majority of the church, we will

200 AD Ritual becoming the norm as the

see that the Lord always maintained a

church had form but had lost its power.

spiritual light amongst a portion of His

Water baptism in the name of the Lord

people, even during the spiritually dead

Jesus Christ denied, largely through

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Pope Stephen.

have followed the Holy Spirit led principles of the early church.

210 AD Doctrine of the priesthood of all

This has been a voyage of discovery for

believers rejected as a class of clerics

me, and I trust it will be for you too. We

developed.

will then be able to proclaim the truth of

225 AD Church membership became

our conclusion that, even during the

based on a creed rather than salvation.

darkest times of the church's history, .....

240 AD Holiness disappeared and worldliness infiltrated the church.

THE TRUE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS ARE ONES WHO ARE OBEDIENT TO

350 AD Roman Emperor Constantine

THE LEADING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

made Christianity the state religion.

IN THEIR LIVES.

Salvation by faith not required for membership, with many 'heathen' being forced to accept Christianity by the sword.

David Tait is the Editor-in-

380 AD Rome became the final authority

Chief of ICOF Publications.

in church matters.

He is the Editor of TGIF and other publications.‘

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNAV98bA

We will discover that there has always

qng

been a remnant who, to a large extent, 5

From the FIVEFOLD ROUNDTABLE TEACHING SERIES

In 1 Samuel 1:19 the Bible says that the Lord “remembered” Hannah. Zakar is the Hebrew word for remembered. It means to mark (so as to recognize), to imprint; thus it signifies a retaining in mind, so as to continually be mindful of that one, or thing. Zakar came to mean man because a father’s memory was passed on through his son. You would see the son and remember the father.

The Prophet’s Training and Maturation Process PART 2

By Apostle Robert Straube “And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli” (1 Samuel 1:25).

We learned that Hannah had been barren “for the Lord had shut up her womb.” Desperate for a child she went to Shiloh to the house of the Lord to pray earnestly to conceive a child.

While in prayer, she was encountered by Eli the priest who after hearing about her situation, gave her his priestly blessing. The story goes on to say that her husband Elkanah “knew” her or had intercourse with Hannah and she conceived. In the course of time a male child was born to her and she named him Samuel for she said “I have asked him of the Lord.” Samuels name means “heard of God,” implying that God heard her prayer and answered it.

So God was not going to let Hannah be without a male heir who would memorialize his parents. Both Elkanah and Hannah would be remembered throughout their generations and especially in biblical history because of the male child God gave them. And as you can see we are presently studying the lives of Hannah and her husband and especially the life of Samuel the prophet of God. Indeed, their names are forever contained in the Word of God. 6

Having been given this precious gift (Samuel) to her from God she nurses him and weans him for about a period of three years. She then returns to Shiloh with her husband to worship God, and to sacrifice and finally leave the child in the care of Eli the priest. Having been dedicated to God, Samuel was to be raised as a Nazarite and trained to serve in the Tabernacle. Hannah kept her vow and returned the gift that was given to her to the original source, even God.

The word “gifts” in verse eight is the Greek word doma and means “a present.” But to better understand what a doma is let me give you a definition I learned a few years ago. A doma is one who is a gift of Jesus, given as a gift to His body, who gives himself (his gifting) in love to the Lord’s body. Apostle Randy Shankle defined doma this way, “A doma is a gift made a gift of.”

As a budding or apprentice prophet you must decide early on to dedicate who and what you are to the Lord and to give yourself in the SERVICE of another as part of your training.

God has called you as a gift to His church, however, because of your immaturity and inexperience you need to be under the ministry of a seasoned gift to begin your training.

God is not going to give you as a gift to His body prematurely! Nor is He is concerned about how much time you spend in training. What concerns Him is that you go through His training process. When the time of your release comes you will be presented as a mature and fully equipped prophet of God. A sure sign of immaturity is trying to rush the process of God so that you can get on with your prophetic ministry. You must be just as concerned about your

“Wherefore it is said, He ascended on high, and took possession of heaven and gave good gifts to men. And he has assigned some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as pastors and some as teachers” (Ephesians 4:8,11).

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character development as God is. Don’t be foolish and abort the training process, otherwise you will lose out on being smeared with God’s anointing for the work to which you are called to.

the priest to serve him as he served the Lord in the tabernacle.

“And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel” (Numbers 8:19).

“And I, behold, I have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you (Aaron) they are given as a gift for the Lord, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation” (Numbers 18:6).

Just like the Levites, Samuel ministered unto the Lord under the oversight or under the supervision of a more mature ministry. If you are going to have a successful ministry in the future you must submit yourself and serve the leader God assigns to your life. You will have to be observed for a period of time. You must be proven and counted worthy of trust. Obviously, this will take some time. ARE YOU WILLING TO INVEST QUALITY TIME IN YOUR TRAINING PROCESS? Also, you can’t be touchy about someone watching over you and your work in the local church.

It’s going to happen. So get used to it.

ENTRUSTED TO A MINISTRY FATHER “And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli” (1 Samuel 1:25).

“And the child did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest” (1 Samuel 2:11).

“And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli” (1 Samuel 3:1).

The word before in the verses above means “under the supervision of.” Samuel began to grow both physically and spiritually. He had been given as a gift to serve Eli even as the Levites had been given to Aaron

I would like to define the word entrust in my subtitle above.

Entrust means “give as a responsibility, place in a persons care.” The disciple/trainee is 8

given to a ministry father by God not as a possession but because God is relying on the ministry father to carry out the responsibility of training a future minister. Once the process is completed God expects the mentor to release his trainee sometime in the future.

two. Paul is the first generation.

Timothy the second, faithful men the third generation, and others make up the fourth generation.

Paul never took possession or claimed ownership over Timothy’s life, he simply had a stewardship that involved nurturing the young man from where he was spiritually to the place where he came into his own as a ministry gift yet remaining connected by covenant to Paul his ministry father.

Theirs was a relationship born out of love for one another. No ministry father has the right to possess or control a ministry son. I’ve seen this happen on several occasions and it is completely out of order! All believers are the sole possession of the Lord Jesus Christ! We are simply under shepherds carrying out His orders to make disciples.

“Thou therefore my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:1-2).

God was aware of the spiritual condition of Eli and his sons.

Yet He allowed Hannah to entrust her son to a man whose house was going to be judged for their sins. Eli realized he had failed as a father. Often, I am sure, he had meditated on where he had failed and how if he ever got another chance what he would do differently in raising those boys. At some point, Eli was getting complaints about what his sons

Paul’s example is to be followed.

He trained Timothy and expected Timothy to do the same with those under his leadership. Then those trained

by Timothy were to continue the pattern and pass down what they have learned to those under their leadership. There are four generations of ministers mentioned in verse 9

were doing. He heard reports like, your sons are having sex with the women that were coming to worship at the tabernacle, they’re stealing the offerings and taking more then they should.

They were supposed to help Eli with the tabernacle service but instead they were in the ministry for what they could get out of it for themselves. Sounds familiar doesn’t it?

the word of the Lord. He knew by experience that he just couldn’t reverse all the evil that had been done by his sons. Look at his response when at his request Samuel tells him all that the Lord had spoken to him concerning the judgment that is to come to him and his sons. Eli says “It is the Lord’s will, let him do what he thinks best” (1Sam. 3:18).

Sure Eli had grown old and was lax in the oversight of his sons.

He had become somewhat carnal in his ministry. Yet, with all that was wrong with Eli, he was sensitive to the Lord and was open to His chastening. He was still pliable in the hands of his God. Let me explain.

In 1 Samuel 2:27-36 a prophet of the Lord came and prophesied to Eli concerning the conduct of his sons and the lack of his oversight over their ministry and lives.

The prophet prophesied judgment on his house and the death of his two sons was to take place on the same day. With all that not once did Eli resist the prophet of the Lord. Not once did he try and stop the prophet. Not once did he make an excuse for his lack of leadership. May I submit to you that Eli with all the mistakes he had made with his sons, with all his shortcomings, Eli loved God! He submitted to

Here is a ministry father that failed in disciplining his natural sons who were supposed to carry on his ministry after his death. They were supposed to become his ministry sons. But somewhere along the way, they lost reverence for God, the ministry, and their father. I am sure that Eli’s heart was broken more then once before his God. He should have past judgment on his sons. The verdict should have been death by stoning for their gross sins. But, I guess Eli just couldn’t do it. And so the scripture states that Eli had honored his sons more then honoring God! That was his 10

greatest sin, honoring the sons more then honoring God.

child to Eli. And she said, O my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there” (1 Samuel 1:2428).

According to all that we have been studying and reading about Eli up to this point, it sounds like there is no hope whatsoever for Eli. God is going to cut off his family from the priesthood, his sons are going to die, and he’s being judged for honoring his sons more then God. Is there any hope for this man? YES!

Notice the words “And he worshiped the Lord there.”

With all my heart I believe the “he” in this verse is describing Eli. Eli worshiped or prostrated himself right then and there. Eli didn’t know what Hannah was praying about several years earlier at their first meeting. He thought she was drunk when he spotted her moving her lips with indistinguishable sounds that were coming out of her mouth. When he confronted her, Hannah explained to him that she was in deep intercession which he mistook as being drunk. He had no idea what she was praying for. Now she returns to Shiloh to keep her vow to God and leave her son with the priest for a major part of his life. When Eli realized what was now being revealed to him and that this lady was leaving her son in his care, he was overwhelmed with gratitude and fell down flat faced on the ground and

I’ve got good news for you!

Samuel is his hope! Samuel is his second chance! Samuel is his future! Samuel will be his legacy! Amen!

“And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh: and the child was young. And they slew a bullock, and brought the 11

worshiped the Lord in Hannah’s presence.

“And the Lord called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again” (1 Samuel 3:6).

Here is what I believe was took place at that time. Eli thanked God for answering Hannah’s prayer. But he was also thanking God for the person that he now knew would take

“Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel my son; And he answered, Here am I” (1Samuel 3:16).

Samuel was not only an answer to Hannah’s barrenness, but to Eli’s barrenness as well.

Through Samuel Eli would bring forth lasting fruit that would remain. Israel would not be left without spiritual leadership. To father someone means to “bring them forth.” Eli did his job well in bringing forth an awesome prophet of God. He would also be remembered by Samuel’s life and ministry.

Because a father is “remembered” by his son!

his place in ministry, because his natural sons had disqualified themselves from officiating any longer as priests.

This was Eli’s chance to raise up a ministry son. Someone who would listen to his advice.

Someone who would appreciate his experience. Someone he can care for. Someone he can train and impart his life to. Someone that would be his lasting legacy.

Sure his natural house was going to be cut off from the priesthood. But now he had a chance to raise up one of the greatest prophets in Israel’s history. And Eli will father this prophet! He would have a spiritual son at last!

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Within the kingdom there are men and women of God that have failed in some area of their lives. Carnal men would discard them, count them out, consider them unworthy of ministry, but not God. God has a way of redeeming our failures to carry out his purposes.

These men and women understand what it means to be “crucified with Christ.” They live the Christ life daily. They’ve been trained, proven, examined and tested by the very hand of God. So, He is able to entrust them with young men and women who are the next generation of ministry gifts and who are in need of training.

Where would the apostle Peter be if God had not given him another chance to serve Him? Where would we be without the revelation of Christ that Peter had? Those who have failed have no place to boast of their greatness. They have been humbled by their experiences of failure. They know the severity of the chastening of the Lord.

They have personal knowledge of the grace and mercies of God. They are transparent having nothing to hide nor to keep back anything from those they will mentor into ministry. What spiritual treasure they have gathered from their experiences to impart to those that are willing to go through God’s training for ministry.

How does all this apply to the budding prophet? Get yourself in a local church. Be sure that God has set you there. Remain there and get involved in the work of the ministry. Help the man or woman of God with fulfilling their vision. In time you will be acknowledged and taken under their wing and 13

begin your training. If you are in a church where the pastor simply ignores you or he or she doesn’t involve themselves in fathering don’t rebel. Don’t take matters into your own hands.

Simply pray to your heavenly Father for a divine connection with a true ministry father.

The father that God assigns to your life may not have a large church, or drive a luxury car.

He may not wear fancy suits or even have hair. He may not even be a pastor or in the five-fold ministry. He may be young or old. Take heed to how you see!

“For he grew up before him like an infant and like a root out of the dry ground; he had no form nor comeliness; and when we saw that he had no beauty, we denied him. He is despised and humbled of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and we turned our faces away from him; we despised him and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:2-3).

Wait for the appointed time of God releasing you from your present circumstance then seek to be released the proper way by going through your local headship. In this day there is a great cry of sons that are seeking fathers. Fathers that would affirm them, equip them, love them and release them with their blessing. The fathers are out there in the kingdom but God must connect you to them.

As you know these two verses of scripture are describing Jesus the Christ. The religious people of his day were expecting that the Messiah would come as a conquering king and restoring

A word of CAUTION for you budding prophets. Be careful of any false perception of what a spiritual father may look like.

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Israel to its former glory. But this was not the case. The Messiah would come from Galilee and would be the son of a carpenter. He would walk the streets just like everybody else.

He was a regular old Joe, so they thought.

Finally, follow the biblical pattern of father/son (daughter) relationship. All ministry in the Bible was past down from father to child. This is God’s way of doing things in the kingdom and how He propagates the Kingdom. May God grace you to endure His training and maturation process.

Hidden within that human body was the Christ, the son of the living God, full of power and glory. And many times He demonstrated that power by casting out devils, healing the sick, feeding his followers supernaturally, and finally by raising Himself up from the dead. Many in Israel missed out on the day of their salvation simply because of misjudging Him because of what he looked like and who his parents were.

Your Servant, Apostle Robert Straube

To request the complete teaching email: administration@icof.net

Don’t you make the same mistake. Christ comes in all colors, sizes and gender. Too many people look outwardly rather then inwardly. The Christ is contained within an earthen vessel (2 Cor. 4:7). And sometimes the vessel is externally uncomely/ unattractive!

Dr. Robert Straube serves as President of ICOF CSU. He is a member of the US National Fivefold Roundtable and President of Rock of Zion Ministries.

Don’t miss out on what’s contained on the inside of a ministry father because you are more concerned about carnal things such as size of a congregation, or a famous name, etc.

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in my soul by a brand-new vision of Jesus and the wonders hid in His mighty and glorious name, they would cease pitying me for being baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and begin to shout and help me praise the Lamb that was slain, who is now beginning to receive some honor and praise, but who will eventually make the whole universe - sea, earth, and sky reverberate with universal praise and honor to His forever and ever!

Who Is Jesus Christ?

By: Rev. Eudorus N. Bell (1915)

The lost Christ being rediscovered as the Jehovah of the Old Testament and the true God of the New. A realization of Christ as the Mighty God being received.

Jesus is Jehovah Isaiah 40:3 says, "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord (Jehovah), make straight in the desert a highway for our God."

I want to thank God today for the discussion of water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ because it has proven the means of discovering to me a mightier Christ than I ever realized before. The water baptism issue in the name of Christ, taken alone, would be comparatively a small and tame matter.

Just so, it at first seemed to me and to many others, and seems to some still, because they have not seen what is involved in it and do not have the full apostolic vision of Jesus Christ as Lord or Jehovah. The baptismal issue is only one cog in the wheel that will roll out and up to your bewildered and joyful vision the most glorious Christ you ever beheld if you will let it by beginning to walk in the light by obeying Him.

This prophecy of "Jehovah, our God" was quoted by John as concerning as concerning Jesus, for john says in Matthew 3:3, he was only "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare yr the way of the Lord, make his paths straight." So Jesus was the Lord or Jehovah whose way John was preparing.

I can say today, before God and all men that His joy is rolling in my soul now as never before. As I write, His glory convulses my whole physical frame, and I have to stop now and then and say, "Glory," or "Oh, Glory" to let some of it escape. Night before last, as I lay on my bed, I heard in the Spirit the sweetest, most soul-thrilling song on the wonderful name of Jesus I ever heard since I was born. If people knew what God is putting

He is Lord, or Jehovah, of glory (Psalms 24:7, 10 with I Corinthians 2:8 and James 2:1).

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He is the Lord (Jehovah) our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5, 6 with I Corinthians 1:30).

they shall be changed: but thou are the same, and thy years shall not fail." So Jesus is the enduring Creator.

He is Jehovah above all (Psalms 97:9 with John 3:31). (Remember this Old Testament word Lord means Jehovah, for so it reads in the Hebrew.)

He is Jehovah, the first and the last (Isaiah 44:6 with Revelation 1:17; Isaiah 48:12-16 with Revelation 22:13).

He is Jehovah of hosts (Isaiah 6:1-3 with John 12"41 and Isaiah 8:13 with I Peter 2:8).

He is Eternal God and Creator Psalms 102:24-27 says, "I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou are the same, and thy the same, and thy years shall have no end."

He is the Mighty God In Isaiah 9:6, 7 it is said concerning Jesus, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a child is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called wonderful, counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting father, The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."

Now, note how the inspired writer quotes this of God the Creator and applies it to Jesus the Son in Hebrews 1:8, 10:12: "But unto the son he saith, Thy throne, O God (note Son is called God), is forever and ever... And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and

He is the Wonderful Counselor in whom is hid all the wisdom and counsel of God. He is the mighty God. He will break in pieces all the kingdoms of the earth soon and reign over them as king forever.

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We note that the New Testament also recognizes Him as the Almighty.

Revelation 1:7, 8 says, "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him: Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." Have you recognized Jesus as the Almighty? What could be plainer

applied, by inspiration, to Jesus. He is God with us. The apostle says again, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Him." In I Timothy 3:16 he says, "Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh...believed on in the world, received up into glory." No wonder he called it a mystery, for who is able to understand it? But inspiration declares that Jesus was God manifest in the flesh.

He is Lord of Lords In the Old Testament it is said of Jehovah God that he is God of gods, and Lord of lords. (See Deuteronomy 10:17.) But the New Testament quotes these passages and declares this of Jesus. (See Revelation 1:5; 17:14, and I Timothy 6:14, 15.)

He is the Lord (Jehovah) from heaven (I Corinthians 15:47).

He is Lord of all (Acts 10:36 and Romans 10:11-13).

Jesus is the True God

He is One with the Father

Jeremiah 10:10 says, "But the Lord (Jehovah) is the true God, he is the living God..."

Jesus declares not only that the Father is in Him and one with Him but even that whosoever hath seen Him hath seen the Father (John 10:30, 38; 12:44-45; 14:710: 17:10).

Note in I John 5:20 that the same is said of the Son: "And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God..." What a wonder!

He also sends the Spirit equally with the Father (John 1`4:16 and 15:26).

He is entitled to equal honor with the Father (John 5:23).

He is Emmanuel - God With Us

He is called the everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6).

In Isaiah 7:14 the child to be born was to be called "Immanuel," which means "God with us." In Matthew 1:23 this is 20

Whosoever has the Son, has the Father (I John 2:24, also 4:15).

theological seminary at the University of Chicago, and at the end of the study the student was asked if he understood the trinity any better after his course of study on it than before. Without hesitation, he frankly answered, "Not a bit." So don't let anyone make you go into hysterics over the mysteries of the trinity being neglected while we are exalting Jesus Christ. I never knew of anyone's being saved by a study of the trinity, but exalting Jesus the Christ as the Mighty Lord, able to save unto the uttermost, will bring this great salvation to thousands of thousands.

Christ is owner of all things equally with the Father (John 16:15).

Christ is Creator of all things (Isaiah 40:28; John 1:3; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:2).

Trinity or Godhead, all in Christ The inspired apostle Paul says in Colossians 2:9, "For in him (Christ) dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily."

Now, it is a wonder how He could be God, or God could dwell in Him. It is more a wonder that the whole "Godhead" dwells in Him. It is still a greater wonder that the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him; and a wonder of wonders how all the fullness of the Godhead is in Jesus, but all this is declared of our glorious Christ.

Don't be afraid the Father and the Holy Ghost will be left out. We all believe in God the Father and in the blessed Holy Ghost. We expect to continue to speak of both, just as the apostles do in the New Testament, whenever occasion demands it and when that is our subject; but just now our subject is the wonders in Christ.

No man can come to God except through Jesus, and he who has the Christ or Son has the Father also. They are inseparable. You can't get Christ without getting God the Father also, even if you want to. God gives Himself only in the Son. Also, whosoever gets Christ in His fullness gets the Holy Ghost also. Jesus said, "At that day (when ye are baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost) ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you" (John 14:20). How can they both come unto us? Only through Christ in the Spirit. How can they make their abode

It is unreasonable, when magnifying Jesus as Lord, to expect us to stop and mystify our readers with the Greek mysteries about the trinity. Anyway, few, even after years of study on the trinity, know much more about it than when they began. I saw it tried when I was in 21

or dwelling with us? Only through Christ in the Spirit.

name) which is above every name; That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord..." (Philippians 2:911). What higher name could God give Him than His own name of Lord or Jehovah? Is this name not truly above every name? He not only "gave" Him this name of Lord, He has actually "made" Him Lord, yea more, all must confess that He "is" Lord. So He is now the Lord Jesus, or the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us all confess it now. He is "the Lord from heaven" (I Corinthians 15:47).

Father's Name Given Jesus There was a mysterious angel, called the angel of the Lord (See Exodus 3:214; 3:14-19; 23:20, 21), that went before the camp of Israel. This was none other than Christ the Lord - Jehovah in angelic form. God warned Moses to obey this angel, saying, "My name is in him" (Exodus 23:21). God the Father has put His name in Christ, or given Him His own name. What is the father's name?

In Isaiah 42:8, God answers, "I am the Lord: that is my name..." Now, has God the Father really given this, His own name of Lord, to Jesus? This is the very thing Peter preached on the day of Pentecost for his hearers to "know assuredly" that Jesus was made "both Lord and Christ." (Acts 2:36). Israel had rejected him as Lord or Jehovah, and this was the very thing they must now accept to be saved. Not only has the Father given Jesus His name of Lord, but He has decreed that all men must acknowledge that He is the Lord. So we might as well do it now.

"Now the Lord is that Spirit..." also (II Corinthians 3:17). So the whole Godhead, in all its fullness, is in Jesus.

Hence baptism in the name of Jesus was the apostolic custom everywhere.

The Real Vision of Jesus Lost The apostles started the church out right with the vision of Jesus as "the Lord from heaven." When Jesus commanded to baptize "in the name of the Father, and of the Son..." they understood what the father's name was, for Isaiah had told them it was Lord (42:8), and Jesus had opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). Knowing also that god was a Spirit (John 4:24), and that the Lord was the spirit (II Corinthians 3:17), they could completely obey the command of Jesus by commanding baptism merely "in the name of the Lord Jesus," as Peter did in Acts 10:48, or in

Paul says, "Wherefore god also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name (note the father has given him this 22

the name of the Lord Jesus, as under Paul in Acts 19:5.

Recognizing that the whole Godhead was always present in Jesus, the apostles baptized either in part or all in His name; sometimes Jesus Christ, at other times, Lord, or Lord Jesus. (See Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5.) But there was never a hint, from their first sermon at Pentecost to the death of the last apostle, that they understood Jesus to mean to use the phrase as in Matthew 28:19 rather than the name. But when the church lost the secret of this name, it began to fall into liberalism and formalism, without understanding the true meaning and intent of the forms they were using. Now God is restoring the spiritual vision of the mighty Jehovah-Christ, the wonders in His name, and Christ is becoming daily larger and more glorious to our vision.

The terms "father and son" express only relationship, that of father to son and of son to father. While all understand, when these terms are applied to God and Christ, exactly to whom they refer, yet they are not strictly names at all. I can say, in all sincerity, that I do not now believe Christ ever meant to baptize with the phrase "Father and Son and Holy Ghost" at all. We had used it that way so long, at first is seemed to me absurd that we should do anything else. but now that I have received the real vision of Christ as the Lord; that Lord is the Father's name, as Isaiah declares, and the name also of Christ; I wonder that I was ever so blind as to not see Christ’s meaning in Matthew 28:19. All may baptize with the phrase in Matthew 28:19 who feel so led, and I will love and fellowship them just the same; but personally, with my present light, I could not conscientiously do so any more. I prefer to use the real name common to both father and son, as the Lord commanded me to baptize in "the name," not in al relationship phrase which is no proper name at all. Lord, help the dear brethren to see that father, and son are, by no means, proper names.

Oh, thank God forever for it. Well, we must stop, but we have only just started into this great subject of who Jesus Christ is.

Rev. E.N. Bell was the First Superintendent of the Assemblies of God (circa 1914).

"If the Lord tarries, there may yet be a grass-roots awakening that will overflow all sectarian barriers. There are a host of good people... who long for a visitation from heaven in old-time power. The kindling wood is scattered all round in all the churches. May God help us to rake off the ashes, uncover the live coals and may He blow upon us with the breath of His Spirit!"

-Vance Havner

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Today I have the sense that we are at the same place in the church. The church may look healthy on the outside, but it has swallowed the fatal pills. The evidence is stacking up: the church is dying and, for the most part, we are refusing the diagnosis.

What’s so uncool about cool churches?

Unintended Consequences: How the “relevant” church and segregating youth is killing Christianity.

What evidence? Take a gander at these two shocking items:

I recently spent six-months doing a rotation as a hospital chaplain. One day I received a page (Yes, hospitals actually still use pagers). Chaplains are generally called to the rooms of people who look ill: People gray with kidney disease, or yellow with liver failure, discouraged amputees, nervous cancer patients. In this room, however, was a strikingly attractive 23 yearold young lady sitting up cheerfully in the hospital bed, holding her infant daughter and chatting with family and friends.

1. 20-30 year olds attend church at 1/2 the rate of their parents and ¼ the rate of their grandparents. Think about the implication for those of us in youth ministry: Thousands of us have invested our lives in reproducing faith in the next generation and the group we were tasked with reaching left the church when they left us.

2. 61% of churched high school students graduate and never go back! (Time Magazine, 2009) Even worse: 78% to 88% of those in youth programs today will leave church, most to never return. (Lifeway, 2010) Please read those last two statistics again. Ask yourself why attending a church with nothing seems to be more effective at retaining youth than our youth programs.

Confused, I stepped outside and asked her nurse, “Why did I get paged to her room?”

“Oh, she looks fabulous. She also feels great and is asking to go home,” the nurse said. “…And you are calling me because?” I asked in confusion.

The nurse looked me directly in the eye and said: “Because we will be disconnecting her from life support in three days and you will be doing her funeral in four.”

We look at our youth group now and we feel good. But the youth group of today is the church of tomorrow, and study after study after study suggests that what we are building for the future is…

The young lady had taken too much Tylenol.

She looked and acted fine. She even felt fine, but she was in full-blown liver failure. She was dying and couldn’t bring herself to accept the diagnosis.

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something “attractive” and “relevant” we embraced novel new methods in youth ministry, that 20 years later are having a powerful shaping effect on the entire church. Here are the marks of being market-driven; Which are hallmarks of your ministry?

1. Segregation. We bought into the idea that youth should be segregated from the family and the rest of the church. It started with youth rooms, and then we moved to “youth services.” We ghettoized our children! (After all, we are cooler than the older people in “big church”. And parents? Who wants their parents in their youth group?) Be honest: Have you ever thought you know more than your your student’s parents? Have you ever thought your youth group was cooler than “big church”?

…empty churches.

We build big groups and count “decisions for Christ,” but the Great Commission is not to get kids to make decisions for Jesus but to make disciples for Him. We all want to make Christians for life, not just for high school. We have invested heavily in youth ministry with our lives specifically in order engage youth in the church. Why do we have such a low return on our investment?

What are we doing in our Youth Ministries that might be making people less likely to attend church as an adult?

2. Big = effective. Big is (by definition) program driven: Less personal, lower commitment; a cultural and social thing as much as a spiritual thing. Are those the values that we actually hold?

What is the “pill” we have overdosed on? I believe it is “preference.” We have embraced the idea of market-driven youth ministry. Unfortunately, giving people what they “prefer” is a road, that once you go down it, has no end. Tim Elmore in his 2010 book entitled Generation iY calls this “the overindulged Generation.” They ask for more and more, and we give it to them. And more and more the power of God is substituted for market-driven experience. In an effort to give people

3. More programs attended = stronger disciples. The inventers of this idea, Willow Creek, in suburban Chicago, publically repudiated this several years ago. They discovered that there was no correlation between the number of meetings attended

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and people’s spiritual maturity. They learned the lesson. Will we?

8. Attractional over missional. When our greatest value is butts in pews we embrace attractional models. Rather than embrace Paul’s Ephesians 4 model in which ministry gifts are given by God to “equip the saints” we have developed a top-down hierarchy aimed at filling buildings. This leaves us with Sunday “church” an experience for the unchurched, with God-centered worship of the Almighty relegated to the periphery and leading of the body of Christ to greater spiritual power and sanctification to untrained small group leaders.

4. Christian replacementism. We developed a Christian version of everything the world offers: Christian bands, novels, schools, soccer leagues, t-shirts. We created the perfect Christian bubble.

5. Cultural “relevance” over transformation.We imitated our culture’s most successful gathering places in an effort to be “relevant.”

Reflect on the Sunday “experience” at most Big-box churches:

Does not all of this work together as a package to leave us with churches full of emptypeople?

A. Concert hall (worship) B. Comedy club (sermon) C. Coffee house (foyer) And what about Transformation? Is that not missing from these models? Where is a sense of the holy?

6. Professionalization. If we do know an unbeliever, we don’t need to share Christ with them, we have pastors to do that.

We invite them to something… to an “inviter” event… weinvite them to our “Christian” subculture.

7. “McDonald’s-ization” vs.

Contextualization: It is no longer our own vision and passion. We purchase it as a package from today’s biggest going megachurch. It is almost like a “franchise fee” from Saddleback or The Resurgence.

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ICOF members have united over 50,000 ministers representing more than 25 Million constituents, several hundred colleges, universities and other Christian schools, orphanages & feeding programs, humanitarian aid organizations, chaplains and other charities.

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Rights (and the violation of the same) and trying to get someone to agree with our point of view, we have missed the mission of those who follow Jesus. Instead of doing what we are supposed to do we placed false hope on a jury to fix the problem. Shame on all of us! The jury could never fix the problem. Haven’t we learned anything from past situations like these! There are still people fussing about the O. J. Simpson trial and the Lacrosse team from a few years ago. Juries are human! Some even think the jury fixed the problem, but they didn’t. Others think that they got it all wrong and a different verdict would have fixed the problem, but it would not have! The problem is MUCH deeper than a jury or subsequent verdict will ever fix.

FATHER FORGIVE THEM By: Bernie L. Wade

For those who haven’t been living in a cave, Americans have been embroiled in a debate about the death of a 17 year boy and the related events. The rhetoric surrounding the topic has focused us on blaming everyone but ourselves. Some want to blame the captain of the neighborhood watch (who certainly is culpable), some want to blame the dead boy (who we understand was a troubled youth from a broken family) others want to blame the Prosecutor, the defense attorneys, the government or anyone who can absorb blame.

I understand this; a young man is dead and we want answers! Some even want justice. Others just want someone to pay; guilty or not! Just someone has to pay!

None of us are looking in the mirror. What about us? Why don’t we blame ourselves?

Some reading this will say, “Are you serious? I did nothing.” Yes, I am serious! Yes, you are correct; you did NOTHING (neither did I)!

While we all are busy blaming everyone, screaming about our rights, his rights, their

What is lost amid the straw men of race and guns offered by some (this was never really about neither) is that our culture is fracture at

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its very core. Instead of focusing on how we might work together we are focused on the blame. There is plenty of blame to go around.

I have been disappointed by the response of people in general (some going so far as to call God a white racist; as though white people have a special connection to the one true God) but more so I am disturbed by the response of those claiming Christ. Frankly, I am afraid of many of them! Really? Yes, really. Those born in the Spirit are trying to resolve these things in the flesh. I have read self proclaimed “Christian” leaders encouraging people to riot!

And people are listening. Racial clashes have found new life in our country.

facts) that would like me to believe whatever slant they have; and trust me there is a slant for everyone who wants one.

Today, after consultation with some of my trusted advisors I felt compelled to write on this subject. Yes, I fully realize that some of my thousands of ‘friends’ on Facebook may unfriend me because I dared to raise my voice.

That is ok. Father, forgive them.

What I asked the Lord is, “How would You respond to this situation”.

The clarion answer was, “I already did.”

Really?

YES Uh, How? FATHER, FORGIVE THEM; THEY DON’T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING! What about my rights Lord? What about the blame? What about my insecurities? What about those who are racist against Hispanics?

What about those who are racists against blacks? What about those who are racist?

What about all of those who are ratcheting up the rhetoric to fan the flame of racism to make us all feel less secure? What about those who would use this as a political format to advance their particular agenda?

I have read people respond that the defendant in the trial did not deserve fair treatment or justice! I thought, ‘you can’t be serous’. Yet, they are serious. Decades of civil rights progress are being trampled in their wake leaving no thought to the outcome of a society that denies the accused the right to fair and equal treatment, but offers the same only to those they feel deserving.

FATHER FORGIVE THEM Ok. I understand. But what about doing something? Should I contact my Congressman, the mayor, the Pope?

PRAY FOR THOSE WHO DESPITEFULLY USE YOU AND SAL ALL MANNER OF EVIL AGAINST YOU!

Like nearly all of us, I don’t know the details. All I have to observe is a MEDIA CIRCUS (with neither side being honest about the all the 30

Really? Ok, but what can I do. I need to do something.

IF MY PEOPLE WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME WILL HUMBLE THEMSELVES AND PRAY, THEN I WILL HEAR FROM HEAVEN. I WILL HEAL THEIR LAND. THEY WILL BE MY PEOPLE AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD.

DO GOOD TO THEM Oh, come now. Do good to racists? Liberals?

Conservatives? Democrats? Republicans?

YES, THAT HAS BEEN MY GOSPEL FOR SOME 2000 YEARS (Deep breath, pause to reflect) Thank you Lord. I have lots of work to do in these areas, but I will work on it.

GREAT WILL BE YOUR REWARD IN HEAVEN Really!? There is a reward! Wow! Not bad, if I can just learn to do that and to help others do the same.

SATAN KNOWS HOW TO PUSH YOUR BUTTONS. DO NOT FALL TO HIS DEVISES. HE IS THE ACUSER. HE IS THE DECIEVER. MEN’S HEARTS ARE ON EVIL. DO NOT BE AFRAID. I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.

In His grace, Bernie L. Wade President - International Circle of Faith

(Thank you Lord)

http://www.icof.net

The bottom line is that we are here to do the ministry of Jesus Christ; the ministry that He began on earth. Satan loves division. He is focused on getting all of us to fuss and fight with each other but he is never interested in us praying for each other. Never would Satan want us to pray for those who misuse us, or do evil to us. Next time someone tries to use your emotions to manipulate you toward a fleshly response to a serious issue… Pray for them!

Encourage others to pray and ask God to give us peace and righteousness.

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before. He was weeping and felt like fire was burning in and out of his body. He could hardly speak his regular language for several weeks. He was set free from sin, alcohol, drug addiction and cigarettes that night and never did any of them ever again.

SAVED FROM SUICIDE

On September 21, 1981 a depressed 21 year old man prepared to commit suicide in a rundown rooming house at 142 Elliot Row in Saint John, in the province of New Brunswick, one of the Maritime Provinces in Canada. He had a rope with which to hang himself from a bracket in the ceiling. He was ready to get on the chair to do it when someone knocked at his door. He opened the door to a man with a beard who said, "Would you come with me to a prayer meeting tonight?"

Startled by the timing of the invitation, he agreed to go. All along he was thinking in his heart "I’ll see if God is real, otherwise I'll kill myself when I come back."

On March 21, 1982 he was baptized in Jesus’ name in the Lily Lake duck pond.

He was so full of joy and the presence of God that he fell back splashing into the cold water.

Later he became a preacher. His name is Lawrence Morin. Today he is the pastor of the Lighthouse of Faith in Saint John, NB.

He went to the house, a Pastors home.

There were about six people kneeling in the living room praying. The young man stood in the middle of the room and without even opening his mouth said, "Please God, if you are really real please help me and show me tonight that you are real and I will serve you the rest of my entire life."

He was ready for suicide without something tangible. All of a sudden a mighty rushing wind and invisible supernatural fire fell on the young man and even went into his body like 500,000 volts. He began to speak in heavenly languages he never knew 32

WE’VE LOST CHRISTIANITY

the "comfortable" suburbs. We left it behind when we stopped welcoming the bums off the street into our meetings and started welcoming only the "respectable" people. We left it behind when we stopped preaching "take up your cross" and turned the gospel into a success formula `Seven Steps to your Best Life Now.´

by Andrew Strom

Somewhere in our comfortable suburban streetscape with its manicured lawns we lost the real thing. Somehow in our concern for "property values" and a better `dental plan´ we left it behind.

Despite the thousands in our mega churches today, soaking up the warm entertainment offered to them every week, I want to put it to you that we have lost Christianity.

Despite the Christian books now found in every Wal-Mart, and the "crossover" of Christian artists into the mainstream, and our Christian mega-stores and CD´s and DVD´s and Study-Bibles, I want to put it to you that we have lost Christianity.

But that is not the worst part of it. The worst part is that we don´t know how to get it back again. Or perhaps we don´t really WANT to get it back again. The cost simply doesn´t bear thinking about, does it? And so, as we drive around in our nice shiny cars with our groovy plastic toys, and attend "church" as we know it twice a week for 2 hours;- As we live a life that is about as unlike Jesus as you can get, a life of comfort and coddling undreamt of by billions around the world;- a lifestyle in the top 10%

Despite our lavish Cathedrals in the suburbs (`Charismatic or not) with their pastel hues and comfortable pews, their projector screens and $30,000 sound systems, I want to put it to you that we have utterly lost Christianity.

We left it behind somewhere when we shifted our churches from the inner city into 33

of the earth today (-in debt up to our eyeballs all the while) - the fact is that we don´t really CARE that we have lost original Christianity, do we? We are too busy, man.

Don´t bother us with that kind of talk.

LET ME TELL YOU WHO JESUS IS:

It will all be OK, the preacher tells us. We will all make it to heaven in the end. We are all "decent" people here. We have "prayed the little prayer". We have `given our heart to the Lord´.

Let me tell you who Jesus is in every book of the Bible.  In Genesis He is the Seed of the Woman.  In Exodus He is the Passover Lamb.  In Leviticus He is our High Priest.  In Numbers He is the Pillar of Cloud by day and the Pillar of Fire by night.  In Deuteronomy He is the Prophet like unto Moses.  In Joshua He is the Captain of our Salvation.  In Judges He is our Judge and Lawgiver.  In Ruth He is our Kinsman Redeemer.  In I and II Samuel He is our Trusted Prophet.  In Kings and Chronicles He is our Reigning King.  In Ezra He is our Faithful Scribe.  In Nehemiah He is the Rebuilder of the Broken down Walls of our human life.  In Esther He is our Mordecai.  In Job He is our Dayspring from on high and our Ever-Living Redeemer.  In Psalms He is the Lord our Shepherd.  In Proverbs and Ecclesiastes He is our Wisdom.  In the Song of Solomon He is our Lover and the Bridegroom.

But what is this? What is that thundering voice I hear? "DEPART FROM ME." `But LORD... But LORD....´ "I said - `DEPART FROM ME´. Don´t call me Lord. You never truly lived like I was your Lord and you know it. For I was hungry and you gave me no food; I was thirsty and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take me in; naked, and you did not clothe me; sick and in prison, and you did not visit me...."

What is the essence of true Christianity that we have lost, my friends? It is simply described by James as follows- "Pure religion and undefiled is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." (Ja 1:27).

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 In Isaiah He is the Prince of Peace.  In Jeremiah He is the Righteous Branch.  In Lamentations He is the Weeping Prophet.  In Ezekiel He is the Wonderful Four-Faced Man.  In Daniel He is the Fourth Man in the burning fiery furnace.  In Hosea He is the Faithful Husband, forever married to the backslider.  In Joel He is the Baptizer with the Holy Ghost and Fire.  In Amos He is our BurdenBearer.  In Obadiah He is the Mighty to Save.  In Jonah He is our Great Foreign Missionary.  In Micah He is the Messenger of Beautiful Feet, of carrying the Gospel.  In Nahum He is the Avenger of God's Elect.  In Habakkuk He is God's Evangelist, crying, "Revive thy work in the midst of the years."  In Zephaniah He is the Savior.  In Haggai He is the Restorer of God's Lost Heritage.  In Zechariah He is the Fountain Opened in the House of David for sin and uncleanness.  And in Malachi He is the Sun of Righteousness, rising with healing in His wings.

In Corinthians He is the Gifs of the Spirit.

In Galatians He is the Redeemer from the curse of the law.

In Ephesians He is the Christ on Unreachable Riches.

In Philippians He is the God Who Supplies All Our Needs.

In Colossians He is the Godhead Bodily.

In I and II Thessalonians He is our Soon-coming King.

In I and II Timothy He is our Mediator between God and Man. In Titus He is our Faithful Pastor.

In Philemon He is a Friend that sticketh closer that a Brother.

In Hebrews He is the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant.

In James He is the Great Physician.

In I and II Peter He is the Chief Shepherd who soon shall appear with a crown of unfading glory.

In I, II, and III John He is Everlasting Love.

In Jude He is the Lord Coming with Ten Thousands of his Saints.

And in Revelation He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

In Matthew He is the Messiah.

In Mark He is the Wonder-worker.

In Luke He is the Son of Man. In John He is the son of God. In Acts He is the Holy Spirit.

In Romans He is our Justifier.

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it can’t be too thick else it won’t match up with the rest of the stones. If the stones thickness is good I have to look a little harder to make sure the texture is right. The stone needs to be smooth and clean of fossil holes and cracks. My brother rejected a couple of rocks as they were riddled with holes from ancient fossils long gone. He explained that once the rocks heated up from the fire that those holes would create cracks and weaknesses in the rocks.

The Measure of A Stone Pastor William Goins

As I toss one rock aside and another ashore to be used for the grill I began to wonder what if I am the rock and God is the one searching?

First God searches for the rock that is the right size and shape; Does he have his life together? Are his bills paid, is he faithful to his wife and his children, does he honor and seek to obey God? Next God checks for the width of the rock; Is the man Shallow in his faith? Does he read the scriptures, does he pray, does he seek after God I was outside working on a project the other day, building a grill out of stone for Labor Day picnic. My job was to search out and find the stones that were going to be used for the walls of the grill out of the creek behind my yard. During this menial task I began to think about the measure of the stones I was looking for.

Finally God checks the rock for blemishes, will he crack under the fires that the project calls for? Is the man flawed; stuck on one dogma or legalistic view? Does he allow his flesh to overcome him?

One thing that I found during my stone sorting was that sometimes the rocks with the fossil had been worn down from years of water rushing over them. Smoothing out the imperfections of stone and leaving behind a rock that was acceptable to be used in my project. If God is the sorter and I am the rock then the water that smoothes out the

Each stone needed to be a certain general size and shape in order to be used in my project, if the stone passed that I look a little harder to see the width of the stone. It can’t be too thin else it breaks under pressure and 37

USA

imperfections of my soul could only be the Holy Ghost.

My question to you is if you are the rock that God is measuring for his project how will you measure up? Do you have your life together? Is your life in order? Are your faith and your walk with God shallow?

Finally how many blemishes do you have left? Do you have the Holy Ghost in your life who has worked on the imperfections of your flesh to keep you from cracking under the fires of the project God wants to use you for?

LIFE CHURCH OF KENTUCKY Report by Matthew DeSurne

The men and women of the Wade-GoinsWilloughby-DeSurne-Hersley Family, stood courageously before each other, and before God and made their Resolutions to be men and women of courage. The men made a stand to lead their families as a Father should and the women made resolutions to stand beside their husbands as God tells it in the Bible.

Pastor William Goins serves on the Ohio Valley Fivefold Roundtable. He is part of the Fivefold ministry team that serves the Royal Priesthood through the ministry of Life Church of Kentucky

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RESOLUTION I do solemnly resolve before God to take full responsibility for myself, my wife, and my children.

•I WILL love them, protect them, serve them, and teach them the Word of God as the spiritual leader of my home.

•I WILL be faithful to my wife, to love and honor her, and be wiling to lay down my life for her as Jesus Christ did for me.

•I WILL bless my children and teach them to love God with all of their hearts, all of their minds, and all of their strength.

•I WILL teach them to honor authority and live responsibly.

•I WILL confront evil, pursue justice, and love mercy.

•I WILL pray for others and treat them with kindness, respect, and compassion.

•I WILL work diligently to provide for the needs of my family.

•I WILL forgive those who have wronged me and reconcile with those I have wronged.

•I WILL learn from my mistakes, repent of my sins, and walk with integrity as a man answerable to God. •I WILL seek to honor God, be faithful to His church, obey His Word, and do His will.

I WILL courageously work with the strength God provides to fulfill this resolution for the rest of my life and for His glory. ___________________________ _______________ As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. – Joshua 24:15 40

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(who were in on this) and paused for a moment... then he recited-

THE HOMELESS PREACHER -Author Unknown

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'

Pastor Jeremiah Steepek transformed himself into a homeless person and went to the 10,000 member church that he was to be introduced as the head pastor at that morning. He walked around his soonto-be church for 30 minutes while it was filling with people for service....only 3 people out of the 7 - 10,000 people said hello to him.

He asked people for change to buy food...

NO ONE in the church gave him change. He went into the sanctuary to sit down in the front of the church and was asked by the ushers if he would please sit in the back. He greeted people to be greeted back with stares and dirty looks, with people looking down on him and judging him.

After he recited this, he looked towards the congregation and told them all what he had experienced that morning... many began to cry and many heads were bowed in shame.... he then said....Today I see a gathering of people.... not a church of Jesus Christ. The world has enough people, but not enough disciples... when will YOU decide to become disciples?

He then dismissed service until next week...

Being a Christian is more than something you claim. It’s something you live by and share with others...

As he sat in the back of the church, he listened to the church announcements and such. When all that was done, the elders went up and were excited to introduce the new pastor of the church to the congregation...... "We would like to introduce to you Pastor Jeremiah Steepek"... The congregation looked around clapping with joy and anticipation... The homeless man sitting in the back stood up... and started walking down the aisle... the clapping stopped with ALL eyes on him... he walked up the altar and took the microphone from the elders

http://www.icof.net 42

NO More SPINELESS CHRISTIANITY!!

because it´s too negative. And we all know that the latest polls show people want a positive message.

By J. Lee Grady

This temptation to dilute the gospel has produced a new recipe for a trendy sermon.

We start with some great motivational speaking ("Your past does not define your future!"), add a few quarts of cheap grace ("Don´t focus on your sin!"), pour in some prosperity gospel ("Run to this altar and grab your financial breakthrough!"), flavor it with some trendy pop psychology ("It´s all about you!") and voila!-you end up with a goopy mess of pabulum that not even a baby Christian could survive on.

I´ve often wondered how the apostle Paul would view our "positive" American gospel.

Just before he was martyred, Paul gave his spiritual son Timothy clear instructions on how to keep his message on track. He said, "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction" (2 Tim. 4:2, NASB).

The apostle Paul not only confronted sin but named specific sins when he preached.

Why can´t we?

People often complain about angry preachers. I don´t like them either, and I agree that if a person mixes a sermon with hateful language (or if he believes God has called him to picket other churches), he´s in the wrong profession. Yet today we´ve jumped to the opposite extreme. Now we are afraid to confront sin.

We´ve rewritten Paul´s words today. Our rule is, "Preach what the people want to hear! Avoid controversy! Stroke, soothe and pacify the people so they will come back next week!"

Is it any wonder that this lowprotein spiritual diet has produced an anemic church?

We can´t preach about materialism because we might offend rich people in the audience-as well as the poor people who buy Lotto tickets every week. We can´t preach about fornication because there are people in the church who are living together. We can´t preach about domestic violence because there are deacons who sometimes hit their wives. We can´t preach about homosexuality because our culture says it´s hateful to call that a sin.

Paul´s preaching in the first century was unquestionably confrontational. He didn´t hold back from

And the list goes on. In fact, some preachers are avoiding the word sin altogether 43

addressing sin, nor was he afraid to call sin what it is. Paul knew that a spineless Christianity would produce spineless Christians. He told Timothy that biblical preaching would require three brave verbs:

healing.

Paul was also not afraid to name sins. I recently did a survey of all of Paul´s epistles to see how he addressed sexual immorality.

I discovered that he confronted sexual sin head-on in 10 of his 13 epistles. He boldly called out adultery, fornication, sensuality and homosexuality in a culture that was saturated in hedonism.

Reprove. The Greek word here, elegcho, means "to convict, admonish or expose" or "to show one his fault." The word can also mean "to scold" or "to reprimand." Anyone who has ever been on the receiving end of a mother´s discipline knows that reproof can be the purest form of love.

After exhorting the Thessalonians to practice abstinence, he rebuked them sternly by saying that anyone who opposes God´s laws about sex "is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you" (1 Thess.

4:8). Those are strong words.

They need to be repeated in our pulpits today.

Rebuke. The word epitimao means "to admonish strongly" or "to charge strictly." The English definition means "to express sharp, stern disapproval." And the origin of the word means "to beat or strike." I´m not talking here about a preacher who beats people with the Bible. Screaming at people is not biblical rebuke. But when was the last time you felt the Holy Spirit strike you in your conscience during a sermon?

Paul wasn´t trying to win any popularity contests, and his comments about sex would get him blacklisted today if he tried to buy airtime. Yet when he penned those tough words, he was speaking from God´s heart-with love-under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to all of us.

Exhort. This is the gentlest of the three words. Parakaleo can be used to mean "to comfort" or "to call alongside." It´s the same root word used to describe the Holy Spirit, who is our Comforter. True biblical preaching not only exposes sin and warns us of its consequences, but it calls us to reach out to God for help to overcome our weakness. When we challenge sin we must provide a means of grace for deliverance and

It´s time for us to grow a backbone. Let´s get rid of weak Christianity, spineless preachers and jellyfish morals. Let´s preach the message of the Bible instead of a neutered version. Let´s not only point out sin but also point people to the only hope they have of overcoming it-our strong Savior, whose death on the cross was the ultimate confrontation of sin.

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SHEM KISSED HAM!

moments of my life. I remember sitting on the front row of this predominately black membered church with my much too tight dark grey suit William Lee Bonner with matching skinny grey neck tie. (My father always wanted me dressed proper for church, especially since is was convention time)

By Pastor Joel T. Barnaby

This will likely shock you to shame or shock you to revelation. Judge within yourselves. I hope you read this in the right spirit cause it could blow up in my face. Please don't take offense. Here goes. In light of racial reconciliation, in this post I recall a factual personal observation.

My dad sat just to the left of Bishops chair. Another man had introduced my father to speak citing he was an apostolic pastor from the inner city of Philadelphia.

The audience clapped in appreciation and honor not just because my father was a Pastor but out of respect of the Apostolic Truth that we all shared in common. Since my family was the only white-colored people in the church house of several thousand people there was a little unexpected tension in the air.

About the year 1970 my father was invited to preach at the famed Greater Refuge Temple of Harlem, NYC, Pastored by the well respected Bishop William Lee Bonner during their convention days. As a boy of 13 yrs old I witnessed one of the greatest

(It would be good to cite this very interesting anecdote for all you scholars of Pentecostal heritage.

My mother’s father G. B. Rowe was contemporary preachers and personal friends with G. T. Haywood. When Bishop Haywood (black) passed (April, 1931) away 45

my grandfather (white) was asked to assume his pastorate, of which he declined because He didn't feel that was The Lord's will for his own ministry.)

Everyone started to shout and dance before The Lord in a glorious exaltation and a manifestation of Gods love and power was felt by everyone.

Back to Harlem:

And then! Bishop stood up from his chair. He walked directly to the pulpit and a holy hush settled over the audience and he said these words:

When my father walked to the pulpit he took a detour and walked over to the side of the platform and purposely picked out the darkest skinned brother with the biggest lips (cause white people ain't got no lips), G. T. Haywood embraced him and kissed him openly for all to see in an act of unconditional love and to show unity. Leaning in forward from the front pew with eyes as big as flying saucers I screamed inside me, man alive what in the world was my dad doing. Are you crazy dad, I said to myself.

"My God, My God. There's a new day dawning. My God, My God. When I can see Shem kiss Ham, there's a new day dawning" Needless to say the place blew up again in shouting and praising God. That day changed me forever. It is my sense that if we could all get back to the church house, sit together across color, racial and ethnic lines in an posture of humbleness, invite the Spirit of The Lord and pray for healing for our land, our neighborhoods, to our people, to live in harmony and true brotherly love we would be better off.

What happened next was indeed glorious. It seemed like a window/portal of heaven had opened up over that church house and the Glory of The Lord descended in that sanctuary. The power of the Holy Ghost filled that auditorium where we were sitting.

People began to worship God.

Pastor Joel T. Barnaby is pastor at the Greater Church of Philidelphia.

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