John 4:19-20 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”

This question, which wasn’t even really a question but rather a statement, to me is inherently formalistic. By formalistic I mean the way in which religion and legalism is ritualistic and repetitively practiced by groups of people.

Her question starts very broad regarding the physical location of worship. Should it be done on the mountain or should it be done in Jerusalem? Now Jesus immediately cuts to the bone in His answer, seeing right through a statement that was meant to provide justification of her way of worship, should He have chosen her way as the right way. But what if He didn’t? What if He indulged her and said Jerusalem or the mountain?

I believe she would have followed up with a second question, narrowing the formalistic focus:

Should we worship on Sundays or Saturdays?

Should we worship in the morning or in the evening?

Should we raise one hand or two?

Should we sing 2 fast songs and 1 slow one or 1 fast and 2 slow?

Should we use an organ only or a full on band with lights and smoke machines?

There are many questions we can ask about how we prefer to worship, our method of worship if you will. Now many will already be thinking that there is no method, there is only worship in spirit and truth. Yes, that is true, but then why has Christian worship been boxed in to be 3-4 songs sung for 30-45mins on a Sunday morning?

If you say the method is not important, why is it done in exactly the same way in every church, every denomination, every city of every country and nation around the world? I have been to thousands of different churches in my life. Every single one sings songs together as their corporate worship time.

Personally I feel the typical corporate Sunday worship time is a very awkward moment for many people, especially ‘visitors’. Firstly we are all semi-manipulated by peer pressure to sing along, visitors included.

Secondly we start feeling very alienated because we are just standing there while some are flopping and flaying around.

“Am I not doing it right?’ is the first question that pops into mind.

Thirdly, some scan the room trying to see what the quickest way out of the building would be. Seriously, I have seen way too many ‘visitors’ make a run for it during worship because it was just too much for them handle. This alone is probably the biggest reason why I never had any desire to ‘bring my friends’ to a ‘service’ to encounter God.

Forcing people to take part in a sing-a-long while half the crowd is speaking in tongues and the other half is rolling on the floor is enough to send anybody running. It’s also not how to spread the gospel effectively. Maybe that’s why Paul said to not do those things when unbelievers visit our meetings… (1 Cor 14:23)

If only scripture was as important to the corporate church as the traditional way they have always been doing things for years…

In the Bible, people would always be running to Jesus. They would flock and crowd and press to be in His Presence. But when we attempt to ‘call down and host the presence corporately’ during our worship sessions, people run away. That tells me there is something not quite right. Any method of worship that scares away unbelievers is a bit suspect in my mind.

Many might say, ‘I can’t help how they react to our worship. I will worship God unashamedly!’ Nonsense! Of course you can help it. If you are inviting visitors to introduce them to the gospel, why are you choosing to do things that could potentially and purposefully alienate them, freak them out and make them not want to ever come back? That seems rather counterproductive.

On the other hand, I have friends who went to go worship in the middle of a new age festival. They set up their equipment and just started singing in the street. People flocked to them and many got saved that day. This might sound like the exact opposite of what I am saying but there is a slight difference. They allowed the Spirit to direct.

Is there room for the Spirit if we just inherently do the same thing over and over and over? Are we truly being led by the Spirit to worship in the exact same way every week in every church around the world? I somehow doubt it. I am asking these questions of myself and my own worship as much as I am asking it to the church.

Are we truly being led to worship in Spirit and truth, or are we just falling into formalism and hoping the Spirit will approve? Or have we so identified singing with worship that even though we know it’s not just about singing we can’t help but to always revert back to just singing?

I know there is a more excellent way to worship, one that doesn’t alienate and that doesn’t get stuck in formalism. One that truly glorifies Jesus and would want people to flock to Him.

Amos 5:21-24 “I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies. 22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. 23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. 24 But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Justice and Righteousness. Actually serving and helping people is what God desires. That is true worship. And not just singing about it, actually doing something. The Message translation of this scripture really nails it for me.

“I can’t stand your religious meetings.
I’m fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I’m sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I’ve had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it.
I want fairness—rivers of it.
That’s what I want. That’s all I want.

To be continued… PS. Please share your views about how you define worship in the comments section below!

Cornel

Since I was 5 I could not wait to go to church on Sunday. I would wake my dad early in the morning, all dressed in my Sunday suit to ask what time we were leaving for church. If he said we weren’t going that day I would walk 1km to my friend’s house and catch a ride with them. When we did go I always hoped to be able to go with my dad, who was an elder, to the back room where all the elders and deacons met with the pastor before the service. I loved this more than anything else. I felt like I was part of the special inner-workings of the church.

For 26 years I was a committed Sunday Christian. I basically did almost every job you could think of in the church system.

I worked the parking lot.

I cleaned the toilets.

I usherd.

I managed the resource table.

I caught the slain.

I packed the chairs and swept the floors.

I played in the band.

I lead worship.

I preached.

I made coffee. I made really good coffee.

I attended prayer meetings.

I led small groups.

I wrote books.

I founded a ministry.

I preached at conferences and churches in 6 different countries.

I tithed.

I was chosen to serve on leadership teams.

I had job offers from churches.

I discipled.

I did outreach into the community.

I taught Sunday school.

The one thing I never did though, was plant a church or pastor it. And I actually came pretty close… But then, about 7 months ago I stopped being a ‘Sunday Christian’ if I can put it like that. I have not been to a Sunday service since, and currently don’t really plan on going anytime soon.

This didn’t of course just happen over night and in the course of my transition major bridges were burned with very close relationships and connections I have built in the past. Granted some of the bridge-burning helped me make my choice to forgo the Sunday service. But to this day I am saddened when I think of those people, to the relationships lost for now. My heart will always be for their dreams to be fulfilled, even if we don’t currently walk side by side as we once did. We each did what we thought right at the time when I made the choice to search for a different expression of church. Words were spoken, some in anger, some in frustration and some in regret, and in the end the relationships ended. Badly.

Since then I have gone through stages of being critical and angry, at myself, at the leaders I had a falling out with, at church in general, at God even in someways. Did I say things that I regret during these times? Of course. And since I have a rather public voice it means what I said travelled pretty far and that unfortunately has led to some people thinking I no longer value local church. Nothing could be further from the truth. But it also didn’t help the possibility of mending those burned bridges anytime soon…

Then about 4 months ago I was invited along to a home group meeting, a small group of one of the bigger churches here in Hong Kong. The people I met there have become like family to me in these few short months. And contrary to what some might think, I am very committed to my local church. I have never attended their corporate Sunday service, and like I said I am not planning to anytime soon. I still have things to work out…

We meet in a building (a house is a building after all) every week and we sing and share teachings, we talk, discuss, laugh and cry. We bring testimonies, share prayer requests and food. Oh do we eat! I have found a community of believers who actually do life together, who desire real, honest and transparent relationships. They loved me even with the baggage I came with. They actually loved me despite the baggage I came with. They knew my story, they knew what happened in the past year. They knew how I felt about church at that time. Yet they opened their arms, their homes, their lives and said, come in, and come find yourself again.

To such love I can be committed. To such acceptance I can not add. They might not know it, but they restored in me a hope I thought lost. And more than that, maybe beyond what they actually realise, they are a very real expression of what I now believe church is really meant to be.

I no longer hold any grudges against the people with whom I had a falling out during my transition. I am no longer angry. I forgive them. I bless them. I pray that grace and peace be multiplied to them. And if it ever happens that our bridges may be restored, I will welcome it gladly and I will be overjoyed. We will most probably still define certain things differently and place more value in different things, but we are family nonetheless and I love them regardless.

To those who have walked beside Rensia and I during this time knowing a little more about what was going on, thank you for your prayers, emails, calls, advice, council and love. We love and appreciate you all more than you know.

So as I continue on my journey outside of the typical Sunday church I will share what I find, what I see and what I experience, as I have always done through this blog. Perhaps not always as personal, I don’t know. I also might not see things the same as many of my friends who still go to Sunday church and that is actually ok by me. We might strongly disagree and on certain topics and we might strongly agree on others. Even in disagreement nobody needs to end relationships. If we have to agree to disagree, then lets rather do that than destroy the relationship. 

So to end, my message is not one that is anti-local church. My message is Christ and Him crucified, as it has been and will always be. So when you read what I might write, I pray you will realize I am now more for local church than I ever was in the 26 years before. I do not plan to write much about church in general, and I also don’t like to make the distinction between organic church and institutional church as others prefer to do. But I will make distinctions between freedom and religion. I also understand that one man’s freedom might look like religion or rebellion to another, but that is a story for another time…

“The free person in Christ and the rebellious will always look the same to those who labor under religious obligation, because both ignore the conventions that govern men and women. But there is a major difference between the two. The rebel does it to serve himself and his passions, always harming others in the process and leaving a wake of anarchy behind him. The free person in Christ, however, does so because they no longer have a need to serve themselves. Having embraced God’s love at a far deeper level than any method of behavioral conformity will touch, they will guard that freedom even if it means others will misunderstand their pursuits. They reject the conventions of control not to please themselves, but Father Himself.” ~ Wayne Jacobsen

Grace and peace to you all!

Cornel

Cornel

——

Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. Luke 9:1-2

Now John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side.” Luk 9:49-50

If they’re not against me they’re for me… Really? That’s how Jesus answers the disciple whom “he loves.” This is John, the one cuddling with Jesus at the last supper. What an amazing attitude Jesus displays. John says, they haven’t followed you, they haven’t gone to our school, they don’t have our culture, I don’t think they’re qualified so I told them to stop. I didn’t think they should be walking in that kind of power so I forbid them. Hello? Have you ever been told by some Christian that you couldn’t do what Jesus said to do? Jesus says go for it!

Who is this guy? Just a few verses before he’s found doing the stuff is where Jesus gave the 12 power over demons and told them to go heal people. How in the world is this guy already doing things the disciples themselves struggled with. (remember when they came back and asked Jesus why they couldn’t cast our devils and he told them it’s because of their unbelief?) This guy, who is not even named, must have heard Jesus giving his disciples power and decided it was for him too. I want to meet that guy in eternity. Keep in mind, it’s not til the next chapter that Jesus sends out the 70. I want to be that nameless guy, out there doing the stuff, unknown by the formally called disciples, blowing things up for the Kingdom.

There’s another key point to this story. Obviously this man had not been included in Jesus’ inner circle, hearing the detailed explanations of the parables which Jesus gave to the 12. He most likely didn’t have his theology worked out, yet he took Jesus at his word and started operating in Kingdom authority. And Jesus’ attitude is to leave him alone. I find that amazing and incredibly encouraging.

You see, the disciple John made the distinction “he follows not with us.” This mindset is far too prevalent in the church today. We have the conservative crowd, the denominational crowd, the grace crowd, the grace crowd that thinks they’re more grace than the old grace crowd, the prophetic crowd, the anti-church crowd, the gung-ho church crowd… feel free to continue the list. The attitude we’re seeing is that because someone is preaching something different than us, they’re not following Jesus the way I do, therefore they must be wrong somehow. They very well may be, but it’s not your place to forbid a fellow brother who’s out there following Jesus the way they follow Jesus. The very attitude of Jesus himself is to let them do their thang (don’t worry, that’s not a type-o, I’m from Georgia). The Holy Spirit is much more capable than you to lead people into truth, I say we let him do his thang and get out of other people’s business.

It reminds me of the military industrial complex. You know, the corporations that profit from war. The military industrial complex likes war because it benefits them, they need an enemy because they get something out of it. Today we seem to have a MILITARY INDUSTRIAL CHURCH. A mindset that always needs an enemy to fight so our system is validated, making us feel special. When you’re known more for what you’re against than what you’re for, you may be MIC minded.

John was stripped of his elitist mindset through Jesus’ response. No doubt John believed he had something this man didn’t. He thought he was special somehow. He thought he was closer to Jesus than this man. Of course I don’t really know what John thought but it’s evident he believed it was ok for him to do what Jesus said and it wasn’t for this man.

Ask yourself these questions

• Am I always finding things wrong in what other people preach?
• Do I consider people who don’t follow Jesus the way I do dangerous?
• Do I think every Christian should focus on the same things about God that I do?
• Am I always arguing doctrine with fellow brothers and sisters?
• Am I always making snarky comments about people’s ideas about God?
• Am I always fighting the devil and looking for demons in other people’s lives? Oh wait, that’s another blog…

Please, leave people alone, let them follow the Holy Spirit for themselves. Better yet, give them a call or sit down for coffee, you may find you have more in common than you think. You have the same Father and that’s what counts.

Clint

www.forwardministries.org

Cornel

——–

Last night I had an interesting conversation with friends around my dining room table.  In John 14:6 Jesus gives the familiar quote, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”   I suggested that the verse had lost some of its original life giving intent and had, instead, been reduced to the final arbiter in apologetics; the last argument to be used when debating people of other faiths.

As the discussion progressed there was a consensus that began to develop that in the church today the “way” of Jesus had taken a back seat to the “truth” of Jesus.  Christians, by and large, feel more compelled to be “defenders of the Truth” rather than “people of the way”.  Which is ironic as the early church was referred to as The Way.  (Makes me wonder if Christians today would prefer to be referred to as, The Truth)

The 21^st century church is going through a massive identity crisis and the reason for it is we have put a desire to be “true” before imitating Jesus and following his ways.  I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in the John 14:6 verse Jesus mentions “Way” before “Truth”.  Nothing will lead to dead, “works based” religion faster than pursuing God’s truth at the expense of His ways.

If we are not following in Jesus “way” our Jesus “truth” becomes distorted and subsequently we are no longer bringing forth Jesus “life”.

The Woman Caught in Adultery

The Pharisees were a perfect example what happens when people attempt to implement God’s “truth” without doing so through the lens of his “way”.

In John 8, a group of religious leaders bring a woman caught in adultery and interrupt Jesus right in the middle of his teaching.  They wanted to test him by asking what his verdict about her would be and whether it would conflict with what the scriptures (Bible) said should be done.

The Bible was very clear; she should be killed.  Her life should be ended and every person in that crowd would have been quite familiar with that judgment…including the woman on whom the judgment would ultimately fall.

That was “the truth”!

And why were the religious leaders testing Jesus on this?  Well, Jesus had been developing a bit of a reputation.  Word was getting around of his bringing too much love, mercy, and forgiveness to people…and not just to pious folk, but to sinners.  (Nothing makes religious people angrier than too much love and mercy)

The “Way” of Jesus was cutting across what the Pharisees believe to be God’s “Truth”

(Jesus was getting to be known in the region as being one of those crazy “grace” preachers!)

So they round up a “sinner” who the Bible says should receive death and they say,

“In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

The Bible says this Jesus…what do you say?  What does your “Way” say?

Jesus, after stooping down and writing some undefined words on the ground, counters with, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  Dejected, one by one the group leaves until Jesus is left alone with the woman.

Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

 “No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you, “Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

The religious “truth” said one thing… the Jesus “way” said another!

The religious “truth” said she should be killed, the Jesus “way” says she should be forgiven.

The religious “truth” treated her as a convict, the Jesus “way” treated her as a daughter.

Jesus refuses to condemn her, and as any loving father would do, encourages her to leave a life that is already bringing misery and death to her.

Jesus demonstrates to the religious leaders what real truth looks like.

And what is the result of the Jesus “truth” shaped by the Jesus “way”?

It’s Life!  A living breathing woman who has been given a new lease on life after an encounter with the living God.  She’s had her feet replanted on solid ground through “the way” of mercy and forgiveness.

The religious “truth” of the Pharisees would have just left a bloody, dead corpse!

In Christianity today we have left to many people battered, bruised, and bloody with stones of “religious truth”.  It’s time to put away our stones and embrace “the Way” again!

Jesus does bring truth!  He promises it!  Follow in his footsteps and it will lead to life both for you and those you love.

Steve

http://www.stevehackman.net

Cornel

———

INHERITANCE & MATURITY

“His divine power has given us EVERYTHING we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” -  2 Peter 1:3

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” – Ephesians 1:3

“Eagerly pursue love and earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” – 1 Corinthians 13

Okay, so let’s break this down.

What did God’s divine power give us?

EVERYTHING.

How many spiritual blessings did the Father bless us with?

ALL.

Okay, so you don’t NEED an impartation of someone’s anointing (whatever that is) before you receive the gifts of healing or a gift of prophecy or deliverance.

They’re Holy Spirit’s gifts and as we saw earlier, Holy Spirit poured Himself out in you in fullness.

He didn’t come in quarts or portions.

He.

Gave.

It.

All.

Okay, so if  we have the fullness, then how do we see more of it manifest?

I’m glad you asked.

Go back to 1 Corinthians 14:1 for a sec.

“Eagerly pursue love and earnestly desire spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.” – 1 Corinthians 13

Notice how it says to eagerly PURSUE love and to earnestly DESIRE spiritual gifts.

The Charismatic church’s approach to the gifts has mostly been seen at two extremes.

“They happen but keep all your attention on God or these things will distract you from Him!!!”

OR

“Shiny Things?!? Let me collect the shiny things!?!” >:D

O.O Um, yeah….

These are both wrong.

“Seek His face, not His hand”/”Seek the Giver not the gifts” and “Gimme da Gold, I want to know where the Gold’s at” (Look up Leprechaun Sighting In Mobile Alamba on YouTube to get the second reference ) are both incorrect reflections of the Father’s heart towards the gifts.

I believe the correct way to view the gifts in the context of relationship.

Pursue Love – spend time with Jesus and get to know what Love is like, receive Love, and manifest Love as you behold His beauty.

Earnestly Desire Gifts – you are free to be a little kid in your Dad’s candy shop.

If you want to see the dead raised, go try it out.

If you want to learn to walk in signs and wonders, go on dates with Holy Spirit and be aware that He might want to love on people.

What I don’t suggest you do, is allow your desire for these gifts to blind you to the fact that your Father wants to meet your desire to flow in them.

I know a lot of people (most of them well-meaning) who have gotten mad at other believers because they weren’t out praying for the sick or prophesying over people. If we are hanging out with Jesus, eventually He will bring us to a point where we want to do these things.

The worst thing you can do is to give in to the pressure of performance or rigid obedience.

Learn to enjoy life with God outside of a ministry context and then watch as He begins to flow through you to touch others.

Desire these gifts because they are manifestations of your Lover’s power, because you want to experience all of Him.

Check out this cool quote that I think really brings this home.

“One day, the Lord asked me: “Son, why do you want to fly?” I told Him that I wanted it because it will bring in the harvest. ‘If I levitate on the streets, people will get saved by the droves,’ I said. I also told Him that I wanted it because it would give Him glory. Then I paused for a moment and answered again… “I want it because it would be fun.” At this, the Lord told me, “That was your purest answer.” - John Crowder

JESUS – THE SECRET WISDOM OF GOD

“I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, 26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. 29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.” – Colossians 1:26-29

“For my concern is that their hearts may be braced (comforted, cheered, and encouraged) as they are knit together in love, that they may come to have all the abounding wealth and blessings of assured conviction of understanding, and that they may become progressively more intimately acquainted with and may know more definitely and accurately and thoroughly that mystic secret of God, which is Christ the Anointed One. In Him (Jesus Christ) all the treasures of divine wisdom (comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God) and all the riches of spiritual knowledge and enlightenment are stored up and lie hidden.” – Colossians 2:2-3 [AMP]

“Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the POWER of God and the WISDOM of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” – 1 Corinthians 1:20-25

Dang.

Say wuuuuuuuuuuuuuut?

Every secret of God’s wisdom, is wrapped up in the Person of Jesus!

If we really want to understand the secrets of the Universe, we shouldn’t be trying to ascend to portals  or build galaxies apart from hanging out with Him.

If we want our minds renewed, then we have to be hanging out with the Man who is Truth.

Jesus IS WISDOM. Jesus IS POWER.

Knowing Him in relational intimacy and receiving revelation on who He is IN you, opens the door to the things the Father has laid hidden in Creation.

It is given to the Son to reveal the deep things of God to His brothers.

Let me give you an example.

A while back, I decided that since Jesus is the One to whom the Scriptures point (See Jn 5:39) and He opened the minds of the disciples to understand the Scriptures (Lk 24:45) after His resurrection, that I didn’t want to read the Bible until He led me to it.

Honestly, the Bible is just a paperweight without Holy Spirit.

So, after I made the decision to just chill with Jesus and get to know Him as a Person and only read the Bible when He led to me to do so, I found that I read the Bible ALOT more than I did when I would try to read it out of striving.

My day goes like this, I could be chilling and hanging out with Him, and all of a sudden He says something to me that blows my mind, then brings some verses to remembrance, and before I know it I’ve spent 2 or 3 hours in the Scriptures.

Hang out with the Author and He’ll teach you about His book.

Hang out with the Creator and He’ll teach you to work creative miracles.

Let Him lead you from glory to glory, from victory to victory.

Which leads me to my next point…

LETTING THE KING OF GLORY TAKE YOU INTO ENCOUNTERS

 “And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, He took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray. And as He prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistering. And, behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias: Who appeared in glory, and spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem.

32 But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep: and when they were awake,they saw His glory, and the two men that stood with Him. And it came to pass, as they departed from Him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias: not knowing what he said.

34 While he thus spake, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud.

35 And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son: hear Him.”

36 And when the voice was past, Jesus was found alone. And they kept it close, and told no man in those days any of those things which they had seen.” – Luke 9:28-36

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched–this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”  - 1 John 1:1

“For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” – 1 Corinthians 2:4

The entire New Testament is about the early Christians’ experience of this man called Jesus.

They were an infant church that was seeing angelic encounters, miraculous healing, signs and wonders, and extreme breakthrough in evangelism, yet the majority of their writing was about this Jesus of Nazareth.

2,000 years later, things have reversed.

In many Charismatic circles, Jesus has become a footnote to ‘ the glory’ or ‘power’ or ‘encounters’.

Who He is and what He did has been relegated into an ‘elementary teaching’ that we need to get in under our belt until we get the good stuff.

Well, let me just say something.

Jesus. Is. God’s Glory.

Revelation doesn’t get much deeper than the Son of God.

He wants to reveal the Kingdom to the child-like whose eyes are fixed on Him.

We can try to climb into it on our own, but trust me, what we will experience won’t even make a dent on what He wants to show us for free.

In the Miracle of the Transfiguration, the disciples were just hanging out with Jesus and He led them into an intense encounter.

 Here are some things that happened.

-          They saw His glory

-          Two members of the Cloud of Witnesses showed up

-          The Glory Cloud/Manifest Presence of God appeared

-          The disciples were gripped in terror of God’s goodness and glory (Experiencing the Fear of the Lord)

How did this happen?

Were Peter, James, and John fasting and praying to see these things?

Were they reading a book on how to step into Third Heaven encounters?

Did they attend a seminar on becoming mature sons of God?

Did they battle the principality guarding the Spirit Realm?

Did they receive an impartation from the 11.76th Living Creature (The 11th Living Creature’s cousin from a parallel glory portal)?

No.

No.

No.

The answer to all these questions is no.

So how did they tap into these experiences?

They hung out with Jesus.

Simple as that.

So what does that look like for us?

Here are some box-breaking examples.

My little bro Tom has Jesus, angels, and members of the Cloud of Witnesses show up to him on a regular basis, but he doesn’t talk about most of his experiences and when he does, it’s simply a to point to the fact that all he does is spend time with Daddy God and Jesus leads him into encounters.

- I gave my life to Jesus after encountering Him in a vision.

- I have encountered members of the Cloud of Witnesses in my own life – I got jacked up in the Spirit after the Virgin Mary showed up to me in a vision and kissed me on the cheek.

- A woman in Africa who didn’t know I was the first black baby born in Padre Pio’s hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy saw a ‘white skinned friar with a long beard and a brown robe’ following me around.

- I was at a Catholic youth retreat and a woman I didn’t even know saw Martin de Porres walking besides me and laying hands on the people I was praying for (I looked him up after and was shocked to find out who he was).

I definitely believe all of this stuff is supposed to be normal, but it all comes from hanging out with Jesus.

I’ll leave you with this quote from my big bro Omar.

“Some things DON’T look like Christ. I’m personally DONE with all the stories… I need to see the manifestation of God’s Power, not man’s imagination.

When I would do meetings and angels would show up… Things happened.. People were cured of stage 4 cancer etc…

It wasn’t HYPE! When the birthday angel showed up… I knew EVERYONE’S Birthday in the room… Over 200-500 people.

But you know what?

Little dude, let me tell you this. When you take one look at His face, when you take one look into His eyes, you realize that no miracle matters as much as you thought it did. You realize how played out and how hyped up this whole ‘revival’ thing is.

The greatest sign and wonder, in my opinion, was the Transfiguration, when the disciples saw Jesus for who He was, in all His glory and all His beauty. That’s what I live for. That’s what gets me jacked up. That’s what keeps me going.”

Joel Marius

Cornel

———-

Holy Spirit has been blowing my mind these past couple months.

I have been in a place of hanging out with Jesus, enjoying Holy Trinity’s company, and watching as Heaven comes out to play all around me.

Revelation has been piling up as I sit on Dad’s lap and let Him teach me who and Whose I am.

I have been learning that I don’t have to strive to be spiritual or pump myself up to be supernatural – by what Jesus did on the Cross, my very EXISTENCE HAS BECOME SUPERNATURAL.

As I learn to rest in the reality that an Open Heaven is where I’m seated, as I soak in the fact that I will forever be enjoying what He’s accomplished, I watch as prophetic encounters and creative miracles have been increasing.

Due to some of the testimonies I have posted, I have had more than a few people contact me, asking me how they too can begin to see healings and prophetic encounters in their own lives.

Every time, this question has come my way, I have felt like Holy Spirit has been really insisting that I not give them formulas and methods but point them towards the simple practice of His presence, the understanding that there is no longer any separation between them and the Father of Creation.

I am seeing others begin to step into power and freedom by simply spending time with the Man who is Truth.

As I see the fruit Holy Spirit is producing in my life, my ears are being ruined to anything contrary of the Gospel.

I have been finding that I can’t listen to sermons that I used to listen to.

Teachers that I once received a lot from, don’t seem to be ministering to me in the same way anymore.

I have found that Holy Spirit has not been allowing me to listen to anything (even things on topics that are close to my heart like healing) that is not rooted in the simplicity of relationship with Him.

The more I stay in this place, the more grieved I am about things that I am seeing going on in the Charismatic church.

Many teachings on the Spirit Realm/Glory Realm, the Prophetic, or Heaven encounters are steeped in hyperspiritualism and spookiness.

I have no doubt that some of these experiences are genuine, but I have seen many of the teachers who have them provide crazy formulas and methods to others who want to step into these experiences.

It breaks my heart when I see people whose deepest longing is to have a face to face encounter with Jesus reading book after book, and attending seminar after seminar, receiving impartation after impartation, trying to meet with the One they love.

I have begun to notice some scary patterns in the lives of these believers.

Whenever you challenge what they’re doing to try to earn what God has freely given them, the replies typically go like this.

‘Brother, your mind hasn’t been renewed yet. The carnal mind can’t understand the things of the Spirit.’

‘Brother, yes we’re Sons, but we need to mature and fight for our inheritance, by casting down the Giants in the way of the Promised Land.’

‘Yes, brother, we have the fullness of God, but we need to press into it.”

“The Cross and the Father’s love are wonderful, but now we need to move from the milk to the meat, from the elementary to the deeper revelation.” (No joke, I’ve heard people say this)

Okay, let me make something clear, there is definitely truth to the first three statements.

I would agree that there is a process of growth and renewing the mind to grow up into the Person of Christ.

I would agree that there may be some challenges we face along the way to maturing in Sonship.

However, what I don’t agree with – More accurately, what I reject – is the belief that this process is meant to be a grueling war where we pop a hernia to access our inheritance.

I’m pretty sure Jesus finished the job.

I’m pretty convinced we don’t need to help Him.

We don’t need to add to what He’s done.

I will agree that there is a growing into what He’s accomplished and a realization accompanied by an active and fruitful faith – no doubt about that.

But, I am seeing too many people trading the revelation of what Jesus has done for revelation that sounds ‘spiritual’.

This is Gnosticism at its core, the ancient system of belief that says secret knowledge saves you.

JESUS SAVED YOU.

Encounter Him.

Get to know Him in everyday life.

If you can’t have a face to face encounter with Jesus while looking into the eyes of your spouse, is it really a good idea to go after an encounter with the physical Jesus?

How much will it profit you to spend nine days in Heaven drinking nectar and ambrosia from the udder of the 11th living creature if you can’t even love your neighbor across the street?”

Let me take you through some Scripture to show you what I’m getting at.

DECEPTION AWAY FROM SIMPLICITY

“But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” – 2 Corinthians 11:3-4

Let’s take a quick look at the Genesis passage.

“Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” – Genesis 3:4-6

Woah.

So check this out, Eve was ALREADY like God, having been made in His image, but when she fell under the lie that God was holding out on her, she stopped trusting in Him (lost faith) and did something in her own power to try to get what God had.

“…whatever is not of faith is sin.” – Romans 14:23

Okay, let’s move on…

HYPERSPIRITUALISM

“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.”  – Colossians 2:18

“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.”  – Colossians 2:18

Okay, so in the Body today, there are quite a few teachers (I won’t mention any names) who are constantly sharing dreams and visions that they’ve had or emphasizing their encounters in the Glory Realm/Seer Realm/Heaven.

Now, do I believe in encounters?

Absolutely.

Do I believe they should be a normal, regular occurrence in a believer’s life?

Yep. Yeppity. Yepperson. (You can laugh! )

Are we free to share them?

Affirmative.

Do I think they should be the focus of our ministry?

NO.

For one thing, sharing these things without a solid revelation of the pure Gospel can lead people to begin to build an idol around your ministry.

People can begin to think they’re not spiritual if they’re not having them.

Now, I want to pause here for a second.

My friend Omar walks with Jesus and has face to face encounters with Him all the time.

One time I asked Him if I could have one and Omar laughed.

“It’s all about your mindset, little dude. Of course you can! Do you believe it?”

When He proceeded to tell me how these encounters happened for him, I was shocked at how simple it was.

He didn’t do anything special.

He just believed he could see Jesus in the flesh whenever he wanted, that it was part of his inheritance as a Son, started expecting it to happen from a place of rest, and after a while of him renewing his mind, Omar began to encounter Jesus face to face all the time.

No steps.

No formulas.

Just relationship with the revelation of a veil having been completely torn.

Put that in your glory goblet and drink it!

To be continued…

Joel Marius

Enjoy!

Cornel

————————–

Christianity is a weird and awkward thing. The more I love Jesus and see who He really is the more I realize I want absolutely nothing to do with religion.

“Religion” literally means, “to bind or tie.”

I have returned to bondage over and over again in my life. I have listened to the voice, and I have parroted the voice that says:

You are not doing enough.

You need to read (and translate and study and apply) the bible more to your life. You need to pray. You need to avoid sin. You need to give God more of your life.

It sounded like good advice at the time. I used to preach that advice, believe it, try to live up to it, but now the grace of God has revealed it for what it is: disgusting.

It adds links, one by one, to the heavy rusted chain around your neck, choking all life out.

When you grow up in the mindset that these things, listed above, are necessary to be “in”— to be loved, to be worthy to gain an eternal reward— it is hard to be released from those sort of shackles.

It feels safe inside the bondage of religion. It feels easier to try to be under the law and attempt to gain some sort of right-ness with God by the petty little things you do, but it is just worthless.

So worthless.

Then, to complicate things even more, there is, “THE WILL OF GOD.”

(Now, I cringe at that phrase, thinking how many lives have been ruined by attaching that label to a selfish, evil, or just lame decisions and events.)

As if it were not enough to try to avoid sin and “get closer” to God, I believed if I wasn’t close enough I wouldn’t be able to hear His voice and understand what he wants me to do with my life. Oh the pressure.

So I fasted, cried, read more books, sought consul from “more mature” Christians, prayed, and screamed:

“God just tell me what to do!!”

I lived in fear that I’d marry the wrong person, have the wrong job, move to the wrong country, miss out completely on God’s “perfect will” and waste my short life, ending on my death bed with regret.

(All these thoughts were religious, returning me to bondage.)

The great irony is,

The will of God is simply that I live in freedom, in love, in Him.

It was never hidden until I was “good enough” to see, it was always right there for me to see, my eyes were just closed.

I am so grateful for a God that rescues.

He wouldn’t let me stay in my chains playing with my filthy rags.  He gently led me to a place where I realized I had nothing.

I saw my neediness. I saw my failure. My own stinking humanity.

I saw the worthless and futility of it all.

I came to see I can’t do a thing, and that’s the point.

“Then who can be saved?”

“With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible. “

This is the Good News.

There is no fear in that. There is no pressure. There is no condemnation. There is no “getting it wrong.”

As I my eyes have been opened to what is behind the veil that has been torn,

I see all things have already been done, all things are already mine, and it changeseverything.

I don’t need to ask God what His will is, it’s right there! For me to start believing all that I have in Him.

Yet at times I still choose not to believe, to allow emotions and confusion to take place of the reality of His life in me. When I can’t see where I am going, when I don’t know where I am going to live or what I am going to do or how I am going to make it, I go back to my old cry, “God just tell me what to DO!!”

And then, I hear it, a  whisper:

“Here’s what to do- let me love you. Believe you already have everything in me.

 That is my will.”

Brooke Gale

—

Brooke Gale Luby is a freelance writer, poet and lover of Thai food. She has a poetry book called All Things Are Becoming New and a blog with the same name. www.brookegale.com

Cornel

———

Almost four years ago, on the eve of a huge family move to Dubai, I sat across from the doctor and asked, “How long have I got?”

The question that you pray you will never have to ask, especially not at 36 years of age. Aggressive cancer had come to crouch at our door.

But I don’t want to talk about that. Cancer has taken enough of my time. I want to tell you about the Hero of my story. The One who rescued me physically, emotionally and spiritually. The One who changed me so completely that I dance with joy whenever I think about it – yes really – I DANCE!

It was in the desert that I discovered the goodness of God in a way I’d never dreamed. It was in the desert that I realised that His love for me is too great to contain. It was in the desert that I learned to break free from “duty” and instead respond to His amazing love. I used to think it was all about me – me being a dutiful daughter, me showing God how much I loved Him. I never dared to stop and listen – really listen – to what He had to say about me. I still find it hard to believe the way He loves me so completely, so individually, so unwaveringly. It makes me want to cry. Now my love for Him simply explodes out of me – it is simply a response to His love. I dance on the grave of duty. I dance on the grave of good and faithful Leanne. I dance because it really is not about me – it is all about Him. He set me free and I am free indeed!

And so on this 40^th birthday I celebrate with all my might. Each new year is a kick in the face of the enemy who came to rob, steal and destroy. I am alive and abundantly alive – my Hero came and rescued me. Oh how I love Him!!

Afterword – February 2011

So here I sit almost 3 and a half years after my diagnosis. I’m not the same person who began this journey. Some of the deepest, most profound changes have taken place inside of me. I wear different glasses now, so I see the world in an entirely new way. And I give cancer not one ounce of credit for the peace and joy that run over from my heart and soul.

Okay, so now I am going to introduce you to my old, twisted way of thinking. My heart weeps when I think of it! I believed that God healed – sometimes. But more often than not He chose to allow sickness and affliction to make us better people. For our own good! I didn’t understand what the Bible actually said. I didn’t understand that Jesus himself said, “I come to give life, and life abundantly!” He also said, “The thief (Satan) comes only to kill, steal and destroy.” Life from Jesus; death and destruction from Satan. LIFE from Jesus – ABUNDANT life!!!

Jesus healed everyone who came to Him – EVERYONE. He never said to some, “No, you need to stay sick until you have learnt a few more lessons. Don’t worry it is for your own good. You’ll thank me for this later.” As Christians we pray for people and when they are not healed we create doctrines to explain our experiences – doctrines that do not come from the heart of God. I believe what the Bible says is true, Jesus came to set us free! He came to save, heal and deliver – and then he told us to go and do the same.

Did I tell you how ashamed I felt during my illness? I felt like God had taken me into the middle of a large hall and bent me over His knee to give me the spanking of my life in front of a large audience. Everyone watched while He disciplined me – they all begged him for mercy – but he knew better – it was for my own good – I’d be so beautiful by the time he finished with me! Aaahhh! I get so cross when I think about the lies I have believed! No! I will never believe them again.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying God can’t use the worst things in life and make something beautiful out of them. He most certainly can and he most certainly does! As Bill Johnson says, “He can win with a pair of twos.” That’s how amazing he is! He takes the very worst that enemy can throw at us and turns it into something exquisitely beautiful.

But we have to learn where sickness and bondage and disease come from. We have to know the truth so we can RESIST! The Bible says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” He has to, because Jesus beat him on the cross. Jesus won the battle and then said to us – my victory is your victory. I give ALL authority to you, over heaven and earth. I’ve learnt two very important words; YES and NO. I’ve learnt to say, “No!” when the devil comes to me with his lies. And everyday I choose to say, “Yes!” to all that Jesus did for me on the cross.

I remember God showing me myself in a boxing ring. The devil was pounding on me like you couldn’t believe. I kept begging God to help me but it felt like he had turned his face away. The devil beat me and kicked me till my blood covered the floor and all I could do was whisper, “Help, help.” Then suddenly I felt God tell me to look behind me. “Everything you need to defeat this enemy, I have already given you.” And there, spread out on this table I’d never noticed before, stood the most amazing array of weapons I’d ever seen! “Pick them up, Leanne and start fighting!” Oooh yes!! That is what I intend to do till I take my last breath – I’m going to learn to use everyone of those lethal weapons God gave to me through Jesus’ death on the cross and I’m going to blast that wretched, lying enemy to where he belongs!!!

To all of you fighting disease, in any shape or form – God did not do this to you! He is not allowing it for your punishment or benefit. He loves you! He wants you whole and well and just like you would never cut off your child’s hand to teach him a lesson, God would never inflict illness on you in the guise of “parenting”. He weeps with you – I weep with you. The enemy is evil and he knows no bounds. He kicks us when we are down. A little blood is never enough for him – he goes for the jugular. Jesus wept for Lazarus even though he knew he would raise him from the dead. He weeps with us – and at the same time he teaches us how to take up the weapons he earned for us on the cross and fight – not only for ourselves, but for all humanity! Let’s bring the LIGHT of God wherever we go and force the darkness to retreat. [Isaiah 60:1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.] The glory of God is his goodness. When he shows you his glory he shows you his goodness. And he is AMAZING!!!

Here is my prayer for you:

Father God, thank you for Jesus and for the finished work on the cross. Thank you that your name is above every name, above every disease and disorder. Thank you that the victory is yours and that the darkness has been defeated. Thank you for the authority you’ve given us in Jesus. Thank you for your love, goodness and kindness, which never ends! I speak healing and wholeness into every broken body reading this, in Jesus name. I release the healing power of Jesus to come and save, restore and redeem! Let YOUR will be done – let YOUR kingdom be released! Let your Light shine forth and let your Love make whole. In the wonderfully precious name of Jesus, our Saviour and King – amen.

Leanne Laing

Cornel

——————–

Have you ever felt like your prayers are not being heard? You pray for peace, healing, or financial provision, but it seems like nothing happens. You press in deep with fasting, dedication and devotion, but still, the response is painful silence. You start to question, “Why should God answer my prayers?”

That’s actually a really good question. Why should God answer your prayers?

Think about it for a moment. Stop reading this message, get a piece of paper and write down why you think God should answer your prayers.

Do any of these sound familiar:

• I prayed for a long time.
• I fasted when I prayed.
• I have been very devoted this week.
• I really meant it when I prayed.
• I repented of all my sins.
• I ended my prayer with “in Jesus’ name”.
• I’ve done lots of good things this week.

While these sound good and important on the surface, these are not reasons why God should hear answer our prayers.

Prayers don’t move God

That sounds wrong, doesn’t it? We’ve been taught to press in, intercede and “move heaven” with our prayers, but I don’t believe it’s scriptural.I don’t believe we can move God with our prayers, because God already moved on our behalf 2,000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross. Everything that we can ask for today was provided through Christ: salvation, healing (physical and emotional), freedom, provision, and deliverance.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3, emphasis mine).

We should pray that God will open our eyes and renew our minds to what we already have in Christ.

You will never be good enough

Often when we pray, we feel like our prayers are heard more when we’re doing good and less when we’re doing bad. When we sin, we rarely go to God in prayer thinking that our mistakes will hinder our prayers. We believe that our good works please God and that our sin displeases God.

There’s only one thing that pleases God: faith. Believing pleases God.

“Without faith (believing) it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

So, what do we need to believe? We must believe that…

Only Christ is good enough

No matter how hard we try, we cannot be good enough.

“There is none who does good, no, not one” (Romans 3:12).

That is why God sent his Son into the earth. Jesus was the perfect, sinless sacrifice (Hebrews 7:26). Through his life on the earth, he fulfilled all requirements of the Law (Romans 8:3-4).

Only Christ is good enough.

In Christ, God hears our prayers

When we receive Christ into our hearts, we immediately receive his righteousness, his goodness. God takes our sin and replaces it with the righteousness of Christ. Here’s how 2 Corinthians 5:21describes it:

“For [God] made [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

In Christ, God only sees our goodness. That is why we should pray for God to renew our minds and transform us from the inside out (identity) not from the outside in (actions).

For God to hear and answer your prayers, remember these two things:

1. Put your faith in Christ. Start by making that heavenly exchange (replacing your sin with Christ’s righteousness).
2. When you pray, do not trust in your ability to do good. Trust only in Christ’s goodness.

In my own life, I have seen an incredible transformation from fear to peace. It did not come through great Bible studies, long periods of fasting or doing good in my life. It came from putting all my faith and trust in the goodness of Christ.

Prayer: Father, open my eyes to this truth that answered prayer comes through the goodness of Christ. Help me see that I am righteous in Christ.

Russ Pond

Seasons Of Peace

Cornel

————–

“Dear God, I acknowledge that I am a sinner, and that I have been controlling my life. I thank you for sending your son Jesus to die for my sins. I now ask Jesus to come into my heart and be the Lord of my life. I receive eternal life right now, in Jesus name. Amen”.

Until you say this prayer, you are not saved, that is, you will go to hell when you die! Really?!

I  was born into a Presbyterian family, with my Mum being an elder in our local church. Every Sunday, I will sing songs about Jesus in Sunday school, amongst them “Jesus loves me, this I know”. When I graduated from there to the main church, the ordained Pastor always shared from the Bible; we recited the “Apostles’ creed” and  carried out other religious activities. I knew when I died I would go to heaven, or at least my Pastor, parents, and other good people would go to heaven because of their commitment to the church. I had this confidence until I got born again. Yes, until I was led to pray the salvation prayer.

I later moved out of the Presbyterian church and joined a charismatic church, and realised that everybody in a non-charismatic church was unsaved because no alter calls or salvation prayers were made in these churches. What was supposed to have brought me joy left me depressed. Imagine me realising that almost all of my entire family were actually unsaved. I could see the millions of  non-charismatic Christians in my country going to hell. Was God that stern? Of course, (as I was made to understand) it is written clearly in the Bible:

 “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” Romans 10: 9-10 (NKJV)

“You see, you must speak it” the Pastor and leaders of my new church told me. Though I was naïve, one question kept troubling me: “What about the deaf and dumb?” I now realised God was not only stern, but He was cruel. How can He blame them for not “confessing”? What about the Christians who had died without knowledge of a prayer which is not even in the Bible? And the “Apostle’s creed”? At least it should have saved them, right? I asked my Pastor about these things, and he answered : “The Apostle’s creed is not the salvation prayer and will never save anybody and  if you find a deaf and dumb,  heal him and then ask him to pray the salvation prayer”.

Why is the salvation prayer so popular in the charismatic communities? Maybe I need to learn more on this, but are we not creating another religious ritual? Will a loving Father, after sending the Son to redeem us, not receive us because we failed to say a standard prayer? I don’t think so.

One of the most quoted verse in the Bible is John 3:16

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”  (NKJV)

What is the requirement for everlasting life here? Believe! John 3:17-18 throws more light on this and John the Baptists also affirms this in John 3:36.

Here are some other verses in which Jesus gives us more assurance:

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24 (KJV)

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” John 6:47 (KJV)

Isn’t that just amazing? And did you notice the double emphasis from the One who never lies? Verily, verily.

Now, let’s look at what the Apostles have to say about this. Apostle Peter, on that famous day of Pentecost said this

“And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved” Acts 2:21 (NKJV)

Is the above verse straight forward? It is to me. I believe if the salvation prayer must be uttered by the lips, it can be summarised to one word – JESUS, or in Hebrew, YESHUA!

^“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 (NKJV)

A loving Father summarised what is needed for salvation and placed it in the name of Jesus. My Google knowledge of Hebrew helped me to understand that Yeshua, which is Jesus in Hebrew, means “The Lord my salvation”. So, each time we say “Jesus” with a believing heart, we are actually confessing Him as Lord by saying “Lord, You are my salvation”.

Please, I am in no way disputing the importance of the salvation prayer, but it is the motive behind it that I am against. I believe by saying these words, the new convert hearing and repeating it understands the glorious life he has been called into. The wrong motive will be using it as a formula to be accepted by God – less you start wondering if you said the prayer correctly. He saw your heart long before you prayed it.

To conclude, here is one of my personal favourites. The same question which people ask today; which churches have a disagreement on was also asked by a jailor in the Bible, and he got this awesome response.

And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Acts 16:30-31 (NKJV)

Did you all see the heart of God in this? I have known this scripture before, but as I was typing this, He just opened my eyes to see it in a broader sense. Notice the jailor’s question:

“What must I (i.e. me, myself and moi) do to be saved?” Selfish question? Aren’t we all guilty of that? But listen to the heart of God. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your HOUSEHOLD”. Is it just me, or is there really no other requirement to get our household saved than us just believing?  God so wants to embrace us that the least opportunity we give Him to give to us, He goes beyond our request. I don’t know about you, but when it comes to the salvation of my family, it is that area of my life that I do not even bother to fight from victory. Why? It’s a done deal. He said they are saved because I (me, moi) believe in Jesus Christ. Yes, I still share about Jesus to those who are ……….. (now, I don’t know the word to put there), but I do not lose sleep because of that. Am I saved? Yes. Is my family saved? Yes. But X says he is an atheist, and Y says she is a muslim. How do you explain that? Go ask my Father!

Grace and Peace.

Mel Asanghanwa