A New Generation - Marietjie Chase

When David accepted the challenge to go kill the giant, Saul tried to fit David into his own suit of armor. It did not fit. David did not fit Saul's mold.  Remember Saul was "the-peoples-choice". There is again a Davidic spirit released in the people of God. There are those who have been building a history with God on the back pasture, where they learn to trust Him and are not poluted with man's way of doing things. These people, young and old, male and female, from every race, tongue and nation are again crying out; " Is there not a cause?!!!"

They do not fit the mold. These people do not share the same spirit of fear that now makes christians cower and bow to the forces of evil. These are not schooled in the ways of religion and as a matter of fact have no use for religion. What makes them different is that they know God. They truely know God and will not be convinced to believe the lies about Him that are preached. They are convinced of the greatness of their God and know that God have not gone to sleep. They are not afraid of the challenges and will not go silently into the night. They will not be quiet. They will not bow to man's ways and the flesh.


They are not aware of or ignore the "older-brother" spirit that comes against them because their focus is on pleasing God. They have layed aside the fear of men. They have laid aside the concerns for this life. They have laid aside the affects of the systems of this world. They have wasted their lives...on Jesus.

These are the ones who are building a new dwelling place for God. These are the ones who have turned to focus one ONE THING only: GOD!!

LOVE - AGAPE

God is Love John 4: 8
Jesus Commands us to love God and love people as ourselves. John 15:12, 17 and 13:34

Love- agape is a self sacrificing type of love. Love that is found only in God and through God. The love of God. A Charity. A giving, benevolent love. God so love the world that He gave...

Let us love one another for love is from God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows, experience God. The one who does not love like this does not know God.

God gave us an example, a demonstration of this kind of love when He gave His Son to pay the penalty, punishment for the sins and mistakes of the entire world. If God loves like this and we call ourselves children, sons of God, then we ought to love like this as well. When we love we are doing what God does and He is in us and works through us. Because we know and believe that God loves us, we are part of God and His love for us and in us, can love like He does. When we find ourselves loving in this benevolent, self-giving way, it is prove of God living inside of us and of us living and existing in God. By this, love as a way of living, we become God's ambassador's, God's representation in this world. John 15:13

There is NO fear in love. Fear includes punishment, but love has NO punishment. Living in Love is better than prophecy, more excellent than any spiritual gift. It is a fruit of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Love is the vehicle, instrument, channel for Faith and without love faith is ineffective. There is NO slavery in Love but we willingly serve as slaves to one another because of love and in this we fulfill the entire law. Love never ends and will continue into eternity.

How do we love one another? By obeying God. Those who love and obey God also love those who are born of God. Jesus demonstratyed His love for God, the Father, through His obedience. John 15:10 and 14 : 31.

I John 2 through 5; Romans 8:28, 37-39; II Corinthians 5:14, I Corinthians 12:31 though 13:13; Ephesians 5: 1-2 and 5: 25; Romans 13:8; Galasians 5:6 and 22

Five Fold Hierarchy Heresy

.....As God has called you, live up to your calling. Accept life with humility and patience, generously making allowances for each other because you love each other. Make it your aim to be at one in the Spirit, and you will be bound together in peace. .... Ephesians 4:4-6

We ought to question anything that brings a spirit of division into the Body of Christ/ Kingdom/ Church/ Bride of Christ. We are all ONE. We need One Another. We are all ONE body, many members but ONE body. If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it.... and if one member is honored, all members rejoice with it... there is a more excellent way .... seek Love: Agape.

Ephesians 4:11 are jobs ( job descriptions) not titles. Some He gave a function, or "being" to be.... These are not titles or honors or medals or awards or a system. This was never meant to be some christian pyramid system of control and honor. There is no Levitical priesthood hierarchy in the New Testament. We are ALL kings and priests but our functions, roles and purposes in the Kingdom differs. We are all to humble ourselves and submit to one another. The authority of the believer is not over people, but over the works of the enemy.

The "five-fold" heresy comes from one single verse pulled out of context. Paul could have gone on and extend his list to helps, mercy etc. He was speaking of the Body being one and each one given a gift of grace or grace according to the gift of Christ...He gave gifts to men... as examples of these Paul mentions the five following gifts. There is no implication or hint that this is a hierarchy or system or an "authority" structure. To infer this from this passage is heresy.

Continue to read the rest of the chapter.. or book... It is clear that the whole Body has to grow up and mature with Christ as the head. From the head each part is directly connected and receive life to grow by the proper functioning of each individual part. V25 ... let each man..., for we are all parts of the same body... Here Paul is still continuing on his theme of One-ness.

I Corinthians 12.. again is about the One-ness of the Body of Christ. The gifts listed here are different from the Eph 4 list. So why not call it an eight-fold ministry.

In Romans 12, the passage actually starts out with (verse 3) a warning against the conceited arrogance now so rampant in the Body of Christ. Be humble. But here these "gifts" listed are actually called functions. And the list contains, prophecy and teaching... If we read the entire chapter, it is not about establishing some pecking order but simply to say that we have gifts that differ and that we are all One and must submit to one another in brotherly love,... give preference to one another in honor...

If Eph 4, I Cor 12 and Rom 12 were meant to establish an authority structure, God would have said so, clearly. He has no problem giving Moses very detailed instructions about the first Levitical priesthood... that ; by the way; is a thing of the past. Also the list of gifts would have been the same. It never says anywhere in the New Testament that all are under the authority of a certain gift. It is simply not there. It does say that ALL, that means everyone, needs to function in their gifting, while submitting to one another. There is NO longer a human mediator or authority. We are all face-to-face before God through Jesus Christ.

Do I propagate anarchy in the church? NO, instead the opposite. All in humility and love (agape) submitting to one another. We are all on even plane before God. I Cor 12 says plainly that an eye is an eye and an ear is an ear, both needed and important, both submitted to each other and the one not under or over the other in authority or control.

The only offices in the church are on a congregational level. One for the spiritual well being of the Body and one for the physical well being of the Body. The offices of elders/overseers and deacons are explained in Acts 6. Deacons [gr.diakonos: those who labor in the dust] are the physical servants of the congregation. Elders/ overseers are those who minister the word and devote themselves to prayer.

The instruction to submit to one another is in the same spirit and flow of the rest of the New Testament. The law of liberty of life in Christ Jesus made us free from the law of sin and death; Not so that we can run around and get ourselves entangled again in some sort of man made slavery, or into all kinds of sin and lust, but so that we can now have the power and ability to complete our God ordained destiny. Submit to God and one another by the power of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ and fulfill your purpose and function in the Kingdom of God.

What is "Born Again"? by Marietjie Chase

Prior to being Born Again a human is a dual/two-part being. The spirit- human spirit- though present, is dormant, inactive, dead. And if the human is indeed a spirit who lives in a body and have a soul; then those who are NOT born into the Kingdom of God, born of the Holy Spirit, then they are indeed dead.

At the moment of " New Birth" our human spirit comes to life and we take our first breath of the HOLY SPIRIT. The instant this happens, we become like God, a trinity/ a three-part-being, created in His image to be in fellowship with HIM. We are new creations. We are born from above. We have abilities, gifts and life(zoe) that does not end with body and soul. We have a whole being, not just two thirds.

Growing up into all God wants/purposed us to be is the Salvation of the Soul. After we receive new life in our spirit, we are now equipped for the process of Salvation of the Soul. Our Body is now the servant and not the master. We begin the task of re-ordering our lives. The body has to become subject to the spirit, through the soul. The soul having submitted itself to our spirit. (the human spirit albeit now filled and glowing with the life and spirit of God)

Our spirit is the God part in us. In Genesis, God breathed His Spirit/breath into Adam and he became a living soul. After the fall/sin in Eden, the Spirit of God withdrew from humans, making man the living dead. Since the soul has no "spirit" to submit to in this state, it takes it's cue from the physical body, to care for, please and serve it. The flesh grows in it's demands, since lust is never satisfied. Legitimate needs and pleasures given the wrong place becomes lust. This is the flesh: when soul serves this body instead of this body serving soul and spirit.

The will of man, that is seated in the soul, makes decisions aided by the mind and emotions. It really does not matter what agency - mind or emotions- brings the convincing. The beauty of God's design in humans is that even the retard, the brain dead, the 'dog' have emotions. Reaching the will through the mind may be more feasible in Western Society or the Orient but when you deal with Africa, or the Islands of the sea or less educated societies, (where the mind has not been elevated to the point of idolatry) the emotions becomes the avenue to the will. Once the will is reached, a decision, by the will, is made to either accept or reject Jesus Christ and His sacrifice and in the process either accept or reject God's New Covenant.

When the will makes this decision and it is uttered through the voice using the breath and physical body, the Spirit of God enters the spirit of the human and life ( zoe) results. This person who receives this life(zoe) will never die. This human spirit, once made alive will never die. It cannot be made "un-born" or "un-alive" anymore. So, the people who never accepted God's offer of LIFE are dead and if their physical bodies die in this state, they will NEVER live(zoe). If they are made alive, they will never die. In this life, this existence, we have the opportunity to spread the LIFE of God.

He that has the SON ( Jesus) has the life (zoe). He that does not have the Son does not have life. If you believe in Me(Jesus), you will live(zoe) though you will die( this bios).

For those who are not born again, whose spirits are dead and who are in enmity to God, this life in this earth is ALL they have. For those who are born again it is just a part- a passing through - a sojourn; just a small part in a so-much-better, so-much-better whole. No wonder the flesh - those whose souls serve and cater to the body- are in enmity to God. It is the boss, spoiled, over -indulged and now it knows that when the spirit is quickened/ born again, that the body will become the servant; no longer pampered, but now disciplined.

The soul is in discomfort since the pattern, habit, status quo has been disrupted. Catering to the flesh, has it's reward for the soul, yet the posture of worship to God through the spirit is foreign. Change is resisted since humans are basically lazy. Laziness and change does not co-exist.

Pre-New Birth - Born-Again- B/C (Before Christ) nothing really matters. It does not matter what you do. You will damage your body and soul and make it less useful but in the scope of eternity it does not matter. Once you are Born Again, you are starting to build, to live eternity. Everything has meaning. Nothing is wasted. Everything has value.

There is only two kinds of people walking this earth: the living dead and the living living. Those who does not have the life of God in them are dead while they live. Those who have the life of God in them will never die though their bodies may stop functioning.

Kingdom Principles by Marietjie Chase

For the past few days, I have been meditating on Kingdom Principles: stuff that should be obvious but are not.

In the Kosmos if you want to become wiser, bigger, richer or better, it depends on how much you can take in or add to your life. You labor to take in knowledge, money, food, honor, etc. In the Kingdom of God you grow and mature by what you give out. Give money and lay up for yourself treasures in Heaven. Give energy and worship and prayer and grow in your intimacy with God and knowledge of Him. Give ministry and service and grow in your stature as an ambassador of the Kingdom.

Often what happens in the Natural/Kosmos precedes the same thing happening in the spiritual/Kingdom of God but often the opposite is required. When the Kosmos is moving in one direction, the Kingdom of God is often moving in the direct opposite direction. Right now the whole world/Kosmos is moving toward a "one-world" system. It is becoming one centralized, connected, interactive, interdependent unit. The word of the Lord and direction of the Holy Spirit for the Kingdom of God is to de-centralize. Go smaller, NOT bigger. Multiply!! Replicate!! Hundreds of thousands of smaller works instead of huge mega structures.

This will require a re-thinking of our "church" set up. Pastors - Who are they? What are they? How are we to relate to them physically and spiritually? The office of "pastor" has been out of order in the church for too long. We need to re-think, re-pray and receive a new revelation on this...

• A small group of about 5 families cannot financially support a full-time pastor. Pastors have to either take a secular job or pastor several small congregations. Which begs the question: should the pastor be paid by the congregation at all. maybe that is just another Old Testament, "levitical" thing we kept for lack of something better.


• Are you still a shepherd/pastor when you oversee several smaller groups? Or does the fact/action of traveling make you an "apostle"?


• Could one of the more mature/experienced members with a full-time job be a shepherd/pastor? maybe members will grow up faster if more of the ministry is done by the members instead of the hired help/pastor.

Our current church system makes me think of the time in Judges 17 when each did what was right in his own eyes and some paid the Levite to be their priest.

Could we be brave and courageous enough to chance what is? Could we cross the bridge from tradition to blind faith? Where is God's Elijah's, Daniels, Deborah's and Esters? Are they ever going to come out of the caves, backside of the wilderness or prison?

There is a new Reformation coming - No, it's already started. Will we go with the flow or try to hold back a tsunami with our bare hands?

The Kingdom of Heaven/God by Marietjie Chase



The revelation of the Kingdom of God/Heaven, I am starting to realize, is not just another signpost or event in this journey , nor is it the next restored reality/truth to divide about. If Jesus spoke about this so often and seemed to keep going back to it; and then the apostles in their epistles, brought this down in more bite- size daily applications, it is in fact our life. Some wrote books on it, and that is important to help us think this through, but it is not even about the thinking part. It is not about knowledge or being right. It is not about structure, authority and methodology. It is not a truth that excludes all the others. It is not something to get fanatical about.... Jesus told stories to try to bring it to people: The Kingdom of Heaven is like... He said this over and over and over again.



So what is it? As I begin to see it, it is a changed heart and mind. It is the reality of seeing God's way, living God's way. It is to "not let the world/kosmos squeeze you into it's mold". It is to let the love/agape of God rule and reign in our hearts and minds. It is to love/agape the Lord our God with ALL our heart, soul, mind and existence.

"So?"

Well, it is easier said than done.



We, humans, have a sin-stained "action and re-action" attitude about life. We have our own inbred, yeah I mean inbred, sense of justice. We have a balance, an equilibrium, that helps us survive and succeed in this world/kosmos system. But in order to live in the Kingdom of God we have to let all this go. Yeah, let it go.



There is a new attitude, a new "breeding" that has to happen. Meditation on what Jesus said, what the Apostles said, brings us almost always to the conclusion that this cannot work in this world/kosmos. So we sit with this dichotomy that we would like to live and obey the New Testament but the Old Testament thinking and living fits easier in our polluted attitudes. We therefore keep parts of the old and embrace that of the new that we dare to swallow. None of us, or maybe I should say few, has yet to bet the farm.



What would make us see, really see, that the new is better? Would it take some cataclysmic event to erase our systems/kosmos/world that we so desperately cling to? This to, would not seem like the mercy and grace of God but it would be; wouldn't it?





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Meditations



"Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me, because the one who is least among all of you is the one who is greatest."



"Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure-- pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return."



In the same way, the last will be first, and the first will be last, because many are called, but few are chosen."



For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has showed no mercy; and mercy rejoices against judgment.



"But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them

WARNING!! DANGER !!!

Abuse, any abuse, that brings a wound in our person, spirit should be viewed as serious. If we keep the offense, it will fester into a wound, hurt feelings. Woundedness and hurt feelings, when not taken to the foot of the cross, will bring you to a place of overcompensation, which is arrogance. Arrogance when it is complete, mature and fulfilled leads to self-deception. Self-deception leads to heresy since the "glass" through which the truth is viewed is distorted. The result is mixture. Some of what we believe and release, say is the anointed truth of God but some comes from another source. This is the trap that now ensnares the church, body of Christ, believers. Too few of us has the ability to discern between the truth and the junk. We are to enthralled with the personality, charisma and to lazy to find God for ourselves and study the Bible for ourselves. If you take everything a someone teaches, without weighing it against the witness in your own spirit, - which comes from your own personal relationship with God and study of the Bible - you will be deceived. We ought to search the scriptures to have enough of a deposit of the Word in us and have enough of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, that we can sieve what is taught to separate the anointed truth from the other "stuff." So how do we avoid the seed of self-deceit? (If you are self-deceived you would not know it.) Deal with the offense. Learn to forgive and love(agape) your enemies. This DOES NOT mean staying in the abusive situation. Remove yourself from the abuse but for you own sake, forgive. Run from the abuse but also deal with the residue of it in your heart and spirit. Unforgiveness is sin. Deal with the offense, unforgiveness as with any other temptation: War against it. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the scriptures to war and overcome. Eph 6 calls it the "sword of the spirit" for a reason. Jesus wielded this sword most effectively in Matthew 4.

SPIRITUAL SURVIVAL -------


In our days, I dare say the last days, we arrived at the edge of a precipice that the church has never before experienced. It seems some have gone to sleep and are letting the political tide drift them to who knows where. Some of us are fighting a battle we feel we cannot win. Some see the danger and are ringing the bell. People are like animals in a fenced yard sensing the eminent danger and circling but all we accomplish is to kick up the dust.





When Jesus' time here on earth drew toward the end, he became increasingly concerned for His disciples well fare. We read His prayer in John 17 and the last teaching to the disciples/apostles that span from chapter 13 through 16. This was His farewell address to them and if we read this and meditate on it we see a few survival techniques that He brings to their attention.


First: Let's wash one another's feet. What does that mean? In one of Paul's epistles he wrote, in love (agape) serve as slaves to one another. This is practical. There is no reason, we, Christians cannot be a village, a community. Do we even know the practical needs of those we are in the Body of Christ with us.

Don Fransisco sang it years ago: "I don't care how many buses you own, or the size of your sanctuary, it doesn't matter how steep your steeple is, if it's sittin' on a ceme- tary I don't care if you pave your parking lot, or put pads upon your pews, What good is a picture perfect stage, if you're missin' all the ques I don't care if your pastor's super powered, and your program's always new What you need is love and truth Men are gonna come to you, It doesn't matter that you know the Bible, if it's all just in your head, the thing I need to ask you, is that have you done the things I've said: Do you love your wife For her and for your children, are you laying down your life What about the others Are you living as a servant to your sisters and your brothers, Do you make the poor man beg you for a bone Do the widow and the orphan cry a-lone."

Jesus said that even as He loved us, we need to love one another. How did He love us? He gave His life for us. That means His all. BY THIS shall all men know that we are His disciples, if we love one another. Jesus comes back to this point over and over again: Love God and love one another.





Second: Believe! Believe in the Father, Believe in Jesus. Believe means to trust and obey. Jesus said we will do the same works that He did if we believe. Unto believers it was given in Mark 16 to lay hands on the sick , to do signs and miracles etc. We who believe are suppose to do these things, not a select few. Be foolish enough to take God by His word and act on it. Lay hands on the sick and heal them. It is the least we can do. Stop running all over the place and do it yourself. Like when the disciples came to Jesus with the complaint that the 5000 plus followers were hungry in the wilderness and He said: " You feed them." This is not the time to debate doctrine and pontificate the pro's and con's. Do the stuff. If you believe, do it!





Third: Jesus introduce the Holy Spirit to them and explain the purpose and the place of the Holy Spirit to them. The orphan spirit that have christians live as though our God is dead, has permeated the church because we do not know how to draw on the Holy Spirit. We have this Holy Spirit right here upon the earth. We have Him living inside of us. Learn to rely on Him. Yes, it is by trail and error and we look and sound like fools while we are learning but the alternative is even more disastrous. We are so inclined to have a human Moses, - pastor, prophet, teacher, - that we have not learned to discern His voice. Come on Church, get of your lazy lowers and start getting into God so that you also can hear His voice and OBEY it. You will not hear if you are not willing to obey.





Fourth: Jesus said, if you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you will and it shall be given unto you. We have to know the Bible more deeply than just what we hear in church. You and I need to know the book. It is very simple. Read it, meditate on it and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you. Let it settle in your heart. If you have to memorize it for this to happen then do it. This is your civil defense. This is your "Boot Camp". The Word and prayer. Yes, it sound so simplified but it is still true. Get on your knees and pray. Pray the scripture if you do not know what else to pray. Pray through the New Testament. Let the Holy Spirit lead you through it. Learn to pray. Learn to seek God's face in prayer.





Jesus warns of coming persecution. The warning is going out again! Troubled times is at our door. Get ready! it is not time to go hide in a hole. It is not the time to reach for more entertainment. Get ready! Prepare yourself, for "in the world you have tribulation but take courage; Jesus overcame the world."

FEAR!!! by Marietjie Chase

In times like these we need to deal with fear. It is a mistake to think that fear is the opposite of faith. true that fear can keep and stop people from obeying the will of God but we never see Jesus being very harsh with anyone who feared. He encouraged them." Don't be afraid", "Fear not."

When it comes to unbelief it is quite another story He rebukes them for unbelief. Unbelief is faithlessness, uncertainty or distrust. The negative of being persuaded and convinced. It is closely related to doubt and disobedience which is to be without persuasion. Heb 3:18-19, John 3:36. Doubt and unbelief is the opposite of Faith, not fear. Fear's opposite is courage.

Unbelief brings judgement John 3:18 and is called evil Heb 3:12.

Fear and faith can exist simultaneously in a person, Mark 5:33-34 and I think of Gideon who obeyed scared. It is possible to obey afraid. It is possible to belief while being afraid. Faith gives us confidence but during the process we can still be afraid. Fear does not necessarily cancels out faith. II Cor 2:3, Ephesians 6:5, Heb 4:1.

God has not given us a spirit of fearfulness, timidity or cowardice, but if we find fear in us, it does not mean that we have no faith. It simply means that we lack courage. Fear is cast out by love (agape). John 4:18. Fear is our indication that we lack a revelation of God's perfect love. Do not throw away your confidence, it has great reward, Paul warns. We need to be persuaded of the integrity of God, but we also need a revelation of His love. If we are sons and the spirit of adoption is in us and the spirit of love (agape), then we will get rid of the spirit of fear.

Faith comes by the voice of God and to gain faith we need to spend time seeking His face. Prayer and fasting may help with this. We need to seek His presence, we need to behold Him. No amount of repeating scriptures, or looking at our past, shaky future or the terrible odds against us will build faith. We find faith only one way, "by the Rhema word of God" Remember what happened to Peter, once he took his eyes of Jesus, he sank. Keep our focus on Jesus. Keep our faces locked into His face. Let the things of the earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

How will you hear His voice if you do not seek out His presence?Spending time in His presence will also bring us to a greater revelation of His Love. For God is love and abiding in Him is also abiding in love. As we pursue God we will also be filled with His love.(agape) God is love and the one who lives in God lives in love. Fear, fearfulness, timidity, cowardice, the spirit of slavery will fall off like the access baggage they are.

Eph 3:14-21.

I pray the Father, from whom every family in heaven and earth derives it's name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power - dunamis- divine inherent ability Acts 1:8- through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you being rooted and grounded in love (agape) may be able to comprehend with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love (agape) of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power - (dunamis- divine enablement- Acts 1:8) - that works within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

The Root of The Spirit of Fear by Marietjie Chase

Reading through Romans I came upon this verse in the eighth chapter, the 15 th verse: "We have not received the spirit of slavery, leading to fear but a spirit of adoption as sons (spiritually which includes both genders) by which we cry Abba! Father!" That made me think of II Timothy one verse 7: "God has not given us a spirit of timidity -cowardice, fearfulness - but of power (dunamis) and love (agape) and discipline - a sound mind, self-control and moderation-."

See how the spirit of fear has it's roots in the orphan/slave spirit. Slaves and orphans has no inheritance, no protection, no security, no confidence and are left to fend for themselves. Spiritual slaves are often legalistic and concerned with what is right since they find comfort and security in this. They are always trying to do what is right since they think that they will by that, find the acceptance they so desperately crave. John 14:16-18 Jesus states that He will not leave us as orphans but will send the Holy Spirit as comforter - He is also our teacher, reminder and companion. In Psalms 27: 9-10 it says that even if my father and mother forsake me God will never.

Galatians 3:23-29 and 4:1-4 says that slaves and immature sons have a lot in common. Immature sons are tutored by the law until maturity. Mature sons enjoy the inheritance of the father, immature sons enjoy the positional inheritance but does not yet see the inheritance. True sons of God are not afraid of the Father's reproof, but embraces it since it leads to maturity. Notice how often Jesus rebuked, reproofed the disciples. Children do not raise themselves.

We have very few true fathers in the Western, One-Man-Show, Church and even if we find one, we have made it so easy for people to run from congregation to congregation, that they never get the fathering needed to mature. So we have bunches of orphan/slaves running around with no real roots, power, love or self-control. This caused the church to be so feminine that true men seldom feel at ease in these places. Part of the reason for the abuse of women in the Western Church is that the pastors have a feminine spirit produced by the absence of fathers in the faith. They are feminized and are intimidated by the women since they are trying to "mother" the church instead of "father" the church, since this is all they know. A pastor or father that has a slave/orphan spirit uses people instead of investing in them. It sacrifices it's children to the needs of self. It does not tolerate intimacy or genuineness, realness. This is the opposite of the spirit of adoption.

If we are going to successfully deal with the spirit of fear, lack of love and power in the church we have to deal with this orphan/slave spirit and part of the answer is to change the structure, mindset and methodology of the church. We have raised a couple of sons and have still two in the house. These boys needed their mother when they were young but there comes a time when a young man yearns for the fathering of a father. Maybe the old ways of making a knight had something to it where a boy stayed with the women folk until the age of eight and afterward was raised by men.

Changing our style of church will only help if we also "father" people into maturity and produce mature sons (spiritually which includes both genders) to continue the family business. At the age of 12 Jesus separated Himself from His mother with these words: "Did you not know that I have to be about my fathers business." Luke 2:49

[See also these: http://touchedbygrace.org/teachings/ ; http://www.fatherpower.com/ ; www.rmdk.com/ ; http://web.mac.com/waynecanderson/Standsure/The_Blog/Entries/2008/9/1_Orphans_and_Motives_Behind_Christian_Disciplines.html
and also the book Wild at heart by John Eldrege ]

Lord Change Me!!! 

Reading through Paul's epistles I notice that he speaks a lot about the unity of the Body of Christ and also about the things we do. In some he uses the term" and not of ourselves" so often it is like a refrain: " not of ourselves, but of God, Not of ourselves but of God." I love II Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything you may have an abundance for every good work.

Our God always have a purpose. He is never random. We seeing through a glass, a muggy glass, do not see clearly yet but He does see clearly. That is the reason we are admonished not to judge one another, over and over and over again. Running around pointing the finger at everyone just serve to bring division. It seems that arrogance, flesh and immaturity does not recognize the inconsistencies at it's own door. Neither can it. We need one another for that.

Appearance means nothing. Knowing that we are judged by our actions, deeds and fruit some may seek to keep appearances. The heart dictates the actions. Not the other way around. If we have an unhealthy heart and force ourselves to do the right action we become religious and subject to yet another set of laws and miserable. Seek rather to change the heart by pointing it towards God and by letting the love and grace of God change it. The deeds, actions, fruit or appearance only serves the purpose of exposing what is in the heart. James said that our words reveals our faith. But our works cannot create our faith. Our faith, our righteousness, our love and goodness all comes from God. And the more that we fellowship with Him, the more we become like Him. Our ambition, our only ambition, is to be pleasing to Him.

We cannot judge people by the flesh. We cannot know what is in the heart. We are free to judge the actions but not the person. Our deeds will be judged. "Who we are" is already dealt with once we accept Jesus' finished work and enter into the kingdom of God. Our "who" is hidden in Christ in God. We are His workmanship. We are His Body. We are what and who He says we are. For this reason we are not to judge one another. I Cor 4:3-5

Only God knows the motives of the heart. What we are to judge is the deeds, the actions of those around us. Does the deeds, actions line up with the word of God? The deeds follow the reality from within. The fruits tell of the tree. We do what we do because we are what we are. Out of the heart of man flows his deeds. I Corinthians 11 speaks of examining our own hearts and even in this we are limited since we do not always know ourselves. We can only do according to the light that we have.

We are changed not by looking at our failures or the punishment for our shortcomings but by looking at Him. The beholding, focusing, vision of the glory of the Lord in Christ Jesus, revealed by His Holy Spirit is what changes us. No amount of self- effort can do it. Our diligence, our discipline, balances on our pursuit of a relationship with God though Jesus Christ by the ability of the Holy Spirit. This one thing is our only and entire pursuit. Single-mindedly we seek His face and in this we are changed from one degree of glory into another.

II Corinthians 4: 6 God's light shines in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

It is God, not ourselves...

Addressing Some Basics... by Marietjie Chase

Two problems in the church that needs addressing. We cannot keep fighting about "who -is-right" and "who-is-wrong' until we have or because we have to address these two things.

Number One: Most born again believers, Christians, Kingdom believers, saved, baptised and filled-with-the-Spirit, children of God do not know how to recognize His voice. We have no ear to hear and most have no heart to hear. A heart to hear is a heart set at attention to obey. Even if we were aware of His voice our inclination is to dismiss it and stay in our safe little comfort zone. This needs to be addressed. We need to learn how to hear His voice for ourselves. We cannot run to Kim Clement, Chuck Pierce, Barbara Yoder or Pat Holleran if we need to know whether we should buy a new car or fix the old one up. We need to hear Him for ourselves.

Learning to obey Him comes very much like walking to a baby. First you sit, then, crawl, then walk. In every stage you stumble, fall, get hurt, look like a fool and move on. We cannot love ourselves and our reputation and still learn to obey God. Every one who knows His voice and hear Him; yes even the world known prophets; will tell you of the times they were " flaky" because they were learning to hear God. Missing God is part of the process. People who are in the process of learning to hear God looks foolish. They may announce something and two months later turn back. We need to support and love them. They are in the process of learning. No one has ever walked on water by staying in the boat.

The second and just as important issue that needs to be addressed is the process of getting from the promise to the fulfillment. Steve used to say that between the prayer and the answer God makes the saint. Once we are sure it is a word from God there is some response required. Most of the time we need further instruction. Even Mary, the mother of Jesus, asked: How can this be? The further instruction most often has to do with time, place and method. Once Gideon was sure of the instructions He worshipped. He did not abandon His relationship with God for the task. Give God what He wants first.

Sometimes God says: Wait. Just as conception and gestation takes time, some time we have to wait to see the fulfilment of God's promises. We cannot become distracted and chase butterflies. We got to stay focused and let the vision shape the man (or woman). Jesus already knew at the age of 12 that He had to be about His Father's business but did not start His ministry for another 18 years. Joseph knew at a very young age what his destiny was suppose to be but it took 13 years of slavery and imprisonment before the fulfilment. Yet, Joseph kept his heart set upon God.

It is impossible to live out the Second without the First, since we need to know His voice to do His bidding. It goes without saying that both these are faith issues. It is impossible to hear and obey consistently without faith. It is also a self-sacrifice issue. There is no hearing and obeying if we are still loving our lives.