Chapter 1
Crisis: We don’t have enough
*What is crisis? Merriam Webster would tell us that it is “A decisive or critical moment.” I would be willing to say that crisis might not be a moment. Our whole lives are crises. What I find true in most cases is that our mindsets are one to make a crisis only a moment. I say this to our own shame. From the title of this chapter, I’m sure that I have made a few questions arise.
*Why would we need more crises in our lives? The simple answer would be that we find in our crises a time that makes or breaks us. We will either have a shout of glory, or we will flow down the mountainside into eternal turmoil. Yet, I don’t want to be simple. There are always the difficult times, but am I wrong for asking what God’s heart is toward crisis?
*My biggest question is the one of what is the Gospel? For so many years it has been taught that the Gospel is simply man has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, our sin separates us from God, and therefore we are without hope and in utter destitution and damnation in our own strength. Yet, God has made a way for us to restore that relation with Him through the cross of Jesus Christ, and if we’re willing to repent (usually omitted for another word like “decide”) then Jesus Christ will wash away all our sin and we will be forgiven.
*Am I wrong in thinking that this is a poor example of the Gospel? We have limited God to words and dogmatic. If we don’t use the right phraseology, terminology, and theology, then there is “something wrong with our gospel.” What is it? Why does it have to be words? Why is the Gospel something that you say? To read the words of Jesus Christ, it seems so much more likely that the Gospel is in the way we live.
*He hasn’t called us to witness; He has called us to be witnesses. Yet we want to make it into a formula. That is our first mistake. After making the Gospel into a formula, we then must proclaim it. That is our second mistake. We spend so much time wanting to do when God’s intent is for us to be. God has decided that making us into His image, and therefore making us into witnesses, is His constitutive act.
*Does that mean that God wants to make us suffer in order that we would be holy as He is holy? Yes. It is God’s pleasure to conform us into His image. This usually means a suffering. In a sense, repentance itself is a suffering. It is a denial of self, and anything that goes against self-preservation is suffering.
*When I look at the global outreach mission, and the evangelical Church today, I see that we have beat our breasts, plowed our fields, witnessed to our cities, and “proclaimed” the Gospel to every living creature, but to no avail. Is all of our hard work and dedication in vain? Why would God allow such a thing? When we have so many promises in the Bible to cling to, why does it seem as though God is silent? Is God choosing not to answer? Does God have a choice to answer when we pray according to His word? Is He bound to His word?
*I have so many questions. The way that most Christians speak about God and Scripture today only promotes ten thousand times ten thousand more questions. There is a contradiction. If God is bound by His word and promises, then why don’t we see God moving more today? Are there not people praying for revival? Are there not people repenting? Are there not congregations hungry for God?
*It all boils down to this one answer that I believe the Holy Spirit has birthed in me… We don’t have enough crises. What I do not mean is that we need to always be battling and struggling. I do not mean that we ought to always feel down and defeated. I do not mean that we need to be drug through the mud and absolutely destitute of any hope. It isn’t that we need to be crushed. We need a right understanding.
*The crisis doesn’t come from our “testing.” It comes from a right understanding of Scripture. The Gospel is something that is lived out. We are to be living epistles. Our friends should be able to look into our lives and have to admit that they “find no fault,” as the people surrounding Daniel had to admit. I have no clue where I can even start with such a difficult task.
*Who is sufficient for these things? Even in this writing, I am feeling my way through to where God would have me to speak. I guess the first thing that seems to come to mind is that we lack a view of the whole picture. Maybe part of this is that we read strictly New Testaments. I can’t begin to describe the difficultly I have in spirit when I see people walking around with New Testaments. Of course there are also Psalms and Proverbs, but they still lack the whole thing.
*I wonder sometimes if people think that Christianity is a Gentile religion. Do we think that we can have the New Testament without the Old? Why do we call them New and Old? They are new and old covenants, but to separate the Word of God and call one thing new and the other old is detrimental to the faith. It is all one Word. It starts with “In the beginning,” and ends with, “The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, amen.”
*The Apostles didn’t have a New Testament. All their insight and revelation came from the Old Testament. This really isn’t anything profound. Yet, we see that our Christianity today is mostly New Testament, Greek, partial, and uncircumcised. Why is it that even to raise these statements is something altogether obscure? Why is it that for me to say such things is something that is quickly ignored?
*We don’t understand the Bible. Some people then take that and say, “Amen! It is those darn Pentecostals, or Lutherans, or Baptists, or anything other than me.” I make a statement like, “Christianity today is mostly New Testament and Greek,” and people just stare. They have no comprehension of the severity of this statement.
*Heed my word, if we do not get back to a Hebrew understanding of the Scripture in its entirety, then we will only be left as a Gentile Sunday phenomenon that parades around, claps its hand, puts on a happy face, enjoys the buffets, says, “Bless you brother,” has a sentiment and compassion, but altogether lacks the presence, power, and character of God. I have just described to you the majority of “churches” in America.
*Because you did not heed the words of Jesus, the Apostles, and the Prophets, but instead left it open for your own interpretation, you have been left naked. What is even more grievous is that you can’t even see your blindness, nakedness, wretchedness, and poverty. You continue to parade around and dance and promote this event and that service. God is far from you.
*We lack the character of God, and therefore lack Him. There might be a handful of people here and there who are struggling or striving for God, but by and large, we are content where we are. Things seem to be “working.” Why do we need to change?
*How do you even answer such a question? And this is something that I have been asked. The very question itself is loaded. To ask this question, it exposes your heart. Why do we need to change? It is as if you have reached the prime of humanity. You are the best there has ever been. God should be bowing down to you because you figured out how to work the system in a way to grow your church.
*It’s a bogus question. To even postulate that we don’t need to change is to completely forsake God and say, “My way is better.” Yet, in the moment of crisis, your true colors are found. You are hostile, agitated, prideful, self-focused, arrogant, murderous, hateful, lustful, greed driven, and every other kind of evil. There is no purity in the so-called Church of Jesus Christ. Praise Him for His remnant.
*The goats go on about their lives with a contemporary Christian, nonchalant, neo-orthodox, Greek, philosophical, untrue, unreal “walk of faith.” The supposed shepherds (pastors) feed the goats. The sheep get nothing but hungrier. The goats swallow up all the “great food that is presented” on Sunday mornings, but the sheep starve for reality.
*I thank God for men such as Carter Conlon who has stated that his occupation is “goat-kicking and wolf-bashing.” He takes care of his sheep. He tends to them. I pray to God for more men and women like him.
*What is the crisis that is needed? I am not about to start saying that we need the economy to fail. It isn’t in our worldly things that will get us back to a right view of Scripture and of God. Though that is where God will hit us to try and break us of our idols, it is in His presence that we learn from Him. It is by His grace, and by trusting that He does speak through such unworthy vessels as this, that I wish to present one of the areas that are neglected.
*There is a term that I have heard used: the Theocratic Kingdom. Theo means God; critic means government. This is a term that isn’t used too often. It is used to describe the Kingdom of God. One of the flaws in our theology is that we don’t understand the Kingdom, as we ought.
*Most often, our presumption is that the Kingdom of God is within. We, as the Church, have the Holy Spirit in us. Therefore, the Kingdom of God is within us. Yet, this misses the correct understanding. It is a literal Kingdom. There is a literal King (God). There is a literal rule and reign. There is a literal place where this Kingdom exists.
*If the Kingdom of God is merely within, then where does God sit upon His throne? It sounds ludicrous, but this is my point exactly. Our ideologies are complete contradictions. We want to say that the Kingdom is within because then it puffs us up as being “more than human.” Now we get to have a bit of pride because we are the chosen ones. We are the men and women of God. People should bow down and worship before us because we have the Kingdom of God within us.
*We are no longer ambassadors; we are now the Kingdom itself. In such a presumption, we negate heaven and negate God Himself. In negating the Earth is His footstool, and Heaven is His throne, we must also negate the God who sits upon that throne. It is in our misconception of the Kingdom of God that we go from being children of God to making God like unto ourselves.
*Why is this a crucial issue? It is in our misconception of the Kingdom of God now that we misunderstand the Kingdom of God that is yet future. Lets turn to some Scripture.
*“It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, ‘Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways and we will walk in his paths’; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem,” Isaiah 2:2-3.
*The house of the Lord is the whole Body of Christ, both Jew and Gentile. It will be that the Church and Israel shall go to and fro through all the earth to teach of the ways of God, and they will be given authority and govern over cities. The nations will come to Jerusalem to give of sacrifices unto the Lord, and any nation that does not come shall be cut off from the face of the earth. It has been decreed in the word of God, and it must be done. God will fulfill even this prophecy of the law going forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
*This has been established in the wisdom and character of God. What is so special about Israel? What is so special about Zion? What is so special about Jerusalem? The Jews are the supreme humanists, and they refuse to believe what the Scriptures teach of the heart of man. They take the issue of depravity and call it a “Christian doctrine.” There is good in man, and of course the Jews are the best of all men.
*Zion is a hill, if even that. Yet, God has decreed that the Law shall go forth from this hill? What is the significance of this hill? It is merely a mound! What about Jerusalem? What is so important about that? It is destitute and without any outside protection. If anyone wants to take it captive, it wouldn’t be a difficult thing (especially with today’s technology).
*Why, then, has God chosen this? If God cannot be the God of the Jewish people, who are the supreme humanists and atheists, then what kind of a God is He? In choosing Zion, He shows forth His meekness. The point isn’t like all the other gods who need the tallest building with the most massive thrones and cathedrals and awe-inspiring architecture. God isn’t interested in the things man is interested in. He is God, and there is none beside Him. What will try to exalt itself against God, even if He is only on a small hill? The point is to be with His people.
*What about Jerusalem? Why would He pick this of all the cities? God has chosen Jerusalem for the same reason He has chosen Zion. It has nothing that would draw you to it. There is no beauty about it, humanly speaking, and it is in that commonness that we can see the beauty of God displayed. He is found in the places that are common. He is found in the places that lack majesty. He is in the places that would need His protection, or else they will not be protected.
*This is showing forth the wisdom and character of God. Even in His choosing of where to place His literal rule and reign, we see in full view the majesty of God. Yet, here is the real kicker: Jerusalem represents redeemed Israel, and Zion is the Church. Together, they are the Body of Christ, for they are both under the same Head. They work together, so that the word of God and the Law of God go forth from the Body, which is Jerusalem (the Jews) and Zion (the Church).
*We can see in Isaiah 9:6-7 that the Son was given so that the government shall be upon His shoulder, and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. His throne will be upon the throne of David, and it shall be established with justice and righteousness “from henceforth even unto forever.”
*Mary, the mother of Jesus, was told that she shall be found with child, and that she should name him Jesus, and that He shall be great; “and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father, David,” Luke 1:32. If you look at Psalm 2, you will see that God has the intent on establishing Jesus, who is Christ, upon the holy hill of Zion, giving Him the nations, and giving Him the uttermost parts of the earth. He shall “break them with a rod of iron; dash them in pieces with a potter’s vessel.”
*The Kingdom of God is predicated upon Christ Jesus being seated upon the throne of His Father, and having absolute rule and reign over all creation. To proclaim the Kingdom of God is to proclaim to the world of His rule. The Messiah has come, and by His coming, He has established the Kingdom of God upon the earth.
*“God, who made the world and all things in it, seeing that he is the Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands, neither is worshiped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he gives to all life, and breath, and all things; and has made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation, that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might feel after him, and find him, though he is not far from every one of us; for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’ Forasmuch, then, as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like gold, or silver, or stone, carved by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained; concerning which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead,” Acts 17:24-31.
*Paul does a marvelous job in presenting the whole picture. He didn’t even quote Scripture, although he quoted some poets. I must stop to marvel at how there would be many people offended if some one got in the pulpit of God and didn’t even read Scripture. Yet, we have on display one of the most intense moments in all of history, and God’s very word spoken through an unworthy vessel.
*It isn’t hard to see from the words of Paul that the theocratic kingdom is something that is to be on full display. The entire message was a display of the Kingdom of God. You have at the beginning of his message the creation of the world; therefore God has ownership of this world. Paul displays the theological understanding that God is neither within temples nor buildings, nor do material things represent Him. In fact, He sustains all things, because you wouldn’t even have breath without God.
*If we are all in such a debt to Him that, even if we don’t believe in Him, we live and move and have our being in Him, He commands everyone everywhere, no matter whom you are (or what you are in relation to the nations themselves), to repent. You have no claim on your own life. It is all a part of God’s master plan. Every single moment should be lived out by the leading of the Holy Spirit. Anything that is said, done, thought, or acted upon without the Holy Spirit first speaking to you heart is iniquity. The reason is because man is evil, and therefore anything that man does apart from God is evil.
*God has appointed a time where He will judge the world in righteousness and justice. The very foundations of His throne are righteousness and justice (Psalm 97:2). He will judge by the man whom He has ordained (Jesus Christ). The assurance that He has given all men everywhere about the absolute authority of Christ is that the Father raised Him from the dead. This is the Kingdom.
*I would venture to say that if Jesus was given rule and reign by the resurrection, then how much more should it be by resurrection that we would have authority? It is not until we, both individually and corporately, have died completely that we should receive a resurrection, and therefore an inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Here is where the ultimate answer lies.
*What is the Kingdom of God? It is a resurrected creation. It is a Kingdom that has been taken out of the chaos, and light has been separated from the darkness, so that the only thing within that new creation is purity. It says in James 3:17, “The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”
*One of the questions that I have been asked more recently is the question of sin in heaven. The question was, “Will there be freewill in heaven?” The explanation of the question comes from a look at Genesis 2, that if Adam had nothing within him to cause for him to desire sin, then why did he fall? The first thing to consider is this: no one will be in heaven unless they are pure, as God Himself is pure.
*The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom of holiness. Unless you have the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth, you will not enter the Kingdom of God. How can you possibly receive the Spirit of Holiness if you are wicked though? To even receive it would be to die. There must inevitably be a death and resurrection out of evil and into good. God must so do a work in your heart that He could look down from heaven and say, “It is good.” That is impossible to have pronounced over you when there is anything left of humanity, because strictly from the words of Jesus, men are evil.
*If we will never even make it into heaven without being pure, blameless, holy, righteous, etc, then why would we sin when we are in heaven? There will not be any temptation or deception. The ultimate test of our worthiness to be called sons and daughters of God, and therefore be part of the Kingdom of God, is to endure the trials and temptations that come at us in this day and age. Every moment is a moment of crisis. Either I am living in a way that is worthy to the calling that God has given me (which I would like to note that Stephen had to have such a character that his face shone like an angel and he only waited tables), or I will enter into eternal despair and agony for my constant choices to preserve myself instead of endure hardships unto the very end.
*“But now God commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness.” Notice how Paul seems to be able to go straight from the earthly things into the eternal. He just finished up saying that God is not in the buildings and temples, nor do objects of wood, gold, or silver represent him. Now he steps, almost instantaneously, into the realm of eternity. For those of this Kingdom, the eternal and the physical cannot be separated.
*This is a hard truth to fully comprehend and live out. Since we are ambassadors, and our home is not of this earth, we are not earthly minded. Our perception needs to be of a depth that goes beyond the world. We need to be able to see beyond the realm of the physical and into the realm of spirit. This means that we will be offensive to most.
*When the man or woman tries to find sanctuary in their music, we can see through their words of, “It makes me feel better. I can cope with the world when I’m listening to music.” To see past the veil of this world and into the realm of spirit we would understand that music itself brings it’s own kind of aura and emotion. When people give themselves over to music, they are giving themselves to a spirit that is produced that brings a peace, but it is a false peace. It brings a joy, but it is a false joy.
*The apostolic man or woman can see past the many sculptures and massive temples to gods and see the idolatry for what it is. When it would be safe to assume that most men and women today would go to Greece and be amazed at the different religious temples and their architecture, the apostle saw it and said the land was full of idols.
*His mind was furnished with eternity, and in the scope of heaven, all these things were wickedness. There was nothing that impressed him. Paul passed god after god after god. There were none that impressed or caused him to be stirred. The more he saw, even of the scenery, the more he thought of the coming judgment. He knew that this world would be melted in intense and fervent heat. He knew that these things were temporal, and had no value. He knew that these things that men and women were giving themselves to had their origin in the pit, and therefore will be judged and damned.
*This eternal mindset drove Paul to speak out in the synagogues and market places. He couldn’t let the men and women of the city die in their ignorance. Because he was able to see past the surface, he was able to dive into the depths of the sins of these people. Many times I find myself in a similar place. All the people of God seem to be given over to entertainment and music during the “worship.” There is no true worship of God going up; its all noise, emotion, hype, excitement, fanaticism, and vainglory.
*Heaven forbid that you start to speak up and ask the people why they give themselves over to these things. Heaven forbid you point out the sin and heart of it. Heaven forbid that you show the older men and women are eating it up because it gives them excitement, whereas the youth are unaffected. Heaven forbid that you show them that their practices seem to follow more closely to Baal worship than to worship of Jehovah. To see into the realm of the eternal is to see past the flesh and the soul. And the man or woman who sees and confronts it will be looked upon as the one without the Spirit and without God. Heaven forbid, because the wolves will devour you.
*When we are a people of the Spirit, we will intrinsically be a people who stir up commotion. Our very presence will bring forth a reality of the eternal. By our very presence we will stir the hearts of the men and women who are merely religious, and they will be uncomfortable. They will need to crank up the sound system even more. They will need to sing louder. They will need to dance more emphatically. They will need to pray with more passion. They will need to force tears. They will need to show forth their spirituality, when, truth be told, they are actually showing forth their non-spirituality.
*This isn’t to make music sound as though it is of the enemy. I choose to speak on music because it is the easiest to fall into a trap with. Music itself brings forth its own kind of atmosphere, and therefore it is easy to get carried away in the rhythm of the music instead of in the presence of God.
*The theocratic kingdom is something that is extremely important. Our crisis will be forever because with the eternal mindset, we will see every moment as utter. Every second is taken as precious. There is not a dull moment, even when we are doing the most mundane and routine things. It causes everything to be holy and anointed.
*Our interactions with each other are brought into a new realm of glory. How can we sit staring at the back of each other’s heads? There are words to be spoken, prophecies to be given, healing to take place, etc. We can’t waste time by listening to one man at the front speak, and every one else is falling in line as being less than or under. In the context of the theocratic kingdom, you have One Head, namely, Christ Jesus. Because all parts of the Body are connected to that One Head, there are none over or under any others. All are together. They are not side-by-side, but together. This is difficult to understand, especially humanly.
*How can God have order when there aren’t leaders? If there are leaders, how can they exercise spiritual leadership if they aren’t placed over the others? It is a unique paradox of the Body of Christ to both have One Head whom all listen to and are commanded by, and to have spiritual leaders that have been separated and appointed by that Head. It is the wisdom of God to have even the leaders be under the lowest and youngest. All are together. There are none above or below, but at the same time, those who are above must be below. We all stand at equal proximity from the Throne. Yet, God establishes certain called out ones from the called out ones to rule. This is why God says that some will rule over 5 cities, and some will rule over 10 cities. It is a paradox of the faith, and without the Spirit to teach and discern, is impossible to understand.
*Without the Spirit, you have a man who is the “anointed one” teaching or preaching, and the only people who can bring a corrective word to that man are those who receive a paycheck from him. How do we expect for our spiritual leaders to be kept under accountability when the only people around them will lose their jobs by speaking the wrong thing, even if it is true? There is, therefore, a lack of discipline in the spiritual leaders, and this is directly proportionate to the separation from Biblical principles laid out, namely, that the youngest and least spiritual must be able to speak, rebuke, and/or discipline even the oldest and/or wisest in the congregation.
*The theocratic kingdom is a branch of theology that reaches out into all areas of life and theology. To neglect the principles laid out in this one area, as it is with all areas of Christendom, we abandon true faith, and conform instead to the image of the world and their systems. It is a holy thing to be the Church. When we reduce being the Church to going to church, we suffer consequences that are detrimental to both faith and eternity. Our actions and words are timeless and eternal because we have been brought into a kingdom that is timeless and eternal. To lose the disciplines of Christendom so that our buildings can continue to grow is to build our houses on the sand; and when the winds come, the floods rise, and the experiences of life beat against the house, it will fall.
*It is also in this understanding of the theocratic context that we are able to find healing. Because our minds are not looking at the temporal and worldly things, we can endure hardships and sufferings. It is in this mindset that even the roughest and harshest of persecution and torment (even from other members of the Body) seem to be light afflictions and temporary. It is bearable. It isn’t too much to suffer.
*God has made a way of healing, but it doesn’t stop with the theocratic context. There is much more to be examined and prayed over. Let us continue in the next chapter as we cry unto God for understanding, but even more for solace and for Him.
*God, I pray that you would keep teaching us. This is something that is important, but it is something that is difficult to understand. By your own words, and by your Holy Spirit, give us grace to understand. It isn’t our heart to increase in knowledge. Our heart is to walk the path that you have put in front of us. Show us the steps, because until you do, we are lost and without hope. To where do we go if you do not reveal to us the correct path? To whom do we reach if all have been perverted? Give us strength and grace; give us clarity and discernment; give us the filling of you Spirit. Church without Pentecost is dead, and we dare not forge the Spirit so that we might continue onward. In Jesus, the Christ’s, name I pray; amen.