A Father's Point of View

Growing older is inevitable, growing up is a choice

2009-11-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

Whether we are thinking of "growing up" in a natural family, or a spiritual family, whether it is in the life of a man or a woman, the bible teaches that a maturing process is necessary to transition from being a child to becoming a son (a mature adolescent) to being a father (a mature productive adult). I wish to focus upon the spiritual family that we know as the Church.
1. New Testament believers are called children (Gr. teknon) of God (John 1:12).
2. All New Testament believers can become sons (Gr. huios) of God (Galatians 3:26-28), but like natural children, each must pass through a maturing process en route to becoming mature sons.
3. The preceding process is preparation for a productive life so that we may be involved in bringing others into God's family. However, to fail to participate in the process of maturing, we will remain immature, and not become fruitful, even though chosen for that purpose (John 15:16).

God arranges various situations in our lives to reveal our immaturity, just as he did in the developing life of Jesus. God chooses to reveal our immaturity in bite sized increments. Furthermore, God chooses to do so at a time when we can have an opportunity to do something about the revealed immaturity. There is a principle given in 1 Corinthians 10:13, and the principle is this, that when we are faced with temptation, God will make a way of escape. Let's apply the principle: When we receive a revelation of our immaturity, the temptation will be to refuse the way of escape and continue in the comfort zone of our immaturity.

However, there is a better alternative than continuing in our immaturity! God holds that alternative! Since God chooses the time to reveal our immaturity, He also chooses the coming of a person into our lives to which we can submit, and thereby escape our immaturity. The revelation of our immaturity, and the presence of a person to whom we can submit is God's provision for us to take a further step of growth into maturity. This is exactly what transpired in the life of Jesus at 12 years of age (Luke 2:41-52). He accepted the revelation of his immaturity, and took the way of escape out of his immaturity by submitting to Mary and Joseph and returned to Nazareth with them. According to Luke 2:52, as a result of Jesus submission, he grew in wisdom and in favor with God and man.

Obviously, from the life of Jesus, it was not a sin to be immature. But if we refuse to submit to that which God has arranged for our development, we commit a sin of disobedience, and we fail to move on to the next level of maturity (2 Peter 1:3-11). Based on verse 3 of this scripture, maturity is equated with godliness. However, many of us are satisfied to receive life, and thus escape hell. We fail to grow into maturity, and while we escape hell, in our immaturity we raise a lot of frustration in the lives of those we connect to in the Body of Christ!

The Experiences and Relationships of Life

2009-11-11T22:53:00.000-08:00

I came to pastor in the city of Prince George in November of 1978. I have a very deep appreciation to God for the experiences and the relationships that have come into mly life during these past thirty years plus! In fact as I think back over the past fifty-seven years of pastoral ministry in six different regions of North America, I am so thankiful to God for the great variety ofpeople who have brought such positive experiences into my life, resulting in deepening relationships with God and man!

I am amazed at the noted individuals that God has allowed me to meet over these many years, let me just name two such individuals, E. Stanley Jones, and Paul S. Rees. When I was a very young pastor pioneering a newly planted church in the city of Winnipeg, I was invited by a friend to attend a small group meeting in the YWCA being addressed by a guest speaker, E. Stanley Jones. I had never heard of the speaker, but that night I was to experience a touch of the Holy Spirit through Jones, that would ultimately lead me to read most of the writings of this noted author and missionary.

After nine years in Winnipeg, my wife, Glenna and I accepted an invitation to pastor in Omaha, Nebraska. It was in that city that I attended a pastoral leadership meeting at which Paul S. Rees was guest speaker. He too was an author who was to bring enrichment to my spiritual life by his writings.

Interestingly enough, this week (January, 2007) as I was looking through some of the books on my library shelf, I found a magazine article written about E. Stanley Jones by Paul S. Rees. The article was entitled, "Drenched with Christ." Let me share certain noteworthy highlights from this article by Paul S. Rees: "At the General Conference of the Methodist Church in 1924, E. Stanley Jones was elected as bishop and was within hours of his consecration." "I (Paul S. Rees) heard him tell about the sleepless night he spent after his election. He said that in the night the Inner Voice had spoken to him, saying, 'Stanley, if you will decline this honor, I'll let you walk with me through Asia.' It was enough, he declined the bishop's chair. The Inner Voice proved right. Not Asia only, but the world!"

"Stanley Jones was a man of the people---all the people, all denominations, all classes, all colors." "Stanley Jonses was a man of prayer. He wrote, 'I find myself better or worse as I pray more or less.'" "Stanley Jones was a man of passion---not boisterous and bossy, but controlled and compelling. His passion was Christ!"

What is the significance of these brief encounters that I had with E. Stanley Jones and Paul S. Rees? Can I say that I know these men, or that I have a personal relationship with these men? No, but I did have a spiritual experience by these brief encounters, and these experiences eventually resulted in a deepening of my spiritual relationships both with God and man! Personally, I believe that these experiences were a means of bringing improvement in my relationship to God and man because of the priority that I placed upon relationship over experience.

I have often said the following to young people: When I began a courtship with a young lady, named Glenna about 58 years ago, I did so, not to have a romantic experience, but to explore as to whether there was the possibility of a lasting (marital) relationship. Glenna and I came into agreement that the necessary character qualities for a life long relationship were present in each of our lives, and upon that basis we committed ourselves to God and each other in a marriage relationship that has spanned fifty-seven years, as of July, 2009.

May I encourage you to share in experiences that will lead you to committed relationships!

THE CONTAGION OF FEAR by Arlo A. Johnson

2009-11-11T21:50:00.000-08:00

The physical disasters of 9/11 and following (including the World Health Organization's declaration that the H1N1 flu is a pandemic) has resulted in a second and greater pandemic: the pandemic of fear.

A website dictionary describes 'pandemic' (adjective) to include both "a disease prevalent throughout ... the whole world, and universal fear." It seems obvious to a great many of us that the pandemic fear is now worse than the pandemic disease.

Jesus in Luke 21:25-26; 28 spoke of conditions that would begin to occur upon the earth at a future time: "On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world ..." Consistently in the bible, the expression, "the roaring and the tossing of the sea" is a symbol of the war-like conditions that exist among the masses of humanity. Isaiah 57:20 niv states: "But the wicked are like the tossing of the sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud."

As we consider the present "pandemic of disease and fear," there are two words of particular significance, the words are pandemonium and panic. 1. Pandemonium is described by my Oxford dictionary as "the abode of all demons; a place of lawless violence and uproar; utter confusion." As we view the disastrous conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Gaza Strip etc., would one not say that these are places of pandemonium?

2. Panic, again according to the Oxford dictionary, is: "of terror, unreasoning, excessive; excessively hasty through fear; an infectious fright; sudden alarm leading to hasty measures." So many of the foregoing words describe the fear that is being expressed in the media today.

The words, pandemonium, and panic have a common root, and it is "pan." Pan as a part of these two words, is not referring to the whole of a country, or world, as in the case of the word, pandemic. Wikipedia states concerning the word, panic: "The word panic is derived from a Greek word pertaining to the god of woods and fields who was the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds, or in people in lonely spots." As Christian believers, we know that such ancient gods were and are demonic spirits. Pan is a demonic spirit.

In my twelve tours of Israel, I have visited Mount Hermon at the northern border of Israel frequently! During the past twenty-four years a massive geological dig has been taking place at the foot of Mount Hermon. The excavations have unearthed a heathen temple that was built to the demonic god known as Pan. It was to this location (also known as Caesarea Philippi) that Jesus brought his disciples, and while there, he asked them this question: "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" (Matthew 16:13).

In Matthew 16:16, Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." In verse 18, Jesus said, "And I tell you, that you are Peter (petros, a little stone), and on this rock (petra, a massive rock) I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." In verses 21-23, as Jesus spoke of a conflict that would result in his crucifixion, I believe a wave of fear from god Pan overcame Peter. As a result of that fear in Peter's thoughts, he began to rebuke Jesus. One of the common responses of fear is the desire to take control so as to prevent the fear creating event from occurring. This is exactly what Peter did on that occasion. Immediately, Jesus turning to Peter said, 'Get behind me, Satan.'

There were two voices in conflict that day in Caesarea Philippi at the foot of Mount Hermon --- one was the voice of Jesus, and the other was the voice of Satan. Both of these voices are still being heard in our world today! One voice is aligned with the kingdom of darkness, and if listened to, will result in fear. The other voice is aligned with the kingdom of God, and if listened to will result in faith. "God has said, 'Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.' So we say with confidence, 'The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?' (Hebrews 13:5-6).

We are not helpless victims in a troubled world! But we are faced with choices! I choose to listen to the voice that speaks words that will result in faith, and by doing so, I reject the words that result in fear! WHAT CHOICE ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE?

First Jesus formed a family of 12 followers

2009-06-14T19:26:00.000-07:00

An Overview Exposition of Ephesians 3:14-21
1. Verses 14-15 The Father's family in heaven was a model for mankind on earth to follow. Matthew 6:9-10 contains these significant words, "Our Father in heaven; Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Initially, the New Testament era opened with light from heaven - Luke 2:8-14; and continued to release light from heaven on such men as Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus to persecute the Church - Acts 9:3-5. This heavenly light brought an understandable message to Saul in his own Hebrew language according to Acts 26:14.

2. Verse 16 speaks of heaven as a storehouse that contains all that man upon earth needs! (Philippians 4:19).

3. The heavenly provision supplies: a) Verse 17a -Faith (Ephesians 2:8-9 speaks of faith as a gift of God). b) Verse 17b-19 - Love (Romans 5:5 states that God's love fills our hearts). c) Verse 20-21 speaks of God who brings hope into our lives. 1 Corinthians 13:13 "Now abideth faith, hope and love..." But man, by his sin, and its accompanying darkness, was cut off from the light of heaven's faith, hope and love. So Jesus came to import the light of heaven, and become the light of the world. He came for two primary reasons: 1) To reveal the heavenly Father to mankind! 2) He came to die on the cross to provide forgiveness so that mankind might be reconciled to God, and the re-formation of the family of God might take place upon earth, parallel to the family of God in heaven.

So the first major accomplishment of Jesus was to gather twelve men around him as his disciples (learners). These twelve became a family to whom he would reveal his heavenly Father as their potential father. This group would become a prototype.

What is a prototype? The dictionary states: "A prototype is an original thing; a trial model; a preliminary version; especially of aeroplane." Now with this understanding of a prototype, let's apply it to this family of twelve disciples and Jesus. Jesus wanted to form an earthly family that would break from carnal, earthly values as a primary source of life for his followers, and connect relationally with his Father in the heavenly kingdom so that his earthly family would parallel the family in heaven.

A prototype is a temporary model for the ultimate formation of that which will fulfill the purpose of the designer or creator! Since the prototype is temporary, we must leave the prototype behind to gain the ultimate purpose of the prototype! In John 13:31-38 Jesus announced the break-up of the prototype that he had been working on for over three years. He did this so that he migh move on to the purpose for which the prototype was formed, namely the formation of a worldwide, trans-generational family of God upon earth! That great family would be drawn from the multitudes of earth by the power of the Holy Spirit over many, many future generations! I believe that Jesus alluded to this in John 10:16 when he said, "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and, there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

The twelve disciples were devestated by the words of Jesus in John 13:33 "My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: "Where I am going, you cannot come." In response to these words, Peter asked, "Lord where are you going?" "Lord, why can't I follow you now? These are questions that were asked in a very emotional tone of voice!

These questions were addressed by Jesus, and then he continue by saying, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God! Trust also in me!" These are exclamatory statements! While I believe in heaven, and in the Second Coming of Christ at the end of this age, I do not believe that either of these subjects are under discussion in this passage. When Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many mansions or rooms," he is not speaking of a material house with rooms. He is speaking of a household, or family with many abiding places for the Father's children. Jesus was going away to the cross, and by his death he would provide the means whereby sinful man could be reconciled to his Holy Father. So after his resurrection he would come again to be with his disciples, and his coming again to them is recorded in John 20:19-23 and Luke 24:36-48. It was on this occassion that the person of the Holy Spirit came into the lives of these disciples, and the full enablement of this connection came about on the Day of Pentecost as the power of the Holy Spirit was released upon them. When Jesus said that he was going away so that these followers might come into relationship with the Father, just as Jesus was in relationship with his Father (John 14:11, 23).

If you will read the following scriptures: [John 14:11; 2021, 23; 17:20-23; 7:17; 10:27; 8:27-29; 15:9-15; 14:12], you will discover four basic qualities present in the model of the family in heaven. These qualities are love, unity, obedience, and revelation. Each one of these qualities contain a very powerful message! But let me conclude by saying that if we love the Father, we will be obedient to his command, and we will walk in unity with other members of the Father's family! Furthermore, as our Father sees our love and obedience to him, and our unity with fellow family members, he will release a revelation of his will to us. If we have a loving, obedient heart, our ears will be sensitive to the Father's voice, just as Jesus was sensitive to his Father's voice!

Revealing the Father and Redeeming Mankind

2009-06-13T15:25:00.000-07:00

Jesus Christ came to earth with a dual mission assigned to him by his Father according to 2 Corinthians 5:19, "that God was in Christ (revealing the Father), reconciling the world unto himself (through the redemption accomplished by his death on the cross)."

Let's consider this dual mission: 1 Corinthians 4:14-17 contains a contrast between instructors, or guardians, and spiritual fathers. Paul was a spiritual father to the people of the Corinthian church, in that he founded that church at Corinth.

There are two significant works of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believing one. First, there is a spiritual birth into God's family by believing the Word of God, and receiving of Christ as Lord. Secondly, through the nurture of spiritual fathers who model and speak the Word of God into the lives of new born believers, resulting in spiritual growth and maturity. The Greek word, TEKNON meaning, new born one, thus indicating that a new birth has occurred, while the Greek word, HUIOS (pronounced, hwee-os) meaning a mature son ready to come into a place of responsibility.

Luke 3:38 speaks of Adam as a son of God. Though Adam, at creation was a child, nevertheless it was the intention of God, the Father that Adam should be developed into a mature son capable of assuming responsibility. As Adam matured into sonship, he would be developed to father the next generation, just as God had fathered him. But Adam failed to obey God, and the succeeding generations were destroyed by the flood (Genesis 7). Then God called Noah (Genesis 9), much as he had Adam, but Noah descendants were also judged by God at Babel (Genesis 11). Then God called Abraham (Genesis 12), to be a blessing to all the families of the earth. However, the descendants of Abraham, the Israelite nation also failed, and the whole nation underwent the judgment of God at the hands of the Assyrians and the Babylonians.

At the end of the Old Testament, there is a prophetic word spoken by Malachi about the future coming of the Messiah and his forerunner, John the Baptist. The result of the forthcoming fulfillment of that prophecy "the hearts of the fathers would be turned to the children, and the hearts of the children would be turned to the fathers (Malachi 4:5-6)." So the Messiah or Christ was coming for a dual purpose, to reveal the Father, and give his life as a sacrifice for sin, so that man might be reconciled to God.

Why did the twelve disciples follow Christ? I would like to suggest that these men followed Jesus for two reasons: First, most, if not all spent time with Jesus getting to know him - read John 1-3. Second, having come to know him over a period of time, they saw father-like attributes in him that were not in their earthly fathers. In Matthew 4:18-22 Jesus began to call certain men to follow him as disciples. In Matthew 4:21-22 it is stated that James and John were in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. They were not in the boat for the purpose of being with their father, they were in the boat to work in the same profession as their father was working. Work, not relationship was the reason for being in the boat.

After being with Jesus for three years, one day, Jesus told them that he was leaving them, and that they could not go with him to where he was going. These words were like a bomb-shell to them! The were shocked and very sorrowful! As you read the words that Peter spoke, it is important that you sense the emotion of his words (John 13:31-38)! Peter said, "Lord, where are you going? Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you!"

Then Jesus continues (John 14:1), by saying, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God! Trust also in me! These last two statements are exclamatory words! In verse two, Jesus said, "In my Father's house (the Greek is a household, or a family), are many mansions (kjv), or rooms (niv) (which really are abiding places)." When we read house, mansions, or rooms, we think of material structures, such as we live in upon earth. But, that is not what Jesus meant, he was speaking of the relationship that believers would have to his Father in heaven.

In verse two, Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you." Then in verse three, he continued by saying, "And if (or since) I go and prepare a place for you:"
There are certain question and answers that come out of these words: Where was Jesus going? He was going to the cross to prepare a place of relationship between man and God! So Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you, that you may be where I am." Where was Jesus at that moment? According to verse 11 Jesus was in the Father, that is he was in relationship to the Father. Jesus by going to the cross was going to provide the way for believers to be in relationship with the Father. Then Jesus said, "I will come back," not as in the Second Coming at the end of the age, but after his resurrection. John 14:20 speak of a new realization that the disciples will come to on that day he returns after his resurrection. Then in John 20:19-23, and Luke 24:36-48 we read of Jesus actual return to them, and the miracle of the Spirit's impartation to them as Jesus breathed upon them, and opened their understanding! The complete measure of the release of the Spirit's power was then experienced by them on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2).

Now let's return to John 14:6 where Jesus said that he was the way to the Father, and that way involved the sacrifice of himself on the cross as he died for the forgiveness of our sins! Then in John 14:8-9, Jesus in answer to Philip's question, stated that, "he that hath seen me hath seen the Father. So in fulfillment to the prophecy of Malachi, Jesus introduced his followers to his Father, so that the hearts of the earthly fathers might turn to the children!

Each one of us need to know an intimate relationship to our heavenly Father, just as Jesus did! In John 8:28, Jesus said, "I do nothing on my own, but speak just what the Father has taught me." May each of us in the family of God have the same intimate communication with our Father!

The Overwhelming Results of Believing God's Promise

2009-05-03T04:59:00.000-07:00

THE PROMISE: Genesis 12:2 is the initial promise, given by God to Abram, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” The statement of God’s promise to Abram is given in a decisive and convincing manner! God’s statement, leaves us with a sense that the promise is a “done deal!” Observe the description of the God in Romans 4:17, who gave this promise to Abraham, He is “the God who gives life to the dead, and calls things that are not as though they were.” The Expanded Translation states it this way: "... God who makes alive those who are dead, and calls the things that are not in existence as being in existence." However, the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abram was a process that would be worked out over a considerable length of time.

THE PROCESS: The very meaning of Abram’s name is significant as this process begins. It is as if God highlights the beginning, and the ultimate goal of this process through his name, and the changing of his name. His name, Abram, means “exalted father.” If the promise to Abram of being made into a great nation is to be fulfilled, Abram must first become a father. As God looks forward to the fulfillment of His promise, He sees this man positioned as a father. But a husband cannot become a father without a wife becoming a mother! The first roadblock to Abram becoming a father is recorded in Genesis 11:30 where it states that Abram’s wife Sarai (Sarah) was barren, hence Abram and Sarai could not have children. Obviously, if Abram and Sarai are to become “a great nation,” they must begin a family by the birthing of a child, and if this was to occur, change must come into their physical bodies. It seems to me that this great need for change in their bodies was symbolized by the changing of their names in Genesis 17. In Genesis 17:5, God changed his name from Abram to Abraham, from “exalted father” to “a father of many nations.” The changing of his name moves him from a position as “exalted father,” to ultimately becoming “a father of many nations.” In Genesis 17:15-16, Sarai’s name is changed to Sarah. Then God said, “She will be the mother of nations; kings of people will come from her.” So the changing of the names of Abraham and Sarah was a part of the process by which they would move toward receiving the fulfillment of God’s promise given to them.

THE PURPOSE IN DELAY: The years passed, but what seemed to be a needless delay, was not without purpose! Abraham and Sarah still did not have a child, and without the birthing of a family, there would not be the birthing of a nation, or nations! All this time, Sarah continues in a barren state. In fact, God waited so long in bringing about the preparations for the birth of Isaac, that the time comes when both Abraham and Sarah’s bodies pass the time of physical seed bearing! Romans 4:19 states that, Abraham “faced the fact that his body was as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old---and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.” In fact Sarah’s womb was doubly dead, first it was dead because of the life long barrenness, and secondly it was dead because she had passed the time of life when child-bearing was a possibility. We often hear people say that things are going from bad to worse! This was certainly true in this case of Abraham and Sarah. But God allowed Abraham and Sarah to come to the point, where it was humanly impossible to give birth to a child! God’s purpose in the delay was that He might be glorified in bringing forth a miracle birth by His power alone!

THE PERSEVERANCE OF FAITH: Romans 4:3 states that “Abraham believed God.” Certainly, Abraham was aware of the physical conditions that existed in their bodies. In Romans 4:19 (kjv), we have this statement: Abraham “considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb.” That was not his focus! The problem is never the focus of faith! Faith focuses on the possible solution! Abraham focused his faith on God and His promise! When one focuses on God and His promise, rather than on the circumstances, according Romans 10:17 there is an impartation of faith, for “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. For this reason, “Abraham did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Romans 4:20-21). The promise of God, and the perseverance of Abraham’s faith, lead him to praise God for the ultimate fulfillment of the promise!

THE PRESENCE OF GOD brought an assurance of faith: In Genesis 18:1-22 we have a theophany, the appearance of God in a human body, accompanied by two angels who appeared as men. Verse one speaks of the appearance of the LORD (Jehovah) to Abraham at Mamre. Verse two states that as Abraham looked up he saw three men standing nearby and he went to meet them. In verses three to eight we have a demonstration of Abraham’s hospitality to these visitors. In verse nine, these visitors inquired about Sarah, to which Abraham replied, “She is in the tent.” Then in verse ten, the LORD said, “I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life, and lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.” (King James Version). These prophetic words of the LORD, predicted that a change was coming, and obviously the change of which God had spoken, would include both Abraham and Sarah. In verse twelve, Sarah, though unbelieving, understood that God included her as well as Abraham in the predicted change. God, in addressing the unbelief of Sarah, asked, “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” Then God restates the prediction again in verse fourteen.

In verse sixteen, we are told that the men rose up, and looked toward Sodom, and “Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.” Then in verse seventeen to twenty-one, we are told the very thoughts that were in the mind of the LORD. In verse twenty-two we are told that the men went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.” Genesis 23:1 informs us that “two angels came to Sodom” in the evening. Obviously, the men that went toward Sodom (Genesis 18:22) were two in number, and according to Genesis 23:1, they were angels. The reason that we conclude that the men were two in number, is because Abraham stood yet before the LORD (who had appeared in a theophany). In verses twenty-three to thirty-two, we have the record of an extended conversation between the LORD and Abraham concerning the possible destruction of Sodom. Finally in verse thirty-three we read: “When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.”

THE PROBLEM of the manifestation of fear while the work of faith was in process: This is a very common occurrence in the lives of believers as they wait for the fulfillment of God’s promises! Genesis 20:1-17 is the story of Abraham’s re-location from Mamre, near Hebron in Israel to Gerar, just north of the border of Egypt. Abimelech was the king of Gerar. As Abraham was coming to that location, fear came into his mind, and in his human reasoning he devised a plan for his encounter with Abimelech. So he planned to say to Abimselech concerning Sarah, “She is my sister.” As a result of misinformation received by Abimelech, he took Sarah into his harem (the woman’s part of a Muslim dwelling-house). God came to Abimelech in a dream, and he became aware of the fact that Sarah was a married woman (20:3). Abimelech spoke with God stating the reason for the presence of Sarah in his harem (20:4-5). God then instructed Abimelech as to that which he was to do to preserve his life (20:6-7). Then Abimelech met with Abraham to ask certain significant questions of him, “What was your reason for doing this? (That is, why did you say that Sarah was your sister?). Abraham spoke to Abimelech of his fear that he would be killed so that Sarah could be taken and become the wife of another man.

PUZZLING PERPLEXITY: Why would Abimelech want a ninety year old woman in his harem? Were there not many younger, beautiful women available to the king? The reason is very simple, Sarah had undergone a great change in her physical body by the power of the LORD! She didn’t look like a ninety year old woman! Why? Because God had returned to her “the time of life” when she would be able to bear children, consequently, she appeared much, much younger than she actually was!

THE PROMISE is finally fulfilled: Genesis 21:1-3 records that Sarah conceived and bore a son, and they named him Isaac. Then Genesis 23:1-2 records the death of Sarah. Following the death of Sarah, Abraham was married to Keturah, and she bore him six children (Genesis 25:1-2). This further verifies that God returned to Abraham, as well as Sarah, “the time of life,” so that Abraham could continue to bare children!

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS of this historical miracle: There are several ways in which this miraculous event is significant to us!
First, God has such great power and ability, He can do anything, nevertheless, God in His sovereignty, often follows a combination of natural and supernatural channels to fulfill His promises. God could have just created a baby in the womb of Sarah, apart from Abraham. But He didn’t, He restored the means of natural child birth in the bodies of Abraham and Sarah, hence Isaac was born. This gives us a reason to believe in the involvement of the Medical Profession to assist in bringing about the healing of a sick person. However, we must never forget that the ultimate healer is God!
Secondly, if God can restore the physical organs of a human body as in the case of Abraham and Sarah, can we not believe that God can restore spiritual life to an individual that has been severely damaged by sin? Think of the woman in John 8 to whom Jesus said, “Go and sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you." Thirdly, THIRDLY, if God can restore the physical organs of a human body as in the case of Abraham and Sarah, can we not believe that God can restore the spiritual gifts and ministries in the Body of Christ, the Church? Romans 12, I Corinthians 12-14 and Ephesians 4 set forth the biblical order for the proper functioning of the Body of Christ with its gifts and ministries, let us believe that spiritual restoration within the Body of Christ will be escalated as we move closer and closer to the time of Christ’s Second Coming!

The God of the bible is the God of physical and spiritual restoration! Is there any thing too hard for the LORD? Most certainly not! And stories, like that of Abraham and Sarah stand as a verification of such restoration. May your faith be strengthened as you meditate on this biblical record of Abraham and Sarah!

Travels of Glenna and Arlo Johnson in May, 2009

2009-04-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

April 1-21, 2009 We will be home in Prince George, BC.
April 22-28, 2009 We will be in Regina SK. for a family celebration - Phone 306-732-4530 - The 60th Wedding Anniversary of Eldon and Luella Johnson was held on Saturday, April 25, about 50 people attended the function held in the Gymnasium of the Regina Apostolic Church.
April 28-May 3, 2009 We will be at home in Prince George, BC during these dates.
May 4-8, 2009 We will be attending the Independent Assemblies of God Convention in London, Ontario. In my judgment, it was one of the most impacting IAOG-Canada Conventions that I have attended to date. There was a powerful presentation of the Anointed Word of God.
May 8-19, 2009 We will be at the home of our son, Grady Johnson, near Brantford, Ontario. Grady took a week off work, and it was a very special time with Grady and Joann. Grady and I accomplished alot in the way of making house and yard improvements.
May 19-24, 2009 We will be at home in Prince George, BC during these dates.
May 24 (Sunday) to 28: We travelled by Motorhome, leaving late Sunday afternoon en route to Sheldon and Shawn Johnson at Pierceland, Sk. We overnighted at the Walmart Parking Lot in Hinton, Alberta. We arrived on Monday evening.
May 28-29 (Thursday to Friday) We traveled to Kinsella, Alberta to minister at a Leadership Retreat for the IAOG-Prairie Region. There were many obstacles: a blown tire; a strong prairie wind; an awning flopping in that wind; and a partially plugged gasoline filter! BUT we made it! Thanks to Dick from Golden Prairie, Saskatchewan, and an unnamed mechanic who just moved to Kinsella, who joined their talents and replaced a $1.98 filter that enabled us to continue our journey to Dawson Creek. Then again, we were faced by a severe prairie wind at Valley View, Alberta about mid-night! Delayed, but we finally arrived at 3:15 am in Dawson Creek.
May 30-31, 2009 At Grandview Chapel, Dawson Creek, BC. Saturday, 9 am-4pm The DVD presentation of Sacred Marriage, and Sunday morning ministry at Grandview Chapel. It was a very impacting time in the little church there in Dawson Creek! For this we praise the Lord!
June 3 and 11 7-9 pm Four teaching classes on Faith and Fear at Westside Family Fellowship!
June 4-7, 2009 We attended our grandson, Tanner's Highschool Graduation in Calgary, AB.
June 17 We left Prince George, BC at 6 am and arrived in Weyburn, Sk. just after mid-night. We stayed overnight at Fargo, ND., and arrived in Monticello, Mn. on the afternoon of June 19, and after participating in the Christianson reunion activities for two days, June 20-21, 2009, we began our journey to Omaha, Nebraska by way of Des Moines, Iowa. Those attending the family function included our son, Marlo and Trisha, and her brother Grant ... along with Glenna and Arlo! We would liked to have travelled on to Knob Creek, Kentucky, where Abraham Lincoln was born ten miles from Knob Creek on February 12, 1809, just a little over 200 years ago. There is a year long celebration of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. However, time did not permit us to do so.
June 22 & 23 We were in Omaha, Nebraska, where we pastored from July, 1965 to June, 1970. We visited several former members of the congregation that we pastored in Omaha. Our contact family will be that of John (whom I led to Christ while pastoring there) & Virgina Tynan, and their married daughter, Annie. We left Omaha on Tuesday afternoon, June 23 and traveled on to Sioux Falls, ND. On Wednesday, June 24, we traveled through Sisseton, Veblen, and Clare City, SD. I must tell you more about the events of this day, but that must wait for now!
We stayed overnight in Fargo, ND., before beginning our return to Regina. We had lunch with Jimmy Hillstead in Kenmare, ND., and continued on to arrive at Reatha's farm on the evening of June 25. Reatha's great-grandchildren, Jair and Andre and family were there. Jair and I did prep work on her house all day Friday. On Saturday, our team of painters included, Sheldon, Jason, Luke, Taylor, Donavon, and Arlo, and by about 8 pm we had completed giving her house a much needed paint job! Grady and his friend Bob from Mount Pleasant arrived in Regina on the morning of July 2 in preparation to pick up Grandpa (Chris) Johnson's old truck down on Uncle Arnold's farm at Parry. In the end, we collected two trucks, including Grandpa Johnson's 1948 Chevrolet truck, and Uncle Arnold's 1953 Chevrolet one ton truck, and took down the windmill tower that pumped water for Grandpa and Grandma Johnson for many decades of their time on the Parry farm.
On July 7, we will leave for Sheldon and Shawn's in Pierceland, Sk. We will keep you posted as that time approaches.

Revised Notes on Faith and Fear - April 6, 2009

2009-04-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

TEACHING OVERVIEW ....
Faith and Fear …
- The Primary Forces in the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of Satan
- The Weapons used by each kingdom in its war against the opposing kingdom
- The necessity of Focusing Faith on God and His Word
- The necessity of the Removal of Fear from a Believer’s Life
- The recognition of the presence of Fear in the Lives of the Enemies of the Christian Church

In March, 2009 Arlo and Marlo Johnson participated in a series of fifteen Leadership Conferences in the rural and remote regions of the nation of Sri Lanka. In preparation for these conferences, Arlo Johnson wrote a book, “Building Faith & Spiritual Relationships in the Body of Christ by the Word of God.” However, due to the increased insight given by the Spirit of God as the teaching of the Word of God took place on the theme of Faith in Sri Lanka, the following is a revised edition of the teachings shared in the Leadership Conferences.

Whether it is Daniel 9:1-23; 10:1-21 in the Old Testament, or Ephesians 6:10-18 in the New Testament, the Church, the Body of Christ in our generation needs to know that we are in a spiritual war! However, it is not a war where we, as believers are in direct conflict against Satan and his forces! The war against Satan and his forces was fought by the Jesus Christ at the cross, and he has won a conclusive victory! What then are we, as individual believers fighting against? We are fighting to maintain faith against fear and unbelief! This is clearly stated 1 Timothy 6:12 “FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH,” and thereby we “TAKE HOLD OF THE ETERNAL LIFE TO WHICH WE ARE CALLED BECAUSE WE MADE A GOOD CONFESSION IN THE PRESENCE OF MANY WITNESSES.” Now through faith, we exercise the authority and ability of the resurrected Christ against the dark and evil forces of Satan.

TEACHING INTRODUCTION ....
Arlo Johnson: As I prayed for the nation of Sri Lanka and its spiritual leaders in preparation for the teachings that would shared in the 2009 Conferences, I became aware of two particular needs in the life and ministry of the leadership of the Church:
1. The need for the strengthening of faith: “Where is your faith?” Not that faith is lost, but where is it focused? Is it focused upon the problem, or upon the solution resident in God?
2. The need for the removal of fear: If fear is allowed to be lodged in the mind, then there will be an increase of anxiety, that will reduce the effectiveness of faith.

We will study the scriptures that pertain to the function of faith and fear in the kingdoms of God and Satan, and its application to the Church in the midst of persecution, and in conclusion we will consider the story of Gideon from Judges 6-7 that records the adjustment of Gideon’s faith, and the removal of fear from his life thus enabling him to enter into a triumphant victory over all of his enemies!

THE TEACHING ....
We will study the scriptures that pertain to the function of faith and fear in the kingdoms of God and Satan, and its application to the Church in the midst of persecution, and in conclusion we will consider the story of Gideon from Judges 6-7 that records the adjustment of Gideon’s faith, and the removal of fear from his life thus enabling him to enter into a triumphant victory over all of his enemies!

The Function of Faith and Fear in the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan
Faith is the primary force that functions in the kingdom of God, and fear is the primary force that functions in the kingdom of Satan. The kingdom of God is characterized by light, and the kingdom of Satan is characterized by darkness. Faith and fear each operate within these respective kingdoms. Since these two kingdoms are at war, faith is the weapon used by the kingdom of God against the kingdom of darkness. While, fear is the weapon used by the kingdom of Satan against the kingdom of light. While fear functions within the Satan’s kingdom, fear also moves out to oppose the kingdom of God with the intent of hindering or destroying faith in the lives of that kingdom’s members.

Similarly, faith functions within God’s kingdom, and moves out against the kingdom of Satan for a twofold purpose:
1. Faith comes against the kingdom of Satan, to bring an impartation of faith to the captives in the kingdom of darkness for those who will receive it.
2. As captives receives the impartation of faith, and leaves the kingdom of darkness, a further fear develops within Satan’s kingdom, namely, that Satan’s kingdom will be impacted by God’s power and lose further subjects to God’s kingdom. [James 2:19 “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that---and shudder.”]

Colossians 1:12-14 [“Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”]
In these verses we read that the heavenly Father rescues the believing captives from the dominion of darkness and translates them into the kingdom of God’s Son. Thus the believing captives, no longer live in a kingdom ruled by deception and fear, but they come to live in the kingdom of God where truth and faith prevail!

Matthew 11:12 [“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of God has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”]
The forceful advancement of the kingdom of God spoken of here, is the forceful advancement of the kingdom of God, by faith! And the forceful men who lay hold of the kingdom of God, are doing so by faith! Acts 14:21-23, [“They (Paul and Barnabas) preached the good news in that city (of Lystra) and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. ‘We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,’ they said. Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust.”]
According to these verses, Paul and Barnabas went back to establish leaders in the churches that were started during their previous ministry in these locations. There is a statement in these verses that requires explanation, and the statement is “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” This statement is made concerning believers, including Paul and Barnabas and those who had come to faith through their ministry! Were they not in the kingdom of God from the moment that they believed? Based on such scriptures as John 3:5-6, these believers were in the kingdom of God! What then is Paul alluding to by such words? Personally, I believe that Paul is speaking of the development of the life of the kingdom of God within the lives of these believers, including himself and Barnabas! In Philippians 3:12, Paul stated: “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Simply stated, Christ takes hold of repentant believing sinners and brings them into the kingdom of God, so that they can, in spite of hardships that they might go through, take hold of the kingdom of God, in an experiential way, that results in character development!

The Conflict between the kingdoms of light and darkness:
Daniel 9:1-23 and 10:1-21 are passages of scripture that portray the conflict between the kingdoms of God and Satan. Many of the people of Judah had been carried captive into Babylon. Previous to their captivity, these words came to the prophet Jeremiah, and are recorded in Jeremiah 25:1-14 [“The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah … in the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. … And though the LORD has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. … Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: ‘Because you have not listened to my words, I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. … This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years. But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt, and make it desolate forever.” declares the LORD.]

Again these words came to the prophet Jeremiah and are recorded in Jeremiah 29:10-14 [“This is what the LORD says: ‘when seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, and bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you, and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile,’ declares the LORD.”]
These are the prophetic words that the prophet Jeremiah wrote during the time leading up to the captivity. At a point in time during the captivity, Daniel, upon reading these prophecies of Jeremiah, came to understand that the captivity of Judah was to last seventy years. Daniel 9:3 states that Daniel turned to the Lord, “and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.” In Daniel 10:10-14, a divine messenger came to Daniel and said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed … do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.” “But the (spiritual) prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain what will happen to your people in the future …” As a result of the initial prayer of Daniel, there was an intensification of the war between the spiritual forces of God’s kingdom and those spirit forces of the evil Persian kingdom. God heard Daniel’s prayer the very first day, but the delay in receiving the answer was because of the interference of the evil spirit forces. Continued prayer and intercession was not to get God’s attention! We don’t have to convince God to give us that which he has already promised, but we do have to continue to war against the hindering spirits of darkness, by prayer and intercession!

The record contained in these chapters within the book of Daniel brings clarification to that which is written in Ephesians 6:12 and 18. As verse twelve states, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” That is exactly what occurred, and is recorded in these passages in Daniel. In Ephesians 6:18 (King James Version) we read, “Praying always … and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.” The New International Version states: “And pray in the Spirit … with this in mind, be alert, and always keep on praying.” Daniel was praying and watching according to that which is stated in Daniel 9-10.

Colossians 2:6-7 [“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and over-flowing with thankfulness.”]
Observe two significant thoughts here, first, by faith we receive Christ Jesus as Lord. Secondly, we are to continue to grow in our spiritual life by faith, and as we do, we will be deeply rooted in God, and grow in his likeness. We will be further strengthened in the faith, and we will express continual thanksgiving!

Hebrews 12:2 says, “Fix your eyes on Jesus!” Why fix your eyes upon Jesus? This is because Jesus is the originator and completer of faith in the life of a believer. In Philippians 1:6, Paul said, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” This confirms the truth of Hebrews 12:2.

Colossians 2:10 [“And you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.”]
The KJV states that Christ “is the head of all principality and power.” What then is Christ’s position as stated in this verse? He is the head of all principality and power! Certainly we know that he is the head of the good principalities, but according to this scripture, Christ is also the head of all (both good and evil) principalities and powers. Now since we are Christ’s Body, we are connected to Christ as the head. That means that we are also with him over all principalities and power. This is supported by Ephesians 2:6 where it states, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” From Isaiah 40:22-25; 28-29 let us note these words: Verse 22-25 “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth … He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.” God asks a question in verse 25: “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.” Verse 28-29 “He will not grow tired or weary … He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” What a powerful picture of our exalted Lord as given to us by the prophet Isaiah!

Ephesians 1:18-23 [“I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all (principality and power) rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”]
These verses give added support to the fact of our oneness with Christ in his exalted place over all the principalities and powers of this world’s spiritual kingdoms.

How did Christ come into such supremacy? Colossians 2:14-15 [“God, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”]
Christ went to the cross, entered into combat against Satan, and overcame Satan and cancelled the debt of human sin!

How do we become benefactors of Christ’s victory? Colossians 2:12-13 [“We, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.”]
Our faith is the means by which we become identified with Christ in his death, and are raised with him by the power of God, and made alive with Christ and receive forgiveness of all our sins. Romans 6:3-4 [“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”]
2 Corinthians 2:14 - [“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ!”]
In ancient times, two kings would frequently go to war. Both kings entered the war expecting to win! However, only one king would come out triumphant! In a similar manner, when Christ and Satan came into combat at the cross, each expected to win! As Jesus hung on that cross, Satan thought that he had won that war. Friday was a dark day! However, on the first day of the week, Christ rose from the dead as the Father’s affirmation of his victory over Satan at that cross! In ancient times, the winning king would put the losing king and his generals into chains and transport them to his country. In a great festive celebration, the winning king would lead the chained and conquered king and his generals through the streets of his capital city in a triumphal procession. That is exactly what the Apostle Paul states concerning our victory through Christ in 2 Corinthians 2:14, “Thanks be unto God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ!”

We have looked at the big picture of the triumph of our Lord Jesus Christ over Satan and his evil forces! We have considered the war between the two kingdoms, and the role that faith and fear play out in that war! Now let’s consider how this finds application in the day to day events of life on a very practical level.

Luke 8:22-25 [“One day Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.’ So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Master, Master, we’re going to drown!’ He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. ‘Where is your faith?’ he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, ‘Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.’]

The story in Luke 8:22-25 is a series of events, very common in the life of Jesus and his followers. Based on that which Jesus said in John 8:28, [‘I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me.’] I think that, this particular day began with Jesus in conversation with his Father. As he worshipped and expressed his love to his Father, Jesus probably said, “Father, today I will be with my disciples by the Sea of Galilee, what you would like me to teach them?” Perhaps the Father responded like this: “There will be a storm on the Sea of Galilee today.” Now it is important for us to know that this forthcoming storm would not be brought about by Satan, but rather it would be a very natural phenomenon. The Sea of Galilee is approximately 700 feet below sea level. It is for this reason that winds came about very suddenly on the Sea of Galilee, thus creating dangerous waves upon the lake. So the Father may have said, “Jesus, in view of the forthcoming storm, it will be a perfect setting for you to teach the disciples about faith and its’ power over fear. The teaching will come about as you model peace and power in the midst of the storm, and as you speaks words of instruction concerning the placing of one’s faith in divine ability. Since you are here in Capernaum on the north shore of the lake, you can go over to the other side of the lake near Tiberias.” Life’s greatest lessons are not taught in the classroom, but in the midst of the storms of life! So brace yourself with faith, as you follow Christ through the storms of life and learn the great lessons of life as taught by our heavenly Father!

Let us consider the things that faith and fear have in common.
1. Both faith and fear have a focus. Jesus, having received words of instruction from his Father, focused on the words, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” As the wind arose, and the waves beat on their boat, these experienced fishermen, gripped with fear focused on the wind and the waves of the storm.
2. Both faith and fear have an expectation. Jesus, focusing on the words of his Father, expected to go to the other side of the lake. The disciples, focusing on the wind and the waves, expected to go to the bottom of the lake as expressed in the words, “Master, Master, we are going to drown.”
3. Both faith and fear bring results. Fear, in the thoughts of the disciples, brought anxiety and negative expectation. Faith, in the life of Jesus, brought peace and positive expectation, for that reason Jesus was able to sleep in the midst of the storm.
4. Both faith and fear rule out the possibility of the other. Psalm 56:11 “In God I trust, I will not be afraid.” One’s trust in God prevents fear from taking control. Psalm 56:3 “When I am afraid, I will trust in the Lord.” Believers do have occasions in their lives when they are tormented by fear, much as the disciples were that day in the midst of the storm. Usually, there is a process through which we must pass in order that our faith be strengthened to overcome fear.
5. Both faith and fear are contagious. In leadership meetings, as a particular vision for God’s work is being presented, the speaking of a word of faith or fear will completely change the atmosphere of such meetings. The positive or negative words will spread rapidly on such an occasion.
6. Both faith and fear are based upon a choice. In John 16, Jesus spoke with his disciples about his forthcoming departure, this separation would bring grief and pain to them. In John 16:33, Jesus said that in this world they would have trouble, but in him, they could have peace because he had overcome the world. So these disciples, and us have a choice between having fear, because of trouble, or having faith because of Jesus’ provision of peace for troubled times.

Now let’s observe the contrasting differences between fear and faith.
1. Fear focuses on negative possibilities, while faith focuses on positive possibilities.
2. Fear brings us to possess bad and undesirable things, and faith brings us to possess good and desirable things.
3. Fear brings us into a negative state of mind, and faith brings us into a positive state of mind. Most of the things that people fear never happen to them. My father had a very serious bout with cancer during his early seventies. For a couple of years, he lived with the tormenting fear that the cancer would return and he would die. My father lived to within five days of his 105th birthday! His earlier anxiety, was an exercise in futility. Someone has said that anxiety is like a rocking chair, it will keep you busy, but it won’t take you anywhere.
4. Fear is limiting, but faith brings enlargement. Though the word faith does not appear in Isaiah 54, nevertheless the results of faith are indicated throughout this chapter. God was calling the people to enlarge the place of their tent by lengthening their cords, and strengthening their stakes, enlargement was about to occur by faith.
5. Fear prevents you from moving out into the unknown. But with the God, in whom we have put our trust, nothing is unknown. Hebrews 11:8 states: “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”
6. Fear drains our strength, our resolve is weakened. However, faith brings enrichment, and we are reinvigorated.

Remember, faith focuses upon that which God has said, while fear focuses upon that which is seen, such as the wind and the waves in our story in Luke 8:22-25.

In John 5:19 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself, he can only do what he sees the Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” There are two very important statements in this verse: First, Jesus as a human being, knew his limitations. He had a correct perception of himself, and he knew his limitations. We need to know our limitations as well. Secondly, by faith he knew the possibilities of doing great things in keeping with the revealed word of his Father (1 John 5:14-15).

The Greek word, NOEMA (pronounced, no-ay-mah) is translated by the English words: devices, mind, and thought. In the Sri Lankan Sinhala version, the word, noema is translated trap in 2 Corinthians 2:11, while in the New International Version it is translated schemes, and in the King James Version it is translated devices. The essence of the thought presented in this scripture is that we are not ignorant of Satan’s trap, or schemes, or devices. His device, scheme, or trap is to bring certain thoughts into the mind of man that comes against the thoughts created by the Word of God. We have established, that the weapons of the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness, respectively are the weapons of faith and fear. However, weapons without ammunition are without effect, hence the weapons of faith and fear need ammunition. Words are the ammunition used by the weapons of both faith and fear. The words of the weapons of faith and fear are aimed at mankind to create thoughts in the human mind. The words used by the weapon of faith create thoughts in the human mind that are in harmony with the knowledge of God. These words create faith (Romans 10:17). In contrast, the words used by the weapon of fear create thoughts in the human mind in harmony with the lies of Satan. These words create fear. The word “noema” is translated mind in 2 Corinthians 3:14, referring to the fact that the mind is hardened. According to Matthew 13:4 when seed fell on the hardened path, it was immediately devoured by the birds, thus preventing the growth of the seed. 2 Corinthians 4:4 speaks of the god of this world (Satan), who blinds the mind, thus preventing the recognition of the truth of the word of God, and the growth of that seed. 2 Corinthians 11:3 speaks of Eve, as being deceived by the serpent in Eden, in like manner Paul feared lest the minds of the Corinthians “be led astray from simple and pure devotion to Christ.” To counteract these traps, Paul exhorted believers, in 2 Corinthians 10:5, to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” In this way, according to 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 we fight with weapons which have divine power to demolish strongholds, composed of Satan’s arguments and pretensions contrary to the knowledge of God.

There is a strange and reversible phenomenon in the relationship between words and thoughts. The phenomenon is this, while words create thoughts, it is also true that thoughts create words! In view of the latter fact, that thoughts create words, Proverbs 18:21a) states that “the tongue has the power of life and death.” Romans 10:9-10 [That if you confess with your mouth that “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”] These verses connect the thoughts believed in the heart and the words confessed by the mouth, as the means of salvation. This is a verification of the statement in Proverbs 18:21 that “the tongue has the power of life.” Obviously, from Proverbs 18:21, the opposite is also true. That is, when the thoughts believed in the mind, or heart are in harmony with the lies of Satan, the confession of these thoughts, by means of words, have the power to produce death.

Whose tongue speaks with the power to bring life? In John 6:63, Jesus said, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” In John 6:67-68, Jesus asked the twelve, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” The words of the Triune God have the power to bring life!

Whose tongue speaks with the power to bring death? Satan entered Eden as a speaking serpent, and he entered into a conversation with Eve (Genesis 3:1-7). God had already established his will by the giving of his word concerning the tree in the midst of the garden (Genesis 2:16-17). “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” This was a warning for the protection of human life in the Garden of Eden. However, in the conversation that the serpent had with Eve, he contradicted the word that had been given by God to Adam. It is evident that the power of death was in the tongue of Satan. James 1:14-15 clearly states the process by which one may progress toward death. As a result of the acceptance of Satan’s lie by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, death came into their lives that day!

Now with the understanding that there is a war between God and Satan, and that this war is being fought on the turf of the human mind, let us consider the life of Job as described in Job 1-2, and 42. Let’s allow the word of God to speak for itself: Job 1:6-12 “One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. In Job 1:13-19 four tragic incidents occurred in the lives of the people in relationship to Job. In Job 1:20-22 we read, “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship, and said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”

In Job 2:1-10 we read: “On another day, the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. And the LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all of this, Job did not sin in what he said.

After having passed through all the difficult things that took place in his life, Job assesses the change that came in his life because of the trials through which he passed, by saying to God, “My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you, therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6). Then it is said of Job, “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first!” (Job 42:12).

The simple conclusion to be drawn from this biblical record of the conversation between God and Satan with respect to the life of Job is this: Job, in the face of trouble, continued to align himself with the words of God, rather than the words of Satan, hence he filled his mind with thoughts that were in harmony with the words spoken by God. Then Job, from the thoughts of his mind, confessed with the words of his mouth, truth concerning the deepening relationship that he was experiencing with God. His wife, on the other hand, aligned herself with the words of Satan, and spoke negatively from the lying thoughts that had become lodged in her mind. If she had been passing through similar difficulties, she would have cursed God and died! Again, listen to the words of Proverbs 18:21a) “The tongue has the power of life and death.” The truth of this text is certainly illustrated by the record of the life of Job.

The Church Planted at Thessalonica was sustained in the midst of Severe Persecution by its Faith in the Lord!
The church at Thessalonica came into being through the ministry of the Apostle Paul during his second missionary journey (Acts 17:1-10). According to Acts 16:40, 17:1: “After Paul and Silas came out of the Philippian prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.” According to Acts 17:14, at some point Timothy came to assist in the ministry at Thessalonica and Berea (1 Thessalonians 1:1; 3:1-6). A persecution came against Paul and his team at Thessalonica, so the newly converted brethren assisted Paul and Silas to escape by night to Berea (17:10). Then, when Jews of Thessalonica came to Berea to continue their persecution by agitating the crowds there (17:13), Paul was taken to Athens (17:14-15), while Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. After a time in Athens, Paul went to Corinth where he planted a church during the next year and a half (18:1-11). The plan was that Silas and Timothy would come from Berea and join Paul at Athens as soon as possible (Acts 17:15). Acts 18:5 states that finally, “Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, and joined Paul at Corinth. Paul may have left Athens for Corinth sooner than originally planned, so Silas and Timothy likely bypassed Athens and went directly to Corinth. It is generally accepted that Paul wrote the epistle of 1 Thessalonians and sent it to the church at Thessalonica from Corinth between 49 and 54 A.D. Prior to writing this letter, Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to strengthen and encourage the believers in their faith (1 Thessalonians 3:1-10). Following Timothy’s visit to Thessalonica, he returned to Corinth, and gave Paul a report of the condition of the church at Thessalonica. Galatians may have been the only letter written by Paul prior to the writing of 1 Thessalonians.

In reading the book of Acts, it is important to remember that Luke wrote this historical record. So when he uses the pronouns, we and us, it indicates that he was with Paul and his team (Acts 16:9-13). While the use of the pronouns, they and them indicate that Luke was not with Paul and his team (Acts 17:1-4).

Acts 17:2-3 (as well as Acts 13:4-5; 14:1; 18:1-4; 19:8-10) indicate a pattern of ministry generally followed by the Apostle Paul as he went to Gentile cities to plant churches. Romans 1:16 states Paul’s priority of ministry in these words, “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek (or the Gentile).” Most Jewish people of that time believed in the coming of a Messiah (or Christ). Paul’s approach in presenting the gospel to the Jews was as follows: He used the Old Testament Scriptures to give a picture of Israel’s promised Messiah. Acts 17:3a) outlines Paul’s pattern of teaching in the Synagogue: “Explaining and proving (from the Old Testament Scriptures) that the Christ had to suffer and rise from dead.” Peter, in his writing, said, “The prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently, trying to find out the time and circumstances when they predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.” (1 Peter 1:10-11). Peter’s statement clearly includes predictions of the suffering and glories of the Messiah. In addition to the statements of Paul and of Peter, Jesus himself, when speaking to two disciples on the road to Emmaus, said, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” (Luke 24:25-26). However, the Jewish people did not expect the coming of a suffering Messiah, but the coming of one who would have power and glory. When the Israelites read the predictions about suffering, they applied such words to themselves, and upon reading the predictions that spoke of one coming with power and glory, they applied such prophecies to their anticipated Messiah.

For this reason, Paul focused on the prophecies about suffering as applicable to the Messiah, and not to Israel. Isaiah 53 would be one such example of the predicted sufferings of the Messiah. It is likely that Paul took at least two Sabbath days to portray the Messiah as one who would suffer, die and be raised from the dead. Then on the third Sabbath day, or a portion of it, he would give them a picture of Jesus, as one who had suffered, died and been raised from the dead. He would then conclude by stating “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ (the Messiah)” (17:3b). In this way Paul clearly stated that the Messiah of Old Testament prophecies was identical with the Jesus who had suffered and died, hence Jesus was the Christ, now risen from the dead!

Acts 17:4: Paul’s presentation of Jesus as the Christ resulted in some of the Jews coming to believe, as well as a large number of God-fearing Greeks (Jewish proselytes such as the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:26-38), and many prominent women. However, many Jews, reacted to Paul, and rejected the message that he preached. Then they began to persecute Paul and Silas, and the new believers in Jesus as the Messiah who had already come. (17:5-9).

Acts 17:1-10 seems to indicate that Paul’s ministry, in the founding of the church at Thessalonica, was during a short three to four week period of time. Paul likely intended to continue ministry in Thessalonica, but it ended abruptly because of the persecution that came against Silas and himself, and the company of new believers in that city. As a result of the persecution, the new believers, under the cover of darkness, sent Paul and Silas to Berea. The words, “On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue,” indicate that the pattern of ministry used in so many Gentile cities was also followed in Berea. The Bereans are commended by Paul as being more noble in character than those in Thessalonians in that “they received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11).

How is it that the church in Thessalonica was such a strong healthy church?

Expositing 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 and commenting on chapter 2:1-20 and chapter 3:1-10. (Quotations are from the New International Version). Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Commentary states: “First Thessalonians gives us an intimate introduction of how Paul mentored young believers. As this epistle demonstrates, his teaching for young converts was rich in doctrine and application, accurately describing salvation in its full dimensions.”

“Paul and Silas and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and Peace to you (1:1).”
The inclusion of the names of Silas and Timothy along with Paul’s name, indicates that while Paul was writing this letter, he was writing it on behalf of his team of gifted ministers. In the King James Version of the English bible, the words, we, our, and us appear 133 times in the two letters that Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica. The use of such plural pronouns indicate that leadership in the Church is not to be centered in one person, but in a team of gifted leaders. Such team leadership is portrayed in the writings of Paul in Ephesians 4:11 as he wrote of Christ’s ministry gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers given to the church.

The greeting of “grace and peace” from Paul, Silas and Timothy to the church at Thessalonica combines the Greek and Hebrew salutations! Undoubtedly this was because the church at Thessalonica was composed of both Jews and Greeks according to Acts 17:4. It is important that we recognize that the Church, the Body of Christ was and is to be a multi-cultural body (Galatians 3:26-28).

“We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers (1:2).”
It is easy to speak words of thanksgiving “for all of you,” but are we really thankful for every believer? Some members of a church can be very difficult, are we really thankful for such members? We need to be thankful, even for those with whom we have relational difficulties. Such relationships can be the means by which we progress toward greater maturity, as we work through relational difficulties. On the backdrop of such thankfulness, Paul speaks of their corporate prayers for these believers. It is true that prayer is essential in the development of a healthy church!

“We continually remember before our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ (1:3).”
This verse contains the common expression used by Paul in his writings, namely that of faith, love and hope. The most common use of these words is found in 1 Corinthians 13:13 “Now these three remain: faith, hope and love.”

Comments on 1 Thessalonians 2:1-20 and 3:1-10. In spite of the persecution that came so suddenly to this newly planted church, Paul stated that the visit of the ministry team to Thessalonica was not a failure. [2:1 “You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure.”] It was evident that the persecution was a continuation of the suffering that had been inflicted upon them at Philippi. [2:2 “We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition.”] Nor was the suffering that came to them a result of unwise practices of the ministry team. [2:3-6 “For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed---God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.”] The sharing of the gospel by this ministry team was motivated by a deep love for those to whom they ministered, much like the love of a mother caring for her little children. [2:6-9 “As apostles of Christ we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.”]
Or like that of a father dealing with his own children. [2:10-12 “You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”] The reception of the Word of God by these believers was based on a genuine faith that recognized the divine nature of the message shared by these servants of God. [2:13-16 “And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.”] The cruel nature of persecution is rooted in the demonic, without consideration of the hurt that occurs as people are torn from one another through persecution. [2:17-18 “But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you---certainly I, Paul, did, again and again---but Satan stopped us.”] But the perseverance expressed by Paul’s repeated attempts at reconnecting to these believers at Thessalonica is certainly evidence of his love for them. [2:19-20 “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.”]

In view of his inability to return to them, the team decides to send Timothy to the church in Thessalonica (3:1-10), for the purpose of strengthening their faith. It is worthy of note, that the focus of this ministry team concerning these believers was not upon the problem of the persecution, but upon the enduring power possible through faith. We must never focus exclusively upon problems, and the resultant pain, but upon God’s solution, and the salvation that he can bring! When Timothy returned from being in Thessalonica, he brought good news about the faith of these believers! That good news was an encouragement to Paul and his team of workers in their own “distress and persecutions.”

At some point following Timothy’s return, Paul, in the process of time wrote two letters addressed to them as 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. These two epistles are rich in spiritual truth and inspiration, while the two epistles to the Corinthian church were corrective in nature. There is a stark contrast between the letters written to the churches at Thessalonica and Corinth.

In a concluding word, I think that the church at Thessalonica was healthy because it was planted by a healthy ministry team, and it was continually nurtured by a caring, committed team of gifted ministers, who whether present or absent, still found ways to strengthen these believers in their faith and love (3:6).

Consider the use of these terms in the writings of Paul in their chronological order:
1. AD 50 Paul wrote to the church at Thessalonica: 1 Thessalonians 1:3 (KJV) “Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ …” 5:8 (KJV) “But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.”
2. AD 55 Paul wrote to the church at Corinth: 1 Corinthians 13:13
3. AD 55-56 Paul wrote to the church at Rome: Romans 5:1-6 “faith - hope - love”
4. AD 62 Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus: Ephesians 1:15-19 “your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints - that you might know the hope of his calling …”
5. AD 62 Paul wrote to the church at Colosse: Colossians 1:3-5 “your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love to all the saints - for the hope which is laid up for you …”

Let us compare 1 Thessalonians 1:3 with 1:9-10 “[They tell how the Thessalonians turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead---Jesus who rescued us from coming wrath].”
The “work produced by faith” involved “turning to God from idols.” This took place in the believers’ lives at Thessalonica when Paul preached the gospel there. Acts 17:1-10.
The “labor prompted by love” involved “serving the living and true God,” as they served Paul and Silas by safely escorting them to Berea as the persecution endangered their lives. (Acts17:10).
The “endurance inspired by hope” involved “waiting for God’s Son from heaven,” as in the Second Coming of Christ!

[1:4-8 “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia---your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us.”]

The Message makes a Model of the one who believes, and then the Model makes the Message effective! Verse 4: [“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you.” “God is love (1 John 4:8).”]
The message is perfect, because it begins with a perfect God! It begins with the God who is love! So verse 4 speaks of “brethren beloved.” The people are loved (John 3:16). It is God’s love by which he has chosen us to be in His family! Someone said it this way: As a sinner, one sees a gate, and over the gate are these words, “Whosoever Will May Come.” As we read this invitation, we respond by passing through the gate, and then looking back upon the gate from the inside, we read these words, “I have chosen you from before the creation of the world.” In Jeremiah 31:3 the Lord said, Yes, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.” My response to the words on the gate, “Whosoever Will May Come,” is rooted in his love, and its drawing power upon me!

Verse 5: [“Because our gospel came to you, not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.”]
The words, “Whosoever Will May Come,” is at the very heart of the gospel! The good news is that there is a universal invitation to receive God’s love and enter into God’s family, the Church. As Saul of Tarsus encountered the Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus, it was a Spirit empowered word that came to him and transformed his life! So Paul’s life became a model portraying the transformation that God’s message could bring to the life of anyone who would believe the message and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Paul wrote about the gospel as a message being modeled by him. Paul says, “You know what manner of men we were among you for your sakes.” The model of Paul’s life made his message effective in transforming the lives of others who received it.

Verse 6: [“You became imitators of us and of the Lord, in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with joy given by the Holy Spirit.”]
The Thessalonians believed and received Jesus Christ as Savior, and their lives were transformed in a manner similar to Paul’s transformation. The word was received in a time of persecution, nevertheless, the power to transform their lives was effective because that power was resident in the Holy Spirit.

Verse 7: [“And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.”]
Now, these Thessalonian believers became models of the message for all the people in Macedonia and Achaia to view. These two provinces of Greece, one in the north, and the other in the south, represented all of Greece.

Verse 8: [“The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia---your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it.”]
The Thessalonian believers, not only believed the message delivered to them by Paul, but they were totally transformed by that message! So they became models of that message. Hence, there sounded out from their lives, the word of the Lord. The word, “sounded,” is used to describe the clear sound of a trumpet, or a loud clap of thunder. Simply stated, there was a very clear, powerful communication of the gospel through the transformed lives of these believers at Thessalonica. “Your faith in God has become known everywhere.”

The concluding statement that I wish to make in summing up 1 Thessalonians 1:4-8 is simply this: The message, having originated with our God of Love, when received by repentant believing sinners, they were transformed into living models of the gospel. Then as these transformed believers trumpeted out the gospel on the backdrop of the model of their lives, the message became effective by continuing to transform the lives of other repentant believing sinners! It is in this manner that the gospel was spread far and wide throughout the world of that day!

Expositing 1 Thessalonians 2:1-20
Verses 1-2: [“You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition.”]
Paul and his team had come from Philippi in Macedonia to Thessalonica, also a city in Macedonia. Acts 16:11-40 describes the ministry of Paul and Silas at Philippi. In the Acts historical record, as well as in the Thessalonian letter, we have a record of the persecution experienced by Paul and Silas at Phillipi . However, the persecution at Philippi, did not prevent Paul and his team from presenting the gospel at Thessalonica, even in the face of the strong opposition.

Verses 3-4: [“For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts.”]
The exhortation, or encouragement made by Paul as the Thessalonians respond to the gospel by receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, was not made because of any ulterior motive on the part of Paul. But rather, Paul’s encouragement was made so that spiritual benefit might come to the Thessalonians as they believed the gospel of Christ. Paul’s presentation of the gospel was not with a desire to please men, but to please God!

Verses 5-6: [“You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed---God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.”]
Paul continues to emphasize that his ministry among them was not for his personal benefit. Paul did not covet anything of material gain, or fleshly glory from them.

Verses 7-8: [“But we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.”]
Paul uses the picture of a nursing-mother. As one thinks of a mother nursing her new born child, two characteristics that come to mind, one is her gentleness, and the second is how she places priority on meeting the needs of the child over her own personal needs. A nursing-mother is very gentle as she holds the new born and nurses the child upon her breast. Furthermore, the nursing-mother is willing to be available any hour of the day or night in order to meet the needs of the child. All of this pictures Paul’s ministry to those who were new born believers at Thessalonica.

Verses 9-12: [ “Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship, we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”] These verses portray the unselfish abandonment of Paul as he gave himself to serve these new believers.

In verse 9: [“Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship, we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you.” Paul spoke of his “labor and travail” or “toil and hardship.”]
The Greek word for “labor” (2873), indicates a labor that reduces one’s strength. I remember a ministry situation where I experienced a reduction of my strength. After this situation passed, I was able to discern the reason for my reduction of strength. There were spirits of darkness at work seeking to reduce my level of faith, thus rendering my effort ineffective. I believe that when our labor brings good results, it is because of faith in God. Hence our strength is renewed through the presence of faith. It is my judgment that faith, its absence or presence determines whether our strength is being reduced or renewed! The Greek word for “travail” (3449), indicates a sadness or painfulness. When our labor is visibly ineffective, there is a sadness or painfulness that we experience. Even in the face of such “labor and travail,” Paul persevered in preaching the gospel at Thessalonica, and he did so at great personal expense.

Verse 10: [“You are witnesses, and so is God, how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed.”] According to verse 10, God, and all of the new believers at Thessalonica were witnesses of Paul’s manner of life as he ministered there. He speaks of “how … we behaved ourselves.” These three adverbs, holily (piously), justly (righteously), and unblameably (blamelessly) modify or describe Paul’s behavior.

Verses 11-12: [“For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”]
In these verses Paul speaks of his ministry among these new born believers “as a father” with “his children.” The image of a father in these verses stands in sharp contrast to the image of a nursing-mother in verses 7-8. There is firmness in the words of a father as he encourages and urges the child to live worthy of God.

The images of a mother and a father are both needed to provide the care required in the development of spiritual children. The different types of care provided by a mother and father may be brought to children by the difference in a woman and a man, or by different gifts resident in either a woman or a man. It is evident that Paul, though a man was both a mother and a father to these new born children at Thessalonica as different gifts were expressed through his life. However, God often uses a husband and wife to minister as a spiritual father and mother in the family of the church.

Verse 13: [“And we thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe.”] Paul gives thanks to God that the faith expressed by these new believers at Thessalonica was a faith that went beyond believing in the human vessel, to believing in God as the divine source of the truth preached by Paul. The word that Paul preached was powerfully active in the lives of these believers because of their faith in that divine word!

Verse 14: [“For you, brothers, became imitators of God’s churches in Judaea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews.”]
Whether in Judaea or in Thessalonica, whether Jews or Gentiles, when people receive the word of God by faith, God works a miracle in the life. However, those who refuse to receive the word of God by faith react against those who receive it, whether in Judaea or in Macedonia. As a result of refusal to receive the word of God, persecution followed.

Verses 17-18: [“But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you----certainly I, Paul, did, again and again---but Satan stopped us.”]
The abrupt conclusion of Paul’s physical presence in Thessalonica was a difficult thing for him to accept. Even though Paul was taken from them, he continued to hold the believers in Thessalonica in his heart. It seems evident from his letter, that Paul made an effort to return to Thessalonica on at least two separate occasions, and Paul said, “But Satan stopped us.” Paul certainly expresses a deep pastoral love toward these believers!

Verses 19-20: [“For what is our hope, or joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.”]
The crown seems to allude to the garland of victory awarded to winners in the sports games of that time. Should that be so, it becomes a picture of the rewards to be given out at the Judgment Seat of Christ. Paul thought of these believers “in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming” as a part of the company of redeemed believers that would result in his receiving a crown for the faithful service that he had rendered in winning them to faith in Christ.

Expositing 1 Thessalonians 3:1-5 – Work of Faith (part 1)
Verses 1-2: [ “So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves at Athens. We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God’s fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith.”]
Paul had a father/mother heart for the new born believers at Thessalonica. It was for this reason that a corporate decision was made to send Timothy to them. Paul was willing to forego Timothy’s presence with him for the sake of the encouragement and strength that Timothy might bring to their faith in their time of persecution. This sacrifice by Paul for his spiritual children is an evidence of the genuine father/mother heart possessed by him.

Verses 3-5: [“So that no one would be unsettled by these trials, you know quite well that we were destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you, and our efforts might have been useless.”]
Undoubtedly, Paul was concerned that the persecution that required him to leave them abruptly might prove to be too great a trial for them in their new found faith, therefore he released Timothy to go to Thessalonica to be with them. Paul, while he was with them, taught them that true believers are destined to suffer persecution. Timothy is addressed as Paul’s spiritual son in the faith, and there are two letters written by Paul to him, namely the letters of 1 and 2 Timothy. Paul repeatedly addressed the matter of persecution with Timothy in these letters. In 2 Timothy 3:12, Paul said: “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Many, many believers have been called upon to suffer great persecution during the 20th century, and there is no indication that such persecution will lessen in this 21st century. In order to successfully face such persecution there needs to be a strengthening of faith. Great persecution was experienced by the Church during its’ first three hundred years of existence. All of the original eleven apostles of Christ suffered martyrdom, except the Apostle John. History tells us that he was miraculously delivered from great persecution, and was finally exiled to the Isle of Patmos (Revelation 1:9).

For the Church to overcome the persecution being brought against it, there must be a strengthening of faith. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17).” We must have God and His word as our continual focus. Church leaders need to preach the Word, and all believers need to read and study the Word daily!

So let us turn our attention to the Word of God for the strengthening of our faith!
Romans 1:5-6 [“Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. And you [in Rome] also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.”]
Paul speaks of his call to apostleship to bring about obedience to faith among all nations, including those in Rome at the very center of the Roman Empire.

Romans 1:8-12 [“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times, and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong---that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”]
Paul thanks God for the believers at Rome, and the fact that their faith is spoken of throughout the world. Paul speaks of the mutual faith that he shared with the Roman believers, and the encouragement that they shared by that common faith. As fellow believers, we need to share our faith experiences with one another. As we share these faith experiences with one another, our mutual faith will be strengthened!

Romans 4, highlights Abraham and his faith experiences. In verse 3 Paul states that “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” Verse 5 refers to Abraham’s faith in these words: “But to him that … believeth on Him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Verses 16-17 state: “Therefore it (justification) is of faith, that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed … which is of the faith of Abraham … As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God, who makes alive the dead, and calls those things which be not as though they were.” Now these words in Romans 4:17 are of great importance in the strengthening of our faith. God is to be the SOURCE and OBJECT of one’s faith! Ephesians 2:8 states, “For by grace are you saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Faith is a gift from God. God is the source of one’s faith! Acts 27 is the story of Paul’s faith in the midst of a severe storm as he went from Caesarea to Rome. Verse 25 is Paul’s testimony after having an encounter with God during a time of prayer: “Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer, for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.” Undoubtedly, God was the source of Paul’s faith as God said, “Fear not, Paul, thou must be brought before Caesar, and lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee (27:24).” But God was also the object of Paul’s faith as he said, “I believe God.”

Faith is seeing, “those things which be not as though they were.” We can apply these words to the experience of Paul in the storm en route to Rome. We can apply it to the forthcoming birth of Isaac, even though Abraham and Sarah were incapable of bearing children at that point in their lives. Listen to Romans 4:18-21: Abraham, “who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.” Faith is not based on what we see, but on what God says! Verses 19-20 clearly reveal that Abraham’s faith was strong because he refused to focus on the impossibility revealed by what he saw in their aged bodies. He chose to focus on the promise of God, and the possibilities contained in that promise. As a result of his focus on the promise of God, he was able to give glory to God as he anticipated the fulfillment of the promise! Verse 21 is a powerful expression of what faith is: Faith is “being fully persuaded that what God has promised, he is able also to perform.”

In these verses that we have considered from Romans chapter four, there are two significant words written, the words are hope and faith. Walter Rusnell, an excellent Canadian Bible Teacher, and an acquaintance of mine, has made some very significant statements concerning the contrast of hope and faith. He said, “Hope believes that something will happen in the future, while faith believes it has happened, and is now happening. Hope is one of the three eternal principles (faith, hope and love). Hope has a tremendous ability to purify and make ready. However, hope has no power to make something come to pass. Faith is the power that brings things into being in the realm of the spirit right now! If faith is not exercised, the thing will not come into being.”

Then Walter Rusnell continued by saying, “The force of faith rules in the physical realm.” Then he illustrated this fact by highlighting certain statements from Hebrews 11:
Verse 5: “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death.”
Verses 11-12: “Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed …”
Verses 20-21: “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob & Esau - Jacob blessed both sons of Joseph”
Verse 29: “By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land …”
Verse 30: “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down …”
Verse 31: “By faith the harlot Rahab perished not …”
Verses 33-38: “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, Women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection, They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.”

Mustard Seed Faith
There is another principle operative in the realm of faith, namely this, faith, like any muscle in a human body, is strengthen by continual use. This is the significance of Matthew 17:20 “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” There are two essential comparisons between a mustard seed and faith! Though faith, like a mustard seed may be very small (Matthew 13:31-32: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed … though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants …”) it has the ability to grow! Our faith may start very small, but by continual use, our faith grows because of the God-factor! The God-factor comes about because of our faith in God’s ability to perform impossible things in and through our lives!

Most everything in which we have been involved at Westside Family Fellowship in Prince George, Canada, has begun as mustard seed faith. After our initial mortgage was paid off for the purchase of the land and building in which our church meets, it was determined that we would never involve debt as a means of further expansion. During the past 25 years we have purchased additional land and expanded our building at five different times without involving debt! All of this was possible because of mustard seed faith

BUT THERE ARE TWO OTHER SIGNIFICANT DEVELOPMENTS CONNECTED TO WESTSIDE FAMILY FELLOWSHIP AS A RESULT OF MUSTARD SEED FAITH, here is the first story …
It was in the early 1990’s and there was a pastoral concern as to how the children and youth of Westside Family Fellowship might develop a greater concern for the needs of Missions in the Third World. How could this younger generation become gripped by the spiritual and material needs of the children and youth that lived half-a-world away?

A plan was proposed to collect cans and bottles of all sorts, and return them for refund, and thereby collect funds together that could be used to finance Mission Projects! After one year we raised $10,000. and a project was selected in Kenya, East Africa. Through the channel of World Vision, Pastor Paul Ndung’u and his people in East Africa were provided with three large water catchments. These water catchments provided for the retaining of water caught during the rainy season for use in the seasons of severe drought.

After this project was completed, contact was made with Hope International, and an offer was made to them by us for the raising of funds for a Third World Project under their supervision. However, this time, after the raising of the funds, we would go with a group of our own young adults and construct the proposed project. Hope International agreed to select a Third World country in which such a project might be done. In the early fall of 1994, a representative of Hope International came to Westside Family Fellowship, and met with our group of adults as they outlined the project, and revealed the country in which the project would be done. We learned that we were scheduled to build a classroom on a cross-cultural school in the city of Kandy, in the nation of Sri Lanka in November, 1994.

We boarded our plane in Vancouver, BC for Sri Lanka on November 1, 1994. We had an adult team composed of John and Elsie Giesbrecht, George McDonald, Kevin Hudson, David Pope Jr., Elaine Bargy, Jodi Westfall, Rod Walker, Darrell Beck and myself along with Hope International Project Directors, Fred and Irene Apon from Edmonton, Alberta. As we boarded our plane in Singapore for the last part of our journey to Sri Lanka, I was seated by an Asian man. As we became involved in conversation, it was soon evident that we were both believers in the Lord Jesus. As we continued our conversation, I thought of the letter that my Sri Lankan friend, David Rathnum, from Abbotsford, BC had given me. It was a letter of reference addressed to two different pastors in Sri Lanka, one in Colombo, and the other in Kandy. So taking the letter out of my case, I asked my new acquaintance to read the letter. Upon reading the letter, he spoke to me of the church mentioned in the letter, “That’s the church that I attend in Colombo.” At that point, I thought, “Could it be that God had a plan for my life and ministry in Sri Lanka to which we were traveling?”

Today, almost fifteen years later, I have made ten Mission Ministry Trips to the nation of Sri Lanka. I have preached in a great number of their churches, participated in 35 Leadership Conferences at many different locations throughout the rural and remote regions of Sri Lanka with about 3,000 registrants at these conferences! As recently as March, 2009 we had 1,000 leaders in this year’s conferences! For all of this, we give praise and thanksgiving to God! That which started with the picking up of a pop can, has now escalated into a Missions Ministry that touches an entire nation! This is the power of mustard seed faith! How can such a multiplication take place? The answer is very simple, yet beyond our natural comprehension! The difference in size between the point of beginning in 1994 and the present point of escalation in 2009, can be summed up in two words---BUT GOD! The difference in size is the GOD-FACTOR!

THE SECOND STORY IS ABOUT EMMAUS PLACE SOCIETY ….
Its the story of the commencement and development of Emmaus House, a seniors supportive housing unit located in the city of Prince George, Canada. It is not about a building and its development, or the beautification of the land surrounding the residence for the housing of senior citizens of our community … It was and is about the growth of a seed faith involving a few thousand dollars to a facility to house seniors that is valued today at a few hundred thousand dollars! What a mustard seed faith story this is!

This unfolding story started in the early 1990’s in the heart of Arlo A. Johnson when he was senior pastor of Westside Family Fellowship in Prince George. It started as a desire to create a non-profit society in the community of Prince George, Canada that would meet some social need in the lives of individuals whether they were churched, or non-churched. As a result of this vision, nine individuals responded to a need by giving upwards to $4,000. each, to fund the establishment of Emmaus Place Society. Their response resulted in the collecting of approximately $35,000. Emmaus Place was registered as a non-profit society with the ability to issue charitable receipts.

Initially, 160 acres of land was purchased in the Prince George region. The asking price for the property was $120,000. With limited funds, an approach was made to a local business man who owned this property. As a result of the negotiations with him, an agreement was made to purchase the property for a cash payment of $50,000. plus, the issuance of a charitable receipt for $70,000. Attempts were made to establish a portable sawmill on the property as a means of training teen boys from single parent families in sawmilling. But when application was made to the Municipal Council for a permit to operate the mill on the property, a permit was denied.

Now what was to be done? While waiting for further direction, it was decided not to actively seek to sell the property. However, in the course of time, a would-be-purchaser made an offer that could not be refused. The sale resulted in a 290% increase in the society’s capital funds. Another 80 acres of land was purchased for approximately $40,000. and the balance of the funds were invested. Various plans were considered for the development of the newly purchased land, all to no avail.

It was in 2001 when a senior member of a church congregation approached Emmaus Place Society with a proposal that her residential property be leased for a senior supportive housing unit. Through negotiations, an agreement was reached for the leasing of her property. The Seniors Supportive Housing Unit was opened February 1, 2002.

We named the senior supportive housing unit, Emmaus House. A Christian lady was hired as the manager of Emmaus House. The next two and one-half years provided opportunities in learning to care for seniors. As we overcome such challenges, final preparations were made to purchase the property.

In the process of final negotiations we realized that we were faced with a dilemma. We had sufficient funds for a down payment, and a mortgage was available to us, however we didn’t have enough funds for the continued upgrading of the property.

One day it was necessary for me to confirm the residency of a person at Emmaus House with the BC Housing Safer Program. As a result of that phone call, I was put in contact with an Officer of the British Columbia Housing Association who was in a position to allot grants to assist with housing for seniors. That conversation eventually resulted in Emmaus House receiving a BC Housing Grant of $35,000. Now we were in a position to purchase the property, and still have funds to make the desired improvements on our senior housing unit. On December 1, 2004 the property was purchased and from that time major renovations have been, and continue to be made on our seniors’ residence.

However, if we were to complete the renovations of the exterior of the house, as well as the re-shaping of the land contours of the lot, we would need to sell of the 80 acres of land owned by the society. Efforts had been made to sell the property, all to no avail. Then in mid-2006, a new neighbor who had just purchased a nearby residential property, inquired about the possibility of purchasing our 80 acres at the end of Family Place Road. On November 1, 2006, a member of our Board negotiated a very satisfactory sale price for the property that would net us a 40% increase over the purchase price.

With the sale of this property, we proceeded to renovate of the common area of the main floor of Emmaus House including a new set of kitchen cupboards, removal of all the old flooring, replacing the living room with laminate flooring, and dining room, kitchen and hall with vinyl floor covering. We were able to contract the complete renewal of the exterior of the building with a siding that has a fifty year warranty. In addition to these internal and external renovations, we were able to re-shape the land surrounding the residence, and build a network of Allan block walls that greatly beautified the property.

By very careful spending, we were also able to pave of the drive and parking lot of the property as one other major outdoor improvement that needed to be done. It is anticipated that in the near future we will develop a park-like area for the seniors at the rear of the residence. For over one year now, Emmaus House has been completely full with nine/ten permanent residents. You can visit our Website at http://www.emmaushouse.ca/

The spiritual part of this story is still being written! Since February, 2002 many different residents have come to live at Emmaus House. As a result of the atmosphere of Christian love in Emmaus House, and the Word of God that is shared, a number of these residents have come to faith, or a deepened faith in Christ!

Today, Emmaus House property has a value upward to $500,000. and a debt of less than $95,000. At no point during the last seven years would we ever have had faith for $400,000. But with our mustard seed faith, we asked nine men to each contribute $4,000. to Emmaus Place Society. To-day our faith in God has achieved miraculous results! The following saying has become a part of my life: “Even God cannot steer a parked car!” What does this mean concerning the subject of faith? It means that if anyone of us will not venture out and take a step of faith, we will not see the miracles that God might have performed! As Jesus walked on the water of the Sea of Galilee, Peter said to Jesus: “Lord, if that is you, bid me come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come.” Matthew 14:29 states that “when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” You see, you will never walk on the water if you don’t get out of the ship! But negative people will say of Peter’s experience, but he began to sink! Yes he did, but Jesus said that he had a little faith! Those disciples still in the boat had no faith! Which would you rather be, a person with a little faith or one with no faith? I don’t know about you, but for me, I have spent my life stepping out of the ship! Oh, to be sure, like Peter, I have sunk from time to time! But you know, Jesus has faithfully reached out and rescued me when I, like Peter have cried out to him for help!

The following Scriptures portray the power of faith when God is our source!
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it [faith] is the gift of God.”

Galatians 2:16 “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”

Galatians 2:20 “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.”

Philippians 3:9 “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.”

Romans 12:3 “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

Ephesians 3:12 “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.”

Ephesians 6:23 “Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Acts 3:16 “And His name, through faith in His name hath made this man strong, whom you see and know: yes, the faith which is by Him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”

Fear and Faith, are both based on a choice of where we will focus our faith! Luke 8:22-25 Verse 25, “Where is your faith?” In the journey of life, we face a variety of situations, some good, and others not so good. It is in these difficult situations, we have to choose between being overcome by fear, or overcoming fear by faith in God’s Word.

Some, reading these words, may have just passed through a difficult situation, others may be in the midst of one, and still others will be faced with a similar difficult situation in the future of their lives. In John 16, Jesus had been speaking to his disciples about such things as grief, and pain. In John 16:33, Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you might have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

How can the model of Jesus’ faith come into application to my life? “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1. The words, “since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,” refer back to the men and women of faith listed in Hebrews 11. The words, faith and fear do not appear in verse one, but there is an inference of both of them. Fear is the sin that so easily entangles us, while faith is the ability by which we run the race marked out for us. The heroes of faith overcame their fears, and were enabled by their faith to run the race successfully!

How can we develop a stronger faith to overcome fear? “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2. This verse contains two significant statements in answer to this question:
1. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus,” not on the difficult situations of life at this moment. The word, “fix,” means to “look or focus attentively upon.”
2. Jesus is the “author and perfecter of our faith.” Jesus is the originator and completer of faith in the life of the believer. In Philippians 1:6, Paul said, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” What an encouraging, faith building word!

The storms of life have come to Glenna and I in 56 years of pastoral ministry. These very storms have been God’s opportunity to develop and strengthen our faith. The greatest developments in my faith have come when I have heard the inner voice of God’s Spirit calling me to do a specific thing. Then as I have taken steps of faith to obey that inner voice, I have experienced my greatest growth in faith. I believe that this is in harmony with Romans 10:17 where it states, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” The Greek word, rhema is translated, “word,” in the phrase, “word of God.” Rhema is a current word spoken by God into the heart, giving that individual personal direction. It was a rhema word that I heard directing me to establish the Emmaus Place Society. Time has proven that Emmaus Place Society was not just a good idea, it was a God idea. So as I obeyed that word from God, two things occurred. By taking steps of obedience, I experienced the development of my faith! In addition to that, the operation of the non-profit society has brought great blessing to many people, including members of the society’s board, employees involved in the operation of Emmaus House, as well as the seniors who have been blessed by living in the senior supportive housing unit. For all of this we render our thanksgivings to the Lord!

In 1 Thessalonians 1:3 Paul introduces the qualities of faith, love and hope in his writing to these new believers. Expanding upon these three words, Paul wrote of their “work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope.” In the process of this study of Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians, we will consider the matter of faith from 1 Thessalonians 3:1-10; we will consider the matter of love from 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13; 4:9-10; we will consider the matter of hope from 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18; 5:4-11.

Expositing 1 Thessalonians 3:6-10 – Work of Faith (part 2)
1 Thessalonians 3:6-10 [“But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you. Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith. For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord. How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.”]
In these verses, we have several statements about the faith of the believers in the church at Thessalonica:
1. “Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith …”
2. “Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.”
3. “Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.”
Paul, as a spiritual father, expresses his joy as he receives Timothy’s report about them:
1. “Timothy told us that you always have pleasant memories of us, that you long to see us, just as we long to see you.”
2. “For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.”
3. “How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you.”

As a pastor and spiritual father I have had a pastoral ministry in six different church congregations, two of these church congregations actually came into being through my ministry among them. I know, by personal experience, the concern that Paul had for the strengthening of the faith of these believers at Thessalonica. I also know the intimate love that Paul had for these believers that were a part of the newly formed congregation at Thessalonica!

That was A Defining Moment for me! In the mid-1990’s, while still being senior pastor of a church congregation, God began to open doors of opportunity for me to share my pastoral gifting with those who were pastors of their own church congregations. In retrospect, I can now see how God was preparing me to become a spiritual father to spiritual leaders who were younger than me. These opportunities began to come to me in the region of Canada where I lived, and then these opportunities greatly expanded when I went to Sri Lanka during the 1990’s. I will never forget an experience I had in a 2002 Leadership Conference in Sri Lanka. I was praying with pastors, after having taught on spiritual fathering. A Sri Lankan leader said to me, “You have a son in Sri Lanka, and then, through his tears, he asked me this question: “Can I call you Papa?” That was a defining moment for me! It was a divine confirmation of my call to be a spiritual father to pastoral leaders. During the past four consecutive years, 2006 to 2009, I have been privileged to participate in 30 Leadership Conferences in Sri Lanka, with just under 2,500 registrants from a great variety of church denominations and organizations! What a wonderful experience this has been for me to participate in the strengthening the love and faith of the leadership of the Body of Christ in a nation such as Sri Lanka.

Expositing 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13; 4:9-12 – Labor of Love
3:11-13 [“Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.”]
Paul’s deep love for these believers, motivated him to pray that the Lord would make a way for a visit to Thessalonica. Included in that prayer is a request that the Lord would cause their “love to increase and overflow for each other, and for everyone else.” Paul, consistently set out a request for the release of Christian love. In Galatians 6:10 Paul speaks of doing good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household, or family of faith. One of the final commands of Jesus recorded in John 13:35, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.” Verse 13 in the King James (English) Version speaks of “the establishing of the heart in holiness before God.” Holiness is a separation unto the Lord. By holiness we come into a place of intimacy with our God, who is love! Such intimacy with our Lord results in a release of God’s love into our hearts. (Romans 5:5).

4:9-10 [“Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.”]
Verse nine confirms my comment on 1 Thessalonians 3:13, when we separate ourselves unto God (which is holiness), we put ourselves in a place where we can be “taught by God to love each other.” The following words from verse 10, “And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia.” confirms the love that the believers at Thessalonica had for all of the brothers in Macedonia. Even though their love for the Macedonians was a fact, Paul, continued on in verse 10, by saying, “Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.” Though one may practice love, we can still do more and more in the area of increasing our love!

4:11-12 [“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders, so that you will not be dependent on anybody.”] The word love, does not appear in these two verses, yet I see an inference to the “labor of love” (1 Thessalonians 1:3). This labor of love was without violence, and it involved “working with their hands.” Such love motivated work, would win respect, opening the way for the witness of these believers to non-believing outsiders.

Expositing 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 – Patience of Hope (part 1)
It is necessary to understand that the meaning of the word patience, includes two thoughts, one, “patient waiting” and two, “cheerful endurance.” It is one thing to wait with patience, it is quite a different matter to endure difficulty with cheerfulness while waiting patiently! The hope that is in the heart of a believer concerning the Second Coming of Christ is so powerful, that the believer is able to have cheerful endurance while waiting patiently for the Christ’s return.

4:13 [“Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.”]
This verse reveals that there are two groupings of people, those who have hope and those who have no hope. When faced with death, those who have hope, do not grieve like those “who have no hope.” Note, that it does not say that they do not grieve, but they do not grieve like those who do not have hope. Death does separate us from a loved one. But when a loved one, who has faith, dies, we who have faith, but remain alive, grieve because of our loss through death. However, because of a common hope, we know that we will be re-united with our believing loved one again!

4:14-17 [“We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”]
Christ is coming for all believers, for those who have died with faith in Christ, and for those who continue to live with faith until Christ’s comes again.

4:18 [“Therefore encourage each other with these words.”]
We are to use the hope of Christ’s coming as encouragement for one another. Such encouragement is necessary for two reasons: One, we are to encourage one another when believers face difficult times, as in the case of persecution by a non-believing world. Two, we are to encourage one another when believers are tempted and fail to live *holy lives.

* Expositing 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8
As long as I can remember, people have speculated about the time of Christ’s Coming. Hence, Christian believers have taken many different doctrinal positions concerning the time of Christ’s Coming. There are believers in the Body of Christ who say that they have taken one of the following doctrinal positions: Premillennial; Amillennial; Postmillennial; Pre-Trib; Mid-Trib; Post-Trib. There are many other varied positions concerning the Second Coming of Christ. I am not here to enter into a discussion of these different views, but I am here to affirm that the Church, the Body of Christ has agreement on one very important matter, namely this, WE ALL BELIEVE IN THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST, and his future eternal kingdom!

4:1-2 [“Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.”]
Paul instructed these new believers at Thessalonica as to how they should live. The instructions given were according to the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.

4:3-6 [“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality, that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God, and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you.”] [Romans 6:11-14 “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.”]
God’s will for believers is that they should live sanctified, or holy lives. Believers should avoid sexual immorality, each person should exercise discipline in the proper use of the members of one’s own body. As a Christian believer, we must not do wrong or take advantage of another person. Paul warned these believers that such wrong actions will be punished by the Lord.

4:7-8 [“For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject men but God, who gives you the Holy Spirit.”]
These verses summate that which Paul has been saying! In the King James Version, verse 7 says, “For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.” This sums up all that Paul has been saying in verses 1-6. Then in J.B. Phillips translation, The New Testament in Modern English, verse 8 reads this way: “And anyone who makes light of the matter is not making light of a man’s ruling but of God’s command. It is not for nothing that the Spirit, God gives us is called the Holy Spirit.” I think this is a very good translation. When we do not live a holy life by obeying the commands of God, we do not take the commandments of God seriously, hence we are making light of those commands! The power to live a holy life as commanded by God is resident in the Holy Spirit. The Spirit given to us by God, enables us to live a holy life, so “it is not for nothing that the Spirit, God gives us is called the Holy Spirit!”

Now let’s apply this to our lives in view of the Second Coming of Christ. If we will follow the instruction given by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, we will be living in such a way that regardless when Jesus Christ comes a second time, we will be prepared to go with Him. Personally, I do not know a scripture in the New Testament that states that Jesus Christ is coming soon. There are a number of scriptures that teach the manner of Christ’s Second Coming, but none are specific in stating the time or day of His coming. Revelation 22:20 states, “He which testifieth these things saith, SURELY I COME QUICKLY. Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus.” Jesus was the one who testified the things that the Apostle John wrote in the Book of the Revelation. So Jesus said, “Surely I come quickly.” First, Jesus said, “I come.” We have already stated that anyone who believes the New Testament, believes in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Secondly, Jesus said, “I come quickly.” Quickly is an adverb that describes the manner of his coming. Paul speaks in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 of the future resurrection of believers as that which will take place “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.” So the writing of Paul in this passage would be in total agreement with the word, quickly used in Revelation 22:20. What is this saying to us? I believe that it is saying that if we are going to be prepared for the Seconding Coming of Christ, we must prepare in advance. When the Second Coming of Christ occurs, there will be no time to prepare then. The parable of the Ten Virgins in Matthew 25:1-13 communicates a similar message, preparation for the coming of the bridegroom must be made in advance. “Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” I Thessalonians 5:1-3 contain two illustrations, both of which portray the suddenness of the coming of the Lord. First there is the illustration of “a thief in the night,” and the second is that of the sudden coming of “labor pains on a pregnant woman.” It seems to me that these two illustrations are a further confirmation of the need for individual preparation in advance of the Coming of Jesus Christ!

Expositing 1 Thessalonians 5:4-11 – Patience of Hope (part 2)
Throughout the letter of 1 Thessalonians, Paul affirms the spiritual health of these believers by that which he wrote about them: In 1 Thessalonians 1:3 Paul remembers their “work of faith, and labor of love, and patience of hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.” In 1 Thessalonians 1:7 “And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.”
In 1 Thessalonians 1:8 “Your faith in God has become known everywhere.”
In 1 Thessalonians 3:6 “Timothy has just come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love.”
In 1 Thessalonians 4:1 “Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:10 “And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia.”

5:4-5 [“But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.”]
Paul continues to speak of these believers as ones who are of the light and the day. They do not belong to the night, therefore they do not need to be afraid that the day of the Lord’s coming will come upon them as a surprise.

5:6-8 [“So then let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”]
In verse 6a, Paul admonishes them, not to take on the characteristics of those who are of the night. Then in verse 7 he lists two of the characteristics of those who are of the night, one is sleepiness, and the second is drunkenness. Both of these conditions have a dulling affect that prevents one from responding alertly to danger. In verse 6b, Paul continues his admonition with these words: “Let us be alert and self-controlled (NIV).” “Let us watch and be sober (KJV).” If one is to be watchful or alert, you cannot be asleep, or drunk! If one is to be sober so as to see clearly and judge accurately, one cannot be asleep or drunk! Obviously, a drunk man often miscalculates where he is as he drives off the road into a ditch. Why? Because his drunkenness prevents him from seeing clearly and judging accurately! In verse 8 we have this concluding admonition: “But let us, who are of the day, be sober (see clearly and judge accurately) putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.” At the beginning of this letter (1:3) Paul remembers their faith, love and hope. As we near the end of this same letter, Paul calls for the putting on of faith, love and hope. What is the significance of this comparison between the beginning and ending of this letter? While we have faith, love and hope, we are called upon to continue to give our attention to faith, love and hope. Peter says it this way in 2 Peter 1:10 (NIV): “Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure, for if you do these things, you will never fall.”

5:9-11 [“For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”]
For believers, the Coming of the Lord is not a day of wrath to be feared, but a day of salvation that brings hope. For believers, there is no fear, whether we are awake or asleep which means whether we are alive or have died, we will live together with him at the Coming of Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). In verse 11, believers are to encourage one another, and build up each other. Finally he affirms these believers by saying, “Even as also you do.”

The final instructions of Paul’s letter to the believers in the church at Thessalonica:
1. 5:12-13 are words of instruction for followers: [“Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.”]
These verses contain an appeal from Paul to the body of believers at Thessalonica to be in a proper working relationship with their spiritual leaders. It is necessary for believers in general, to respond by following the instruction given to them by their leaders, as the leaders labor among them.
2. 14-15 are words of instruction for leaders: [“And we urge you brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.”]
These verses contain an appeal to spiritual leaders:
i) to warn the unruly, that is those not living in submission to the leaders that God has set over them in Christ’s body.
ii) to comfort the timid, or faint hearted, who are fearful to move forward in their own spiritual life.
iii) to help the weak, those without strength, that is those who seem incapable of taking a stand against the evil one.
iv) to be patient with everyone, that is, give your watchful care wherever it is needed.
Verse 15[“Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.”] Leaders are to work at keeping good relationships between the members of the church. Leaders are not to allow anyone in a church body to pay back wrong for wrong, but are to model kindness one to another, and to everyone else!
Verses 5:16-22: A number of necessary exhortations that make life in Christ better:
V. 16: Be joyful always!
V. 17: Pray continually!
V. 18: Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus!
V. 19: Do not put out the Spirit’s fire!
V. 20: Do not treat prophecies with contempt!
V. 21: Test everything! Hold on to the good!
V. 22: Avoid every kind of evil!
Verses 25-27 Paul makes certain requests of the believers in the church of Thessalonica!
Verses 23-24, 28 is a benedictory prayer: [“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through! May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ! The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it!”]
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you! Amen!

In the final wrap up concerning the matter of faith and fear, let me focus with you on the story of Gideon. In this story we will discover that God took Gideon through two different processes. First, he took him through a series of experiences by which God brought an adjustment to Gideon’s faith. Secondly, he took him through another series of experiences by which God removed fear from the life of Gideon. Finally, by means of an adjusted focus of his faith, and by the removal of fear, Gideon, with just three hundred men entered into a great victory over a formidable enemy!

Let’s walk through the story contained in Judges 6 and 7.
Judges 6:1-6 As the story opens, Israel is in a very difficult situation created by their choice to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. As a result of their disobedience, they came under the power of their enemies, the Midianites, the Amalekites, and other eastern peoples. This resulted in their poverty, and a fear that caused them to hide in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. This oppression finally drove them to cry out to the Lord for deliverance (6:7-10), and God sent a prophet to them to start a process whereby they would be restored to God. As a part of that process, the angel of the LORD came and spoke to Gideon and said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.” Now Gideon didn’t feel like a warrior, or act like a warrior as he, with many others hid in the caves and strongholds of the earth. Gideon expressed his feeling of divine abandonment. The question is, who abandoned who? Israel abandoned God, and then they turned around and accused God of abandoning Israel (6:13).

The LORD said to Gideon, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” At that point, Gideon began to offer the reasons as to why he couldn’t do that (6:15), “My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The very excuses used by Gideon, were the reasons that he was chosen by God to lead in a war against the enemies of Israel. 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 [“Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things---and the things that are not---to nullify the things that are, so that on one may boast before him.”] Then again, “The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.” In Judges 6:27 it says this about Gideon, “he was afraid.” Then it got worse before it got better, for in Judges 6:33 Israel’s enemies, “the Midianites, the Amalekites and other eastern peoples, all joined forces and crossed over Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel.” But in spite of that which seemed so dark, Judges 6:34 states, “Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.” Thirty-two thousand men responded to the trumpet call of Gideon!

Judges 7:2-3 “The LORD said to Gideon, ‘You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into your hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’ So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.” 7:4-7 “But the LORD said to Gideon, ‘There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, ‘Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.’ Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.” The LORD said to Gideon, ‘With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.” By the time God completed this procedure, the faith of Gideon had been adjusted from focusing upon the men that had responded to his trumpet call, to focusing upon the LORD, the captain of the heavenly hosts that would enable Gideon to win the war with just three hundred men!

Judges 7:9-11 “During that night the LORD said to Gideon, ‘Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are still afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” This was the beginning of a process through which God would take Gideon, by which fear would be removed from his life. Judges 7:13-14 is the process by which Gideon was to discover the fear that was in the camp of the enemy. As Gideon arrived at the camp of the enemy, two men were talking. The first man was telling his friend about his dream, he describes a round loaf of barley bread that came tumbling into the Midianite camp. The loaf of bread struck a tent with such force that the tent was overturned and collapsed. Immediately, his friend responded with an interpretation of the dream, he said, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.”

When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he could have had one of two responses, he could have responded with his mind, and said, “That is ridiculous, a loaf of bread cannot cause a tent to be overturned and collapse.” But that was not his response. Judges 7:15 says that Gideon worshipped God! That was an important spiritual response to the revelation of God that came to Gideon because of the conversation that he heard from those two men. In John 4:24, Jesus taught worship of God as being a response of one’s spirit to God!

Now Gideon is ready! His faith has been adjusted, so that it is focused on God and his solution, rather than on Gideon’s army! And there has been a removal of fear from Gideon’s life. Judges 7:15 states that Gideon returned to the camp of the Israelites, and called out, ‘Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands.’ With faith focused, and with fear removed, Gideon and his three hundred men are ready to overcome the Midianite camp!

Regardless of where God has posted you in the world, we all face the challenge to fear, in view of the attack of the enemy upon our lives! But we need to know that since “God is for us,” we do not need to be afraid! On the other hand, we need to realize that it is our enemies that have reason to be afraid! There is a story that comes out of the nation of Sri Lanka that is parallel to the story of Gideon. While, externally we see a lot of persecution of the Sri Lankan Church by its enemies. Nevertheless, I have listed evidence below, that the enemies of the Church in Sri Lanka are filled with fear! And it is out of that fear, that the enemies are coming against the Church! It is from a position of inadequacy and weakness that the enemies of the Church are in attack mode!

Here is the story ….

Glenna and I lived in Sri Lanka for four months in 1999, and it was during that time that I became aware the measure of fear in the hearts of the enemies of the Christian Church. From an extensive article in Sri Lanka’s Island Newspaper, I gathered the following information that confirmed the presence of such fear.

From a copy of the Island Newspaper printed in 1999, it is evident that the enemies of the Church in Sri Lanka are filled with fear that the Christian Church will win over the ancient religion of that land. Listen to these amazing quotes:
1. The message of the true and living God as proclaimed by the Christian Church cannot be overcome.
2. Christianity will rule over a once-famous national heritage religion, that is a foregone conclusion!
3.Korean evangelization enabled the Church to grow, in less than a century, to one-third of its population.
4. A twice war battered Korea simply could not resist the fawning and overtures of Evangelical Christianity.
5. Evangelical Christians oozed with compassion for the sufferings of the Korean people.
6. There are close parallels between the suffering Koreans of mid-20th century and Sri Lanka today.
7. We are in a war-like situation, and the masses of our people feel hopeless and helpless in their present state.
8. Money is pouring into Sri Lanka to further the evangelical agenda within Sri Lanka.
9. And unless the clergy of the ancient religion receives state patronage we have little chance of survival.
10. The vast bulk of our people will take this easy and glamorous Korean route to heaven.
As fear fills the heart of the enemies of the Church, surely this strengthens our faith and removes our fears!

Whether it is the Church of Sri Lanka, or Canada, as we come into a place of love and unity in the Body of Christ with faith and power through our victorious Lord, we shall rise up in faith and overcome fear! We will triumph in our God, and in His kingdom! Amen!

A Brief Overview of Leadership Conf. March, 2009

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April 5, 2009 report on all fifteen Leadership Conferences in Sri Lanka (03-07)Denniyaya with 24 attending; (03-09)Galle 114 attending from 12 different denominations; (03-10)Tissamaharama 125 attending from 2 denominations; (03-11)Rathnapura 87 attending from 16 denominations; (03-12)Kegalle 70 attending from 7 denominations; (03-13)Nawalapitya 50 attending from 6 denominations; (03-14)Hatton 60 attending from 9 denominations; (03-16)Kurunegala 60 attending from 11 denominations; (03-17)Matale 65 attending from 8 denominations; (03-18)Polonnauwa 40 attending from 8 denominations; (03-19)Anuradhapura with 75 attending from 10 denominations; (03-20)Mahiyangana 40 attending from 5 denominations; (03-23)Badulla 55 attending from 17 denominations; (03-24)Ampara 21 attending from 6 denominations; (03-25)Monaragala 25 attending from 3 denominations; (03-26)Lanka Bible College with 76 LBC students and 13 pastors attending; for a grand total of 1,000 leaders ministering in 7 of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka, representing at least 70 different church organizations in the nation of Sri Lanka.

It was in 2003 in a Badulla Conference convened by the Fellowship of Free Churches of Sri Lanka, but opened to leaders of any Christian Organization; 50 leaders from 7 different church organizations came together for a very special time of ministry and fellowship! It was at this conference that God birthed in the heart of Arlo A. Johnson the desire to minister trans-denominationally to the Body of Christ in Sri Lanka. We didn't rush back to do so, but we did commit the matter to considerable prayer.

As a result of the direction of the Lord, in 2006 we returned to Sri Lanka to conduct three conferences of 2-3 days in length with 325 in attendance; in 2007 we returned again to conduct four conferences of 2-3 days in length with 375 in attendance; in 2008 I returned to do one day leadership conferences in eight different locations with 758 in attendance; then in 2009 we returned to do one day leadership conferences in fifteen different locations with 1,000 in attendance. In four years we conducted 30 different conferences with a grand total of 2,458 in attendance from over 70 different church organizations!

What about future ministry in Sri Lanka? We have not heard conclusively from the Lord concerning our future ministry to the leaders of the Christian Church in the nation of Sri Lanka. However, we are waiting upon the Lord! We do have a sense, that there are some changes needed concerning our ministry in that nation. So, if you have been following this ministry, may I suggest to you, that you pray with us for direction. Then if you have any direction from the Lord, please communicate that to me. We have no doubt, there is continued opportunity for us to minister there in Sri Lanka, but there are changes that must come to this future ministry!
Pastor Arlo A. Johnson

March 7-26, 2009

A Father's Point of View: Traveling - March 7-26, 2009

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A Father's Point of View: Traveling to Sri Lanka - March 7-26, 2009 Denniyaya - Pastor Lasantha gathered together 24 leaders for an abbreviated edition of our forthcoming conferences. These were leaders that would not have the opportunity of attending any of the future conferences being planned. It was a very good time together, and I found it helpful to do some of the teachings that I had prepared for the leadership conferences.

Galle - Pastor Rasaka has co-ordinated the conferences here in 2008-09. He is the man that was separated from his wife during the tsunami, but miraculously she was found safe. Galle was one of the hardest hit by the Tsunami, 80 people from Pastor Rasaka's church perished in the flood. Since the tsunami they have had two children born to them, they were newly married just before the tsunami. He is building a new church building on one of Galle's main streets. Pray for the meeting of the financial need for that building.

Tissamaharama - Pastor Ranjit co-ordinated the conferences here in 2007 & 2009. He has faced severe persecution, both he and his young son were beat up by Buddhists about four years ago.He told us at the conference of his need of a motorbike for one of his workers. When speaking with Kristin and Nishanthe, they told us of their desire to sell their bike in view of their coming to Canada, so we made arrangement to purchase the used bike from them for Pastor Ranjit. Today, we phoned him and told him of the plan, and he was so blessed by this provision of the Lord. It met a need for Kristin and Nishanthe as well as for the worker at Tissamaharama.It was at Tissamaharama that we prayed over the location where Pastor Lyonal was murdered on May 25, 1988. Based on Psalm 79:9-13 we are praying that Satan will lose 100's of captives from the kingdom of Satan in the Tissamaharama region. Lyonal's wife, now Pastor Lalonie is leading that same church that her marytred husband founded. She is a very special and godly lady with a true servants heart! It is imperative that we pray for an unusual release of captives from the kingdom of darkness because of the promise of Psalm 79:9-13. Can I count on your intercessory prayer? If you want more information, please contact me.

Rathnapura - Pastor Joel of the Assemblies of God co-ordinated the conference in Rathnapura in both 2008 and 2009. Westside Family Fellowship gave $4000. to assist the church there to build an addition on the building to provide housing for the pastor's family. This year Pastor Joel is traveling with us to translate in ten of our conferences. In that the pastor's living quarters were moved from the main floor to a second level, the church meeting area has been greatly expanded. Pastor Joel is giving himself to minister to his own congregation in Rathnapure, but he is also giving himself to minister to the Body of Christ and its leaders in many different denominations! That is a very noble desire that God has put in his heart. There were 17 different church leaders included in the Rathnapura Conference, and that is evidence of the blessing of the Lord upon the relationships that Pastor Joel has established with the brethren in that area!

Kegalle - Pastor Lucas co-ordinated the conference. This is where Pastor Nimal leads the Light House Church, and it is where we helped him build a house for his family. The heat was very intense at Kegalle, and I also lost my voice, it was about 90 degrees F. in the meeting place. But my voice survived and is doing better. Actually, my teachings on faith and fear were tested in the loss of my voice. But I had to come before the Lord and declare my faith in the Lord, so as to be able to overcome the fear that I had concerning my voice problems. It is a terrible feeling to experience the loss of voice, and the possibility of not being able to communicate that which God has placed upon one's heart. But, God and "fisherman's friend" came through so that I was able to complete my teaching agenda in everyone of the conferences! Praise the Lord, and thank you for your prayers!

Nawalapitya - Pastor Reggie, whom I have known since 1997, co-ordinated the conference in his church building. This is the first conference that we have ever had in this area. It was special for many reasons: We connected to an Italian young man, who married a Sri Lankan. God ministered to them in a very special way, I am sure that we will meet them again. Then we also connected to Harry and Jenny van Burik, a Hollander married to a Sri Lankan. We stayed in their home, and Marlo helped her in her coaching of a basketball team. Of course they would like Marlo to bring some basketball players from Canada and conduct a basketball training camp.
Note: The AOG congregation at Denniyaya took an offering for Pastor Arlo after he ministered to their congregation on Sunday, March 8, 2009. In responding to the Pastor Lasantha, he said, "I do receive this gift, much the way that David received the water that three of his mighty men risk their lives to bring David a drink of water from the well at Bethlehem (2 Samuel 23:14-17). I receive this gift for two reasons: a) So that the believers who have given their money as seed might receive a harvest of money by means of the blessing and prosperity of the Lord Jesus. b) So that I might sow this gift of money into this nation as seed. 2 Corinthians 9:10 tells us that there are two purposes for seed, one purpose is that it might be sown, and the other purpose is that it might become bread for the purpose of eating. I couldn't eat this seed, but I could be guided of the Lord to sow that seed money into the work of the kingdom of God in Sri Lanka. That is exactly what I did! I sowed it into the work of Harry and Jenny van Burik, and you can read the letter I received from them concerning that seed money.

Harry van Burik wrote on behalf of the Pastors Retreat Center: "It was a pleasure hosting you at the Pastors Retreat Center in Meepitiya, Nawalapitiya. We would like to share two wonderful testimonies as a direct result from your short stay with us. This was neither planned by you or us, but by Him who has prepared our steps beforehand (Eph. 2:10)! Seed-money for Pastors Retreat Center, God is already fulfilling your prayers to multiply the seed-money you donated to us on March 13th. Only a few days later, on March 18th, we received a message from a church in the Netherlands that the congregation decided to set aside 50% of the required funds to purchase the building! We didn't make a request for these funds -- it was the Lord who stirred up their hearts to support the Pastors Retreat Center! A special aspect was that this donation was given to you by a church in Sri Lanka, little did they know that this money would be used to serve those who serve. Meanwhile, the owners of the building came to us with an offer, which was an answer to prayer as well. We asked for a copy of the deeds, in order for our lawyer to find out if the deeds are clear, which is the standard legal procedure in Sri Lanka when buying a property. However, they didn't want to give us a copy of the deeds unless we came up with an offer. The problem is that we can't give a definite offer without knowing if the deeds are clear.Although one of the owners had a bit of a proud attitude by saying, 'we can sell the land to whoever we want', he doesn't realize that no-one can hinder the Lord's plans and purposes! We told the owners that they could always come back to us if they changed their minds.We will now wait, pray and see how the Lord is going to unfold His plans. Would you like to pray with us regarding this matter?

Arlo: We do need to pray that this house and property will become available, and that the full amount needed to purchase it will also become available! This is a very wonderful vision that these dear friends have whereby they can serve those who serve that nation with the gospel!

Hatton - Pastor Ebeniezer co-ordinated the conference. We have known him from previous years. The attendance was down considerably from last year, but that didn't lessen the blessing of the Lord. It was a very anointed gathering! It was on Saturday, and I am sure that affected the attendance somewhat. We believe that there were some very powerful impartations of faith made into leaders lives at this conference. I cannot adequately describe the powerful praying that took place following the teaching sessions. In fact, two very powerful prayertimes occurred as people were about to leave the building to go home. But it seemed that God so filled the room that people did not want to leave that atmosphere of blessing! So praise the Lord!

Kurunegala - Pastor Leslie co-ordinated the conference. We assist Pastor Leslie with his living allowance, we send him $100. monthly. Our conference was held in the Assembly of God church that is pastored by a converted Buddhist Monk. This is the second conference held in this location. It is a strong Buddhist area, and we do need to continue to pray for the release of captives from the kingdom of darkness.

Matale - Pastor Charles co-ordinated the conference. I have preached in Matale many times, beginning back in 1994. We do need to pray for the LHC in Matale in that they do not have a pastor at the present. This has resulted in the decline of attendance there. However, they do have a very lovely church facility. Pastor Charles has been involved in both conferences that we have conducted in this area. He phoned to our overall co-ordinator after the conference and spoke of the deep change that God is working in his life personally. So do pray for his ministry.

Polonnauwa is a nice, but very hot area. This was the first time that I have ever been in this area. They expressed their appreciation for the conference in that, they are in a very remote area, and conferences such as this seldom come to the area. The pastor, whose name I cannot spell or pronounce, is a very fine man with a nice young family. There have been some difficulties there with him, he is not guilty, but he and his wife were jailed because of a false accusation. They still face court charges, and our coming there at this time with Pastor Roshan was very providencial. Roshan assisted someone in Badulla with similar charges, so he will be able to get help for him. So pray for him!

Anuradhapura was the most northerly point to which we travelled. It is probably only about 100 kilometers from Jaffna. Again, this was the very first time that I have ever been in this area. We were very warmly received by the seventy-five people that gathered in the Apostolic Church in that region. There was great praise released from the leaders as an expression of their thankfulness to God for the day that we had together! We were invited to return at some future time. Following the conclusion of our teaching we went to the home of the Assembly of God pastor for lunch. It was a very warm area. From there we travelled on to Mahiyangana, after a very thorough investigation at a check point.

Mahiyangana - this was our second visit to this area. It is a very strong Buddhist area, and church leaders are faced with many very difficult challenges. The conference was held in the local Assembly of God church, and the pastor and his wife are doing a superb work in touching the community with "unconditional love." They have a daycare center, and by means of that they are touching many lives! There is a very strong sense of unity and of anointing on the Body of Christ in this region. We expect to become involved in this church and its outreach ministry in the near future! Just pray!

Badulla - this was our fifth conference in this region, and there were leaders from 17 churches in the area. This certainly speaks well of the godly leadership that Pastor Roshan has given to these conferences, not only in the nation as a whole, but also in his own region. We expect many good things to take place in the growth of the churches in this area. Pray especially that the LHC will establish a very strong base so that this congregation will be able to grow both numerically and financially. Remember that the church that shines the brightest at home, shines the furtherest!

Ampara - this is a very depressed area. It was in Ampara that Pastor Neal was murdered at the door of his church in February, 2008. There is a large open field by the church building, and 2,000 people gathered in that open field for the funeral of Pastor Neal, and upwards to 1,500 of those people were pastors from across the nation of Sri Lanka. Pastor Neal's widow has assumed the responsibility of continuing to pastor that congregation. We prayed over the exact location where his blood was shed. Not only was he murdered, but she was left for dead. However, after three weeks she regained consciousness. She suffered several bullet wounds, and one of those bullets lodged in her spine, and it is so close to the spinal cord that it cannot be removed. Based on Psalm 72:14 and 79:9-13 we are calling upon God for the release of many captives still in the kingdom of darkness as revenge against Satan's stealing of the life of Pastor Neal. This is a prayer that must not stop, we must continue to interceed for a great ingathering of the lost to Christ as Savior!

Monaragala - this is probably the poorest area in all of Sri Lanka. Westside Family Fellowship has joined with the Association of Evangelicals of Sri Lanka in financing spiritual and social projects in that region. We expect some very special things will be done to minister to the children of the area. Already there are feeding programs that include 180 that are being fed for five days of each week. Consideration is being given to the developing of programs that will assist in the education of very poor children.

Kandy - we held our very first leadership conference in Kandy at Lanka Bible College. There were seventy-six students plus a few pastors and leaders that participated in this conference.

For further information I (Arlo A. Johnson) can be contacted by e-mail (glennarlo@telus.net), or by phone at 250-964-9600, or by mail at 2805 Calhoun Cres., Prince George, BC V2N 5J8.

Traveling to Sri Lanka - March, 27, 2009

2009-03-04T20:13:00.000-08:00

Marlo and I flew out of Prince George on Tuesday, March 3 at 4:50 pm, arriving in Vancouver at 6 pm. It was a lengthy wait in Vancouver, in that we didn't fly out until 2 am on Cathay Pacific for Hong Kong. En route to Hong Kong, apart from a few hours of sleep on the 13 hours and 40 minutes of flying time, I read 100 pages from a book that I just picked up in Prince George. The book is "The Power to Prevail" by David Foster who founded and pastors a congregation in Nashville, TN. Let me share some of the pointed remarks that he makes in the book: Speaking of the church in North America, he said: "In an attempt to attract men and women back to God and make Jesus more appealing, every Sunday of the year fast-moving discourses focus more on our happiness than our holiness." "Adversity is not an option; it is a fact of life. The fact of adversity is not our real problem, but rather the attitudes we adopt and the choices we make in the face of it. Those choices and attitudes separate those who prevail from those who don't." Throughout the book, he speaks repeatedly of three approaches Christians make to the Christian life; climbing, crawling and coasting. I think that these three words speak volumes to us, without even reading the book! David Foster spoke of his first born daughter and once she learned to crawl, she began climbing up on everything in sight. So in our immaturity, there is a time when it is necessary for us to crawl, but once we conquer crawling, there is something within us that longs to move to higher heights, so we climb! Coasting is probably a trait for those entering the senior phase of life, so those of you who are approaching my age in life, need to check that desire to coast! Then he writes: "God gave us a climbing gear and an ascending spirit in order to prepare us to prevail over adversity." So why should we settle for the prairie plain when there are mountains to be climbed? Again he writes: "Why not look out at life from the summit of a great peak rather than up from a mud hole?" "Both crawlers and coasters waste their lives looking for favorable winds and perfect circumstances. But as George Bernard Shaw said, 'The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find them, they make them.'" "Climbers prevail because they never lose heart. When pushed, they push back - they refuse to relent, retreat, or resign themselves to the way things are. They don't lean on emotions, because they know emotions are fickle and unpredicatable. In contrast, crawlers and coasters live out of their emotions. They see adversity as an unfair hardship. They play victim. They feel sure that the mountain is impassable and its conditions are unbearable, not because they have ever visited the mountain, but because they listen to others who stopped climbing a long time ago. Crawlers look for someone to blame for the way things are. By contrast, climbers accept reality, adjust their attitude, and align their energies to begin taking action based on what is---they don't waste their time blaming God, defaming others, or shaming themselves." "Today is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift to God and to the world around you! Today is the day to begin turning your adversities into your advantage! The moment you see life as a gift from God and trust his plan for your life, things begin to change. The bible makes this promise: "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of live and of self-discipline (2 Tim.1:7 niv)."

Well, as I stop, we are sitting in the Hong Kong Airport waiting for 6:20 pm to arrive so we can make our departure for Colombo. It is 8:45 pm Prince George time as I write, but it is 16 hours later here - 12:15 noon on Wednesday, March 4. We finally arrived in Colombo Airport at 11:50 pm on March 5, 2009. After we completed our 21 days of ministry in Sri Lanka, we were back in the Airport again on Friday, March 26 at 11 pm, and we flew out to Bankok at 1:50 am on Saturday, March 27, 2009. We didn't get off the plane in Bankok, after we continued on to Hong Kong, arriving there about noon (HK time), after about 4 or 5 hours, we boarded our plane for Vancouver, arriving there about 2 pm. We continued on to Prince George, arriving just before 9 pm. It was so good to be able to stand up or lay down after traveling so many hours on different planes! Our deep heart felt thanks is extended to all who made our time in Sri Lanka so special.

Church Growth by Conformity or Transformation?

2009-01-16T08:02:00.000-08:00

The last half of the 20th Century was filled with information concerning CHURCH GROWTH! There was an unending stream of seminars and conferences on this theme! As we move into the 21st Century are we going to create churches by CONFORMITY, or by TRANSFORMATION? It is interesting to note that in almost the same time period, we, in North America moved farther and farther away from an agricultural based society to an industrialized based society. Could there be any connection between the changing picture of the church, and the changing picture of the society in which the church lived?

In the agricultural way of life almost everything begins with a seed, whether it is the smallest farm animal or the great grain harvest. Everything started with a seed! Right? This being so, it means that the ultimate shape and substance of what we possess was determined by the nature contained within the seed. The planting of seed grain in the spring TRANSFORMS the landscape of the great wheat lands into a carpet of green growing grain.

However in the industrial way of life we have a very different start. We begin with a picture of the finished product and we call that picture a blueprint. This is so, whether it is a hair dryer or an automobile, a house, or an aircraft hanger. The blueprint diagrams each part, we make the parts and assemble them, and by doing so we have a finished product that looks just like the picture with which we began. So with the picture in hand, we proceed to make the product by copying that picture step by step. In this way we CONFORM raw materials into a useable product.

There is one very significant consequence of our movement from an agricultural to an industrialized based society. Are you ready for this? Do you know what it is? The industrialized based society produces predictable results whereas in an agriculturally based society, one is never quite sure of the quality or quantity of the end product. Now with my farm background I probably understand this concept better than most city dwellers that live in a highly industrialized area. There are many illustrations that I might take from my experiences on my father's Canadian farm. I will limit myself to my most recent experiences on a rural acreage in Canada near Prince George, British Columbia. A few years ago I planted potatoes in a virgin patch of soil. Guess what? I got big potatoes, and lots of them! However the following year I planted potatoes in the same plot of ground. I used the same kind of seed from a fine local nursery. You guessed it! I got little potatoes and very few of them! Now there are some things predictable in agriculture; if you plant potatoes you won't get carrots. However, you have no absolute guarantee as to how big or how many potatoes will be produced.

Why have we have gone away from the agricultural lifestyle to an industrial life style? In my judgment we like to control the quality and quantity of the products that we desire to acquire. But how, in our industrialized society, do we think we can control the size and number of potatoes? We simply go to the store and buy the size and number of potatoes that are desirable for the given occasion. Timing is also a factor in our industrialized society. When we want potatoes, we want them now. Right?

Do you understand the parable? You may ask, "Now what does this have to do with the growth of the church? I believe that it has a lot to do with how we see the life and the possible growth of the church.

The truth of the matter is that this AGRICULTURAL VS INDUSTRIAL is at the very heart of the kind of church that can be built through us as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our entrance to the 21st Century is accompanied by an unbelievable level of technology. This is the age of almost limitless mechanical production and that is not just in tangible elements of wood, metal and plastics! We are now advancing in our technology as it relates to flesh and blood matters. We have produced DOLLY, the sheep. Dolly is not as her mother and father intended her to be. Dolly is more the product of GENETIC ENGINEERING than she is of any ewe and ram. Now we are on the verge of producing spare body parts for humans. Have you seen the ear that was grown on the back of a mouse? Such control came about by INDUSTRIALIZED TECHNOLOGICAL ENGINEERING. It certainly was not an agriculturally based production, was it?

Who knows, maybe with our industrialization we might even be able to GENETICALLY ENGINEER the church in such a way that we can do away with a great many of the present negative, debilitating traits that are in the lives of people in the church. To what purpose? I really don't know! As you might know I am speaking a bit facetiously!

Are we going to grow the church from a seed? Or are we going to build it according to the picture of another church? Maybe even from another church that was grown from a seed? Or was that other church cloned through an industrialized process? How can we be sure?

If we grow the church from a seed, we will be taking the agricultural approach. Remember that we will not be able to completely predict what that church will look like! Will its worship music be traditional or modern? Or a mixture of both? Will the church be led by deacons or elders? Will the church meet in a specially designed building or in a rented facility? If we grow it from a seed, one thing is predictable; WE WILL HAVE A LIVING ORGANISM. While we cannot predict the size, shape, or number, we can predict that the church will be a living, life-giving organism with the built-in capabilities of multiplying itself!

However, if we take the industrialized approach to the building of the church, the outcome will be more predictable. Why? Because with the industrialized approach we do not begin with a seed, we begin with a picture of the final product. So if this is to be our approach we'll have to do some shopping. What kind of a final product do we want? Let's go shopping in the church catalogue. Let's see the many different pictures portraying the different types of churches. There are pictures in that catalogue that we've never dreamed about in our wildest imagination. It is certain that there are churches in that catalogue that hold absolutely no interest to us. There are churches all the way from the Norman Vincent Peel positive-thinking type churches to the wild-eyed screaming charismatic type. I am sure that the catalogue confuses us somewhat, but finally we settle on a picture. Through attendance at many seminar sessions that, by the way, are included in the purchase price of the picture, we will be enabled to build a predictable church. However, when we finally make it through all the hoops, we will have produced an ORGANIZATION that will further add to the division of the Body of Christ.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that in the industrialized world in which we live there will always be a later model. What do you do then if some church down the street has just acquired that picture with the accompanied seminar package? That requires another whole scenario!

Now I am not sure what kind of applications you have been making as we have been going through this very true-to-life parable. Maybe you are thinking that I am against the many pictures in the church catalogue. If that is what you are thinking, you have made a wrong application of the parable. To be absolutely honest with you, as I see it, the size, shape or the number of these different pictures of the church is none of my business.

That is the responsibility of the Lord of the Church. According to my understanding of Philippians 1:15-18, Paul felt the same way about the various methods that were being used in the building of church in his time. I might add that I do believe that leaders will be held accountable to God for some of the weird formations that are being pawned off on the society as being 'the church.'

You may ask, "Isn't there something to be learned from the experience of others in their approach in building the Church?" The answer to this question is short, just two words long... "THAT DEPENDS." Depends on what? If we look objectively at these various pictures, it is possible that we could gain a SEED OF TRUTH that could be brought back and planted in the spiritual soil of our community. But the temptation will be to go for INSTANT RESULTS by buying the picture and its accompanying procedures. Then following the prescribed procedures, we would reproduce the picture by the prescription INSTANTLY! We will have chosen the industrialized approach, instead of the agricultural approach of growing the church from the seed of the Word of God.

So what is your answer? Do you want to build the church by human conformity or by divine transformation? Shall we take the agricultural approach or the industrialized approach?

Romans 12:1-2 is a challenge given by the Apostle Paul to the believers in the church at Rome. The challenge is to present ourselves to God so as to be transformed rather than conformed. It seems to me that this text clearly reveals to us that the building of the Church is to be done on the agriculturally based model, not on the industrialized based model. So let us hear the words of the Apostle Paul from 1 Corinthians 3:5-7, "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase." According to these words of instruction, let us plant the seed of the Word of God, water that Word with the tears of our prayers, and wait for God to give us the increase!

During the week of January 9, 2000 there was a Prairie Farm delegation that appeared in Ottawa that made this accusation:- "The Canadian Government has given more aid to Canadian Industry than it has given to Canadian Agriculture." A CBC newscast on January 15th reported that there was to be a Farm Rally in Swift Current, Saskatchewn to give Tribute to the Family Farm. Someone suggested that it might rather be a Memorial for the Family Farm in that "The Government of Canada is seeking to bring about the Industrialization of Prairie Agriculture."

Allow me to make the following application of these principles to the Church.
l. There is within the North American Church a philosophy that holds to the view that if the Church is to be better, it must be bigger!
2. The quality of the Church has very little to do with size! It has everything to do with LIFE, and the power to produce further LIFE! Big or small! The common factor of the underground Church of China is not size, but LIFE!

The God of Creation is God of the Church and He has pinned His HOPE on Seed!
l. Consider the early chapters of Genesis:- God planted a garden (2:8) and fallen man built a city (4:16-17). Out of that city came the practice of polygamy (4:19), and the production of industry (4:22).
2. It was in the midst of man's fall that God expressed His hope in a seed. In Genesis 3:14-15 God states that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent (Satan.)
3. The sinfulness of man continued in the same pattern even after the judgment of the flood. The command of God given to Noah in Genesis 9:1, 7 called for an increase based upon the agricultural principle. It seems to me that Genesis 10 is a record of the conflict of the opposing forces of agriculture and industry. It becomes evident in Genesis 11:4 that industry wins out over agriculture. However, God steps in and brings judgment by bringing the confusion of languages to them, and thereby scattering them abroad upon the face of the earth (Genesis 11:5-9). Then in Genesis 12:1-3 once again God expresses the fact that His hope is that through the seed of Abraham all the families of the earth will be blessed.
4. The making of man into a Christian, and the Christians into the Church, is all brought about by the seed of Abraham, "who is Christ." Galatians 3:16. The creation of Christians and the Church is linked with the word, transformed. To be thus transformed is to depend on the power of life bound up in a seed (1 Peter 1:23). This is a God-dependency! Contrarily, to be conformed is to depend upon forces outside of ourselves in our environment to bring about desired change. This is a form of co-dependency! Simply stated, this is a human-dependency!
5. In the history of the New Testament the conflict of these two forces are most evident among the churches of Galatia. Paul founded this group of churches by the preaching of the Gospel of the Grace of God. The Judaizers had come from Jerusalem and taught that Gentile converts to Christianity had to be circumcized and keep the law of Moses in order to be saved. The churches of Galatia were drawn into that deception. Hence Paul wrote the book of Galatians to bring correction to them concerning the error.

In Galatians 1:6-7 he expresses his astonishment over their response to the external pressure put upon them by the Judaizers. The Galatians were moved away from the true gospel to a perverted gospel. They were moved away from the gospel of relationship to a gospel of religion.

Consider Galatians 1:11-24:
V. 11 The gospel Paul preached was not man made, that is it was not a message produced by industrialization.
V. 12 It was grown from the seed of truth that came by revelation from Christ.
V. 13-14 Paul's former life as Saul of Tarsus was centered around his ability to oppose those who were not in agreement with him. He pressured them by persecution. Saul, as a Pharisee, was a noted success as a Genetic Engineer of Religious Thought and Practice. Anyone who didn't fit with what he wished to create was disposable. Saul, in his pre-Christian Theology, thought he had the right to abort the people that stood in the way of his plan to industrialize religion. It should be noted that Religion without the true, living, compassionate Christ is dangerous, and that is so even within the framework of the Christian religion. Examples to verify this statement can be found within the historical records concerning the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusaders.
V. 15-17 Saul was changed to Paul by the seed of the gospel, and that seed grew into a manifestation of Christ in his life as he preached Him among the Gentiles.
The spiritual counterpart of natural agriculture worked so effectively in his life that following his conversion, he went into Arabia to receive truth based on the revelation of Christ. This truth came from divine enlightenment upon the Old Testament scriptures!
V. 18-20 After three years Paul went to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter.
v. 21-24 Following this he went to Syria and Cilicia to acquaint himself with the brethren there. They had heard that "The man who formerly persecuted Christians (an industrialized type approach to bring about conformity), is now preaching the faith (created by the seed of the Word of God Romans 10:17) he once tried to destroy."

Consider Galatians 2:1-21:
V. 1-3 Paul and Barnabas went up to Jerusalem to confer with the Church Leaders (Acts 15) over the issue of the Judaizers versus the gospel he preached. Paul took Titus and he was accepted by the brethren even though he was an uncircumcised Gentile convert.
V. 4-5 Though false brethren were present, Paul stood for the truth of the gospel in order that people like the Galatians might continue to benefit from such preaching.
V. 6 The men who focused on external appearances added nothing to the life-transforming message that Paul preached.
V. 7-10 These false brethren became aware of the position of the Church, that is that Paul would preach this gospel to the Gentiles and Peter would take the same message to the Jews. James, Peter, and John, reputed leaders in the church at Jerusalem, extended fellowship and affirmation of ministry to Paul and Barnabas. The only external thing that these Jerusalem Leaders asked of Paul and Barnabas was that they would remember the poor. There was no mention of circumcision or the keeping of the law of Moses.
V. 11-14 When Peter came to Antioch he fellowshipped freely with the Gentile believers. However, there was an occasion at Antioch when certain men came from James. On that occasion Peter and other Jews withdrew from the Gentile believers. Peter did so because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. Paul rebuked Peter promptly for such a hypocritical action. He did so because Peter's outward action was not in harmony with the inward truth of the gospel (2:14).
V. 15-21 The law was an external force incapable of bringing lasting change, however the gospel of Christ is an internal seed with power to change the life.

Consider Galatians 3:1-18:
V. 1-5 Paul, by the Spirit, had preached the gospel so powerfully that it was as if Christ had been crucified before their very eyes. However the Judaizers' deceptive message caused them to turn to a gospel of works. So, Paul wanted to know one thing of them, how had they received the Spirit, by keeping the law or by believing the gospel?
V. 6-9 Paul refers to the fact that Abraham was justified by faith, and the promise was that all nations would be blessed by God on the same basis. V. 10-14 The law brings a curse, but redemption and blessing comes by faith.
V. 15-18 We have a further contrast between law and grace, and a powerful statement about the seed of Abraham as being Christ.

The conclusion is that the seed of the gospel produces righteousness!

THERE ARE Two Dangerous extremes for churches and individuals! Remember, every road has two ditches! -
l. There is the ditch of legalism. Through conformity a pattern of conduct is produced by human effort.
2. There is the other ditch of levity. There is a profession of belief, but there is no expectation of an outward change. It is like the worm going into the cocoon and never expecting to come out a butterfly. The cocoon becomes a place of death rather than transformation.
3. The road between these two ditches is where the seed of life transforms the ground into a green carpeted pathway. In the ministry of Jesus there were three people that were restored to physical life after having died. Each of the three persons had a different expression that gave evidence to their restored life: -

a) In John 11 Lazarus was restored to life and he WALKED!

b) In Luke 7:14-15 the widow's son from Nain was restored to life and TALKED!

c) Luke 8:54-55 Jarius' daughter came back to life and she ATE FOOD!

If you or your church has been restored to spiritual life, there should be some expressed evidence of that life. Either the walk (or conduct), or the talk, or the desire for new spiritual food should be in evidence. If none of the foregoing are present, perhaps that which has been experienced is conformity to religion, not a transformation of new life! What do you think?

The Development of Spiritual Fathers

2009-01-14T16:53:00.000-08:00

Introduction: These teachings on Spiritual Fathering are shared with the hope that God will use them to assist Church Leaders move beyond being instructors of the Word of God to become spiritual fathers in the Body of Christ!
1 Corinthians 4:15 contrasts the availability of instructors with the scarcity of fathers. This problem existed in Paul’s time of ministry, as it does today. May God use these teachings to increase the quantity and quality of spiritual fathers!

The Eternal, unchanging plan of God is to have a Family of Spiritual Sons and Daughters in Heaven and Earth. Ephesians 3:14-15 speaks of “the Father, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.”

God’s plan for mankind is set forth in Genesis 1-2 in microscopic form. That plan, even though delayed by the deceptive intervention of Satan, will come to pass according to the Divine declarations affirmed in the book of Revelation.

OLD TESTAMENT OVERVIEW: First we will consider God’s plan of fathering as it unfolded in the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi. Luke 3:23-38 traces the genealogy of Jesus back to Adam. V.38 states that “Adam …was the son of God.” Since Adam was the son of God, then God was his father. God is perfect, so we can affirm that the human family on earth was started by a perfect father. From this overview, we understand that the plan of God may be delayed but not destroyed. The attack of Satan against God and his creation has delayed the plan of God, but Satan cannot prevent its’ final fulfillment.

God as a perfect father, acted responsibly, and authoritatively in the provision and care of the human family:
1. Genesis 2:7 “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being.” 2. Genesis 2:8 “Now the Lord had planted a garden in Eden; and there he put the man that he had formed.” God, acting responsibly, planted a garden, making every provision for the physical, social and spiritual needs of the human family.
3. Genesis 2:16 Man’s physical needs were met by the trees of the garden. 4. Genesis 2:22 Man’s social needs were met because it was into that garden that God brought Eve to Adam as his wife.
5. Genesis 3:8 Man’s spiritual needs were met as God came into the garden to commune with Adam and Eve in the cool (wind, breath, spirit) of the day.
6. Genesis 2:15 Man would develop responsibly by taking care of the garden.
7. Genesis 2:17; Matthew 8:5-9 Man would develop authoritatively as he submitted himself obediently to the commands of God. The Centurion in Matthew 8 could speak authoritatively in that he was under the authority of a higher commander.

As God, the Father acted responsibly and authoritatively, he communicated the principles of fathering to Adam on the backdrop of the model of his own fathering skills. As man accepted the benefit of God’s responsibility for him, and submitted to God’s authority, man would develop in the likeness of his heavenly Father. As man developed in this divine likeness, he would become a father to his children just as God was a father to him. The plan was that as man exercised fatherhood to his children, they would value their relationship to an earthly father, and thereby come to see God as their good heavenly Father. Each succeeding generation would be equipped to be good earthly fathers, by means of the Father-God model expressed in their earthly fathers. So there would be a continuous cycle of godly fathers perpetuated on the earth. In this God-man, father-child relationship, man would mature from a *child to a son, and become a father. (*In this teaching, the term child refers to an immature adult).

Genesis 3 tells of Satan’s entrance into the garden. Satan engaged Eve in a conversation about God and the garden. As he did, Adam knew that the things spoken by Satan were not in harmony with that which God had spoken to him. Nevertheless, Adam stood by in silence, thus he failed to act responsibly. Adam’s failure to act authoritatively against Satan to protect his wife and the garden, (Genesis 3:1-6) allowed sin to enter the world, and so man’s relationship with God was broken consequently man was separated from God (Genesis 3:7).

In the Old Testament, God made three attempts at fathering the human family through selected men, and each attempt failed:

1. God’s first attempt at fathering the family was through Adam. That attempt failed, and the sinful family upon earth was judged by the flood (Genesis 6:1-7).

2. God’s second attempt at fathering the human family was through Noah (Genesis 6:8-10; 7:5-7). God chose righteous Noah, and he fathered his family so that they would also live righteously. That attempt failed in that succeeding generations disobeyed God’s command given in Genesis 9:1, 7. God’s judgment came upon the human family at the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:5-9).

3. God’s third attempt at fathering the human family was through Abram Genesis 12:1-3. Abram’s name was changed to Abraham, which meant: “the father of many nations” Genesis 17:1-7. This attempt also failed as the nation of Israel was divided into Northern and Southern kingdoms with capitals at Samaria and Jerusalem. The Northern Kingdom was carried into Assyrian captivity about 175 years prior to Judah’s dispersion. Finally, the Southern Kingdom was carried into Babylonian captivity. After 70 years of captivity, a remnant, as directed by King Cyrus, returned to Jerusalem and Judah, under the leadership of Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, and Ezra to rebuild the Temple and restore the walls of Jerusalem. Even though the Temple was restored, there was a period of 400 years described as the Silent Years, from the time of these leaders to the coming of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ. So the human family under Abraham came into a state disobedience and disarray. The last two verses of the Old Testament in Malachi 4:5-6 reveal the fatherlessness present in Judah. The hearts of the fathers needed to be turned to the children again.

NEW TESTAMENT OVERVIEW: Secondly let us consider God’s plan of fathering as it unfolded in the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation. It began with the incarnation of the Son of God. In Malachi 3:1-2; 4:1-6 prophecies are recorded of the coming of John the Baptist, and of the Messiah. Their coming would bring restoration in the human family, as “the hearts of the fathers were turned to the children, and the hearts of the children turned to the fathers.” The key word in the coming of the Messiah (Christ) is REDEEM (Galatians 4:4-5). Speaking of Jesus Christ in Ephesians 1:7 we read, “In whom we have redemption through his blood …”

There is a contrast between the first and last Adam as stated in 1 Corinthians 15:44-49. The first Adam and his successors, Noah and Abraham all failed the successive generations. However, the last Adam, Jesus Christ would eventually succeed where the first Adam and his successors failed.

Observe the ultimate success of Jesus Christ as it is recorded in the book of Revelation. Revelation 7:9-10 speaks of “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
Revelation 11:15 “There were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” (Revelation 19:11-16.)
Revelation 21:1-7. “I saw a new heaven and a new earth. I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new.” “He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” God will have ONE FAMILY, and he will be the Father of that one family, composed of spiritual sons and daughters!
Matthew 6:9-13, The Lord’s Prayer is a powerful portrayal of the fact that the kingdom and will of God will be done in heaven and on earth. Revelation 12:7-11 states that the will of God was not always done in heaven. Lucifer and a host of angelic beings rebelled against God’s kingdom in heaven, but these rebels were cast out of heaven and verse 10 declares that salvation came to heaven. As a result, God’s will is now being done in heaven. So Jesus said that we should pray: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

In Acts 3:22, Moses spoke of the coming of Christ and that “Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people” (Acts 3:23). This is the means by which the will of God will eventually be done upon the earth.

Observe the process by which God’s people will come to participate in that ultimate conclusion described in Revelation 21:1-7.

1. First God the Father was manifest in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19).

The name of our Lord Jesus Christ has a very significant meaning: Jesus was the name given for his human body formed in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Christ is the name given to him as he was anointed by the Holy Spirit for ministry in which he would be the manifestation of God, his father. The words Christ and anointed are similar in meaning. Christ is a noun and anointed is a verb. Lord refers to the deity of Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14). However, on earth Jesus functioned, not as God, but as a human being anointed by the Holy Spirit.

2. God the Father is manifest through fathering expressed in the leaders that God has chosen to gift within the Body of Christ as listed in Ephesians 4:11.

Christ and his connection to Church leaders: Jesus Christ on earth ministered as an apostle (Hebrews 3:1); a prophet (Acts 3:22); an evangelist (Luke 4:18); a pastor / shepherd (John 10-11); a teacher (John 3:2). It was by means of these Spirit anointed gifts in his life that God the Father was expressed to human beings on earth. Ephesians 4:7-16: Verse 7 speaks of “the gift of Christ,” as being given to selected believers in the form of the gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers (v.11). This is for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, and for the edifying of the Body of Christ (v.12), till we all come in the unity of the faith, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (v.13), so that we will not be children (nepios), but we will grow up into him, even Christ (vs.14-15). As God the Father was expressed in Christ at his incarnation, so today, God the father is being expressed through leaders who are Spirit anointed and gifted as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Note: The repeated use of Christ in Ephesians 3-4.

3. God the Father will be manifest through fathering expressed in the members of the Body of Christ by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, as the ministry gifts of Ephesians 4:11 equip believers for the work of the ministry (v.12) and thereby believers mature into the likeness of Christ (v.13). There is an increased awareness of our need of the Holy Spirit in the Church today!

Christ and his connection to all believers in the Church: The anointing of the Holy Spirit is increasing the release of the gifts of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers in the Body of Christ. The increased gifts of Christ in the five-fold, has increased the equipping of the saints for service; the Body of Christ is being built up; there is a greater unity within the Body of Christ; there is an increased intimacy with God and an increased maturity of believers within the Church. So there is an increased expression of fathering in us as individual believers in the Body of Christ by the anointing of the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 1:21-22.

The three words used to describe fathering are applicable to Christ:
a) Father – In the prophecy of Isaiah 9:6 he is called the “everlasting father.” In John 14:9 Jesus said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the father.” From eternity past God existed as a trinity, God the Son was separate from God the Father, but by the incarnation, according to 2 Corinthians 5:19 “God (the Father) was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself (that is the father).”
b) Master/Teacher Both words are used in different bible translations to translate one Greek word, “did-as-kal-os.” In John 11:28; 13:13-14 it is translated master and in John 3:2 it is translated teacher. Both words include the thought of being a teacher out of the learning that has already been mastered.

A father as a master, has mastered the knowledge required to do fathering.
A father as a teacher is able to give instruction to those that he is fathering. He gives that instruction on the backdrop of the model of his own life.
A child as a disciple/student submits to receive knowledge and skill.
The relationship between the father and child is not one in which the father is to dominate the child, nor is the child to serve the father for the father’s benefit. In this relationship the child serves the father for the child’s development. Example: Philippians 2:19-23. "But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel."

The role of a FATHER is illustrated by the example of a TRADESMAN as a Master Craftsman in areas such as masonry or carpentry.
a) A master craftsman is able to do the work required by his craft. My earthly father was a master craftsman in farming. He did a very good job of farming.
b) A master craftsman is also able to communicate the knowledge and skills of his trade to a trainee. My earthly father, not only did a good job of farming, but he was able to train his children to become good farmers. But neither of his sons became farmers. A master craftsman may be fully knowledgeable and able to teach his craft, but if a person is to learn that trade, the trainee must be willing and desirous in order to receive the training.
c) A master craftsman is not simply dispensing information, but he provides opportunity for development (that is, formation) to take place within the trainee.

There are three words used to describe the trainee: child, disciple, and student. The dictionary describes a trainee as “a learner of a craft, bound to serve, and entitled to instruction (that is knowledge and skill) from his employer,” the master craftsman.
Paraphrasing Luke 6:40: “The child, disciple or student is not above his father, master or teacher, but everyone that is fully trained shall be like his father, master or teacher.

For the sake of brevity, from this point on I will speak of the father and the child. But you need to understand that these words include the characteristics of the master/disciple and teacher/student as well.

FATHER and MOTHERS:
1. Lamentations 5:3 “We have become orphans and fatherless, and our mothers are widows.” (James 1:27). From these scriptures it is evident that fathers referred to in these verses are male figures.
2. Hebrews 1:1-2 “God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.” From this scripture it is evident that the word father can refer to either men or women.
3. 1 Thessalonians 2:4-12: Paul is speaking to the church that he founded at Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-10). Here we observe two roles that Paul filled as he related to these spiritual children of God at Thessalonica. He filled the role of a mother: V.7 states: “we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children.” He filled the role of a father: V.11 states: “For you know that we dealt with you as a father deals with his own children.”
4. Based on Acts 2:17-18 both men and women are used by God in the ministry. A variety of gifts and people (both men and women) are needed for the Christian ministry. Whether it is the heavenly trinity, or an earthly father and mother, there is an equality of persons but with different roles of ministry (1 Corinthians 11:3).
Ministering to Fathers and Mothers who are in the process of development:
Expositing Luke 6:39-42. We have looked at verse 40 in which the father trains the child, and when the child is fully trained he will be like his father. To do the work described in verse 40, properly, we must meet the requirements given in verses 39, 41-42. According to verse 39 there is a problem, there are two individuals who have a form of blindness, a visual impairment. One visually impaired person is trying to lead the other visually impaired person, and both are in danger of falling into a ditch. The truth, Jesus would communicate to us by this parable is that SIN has adversely affected both the father (the leader) and the child (the follower). The problem in each life is portrayed as a form of blindness. 2 Peter 1:3-9 contains teaching about the spiritual growth of a believer. However, if a believer does not grow as described, verse 9 says that he is “blind, and cannot see afar off.” The New International Version descries the visual impairment as being “nearsighted and blind.” Again, the person is not totally blind, but he does have a visual impairment.

In verses 41-42, the visional impairment is illustrated by the words, log and speck. The father has a log in his eye, and there is a speck in the child’s eye. A father with a log in his eye is seeking to remove the speck from the child’s eye. I have found it difficult to understand that the log and the speck are the same size. Let me illustrate it by referring to a set of railroad tracks. Standing on a set of railroad tracks, I note that the tracks are a certain distance apart, and looking along the rails to a distant point, the two rails seem to become a speck on the horizon. But if I were to walk to that point I would discover that the tracks there are the same distance apart as at the point of origin. Since the log and speck are the same size, it means that both the father and the child have similar problems. However, until a father is willing to deal with the problem in his own life, he will not be adequately prepared to assist the child in dealing with the problem in his life. See Romans 2:1.

A. OBSTRUCTIONS TO BE OVERCOME in the father to effectively develop the child:
1. First, the father must overcome the lack in his own life. Luke 6:39-42. In verse 39, the visual impairment could represent a lack of knowledge in his craft as a father. It is understandable that the child or the trainee will lack knowledge in the craft of his father, as represented by his visual impairment. So if the father and the child lack in their knowledge of the craft of fathering, it would become a case of “a blind man” seeking to lead “a blind man.” In Luke 6:41-42 niv, the log in the eye of the father, and the speck in the eye of the child represents a lack of knowledge in the life of the father and the child. The “log” and the “speck” are the same size. To the father, his lack of knowledge in his craft of fathering seems like a log in his own eye because he is very close to the problem. To the father, the lack of knowledge of fathering in the child’s life seems like a speck because of the distance between the father and the child. If the father is to deal with the child’s lack of knowledge in fathering, he must first deal with his own lack of knowledge in the craft of fathering.

2. Secondly, the father must overcome his insensitivity to the lack in the life of the child. As the father deals with the lack in his own life by the removal of the log-like speck in his own eye, he will then be able to deal with the speck-like log in the eye of the child. Fathers will not be successful in dealing with the lacks in the lives of their children, if they do not first deal with the lack in their own lives. The life of the father becomes a model from which information and impartation is received by the child. In 1 Corinthians 11:1 niv, Paul said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” KJV states: “Follow me as I follow Christ.”

3. Thirdly, fathers must overcome the desire to dominate, so they can be filled with the desire to serve. Jesus Christ is the model father, master, and teacher! Mark 10:45 niv states that serving was the key to Jesus success as a model. The prophetic words in Isaiah 42 about the Messiah portray that he would not come to dominate, but to serve.
Verse 1: “Behold my servant.” Verses 2 and 3 niv: I. “He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets.” No dominance in this picture.
Ii. “A bruised reed he will not break.” Dominant individuals take advantage of the weak, but not so with this servant of God.
Iii. “A smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” He will trim the smoldering wick so its’ potential may be realized. In verse 4 there is this declaration: “he will not falter or be discouraged until he establishes justice on the earth.” The servant does not focus on the problem, but on the prospect of doing the Father’s will.

B. OBSTRUCTIONS THAT MUST BE OVERCOME in the life of the child in order to be developed by the father. From an observation of the development of the 12 disciples as leaders of the New Testament Church, it is evident that there were at least three weaknesses among them:
1. There was insecurity in the lives of James and John. (Mark 10:35-37). In their insecurity, they requested positions at either side of Jesus in his coming kingdom. They thought such positions would give them a sense of personal value, and security.

2. There was jealousy in the lives of the other ten disciples (Mark 10:41) in that each of them probably wanted the positions on either side of Jesus because of their own lack of personal value, and security.

3. There was fear in the hearts of the disciples. (John 13:37; 14:1)

In view of the obstructions that were in the lives of the children, observe the qualities that were present in the life of their father model (Jesus):
1. He was a father-servant: In Mark 10:42-45 and in Luke 22:25-27 we see that Jesus’ priority was on serving. The last line of the Luke passage is: “but, I am among you as one who serves.”
2. He was a father active in serving: Then in John13:1-5 we have the father (Jesus) modeling servanthood as he washes the feet of the children.

If we, as children are to become fathers there are things that we must overcome as did the early disciples of Jesus Christ. Are we, as children willing to overcome insecurity, jealousy, and fear? We must set aside the desire for dominance! To do so, we need a father connection! We need a connection to a spiritual father in the family of God on earth by which we receive a deepening relationship to God, as our heavenly Father.

There are three particular qualities that a father brings to a child: IDENTITY, WORTH, AND AFFIRMATION! From Luke 3:22, note these three essential components: I. Identity of Jesus: “You are my son.” Ii. Worth of Jesus: “Whom I love.” Iii. Affirmation of Jesus: “with you I am well pleased.” The common problem of insecurity, jealousy and fear can all be overcome through our IDENTITY with a father, by knowing our WORTH in the heart of a father, and by receiving AFFIRMATION from our father. Our IDENTITY is as a child of God. Our VALUE is that we are loved by a holy and righteous God. Our AFFIRMATION is because we are in Christ. Eleven of the twelve disciples overcame their insecurity, jealousy and fear, and they became first line fathers of the Church on the Day of Pentecost.

TRANSITIONING FROM A CHILD TO A SON EQUIPPED TO BE A FATHER:
Maturity is required in order to move from being a child to a son to being a father.
1. New Testament believers are described as being children of God by the use of the Greek word “teknon” in John 1:12 niv “Yet to all who received him … he gave the right to become children (teknon) of God.” In Galatians 4:1, 3 we have the use of the Greek word, “nepios,” indicating immaturity in the life of a believer.
2. Galatians 3:26-28 indicates that provisionally, all believers can become sons of God (huios, pronounced hwee-os), but practically believers must, like natural children, pass through a childhood stage en route to becoming mature sons. Galatians 4:1-5. The process of passing from childhood to sonship brings the maturing person to adoption (hwee-oth-es-ee-ah) (Galatians 4:5 KJV). In the NIV Galatians 4:5 states it this way, “that we might receive the full rights of sons.” Note: Adoption is used in human families to describe a means by which a parentless child can become a member of a new family. However, this is not the meaning of “adoption” as used in the English versions of the New Testament. Adoption describes the recognition of a maturing child’s right to receive and manage his inheritance as a mature son. (Note: the word adoption is not used in the Sinhala and Tamil bible translations).

It seems evident from scriptures, that having been born into the family of God, as a child of God (teknon or nepios), we are to develop so that we become mature sons (huios) of God, capable of accepting responsibility, and moving authoritatively as fathers into ministry in the Church, the Body of Christ. In order to move from being a child (teknon/nepios) to becoming a son (huios) who can minister as a father, we need a father connection. We need to be fathered by spiritual fathers on earth by which we receive a deepening connection to God, our heavenly Father.

God arranges various situations in our lives to reveal our immaturity, just as He did in the developing life of Jesus. God never reveals our total immaturity on one occasion, if He did, we would be devastated by an overwhelming sense of discouragement. God chooses to reveal our immaturity in bite sized increments. Furthermore, God chooses to do so at a time when we will have opportunity to do something about the revealed immaturity. There is a principle given in 1Corinthians 10:13, and the principle is this, that when we are faced with temptation, God will make a way of escape. Let’s apply the principle: When we receive a revelation of our immaturity, the temptation will be to refuse the way of escape and continue in our immaturity. Strange as it may seem, our immaturity can become a comfort zone for us. In our immaturity, we act in such a way that people withdraw from us. This withdrawal from us, permits us to continue to live the way we have always lived, in our immaturity!

However, there is a better alternative than to continue in our comfort zone of immaturity! God holds that alternative! Since God chooses the time to reveal our immaturity, He also chooses the coming of a person into our lives to which we can submit, and thereby escape our immaturity. The revelation of our immaturity, and the presence of a person to which we can submit, is God’s provision for us to take a further step of growth into maturity. This is exactly what transpired in the life of the Jesus at 12 years of age. He accepted the revelation of his immaturity, and took the way of escape out of his immaturity by submitting to Mary and Joseph and return to Nazareth.

2 Corinthians 10:12 speaks to a common practice of some who “measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” It is so easy and desirable to measure our immaturity with someone who is less mature than ourselves. But by doing so, we will never be challenged to mature. We will always be able to find someone less mature than we are, so what need is there for us to take another step upward to a higher level of spiritual maturity. Rather than measuring the level of our maturity with the immaturity of others, we should measure the level of our maturity with the plumb line of God’s revealed righteousness.

Obviously, from the life of Jesus, it was not a sin to be immature. But if we refuse to submit to that which God has arranged for our development, we commit a sin of disobedience, and we fail to move on to the next level of maturity. Time does not permit me to exposit 2 Peter 1:3-11, but it is a portion of scripture that underscores the fact that growing from immaturity to maturity occurs in bite sized increments! Based on verse 3 of this scripture, maturity is equated with godliness, glory and virtue. However, many of us are satisfied to receive life, and thus escape hell. We fail to grow into maturity, and while we escape hell, we raise a lot of frustration in the lives of those we connect to in the Body of Christ!The book of Hebrews was written to Hebrew Christian believers that were failing to come to maturity by their faith. Hebrews 4:1-2 sights their problem as a failure to mix the word preached with their personal faith, hence they came short of entering into that which was promised in the word preached. Then in Hebrews 5:10-11 the writer speaks of his desire to teach them about Melchisedec, but he cannot do so. They are dull of hearing, they are immature, they are not able to understand. Then in verse 12 the writer states that they have been believers long enough to have become teachers, but due to their immaturity, they need to be taught again the first principles of the things of God. These Hebrew Christians had received information but failed to mature, either because they lacked the availability of fatherly development, or they failed to respond correctly to the fatherly development that was made available to them. In verse 13 they are addressed as “babes, or infants (nepios).”

Later, in Hebrews 11, he writes about the faith of those who have become mature, and in Hebrews 12:1-2 he speaks of laying aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us, so we can fix our eyes upon Jesus who is the originator and completer of our faith. As we fix our eyes upon Jesus we will follow him into maturity just as he followed his earthly fathers to become a mature son. In Luke 3:22 His heavenly Father said, “You are my son (huios, son, not teknon, child). The Father was releasing his mature son into active ministry. Christ would act responsibly and authoritatively in the earth because he was no longer a child, but a son who would be the manifestation of his Father on earth (2 Corinthians 5:19).

It seems obvious to me that maturity has little to do with age, and more to do with the way we conduct ourselves responsibly and authoritatively. I think it is easier for younger men and women to develop as they become accustomed to having spiritual fathers and mothers speak truth into their lives.

It is more difficult for those of us who are older to continue our development into maturity for we have lived much of our lives independent of receiving truth from a loving authority within the framework of a spiritual family. However, whether it is easy or not so easy, we need to seek for and respond to the fathering process.

The Life of Moses is another example of one who needed to be fathered:
Moses was birthed by his father, Amram and his mother, Jochebed. However he was raised by his mother, sister, and a princess of Egypt. Though Moses had a father, for all practical purposes, Moses was fatherless. We never read of one thing that Amram did for Moses, beyond birthing him!

Let’s follow the story from the scriptures:
Exodus 2:1 when compared with Exodus 6:20 we learn that the man was Amram, and his wife was Jocheded.
Exodus 2:2 Moses was the third child born to them, first Miriam, then Aaron, and finally Moses (Exodus 7:7). Jochebed saw that Moses was a goodly child, so she hid him for three months in view of the kings command (Exodus 1:22).
Exodus 2:3 When Jochebed could hide Moses no longer she devised an alternate plan, the making of an ark of bulrushes daubed with slime and pitch. Then putting Moses in the ark, she put it at the edge of the Nile among the reeds.
Exodus 2:4 Jochebed posted Miriam nearby to watch over Moses.
Exodus 2:5 Pharoah’s daughter and her attendants were walking along the edge of the river, when she saw the basket in the water. She sent one of her attendants to get the basket.
Exodus 2:6 Pharoah’s daughter opened the basket and saw the baby. He was crying, and she had compassion on him, and said, “This is one of the Hebrew babies.”
Exodus 2:7-9 At that crucial moment, Miriam stepped up and asked the princess, “Shall I go and get one of the Hebrew women to nurse the baby for you?” The princess answered “Yes, go.” Miriam went and got the baby’s own mother.
An agreement was made between Pharoah’s daughter and Jochebed. So the woman cared for the baby in exchange for wages from the princess.
Exodus 2:10 Some scholars indicate that this care continued until Moses was 12 or 13 years of age. Then Moses was given into the hands of Pharoah’s daughter. At that point in time, Pharoah’s daughter named him, Moses.
Exodus 2:11-14 (Acts 7:23-28) The King James version states “And when he was full forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel (Acts 7:23). That which came into Moses’ heart was God’s call to become a deliverer to the children of Israel. The intention of Moses that day was to be a deliverer of his people as he withstood the abusive Egyptian, and the Israelite in an unjust conflict with his fellow-Israeli. The word, “visit” used here, does not mean a social call, it means “to look upon another in their need, with the desire to help them.” That is exactly why Moses went down to his brethren according to Exodus 2:11 where it states, “Moses went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens.” However, Moses in his immaturity took things into his own hands to fulfill God’s call, and his attempt ended in failure. Acts 7:22 informs us that “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, so he was mighty in words and in deeds.” Nevertheless information alone left Moses as an undeveloped person. The undeveloped Moses couldn’t bury one Egyptian in the sand, but with development in maturity that came to him later through his relationship with Jethro, God through him eventually buried the whole Egyptian army in the Red Sea.

Exodus 2:15-21; Acts 7:29 Moses failed to achieve that which God had put in his heart, therefore he fled to Midian. There he met Jethro’s family of seven daughters, to whom Moses might have been attracted. However he needed a father more than a wife! We should note that Moses was born to be a pastor, a shepherd! He cared for the seven daughters of Jethro in their moment of crisis because it was in his heart to be a shepherd of people. Verse 21 states that Moses was content to dwell with Jethro. There had been unrest in the heart of Moses because he didn’t have a father, but now he has found a father in Jethro.

Exodus 2:15-25; Acts 7:29 marked the beginning of the second 40 year period of Moses’ life. During this time, Moses gained a father in the person of Jethro (Reuel) in the land of Midian. For Moses, it was 40 years of DEVELOPMENT (formation) on the backside of the desert. It should be noted that Jethro, as a Midianite was a descendant of Abraham through Abraham’s wife Keturah (Genesis 25:1-4). We have already said that Moses needed a father more than he needed a wife. But having found a father in Jethro, he gave his daughter as a wife for Moses. God was preparing Moses to be a deliverer for his people, the children of Israel.

There were three things that Moses was learning:
1. Moses was learning to serve, by serving Jethro in the care of his flock.
2. Moses was learning to be a father by relating to his father-in-law.
3. Moses was learning about the desert, as he kept the flock of his father-in-law in the very places that he would later lead the children of Israel (Exodus 3:l).

Moses and Jethro were close in relationship - Exodus 18:1-27:
1. Exodus 18:7-8 “So Moses went to meet his father-in-law and bowed down.” This was an expression of the honor that Moses had for Jethro.
2. “and kissed him.” This was an expression of Moses love for Jethro.
3. “They greeted each other and then went into the tent.” This was an expression of mutual friendship in deep intimate conversation.
4. Exodus 18:9-12 Jethro rejoiced in Jehovah upon hearing how God used Moses against the Egyptians. He affirmed his faith in Jehovah and offered sacrifices to Him. They shared mutual blessings because of their relationship.
5. Exodus 18:13-27 God allowed Jethro to continue to speak into Moses’ life as Moses began fathering the nation of Israel. So Jethro, not only spoke into Moses’ life, but through Moses, Jethro impacted the future of the nation of Israel. This is a powerful concept that has application to us who are spiritual fathers in the Church. As a spiritual father I have discovered that as I speak into the life of a pastor of a congregation, God enlarges my place of ministry so that I can bring help to the congregation through the fathering of a pastor or a leadership team of a local congregation.

Fathers are a blessing to their children/sons, but fathers are also blessed by that relationship. Moses had two sons, and the names chosen had significant meanings: Gershom, meant, “I have become an alien in a foreign land” (Midian). Eliezer, meant, “My father’s God was my helper, he saved me from the sword of Pharoah.” By a proper earthly father relationship with Jethro in the foreign land of Midian, Moses came into a deeper relationship with God as his father! Again we see the application of the principle of 1 Corinthians 15:46, “first .. is the natural, afterward that which is spiritual.” First we connect to natural men in a spiritual relationship and that opens the greatest father connection of all, a connection to God our heavenly Father!

3. In Exodus 3:7-10 Jehovah heard the cry of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, and now He must find a deliverer for them. Exodus 3:1-6 Jehovah revealed himself in the burning bush, and Moses, by his response to Jehovah, commenced the third period as a father with a ministry of developing others (TRANSFORMATION). As a father, Moses was able to take a nation of slaves and develop (transform) them into an orderly army of people that, under his spiritually mature son, Joshua, Israel was able to possess the Promised Land.

The 400 Silent Years: Soon we will consider the life and ministry of Jesus. But first, we need to give some final thoughts to the 400 years of silence. During those years the Jewish sects of the Pharisees and the Sadducees were birthed. The Pharisees gave unbending adherence to Mosaic laws. It is thought that they became a distinct sect as a result of reaction against the attempt of Antiochus Epiphanes (215-163 BC) to eliminate the distinctions between the Jews and the Greeks. It was about the same time that the sect of the Sadducees came into existence. The New Testament states that they did not believe in the resurrection (Matthew 22:23), angels, or spirits (Acts 23:8). It is evident that when we lose relationship with God as a father, we tend to develop religious regulations. But religious regulations will never be a satisfying substitute for relationship. Isn't it interesting that the greatest opposition faced by Jesus was from Pharisees and Sadducees. The constant emphasis of Jesus was upon relationship, while these opposing sects focused upon religious regulations. In Matthew 22:23-40 we have the interaction of Jesus with the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Jesus' reply to the question about the greatest commandment centered on relationship to God and to man, not on religious regulations.

There were 400 years of silence because there was no prophetic voice. The silence is an evidence of the breakdown of relationship between man and God. It should be noted that man, not God was responsible for the silence. It isn't that God couldn't or wouldn't speak, but rather that His silence was because man was not listening to God. The reason for the silence is illustrated earlier in Israel's history during the time of Eli and Samuel. Sin prevented Eli's sons from hearing God, so God was silent. 1 Samuel 3:1 states, "...In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions." But God found a young lad that would 'hear to obey,' so once again God began to speak. The reason God spoke to Samuel that which was spiritual, was that God observed Samuel’s obedience to the natural words of Eli. Elkanah and Hannah raised Samuel to obey. So Samuel obeyed the natural commands of Eli before hearing the voice of God.

Observe the pattern of silence, prayer and a current voice of the Lord: As we consider the history of spiritual revival, whether in the records of the Scripture, or in the records of church history, we discover a pattern:
1. A time of silence, a time when God is not speaking to man prophetically. 2. A time, when mankind, in his desperation, cries out in prayer to God. 3. Then in very small ways, the silence of God is broken, and certain praying individuals begin to hear God, until there are some major breakthroughs in encounters between God and man!

Example in the Old Testament Scriptures:
1. As noted, 1 Samuel 3:1 indicates a time of silence, God is not speaking to man because mankind for the most part is not listening to God.
2. 1 Samuel 1:8-20: In that time, a desperate woman by the name of Hanna cries out to God for the birth of a child in the midst of her own barrenness.
3. 1 Samuel 1:17-18: Hanna’s prayer was heard, and answered by God. 1 Samuel 3:1-21: There was an increased release of the Word of the Lord into Samuel’s life, and through his ministry as a prophet into the nation of Israel.

Example in the New Testament Scriptures:
1. There were four hundred years of silence that extended from the prophecy of Malachi 4:5-6 until the silence was broken as the coming of Messiah drew near. 2. Luke 2:25-38: It is evident that even though God was silent, both Simeon and Anna were individuals who had given themselves to persevering prayer.
3. Their perseverance in prayer was rewarded in small ways at first, as they heard the still small voice of God in their hearts: Of Simeon it was said: “the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Spirit, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” Luke 1:26-38: It was in this same time that Mary experienced an angelic visitation, as well as a revelation that she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and that she would become the virgin mother of the child Jesus. First God spoke to Simeon and Anna, then came the voice of God to the nation of Israel, and to the world!

A similar pattern exists today in advance of the Second Coming of Christ:
1. Many places in the world have faced a great spiritual drought. Such spiritual drought is marked by the absence of the prophetic voice of God in the earth.
2. But in the years leading up to 1900, 1948 and 1967 there were those who cried out to God for Divine interventions in the spiritual drought in the world.
3. Then in 1900, 1948, and 1967 there were successive outpourings of the Holy Spirit in powerful ways throughout the world. Each outpouring has been marked with greater and greater impacts upon the population centers of the world. As we have moved into the Twenty-first Century, these outpourings have continued to increase. In this present time, the center of Christianity is shifting from Europe and North America to Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. Why? These are the major population centers of the world!

Don Finto in his book, “Your People shall be My People,” shares some amazing statistics concerning the days in which we live. He said, “We are told that over half of the people who have ever lived on the earth since the days of Adam and Eve are alive today. The latest figures indicate that one out of every five of these is a believer---more believers today than in all the years preceding us. Millions of people on every continent are coming to faith---the greatest revival in the history of the world!”

Of China, Don Finto writes: “80 million Chinese are now Christians. Some believe that figure to be 150 million. According to Youth With A Mission’s latest figures, 1,200 Chinese per hour are coming to faith. That’s over 10 million a year. Fifty years ago there were no more than 1 million believers in that vast country.”

Of Africa, Don Finto writes: In 1900 “there were only 3 percent of Africans who called themselves Christian --- today over 50 percent identify with the Christian faith.”

Of South Korea, Don Finto writes: “South Korea was only 1 percent Christian --- but it is now nearing 40 percent.”

Of India, Don Finto writes: “In India there are now 103 million believers, with a new church being birthed every seven minutes among the Hindus.”

Of the Muslims, Don Finto writes: “More Muslims have come to believe in Jesus since 1980 than in all the previous 1,000 years. Statistics from the Lausanne Taskforce on Evangelism state that while Islam continues to grow at a 3.2 percent annual rate, faith in Jesus is increasing worldwide at a rate of 6.9 percent annually.”

Don Finto writes: “This great world movement is not sparked by one mission organization alone; it is the work of the united people of God. The psalmist spoke of blessing that would come when the Lord’s family ‘live together in unity’ (Psalm 133:1). Jesus Himself prayed for unity among believers so that the watching world might believe (John 17:21-23). The promise of the psalmist and the prayer of Jesus is gradually coming to fruition. The awakening of the nations is happening through the united efforts of people from most of the major Christian groups.”

Now, with this understanding of these principles, and their application to the first and second comings of Jesus Christ, we must come back to consider the conditions on earth at the time of his first coming to earth.

What condition did the Lord Jesus find upon the earth at his coming? Jesus Christ came to Judah about 400 years after Judah’s return from Babylonian Captivity. Jeremiah, God’s prophet in Judah at the time of Babylonian captivity, tells about the conditions faced by Judah leading up to, including, and probably following the Babylonian captivity, listen to his words: Lamentations 5:1 “Remember, Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace.” What was the disgrace in Judah? Jeremiah 2:11-13 They had forsaken Jehovah as their God, the fountain of living water and they had turned to idols, depicted as broken cisterns that could not hold water. They had ceased to know God as their father.
5:2 “Our inheritance has been turned over to aliens, our homes (not physical buildings, but families: Daniel and the three Hebrew children etc) to foreigners.
5:3 “We have become orphans and fatherless, our mothers like widows.”
5:7 “Our fathers sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment.”
5:13 “Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood.”
5:14 “The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.”
5:15-16 “Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned.”
5:17-18 “Because of this our hearts are faint, because of these things your eyes grow dim for Mount Zion, which lies desolate with jackals prowling over it.”
5:19-22 “You, O LORD, reign forever, your throne endures from generation to generation. Why do you always forget us? Why do you forsake us so long? RESTORE US TO YOURSELF, O LORD, that we may return; renew our days as of old unless you have utterly rejected us and are angry with us beyond measure.”

This is a description of conditions when Jesus Christ began his ministry!
There was a fatherlessness existent among the people of Jesus’ time upon earth.
Alphaeus and Zebedee are the only two fathers named in the Gospels among the twelve disciples. After the record of Matthew 10:2-4, we never read of Alphaeus, except in connection to his son James. We do read of Zebedee, but there is nothing stated that would indicate that Zebedee made any positive impact as a father upon his sons. In my judgment there is a significant statement in Matthew 4:21 concerning James and John: “They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets.” The primary statement is that, “James and John were in a boat preparing their nets!” The secondary statement is that, James and John were “with their father Zebedee.” Production, the catching of fish was of greater importance than the relationship of sons to a father! Verse 22 states that “they left the ship and their father to follow Jesus.” The biggest decision was leaving of the ship, not the leaving of their father. Then in Matthew 20:20-24, James and John were discussing their future with Jesus. Their mother was present, but not their father Zebedee! These statements indicate the fatherlessness present in Israel at the first coming of Jesus Christ.

Why did James and John, Peter and Andrew, and others follow Jesus?
1. First it is important to note, that many, if not all of the 12, knew Jesus prior to becoming full time followers of him. John 1-3 is a record of events that took place prior to Matthew 4. In John 3: John the Baptist was still baptizing in water, and in Matthew 4:12, John the Baptist was in prison. So before becoming full time followers of Jesus in Matthew 4:18-22, these had first met Jesus as recorded in John 1 (Andrew, John, Peter, Philip, Nathanael). In John 2, Jesus and his disciples had been invited to the wedding in Cana of Galilee where they saw his revealed glory in the miracle performed. It is evident that they followed Jesus for they knew him as a person who was very relational.
2. Secondly, they followed him because of the father-like characteristics exhibited in him. In John 14:8 we have the request of Philip: “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” We have Jesus response in John 14:9 when he said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” There was just that something in him, that they longed for, and it drew them to follow him! The father-like characteristics manifest in Jesus, met the deep longing of their hearts. It has been said: “Whether one is 2 or 92, there is a longing for a father!”

DURING JESUS EARTHLY MINISTRY, HE FORMED AN INTERIM FAMILY as a model for the ultimate FAMILY OF GOD, the Church, the Body of Christ. The development of an interim family was based on a father-child-son relationship that Jesus had with the disciples. This was a fulfilling experience for the disciples. Then one day Jesus told them that he was going away. This was a shock to them, and it probably reminded them of the inadequate relationships that they had experienced with their earthly fathers. In Jesus conversation with his disciples, in John 13:33-38, Peter expressed emotional feelings that were present in himself and probably present in the other disciples as well. Peter’s emotionally filled words sum up the heart cry of men who anticipate becoming orphans again. During this brief transitional time before the departure of Jesus, the disciples manifest feelings of insecurity, competition and fear. In short, they were very TROUBLED as they bore the characteristics of fatherless children!

So Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me.” In view of the trouble being faced by the disciples, Jesus was exhorting them to: Believe in God; Believe in me! Wycliffe Bible Commentary states that “believe” is probably used as an imperative in both cases. There is circumstantial evidence for saying this. The fact is that at that moment, the disciples were not believing in God. But in order to successfully survive the trouble that they sensed in their hearts, they must “Believe in God! Believe in Jesus!
John 14:2-4 is generally thought to be about heaven in the words: “In my Father’s house are many mansions, I go to prepare a place for you,” and about the Second Coming of Christ in the words: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there you maybe also.” Now let me assure you that I believe in heaven and in the Second Coming of Christ, but I do not believe that this was the subject of Jesus’ teaching in this passage. Of what, then was he speaking?

JESUS WAS SEEKING TO TRANSITION HIS DISCIPLES FROM THE SMALL INTERIM FAMILY GROUP TO A GREATLY EXPANDED FAMILY OF GOD that would become the Church, the Body of Christ. In John 10:16 Jesus said: “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.” Jesus spoke to them during this troubling time in John 14:1 by saying, “Let not your heart be troubled.” Why? In verse 18, Jesus said: “I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.” What was Jesus providing so that they would not become fatherless orphans? Jesus was in the process of providing a relationship to the only perfect father, his Father-God. In John 14:2, Jesus states that “in my Father’s family,” (oikia=household, family), not house. House, speaks to us of a physical structure, not of a family relationship. Jesus was presenting the possibility of a family relationship, not a physical structure of a house. The expression, “many mansions” (mone=abode) indicates a physical structure as well, but Jesus is speaking of family relationships. Translating the Greek word, “mone” as mansions is an unfortunate translation. The word, “mone” only appears twice in all the New Testament, once here in John 14:2, and again in John 14:23 where it is translated as “abode.” Simply stated, Jesus was telling them that there was no need to be troubled, Jesus’ Father’s family is very large and there are many abiding places, enough abiding places in the Father’s family for every child of God! (John 10:16).
“I go to prepare a place for you, that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:3.
There are three very important questions to be considered:
1. As Jesus spoke, where was he? He is not describing a physical location. Jesus spoke of a relational location. In John 14:11 Jesus said that he was “in the Father,” that is he was in relationship to the Father. That is what each person needs to avoid being an orphan.

2. Where was Jesus going? Jesus was going to the Cross. By the Cross, Jesus would enable his disciples, and believers of all time, to have a relationship to the heavenly Father, just as he did. In view of the cross, no believer would ever be left as an orphan.

3. What did he mean by saying, “I will come again, and receive you unto myself?” This coming again refers not to the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the age, but to Jesus’ post-resurrection appearance to his disciples. In John 14:16-20 Jesus spoke of the coming of the Holy Spirit from the Father. In verse 19 he spoke of seeing them again. In verse 20 he stated that when he comes, they will have a new relationship to him and the Father: “At that day you shall know that I am in the Father and you in me, and I in you.” An intimate, new relationship is revealed in these words, and so their troubled hearts were comforted thereby.

SUMMATIONS concerning fathers/masters/teachers and children/disciples/ students: 1 Corinthians 4:15; 11:1; Ephesians 5:1-2; Philippians 2:19-23; 1 Thessalonians 2:1-12.

The spiritual father: (Paul)
1. There is a marked difference between instructors and fathers: Instructors focus upon the presentation of truth in the text being taught, while fathers focus on the spiritual children to whom they are imparting truth. The Church needs instructors that father, and fathers that instruct!
2. To be a father, one must move from being a child to becoming a mature son.
3. Fathers must be willing to work with the spiritually immature regardless of their physical age. It is not easy to relate to the immature, but it is necessary!
4. Fathers must be willing to have their spiritual children work alongside them:
a) This is time consuming, the child is less experienced than a father and so a child works more slowly.
b) The child is less experienced, so the child works less perfectly than a father.
5. Fathers must direct their spiritual children to serve God with them as fathers.
6. Fathers must affirm the child/developing son as a person while correcting their manner of service when in error.
7. Fathers must first be a model and then be an equipper. Example: A Master Craftsman and a trainee (Luke 6:40).
8. Fathers must release the child to develop as a son: a) A release will be to increased responsibility that provides increased opportunity for the development of a child into a son. b) Finally, fathers must be prepared to release the maturing son into a ministry with full responsibility and authority. c) The release will be according to God’s time and not at a time most convenient to the father.

The spiritual son: (Timothy – Philippians 2:19-23)
1. Children/sons must possess a heart with a desire to do the will of God.
2. Children/sons must be humble enough to receive from a father, both in the impartation and development of character, as well as in the development of ability to do the work of the ministry.
3. Children/sons must mature progressively as they work through the process planned by God to bring them to maturity.
4. Children/sons must be willing to receive correction as a necessary part of the process prepared for their development.
5. Children/sons must be willing to wait for God’s time of progressive and ultimate release in expanded ministry (Psalm 75:6-7).
6. Children/sons, having been placed as mature SONS must accept responsibility for the ministry into which they have been called and released.
7. Children/sons, must exercise authority by faith as they move responsibly to fulfill their ministry (Matthew 8:9-10; Luke 10:19).
8. Children/sons, after being released should continue to honor their spiritual fathers, even when they reach a level of success that exceeds the level of success achieved by their spiritual fathers. (Ephesians 6:2-3).

RELEASING SONS and DAUGHTERS INTO MINISTRY
In this presentation about Releasing into Ministry, my primary focus will be on fathers releasing spiritual sons into ministry! However, it could be fathers or mothers releasing either sons or daughters into ministry. These sons and daughters may or may not be biological children, but they must be spiritual sons and daughters.

As I think of the matter of fathers releasing sons, there are two sets of names that come to me, one from the Old Testament, namely Moses and Joshua, and one from the New Testament, namely Paul and Timothy.

Common things in the relationships of these fathers and sons:
1. These sons walked together with their fathers for a long time. There was no quick fix that these fathers packaged to pass on to their respective sons. In Philippians 2:22 niv: Paul said of Timothy, “But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the gospel.” A study of certain parts of Paul’s missionary journeys in the book of Acts will give you a clear picture of the length of time that Paul and Timothy journeyed together. Of course we know that Moses was accompanied by Joshua for 40 years, before Joshua assumed the lead role in Israel.
2. For a father and son to journey together for such a long time, it is necessary for the father and son to share mutual respect. In Philippians 2:19-23 Paul expresses respect for his son Timothy. Verse 20-21 niv “I have no one like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Christ.” Timothy’s submission to Paul indicates Timothy’s respect for his spiritual father, Paul.
3. For a father and son to journey together for such a long time, the father and the son must have a proper attitude about servanthood.
Philippians 2:22 state, “Timothy has proved himself, as a son with his father he has served with me in the work.” Note: “he has served with me,” not he has served me! The right attitude about servanthood begins with the father, and is imparted to the son. In Romans 1:1, 9 Paul’s position on servanthood is placed above his calling as an apostle.
Note: There is an increased focus upon certain gifts that have been neglected in the practice of the Church. I am delighted at the increase of biblical light that is being released into the Body of Christ! But to put an emphasis upon gifts that overshadows servanthood will result in a revival of ancient Corinthianism where gifts overshadowed love, and of course, love is the motivation of servanthood!

In verse nine, Paul speaks of God, whom he serves with his whole heart by preaching the gospel of His Son. I have been connected with the Church and its’ ministers from as far back as I can remember. I am sorry to tell you that I have met far too many seekers after position and power, and too few that have sought after servanthood! I think this was what Paul was alluding to in 1 Corinthians 4:15-16 kjv when he said: “For though you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have you not many fathers (that is, you do not have many servant-fathers). Fathers are servants of God who serve sons by equipping them for ministry. Instructors focus upon their study material more than upon their students. It can be a position and a job, not a ministry! Each of the five fold gifts should reside within a person with a father-heart! The heart attitude of Paul as a servant-father was imparted to his son, Timothy. So that Timothy served the Lord with Paul. Of course, such servanthood required submission!

The principles that governed the ministry of Paul and Timothy are the same as those that have become a part of a story from my life and ministry. My wife, Glenna and I were called to pastor a church in the Canadian city of Prince George in November, 1978. In the spring of 1979, our son, Marlo and his wife Trisha joined the pastoral staff of our church. As a father and son, naturally and spiritually we have worked together over 29 years in that same city. Most of that which I have been teaching you during this conference about Paul’s relationship to Timothy, I have experienced in my relationship to Marlo:
1. Marlo and I, like Paul and Timothy, have walked a very long journey together in the ministry. Even though we are very different from each other, we have shared a very wonderful unity in our ministry.
2. Marlo and I, like Paul and Timothy, have a mutual respect for each other. Our gifts and ministries are different, but we respect each others gifts and ministries.
3. I have had a proper understanding of servanthood. God is my Lord, and not the ministry. I do not look for people to serve me, but for people who desire to serve the Lord with me. When two work together as Marlo and I have, there is a spiritual osmosis that takes place. My servant heart has been imparted to Marlo.

Releasing sons into increased levels of Ministry:
In September, 2002 at Westside Family Fellowship, I participated in what I consider to be one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life and ministry.
1. In July, 2002 I had stepped out of the role as senior pastor of Westside Family Fellowship after having planted that congregation in 1982. So I, with the support of our Eldership and Church Congregation, released Marlo, my spiritual and biological son to take up the senior pastor role of Westside Family Fellowship.
2. At the same time I released another young man into a church-planting ministry in a distant city. That young man was also a spiritual son, but not a biological son. I had baptized him in water 20 years earlier, and for 9 years he served on our pastoral staff.
3. On that same morning, I installed another young man as principal of our Christian Day School. I think of him as a spiritual grandson, though not biologically related to me. Marlo was a spiritual father to him, in that when he was a very young boy his father and mother divorced. We were uniting the generations to serve the Lord in our local church.

Divide the Generations, and the Church will suffer defeat, Unite the Generations and the enemy will suffer defeat! The calling to restore generational relationships is much wider than any small group of churches.
An Egyptian born medical doctor was fathered into a spiritual ministry by a National Canadian Church Leader. Dr. David Demian, instead of practicing medicine, is now bringing spiritual and emotional healing to major segments of the Church in many nations through a relational body called, Watchmen for the Nations. He expressed God’s heart about fathers and sons as follows:
“Young visionaries, the “sons,” struggle to communicate with the older established ministries, the “fathers.” Seeing that they are misunderstood, the sons rebel and dishonor the fathers. The fathers, feeling rejected and wounded, abandon and oppose them. The sons, unprotected and uncovered, are attacked and wounded by the enemy. But in Canada, true fathers and mothers are being set in place who long to see the next generation surpass them in anointing, in authority, and in every other way. Under this covering, and by God’s grace, the next generation will reverse the curse in Canada and build a new foundation. God will grant them a spirit of humility and brokenness to walk in accountability with the fathers. The fathers will bless the next generation!”

I am in full agreement with this powerful statement. I am also greatly humbled by the revelation that God desires fathers and sons to work together in spite of the supposed generational gap. God has released this revelation into the Body of Christ over the past couple of decades, yes, and within my own heart and life also! I did nothing to deserve such a revelation, but by the Grace of God, He has allowed me, and enabled me to plant this seed of revelation in our local church as well as in local churches in the regions of our nation where I have opportunity to minister.

Arlo and Glenna Johnson have had opportunities to strengthen sons and daughters in Church Leadership Teams by establishing fatherly relationships:
1. It was in 1994 that I received a call from a pastor about 500 kilometers from our home. The call came because of divisive activity by a self-proclaimed prophet in their church. That was the beginning of a father-son relationship between us and the leadership of that congregation. Together, we have walked through a number of critical conditions that were brought upon that church family.

Over these many years there were several major divisive issues faced by this church, and any one of them would have been sufficient to cripple the ministry of this church in its community. However, through the release of certain gifts of the Holy Spirit, together we have been able to overcome these destructive attacks of the enemy. As a result of such victories, the church has continued to expand as new people have come into the church by conversion and transfer growth.

2. It was in January, 2001 that I received call from an elder and his wife in a church congregation in a small rural village about 300 kilometers from our home. After repeated conversations with this elder and his wife, Glenna and I were invited to participate in a congregational meeting with the view of settling that divisive issue that could have led to a devastating split. That meeting took place on a Saturday evening, and then on Sunday morning, I preached on “Fathering.” As a result of that teaching, we were invited into the home of a young couple in the church. That young man had taken up residence in the community after graduating from Bible College. Through an unfortunate set of circumstances, he suffered disappointment because he was not able to go into pastoral ministry. I learned that, as a child he had been in about ten foster homes. He now needed unconditional love, a sense of his own worth, and the affirmation of a father.

The church had been without a pastor for almost two years, so I was asked to assist them in locating a pastor. Through a series of miraculous events, I was able to put them in contact with a pastor friend of mine, and he went to pastor the church on an interim basis. I told my pastor friend about that young man in the congregation. That pastor became a spiritual father to that young man. It was evident that this young man had not only graduated from Bible College, but he had a call to pastoral ministry on his life. Through a father-son relationship, that young man was renewed spiritually, and his desire to pursue pastoral ministry was restored. By the fall of 2002, that young man became the permanent pastor of that congregation. Now, even though that young man had submitted his keen mind to a good Bible College education, without the father role of my pastor friend, he would not have entered fulltime pastoral ministry. The teachers in the Bible College certainly shared good biblical INFORMATION, but he needed the fathering process for the (FORMATION) development of his character and ability, so vital to any successful ministry. Now that young man, his wife and family are in a place where they have a ministry of TRANSFORMATION in that church and community!

Spiritual Fathers, raise up sons and daughters, walk with them in the kingdom of God, war with them against the kingdom of darkness, work with them in the Church of Christ, and watch God do powerful and impacting things for you and through you as “brethren dwell together in unity!” Fathers releasing sons & daughters into more effective ministry!

Phil Vischer was the creator of Veggie Tales, very popular children’s videos that teach good morals through biblical stories. Most recently he has written about the story of his life and work in a book entitled, “Me, Myself and Bob.” There is no doubt but that he is one of North America’s most gifted filmmakers. On page 252 of his book, he states: “I need to tell you one last story. I’m not quite sure how Walter Elias Disney came to be such a central figure in my life. It may be because the films produced by his studio were the only films targeting kids my age in the years I was deciding to become a filmmaker. It may be due to the profound impact the creativity of Disneyland had on me when I first visited at age eight. That trip from Iowa to California was the last trip my family made together. After that, I traveled with my mom or with my dad, but never again with my family. Part of my fondness for all things Disney came from a deep longing for the innocence and wholeness in Walt’s work. The way things were before we were broken.

I was so quiet and detached in junior high and high school that I didn’t feel I had identity. I loved what Walt was about, I wanted to be good, like Walt was. I wanted to be loved for being good, like Walt was. I had no idea how deep this “Walt longing” had become. A lady friend of my wife, often received mental pictures during prayer. I had never interacted with her and had never confessed to her my deep “Walt longing,” but one day, she sent me an e-mail: “I was praying this morning,” she said, “and God gave me a picture for you as a little boy. You were at Disneyland, and you were looking for your father.” God’s Word is ‘sharper than a two-edged sword,’ and a picture is ‘worth a thousand words.’ This simple picture from God split me right down the middle. Since age nine I had been unsuccessfully looking for my father in one way or another---in youth group leaders, in the older men I’d hired … in Walt? As an adult I would visit Disneyland, though I was amazed at the creativity, I still felt lost. Like a little boy who couldn’t find his dad. Now, in this brief e-mail message, my life had been summed up in one picture---one image from God.
Then one day, while I had carried that image in my head for several months as our Veggie Tales Company was moving toward bankruptcy, another e-mail arrived from the same lady: “I was praying this morning,” she said, “and God gave me another picture.” “You’re a little boy at Disneyland again.” “But now you’re on Jesus’ shoulders. The two of you are walking around Disneyland, and you’re having the time of your life.”

It was a pretty picture, but it didn’t feel true. But maybe someday it would be true---somehow. I still identified with the first picture, the lost boy looking for his father, but there was little identification with “the happy Jesus kid.” Time passed with its disappointments in the bankruptcy, but during that time God began to speak powerfully into my life, and I now knew that God plus nothing was enough! A year passed, and I was invited to speak in Los Angeles area, and I knew I had to visit Disneyland. I knew I had to go to the very center of the park, in front of the castle where there is the bronze statue of Walt and Mickey. Time was up, and as I turned to leave that special place, I thought: Walt would be Walt, and I would not be Walt. And that was, for the first time in my life, fine with me. Phil. That’s who I was. As I strode down Main Street, heading for the parking lot and my new life beyond, it didn’t really feel like I was walking at all. It felt like I was riding---on someone’s shoulders, and I was having the time of my life!

II. IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE GREAT NEED OF FATHER-SON RELATIONSHIPS in the Church, there is a second great need, namely the pursuit of Unity within the Body of Christ. A Biblically based unity is key to receiving the God’s Blessing (Psalm 133).
In late November, 2007 I received a phone call from a pastor 800 kilometers from my home, inquiring as to whether I might be able to help him in their local church. As a follow up to our conversation he forwarded to me a well detailed document describing the condition of their local church.
After a cursory reading of the document, I was immediately filled with a sense of despair concerning the future of their local church. In view of my own personal feelings, I just let the information about this church remain in a passive place in my thoughts.
On Sunday morning of December 9, 2007 I was awakened early, and immediately, thoughts of this local church came to me. At that moment I prayed for that church. Then this question came into my thoughts, “What course of action could be taken in that local church that would result in the intervention of God?” Then the Spirit took me in my thoughts to the little community church in Likely, BC. Two days prior to this particular Sunday morning experience I had been speaking with that pastor about the blessings that were being experienced in Likely Chapel. As I thought about Likely Chapel, this question came to me: “What course of action was taken in Likely, BC that propelled that congregation to its present place of growth and blessing?” I thought back to a Saturday night congregational meeting in January, 200l, when, in my introductory remarks, I said: “I understand that there is a divisive issue in this congregation between the charismatic and the non-charismatic elements. I have not come here to persuade you to become charismatic or a non-charismatic; however, I have come here to do everything in my power to bring you, as a Body of believers, into a healthy state of spiritual unity.
Psalm 133 clearly states, “How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity … for there the Lord commanded His blessing, even life forevermore!”
Immediately, I had the answer to my question concerning the course that needed to be taken in the church whose pastor was seeking my assistance. We needed to pursue the course that would bring the Body of Christ in that location to a new and higher level of unity. Such an increased level of unity would attract the attention of our Father God and He would command His blessing upon this church, and every believer in the area would be greatly enriched by that blessing. We will now wait for the rest of the story to unfold!
As I reflected further on my work with local churches, I have concluded that any success in these churches is relative to the unity of the Body of Christ!
For many years I have been involved in a local church in the small village of Vavenby, about 500 kilometers from my home. For the most of those years, the local leaders have been putting out fires of divisiveness in their local church. Human nature being what it is, we are never totally done with this issue, but we do come to times of increased relative unity. During the last two or three years, Vavenby Christian Church has come to a place of relative unity. Hence, there are those in the community who have come and are coming to faith in Christ, and for this we give thanks to the Lord and His Body of believers there.
Presently, I relate to a small team of church leaders in a city about 400 kilometers from my home. The numbers in this Body of believers is in decline. To some, this seems to be a negative factor. However, there are times in the life of a local church when subtraction, rather than addition is the only option. Allan Redpath, one time pastor of Moody Memorial Church in Chicago, USA, told a friend that there was a spiritual revival taking place in Moody Memorial Church. He was asked as to how many additions were being made to the congregation. With surprise, Allan Redpath said, “Additions? Blessed subtractions !” Why this response? A local church must come into unity in order to grow. A church will only grow because of the blessing of the Lord, and the path to such blessing requires unity!
I am confident concerning the future of this local church because its’ pastor has a strong vision for the unity of the Church in his city. As a pastor he is reaching out to other believers so as to strengthen the overall Body of Christ in his city. His effort to reach out to these believers is not for the sake of the growth of his local church, but for the purpose of bringing healing to the larger Body of Christ. Why am I so sure that pursuing the unity of the Church in a given region is the cutting edge in the work of the Church today? Let me point out two very obvious reasons:
1. The last ministry of Jesus upon earth, prior to His death upon the Cross, was to pray for the unity of all believers, present and future! Hear the words of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21, “That they all may be one … that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” Obviously, this prayer was offered by the world’s only perfect man! Obviously He prayed according to the will of God! 1 John 5:14-15 states “… if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us: and if we know that He hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him.” According to the Word of God, the prayer, Jesus prayed in John 17, will be answered!
2. One of the most familiar end time prophecies is recorded in Ezekiel 37. This prophecy states that God will bring back the Israeli nation from among the nations of the world. This aspect of the prophecy is being fulfilled. However, I would point out that there is a secondary significance to this passage that centers in unity. The prophet came into a valley of dry bones, and viewed it as a place of death. The Lord posed a question to Ezekiel, “Son of man, can these bones live?" (37:3). “Did those dry bones ever come to life?” In Ezekiel 37:10, states, “So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding GREAT ARMY.” The answer is a resounding, YES! But how did they come to life? They came to life through a sequence of events. In the verses of Ezekiel 37:5-9 two things occur: 1. The bones, tendons, flesh, and skin come together in a proper order, and
2. The breath of the Lord came into this unified body composed of bones, tendons, flesh and skin, resulting in the rising of a great army. This sounds like Psalm 133 to me!
In view of the prayer of our Lord Jesus in John 17 and the end time prophecy of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37), “unity of the faith” will come to the Body of Christ! So, I believe that as the leadership of the Church, and the leaders of any local church takes the course that leads toward unity, God will release His blessing upon that Body of believers!

III. In Conjunction with the need for fathering, and the need for unity, the third great need in the Church is for the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon the Body of Christ just as God Anointed Jesus for His Ministry upon earth (John 14:12).

Acts 10:36-38 presents the model of Jesus life and ministry in that God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit, so that he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. But now, the Church has been anointed by God so that this corporate Body can go about doing good, healing all that are being oppressed by the devil (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). The two words, Christ [Christos pronounced Khris-tos] and anointed [Chrio pronounced Khree-o], is used to describe the earthly ministry of Jesus, but the words are also used to describe the earthly ministry of the Church. The Greek words, Christ and anointed are respectively, a noun and a verb. Jesus was anointed by God, the Father with the Holy Spirit, and with that anointing, he became Christ [the Anointed One]. It is interesting that following the ascension of Jesus, “the disciples were called Christians [christianos] (Acts 11:26c). The “ian” was added to names like General Galba or to Emperor Caesar to indicate that they were either “soldiers of,” or “slaves of” these individuals [New Bible Dictionary]. Now when we apply this to Christ, it means that we are both “soldiers of” and “slaves of” Christ. Or we might say that we are “soldiers and slaves of” the Holy Spirit anointing! The “ian” was not added to Jesus, it was added to Christ! In the strictest sense of the word, we need to understand the significance of each word in the name of our LORD JESUS CHRIST: Lord refers to His deity; Jesus refers to His humanity; and Christ refers to His anointing! Based on Romans 10:9-10 we are saved when we believe and confess the Lordship of Jesus! In the strictest sense of the word, we do not receive a physical Jesus into our lives, we receive the Spirit of Christ (Romans 8:9-10). See also Colossians 1:27; 3:1-4. The Church is called the Body of Christ, not the body of Jesus (1 Corinthians 12:12-13, 27). If we used the term, “body of Jesus,” we think of the physical body in which he lived while he was upon the earth, and when we use the term, “body of Christ,” we think of the Church, composed of the spiritual body of believers.

According to 1 Corinthians 12 the Body of Christ is composed of many individual believers with different spiritual gifts to function as ones called to serve the Lord while on earth, thus bringing glory to God as we bring salvation to the people of our world. According to 1 Corinthians 12:7-11, different gifts function in each member of the Body of Christ by the enablement of the Spirit.

In the 1 Corinthians 11:29 there is a phrase, “discerning the Lord’s Body (KJV),” or “recognizing the Body of the Lord (NIV).” There are different thoughts as to what this phrase might mean. Some have thought that it refers to the body of Jesus that was broken for us by means of his death on the Cross. Still others think that it refers to the Church, the Body of Christ with its’ individual believers gifted by the Spirit. I think that there is merit in each concept, however, I particularly like the latter thought. I think that I need to receive ministry from a number of believers with different gifts of the Spirit operating in their lives, such as a gift of wisdom, or a gift of healing etc. However, if I do not discern, or recognize the individual members with these different gifts, I will not receive the benefit of their gifts, so I may be weak, or sick, and eventually die.

I also think that I can take this concept one step further by praying for a release of the Spirit’s anointing in the lives of different members so that there will be a manifestation of the Spirit in whatever gift may be needed. In our local church family, I have become aware of particular individuals that have an anointing that results in the healing of the sick as they pray for the sick. First, I encourage them to pray for individuals that are sick, and as they do so, I pray for a release of the anointing of the Spirit for the healing of the persons for whom they are praying. One of the gifts of the Spirit that is frequently manifested in my ministry is the gift of wisdom pertaining to God’s government in a local church. It is very important to me that believers pray for the release of this anointing in me so that others might experience the beneficial function of this gift through me. A church leader, in another country, whom I have never met, phoned me while I was in the midst of preparing this present set of notes. He described a moral failure that was in process in the lives of some individuals with whom he was working. As I spoke into that situation, he responded several times with these words, “That’s wisdom.” Yes, that was wisdom, but it was not my wisdom, it was the wisdom of the Spirit manifesting in my life for the benefit of that leader and the lives to which he was ministering. God grant that we might see the value of the Body of Christ working together for the benefit of the Church and the world of unbelievers!

Maintaining health in the Body of Christ:
There is a lot of hurt that has been inflicted upon the Church, Body of Christ. Some of that hurt has undoubtedly come from Satanic attacks upon individual believers. However, hurts that come initially from our enemy have been maintained by the passivity of fellow members of the Body of Christ. It is necessary for us as members of the Body of Christ to become proactive by seeking to restore those members that have fallen victim to our common enemy. Fear or faith, one or the other will rule our lives! If we will step out expecting to be able to do that which we know we cannot do, God will have some wonderful surprises in store for us! I am sure that there was an element of surprise that came to Peter as he stepped out of the boat on to the water! When we reach out to someone who has come under the attack of our common enemy, Satan, we will discover that God will give us insights that are totally beyond our comprehension! So why don’t you prepare yourself to discover the limitless ability of God as it will be released in your life as you step out in obedience to the Lord.

There is a tendency in the church to further attack a believer who has come under the successful attack of our spiritual enemy, Satan. This may be done in several ways, let me suggest just three:

1. Upon hearing of their fall, we often stay a way from them, and they become further isolated from those who could help them. We do this, because we are not sure what we should do or say to such a person.

2. Upon hearing of their fall, we tell our friends about that which we have heard about such a person. Regrettably, we may even share the information about the fall of the brother as a prayer request.

3. We excuse ourselves from taking any positive action in seeking to assist the person encountering the fall, by thinking that there are others closer to them, and others must be doing something about the matter.

These passages of scripture provide guide lines by which we can reach out to those who have come under the attack of our common enemy, Satan. Study these passages carefully, and prayerfully, and I am sure that the Lord will guide you to minister to individuals who have been wounded. These wounded individuals need to be loved by being accepted and corrected, so that they can experience the healing of the Lord in their lives!

Matthew 18:15-17 “To trespass is to miss the mark, especially morally, to sin.”

Galatians 6:1-3 Fault, a slip unintentional or willful, an error, a transgression.
- Ye (plural, that is “all of you”), this is a matter for local church leaders.
- Spiritual.. I Corinthians 13:1-7 Love is the mark of spirituality.
- Restore.. to repair or adjust as in the case of a broken bone.
- If we will do what we can do, God will do that we cannot do.
- To perfect, that is to join perfectly together.
- Spirit of meekness/gentleness and humility.
- Verse 2 Life relationships with the Birth of Christ.
- Ephesians 4:11-12 “perfecting/completing/furnishing/equipping. “

May I encourage you to allow God to release a gift of faith in your life as you study the instruction given to us in Matthew 18:15-17 and Galatians 6:1-3 for the spiritual restoration of fallen brothers in the Church.

In conclusion, it is my prayer that these teachings might become a tool in the hands of the Holy Spirit to enable each of you to do the will of God in your life and ministry with renewed blessing and strength.

It's All About the Development of our Faith

2009-01-10T13:35:00.000-08:00

The story of the commencement and development of Emmaus Place Society is not about the development of projects and programs that will meet the needs of a designated group of people of our community … it was and is about the initiation and development of faith in God in the lives of many people!

The story of Emmaus House located at 6373 Hillcrest Place in the city of Prince George is not about a building and its development, or the beautification of the land surrounding the residence for the housing of senior citizens of our community … it was and is about the initiation and development of faith in God in the lives of many people!

The “many people” in whom God wishes to initiate and develop faith includes you and me! The “many people” includes all who have ever served on the Board of Directors of Emmaus Place Society, it includes the donors of financial contributions toward this non-profit society, it includes the clients who have been, or are residents in Emmaus House, it includes those who have been or are employed at Emmaus House, and it includes those who will read, or come to know about the unfolding story that you are reading right now.

This unfolding story that is being written, started in the early 1990’s in the heart and mind of Arlo A. Johnson, pastor of Westside Family Fellowship. It started as a desire to create a non-profit society in the community of Prince George that would meet some very specific social needs of individuals whether they were churched, or non-churched. As a result of this growing vision, nine individuals responded to a need by giving upwards to $4,000. each, as a sinking fund for the establishment of Emmaus Place Society. Their response resulted in the collecting of approximately $35,000. Emmaus Place was registered as a non-profit society with the ability to issue charitable receipts.

Initially, we purchased 160 acres of land at the end of Haldi Road in Prince George. The asking price for the property was $120,000. With our limited funds we approached the local business man and owner of this property. As a result of our negotiations with him, we entered into an agreement, and that property was purchased for a cash payment of $50,000. plus, the issuance of a charitable receipt for $70,000. We made attempts to establish a portable sawmill on the property as a means of training young people from single parent families. But when we made our presentation to the Municipal Council for a permit to operate the mill on the property, we were denied a permit.

Now what were we to do? We waited for further direction! It was decided that we would not actively seek to sell the property. However, in the course of time, a would-be purchaser made an offer that we could not refuse. The sale resulted in a 290% increase of our capital funds. We purchased another 80 acres of land for approximately $40,000. and invested the balance of the funds. While we continued to wait, various plans were considered for the development of the newly purchased land, all to no avail.

It was in 2001 when Patricia Bowler approached Emmaus Place Society with a proposal that we lease her residential property and establish a senior supportive housing unit. Through our negotiations with Patricia Bowler and her family members, we came to a mutual agreement concerning a lease and an agreement of the future purchase of the property. The Senior Supportive Housing Unit was opened February 1, 2002 and named Emmaus House. Noella Miller was hired as the manager of Emmaus House. The next two and one-half years provided us with the challenges of a very steep learning curve, but we did survive those challenges. As we overcame such challenges, we entered into a final agreement with the Bowler Family on a purchase price of the property.

In the process of final negotiations we realized that we were faced with a dilemma. We had sufficient funds for a down payment, and a mortgage was available to us, however we didn’t have enough funds for the continued upgrading of the property. One day it was necessary for me to confirm with the BC Housing Safer Program that a certain senior had taken up residence at Emmaus House. After making phone connections, I listened as an operator went through the usual, “push 1 .. 2 .. 3 .. 4. As I waited for the appropriate number to be identified, I heard the words, “push 2 if you wish to partner with BC Housing etc.” After I completed the purpose of my call, I redialed the BC Housing number, and pushed the appropriate number that resulted in an initial conversation that eventually resulted in a BC Housing Grant of $35,000. Now we were in a position to purchase the property from the Bowler Family, and still have funds to do the desired improvements. On December 1, 2004 the property was purchased and from that time major renovations have been, and continue to be made on 6373 Hillcrest Place.

However, if we were to complete the renovations of the exterior of the house, as well as the re-shaping of the land contours of the lot, we would need to acquire further funds by the sale of the 80 acres of land that the society owned on Family Place Road, fifteen miles west of Prince George. Efforts had been made to sell the property, all to no avail. Then in mid-2006, a new neighbor who had just purchased a residential property on Family Place Road, inquired about the possibility of purchasing our 80 acres at the end of Family Place Road. On November 1, 2006, Ben Spyker Senior, a member of our Board negotiated a very satisfactory sale price for the property that would net us, $56,000.

In view of the forthcoming sale, we proceeded to let out a contract to Sunnyside Enterprises for the application of Hardie Board to the exterior of the entire house.

Hardie board is a high quality product with a 50 year warranty. In addition to the supply and application of the hardie board, there was other exterior work included in the contract for an agreed price, not exceeding $25-27,000. However, Kenton Friesen of Sunnyside Enterprises said that if he could do it for less, we would receive the benefit of the lower price. His final invoice was $23,085. less a charitable donation of $1,000.

With the balance of the funds from the sale of the land we re-shaped the land surrounding the residence, and build a network of Allan block walls that greatly beautify the property. When contact was made with Home Depot for the purchase of approximately $10,000 worth of Allan blocks, Bob Alspaugh (member of our board) asked if we might receive a special purchase price in view of the size of the purchase. In the conversation it was mentioned that we were a non-profit society, and as a result of that information a charitable grant was given that reduced the purchase price to about $6,500.

During this time we applied to the Prince George Community Foundation for a grant to construct a Gazebo, and received a grant of $2,500. A very beautiful Gazebo was also constructed, and located in the backyard of the property with a great view.

By very careful spending, we were able to plan the complete renovation of the common area of the main floor of Emmaus House which included a new set of kitchen cupboards, removal of all the old flooring, replacing the living room with laminate flooring, and dining room, kitchen and hall with vinyl floor covering.

The paving of the drive and parking lot was one other major outdoor improvement needed to be made, but this project would be very costly, and we only had $10,000. left in our Development Fund. The first paving quote came in at about $30,000. We negotiated with the company, and they reduced the price $5,000., but it was still too much for us. Then we reduced the amount of paving required by planning grass and shrubbery areas at the front of the house. This reduced the price to $22,000. Westside Family Fellowship offered to give Emmaus House an interest free loan of $12,000. to be paid back on a monthly basis from our Operational Funds. It was a deal, we proceeded with paving.

The Board of Directors for Emmaus Place Society are Bernie Legault, Randy Chance, Bob Alspaugh, Tony Vigar, Jim Alexander and Arlo Johnson.

Emmaus House has nine permanent residents, and one Respite room presently available for a temporary resident. Noella Miller is the House Manager; Debbie Gurski is the night person at Emmaus House in case of night emergencies. Several individuals work on a part time basis. There are several individuals who volunteer from time to time to assist with various needs in the operation of Emmaus House.

You can visit our Website at www.emmaushouse.ca

Fear or Faith is a choice!

2009-01-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

Scripture: Luke 8:22-25 Verse 25, “Where is your faith?”

Introduction: As we journey through life, we face a variety of different situations, some good, and others bad. It is in these bad and dangerous situations, that we have to choose between being overcome by fear, or overcoming the fear and the dangerous situation by choosing to exercise our faith in God and his Word.

Some of you reading this may have just passed through such a situation, others of you may be in the midst of such a situation, and still others of you will one day be faced with such difficult situations. In John 16, Jesus had been speaking to his disciples about such things as grief, and pain. Then in John 16:33 niv, Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you might have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

In Luke 8:22-25 we have the record of Jesus and his disciples in a dangerous storm on the Sea of Galilee. The disciples chose to focus upon the storm, and they were filled with fear, while Jesus chose to believe the words he spoke at the beginning of the journey, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” The disciples, in their fearful state came to Jesus with a sense of desperation, and said, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown.”

It was because of the different focus of Jesus and his disciples that Jesus asked his disciples, “Where is your faith?” We need to know that fear is a negative expectation, and faith is a positive expectation. So where is your faith, is it focused on the storm, or is it focused on God and his Word?

What does faith and fear have in common?

1. Both faith and fear come as a result of our focus: Faith comes as we focus upon God and His Word! Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” In our story, as the disciples focused upon the wind and the waves, they became fearful and cried out to Jesus, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown.”

2. Both faith and fear bring results into our lives. Faith brought peace and positive expectation into the life of Jesus. The peace allowed him to sleep in the midst of the storm, and he expected to arrive safely on the other side of the lake. Fear brought anxiety and negative expectation into the lives of the disciples. Fear caused them to think that they were in the process of drowning, and they would not reach the other side of the lake.

3. Both faith and fear rule out the possibility of each other. If you have faith, you will overcome the possibility of fear, and if you have fear you hinder the possibility of faith. Neither one is compatible with the other. In Psalm 56:11 “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me.” At the point of faith there is no place for fear. Jesus was resting at the point of faith, and there was no place for fear. Then in Psalm 56:3: “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.” At the point of being afraid, there can be a determination to move out of fear to faith, but faith cannot dwell where there is fear. The disciples were at the point of fear as the storm came upon their boat, and their crying out to Jesus was an expression of their desire to move toward the point of faith.

What are the contrasting differences between faith and fear?

1. Faith brings us to focus upon positive possibilities, while fear brings us to focus upon negative possibilities.

2. Faith brings us to the possession of good and desirable things, while fear brings us to the possession of bad and undesirable things.

3. Faith brings us into a positive state of mind even in the most difficult times (Romans 8:28). While fear brings us into a negative state of mind, and most of the things that we fear as coming upon us, never happen. (Philippians 4:6-7).

As Jesus faced the storms of life, he made right choices because of two principles that governed his life. Those two principles are clearly stated in John 5:19 “… the Son can do nothing of himself; he can only do what he sees the Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” 1. The Son can do nothing of himself … he did not have a self-centered faith … he knew his own limitations. 2. The Son only does what he sees the Father do. But he did have a God-centered faith. He knew that when the Father showed him what he should do, he had faith in God that he could do it! This is a picture of the perfect faith of Jesus in relationship to his Father.

How can the model of Jesus’ faith come to be applied my life? Hebrews 12:1-2.

1. In verse one, there is a reference back to that which has been written in the Hebrews 11 faith chapter … neither of the words, faith or fear are actually mentioned in verse one, but there is an inference to both of them. The words, “… since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses” is a reference to the experience of the men and women of faith in Hebrews 11. Each of them, by their lives, affirm the positive results of faith! Then the words, “… let us throw off every thing that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” is a reference to the fears that prevent the possession of an effective faith walk with God. Then the words, “… and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” is a challenge to possess a faith that overcomes fear.

How can we develop a stronger faith that overcomes fear?

Verse two contains several significant statements in answer to this question: 1. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus,” not on the difficult situation in our life at this moment. The word, “fix,” means to “look or focus attentively upon.”

2. Jesus is the “author and the finisher of faith.” Jesus is the originator and completer of faith in the life of the believer.

The storms of life that have come to Glenna and I in 55 years of pastoral ministry. These storms have been occasions in which God developed and strengthened our faith. But the greatest developments of my faith personally, have come to me when I have heard the inner voice of God’s Spirit calling me to do a certain thing. Then as I have been obedient to that voice of God, by stepping out in faith, I have experienced my greatest growth in faith. I believe that this is in harmony with Romans 10:17 where it states, “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” The Greek word, rhema is used in the translation of “word,” in the case of the phrase, “word of God.” Rhema is a current word spoken into the heart of an individual, giving that individual, personal direction. It was a rhema word that I heard directing me to establish the Emmaus Place Society. Time has proven that Emmaus Place Society was not just a good idea, it was a God idea. So when I obeyed that word from God, two things occurred. The many steps of obedience that I was called upon to take brought considerable development to my personal faith in God! In addition to that, the operation of the non-profit society has brought great blessing to many people, including members of the society’s board, employees involved in the operation of Emmaus House, as well as the seniors who have been blessed by living in the senior supportive housing unit. For all of this we render our thanks to the Lord!

See the posting: "It's All About the Development of our Faith."

A Study in the Life of Joseph and His Brothers

2009-01-04T21:28:00.000-08:00

The following thoughts from the life of Joseph and his brothers are just one continuous message, and that message is on the FAMILY, with application to both the natural and spiritual family.

Ephesians 3:14-21 is a portion of scripture that we need to look at repeatedly, however at this point we will only note verses 14 and 15. As a result of bowing our “knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” we were born into the family of God. There is only one such family with members in heaven and on earth. 1 Peter 1:23 speaks of us as having been born again by the Spirit of God, while James 1:18 speaks of our spiritual birth by means of the Word of God.

So whether the family under consideration is natural or spiritual, let us note two particular things which God desires for such families: God desires the presence of a love that leads to unity! God has a divine strategy to unite families, while Satan has a sadistic design to divide families, both natural and spiritual!

In the process of this study we will consider such passages as: Genesis 37, 39-50; 1Corinthians 1-3, 12-14. Let us familiarize ourselves with the story of Joseph and his brothers as given to us in the book of Genesis.

The Story:
Genesis 37 … introduces us to Joseph and his brothers by telling us of the dreams of Joseph and the conflict that came between the brothers and Joseph. There was a plot to kill Joseph, but through the intervention of Reuben and Judah, Joseph is spared from death. However, Joseph is sold to certain Midianite merchants, who in turn sold him in Egypt to Potiphar, the captain of Pharoah’s guard.

Genesis 39 … tells us of the place of prominence given to Joseph as the one put in charge of Potiphar’s entire household. Potiphar’s wife sought to entice Joseph to sexual immorality, but he refused her solicitation. As a result of her false accusations against Joseph he was put into prison. But even in prison, God blessed Joseph, and he became a leader under the prison warden.

Genesis 40 … tells us of the dreams of the imprisoned cupbearer and baker, and Joseph’s interpretation of those dreams. Joseph asks the cupbearer to request Pharoah to release him from prison, but the cupbearer forgot to do so.

Genesis 41 … tells us that two years pass, and Pharoah has two disturbing dreams to which he cannot find an interpretation. These dreams reminded the cupbearer of Joseph and his ability to interpret dreams. Pharoah brought Joseph out of prison, he interpreted the dreams, and proposed a survival plan for the predicted famine that would come upon Egypt and the surrounding nations. Finally, Joseph was selected by Pharoah to implement and oversee the survival plan. And Joseph is very successful in the storing of food during the seven years of plenty, and the distribution of that food during the seven years of famine.

Genesis 42-45 … contains the story of the re-connecting of Joseph and his brothers, as his brothers come to Egypt to acquire food in order to survive during the years of famine. These chapters describe in detail the process through which Joseph and his brothers pass leading to the disclosure of Joseph to his brethren.

Genesis 46-47 … tells of the coming of Joseph’s extended family to live in Egypt. Joseph is re-united with his father and the entire family.

Genesis 48-49 … gives details of blessings given by Jacob to his sons and grandchildren just prior to his death.

Genesis 50 … tells of the final details that were dealt with by Joseph and his brothers resulting in the full restoration of family unity!

Now with this story in our thoughts let us read Genesis 37:2-11.

These verses portray a very serious division within this family between Joseph and his ten brothers. It is evident to me that the major reason for this division was rooted in the INEQUITABLE LOVE shown by their father, Jacob, for the members of his family. Jacob loved Joseph more than he loved his ten brothers. The reason given for such an inequitable love was that Joseph was born to Jacob in his old age. This was a love that was based on emotion, and not on the action of the will. NOTE: Love is, first to be an action of the will! Love is a choice, and then it is to be felt in one’s emotions. The repeated command of Jesus is: “LOVE ONE ANOTHER.” It is evident that in order to obey such a command, one must do so out of one’s will, by choosing to love, and not out of one’s emotion. Jacob’s emotional, inequitable love created in the ten brothers an opposing emotional reaction that was equally inequitable in its’ lack of justice. The reaction of the ten brothers was focused toward their father and their brother Joseph.

It seems to me that life is like a road, and as human beings we are to travel together on this road of life. However, let us remember that each road has two ditches. We tend to separate from one another by taking extreme positions on one thing or another. In our analogy, we move into opposite ditches. Jacob’s inequitable love moved Joseph into a ditch of pride and arrogance, while the ten brothers moved into an opposite ditch of inferiority and insecurity, resulting in an intense, murderous anger. Their positions in opposite ditches resulted in a lack of relationship with one another on their road of life. The coat of many colors (a richly ornamented robe) given to Joseph by his father, was worn with pride and arrogance. Then Joseph had two different consecutive dreams. Both of which were reported by him to his brothers. He could have kept those dreams to himself, but I believe that it was out of his pride and arrogance that he reported the dream to them. One would have thought that after the reaction of the brothers to Joseph’s first dream, Joseph would have kept the second dream to himself! However, it seems evident to me that these dreams were reported to his brothers out of his pride and arrogance. Such actions by Joseph pushed his brothers further into the ditch of inferiority, and insecurity, hence the increase of their anger and hatred for Joseph. We must understand that neither the action of Joseph, nor the reaction of the ten brothers was right!

Lest we think too negatively concerning Jacob and his inequitable love, we need to refresh our memories about the conditions of the family from which he had come. Isaac and Rebekah were extremely divided in their love for their twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Genesis 25:27-28 states, “The boys grew up, and Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the open country, while Jacob was a quiet man, staying among the tents. Isaac, who had a taste for wild game, loved Esau, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” It is quite natural for new parents to parent in a manner similar to the way they were parented. This doesn’t make it right, but it is a tendency.

But before we get into the details of the process through which this family will pass, let’s look at the end of the story as recorded in Genesis 50:22: “And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he, and his father’s house.” KJV. “Joseph stayed in Egypt, along with his entire father’s family.” NIV. The family that was so divided in Genesis 37 is now united in Genesis 50. What a transformation!

How did such a transformation take place? I believe that the transformation came about because of two things: 1. A plan of divine action and 2. A godly human response. God had a strategic plan for the life of Joseph, and a different strategic plan for the lives of the ten brothers.

The object of both of these plans was to bring change into the lives of Joseph and his ten brothers. However, these strategic plans of God required a godly human response from both Joseph and his brothers! In the process of this study we shall consider God’s plan and their respective responses that brought about change in all of their lives, which eventually brought this divided family by love into unity.

There is one more significant aspect of family development to be considered at this point: How can two parents care for twelve children? The truth of the matter is that it takes a whole family to raise each member of a family! This is true, whether it is the natural family, or the spiritual family, the Church!

Exodus 18 records the advice given by Jethro, Moses father-in-law concerning Moses’ leadership of the spiritual family, the nation of Israel. Exodus 18 is the record of the meeting of Jethro, Zipporah (Moses wife), and their two sons Gershom, and Eliezer with Moses after the deliverance of the nation of Israel from the bondage of Egypt. A very enlightening conversation is contained in this passage of scripture.

It is important for us to know the background of Jethro (or Reuel as he is called in Exodus 2:15-20). Moses spent 40 years of his life in the land of Midian where he served his father-in-law as a shepherd of his sheep. It is interesting to note that Jethro, as a descendant of Midian was related to Moses the Israelite. In Genesis 25:1-2, after the death of Sarah, Abraham took Keturah as his wife, and they had six children, one of which was Midian. In Exodus 18:7 we see the deep respect that Moses had for his father-in-law, Jethro as he bowed down to him and kissed him! V.8 tells how Moses reported to him the manner by which the Lord delivered the Israelites out of Egypt. V.9 states that Jethro was delighted at the report, and in V.10 Jethro declared, “PRAISE BE TO THE LORD, who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians.” He continues in V.11, “Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.” Jethro then brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God.” Then Aaron, Moses, and all the elders of Israel met with Jethro in “THE PRESENCE OF GOD.” What a wonderful picture of spiritual relationships!

Jethro continues with them, and on the next day, Moses took his seat as judge for the people (v.13). As Jethro observed, he asked this question: “What is this you are doing for the people? Why do you alone sit as judge, while all these people stand around you from morning till evening?”

Moses answered him, “Because the people come to me to seek God’s will. Whenever they have a dispute, it is brought to me, and I decide between the parties and inform them of God’s decrees and laws.” (vs.14-15). Jethro: “What you are doing is not good. You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone.” Jethro continues: “Listen now to me and I will give you some advice; and may God be with you. You must be the people’s representative before God and bring their disputes to him. Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform.”

May I suggest to you that Jethro’s outline of Moses’ responsibilities was as follows:

1. Moses was to represent the people and their problems before God, that is, Moses was to, by prayer, intercede for the people and their problems before the LORD.

2. Moses was to teach “the decrees and laws” of the LORD (that is the word of God), so that the people might by them, learn “the way to live” and “the duties … to perform.”

However there was a limit to what Moses could do, so Jethro says: “ … select capable men from all the people---men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain----and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult cases to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied.” Vs.24-26 states that Moses did exactly that!

This is a picture of how God wants us a Body of believers to care for the Church of the Living God! Pastor and people working together to care for the flock of God. There is no competition, just co-operation in caring for the spiritual family of God.

Someone has said that the New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed, and that the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed. The picture that we have viewed in Exodus 18 of leaders and followers working together in unity is portrayed in the familiar passage of Ephesians 4:11-13. The leaders, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, are to equip the followers to do the work of the ministry. This results in the building up of the Body of Christ into a functional, working unity!