For my readers who aren't familiar with the Barna Group, this is a man that does marketing research and has turned his polls toward the Christian Church especially as it is in America. He has just recently written a new book called, "Revolution".
What Barna has stumbled on in his research, is what I believe God is doing. God is bringing His people out of conventional church that has largely not changed in 1900 years back to the root of Apostolic tradition and away from the traditions of men.
What Jesus established was rooted in the house church and did not change for almost 300 years. However, church history shows that as the Apostles passed away, the emerging institutions were beginning to form with writings for example by Origen and other self appointed people of importance with the movement of Christianity. The multiplicity of elders in the house church, and the priesthood of all believers, with Christ as the only true Shepard and Pastor of the "called out ones", soon developed into the aristocracy of the single Bishop rule. Origen being one of the leading fathers of the basis upon which all Catholicism put it's foundation in. The same roots that the Protestant church never let go of, accepting easily the traditions of men and teaching of men over that of Christ and the Apostles.
What is emerging is the "real move" of the Holy Spirit. God no longer wants babies, he wants us to grow up into the full maturity of our priesthood as believers and no longer be observers but participants. The House Church movement in America is a move of God to do just that. To return to what Jesus set forth rather than the aristocracy and hierarchy of men established institutions, disguising themselves as the church, when all this time the real Ekklesia has been in the process of slowly being taught by the Spirit the truth of worship, discipleship, relationship, testimony, daily life evangelism and Holy Spirit enacted gifts and administrations for the body to grow.
The House church will be the break through for a revivaland the last revival where beleivers will no be longer babies blown by every wind of doctrine, but will become the true church of Christ before He returns. In America it will be overseen by Christ and not the men with the most money or power.
It will be a revolution, the radical restoration I pray for everyday of all believers that love Jesus Christ, that they will for once in their lives discover the mystery hidden for all ages, Christ in you the hope of the glory.
I want to quote below directly from www.barna.org two articles I found there.
I would like to thank Brother Leon Wallace, the pastor of Faith Church of Athens, who though we may differ in our views, he is a friend and a brother in Christ. Brother Wallace is open to hearing me, though, he, I assurdely know, doesn't accept my viewpoints readily, as he is still locked into the institution it's practices and it's ways. He and I have found some common grounds in other viewpoints on varying things. He and his wife, Donna and their children are a lovely family and I pray for them daily, as I hope they do I.
I love them and I give him credit for his open mindness and heart to listen and to read my writings and "rantings" anyway on this blog.
Brother Wallace referred me to Barna in telephone conversation the other day. I went to Barna's web site and found two significant articles there, I wanted to reprint here for your reading.
So I quote the two articles he referred me to below.
House Church Involvement Is Growing
June 19, 2006
(Ventura, CA) - Americans are increasingly designing their lifestyles in ways that meet their needs more efficiently. This is true even in the spiritual realm, as evidenced by the rapid growth of participation in house churches across the nation. Whereas most people continue to think of "going to church" as attending a service at one of the many church buildings located throughout their community, a new study from The Barna Group shows that millions of adults are trying out new forms of spiritual community and worship, with many abandoning the traditional forms altogether.
Large Numbers Attend
The new study, based on interviews with more than five thousand randomly selected adults from across the nation, found that 9% of adults attend a house church during a typical week. That is remarkable growth in the past decade, shooting up from just 1% to near double-digit involvement. In total, one out of five adults attends a house church at least once a month.
Projecting these figures to the national population gives an estimate of more than 70 million adults who have at least experimented with house church participation. In a typical week roughly 20 million adults attend a house church gathering. Over the course of a typical month, that number doubles to about 43 million adults.
While many religious professionals say they are unaware of such activity, it might be because the house church is in its "ramp up" phase in the U.S. One consequence is that millions of Americans are intermittently engaged in a house church, alternating back and forth between house church and conventional church. (For clarity, the survey distinguished between involvement in a house church and participation in a small group that is associated with a conventional church.) The Barna survey revealed that of those who attend a house church, 27% attend on a weekly basis, 30% attend one to three times per month, and 43% attend less than once a month.
One Foot in Each Camp
The study also discovered that church attendance patterns are being reshaped. Among those who attend a church of some type, 74% attend only a conventional church while just 5% attend only a house church. Another one-fifth (19%) attend both a house church and a conventional church. (The other 2% attend a small group that was not considered to be a house church.)
The people most likely to attend only a conventional church were women, people 60 or older, residents of the Midwest, and evangelicals. In contrast, the people most likely to attend a house church but not a conventional church were men, home-school families, residents of the West, and non-whites.
The Impact of the House Church
The study was directed by George Barna, whose current best-selling book, entitled Revolution, estimates that this trend will continue over the next two decades, substantially reducing the share of adults who call a conventional church their primary spiritual community.
“The house church now appears to have reached ‘critical mass’ in the United States," commented Barna. "Analysts typically find that once a new tool or institution reaches 15% market penetration, and has evidenced a consistent or growing level of affirmation for at least six years, that entity shifts from fad to trend status. At that point, it becomes a permanent fixture in our society. Today, house churches are moving from the appraisal phase into the acceptance phase. We anticipate house church attendance during any given week to double in the coming decade, and a growing proportion of house church attenders to adopt the house church as their primary faith community. That continued growth and public awareness will firmly establish the house church as a significant means of faith experience and expression among Americans."
To read more about alternative forms of spiritual experience and expression, such as the house church, see George Barna’s book, Revolution.
For more information click here
Barna noted that this change is already reorienting the nation’s faith dimension. "By necessity, the transition from a nation exclusively offering a conventional church experience to one that offers a choice between conventional church and other forms of spiritual experience is changing the rules and roles. New leaders are emerging to represent and guide house churches -people whose names are unfamiliar to the bulk of the country, but whose ministries will become more mainstream and well-known as time goes on. A new body of spiritual resources is being developed and utilized by the expanding house church community. House church adherents make greater use of Christian radio, Christian books and online faith experiences than do people engaged solely in a conventional church. In addition, new patterns of faith participation are being implemented. The traditional ways of thinking about and experiencing ‘church’ are rapidly being revolutionized by a form of ‘religious choice’ in which people are taking greater personal responsibility for their spiritual experience and development."
Research Details
The data in this report are based on interviews with 5013 adults from across the nation. The Barna Group conducted this study through the use of telephone surveys, implemented from January 2005 through May 2006, based upon a random sample of people 18 years of age and older living within the 48 continental states. The maximum margin of sampling error associated with the aggregate sample of adults is ±1.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. In the research, the distribution of survey respondents corresponded to the geographic dispersion of the U.S. population. Multiple callbacks were used to increase the probability of including a reliable distribution of qualified individuals. Statistical weighting was used to calibrate the aggregate sample to known population percentages. The number of adults in key subgroups, before statistical weighting, included 446 evangelicals, 2343 born again Christians, 663 blacks, 631 Hispanics, 1608 conservatives and 676 liberals.
“Born again Christians" are defined as people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents are not asked to describe themselves as "born again."
“Evangelicals" meet the born again criteria (described above) plus seven other conditions. Those include saying their faith is very important in their life today; believing they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians; believing that Satan exists; believing that eternal salvation is possible only through grace, not works; believing that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth; asserting that the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches; and describing God as the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today. Being classified as an evangelical is not dependent upon church attendance or the denominational affiliation of the church attended. Respondents were not asked to describe themselves as "evangelical."
The Barna Group, Ltd. (which includes its research division, The Barna Research Group) is a privately held, for-profit corporation that conducts primary research, produces media resources pertaining to spiritual development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders, children, families and Christian ministries. Located in Ventura, California, Barna has been conducting and analyzing primary research to understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors since 1984. If you would like to receive free e-mail notification of the release of each new, bi-monthly update on the latest research findings from The Barna Group, you may subscribe to this free service at the Barna website www.barna.org © The Barna Group, Ltd, 2006.
House Churches Are More Satisfying to Attenders Than Are Conventional Churches
January 8, 2007
(Ventura, CA) - With the growth of house churches across the country, a new study by The Barna Group sheds light on how these independent, non-denominational churches operate.
Levels of Satisfaction
Perhaps the most compelling insight from the national study was an evaluation of the levels of satisfaction of those who attend a house church compared with the views of adults who attend a conventional local church. Four aspects of people's church experience were gauged. Overall, people attending a house church were significantly more likely to be "completely satisfied" with their experience in each of the four dimensions examined.
Two-thirds of house church attenders (68%) were "completely satisfied" with the leadership of their church, compared to only half of those attending a conventional church (49%).
Two-thirds of the house church adherents (66%) were "completely satisfied" with the faith commitment of the people involved in their gathering. In contrast, only four out of ten people attending a conventional church (40%) were similarly satisfied with the faith commitment of the people in their congregation.
Three out of five house church adults (61%) were "completely satisfied" with the level of community and personal connectedness they experience, compared to only two out of five adults who are involved in a conventional church (41%).
A majority of those in a house (59%) said they were "completely satisfied" with the spiritual depth they experience in their house church setting. In contrast, a minority of the adults involved in a conventional church were "completely satisfied" (46%).
The Nature of the Gatherings
The nationwide research also provided a unique profile of what takes place in the typical house church, and who is involved.
Most house churches (80%) meet every week, while 11% meet on a monthly basis. The most common meeting days are Wednesday (27%) and Sunday (25%), while one out of every five (20%) varies the days of the week on which they meet.
The typical house church gathering lasts for about two hours. Only 7% meet for less than an hour, on average, while only 9% usually stay together for more than three hours at a time.
While most conventional churches follow the same format week after week, four of every ten house churches (38%) say that the format they follow varies from meeting to meeting. The proportion of home gatherings that typically engage in spiritual practices include:
93% have spoken prayer during their meetings
90% read from the Bible
89% spend time serving people outside of their group
87% devote time to sharing personal needs or experiences
85% spend time eating and talking before or after the meeting
83% discuss the teaching provided
76% have a formal teaching time
70% incorporate music or singing
58% have a prophecy or special word delivered
52% take an offering from participants that is given to ministries
51% share communion
41% watch a video presentation as part of the learning experience
Most house churches are family-oriented. Two out of every three house churches (64%) have children involved. Those churches are divided evenly between those who have the adults and children together throughout the meeting (41%) and those who keep them separated (38%). The remaining churches divide their time between having everyone together and having time when the children and adults are separated.
The Participants
The average size of a house church is 20 people; in the home churches that include children, there is an average of about seven children under the age of 18 involved. The rapid growth in house church activity is evident in the fact that half of the people (54%) currently engaged in an independent home fellowship have been participating for less than three months. In total, three out of every four house church participants (75%) have been active in their current gathering for a year or less. One out of every five adults has been in their house church for three years or more.
The research found that there are two types of people being attracted to house churches. The older participants, largely drawn from the Boomer population, are devout Christians who are seeking a deeper and more intense experience with God and other believers. The other substantial segment is young adults who are interested in faith and spirituality but have little interest in the traditional forms of church. Their quest is largely one of escaping outdated structures and institutions.
Still in Process
The survey also indicated that there is likely to be more change in the house church environment in the years to come. The ideas of worshipping in homes rather than church buildings, and being led by group members rather than religious professionals, are new to most Americans. The survey suggested that many people are just beginning to think about, and get comfortable with, the idea of homes being the dominant place for shared faith experiences.
Currently, just four out of every ten regular house church attenders (42%) rely exclusively upon a house church as their primary "church" experience. Many of the others - including a large proportion that has been involved for just a few months - are checking out the approach before they shift their allegiance from a conventional to a house church - if they make the shift at all.
Another indication of the nascent state of the house church movement in the U.S. is people’s perception regarding the biblical grounds for meeting in homes. Among adults who consider themselves to be Christian and who do not attend a house church, six out of ten (57%) believe that attending a house church instead of a conventional church satisfies the biblical command to be part of a spiritual community that follows Jesus Christ. Overall, just one out of five conventionally-churched adults (19%) dismissed the house church approach as unbiblical.
Changing the Church
George Barna, who directed the study, said that the results indicate that the biggest obstacle to the growth of the house church movement is not theological but cultural.
"Americans are emotionally open to belonging to a house church, and surprisingly few have any real objections to others joining such a community of faith," explained the author of three-dozen books on faith in America. "But the main deterrent to house church growth is that most people are spiritually complacent; they are not looking to upgrade their spiritual experience. Compared to conventional church attenders, house church adherents are much more likely to say that they have experienced faith-driven transformation, to prioritize their relationship with God, and to desire a more fulfilling community of faith.
"Those who attend a conventional church are generally content to show up and accept whatever their church has on the agenda; they place the responsibility for their spiritual growth on the shoulders of the church," according to Barna. "We found that most conventional church goers have no desire to help improve their congregation’s ministry, nor do they feel a need to increase their personal spiritual responsibility.
"On the other hand," he continued, "the intimacy and shared responsibility found in most house churches requires each participant to be more serious about their faith development. Clearly, the house church experience is not for everyone."
Research Details
The data in this report are from a pair of national surveys conducted by The Barna Group with a random sample of adults, age 18 and older, conducted in August and October 2006. In total, 2008 adults were interviewed. The maximum margin of sampling error associated with the aggregate sample is ±2.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. Statistical weighting was used to calibrate the aggregate sample to known population percentages in relation to demographic variables.
In these surveys, a house church was described as "a group of believers that meets regularly in a home or place other than a church building. These groups are not part of a typical church; they meet independently, are self-governed and consider themselves to be a complete church on their own... (They are) sometimes known as a house church or simple church, (and are) not associated in any way with a local, congregational type of church."
The Barna Group, Ltd. (which includes its research division, The Barna Research Group) conducts primary research, produces media resources pertaining to spiritual development, and facilitates the healthy spiritual growth of leaders, children, families and Christian ministries. Located in Ventura, California, Barna has been conducting and analyzing primary research to understand cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors since 1984. If you would like to receive free e-mail notification of the release of each new, bi-monthly update on the latest research findings from The Barna Group, you may subscribe to this free service at the Barna website www.barna.org
© The Barna Group, Ltd, 2007.
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I pray for all those who daring enough to step out in faith and in the tradition as laid down by Christ and the Apostles, to the move they have made to house churches, and that they may grow into the fullness and maturity of Christ and we will see and explosion of Christian testimony, outside of Western ideals and Western materialism that will shake this world and turn it upside down for Jesus!
Dr. J.
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Sunday, June 3, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
Why the Church Is Failing - Chapter 1
Why the Church is Failing. There are two things for me to clarify here. One, is the definition of the church as I am using it here. Two, what do I mean by it's failing.
I will answer the first.
The church as I am defining here is that ecclesiastical institutional organization that contains some form of hierarchy, whether it be Priest, Bishops, Cardinals, Popes, or Pastors, Board Members, Elders, Deacons, or Church Central Organizations, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, or the Assemlies of God, or whatever central organization there is for any particular organized religious body.
All dictation of practice and belief and rules and regulations and ordinations that are drawn from these organizations removes any form of "real independence' of a local body of Christians who meet. This also includes those who claim to be independent but are in essence still ruled by either a Pastor, a Board, Elders or other.
The second definition involves what I mean by the word "failing". What does the organizational church fail at consistently. It is the failure to do what Christ called the body of Christ to do when he created the gifted functions, not titles, of the Ekklesia. I would define this in three goals or action that the Holy Spirit if the organizational church was what Christ had in mind.
First, the word "church" is not to be found in the original manuscripts. The word that has been so mistranslated is the Greek word Ekklesia. This word was best translated in the Tyndale version as "Congregation" or a better yet translation would be the entirety of all "those that have been called out". The Called Out One's.
It is a word universal in scope ( thus the original meaning of the word became to the original church fathers - those that the organizational church so relies upon over Christ, the Apostles and the Early Church as described by scripture it became to be known as the "Catholic" Church, the Universal church) and refers not to a place you attend or a building you go to, but to the whole entire body of Christ. All those who are redeemed by His blood and set apart to Him as "the Priesthood of Believers" with only Christ as High Priestand their Head, as clearly explained in the book of Hebrews.
There is no heirarchy in the Ekklesia except Christ as the Head. This is the beginning of the New Covenant which was the elimination of any mediator between the individual and God. Thus the renting in two of the veil in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. Jesus came to replace, the Temple, the Tithe, the Priest and the Sacrifice. Jesus came to replace all forms of works righteousness with that of Grace and Forgiveness offered in His death and life through His resurrected life and ministry and godliness through the giving of His Spirit to the individual and the whole of the Ekklesia.
The idea of the office of any of the above named heirarchy is foreign to and is in direct anti-thesis, to what Christ taught and the Apostles taught and what the church had pre -100 AD or before the death's of the last Apostles.
The concept of the word "church" has been so ingrained into our minds that we can't even think of the word "church" without picturing a building or special meeting house and place we go to.
Thus all words construe an image in our mind and the definition which is entirely contrary to Christ and scripture has been re-imaged for us in our minds as to something that never existed before the Paternalistic (Ecclesiastical Church Fathers) Age. The Catholic Church did well it's job and the Protestants haven't changed it. Catholic or Protestant you will find are of the same stick just on opposite ends. They still have their foundations in the "traditions of men".
Now, as to the organized churches major failures or inabilities as to the true work of the Holy Spirit being revealed in it and through it.
One, it has failed to do nothing more than either create a special class of offices whereby only those that feel called become or have the ability to learn more and express more of what the Spirit could do in all believers and would be doing if the organization and heirarchy didnt over rule it.
The word Pastor is mentioned once in the New Testament- for Protestants to have built everything around this one of the five fold ministries or working of the Holy Spirit they have managed to erase the other four. It has kept the Ekklesia in blindness and immaturity for over 1900 years. The original and only mention of these 5 ministries in scripture are found to have one goal and it is described in the very one and only verse the word "Pastor" can be found in.
The 5 ministries working in union together by the Holy Spirit is to produce the following - "for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, the building UP of the body of Christ; until we ALL attain to the UNITY of the FAITH, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man to the measure of the stature, which belongs to the fullness of Christ;.. Ephesians 4:11-13.
The first great calling of all those that are His is to "Go into all the world" ( not to the exclusiveness of your denomination or building) but into the real world where people work play and live and preach the Gospel to all creation. We, each Christiant, as Paul have been given the ministry of reconciliation, letting the world know that God has reconciled the world unto Himself through the death and life of Jesus our Lord. This is best revealed by our lifes and function within the body.
The great failure is that the organizational church keeps babies as babies who never grow into the fullness as they are never allowed the working of the Holy Spirit through them to minister and grow as God gifts them to. They must subject themselves to the hierarchy and be silent and inactive unless they have been entitled, ordained or called or permitted to do otherwise by the ruling hierarchy. Thus there is little or no known four other ministries activated by the Holy Spirit because the whole of the system locks them out. The organizational church without these heirarchies would fall apart, it would disband. There would be no one to tell the sheep what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. All except the Holy Spirit- who is our teacher, Christ our High Priest. This could never happen without the system, the money, the power, the prestige and all the real estate owned by the institutions would be gone in an instant and then 'pray God' who would want to be one of the five. There would be nothing in it that appeases men's flesh. No titles, just functions as the Holy Spirit chooses to appoint and preserve the faithful to be servants of the whole of the Ekklesia.
One, need only to begin to ask questions and seek the answers outside of pre-suppositional and preconceived and taught approaches to scripture to find the answers.
Here are some of the questions each Christian should ask, and scripturally show themselves accountable for finding the answer.
Why do we go to church rather than being the church?
Why do we have men above us or do we pay a singular man or many man to be the biblical scholars, the chief cooks, the bottle washers, the experts in spiritual things, the preachers, the teachers, the counselors, and on and on the list goes?
Where and how did these things come to be?
Why do you dress up for church?
Why do you tithe, is that New Testament Christianity?
Why do we pay for a building and electricity and all the upkeep when the Early Christians did neither until Constantine built the first "worship buildings in 300 AD?
Was there ever a point of time in history when the single Pastor didnt exist?
Was there ever a multiplicity of elders who were the Pastors, that were chosen not for their ability to sermonize but because of their humble, lowly, service they provided to others out of the work of Christ in them?
When did the church begin to pay for a professional clergy?
Where did liturgy come from?
How about titles, dress, forms and ritual where did they come into place.
Why is their a music group, praise group, music ministers, hymn books, choirs?
Where and when did the single Pastor become the only leader of the church?
We have made these things sacred as if they were dropped out of heaven by God, we have even tried to proof text them. In both attempts we have not served God with truth or the honor of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We have accepted without questioning and if we did, we never sought the answers either out of fear or laziness.
The answers which we will explore together, will shock you, challenge you and free your heart to true worship, to the place that Christ told the Samaritan woman. Those that worship me, "must worship me in Spirit and in Truth".
You will be surprised that largely what you believe even as a Protestant and what you especially practice has it's origins in paganism, Judaism, Catholicism and the Roman emperor worship and Greek mythology. You will be surprised that what you hold so divine in your mind is actual in direct anti-thesis to what Christ and the Apostles taught.
I challenge my readers to begin to read the writings of the Paternalistic Fathers- those which wrote from about 100 AD and even beyond and the many so called Religious leaders of today. Begin to read Ignatius who brought the whole idea together of the Bishop which eventually became the ruling Pope, the Priest and yes, even the Pastor.
Ignatius is the first known of the Early Church Father writers to put great stress on loyalty to a "single" bishop in each city, who is assisted by both presbyters (elders/priests) and deacons. Earlier writings only mention either bishops or presbyters, and give the impression that there was usually more than one bishop per congregation. The early Christian knew of no such hierarchy or titles such as Pastor by deferrence in name or office. Matter of fact the word office can't even be found in the Greek original of scripture as it has been translated in
I Timothy Chapter 3 verse 1.
Thus we forget, let us quote Jesus in what he defined as the function for any and all that wish to lead.
They are not to Lord over others as the Gentiles do. ie;(unbelievers)(the world and it's system of belonging to the enemy). We are to be lowliest servant to one another. Jesus said he came not to be served but to serve. He the Son of God, laid it all down to become the Son of Man. It is God who has now lifted up his name above all names because of his humility to serve.
It is not my intention to attack any believer but to help each and every one of us to come to the full knowledge of Christ and to grow up for once. It is time to be a baby no more, it is time to mature. It is time to study and show yourself approved. It is time that you, be like the Bereans and search the scriptures. It is time you reach the fullness and maturity of Christ, that will bring you to a unity in the faith. I am not talking about ecumenism either. I am not talking about a single denomination over all others. I am talking about Christians united.
The scriptures must be understood in light of culture, teaching, history and belief's at the times in which the scriptures were written and in the light that the Holy Spirit provides as our only true teacher. All things should be tested and verified. We are to hold fast to that which is good and abstain from even the appearance of evil.
All babies at some point or another must grow up and we are called to do so. I am not a cultist, a heretic or any of that. I have been a Christian since age 6, in belief and God has taken me through much in this walk of faith in Christ. I have studied and read the New Testament completely through probably over a 100 times or more. I have read the Old Testament probably as much. We must remember the Old Testament does not define the New Testament. The New Testament can only be the jumping board to understand the Old.
The Old Testament is the shadow, Christ is the light and fullness of God revealed. The New Testament is our guide to understanding the Old.
I have been a church history and history fanatic since I was a young man in school.
George Santayana wrote: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
I have read many great Christian scholars works, commentaries and more. In my writings here and online I could provide plenty of footnotes or at least mention of well recognized scholars and others that are even recognized by the institutional churches as leading experts in their field of study that will verify much that I will write about. I have chose more often to just put them in quotes with their names to save time and room on the page.
I will quote these men and woman from time to time.
I place scripture as interpreted by the Holy Spirit above all men, regardless of what they believe or teach. Facts are facts and history when witnessed and explained by more than just one eyewitness becomes true when it is in agreement. The things I will write about have a spiritual and a historical agreement that cannot be shunned as something I or others made up. It is recorded and accessible by those who are diligent enough to search the archives of history and the men that recorded it.
When one is confronted with more than one witness time after time to these things, it would be foolish to ignore them. God is a God of truth, not deception. For what purpose these writers of ancient and more recent history within the church would have when they seek no title, or money or other gratuity or power would be beyond me. There only desire is as of mine, for truth to be told and for His body to be graced by these truths to find true freedom in Christ.
I would ask you to begin to read three authors works that are well footnoted with references of well recognized authors and recognized sources, both ancient and new, that will help you begin your adventure to truth in Christ in doctrine and in practice.
The first book is "Ekklesia" by Steven Atkerson. The second book is entitled "Pagan Christianity, The Origins of Our Modern Church Practices" by Frank Viola.
I would also invite you to read Alfred Edershiem and his books on Judaism, he was a leading Jewish scholar, he was born a Hebrew and was converted to Christianity at an early age and an expert on the "Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah". He is a student of the Talmud, The Torah and all the ancient traditions of the Jews in Christ time, an expert at explaining "the Temple" and it's practices and more and he has written some very well recognized books on all the subjects.
All of these men are Spirit filled believers and love Jesus and His Ekklesia. Some like Alfred have gone on to be with the Lord. Each has a love for truth and the Ekklesia as I do.
I invite my readers to seek and find the foundation from which they stand, and if it is not Christ, then it is sand that your house is built on and not the Rock of Jesus Christ. There is no other foundation that can be laid than that of Christ and the Apostles. Paul exhorted us to hold fast to those traditions taught by him and the Apostles, as taught to them by Christ. Paul fought the Judaizers, and John the Pagans, and the Nicolatians ( the clergy-laity system seen today).
I would also invite you to go through each of these books prayerfully and scripturally. Checking verses - not for proof texting- we will talk about that habit another time but to verify the references and to read them for yourselves prayerfully.
It only took a very short time once the Apostles were gone for the teachings of Christ and the Apostles to be perverted by the self appointed leaders of the people.
There is a clear development that follows their deaths to the Catholic church, the Reformation and the Age of Enlightment, to what we beleive and practice today.
We Protestants claim Solo Scriptura but in truth, we do not practice it nor recognize it. We as the Jews in Jesus time have made null the commandments of God for the "traditions of men". We stand as guilty or worse as the Pharisees, the Saducces and Scribes of Jesus time, of trading off the Word of God for the word of men over 1900 years.
My prayer and hope for the Ekklesia is that there will be a Radical Reformation.
The beginnings are there already, there are many small but fruitful home churches and groups of Christians worldwide that are breaking out of the patterns and forms of the traditions of men. There are many today experiencing the Early Church in their lives. There worship is their life in Christ. Their practices have returned to that as led by the Holy Spirit and not according to the ancient paganistic traditions of men. They have found freedom in Christ. This was the promise of the Lord- you shall know the truth and it shall set you free. There is a liberty in Christ with responsibility that few in the "church" have known. There is a life in Christ, that brings a fresh breath of truth from the Holy Spirit that will break the bonds of the traditions of men. You will breathe and walk in Christ. You will know that "Christ in you, the hope in glory", is true. It will no longer be the search you have been on bouncing from organized church to organized denomination and never finding, community, relationship, love, care, compassion and a deep understanding of truly knowing what Christ has really done for you. It won't need to be expressed in a sermon so distant from yourself by a holy man or priest. Your life will become the sermon for all men. You will be the sermon to all men.
It is not a walk of ease, for you will be in direct contradiction to the accepted methods and practices of men. You will stand in contradiction to the pseudo religion of Christianity to really being a Christian. Christ will be alive for you and not just something you grasp at, always hopeful someday you will find the right "church" to go to to find it. I started my quest in 1977 and the Lord Jesus Christ has brought me a long distance since then, the freedom came in 2005, when I officially walked out of the institution into home churching and discipleship. Myself and one other couple, stuck home church out for over 2 years together. In that time we formed relationship, and learned a whole lot by the Holy Spirit teaching us about what it means to be a Christian. My hope for you is you will discover, "whereever two or more are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst". In our case it was three, sometimes there were more, but it was three of us that lasted until the Holy Spirit taught us what we needed to know and then we went on. We pray for each other, see each other, and try in our busy schedules to spend time now and then together, but most of all we grew up, and began the work of service God called us to do. I am doing what Christ called me to do, and that is to preach in season and out of season, the Good News of Jesus Christ. There is no bondage in Him. There is only Freedom.
You will be free to exercise the gifts of the Spirit, Christ gave to you. You will no longer feel shamed by the ecclesiastical organized bunch of hierarchy. You will find solace in Christ and Him alone.
What I write is not to exclude you from attending a service at any building if you so choose, or nor is it to slander Pastors, there are a good many, good men and women as far as that goes, who not knowing any better are doing their best to serve Christ in the best manner they know how, but not knowing better they have found themselves in a system which is self perpetuating in keeping babies, forever babies and carnal in most perspectives while they sit in their pews silently week after week being sermonized. forever hoping what they hear could some how be realized in their lives. I pray for Pastors, for I once was "in the traditions of men", a Pastor myself. I long to see many of them freed by truth and love. We must continue to love them only because they are brethern in Christ and in as much need for encouragement, and ministry as anyone. They are on a lonely road to frustration and in many cases live their lives out in hypocrisy, because the system requires it of them.
This is my prayer and hope for you in writing this is that you will come to the fullness of knowing Christ. This is to become the book I hope to publish soon entitled, "Why the Church is Failing".
Dr. J
I will answer the first.
The church as I am defining here is that ecclesiastical institutional organization that contains some form of hierarchy, whether it be Priest, Bishops, Cardinals, Popes, or Pastors, Board Members, Elders, Deacons, or Church Central Organizations, such as the Southern Baptist Convention, or the Assemlies of God, or whatever central organization there is for any particular organized religious body.
All dictation of practice and belief and rules and regulations and ordinations that are drawn from these organizations removes any form of "real independence' of a local body of Christians who meet. This also includes those who claim to be independent but are in essence still ruled by either a Pastor, a Board, Elders or other.
The second definition involves what I mean by the word "failing". What does the organizational church fail at consistently. It is the failure to do what Christ called the body of Christ to do when he created the gifted functions, not titles, of the Ekklesia. I would define this in three goals or action that the Holy Spirit if the organizational church was what Christ had in mind.
First, the word "church" is not to be found in the original manuscripts. The word that has been so mistranslated is the Greek word Ekklesia. This word was best translated in the Tyndale version as "Congregation" or a better yet translation would be the entirety of all "those that have been called out". The Called Out One's.
It is a word universal in scope ( thus the original meaning of the word became to the original church fathers - those that the organizational church so relies upon over Christ, the Apostles and the Early Church as described by scripture it became to be known as the "Catholic" Church, the Universal church) and refers not to a place you attend or a building you go to, but to the whole entire body of Christ. All those who are redeemed by His blood and set apart to Him as "the Priesthood of Believers" with only Christ as High Priestand their Head, as clearly explained in the book of Hebrews.
There is no heirarchy in the Ekklesia except Christ as the Head. This is the beginning of the New Covenant which was the elimination of any mediator between the individual and God. Thus the renting in two of the veil in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. Jesus came to replace, the Temple, the Tithe, the Priest and the Sacrifice. Jesus came to replace all forms of works righteousness with that of Grace and Forgiveness offered in His death and life through His resurrected life and ministry and godliness through the giving of His Spirit to the individual and the whole of the Ekklesia.
The idea of the office of any of the above named heirarchy is foreign to and is in direct anti-thesis, to what Christ taught and the Apostles taught and what the church had pre -100 AD or before the death's of the last Apostles.
The concept of the word "church" has been so ingrained into our minds that we can't even think of the word "church" without picturing a building or special meeting house and place we go to.
Thus all words construe an image in our mind and the definition which is entirely contrary to Christ and scripture has been re-imaged for us in our minds as to something that never existed before the Paternalistic (Ecclesiastical Church Fathers) Age. The Catholic Church did well it's job and the Protestants haven't changed it. Catholic or Protestant you will find are of the same stick just on opposite ends. They still have their foundations in the "traditions of men".
Now, as to the organized churches major failures or inabilities as to the true work of the Holy Spirit being revealed in it and through it.
One, it has failed to do nothing more than either create a special class of offices whereby only those that feel called become or have the ability to learn more and express more of what the Spirit could do in all believers and would be doing if the organization and heirarchy didnt over rule it.
The word Pastor is mentioned once in the New Testament- for Protestants to have built everything around this one of the five fold ministries or working of the Holy Spirit they have managed to erase the other four. It has kept the Ekklesia in blindness and immaturity for over 1900 years. The original and only mention of these 5 ministries in scripture are found to have one goal and it is described in the very one and only verse the word "Pastor" can be found in.
The 5 ministries working in union together by the Holy Spirit is to produce the following - "for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, the building UP of the body of Christ; until we ALL attain to the UNITY of the FAITH, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man to the measure of the stature, which belongs to the fullness of Christ;.. Ephesians 4:11-13.
The first great calling of all those that are His is to "Go into all the world" ( not to the exclusiveness of your denomination or building) but into the real world where people work play and live and preach the Gospel to all creation. We, each Christiant, as Paul have been given the ministry of reconciliation, letting the world know that God has reconciled the world unto Himself through the death and life of Jesus our Lord. This is best revealed by our lifes and function within the body.
The great failure is that the organizational church keeps babies as babies who never grow into the fullness as they are never allowed the working of the Holy Spirit through them to minister and grow as God gifts them to. They must subject themselves to the hierarchy and be silent and inactive unless they have been entitled, ordained or called or permitted to do otherwise by the ruling hierarchy. Thus there is little or no known four other ministries activated by the Holy Spirit because the whole of the system locks them out. The organizational church without these heirarchies would fall apart, it would disband. There would be no one to tell the sheep what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. All except the Holy Spirit- who is our teacher, Christ our High Priest. This could never happen without the system, the money, the power, the prestige and all the real estate owned by the institutions would be gone in an instant and then 'pray God' who would want to be one of the five. There would be nothing in it that appeases men's flesh. No titles, just functions as the Holy Spirit chooses to appoint and preserve the faithful to be servants of the whole of the Ekklesia.
One, need only to begin to ask questions and seek the answers outside of pre-suppositional and preconceived and taught approaches to scripture to find the answers.
Here are some of the questions each Christian should ask, and scripturally show themselves accountable for finding the answer.
Why do we go to church rather than being the church?
Why do we have men above us or do we pay a singular man or many man to be the biblical scholars, the chief cooks, the bottle washers, the experts in spiritual things, the preachers, the teachers, the counselors, and on and on the list goes?
Where and how did these things come to be?
Why do you dress up for church?
Why do you tithe, is that New Testament Christianity?
Why do we pay for a building and electricity and all the upkeep when the Early Christians did neither until Constantine built the first "worship buildings in 300 AD?
Was there ever a point of time in history when the single Pastor didnt exist?
Was there ever a multiplicity of elders who were the Pastors, that were chosen not for their ability to sermonize but because of their humble, lowly, service they provided to others out of the work of Christ in them?
When did the church begin to pay for a professional clergy?
Where did liturgy come from?
How about titles, dress, forms and ritual where did they come into place.
Why is their a music group, praise group, music ministers, hymn books, choirs?
Where and when did the single Pastor become the only leader of the church?
We have made these things sacred as if they were dropped out of heaven by God, we have even tried to proof text them. In both attempts we have not served God with truth or the honor of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We have accepted without questioning and if we did, we never sought the answers either out of fear or laziness.
The answers which we will explore together, will shock you, challenge you and free your heart to true worship, to the place that Christ told the Samaritan woman. Those that worship me, "must worship me in Spirit and in Truth".
You will be surprised that largely what you believe even as a Protestant and what you especially practice has it's origins in paganism, Judaism, Catholicism and the Roman emperor worship and Greek mythology. You will be surprised that what you hold so divine in your mind is actual in direct anti-thesis to what Christ and the Apostles taught.
I challenge my readers to begin to read the writings of the Paternalistic Fathers- those which wrote from about 100 AD and even beyond and the many so called Religious leaders of today. Begin to read Ignatius who brought the whole idea together of the Bishop which eventually became the ruling Pope, the Priest and yes, even the Pastor.
Ignatius is the first known of the Early Church Father writers to put great stress on loyalty to a "single" bishop in each city, who is assisted by both presbyters (elders/priests) and deacons. Earlier writings only mention either bishops or presbyters, and give the impression that there was usually more than one bishop per congregation. The early Christian knew of no such hierarchy or titles such as Pastor by deferrence in name or office. Matter of fact the word office can't even be found in the Greek original of scripture as it has been translated in
I Timothy Chapter 3 verse 1.
Thus we forget, let us quote Jesus in what he defined as the function for any and all that wish to lead.
They are not to Lord over others as the Gentiles do. ie;(unbelievers)(the world and it's system of belonging to the enemy). We are to be lowliest servant to one another. Jesus said he came not to be served but to serve. He the Son of God, laid it all down to become the Son of Man. It is God who has now lifted up his name above all names because of his humility to serve.
It is not my intention to attack any believer but to help each and every one of us to come to the full knowledge of Christ and to grow up for once. It is time to be a baby no more, it is time to mature. It is time to study and show yourself approved. It is time that you, be like the Bereans and search the scriptures. It is time you reach the fullness and maturity of Christ, that will bring you to a unity in the faith. I am not talking about ecumenism either. I am not talking about a single denomination over all others. I am talking about Christians united.
The scriptures must be understood in light of culture, teaching, history and belief's at the times in which the scriptures were written and in the light that the Holy Spirit provides as our only true teacher. All things should be tested and verified. We are to hold fast to that which is good and abstain from even the appearance of evil.
All babies at some point or another must grow up and we are called to do so. I am not a cultist, a heretic or any of that. I have been a Christian since age 6, in belief and God has taken me through much in this walk of faith in Christ. I have studied and read the New Testament completely through probably over a 100 times or more. I have read the Old Testament probably as much. We must remember the Old Testament does not define the New Testament. The New Testament can only be the jumping board to understand the Old.
The Old Testament is the shadow, Christ is the light and fullness of God revealed. The New Testament is our guide to understanding the Old.
I have been a church history and history fanatic since I was a young man in school.
George Santayana wrote: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
I have read many great Christian scholars works, commentaries and more. In my writings here and online I could provide plenty of footnotes or at least mention of well recognized scholars and others that are even recognized by the institutional churches as leading experts in their field of study that will verify much that I will write about. I have chose more often to just put them in quotes with their names to save time and room on the page.
I will quote these men and woman from time to time.
I place scripture as interpreted by the Holy Spirit above all men, regardless of what they believe or teach. Facts are facts and history when witnessed and explained by more than just one eyewitness becomes true when it is in agreement. The things I will write about have a spiritual and a historical agreement that cannot be shunned as something I or others made up. It is recorded and accessible by those who are diligent enough to search the archives of history and the men that recorded it.
When one is confronted with more than one witness time after time to these things, it would be foolish to ignore them. God is a God of truth, not deception. For what purpose these writers of ancient and more recent history within the church would have when they seek no title, or money or other gratuity or power would be beyond me. There only desire is as of mine, for truth to be told and for His body to be graced by these truths to find true freedom in Christ.
I would ask you to begin to read three authors works that are well footnoted with references of well recognized authors and recognized sources, both ancient and new, that will help you begin your adventure to truth in Christ in doctrine and in practice.
The first book is "Ekklesia" by Steven Atkerson. The second book is entitled "Pagan Christianity, The Origins of Our Modern Church Practices" by Frank Viola.
I would also invite you to read Alfred Edershiem and his books on Judaism, he was a leading Jewish scholar, he was born a Hebrew and was converted to Christianity at an early age and an expert on the "Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah". He is a student of the Talmud, The Torah and all the ancient traditions of the Jews in Christ time, an expert at explaining "the Temple" and it's practices and more and he has written some very well recognized books on all the subjects.
All of these men are Spirit filled believers and love Jesus and His Ekklesia. Some like Alfred have gone on to be with the Lord. Each has a love for truth and the Ekklesia as I do.
I invite my readers to seek and find the foundation from which they stand, and if it is not Christ, then it is sand that your house is built on and not the Rock of Jesus Christ. There is no other foundation that can be laid than that of Christ and the Apostles. Paul exhorted us to hold fast to those traditions taught by him and the Apostles, as taught to them by Christ. Paul fought the Judaizers, and John the Pagans, and the Nicolatians ( the clergy-laity system seen today).
I would also invite you to go through each of these books prayerfully and scripturally. Checking verses - not for proof texting- we will talk about that habit another time but to verify the references and to read them for yourselves prayerfully.
It only took a very short time once the Apostles were gone for the teachings of Christ and the Apostles to be perverted by the self appointed leaders of the people.
There is a clear development that follows their deaths to the Catholic church, the Reformation and the Age of Enlightment, to what we beleive and practice today.
We Protestants claim Solo Scriptura but in truth, we do not practice it nor recognize it. We as the Jews in Jesus time have made null the commandments of God for the "traditions of men". We stand as guilty or worse as the Pharisees, the Saducces and Scribes of Jesus time, of trading off the Word of God for the word of men over 1900 years.
My prayer and hope for the Ekklesia is that there will be a Radical Reformation.
The beginnings are there already, there are many small but fruitful home churches and groups of Christians worldwide that are breaking out of the patterns and forms of the traditions of men. There are many today experiencing the Early Church in their lives. There worship is their life in Christ. Their practices have returned to that as led by the Holy Spirit and not according to the ancient paganistic traditions of men. They have found freedom in Christ. This was the promise of the Lord- you shall know the truth and it shall set you free. There is a liberty in Christ with responsibility that few in the "church" have known. There is a life in Christ, that brings a fresh breath of truth from the Holy Spirit that will break the bonds of the traditions of men. You will breathe and walk in Christ. You will know that "Christ in you, the hope in glory", is true. It will no longer be the search you have been on bouncing from organized church to organized denomination and never finding, community, relationship, love, care, compassion and a deep understanding of truly knowing what Christ has really done for you. It won't need to be expressed in a sermon so distant from yourself by a holy man or priest. Your life will become the sermon for all men. You will be the sermon to all men.
It is not a walk of ease, for you will be in direct contradiction to the accepted methods and practices of men. You will stand in contradiction to the pseudo religion of Christianity to really being a Christian. Christ will be alive for you and not just something you grasp at, always hopeful someday you will find the right "church" to go to to find it. I started my quest in 1977 and the Lord Jesus Christ has brought me a long distance since then, the freedom came in 2005, when I officially walked out of the institution into home churching and discipleship. Myself and one other couple, stuck home church out for over 2 years together. In that time we formed relationship, and learned a whole lot by the Holy Spirit teaching us about what it means to be a Christian. My hope for you is you will discover, "whereever two or more are gathered in my name, there I am in their midst". In our case it was three, sometimes there were more, but it was three of us that lasted until the Holy Spirit taught us what we needed to know and then we went on. We pray for each other, see each other, and try in our busy schedules to spend time now and then together, but most of all we grew up, and began the work of service God called us to do. I am doing what Christ called me to do, and that is to preach in season and out of season, the Good News of Jesus Christ. There is no bondage in Him. There is only Freedom.
You will be free to exercise the gifts of the Spirit, Christ gave to you. You will no longer feel shamed by the ecclesiastical organized bunch of hierarchy. You will find solace in Christ and Him alone.
What I write is not to exclude you from attending a service at any building if you so choose, or nor is it to slander Pastors, there are a good many, good men and women as far as that goes, who not knowing any better are doing their best to serve Christ in the best manner they know how, but not knowing better they have found themselves in a system which is self perpetuating in keeping babies, forever babies and carnal in most perspectives while they sit in their pews silently week after week being sermonized. forever hoping what they hear could some how be realized in their lives. I pray for Pastors, for I once was "in the traditions of men", a Pastor myself. I long to see many of them freed by truth and love. We must continue to love them only because they are brethern in Christ and in as much need for encouragement, and ministry as anyone. They are on a lonely road to frustration and in many cases live their lives out in hypocrisy, because the system requires it of them.
This is my prayer and hope for you in writing this is that you will come to the fullness of knowing Christ. This is to become the book I hope to publish soon entitled, "Why the Church is Failing".
Dr. J
Saturday, May 19, 2007
On The Backroad to Heaven
I have just completed reading a book I mentioned a long time ago to others, which I had not had the chance to read as of yet at that time but I had read a short review on it somewhere. The book is a wonderful examination of the AnaBaptist as they are today. This book examines all the "Old Order" as it is known.
A complete description of the Hutterites, the Mennonites, the Amish and the German Brethern or aka the Brethern.
This book will give you insight to a wonderful group of people who have managed in many ways to hold onto the early Christian "church" practices. One must remember the AnaBaptist were the Radical Reformationist, as they were the ones, that in the Reformation took steps to restore the Ekklesia to the practices and way of life of the Early Ekklesia before the Church Fathers (The Paternalistic Age). Their practices really did everything they could to hold onto the biblical precept of the Priesthood of All Believers with Sitters Rights, Communal living, non- resistance, separation from the world and worship not being just something you do on Sunday in a building but something that involves every aspect of life daily, work and play and the way in which one lives their life, a life lived unto the Lord.
They were highly persecuted, hated and killed by the Reformationist, Luther and Calvin hated them, because they stood in great contradiction to the One Leader, Temple worship that even the Reformationist held on to. They held onto the Agape Feast, true Communion ( the meal and community), separation from the world and it's temptations in a life style that we "civilized folks" think odd.
Even today, many look at them oddly, no more than we are looked at oddly by them.
This book will bring you to an understanding of their ways, their dress codes, their dislike for technology and more. You will learn how it has sustained them for 100's of years in their way of life. They have very little crime in their communities, very little government and live simple lives unto God.
Though not perfect, in my opinion each group of them hold something very special that dates back to the times of the Apostles and the true teaching of Christ. It is very unlike American and Catholic-Protestant Christianity that has been Westernized and has thousands of years of pagan cultural pollution.
These are a simple and humble people who have found community and relationship more important than individualism. The group is more important than the individual and the teachings of Christ encompass more than just a once a week thing or a building exercise. These people make Christ their way of life in all they say and do. They reject the Kingdom of Men for the Kingdom of God, and have made great strides to keep it that way.
I would highly recommend this study of the AnaBaptist as they are today, to any serious student of the Bible and Church History. It is written by Donald B. Kraybill and Carl F. Bowman. Donald is a professor of Sociology and AnaBaptist Studies at Messiah College. Carl is professor and chair of the department of Sociology at Bridgewater College. Written from a Sociological examination and not a theological or ecclesiastical study of church history, it will provide you greater understanding and enlightment to these dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that in my opinion hold forth the traditions of Paul and the Apostles and the teachings of Christ greater than any other Christian groups known. We as the Ekklesia of Christ can learn much from their way of life and their teachings. Though they have had some crucial things to deal with as the world about them is constantly changing, they manage in their exclusiveness of some of the ways of this world to hold onto community and interpersonal relationships with like minded believers in a tremendous way.
Much of what is missing in Western denominations, because of the procedures and traditions of the institutional church which consist of much which can be proved as a carryover from Catholicism, and pagansim and the writings of Ignatius, Gregory, Constantine and others (the so called "church" fathers) is why so many Christians wonder from building to building hoping to find that real life of Christ in them. They never will through the traditions and practices of the institutional church. There are none of the surviving aspects of the Early Church left in it, as led by the Apostles and as taught by Jesus.You can barely even realize what it was like to be a Christian in the times of the Apostles in any of the institutional denominational "churches".
The greatest thing that these people have held onto is community and love for their enemy and love for one another. Their deep respect for each other, their humbleness, their lack of pride, and their consistent love for one another, preferring others over self is to be admired. It makes me stand in awe, to see these groups and their variation in which they have managed to survive it all- the constant onslaught of the world upon us.
Ekklesia is defined within their community as the real body of Christ, the "Congregation", the individual as a whole represented by the entire community is the dwelling place of the most high and not a building made by hands.
In the brethern who probably hold to the closest example when it comes to matters of the sinner and the saint and worship and to the way the early Ekklesia governed themselves by the leading of the Holy Spirit. In my opinion they most closely resemble the time of the Apostles and what we read of in the Book of Acts. Every man and woman has a voice in the decisions of the whole. Though there are Elders (a multiplicty), they are not selected by their intelligence, their ability to preach, their scholarly achievements, their degrees or ordinations, but by their older age, and exemplary lives they have lived and their humbleness. The average today AnaBaptist has an 8th grade education, but in my opinion their love and servitude of the Lord far exceeds that of most of our Doctorates and PHd's in the opposing denominations. No seminary can prepare a man to leadership of life example. No education can do this for a man, only a life lived in Christ.
For as it was said of Peter and some of the others, these men were recognized not to have been educated men, but men that had walked with the Lord Jesus. When the sermon goes, the building goes, the one man show- the Pastor goes, and the tradition goes, then Christ can resume his throne of Lordship as High Priest for all the priesthood of all believers and life will return to the Ekklesia. The world will be turned upside down for Jesus.
For there won't be a place to go and worship, for worship will encompass all of what a man does and says. There won't be one special super spiritual mediator to Christ - the Pastor or Priest anymore and each member of the body will exercise their gifts as the Holy Spirit provides the gifting. There will be no more temples or special buildings in which God dwell, but the purpose of Jesus in disposing of all these Judaic and pagan practices will have ceased and God will be found where he always wanted to dwell, in the heart of each and every believer, individually and as a whole. When the educated professors of Theology and Homiletics, and Church Life are all gone, the Holy Spirit will be able to do all the teaching as he intended to.
No man, will say Know the Lord, for all will have been taught of the Lord. There will be no more sermons, no more evangelizing, no more emotional ferris wheels of pleasure, there will be only the Lord, the resurrected Lord living and breathing through the congregation of His people, encouraging, judging and praying for us as a whole. The Ekklesia can change when it steps back to the years of 30 AD to 100 AD and throws out all the garbage and traditions of men that has held us back from being God's own people - the called out one's- a strange and peculiar people, strangers and aliens to this world.
I pray for the Radical Reformation of the "church". I pray that we could take the best of what the AnaBaptist taught and believe today from across all the 4 groups and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ out the rest of our days, hastening the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray for a revelation of these truths to every believer, to every man that stands in as a Pastor or office holder in the institutional church, and that they would lay down their titles before the feet of the Lamb, and say- I am giving it all up for Jesus, "let the Lord reign". "I sacrifice my title to be a function of the body and not the head of the body", so Christ can take the Head once more, and we can as Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, when she questioned Jesus who was right, them or the Jews in where they worshipped. Jesus response was to the point "Those that worship God will worship in Spirit and in Truth.
May God bless us with a REAL REVIVAL AND REFORMATION- that will lead us into the very heart of Christ. May the Ekklesia of Christ lay all their tradition that is not based on scripture but men, and turn to the way of the Lord and we will see a real outbreak of not emotionalism, as many so called revivals have been- but true worship in Spirit and in truth by His people the Ekklesia. That Yeshua can be declared LORD of LORDS and KING OF KINGS! It can happen. It almost happened to the fullest extent in the Reformation, and there are those like the AnaBaptist that are clinging to keeping it alive.
Dr. J.
A complete description of the Hutterites, the Mennonites, the Amish and the German Brethern or aka the Brethern.
This book will give you insight to a wonderful group of people who have managed in many ways to hold onto the early Christian "church" practices. One must remember the AnaBaptist were the Radical Reformationist, as they were the ones, that in the Reformation took steps to restore the Ekklesia to the practices and way of life of the Early Ekklesia before the Church Fathers (The Paternalistic Age). Their practices really did everything they could to hold onto the biblical precept of the Priesthood of All Believers with Sitters Rights, Communal living, non- resistance, separation from the world and worship not being just something you do on Sunday in a building but something that involves every aspect of life daily, work and play and the way in which one lives their life, a life lived unto the Lord.
They were highly persecuted, hated and killed by the Reformationist, Luther and Calvin hated them, because they stood in great contradiction to the One Leader, Temple worship that even the Reformationist held on to. They held onto the Agape Feast, true Communion ( the meal and community), separation from the world and it's temptations in a life style that we "civilized folks" think odd.
Even today, many look at them oddly, no more than we are looked at oddly by them.
This book will bring you to an understanding of their ways, their dress codes, their dislike for technology and more. You will learn how it has sustained them for 100's of years in their way of life. They have very little crime in their communities, very little government and live simple lives unto God.
Though not perfect, in my opinion each group of them hold something very special that dates back to the times of the Apostles and the true teaching of Christ. It is very unlike American and Catholic-Protestant Christianity that has been Westernized and has thousands of years of pagan cultural pollution.
These are a simple and humble people who have found community and relationship more important than individualism. The group is more important than the individual and the teachings of Christ encompass more than just a once a week thing or a building exercise. These people make Christ their way of life in all they say and do. They reject the Kingdom of Men for the Kingdom of God, and have made great strides to keep it that way.
I would highly recommend this study of the AnaBaptist as they are today, to any serious student of the Bible and Church History. It is written by Donald B. Kraybill and Carl F. Bowman. Donald is a professor of Sociology and AnaBaptist Studies at Messiah College. Carl is professor and chair of the department of Sociology at Bridgewater College. Written from a Sociological examination and not a theological or ecclesiastical study of church history, it will provide you greater understanding and enlightment to these dear brothers and sisters in Christ, that in my opinion hold forth the traditions of Paul and the Apostles and the teachings of Christ greater than any other Christian groups known. We as the Ekklesia of Christ can learn much from their way of life and their teachings. Though they have had some crucial things to deal with as the world about them is constantly changing, they manage in their exclusiveness of some of the ways of this world to hold onto community and interpersonal relationships with like minded believers in a tremendous way.
Much of what is missing in Western denominations, because of the procedures and traditions of the institutional church which consist of much which can be proved as a carryover from Catholicism, and pagansim and the writings of Ignatius, Gregory, Constantine and others (the so called "church" fathers) is why so many Christians wonder from building to building hoping to find that real life of Christ in them. They never will through the traditions and practices of the institutional church. There are none of the surviving aspects of the Early Church left in it, as led by the Apostles and as taught by Jesus.You can barely even realize what it was like to be a Christian in the times of the Apostles in any of the institutional denominational "churches".
The greatest thing that these people have held onto is community and love for their enemy and love for one another. Their deep respect for each other, their humbleness, their lack of pride, and their consistent love for one another, preferring others over self is to be admired. It makes me stand in awe, to see these groups and their variation in which they have managed to survive it all- the constant onslaught of the world upon us.
Ekklesia is defined within their community as the real body of Christ, the "Congregation", the individual as a whole represented by the entire community is the dwelling place of the most high and not a building made by hands.
In the brethern who probably hold to the closest example when it comes to matters of the sinner and the saint and worship and to the way the early Ekklesia governed themselves by the leading of the Holy Spirit. In my opinion they most closely resemble the time of the Apostles and what we read of in the Book of Acts. Every man and woman has a voice in the decisions of the whole. Though there are Elders (a multiplicty), they are not selected by their intelligence, their ability to preach, their scholarly achievements, their degrees or ordinations, but by their older age, and exemplary lives they have lived and their humbleness. The average today AnaBaptist has an 8th grade education, but in my opinion their love and servitude of the Lord far exceeds that of most of our Doctorates and PHd's in the opposing denominations. No seminary can prepare a man to leadership of life example. No education can do this for a man, only a life lived in Christ.
For as it was said of Peter and some of the others, these men were recognized not to have been educated men, but men that had walked with the Lord Jesus. When the sermon goes, the building goes, the one man show- the Pastor goes, and the tradition goes, then Christ can resume his throne of Lordship as High Priest for all the priesthood of all believers and life will return to the Ekklesia. The world will be turned upside down for Jesus.
For there won't be a place to go and worship, for worship will encompass all of what a man does and says. There won't be one special super spiritual mediator to Christ - the Pastor or Priest anymore and each member of the body will exercise their gifts as the Holy Spirit provides the gifting. There will be no more temples or special buildings in which God dwell, but the purpose of Jesus in disposing of all these Judaic and pagan practices will have ceased and God will be found where he always wanted to dwell, in the heart of each and every believer, individually and as a whole. When the educated professors of Theology and Homiletics, and Church Life are all gone, the Holy Spirit will be able to do all the teaching as he intended to.
No man, will say Know the Lord, for all will have been taught of the Lord. There will be no more sermons, no more evangelizing, no more emotional ferris wheels of pleasure, there will be only the Lord, the resurrected Lord living and breathing through the congregation of His people, encouraging, judging and praying for us as a whole. The Ekklesia can change when it steps back to the years of 30 AD to 100 AD and throws out all the garbage and traditions of men that has held us back from being God's own people - the called out one's- a strange and peculiar people, strangers and aliens to this world.
I pray for the Radical Reformation of the "church". I pray that we could take the best of what the AnaBaptist taught and believe today from across all the 4 groups and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ out the rest of our days, hastening the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray for a revelation of these truths to every believer, to every man that stands in as a Pastor or office holder in the institutional church, and that they would lay down their titles before the feet of the Lamb, and say- I am giving it all up for Jesus, "let the Lord reign". "I sacrifice my title to be a function of the body and not the head of the body", so Christ can take the Head once more, and we can as Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, when she questioned Jesus who was right, them or the Jews in where they worshipped. Jesus response was to the point "Those that worship God will worship in Spirit and in Truth.
May God bless us with a REAL REVIVAL AND REFORMATION- that will lead us into the very heart of Christ. May the Ekklesia of Christ lay all their tradition that is not based on scripture but men, and turn to the way of the Lord and we will see a real outbreak of not emotionalism, as many so called revivals have been- but true worship in Spirit and in truth by His people the Ekklesia. That Yeshua can be declared LORD of LORDS and KING OF KINGS! It can happen. It almost happened to the fullest extent in the Reformation, and there are those like the AnaBaptist that are clinging to keeping it alive.
Dr. J.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Miracle Story
To my readers, I have been on an adventure with our Heavenly Father this week. Let me tell you about it. It all started last week, sales were down, my dentures cracked in half again, my truck is running worse, the brakes and the front end are bad, and to top that, my Mother calls me Sunday telling me Dad is having heart problems again. She says his blood pressure has been weird and his pulse rate fast. Well come Monday she calls again and this time I speak with Dad and he tells me that his rate is running 150 plus. I tell him and Mom he needs to go to the hospital, that he is having another heart attack. So she takes him to the hospital and they sure enough admit him to the cardiac ward at the Veterans Hospital.
I too had suffered the same heart problem my father has back in 1997, Atrial Fibrillation. She told me they were going to do what they did with me, and if the drugs to get his heart back into normal sinus rhythm didn't work they were going to stop his heart with electrocardio shock and "hope" that it would return to normal.
Well come Tuesday she calls and tells me they can't get him back to a normal sinus rhythm with the drugs so they are going to have to shock him to get it back. On top of all the other things that were going on in my life, I was very upset.
My wife understood that and placed a call to her former sister in law who attends the "church" we all go to in Athens, Texas. She called back in minutes and the "church" had decided to purchase me a plane ticket home at the cost of a round trip to Albuquerque and back home by Southwest Airlines, so I could be with my Mom and see my Dad.
I called my boss, who has been a wonderful guy when it comes to understanding the need to be with family. He is Mormon, and I can say for the Mormons- family is all important. We may have deep doctrinal differences but he has always been a standup guy and understanding when it has come to my needed time off work for family matters. I have love for him and his family. I pray for their conversion to truth everyday.
I have deep doctrinal differences in the areas for "church" practice even with the "church" I attend as you can tell by my writings. I attend because there is always a need for love above all things for those we have a relationship with.
Love conquers all.
My wife and step kids and step grandchildren like going there and I personally have a love for their Pastor, as he is a guy that has a sincere love for others. Though we may have differences on my view of things versus his view, we have a love and respect for each other. I admit I am not a consistent building attendee, because of my deep held beliefs in what I beleive should be early Christian Orthopraxy (church practices) for the church. I love God's people whereever they may be and love the body of Christ. I will be talking more about this in future writings, as I have said some very firm things in regard to this. I stand on these things as much as I do what is considered Orthodoxy( church beliefs or doctrine, as taught by Christ, the Apostles and the early church). I have considerable differences over what has happened to Christianity as a result of the changes made by the early church fathers (the paternalistic age) once the Apostles had passed on. I however, will never allow these differences to affect my love for my Christian brethern that may not understand these things or what has happened to the Ekklesia and how we need to return to the practices of the early Ekklesia. Understanding can only be taught most often to others by love and not debate, example and not force.
I want to say the body that gets together there at Faith Church in Athens is like any of the rest of us, they have problems wrestling with the world, the flesh and the devil everyday, but the one thing that helps them conquer often is love for one another and a very understanding and listening Pastor. Brother Leon Wallace is a fine men, and loves God's children. He is only trying to fulfill what he believes God has called Him to do, and the gift of teaching the Holy Spirit has bestowed upon him.
The believers there surely aren't perfect in their faith or their walk and neither am I. I love them all dearly, though we have lots of differing opinions about things. I want to thank those that were behind the decision to provide the funds for my trip home to be with my parents and those that gave this money and took it from their pockets to provide a point of love to me to come out here and be with my family.
I want to now return the spiritual blessing that comes with giving by writing what has transpired since their gift of love.
I want to tell the story of a miracle. My story while here.
I am not one to jump on the miracle boat, or fanciful stories often told by various groups. I approach everything in light of scripture and reality. I don't just accept stories told, I believe just as Jesus had the Leper follow the prescribed verifications for healings as laid out in the traditions of men (The Talmud)and in the Torah (Law of Moses) we should verify all miracles today with the methods provided us today to show the truth of the Gospel of Christ and the power of God in people's lives.
The Leper had to first go show himself to the Priest as prescribed by the Law of Moses and then offer a gift to God. (Luke 5:12-14
The man born blind and healed by Jesus, had to face the interrogation as prescribed by the Talmud and His family had to be interrogated by the high priest as well. (John the 9th chapter)
Jesus told the Leper and the blind man to do all these things as the Pharisees had developed a teaching to verify miracles in their writings known as the Talmud. Moses had prescribed a means in which the Leper was to be proven healed. They did this as there were many fanciful stories told of healings, demons being cast out and more, and many teachers who were not Jewish, etc. This was their way to determine the authenticity of a miracle. It was also as written in the Talmud only certain miracles would be able to be performed by the Messiah to prove he was the Messiah.Interestingly enough, Jesus did all of these.
Today, if we doubt a miracle we can use doctors, reports and all kinds of scientific verifications.
Jesus's miracle was proved using their prescribed methods to the "T" and most of all because there had never been anyone heal a Leper which was one of the things according to their traditional teachings that would verify who was the Messiah.
Only the Messiah, if he came would be able to do this.
Believe it or not, when the Jewish leaders crucified Christ they absolutely, beyond a shadow of doubt, knew they were crucifying the Lord of glory, the Messiah.
Anyway, back to my story.
There should never be any guess work, imagination or making things that aren't true true. That is deception. So I can tell you now, I don't just accept someone's stories of miracles unless they are verifiable. So, I tell you this story because it is true and happened to myself and family while I was here.
Thursday my father was given a stress test, the typical one, running the treadmill and cardiac analysis while having it done. He didn't do that well on it, but his heart seem to be doing well after they had shocked him Wednesday, and had returned to normal sinus rhythm. Wednesday night he did well, heart looked good. Thursday, he did well, Friday morning (today) they had decided to give him a chemical stress test and do some cardiac imaging as well, to insure that once his heart had to do some work he wouldnt have another heart attack.
This morning I got up a little late tired from running to and fro from the hospital for days now, I over slept and wasnt up at the hospital yet when they had Dad do a different physical stress test, and some imaging. Mom had spent the night with Dad there at the hospital. I rushed to get there, and they were ready to take him back upstairs. I pushed him back up in the wheel chair, thinking how it is strange that when we get old all things are reversed. When we were children, our parents had to care for us, nurture us, see us through our illnesses, our bumps, our bruises, but as we get older, we have to now do this for them. What a priviledge it is to return things to your parents that were provided for you so many years ago. Love, compassion care and more. If all Christians could only see how important this is, we could eliminate a lot of lonely shut ins- nursing homes and more.
Well they then did a chemical test on Dad, giving him a drug which makes the heart work harder, speeding up the hard rate, and then taking images of the heart while this all going on.
Well, Mom was a nervous wreck, it was taking a lot of time for some reason for his last imaging with the drug stress test. She could see back in the area where he lay in the imaging machine. She could see several people coming over there and all about him this brought her some concern which was very human on her part to be concerned. I admit I was as well. She walked back there and asked what was going on. Well the machine broke down during his imaging and they had to call the Techs over to fix it while he laid there. They finally got it up and running and he was done. I pushed him once again upstairs to his room in ICU. Knowing it would now be a wait for the Cardiologist to come up to Dad's room. I am talking to Dad while he is sitting up and he is conversing back. I am also watching the cardiogram hookup and noticing his pulse is rising, he is throwing a few PVC's (that's pre-venticular contractions and his pulse rate is rising and bouncing up and down like a ping pong ball. The only reason I can use all these terms and have any understanding of them at all is that I served the Glenwood Springs Emergency Services for 3 years as a certified Firefighter One and Medic. I also had Advanced Cardiac Support training and could interpret cardiac charts, as I took a nursing level course at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado in the subject. I had worked on many a heart patient in the back of an Ambulance in my years there at Glenwood Springs Emergency Service.
Anyway, I call the nurse and ask her if they had yet given Dad his new Beta Blocker, Metopropyl, as his heart was definitely starting to go Tachy and was showing something other than a sinus rhythm. The nurse said no, so she comes in and gives him the pill. Well I waited a bit and assumed he would be fine. As I was leaving I noticed his BPM (beats per minute) was 146. I pointed to Mom and went on. Within an hour of getting home she calls me, crying and upset saying Dad was back in Atrial Fibrillation and the Cardiologist was telling her he was going to have some more invasive procedures. She was very upset and asked me to return and bring his CPAP, which is a breathing machine designed for people with sleep Apnea like myself and my Dad. I got there as soon as I could. On the way, I stopped and breathed a prayer for Dad. Asking the Lord to heal him, and let me have some more years of his wonderful laughter and jokes if it was within His will. I love his smile and and he loves to laugh. I like to make him laugh.
I arrive to find Mom and Dad in tears. Mom told me to talk to the Cardiologist nurse specialist that was the Cardiologist Assistant. Her and I walked around the corner from Dad's room and begin to talk. She begin to tell me the imaging shows some heart disease and damage, and that he will have to stay there and Monday they are taking him in for a Cardiac Catherization. Just as she is giving me the bad news, the Cardiologist walks up and says, "no, wait a minute, we have a change of plans". He tells her and I to follow him in to the room. We do, and he begins to speak.
He says, "I have some good news for you". He says, (quoting)" I don't undertand it but when I and the other Cardiologist were looking at your imaging, we saw diseased and damaged heart tissue.. He said so we took the images to confer with the other Cardiologist and when we all set down together, to look at the images again, there was no damage or diseased tissue showing in the images. We are going to send you home!
"I don't understand it", he replied.
My Dad says, "Well know one can know as much as God and the Doctors".
I and my Mom said it was God. The doctor agreed.
He tells us Dad will live fine with the Atrial Fib as I have since 1997, for him to continue to take the medication, get some exercise and come back for an Echogram in June, a visit with the Cardiologist for a followup in about a month, but he would need no other treatment that they can see as of now.
He is to get himself a new CPAP facial mask fitting on Monday and to use it every night, but he has a good Ventricular beat and he would be fine, go home.
For see, God has so designed our hearts that even when they don't beat perfectly, the ventricular lower half of our heart does all the work and keeps it going. Even when the Atrial just can't get it together all the way, the Doctors have come up with medicines, like the one I am on, which will help our bottom half of our heart keep up a good beat for years to come, and keep the life blood flowing through our veins. God is the great designer and the inspiration for many of these wonderful things discovered by Doctors and researchers. He gives men the ability to see beyond the surface of our skin and look inside. He gives them many abilities to heal us, but ulitmately when it gets down to the bottom wire, he holds all the juice that heals us and keeps us alive. A Doctor can never be God, he can only be a hand of the Lord and only when the Lord chooses to use them. God does use Doctors, but sometimes in cases like this he humbles even the best of Doctors with the surprises that he holds in His hands.
In my mind, that is a miracle!
Confirmed by the Doctor's. No sign of damage or disease. One minute two Cardiologist are saying he is in trouble and I am thinking now I have to call my boss to make arrangements to return to work later, changing flights, my sister was about to fly down and others suddenly between the time these two Cardiologist are going to confer with others, God does a miracle and there is no sign in the images of a problem, and I get to take my Dad home.
What an Awesome God we have!
He is and has always been "the Great Physician"!
This is one of the many confirmed miracle stories I can tell.
God has not ceased from doing miracles, but we must always remember, He does them when He chooses to, in His own timing, His own way, and in His own day. We can't manipulate the Father to do anything for us, even prayer doesnt manipulate God, not when we pray in His will.
"Not my will, but your will be done", this allows us in our heart to see God first and our desires second,this allows us to see God.
Dr. J
in Albquerque, New Mexico with a smile on his face.
I too had suffered the same heart problem my father has back in 1997, Atrial Fibrillation. She told me they were going to do what they did with me, and if the drugs to get his heart back into normal sinus rhythm didn't work they were going to stop his heart with electrocardio shock and "hope" that it would return to normal.
Well come Tuesday she calls and tells me they can't get him back to a normal sinus rhythm with the drugs so they are going to have to shock him to get it back. On top of all the other things that were going on in my life, I was very upset.
My wife understood that and placed a call to her former sister in law who attends the "church" we all go to in Athens, Texas. She called back in minutes and the "church" had decided to purchase me a plane ticket home at the cost of a round trip to Albuquerque and back home by Southwest Airlines, so I could be with my Mom and see my Dad.
I called my boss, who has been a wonderful guy when it comes to understanding the need to be with family. He is Mormon, and I can say for the Mormons- family is all important. We may have deep doctrinal differences but he has always been a standup guy and understanding when it has come to my needed time off work for family matters. I have love for him and his family. I pray for their conversion to truth everyday.
I have deep doctrinal differences in the areas for "church" practice even with the "church" I attend as you can tell by my writings. I attend because there is always a need for love above all things for those we have a relationship with.
Love conquers all.
My wife and step kids and step grandchildren like going there and I personally have a love for their Pastor, as he is a guy that has a sincere love for others. Though we may have differences on my view of things versus his view, we have a love and respect for each other. I admit I am not a consistent building attendee, because of my deep held beliefs in what I beleive should be early Christian Orthopraxy (church practices) for the church. I love God's people whereever they may be and love the body of Christ. I will be talking more about this in future writings, as I have said some very firm things in regard to this. I stand on these things as much as I do what is considered Orthodoxy( church beliefs or doctrine, as taught by Christ, the Apostles and the early church). I have considerable differences over what has happened to Christianity as a result of the changes made by the early church fathers (the paternalistic age) once the Apostles had passed on. I however, will never allow these differences to affect my love for my Christian brethern that may not understand these things or what has happened to the Ekklesia and how we need to return to the practices of the early Ekklesia. Understanding can only be taught most often to others by love and not debate, example and not force.
I want to say the body that gets together there at Faith Church in Athens is like any of the rest of us, they have problems wrestling with the world, the flesh and the devil everyday, but the one thing that helps them conquer often is love for one another and a very understanding and listening Pastor. Brother Leon Wallace is a fine men, and loves God's children. He is only trying to fulfill what he believes God has called Him to do, and the gift of teaching the Holy Spirit has bestowed upon him.
The believers there surely aren't perfect in their faith or their walk and neither am I. I love them all dearly, though we have lots of differing opinions about things. I want to thank those that were behind the decision to provide the funds for my trip home to be with my parents and those that gave this money and took it from their pockets to provide a point of love to me to come out here and be with my family.
I want to now return the spiritual blessing that comes with giving by writing what has transpired since their gift of love.
I want to tell the story of a miracle. My story while here.
I am not one to jump on the miracle boat, or fanciful stories often told by various groups. I approach everything in light of scripture and reality. I don't just accept stories told, I believe just as Jesus had the Leper follow the prescribed verifications for healings as laid out in the traditions of men (The Talmud)and in the Torah (Law of Moses) we should verify all miracles today with the methods provided us today to show the truth of the Gospel of Christ and the power of God in people's lives.
The Leper had to first go show himself to the Priest as prescribed by the Law of Moses and then offer a gift to God. (Luke 5:12-14
The man born blind and healed by Jesus, had to face the interrogation as prescribed by the Talmud and His family had to be interrogated by the high priest as well. (John the 9th chapter)
Jesus told the Leper and the blind man to do all these things as the Pharisees had developed a teaching to verify miracles in their writings known as the Talmud. Moses had prescribed a means in which the Leper was to be proven healed. They did this as there were many fanciful stories told of healings, demons being cast out and more, and many teachers who were not Jewish, etc. This was their way to determine the authenticity of a miracle. It was also as written in the Talmud only certain miracles would be able to be performed by the Messiah to prove he was the Messiah.Interestingly enough, Jesus did all of these.
Today, if we doubt a miracle we can use doctors, reports and all kinds of scientific verifications.
Jesus's miracle was proved using their prescribed methods to the "T" and most of all because there had never been anyone heal a Leper which was one of the things according to their traditional teachings that would verify who was the Messiah.
Only the Messiah, if he came would be able to do this.
Believe it or not, when the Jewish leaders crucified Christ they absolutely, beyond a shadow of doubt, knew they were crucifying the Lord of glory, the Messiah.
Anyway, back to my story.
There should never be any guess work, imagination or making things that aren't true true. That is deception. So I can tell you now, I don't just accept someone's stories of miracles unless they are verifiable. So, I tell you this story because it is true and happened to myself and family while I was here.
Thursday my father was given a stress test, the typical one, running the treadmill and cardiac analysis while having it done. He didn't do that well on it, but his heart seem to be doing well after they had shocked him Wednesday, and had returned to normal sinus rhythm. Wednesday night he did well, heart looked good. Thursday, he did well, Friday morning (today) they had decided to give him a chemical stress test and do some cardiac imaging as well, to insure that once his heart had to do some work he wouldnt have another heart attack.
This morning I got up a little late tired from running to and fro from the hospital for days now, I over slept and wasnt up at the hospital yet when they had Dad do a different physical stress test, and some imaging. Mom had spent the night with Dad there at the hospital. I rushed to get there, and they were ready to take him back upstairs. I pushed him back up in the wheel chair, thinking how it is strange that when we get old all things are reversed. When we were children, our parents had to care for us, nurture us, see us through our illnesses, our bumps, our bruises, but as we get older, we have to now do this for them. What a priviledge it is to return things to your parents that were provided for you so many years ago. Love, compassion care and more. If all Christians could only see how important this is, we could eliminate a lot of lonely shut ins- nursing homes and more.
Well they then did a chemical test on Dad, giving him a drug which makes the heart work harder, speeding up the hard rate, and then taking images of the heart while this all going on.
Well, Mom was a nervous wreck, it was taking a lot of time for some reason for his last imaging with the drug stress test. She could see back in the area where he lay in the imaging machine. She could see several people coming over there and all about him this brought her some concern which was very human on her part to be concerned. I admit I was as well. She walked back there and asked what was going on. Well the machine broke down during his imaging and they had to call the Techs over to fix it while he laid there. They finally got it up and running and he was done. I pushed him once again upstairs to his room in ICU. Knowing it would now be a wait for the Cardiologist to come up to Dad's room. I am talking to Dad while he is sitting up and he is conversing back. I am also watching the cardiogram hookup and noticing his pulse is rising, he is throwing a few PVC's (that's pre-venticular contractions and his pulse rate is rising and bouncing up and down like a ping pong ball. The only reason I can use all these terms and have any understanding of them at all is that I served the Glenwood Springs Emergency Services for 3 years as a certified Firefighter One and Medic. I also had Advanced Cardiac Support training and could interpret cardiac charts, as I took a nursing level course at St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado in the subject. I had worked on many a heart patient in the back of an Ambulance in my years there at Glenwood Springs Emergency Service.
Anyway, I call the nurse and ask her if they had yet given Dad his new Beta Blocker, Metopropyl, as his heart was definitely starting to go Tachy and was showing something other than a sinus rhythm. The nurse said no, so she comes in and gives him the pill. Well I waited a bit and assumed he would be fine. As I was leaving I noticed his BPM (beats per minute) was 146. I pointed to Mom and went on. Within an hour of getting home she calls me, crying and upset saying Dad was back in Atrial Fibrillation and the Cardiologist was telling her he was going to have some more invasive procedures. She was very upset and asked me to return and bring his CPAP, which is a breathing machine designed for people with sleep Apnea like myself and my Dad. I got there as soon as I could. On the way, I stopped and breathed a prayer for Dad. Asking the Lord to heal him, and let me have some more years of his wonderful laughter and jokes if it was within His will. I love his smile and and he loves to laugh. I like to make him laugh.
I arrive to find Mom and Dad in tears. Mom told me to talk to the Cardiologist nurse specialist that was the Cardiologist Assistant. Her and I walked around the corner from Dad's room and begin to talk. She begin to tell me the imaging shows some heart disease and damage, and that he will have to stay there and Monday they are taking him in for a Cardiac Catherization. Just as she is giving me the bad news, the Cardiologist walks up and says, "no, wait a minute, we have a change of plans". He tells her and I to follow him in to the room. We do, and he begins to speak.
He says, "I have some good news for you". He says, (quoting)" I don't undertand it but when I and the other Cardiologist were looking at your imaging, we saw diseased and damaged heart tissue.. He said so we took the images to confer with the other Cardiologist and when we all set down together, to look at the images again, there was no damage or diseased tissue showing in the images. We are going to send you home!
"I don't understand it", he replied.
My Dad says, "Well know one can know as much as God and the Doctors".
I and my Mom said it was God. The doctor agreed.
He tells us Dad will live fine with the Atrial Fib as I have since 1997, for him to continue to take the medication, get some exercise and come back for an Echogram in June, a visit with the Cardiologist for a followup in about a month, but he would need no other treatment that they can see as of now.
He is to get himself a new CPAP facial mask fitting on Monday and to use it every night, but he has a good Ventricular beat and he would be fine, go home.
For see, God has so designed our hearts that even when they don't beat perfectly, the ventricular lower half of our heart does all the work and keeps it going. Even when the Atrial just can't get it together all the way, the Doctors have come up with medicines, like the one I am on, which will help our bottom half of our heart keep up a good beat for years to come, and keep the life blood flowing through our veins. God is the great designer and the inspiration for many of these wonderful things discovered by Doctors and researchers. He gives men the ability to see beyond the surface of our skin and look inside. He gives them many abilities to heal us, but ulitmately when it gets down to the bottom wire, he holds all the juice that heals us and keeps us alive. A Doctor can never be God, he can only be a hand of the Lord and only when the Lord chooses to use them. God does use Doctors, but sometimes in cases like this he humbles even the best of Doctors with the surprises that he holds in His hands.
In my mind, that is a miracle!
Confirmed by the Doctor's. No sign of damage or disease. One minute two Cardiologist are saying he is in trouble and I am thinking now I have to call my boss to make arrangements to return to work later, changing flights, my sister was about to fly down and others suddenly between the time these two Cardiologist are going to confer with others, God does a miracle and there is no sign in the images of a problem, and I get to take my Dad home.
What an Awesome God we have!
He is and has always been "the Great Physician"!
This is one of the many confirmed miracle stories I can tell.
God has not ceased from doing miracles, but we must always remember, He does them when He chooses to, in His own timing, His own way, and in His own day. We can't manipulate the Father to do anything for us, even prayer doesnt manipulate God, not when we pray in His will.
"Not my will, but your will be done", this allows us in our heart to see God first and our desires second,this allows us to see God.
Dr. J
in Albquerque, New Mexico with a smile on his face.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Why So Long Since The Last Post
Well since I started writing my post, I have been pretty free in the mornings to write, however I had to start doing sales in the mornings as well as the evening.
The old man that I am, I have been pretty wiped out tired as the temperatures here have been crazy with sweltering humidity and lots of rain. I have been exhausted since. I also had a major computer crash about 4 days ago. I am barely up functioning on Windows XP without a lot of security updates because I had to reload and reformat and more just to get going again. It has been one problem after another.
My saying is when you start going for God, the devil is going to come along in the shadows and do everything he can to trip you on the path. Well that has been the story, a battle with forces beyond my control. My dependency has to be totally on Christ to just survive these days.
I also have Diabetes 2, and my oral medications have for whatever reasonm other than eating the wrong foods, have quit having much of an effect, and I can't afford to purchase the good stuff at $350.00 per month, so the Doctor had me on pills that only cost me about $16.00 per month. The difference for health care in this country is on how much money you have, like most other things.
I have to see my doctor soon as the State Board requires her to take me off the Medicine I using and either get me on something else- I can't take Glucophage because of stomach problems, so I was taking Glypicide (generic for Glucotrol), so I am left with two options, she will either put me on Actos ($300.00 per month), or send me to Endrocrinolgist for the purpose of putting me on Insulin. The latter most likely and I can't afford either so I may just end up having to live in a hyper sugar state running 300 to 400 everyday. Well, that will end my ability to work or do much of anything until it all kills me. So, I am prepared to just die, I guess. What choices does a poor man have in this country? It's not about healing the sick, it's all about money like everything else. There is no justice for the poor and there sure isnt much in the line of medical care.
So, the dark chasm of life is right there all the time, staring at each of us in the face, but for the rich, there is a bridge that has been built to the other side, while the poor keep falling into the hole and disappearing.
So, if you ask where have I been, why I havent written much? Well, health and the cost of living, and being married and trying to take care of the wants of a woman, versus the desires of the Lord. Thus Paul warned..STAY SINGLE! I think it is a great idea if you really have the Lord in your heart and a mission He has given you to accomplish.
So, I will try to write more often, even if it kills me. Sorry for the laspe of time since I last posted. So on we go. I did accomplish more reading over this time and will soon be writing more about Constantine and the traditions added by men to which the church has subscribed to since.
Until, then keep me in prayer.
Dr. J
The old man that I am, I have been pretty wiped out tired as the temperatures here have been crazy with sweltering humidity and lots of rain. I have been exhausted since. I also had a major computer crash about 4 days ago. I am barely up functioning on Windows XP without a lot of security updates because I had to reload and reformat and more just to get going again. It has been one problem after another.
My saying is when you start going for God, the devil is going to come along in the shadows and do everything he can to trip you on the path. Well that has been the story, a battle with forces beyond my control. My dependency has to be totally on Christ to just survive these days.
I also have Diabetes 2, and my oral medications have for whatever reasonm other than eating the wrong foods, have quit having much of an effect, and I can't afford to purchase the good stuff at $350.00 per month, so the Doctor had me on pills that only cost me about $16.00 per month. The difference for health care in this country is on how much money you have, like most other things.
I have to see my doctor soon as the State Board requires her to take me off the Medicine I using and either get me on something else- I can't take Glucophage because of stomach problems, so I was taking Glypicide (generic for Glucotrol), so I am left with two options, she will either put me on Actos ($300.00 per month), or send me to Endrocrinolgist for the purpose of putting me on Insulin. The latter most likely and I can't afford either so I may just end up having to live in a hyper sugar state running 300 to 400 everyday. Well, that will end my ability to work or do much of anything until it all kills me. So, I am prepared to just die, I guess. What choices does a poor man have in this country? It's not about healing the sick, it's all about money like everything else. There is no justice for the poor and there sure isnt much in the line of medical care.
So, the dark chasm of life is right there all the time, staring at each of us in the face, but for the rich, there is a bridge that has been built to the other side, while the poor keep falling into the hole and disappearing.
So, if you ask where have I been, why I havent written much? Well, health and the cost of living, and being married and trying to take care of the wants of a woman, versus the desires of the Lord. Thus Paul warned..STAY SINGLE! I think it is a great idea if you really have the Lord in your heart and a mission He has given you to accomplish.
So, I will try to write more often, even if it kills me. Sorry for the laspe of time since I last posted. So on we go. I did accomplish more reading over this time and will soon be writing more about Constantine and the traditions added by men to which the church has subscribed to since.
Until, then keep me in prayer.
Dr. J
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