Knowing the Heart of the Father

How To Understand Agape Love

Lesson 4 - "Learning to be Christ-like - Revealing The Heart Of The Father" will be taught at CityView Community Church in York, PA.Note:  Bonus Lesson 

Eldon Post, a guest speaker at our church in 2004, showed how ancient Hebrew was also a pictorial language.  His lesson showed how writing symbols were not only alphabetic but pictorial.  Through those pictures he taught what the word Agape Love meant and eventually translated it into Revealing the Heart of the Father. 

Till the end of the lesson, when placing  revealing the heart of the father in place of the word love, an unique revelation occurs:

Example:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son…..” John 3:16

“For God so revealed the heart of the Father to the world that he gave his only begotten son…..”

“A new commandment I give unto you, to love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another.”  John 13:34-35.

    “A new commandment I give unto you, to reveal the heart of the Father to one another as I have revealed the heart of the Father to you, so you must revealed the heart of the Father to one another.”  John 13:34-35.

It was always the will of Jesus when on earth to reveal the heart of His Father, and it is still his will through the Holy Spirit.  We as believers in Jesus Christ have the ability to know the heart of the Father as Jesus did when he was a man on earth.

Freedom of Worship

The Climax To An Unique Course

Note:  On Sunday,  December 26^th, 2010, I will be participating in the final session , Response To Worship in my “Journey with Pappa B” Series at CityView Community Church, just north of Rt.30 on Roosevelt Ave (on top of the hill) at 9:30 a.m. until 10:15. 

In the past 7 weeks we have learned:

     - The trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is in each believer in Jesus Christ

     - Every person has to face his own personal Passover, Pentecost, and Feast of Booths individually with a requirement for each.

     - God’s name is “I AM”, and the rest of the Bible records his character and nature, so that we as believers can give back to Him what He has given us.

     - We have the ability as believers in Jesus Christ to seek the Heart of the Father, thus sharing His love.

     - We can be in proper relationship with mankind if we take 100% responsibility with 0% blame.

     - When the supernatural dissects the natural, we can expect “God Moments”.

     - We are Priests according to the Order of Melchizedek, thus we need to act like priests.

So the last session will be an open session of worship where we can celebrate the trinity in us, acknowledging our salvation, empowerment, and fulfillment in Jesus Christ, worshiping his character and nature through the power of His name, seeking the Heart of the Father while in right relationship with mankind, while acting as priests unto the Holy Spirit.

During this session you can read a scripture, a Logos Word, that has become activated, alive, a Rhema Word in your life, or a new song, or a poem, or a testimony of the power of His Name in your life.  Feel free to minister to one in a Christ-like relationship, encouraging one another, empowering one another as priests of the Holy Spirit.  Feel free to worship musically, verbally, or silently!  It is a time where as Priests of the Holy Spirit, a Priesthood of Believers, you can give back to the Lord what He has given you.

Being the day after Christmas, this should be a special session of honoring Jesus on the celebration of His birth.

Evangelism in the 21st Century

What’s Happening?

I just put together a powerpoint presentation of all the blogs on fiverevealed.com on the topic of evangelism.  Review and reflection always causes one to think, to analyze, to question, to want to know more.

Open air meetings by Whitehead in the 1700’s, the Camp Meeting movement in the 1800’s, the out door Jesus festivals and huge evangelistic crusades in sports arenas in the 1900’s, but a decade has already passed, and what is happening with evangelism in the 21^st Century. 

The Billy Grahams, Oral Roberts, and Pat Robertson’s are aging or deceased, but who is rising to fill the gap? Instead of tents and arenas, the Church has build big edifices, mega-church structures with great theatrical capabilities to “draw in” the lost rather than “reaching out” beyond their walls.

The internet with social networking has brought on a new mentality of social interaction.  Relationships are not just local community but world wide, but not based on the face to face meeting each other’s needs level.  In the book of Acts, 5000 were saved in one day, but then the Church began building a network of communal collection to give to the poor, meet the needs of the widows, taking care of the sick, the imprisoned, etc.  How is the Church to build a network built for the internet, social network, facebook generation?

Every generation of youth questions the validity of Church structure and relevance, with this generation doing the same, for their world has expanded beyond the local church at every corner to local, state, national, and even international websites, blogs, tweets, and facebook messages.  Paul wrote letters that took days to get to their destinations.  What would he think of email today? Would he have “blogged” for all the Churches to read? 

Often, my frustration with the Church was to get them off of their pew, out the door, go into their local community and walk the walk, sharing with everyone about Jesus.  Today, the challenge remains to get one away from their computer to have direct, face to face, meaningful relationships in daily lives with one’s neighbor.  Christians have always had “talking the talk” down, but Jesus wants us to “walk the walk”.  In a “social networking” context of a lot of talk, how is the Church to respond to the walk?  That is the challenge of the 21^st Century evangelistic fervor of the Church today!

The Believers of Jesus Christ As Priests?

The Priesthood According To The Order of Melchizedek

Note:  On Sunday,  December 19^th, 2010, I will be teaching another lesson, The Priesthood of Believers in my “Journey with Pappa B” Series at CityView Community Church, just north of Rt.30 on Roosevelt Ave (on top of the hill) at 9:30 a.m. until 10:15. 

Martin Luther professed the Priesthood of Believers as one of his tenants during the Reformation, yet he did not practice it when setting up church government.  He still advocated the clergy/laity relationship when establishing the Lutheran Church.

Today, the Mosaic system of leadership with priests from the tribe of Aaron has been replaced by the rabbinical system of leadership in the Jewish faith.  Today they have no priests, no temple, and no animal sacrifice.  So where does the priesthood stand?  Is it an archaic institution?

Abraham paid respect to a priest, king of Salem, whose name was Melchizedek, by giving him 1/10^th of all he had, the first recorded tithe in the Bible.  Who was this Melchizedek?  David even records and recognizes him him in Psalms 110:4.  Hebrews 7:26-37 & 8:1-13 records, “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying “Know the Lord” because they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest.”

So if we are priests to the order of Melchizedek, then what can we do as priests since there is no longer any need for a sacrificial system since Jesus is our sacrifice, our sacrificial land? 

Supernaturally Natural, The Power Of The Cross

Can We Trust The Holy Spirit?

Note:  On Sunday,  December 12^th, 2010, I will be teaching another lesson, Supernaturally Natural in my “Journey with Pappa B” Series at CityView Community Church, just north of Rt.30 on Roosevelt Ave (on top of the hill) at 9:30 a.m. until 10:15. 

What do you call it when your mundane, every day routine is dissected by the supernatural?  I call it a “God Moment”.  That vertical intersection of the horizontal creates the Cross.  The Cross is central to all that is supernaturally natural.

If we, who are believers in Jesus Christ have to admit that our spiritual birth, or new birth, is supernatural, then why can we not believe that God can move supernaturally in our natural life after that initial event? Are we afraid of change, or challenge, or of the Holy Spirit, or of the supernatural?

What happens when the supernatural dissects the natural?  Routine is replaced with change!  Comfort is replaced with challenge! What evidence is there of the supernatural?  How about Jesus, God’s Son in the flesh, the virgin birth, the resurrections, the power of the resurrection, Pentecost, and the coming of the Holy Spirit is all recorded in the Bible as supernatural events!  Bottom Line:  Can we trust the Father?  Can we trust the Son?  Can we trust the Holy Spirit? Then why not live a supernaturally natural life?

Christian Relationships

How To Handle Relationships in a Christ-like Fashion

Note:  On Sunday,  November 2010, I will be teaching another lesson, Learning To Be Christ-Like - Relationships in my “Journey with Pappa B” Series at CityView Community Church, just north of Rt.30 on Roosevelt Ave (on top of the hill) at 9:30 a.m. until 10:15. 

Eldon Post was the feature speaker at a Men’s Retreat in 2004.  He did a series of lectures on How Men Of God Can Become Godly Husbands.  His teaching was revolutionary to me, life changing, and saved my marriage.  He taught how any believer in Jesus Christ can take whatever they have to the Lord and seek the Heart of the Father on the matter; then be obedient to what they have seen or heard.

He taught that Jesus died on the cross not for the Church, nor for us, but because He was obedient to the Father.  He knew his mission, and was obedient to the point of death.  He then took 100% responsibility for our sins, yet gave 0% blame. He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” 

Eldon then exhorted us men that we must take 100% responsibility for our wives and 0% blame.  It is not a question of being right or wrong.  There was nothing right about Jesus being condemned to die on the cross, except that He was obedient to the Father.  Think about it! Most marital spats are “blame” sessions.

If we would apply the 100% responsibility/ 0% blame principle in every relationship we have, what an impact we would have on the world.  Hardly anyone takes responsibility in the political arena or business world, but are good at spreading the blame.  If your boss takes 100% responsibility for what you do without the blame, you would respect him, do anything for him, and be more productive.  All politicians do today is blame the other party and produce negative ads.  Why are they surprised that no one trusts them?

This lesson will go into depth on this unique principle and its implications.

God Is A Linking Verb

Names Of God & Worship

"Names of God & Worship" is the third lesson in a series of "Journey with Pappa B" to be given Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010 between 9:30 to 10:15 @ CityView Community Church in York, PANote:  On Sunday, November 28, 2010, I will be teaching the third lesson, Names of God/Worship, in my “Journey with Pappa B” Series at CityView Community Church, just north of Rt.30 on Roosevelt Ave (on top of the hill) at 9:30 a.m. until 10:15. 

Only an 8^th grade English teacher can get excited about the name of God!  When Moses asked God to reveal Himself, giving himself a name for Moses to tell his people, He said, “I AM who I AM”!  God is a LINKING VERB!  Linking Verbs must link their complement with their subject, so what comes after the Linking Verb is crucial.  If a description comes after the Linking Verb, you have a Predicate Adjective.  If what comes after it renames the subject, it is called a Predicate Noun.  God tells Moses his name, IAM, then tells his nature through Predicate Adjectives and who He is through Predicate Nouns.

For Example: Predicate Adjectives – “I AM your strength, your joy, your deliverance, your healer, etc.  Predicate Nouns – I AM the Lord God Almighty, the Alpha & Omega, the Rose of Sharon, the King of Kings.

It is incredible the amount of different names and description that are listed in the Bible for God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, all for the purpose of revealing himself to us!  Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I AM?” The Bible lists who He is, but the question is to each one of us, who do we say He is that is an active part of our lives?

During times of worship, when the worship leader just plays an interlude, one can just begin to verbalize those names back to Him.  I believe that worship is simple: Giving Back To Jesus What He Has Given You!  If he has healed you, delivered you, provided for you, forgiven you, etc., give it back as a proclamation of faith.  In personal prayer times, tell the Lord what He is to you, what He has done for you, who He is!  Proclaim in faith his character and nature even when it is not tangible or evident in your life.  The name of Jesus, and all the names associated with his character and nature are powerful.  Release that power.

What In The World Does “Equipping The Saints” Mean?

A Challenge to the Church and Its Believers

Does the Church take Ephesians 4 seriously?  I do not know of a local church where I live that takes “equipping the saints for the work of the service” seriously.  There are courses, books, tapes, messages, etc. on “discipleship”, but what does the Church do to actually equip them. 

Does “equipping the saints” mean “educating them”?  Do the saints need courses and degrees, educational academia, or constant Bible studies to be equipped?  It is easier to “equip the staff for the work of the service” than the saints.  Why?  In public education, we are always faced with “professional development”, and I guess the church has taken that model in its institutionalizing of clergy & staff.  Years ago we called that process for believers, the saints, “sanctification”, growing in the likeness of Jesus Christ, but “sanctification” had nothing to do with formal education, nor with “professionalizing” Christianity.

So if “equipping” doesn’t mean formally educating the saints, what does it mean?  What is the Church suppose to be doing if it is “equipping the saints for the work of the service”? 

Maybe we should be asking who or what are we serving?  What is “the service” we are equipping the saints for?  Are we to serve “the system” or the “institution” or the “tradition” of the established church?  For what reason, or what result?  Are we serving “the lost” in an effort for them to be “found”? Are we to serve the unchurch, the nonChristian, those living in their communities that don’t go to church in order to bring them into our community? 

I propose that seminaries, Bible colleges, and Bible schools basically teach “how to equip the church to maintain itself”.  We teach them church lingo or linguistics, church manners, church laws of does and don’ts.  We do not necessarily teach how to “go into the world”, but we teach how “not to be part of the world”!  Jesus sent out 70 as recorded in Luke 10:1-23, giving them specific directions before releasing them, (like vs. 9: Heal the sick who are there and tell them ‘the Kingdom of God is near you’), then rejoicing at the out come of their endeavors (vs. 21 “At that time Jesus full of joy through the Holy Spirit said, 'I praise you, Father, Lord of the heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure’).  He didn’t equip the wise and learned, he equipped God’s children for the work of the service.

In up coming blogs, maybe we can look at this “phenomena of equipping the saints”, but the Church must define what “equipping the saints” actually means in practicality before it can move ahead with actually “equipping”.

Deut. 16:16 Jeopardy

What is your “Daily Double” worth?

"Deut. 16:16" Jeopardy will be played Sunday, Nov. 14th, and Sunday, Nov. 21st, 2010 at the CityView Community Church, Roosevelt Ave., York, PA from 9:30 to 10:15!Note:  On Sunday, November 14, 2010, I will be teaching the second lesson in my “Journey with Pappa B” Series at CityView Community Church, just north of Rt.30 on Roosevelt Ave (on top of the hill) at 9:30 a.m. until 10:15. 

“Old Testament for 100”, or “New Testament for 300”, how about “Kingdom of God for 500”, or “Jesus for 1000”?  What will you wager?  Are you willing and ready to play the “Deuteronomy 16:16 Jeopardy Game”?

Jesus said that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, so small, yet from it comes a huge tree, which can house large birds!   This little mustard seed of a verse, Deut. 16:16, when planted in your life in faith can produce an understanding of the Kingdom of God and the entire Bible. 

Through three Jewish Festivals/Feasts, Passover, known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, known as the Feast of Ingathering, and the Feast of Tabernacles, known as the Feast of Booths, we can understand the purpose of both the Old Testament and New Testament, the establishment of the Kingdom of God, their fulfillments through Jesus Christ, and how each person has to face all three of them sometime in their personal lives, and what price each will cost you.

Just like the “Daily Double”, asking “How Much Will You Wager?”, there is a price in accepting the truths and fulfillments of each of these Feasts/Festivals.  Passover requires giving up your garbage, your sinful life, and turning away from it, making Jesus your Savior; Pentecost requires giving up everything including self by making Jesus your Lord, while activating the written Word, the Logos Word, into the living, active Word, the Rhema Word; and the Feast of Tabernacles means giving up your earthly body, becoming a spiritual body in the likeness and radiance of Jesus, where we will see him in His fullness. Are we willing to pay the price?  C.S. Lewis in his classic novel “The Great Divorce” challenges those in hell to give up what is precious to them in order to accept the gift of salvation from their loved ones which they refuse because they are unwilling to pay the price.  The Rich Young Ruler, when faced with the price, backed down from his commitment.  Someone once claimed that everyman has a price. What is yours?  Come play Deuteronomy 16:16 Jeopardy with me!

Note:  On Sunday, November 14, 2010, we will study the Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths.  On Sunday, November 21, 2010, we will study Pentecost from the Old Testament, New Testament, and Kingdom of God teachings, Jesus fulfillment of that Festival, and its implications on our lives as a believer.  The revelation of these two lessons will reveal the implications of the gospel as a whole in the lives of every believer as well as define what “true worship” is!

Adam To Adam To Me

A Look At The Trinity

Lesson #1 - "Journey with Pappa B", Sunday, November 7, 2010 @ CityView Community Church, Roosevelt Ave., York, PA from 9:30 - 10:15 a.m.Note: On Sunday, November 7, 2010, I will be teaching the first of seven lessons in my “Journey with Pappa B” Series at CityView Community Church, just north of Rt.30 on Roosevelt Ave (on top of the hill) at 9:30 a.m. until 10:15.  The lesson features simple diagrams explaining the Trinity as seen through Philippians 2:6-11.

The first Adam was “created in Our image”, the triune image of God, Genesis 3:23 but fell; the second Adam came from the Godhead as man to mend that broken relationship through obedience in the fullness of the Trinity; now as third Adams, we, as believers in Jesus Christ can benefit from knowing  “the heart of the Father”, the “fullness of Jesus Christ”, and the leading of the “Holy Spirit” in our lives, restoring and having the benefits of the first Adam created in Genesis.

Through a simple diagram we can understand the three “natures” of God, a triune God in nature, but still one God in person.  Jesus not only came to restore through obedience what the first Adam could not do, but also revealed “the Father” to mankind, for  Jesus said, “If you have seen the me, you have seen the Father, for I and my Father are one”!  As mankind, on earth, Jesus always tried to direct our attention to the “revelation” of His Father, our heavenly Father if we are believers through Jesus Christ.

Jesus then instructed his believers that the Holy Spirit could not come unless He returned to the Father, which he did.  Now we, as believers in Jesus Christ, can learn “all truth” about Jesus’ mission on earth, and the Heart of the Father” through the Holy Spirit who indwells us, His believers, for our bodies “are the temple of the Holy Spirit”.

The pipe line to the Father, through Jesus, by the Holy Spirit is open!  We can “hear” from God, know His will for our lives, have an intimate relationship with him, establish His kingdom under His Lordship, and rule and reign with Him. We again can establish being created in “Our image”, in the image of the Trinity!

A Journey With Pappa B

A Five Decade Walk With Jesus

"A Journey With Pappa B", Sunday Mornings 9:30 a.m. = 10:15 through November and December 2010 @ CityView Community Church, Roosevelt Ave., York, PAStarting Sunday, November 7, 2010, I will have the opportunity to share some power point presentations I have created teaching concepts and principles that I have learned in my almost 50 years as a Christian.  Like Wesley, I, too, experienced that “warm feeling knowing that God was real” while sitting in the chair by my parent’s living room window almost 50 years ago.  Since that time I have taken my spiritual walk very seriously, and have learned many things.  In the 8 weeks in November and December of this year, I will present some of these principles that have been the basis of my religious belief system.

If you are in the York, PA area on a Sunday morning during this period of time, feel free to stop at CityView Community Church, just north of Rt.30 on Roosevelt Ave (on top of the hill) at 9:30 a.m. until 10:15.  If your home church has an early 8 o’clock service, or 11 o’clock service, or a Saturday evening service, you can still catch your home church’s services and attend this journey.

Here is the lineup of lessons:

Adam 2 Adam – Philippians 2:6-11 – We will look at the trinity in very simple graphic form and its relation to Adam, Jesus, and ourselves.  We will see how the triune God has restored “our image” of Genesis 3:23 back into mankind, and your response to it.

Deuteronomy 16:16 Jeopardy – One little verse (a mustard seed) can explain the entire Bible (the huge tree) through 3 Jewish Festivals/Feasts bringing together the Old Testament, the New Testament, The Kingdom of God, Jesus’ Fulfillment, and our response to it.  It will also define worship.

Names of God In Worship – Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?”  Enjoy a grammatical trip into linking verbs, predicate adjectives, and predicate nouns as we explore the many names of God the Father, Jesus, His Son, and the Holy Spirit and apply it to our everyday worship.  “I AM”…..

Learning to Be Christ-like – Knowing the Heart of the Father – Ancient Hebrew is filled with simple pictorial alphabetical symbols that can unlock knowing what the “Heart of the Father” is.  A new appreciation for “agape” love will be nurtured in this lesson.

Learning to Be Christ-like – Solving the Mystery of Relationships – is a “horizontal” look of how Christians should build relationships like Jesus proposed: Taking 100% responsibility with 0% Blame!  This concept saved my marriage and transformed a Christian man into a Christ-like husband.

Supernaturally Natural – When the mundane, our everyday horizontal lives, is dissected by the vertical, the supernatural, a “God Moment” is created.  This lesson will give you a new appreciation of the meaning of the Cross and the realm of the supernaturally natural intervention of God in our lives.

Priesthood of Believers – Martin Luther preached this concept, but did not follow it. The Priesthood of believers is not found in the Mosaic tradition but in the order of Melchizedek, an old testament priest to whom father Abraham tithed 1/10^th of all he had. What is our role as priests today since the Mosaic priesthood, temple worship, and animal sacrificial system no longer exists?

Responsive Worship – Where with the trinity within us, in our salvation, power, and intimacy, we will give back to the “I AM”, while seeking the “heart of the father” in proper relationship with mankind, acknowledging supernaturally natural moments in our life while we are practicing our priesthood!  An unplanned lesson allowing our response to what has been taught!

Are you ready to join the journey with me?  If so, stop by any/all the Sunday mornings in November and December 2010 at 9:30 a.m.  It will be a life changing journey, I know, it has changed mine!

An Old Building’s Revival

When The Bride And Groom Arrives, There Is Life!

The Rotunda, University of Pennsylvania campus, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaThe Rotunda on the campus of University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania looked old. Once a magnificent edifice it had not been used in years, showing its age with paint chips falling everywhere, windows cracked, light bulbs in its gorgeous lamps and chandeliers blown, lifeless, and my son chose this place to hold his wedding?  It took vision.

After getting proper paperwork through city hall, he received approval for its use for one day.  Now the challenge: how to revive an old building, to give it back its life, its glory?  Mopping forty buckets of water with Murphy’s Soap brought the color of the flooring back to life.  Paint chips were swept up and thrown away. Four spotlights aimed in the dome and three halogen lights in the arched windows produced a new ambience after sunset.  Strung paper origami cranes and butterflies flew above the floor on several strings. Circular tables with umbrellas with strung lights and more cranes enhanced the reception area.  The historic chandelier that once hung as the centerpiece of this building now rested in the center of the floor, emitting a refreshment of candles and incense.

I can only imagine the glory days of this place, those who graced its pews, those who spoke from its podium, what stirring messages and eloquent speeches that must have been delivered here.

When the day arrived for the wedding, the sun shown through the arched windows directly on where the wedding couple sat with their guests.  With the setting of the sun came a completely different setting with offset lighting bringing a cozy evening romantic atmosphere as the reception progressed.  Two students sat outside, sketchpads in hand, drawing a building they had never seen alive at night in a community teeming with life.

The day after the wedding the decorations were torn down.  A tear formed in the corner of my eye when I turned for one last look at the place that had been so transformed for a special event, now laid bare; it looked old again.  You could almost hear it groan in desperation, sighing, again losing hope.

It took a bride and a groom, the newness of a wedding, to bring the Rotunda back to life.  So it is with many churches, buildings that is, that have grown old with age, now labeled historical, hoping for revival or better days.  Church is not about the edifice; its about the Bride and the Groom, their relationship, the Bride, the Body of Christ, and the Groom, Jesus Christ.

Jesus is preparing as the Groom to return for His Bride, for a wedding reception or banquet that has been recorded in the Bible and taught throughout the centuries.  Just like my son who barked orders of things that needed to be done, having the vision for the completed project and ceremony, Jesus is getting things in order for His return for the banquet of the ages.  I guess we, as the Church, the Bride, need only to be obedient to what He is instructing through His Holy Spirit to prepare the Bride for its groom.  Sometimes all that urban renewal needs is an occupancy.

God Is Not A Noun

Grammar 101

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…. and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters, And God said…” (Gen.1.2)

“In the beginning was the Word…..” (John 1:1)

As an 8^th Grade English teacher for 40 years, I have come to the conclusion that God was never meant to be a noun, only a verb.  Since the “beginning” he has proclaimed so!  In Genesis he is “hovering” and “says”, all action verbs.  He “speaks” creation into existence, then “In the beginning was the Word.”  We thinks of Acts as a noun, a name of a book in the Bible, but the book is named after what God “does” in birthing and forming his church.  It is a book of “act”-ions! Sounds like God is a linking verb.

Moses discovers this truth when he asks God for His name, to which he answers, “I AM who I AM”, a linking verb; yes, still a verb.  Linking verbs link, so you have to have something after the linking verb to name or discribe something before it! 

We want a concrete God, a concrete Church, a tangible faith, something we can see and touch, but faith is the absence of physical sight and touch but still believing.  The Church is a “living, vibrant” collections of “beings” (little I AM’s); and God is a Spirit, not tangible nor visual.  God is a Verb, not a concrete Noun, so should be His Church.

A Linking Verb can have either a Predicate Adjective or a Predicate Nominative (Noun) after it.  A Predicate Adjective “describes its subject”; a Predicate Nominative “renames its subject”.  To find out who God is, the nature of God, look at what is after his name, after the "I AM"!  He may use adjectives to describe Himself, like “I AM holy, righteous, merciful, grace, truth”, etc., or he may use a noun like, “I am the King of Kings, the Savior of the World, Eternal Light and Glory, the Alpha & Omego”, etc.

Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I AM?” They answered some say that you are a Prophet, John the Baptist, or Elijah, but Jesus throws the question back into our laps. Who do you, who are reading this, say that I AM? If you have trouble coming up with an answer, then research who God IS for he reveals Himself throughout the Bible.  He reveals His nature, His names, and His actions.  He reveals….. aka a verb!

So why do we want to make him a noun? So He’s tangible, something we can physically see or touch? He’s a verb, a God of “action”, a God that “links”.  Only what he did on the Cross “linked” fallen man back with His God. If the Church is to be an extension, a reflection, or an ambassador of God, then it has to be like a verb, full of action, linking mankind with his creator.  It needs to be living and active, not an object, a noun.

God is a Verb!

“He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands”

A New Mindset: The Church Is Truly Word Wide At Your Finger Tips

I remember as a child singing “He’s got the whole world in his hands… He’s got you and me brother in his hands, etc.” Missionary stories, stories of the Church universal, were almost like fairy tales taught by Sunday School teachers, romanticizing people who were willing to leave their homeland, their culture, and their families to share the gospel in distant lands, in jungles, desserts, desolate places to desolate people.  The Church taught the Great Commission, and with it the condition that the Lord Jesus’ return for his Church depended on the Gospel going to all peoples and language groups, thus organizations like Wycliff Bible Translators, Mission Aviation Fellowship, Youth With A Mission, etc. being formed.

The Church to me as a child was localized, the fabric of the local community, on many street corners in the city where I lived. To travel to churches outside our county was a big deal, and attend our denomination’s annual conference bringing churches of like mind nationally together fantastic beyond belief.  I personally have friends who are on the mission field, yet they still seem so unattached because of distance and lack of communications.

Today, with the development of the World Wide Web, the Internet, I am forced to change my point of view, my perspective of the Church, for I do have access to “the whole world in his (my) hands” as I sit here with a laptop computer.  In fact, I can have the “whole world in his (my) hands” through a wireless super juiced up telephone. I can literally communicate with anyone anywhere in the world who has access to the internet.  This is challenging my limited point of view of what the Church really is.

With the proper emails, websites, blogs, chat pages, facebook, tweeting, and Skype accounts I can literally be in communication with someone else in almost every corner of the world, and not only verbally talk with them, but see their picture live. A recent “streaming” program over the internet where over 2,5000 “hits” were simultaneously watching from all around the world amazed me.  But in the score of the entire glob, what is 2,5000?

I use to think that I would like to be in a “first century” church!  There over 2,000 were saved at one location, the Temple, at one time, yet I have seen greater numbers respond to a Billy Graham invitation in a mega outdoor sports facility in my lifetime during the 20^th Century!  No, we are blessed to be in the 21^st Century where millions can be reached, millions can communicate, we just need to know how to use the technology to influence the masses of spiritually lost and dieing as well as communicate with the other members of the family of God.

Guttentburg’s printing press placed the Bible into the hands of the masses, ushering in the Age of Enlightenment and bringing an end to the Dark Ages.  This technology revolutionized the world that has never been the same because of it.  The internet, world wide web, computer social networking age, is ushering in another technology that has revolutionized the world in our life time.  Communicating with the world has been literally put into the palms of individuals hands like the communication of the Word, the Bible, the Logos word, was placed into people’s hands in Guttenburg’s day.  Individual believers in South Africa can communicate with those in Siberia, Russia, Argentina with Canada, New Zealand and Australia with Europe, and Lapland and Iceland with Antarctica.

Wow, I got the whole world in my hands.  Now to figure out how to use it for the Kingdom of God, to propagate the gospel of Jesus Christ, in a new way fulfilling the Great Commission.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word… and the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” (John 1) Today we have even more power at “our finger tips” to share the gospel than any generation before us.  Let’s seek how to use it properly, effectively, and powerfully in sharing Jesus Christ to the world!

Finances, OUCH! The Way Church Does Finances!?

A Message To A Church About To Go Underground Due To Persecution

 Watchman Nee, did not realized it, but prepared the Christian Church in China for days where it would have to go underground due to persecution. Watchman Nee Who Prepared The Christian Church in China for Upcoming Days of Persecution.Over three decades ago, being introduced to the Holy Spirit, and deciding to live “by the Spirit”, I became hungry in knowing how the Spirit actually worked in my life and among His people, the people of God.  In my search I came upon a book that taxed my thinking entitled The Normal Christian Church Life by Watchman Nee.  It had a chapter in finances and the Church and one on Storehouse tithing.

Actually the book is taken from lectures Watchman Nee gave the Christian Church in China, preparing it for one of the most severe persecutions that would come in my lifetime to any Christian Church that I know of.  The living Christian Chinese Church would have to go underground and operate differently  than the “blessed” Church in America.  The Church is alive today in China, and stronger in faith, grace, mercy, love, generosity, etc. than its counterpart in the United States, yet often, we in America snub Watchman Nee’s teachings of being led by the Spirit as being influenced by “eastern thought” while we cling on to the intellect of “western thought and reason” for our answers and faith. 

After sitting through a series of sermons on “generosity” and exposing the “financial need” of the current congregation that I am attending, I noticed that 88% of the church’s budget went to local church salaries, local church expenditures, and building mortgage. 1/10^th of the budget, equivalent to a tithe, went to outside our walls of influence ministries.  I have heard multitude of sermons about tithing over the years, to the point that tithing becomes an obligation, not a spiritual gift of giving.  The local church needs my tithe in order to operate its projected “budget” for the year, and the members of the church feel guilty if that projected budget isn’t met.  Are “projected budgets” biblical? 

We read in the Old Testament that we should give our tithe to the “storehouse”, but I must admit, in almost every church that I have attended over the last 50 years, there is little if any storehouse.  Churches are always asking for money as if broke.  They always appear as paupers. Nothing is “stored up”  in good times to be given as ministry in lean times.  Joseph became great, second only to pharaoh, in Egypt because he set up a “storehouse” system that saved not only a nation, but also his personal family and reestablish the strained relationships between he and his brother.  Joseph directly benefited from his “storehouse” philosophy by just being obedient to what and how the Spirit was leading him.

I know that Nee is addressing his church from his frame of understanding during his life time period, but some of the truths he exposes should make us in the West question how we do finances, ministry, missions, and how the church is run like a “business”, like an “organization”, with America’s C.E.O. pyramid mentality of leadership rather than the reverse pyramid of service that the Kingdom of God requires.

If you have time, right now, here is a must read.  This teaching helped prepared a Church that today is persecuted, underground, but spiritually healthy and alive.  A lesson, we in the West, should learn, for we do not know the day when we, too, will face persecution that will test our faith.  Maybe we in the West, who have become cold in our faith, can learn from those who have to “live by faith” in China. 

http://www.ministrybooks.org/Chapter.cfm?id=%21%2D0%20%20%0A

Small Groups For Hurting People

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XXVII

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

Bipolar Bear ClubWe need the mindset of small groups for hurting people

Why do we have the mindset that small groups have to have Bible study somewhere in their agenda when they meet?  I contend that you can have an effective small group for hurting people and never once read a scripture.

I found myself in desperation when my wife went through a mental breakdown and was labeled “bipolar”.  I had no idea what “bipolar” meant, nor the nature of the disease. As she digressed physically and mentally, all responsibility for our daily existence fell upon me, the caregiver, the spouse. I tried to get help from local mental health agencies, but found most had been closed or their services did not apply to my situation.  I felt abandoned, alone, distraught, confused, and directionless.  I did not know what to do.  It looked like I may have to extend my Family Leave of Absence from my occupation because of her declining health. Our once natural quality lifestyle had descended into a maelstrom of hopelessness, loneliness, and isolation, and it appeared to me that even the supernatural could not penetrate it.

Then a cousin of mine got the idea to empty out my email directory and invite everyone to a meeting with a two fold purpose: 1) to get me back to work; 2) to aid my wife in her recovery.  The Bachman Bipolar Bear Club was birthed out of my need, and stuffed white polar bears were given to everyone who became a club member. No one in the group worked in the mental health field.  A minister and his wife, personal friends, offered a listening ear. Others just stayed with my wife to free me to run errands. Some made connections, one to a church who was willing to take an offering for me to off set unpaid medical bills.  Everyone helped brainstorming ideas, making contacts, and encouraging us. Caring people who were willing to love us unconditionally invaded the once natural lifestyle of hopelessness, loneliness, and isolation. Although we opened with an invitation to the Holy Spirit to be a part of our group and prayed at the conclusion of our meeting, we did no “Bible Study”.  The Rhema Word, the living word, came forth to help my wife and I through a difficult time in our lives.  It seemed almost supernatural when 8 weeks later I returned to my job, and Deb began for the first time to make progress toward a recovery!

We must change our mindset that people need to be brought into the church, not the church going out into the world where the people are lost.  The Church can meet in community buildings where the community people are, so maintenance of a building doesn’t becomes the natural thing to do taking up much of our time and resources. 

Ask to meet in neighbor’s homes once a week even if they are not Christian. Tell them you will take care of the rest.  If they have the gift of hospitality, allow them to use it!  I was saddened when I tried to get a small group ministry started in my home church, but hardly anyone would step forward and open up their home in hospitality.  If Christians won’t open their homes, then go to non-Christian homes who will, or hit the streets.  Wow, the church small group becoming “homeless” because they do not have a “church building” in which to meet! That sounds exciting when you think outside the box and allow the Holy Spirit to take over!

Mindset to Reconsider: Bible Studies Are The Most Effective Way To Get To Know The Nature Of Jesus Christ

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XXVI

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

Mindset to reconsider: Bible Studies are the most effective way to get to know the nature of Jesus Christ. 

Recently two men came to my door dressed in the same grey tweed pants, blue shirts and ties.  Both coddling light blue Bibles as they introduced themselves. They read in the book of Timothy the importance of Bible study and how religions have minimized its importance.  I assured them that my going to church wasn’t because of religion, but because I have a relationship. That didn’t seem to faze them, for they continued their naturally canned speech about Bible study causing suspicion of them. Then I realized that they were Jehovah’s Witnesses trying to lure me into one of their Bible studies to indoctrinate me into their dogmatic religion.

Most Christian Bible studies that I have been a part of are religious studies with a denominational or sectarian twists by the group who oversee them.  They are intellectual exercises of “exegesis” of Biblical passages. True, the Bible, the Logos, is the written word of God, but the Pharisees swore by their “1608 King James” Torah’s too in Jesus’ time!

Church In A Bar? Put It On My Tab!

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XXV

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

The Church Key Pub & GrillThe Church in Bars?  The occupants would love the “water into wine” story!  I know of “churches” that have attempted to “do church” in bars, but it was through their natural order of worship. They may play upbeat music whose volume and beat is still mild to the unchurched and may talk the lingo of the group.  Unfortunately, when everyone is finishing “doing church”, the church group leaves.  They aren’t around when the “lifestyle” naturally continues: the shots are served; the darts fly, the queue balls reign, the jukebox blares, or a brawl breaks out. Bartenders are some of the best unchurched “pastors” that there are because they listen, empathize, are friendly, and actually care for the person who pours out your guts drunk or sober to them. Bartenders are often nonjudgmental because they are just one of the boys, and they are always there when one needs them as a listener, empathizer, or one to give another shot of one’s favorite brew to wash away one’s woes.

Self-righteous Christians refuse to come on their turf, around the smell of smoke and beer. Preachers use to preach, “What would you do if Jesus came back and found you in the local bar?”  Woe is judgment day for believers in Jesus Christ if you are caught at the wrong place!  Where would Jesus be? Probably invading the natural lifestyle found in a bar with the supernatural.  Who else can offer “new wine” when “I AM the vine,” Jesus, reveals himself to those in that bar?  If he can offer a Samaritan woman “living water” at a drinking hole, can he not offer a drunk “new wine” at his drinking hole?  Jesus will meet you where you are doing what comes natural to you, and introduce the supernatural!  “I AM your deliverer,” could be the revelation a drunk or a drug addict needs to be delivered from alcohol or drug addiction.  One can be supernaturally delivered from their natural habit and urge from substance abuse spontaneously when the I AM gives him hope for his present when one has lived so long in despair.

In stead of self righteous judgment toward the patrons, if Christians would give grace to them instead, you just might allowed that patron in whatever state he is in to give grace back to you.  Even the patrons at the bar can begin to practice principles of worship even before they know what worship is.

Can you imagine what it would be like when a captive from substance abuse is delivered right there in that bar, begin sacrificing praise to the Lord, and begins ministering deliverance to the others seated at that same bar who have been so cruelly captive for years. You would have revival in the bar.  Study Finney’s revival crusades: bars shut down and people became delivered.

Jesus Never Prayed For The Sick; He Just Healed Them – Healing And Faith

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XXIV

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

This is a tough fact for our natural mindset, but JESUS NEVER PRAYED FOR THE SICK; HE JUST HEALED THEM!  Healing is a supernatural mindset built on FAITH, the backbone of the Church. 

 If Church was by the bedsides in the hospital, we could allow those ill to pray, to worship, to lay their sickness on the altar and allow the Lord to do with it what He wants, which is probably heal!  When healed, the healed could instantly give back they’re healing to Jesus. Can you imagine when supernaturally healed, one could “take up his bed and walk” to the next room to give away his healing to someone else? Revival in the cardiac unit! Revival in the Intensive Care Unit!  Revival in Geriatrics! Can you imagine the nursing staff overwhelmed with unexplainable, supernatural healed “discharges”? What would they write on all the paperwork that these healings would produce?

 Hold it! I am taking this mindset too far? Or AM I? God says, “No, for I AM YOUR HEALER.” He’s revealing Himself! The Church would be experiencing true worship because its true worshipers are willing to be sent out!

Mindset To Reconsider: “Church” Activities Should Take Place At The “Church” Building Because That Is Where The “Church” People Attend. (Pt. 2)

Supernaturally Natural: Rethink The Way We, The Church, Worships Corporately - Part XXIII

from Supernaturally Natural: Chapter 15 manuscript by Anthony Bachman

(Part 2 - Continue)

Mindset to reconsider: Most “church” activities should take place at the “church” building because that is where the “church” people attend. 

Jesus never built structures for his own Presence, for he knew in dwellings had to be in the hearts of his believers, his priesthood, not in buildings. The very next chapter, Luke 10 begins:

                  After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them…

                  sent them…

                  sent them two by two ahead of him…

                  ahead of him…

                  ahead of him  to every town and place where he was about to go.

Then he gives them specific directions of what to do and not to do when they are “sent out”.  What was the result of such a strategy?

The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” (Luke 10:17)

How does Jesus react to the joy of their successful “missions trip”?

Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority…

have given you authority…

have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all he power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Versus 18-20)

Now for a dynamite revelation:

At that time, Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit said,”….

Wait, the Holy Spirit is about to lead Jesus into true worship! That’s right! Jesus is going to give back to the Father what the Father had just given him, and that is true worship by The True Worshiper, Jesus!

 “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.” (vs. 21)

God brings revelation of Himself to his children, the “true worshipers” and is pleased.  Then he continues to reveal:

“All things have been committed to me by the Father. No one knows who the son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” (vs. 22)

Wow, the principle of being “sent out”, the Great Commission of the Church, is so central to the Gospel that that it was part of Jesus’ Priestly Prayer in John 17.  The calling and the purpose of the Church is to be sent out!  We have lost sight of that mindset.  Being sent out as New Testament Priests, as believers in Jesus Christ, requires the supernatural to be effective, to survive, to be its life.  Saul, as a good Parasitical Jew hung out in Jerusalem. Even the disciples now as apostles at first did the natural by hanging out in Jerusalem, but when the Holy Spirit was ready to move, its temple, the hearts of its believers, moved, and they physically moved their bodies, also their temples of the Holy Spirit, by being “sent out”.  How many of us believers have become complacent in the natural, fearing the supernatural because the Holy Spirit supernaturally may call us to be “sent out”. Being “sent out” is not in our current routine of things, nor in our comfort zone, nor a thing we do naturally, so we fear it.  That was the fear I faced when contemplating the move to make Jesus Lord of my life. We need not “fear” it, but through “faith” allow the Holy Spirit to be supernaturally natural in our life, so we can fulfilled the “Great Commission” that our High Priest, Jesus Christ, has given to his priesthood!

So to challenge our mindset I ask, “Should we be meeting with the ‘homeless; on their turf, or expect them to come to ours to discover God’s divine relationship with them through Jesus Christ?”  If the Church comes to the homeless, it also allows the homeless to become true worshipers and worship by giving back to the Lord what little he or she has. The Church can be the Church if it sends out to the homeless to minister to the homeless, to worship with the homeless, and to empower the homeless to be sent out to become supernaturally effective ministers to others who are homeless with the aide and support of this active New Testament Priesthood, the Church.

Should “church” be held in the hospitals? Can we change the mindset from natural “hospital visitations” as a ministry of the local church to becoming supernatural “Holy Spirit visitations” bring the Church to the sick to be healed.