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Understanding prophecy and this year #3

1/31/2015

Hi all,
I've been talking about prophecy given in our day about world events that may happen in the coming months and years. The question is: How do we react when a well known speaker says God showed him California is going to fall into the ocean, with the Mexican peninsula of Baja becoming an island and the ocean filling California's central valley? (For instance)

What are we to react to prophecies that speak of a soon coming collapse of the US and world economy, riots, and lawlessness? Are we to store up food and water? How do we get God's wisdom on these matters?

The Holy Spirit and your spirit

Jesus said, "When He the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth because He will not speak of Himself, but whatever He hears He will speak to you, and He will show you things to come." John 16:13

Paul confirms this in I Corinthians 2:9-12 saying that "Eye has not seen nor ear heard the things that God (Father) has prepared for those who love Him. But He reveals these things by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of the Father God...even so the things of God no man knows, but the Spirit of God only...and we have received the Holy Spirit so that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God the Father."

This is important because...

Jesus said the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth. That means if you are praying for a Mercedes, but the Father has given you a Volkswagen, the Holy Spirit is going to share that a VW has been provided. He will tell the exact truth as the Father declares it.

If a preacher says something that is all the rage and everyone around you says 'Yea and Amen', but in your spirit there is a grievance that what the preacher said is wrong, He is telling the truth no matter who the preacher is. If you say something you shouldn't and you feel grieved inside but your head hasn't a clue what you said wrong, the Spirit of Truth He is letting you know what you said was wrong (and if you spend time asking the Father what it was He will reveal it to you).

And if you have peace in your spirit about making a decision that takes you in a certain direction, but your head is full of questions, the peace is the Father's communication to you by His Spirit that it is indeed the direction you are to go and heaven has determined peace for you.

Following peace

Walking in faith often involves following that peace even when the mind and emotions are swirling and seeking details. If there is peace in your spirit then you need to control your thoughts and emotions and focus them on that inner peace.

The giving of peace to your spirit is the Holy Spirit reporting to you exactly what the Father has prepared for you, and that peace is the Father's opinion on the issue at hand - if there is peace, be at peace.

That means when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, a collapsing economy and horrible things coming to the nations of the earth, and you wonder what is going to happen to you, immediately switch your attention to focus on what is in your spirit. Do you sense peace, or is there something that bears witness and says it applies to you?

Wisdom from God feels like...

"The wisdom that comes from God is like this: First, it is pure. It is also peaceful, gentle, and easy to please." (James 3:17, ERV)

God's wisdom is pure and peaceful and gentle. So when you have a revelation of something bad about to happen, what does it feel like? I've found that even if a revelation from the Father is of something bad, that revelation is wrapped in His peace. That peace as I said above, is the Holy Spirit saying He has received from the Father and Lord that all will be okay, provided for, and grace given. If He puts peace in your spirit it is heaven's word to you saying the Father has it covered!

The wisdom from the earth feels like...

"This wisdom is not from above, but is earthly, devilish, sensual (sense oriented, not of God's spirit oriented). For where envy and strife is there is confusion and every evil work." (James 3: 15-16, KJV)

Notice the attributes of earthly wisdom - sense oriented (fear, panic, emotional,) confusion, strife. Wisdom from the world makes a person panic. It makes them think they must act immediately or all will be lost. Wisdom from the world causes strife, confusion, and opens the doors to other sins. It lacks peace and instead stirs fear.

The way it plays out...

Following peace often feels like stepping through a door that is slightly cracked - you peer inside, see all is fine, so step more inside. Peace is like that - you sense peace, so you follow it until there is a 'hold' in your spirit...usually that means there is something to do in the natural, or you are waiting for something to happen in the natural...and then that peace wells up in your spirit again and you take a few more steps forward.

Let us say a believer has been reading on the Internet the latest horror someone says will soon come upon the earth that they dreamed or saw in a vision. Or perhaps someone has been studying world economics and can see that changes are happening that align with some of the true words from God people have been sharing, and they wonder what if anything they are to do.

What to do?!?

Good principle

The guidelines for giving to others in the New Testament provide wisdom for knowing what if anything we should do for our own future needs. In II Corinthians 8:12-13 Paul is talking about the Corinthian's giving an offering to the disciples in Jerusalem. His guideline for giving is this: "...if you are willing, it is accepted according to what a person has, not according to what they don't have. For I don't want you to ease their burden while creating a burden for yourselves. But now at the time of your abundance you can help them, and when they are in abundance and you in need, they can help you, so there is an equality."

It is accepted according to what you have...I receive emails pretty regularly from people asking if they should store up 1-3 year's of food, and in the next breath state they don't have extra money to do that all at once. My response is this - if you feel you should do this, then do so according to what you have, not charging it, not going into debt, but here a little and there a little, so as to not create a burden.

Again, go to your spirit - do you sense peace even though you have confusion and fear in your mind? Then go with the peace and discipline your thoughts and emotions to be obedient to that peace - when Jesus needed to feed a crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children, all they gave him to start with was a boy's lunch. But Jesus said, "It is enough." If you are in peace, then heaven is saying to you, "It is enough."

It also helps to retrace in your mind all the things He has brought you through, every bit of faithfulness, every provision, every grace through the years. Holding that history in your thoughts helps bring assurance He will also be there in your future. One of my favorite quotes from Corrie ten Boom is this: "It is never wrong to trust an unknown future to a known God."

The promises of the Bible are real and true and not dependent on economies, governments, or money. When confronted with lack, ask the Father: "II Peter 1:3-4 says all things that pertain to life and godliness have been provided, so please reveal your provision Father!", and watch Him provide. Use common sense, stay in peace! New subject next week, until then, blessings,

John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

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Understanding prophecy and this year #2

1/24/2015

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Hi all,
I'm sharing about how to understand modern prophecy, sharing last week how the Lord is the I AM, the ever-present One, which means when He tells us something it feels like NOW and imminent. That is because in His realm of being ever-present, it is NOW, so when He speaks to us it feels like it will happen immediately.

And I shared how prophecy is linear. When things are held within the Father's knowledge and not revealed to mankind, prophecy skips over whatever is not revealed, and we have no idea where those mysteries fit.

Next - a prophecy doesn't have to happen to have been real

One of the guidelines in ancient Israel of a prophecy being from the Lord is that whatever was prophesied did indeed happen as foretold, but that is not the only guideline.

Moses - In Exodus 3:16-17 the Lord told Moses at the burning bush to return to Egypt, gather the elders and tell them He will take them to the Promised Land, "...to a land flowing with milk and honey."

That was spoken directly by the Lord to Moses, and then to the elders of Israel and then to the people - and it never happened. Everyone who heard that prophecy died in the wilderness, never reaching the land the Lord promised. (Only Joshua and Caleb saw the word fulfilled.)

Jonah - In Jonah 3:40 Jonah prophesies that Nineveh will be destroyed in 40 days, but you know the story. They repented and when the Lord saw their repentance, He changed His mind, which made Jonah angry.

Isaiah - In Isaiah 38:1 King Hezekiah is sick and Isaiah prophesies to him: "This is what the Lord says; Set your house in order for you will die." But the king turns his face to the wall and pleads his case to live, and by verse 5 the Lord changes His mind and tells Isaiah to tell him He will add 15 years to his life.

(In an ironic twist, II Kings 21:1 tells us Hezekiah's son Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king of Judah at Hezekiah's death, meaning he was born in the last 15 years of Hezekiah's life. Though he repented at the end of his *life, he was an evil king and had Isaiah sawn in half*, meaning the one who prophesied his father's extension of life so Manasseh could even be born, became the victim of that word. Such is life in the Lord folks, those we are sent to often are at the least ungrateful and sometimes even see us as enemies though they are the recipients of God's grace through us.) *II Chronicles 33:11-19, *Hebrews 11: 37

Were these prophecies from the Lord? Yes. But notice why they never came to pass - because of how the people reacted to those words. In the first case, the people failed to see the promises given to them because they left following the Lord. In the other 2 cases people repented when they heard the words to them.

And add this to the mix...

In Acts 27:10 Paul is a prisoner about to board a ship on its way to Rome. He perceives in his spirit that if they set sail they will lose the ship, the cargo, and their lives, and he tells them not to set sail. They ignore him and indeed a horrible storm hits the ship, and just when all hope is gone...

Paul tells them in verses 22-31 that an angel stood by him in the night and told him though they would lose the ship and cargo as revealed, but the Father had spared the lives of all 276 aboard. This means that what Paul originally perceived about losing their lves was actually a revelation from the Father of what the devil had planned for them, and by the Father's intervention that plan was stopped.

For modern words from the Lord

On a personal level, many well meaning Christians have had an experience like Paul's, where the Father revealed something to them the devil had planned, and then they go tell someone 'God told me' (Inaccurate; They just perceived something in their spirit). Then it doesn't happen and they wonder if they heard wrong.

Many believers aren't experienced enough in the ways of the Father to know when it is the Holy Spirit trying to show them a plan of the enemy, or if it is the enemy himself trying to scare them. Because what they perceive is a negative, they think it must be from the devil, and they rebuke the Holy Spirit - not realizing it is the Father trying to reveal the enemy's plan and is trying to get them to ask Him to intervene.

Modern day prophecy and world events

When I hear some of the prophecies of world events being published today, I recognize some of the people making these things known to the public are actually sharing information the Father gave for the purpose of asking Him to intervene that those events NOT come to pass, but neither they nor their hearers understand.

The first job of anyone who receives a word about a future event is to pray. They are to determine if that event is set in stone and cannot be changed, or if it will happen but can be altered in how it happens, or if it can be stopped altogether.

For example...

In Matthew 24:15 Jesus confirms something Daniel* prophesied about, the man identified as anti-Christ will enter into a temple in Jerusalem at the half way mark of a 7 year peace treaty, and turn against Israel. Jesus said that when people see that they are to get out of Jerusalem and head for the hills in the wilderness. In verse 20 He says: "And pray that your journey does not happen in winter, nor on the Sabbath..." *Dan 9:27

Notice that event, anti-Christ coming into the temple, is set in stone - it will happen! But Jesus said to pray that event doesn't happen in winter nor on a Sabbath day - prayer can be made to change the season of the year to a favorable one for travel, and changed to a day other than the Sabbath, when there are travel restrictions in Israel.

Summary

Thus far I've shared how the Lord is the I AM, so everything He reveals or speaks to us feels like it will happen immediately. I've shared how when things are held within the Father's knowledge, prophecy will skip over what is hidden, making things appear to us to be all in one unbroken line of events prophesied, when in fact there can be years or events inserted by Him along the way.

I've shared how a prophecy might be of God but never happen because of how people react to the word. Both a hardness of heart and repentance might mean the Lord changes His mind and that which was foretold might never happen.

We've seen how oftentimes the plan of the enemy is revealed to people because the Father wants to intervene and will if asked, but some don't understand and cause fear in the body of Christ by sharing these events, saying these things will definitely happen.

And we've seen how things that definitely will happen can be altered as to the timing just by prayer.

What is a believer to do? Whom to believe?

How do we know if what we hear or someone else says they heard or saw is from God? How do we know if it is set in stone, or if can be changed? Is it a revelation from the Father of what the devil has planned?

That is next week - how to know whether something prophesied is from God, and then what kind of revelation is it? Until then, blessings,

John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me directly at cwowi@aol.com

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Understanding prophecy and this year #1

1/17/2015

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Hi all,
Being the first of a new year interest in what God is saying about 2015 is at the top of everyone's minds. The Internet is abuzz with 'words from God' about everything from mystery planet Nibiru grazing the earth to California falling into the ocean, to Israel going to war, to the US economy crashing, and so much more.

How is a Christian supposed to know what is real, what is marketing, what is the flesh, and finally, what God is really saying to His people? Before I answer that last question about what He is really saying, some ground rules to know His ways:

First thing: I AM

This is a lesson for anyone who has ever had the Lord show them something future for their lives or others, and many lives have been ruined and hard lessons learned because they didn't under this principle. The Lord is the I AM, meaning He is ever present.

Therefore when He reveals something to your spirit about anything, or someone gives you a prophetic word, or you sense something future for another person, it feels like NOW. That is only because HE is NOW, the I AM, the ever-present One. But it doesn't mean you are to do that thing now, throwing away common sense and planning.

In Acts 26:13-18 Paul is telling his testimony to King Agrippa and quotes what the Lord told him the day He appeared to him outside Damascus: "...I have appeared to you for this purpose...and you will be a witness of things you have seen and things about which I will appear to you later...and to deliver you from the people and from the Gentiles, unto whom I now send you..."

But it was at least 10 years before he went to the Gentiles

He spent 3 years in Arabia receiving revelation, and THEN went to see Peter. Luke compresses Acts 9 for the sake of his readers, but Paul tells us 3 years passed before he met Peter and the apostles. And it was about 7 more years after that before he started ministering to the Gentiles. (Galatians 1:13-18, Acts 9:22-28, 13:46-48; Acts 9 was about 35AD, Acts 13:46 about 45AD)

I know of someone who went to Hong Kong because God had told her He was calling her there, and against everyone's counsel she went with no money, no financial support, and ended up calling the church begging for a plane ticket home 2 months later.

Was she called? Perhaps, but she should have let it develop with the understanding that it was the I AM who told her that, the ever present One. But He didn't mean she had to go right then, He didn't expect nor want her to throw away common sense. It was her responsibility to provide support for herself, and He would have helped her, but she was presumptuous and acted immediately and suffered as a result.

We don't try to make things come to pass, we don't try to help God because we think we've figured out how it will happen, we are to use common sense and allow Him to guide our steps.

I've known people to quit good paying jobs because God spoke to them He had another position for them that would be a promotion, or He said they were called to ministry - and it felt like NOW - so they quit their job and languished in confusion and financial distress wondering what God was doing to them - THEY were 100% at fault because they over-spiritualized what He said to the point they laid down common sense.

So when someone has a prophecy for you, or they say it is for the world or nation, understand it feels like RIGHT NOW, immediate, imminent. Remember, to the Lord 'soon' is often years or decades to us. In the OT He was warning Israel of their destruction 150 years before it actually happened, but it felt like 'now'.

Second thing: Prophecy is linear

What I mean is that in Ephesians 3:3-6 Paul talks about how the mystery that was kept secret from the foundations of the world but is now revealed to the apostles and prophets, that Gentiles would be fellow-heirs of the covenant. Can you imagine? Paul says Gentiles getting saved was a mystery not revealed until Pentecost!

This mystery is mentioned several times, Romans 16:25-26, Colossians 1:26-27 among them. One of my favorite verses, "Christ in you, the hope of glory" is in context talking about Gentiles having Christ in them, which Paul says, is a revelation of the mystery once kept secret from ages and generations.

That means all prophecy in the Old Testament appears to go in a straight line with nothing about the church in between - it is linear. For instance, Ezekiel 36 and 37 prophesy Israel becoming a nation again, then chapters 38 & 39 tell of a world war with Israel and allies fighting against the future nation Russia and allies, and then immediately into chapter 40 seeing the Millennial Temple and Messiah ruling the earth.

Somewhere in there is about 2,000 years of Gentiles getting saved, but Ezekiel hadn't had that revealed to him, so what the Lord tells him is in a straight line with no clue about events in between verses, sometimes whole centuries between verses.

Another example

Jesus' first message is in Luke 4:18-23. He quoted Isaiah 61:1-2 stopping mid-sentence: "...and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." and He sat down and said "...this day this passage is fulfilled."

But if you read Isaiah 61:1-2 you find He stopped mid-sentence: "...to preach the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, and to comfort those who mourn (after the day of vengeance)." Why did Jesus stop mid-sentence to say He was fulfilling the acceptable year of the Lord, but did not finish the rest of the sentence about the day of vengeance of our God?

He stopped because He could not reveal that in between the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, was a 2,000 year period inserted for the Gentiles to become part of the covenant. It was still a mystery kept in the Father's own knowledge until Pentecost.

So for that reason Jesus stopped mid-sentence. Now think - for centuries pious Jews had debated Isaiah 61:1-2 about this single day, the day of the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God. Teachings were made, 'revelation' about that verse circulated - and it was all done with a degree of error because the Father had not revealed a 2,000 year gap mid-sentence. They drew conclusions based on partial information. Hold that thought...

Let me tie it all together thus far...

In the same way the Father kept secret from mankind that He would open up His covenant with Israel to all nations, to whomever will respond in faith, so too has He kept within His knowledge the time of the Rapture and the 2nd coming of Christ - Jesus told us plainly no man knows the hour nor day, not the angels, not even Him, but the Father only. And while the Rapture is foretold in the Feast of Trumpets, the 5th festival of Israel and first of the fall festivals, it doesn't say when that event will happen. (Matthew 24:36, Acts 1:7)

That means prophecy we hear about in our day about the end times is also linear - He skips right over the rapture and 2nd coming because it is not revealed to mankind the timing of these events.

As a result, many teachers find themselves today, like the Rabbi's of long ago debating Isaiah 61 - they draw conclusions and get people all worked up about things kept secret within the Father's knowledge, not having a clue there are gaps in prophecy because the Father is keeping those things to Himself. Teachers who draw conclusions about the timing of such things are equal in error to the Rabbi's from Isaiah to Jesus, because they too have partial information and should not be drawing conclusions nor making assumptions.

Stay away from end times preachers who draw conclusions as to timing, because they do so based on partial information. Remember, to the I AM, all things are imminent. But the unwise in the ways of the Father jump to conclusions that cause worry, fear, and confusion. James says confusion is man's/world's wisdom, God's wisdom is pure and peaceful. Stay with peace.

So California might fall into the ocean. And maybe Yellowstone National Park may explode and wipe out most of the US, and maybe St. Louis and Memphis will have a massive earthquake, but prophecy is linear - that could happen in the Tribulation, it could happen at the 2nd coming. It could happen at the end of the Millennial age when the earth is remade by fire - we just don't know.

Whether the Lord tells you something for your own life, or for the life of another, or a prophetic word or dream for your nation, realize even a revelation of horrible events if given by Him, is wrapped in peace. And it may feel like NOW, but realize He is I AM so that is normal. Use wisdom, stay in peace, and more next week...until then, blessings!

John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

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Spiritual butterflies #3

1/10/2015

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Hi all,
I've been sharing about chasing spiritual butterflies, from a visitation and vision with the Lord depicting many believers distracted by the unimportant, but Him sharing about a coming shift in the body of Christ to His priorities.

I'm just telling you what He said - in the next 3 years in the west especially, many will not have the luxury of having butterflies to chase. Don't get me wrong - times are coming that believers walking with the Lord will find their needs met and some exceedingly so, but there will be many believers who thought it too difficult in these times to pay the price of getting to know people, of going to someone's home for a meal, or to invest in a new way of doing 'church' like home and relationship based church.

They have no network of support though they are active Christians, no one to 'watch their back' so to speak - these spiritual islands can afford the luxury of being islands as long as their life sails along under good weather, but if a storm in life comes, to whom do they turn?

Recognize the season

In Luke 19:41-44 Jesus approached Jerusalem on His way to the cross that would happen just 3 days later, He wept over it saying: "If you, even you, had you only known on this day what would bring you peace, but now it is hidden from your eyes....because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."

Now is the time to turn our attention as a body away from child-like chasing of every newest teaching, and just grow up in character. So many times I've talked to women who spend thousands of dollars going to conferences to pray for the nation, and pray for their family's salvation, while their own husband and children want their wife and mom home to have time together as a family - but she is too spiritual to be practical, self-deceived thinking what she is doing is God, when in fact staying home and growing in character and as a person, present with her family is what He would ask of her.

And I've spoken to many men who work hard for their family and long to be with them, but think the God thing to do is work themselves into the ground to provide the luxuries he thinks they want and deserve, self-deceived and blinded, not realizing they just want dad home.

Often times the most spiritual of decisions is nothing more than rearranging our priorities to do a difficult thing, something out of our comfort zone, yet the wise perceive it to be God's path.

People are going to begin meeting in homes for fellowship, prayer, worship just out of a desire to have someone real in their lives and have the Holy Spirit free to flow in worship and the gifts of the Spirit, with real relationships, whether they call it house church or not - they just want the real and genuine. These are the ones who have others to watch out for them, who will care for those in their midst, while others will attempt to turn to their auditorium church, but discover they have no one to help.

That isn't scare tactics, that's just what's coming down the road. The Holy Spirit continues to move now as He did then, within those priorities of Jesus and the writers of the NT - feed/water/clothe/visit those in need in the body of Christ first. That's what the body of Christ looked like at the start, that's what Jesus said it will look like at His return - "...if you have fed/watered/clothed/visited even the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me." Mundane, normal, not glamorous, but ever so spiritual.

Many have twisted Paul's words about making unbelievers jealous, and using those words to explain things like why x church needs $2 million for a sound system, to make the unbelievers jealous, Or maybe giving to x Christian TV network to 'make unbelievers jealous' over the quality of programming, and things like that.

But go back to the first century, to a time when widows and the lame and the sick with no family were forced to beg and live on the street in lonely destitution, while all around them were Christians who had all needs met, whose lives were enriched with extended spiritual families, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Wouldn't you be curious and jealous as you observed they had strong relationships and so loved one another each made sure the other had his or her needs met?

Now I ask you - are we any different today? Isn't the proof of our discipleship our love for one another? (John 13:35: By this all men will know you are my disciples; if you have love one for another.") I'm not saying lets be like the 1st century church, I'm saying the 1st century church simply practiced what Jesus did and taught, and should we obey Jesus in this way too?

Where to start?

I was in a grocery store and as often happens, I was asked by a shorter woman to reach an item on a top shelf for her. (I'm 6'6"/1.9m) I recognized the spirit of depression on her and tried to continue the conversation past 'Excuse me sir, can you help me get this off the top shelf?', but she just said thank you and went on - and all I could say was 'You're welcome, bless you, have a good day."

I prayed for her as I walked away and told the Father "I wish there was something more I could have done for her, like cast that spirit of depression off her." and He replied, "That's alright, you did what she could receive for now and what I had for you to do for her today."

I reflected on His patience and how He continues to go about doing good - Acts 10:38 says that of Jesus, and Jesus said He only did what He saw the Father do. (John 5:19) And not only that, but something as simple as getting an item off a top shelf for someone was so spiritual, so personally directed from heaven to do good to this lady.

The other day as I pulled up to a stop light upon leaving a store's parking lot, I glanced in my rearview mirror to see on the roof of the car behind me, a large soft drink with no lid - certain to spill when the light turned green and our line of cars entered traffic. I first rolled down my window and looked back at the man, and made motions pointing to the roof above him...but he didn't understand.

Finally giving up, and seeing the driver behind him burying his head in his steering wheel he was laughing so hard at my gyrations and the man's gyrations back at me, I got out of my truck and got the soft drink off the roof of his car. He rolled down the window upon seeing I had his drink in hand, and I said 'Here you are sir, you almost lost your drink." to which he replied with a chuckle, 'You're a good man, thank you!'

As I got into my truck the light turned green and off we went, me thanking the Father for allowing me to 'go about doing good' in this little thing - and humbled and amazed at the Father's care for the man whether he recognized me as being an Ambassador for the King or not.

Jesus went about doing good

He turned water into wine, but never took credit for it. He healed Peter's mother-in-law, but only those in the house were aware. He multiplied a boy's lunch to feed thousands, but never advertised it nor sought a means to market Himself through His miracles - He just went about doing good.

In 2014 I saw the humility of the Lord more than ever before, and in turn have been humbled more than ever before as a result. When He said in Matthew 11: "Take my yoke (the Holy Spirit) upon you and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly of heart and you will find rest for your souls."

Note - He is truly meek and lowly of heart though He be King of all. His yoke teaches us humility, and that humility leads to rest for our souls - not spirit - souls; emotions, thoughts, minds.

Paul told the Corinthians* he was concerned they would be seduced away from the simplicity in Jesus, and the gospel message, and the Holy Spirit. If you have been seduced into a complicated faith filled with agendas and formulas and manipulation and performance based 'If I do this then God will do that', then repent and return to what Jesus said - do good to His brethren in practical ways, in relationship with others in the faith, and simply find ways to demonstrate the love of God in your heart to others. (*II Corinthians 11:3-4)

Hear what the Spirit is saying to the church - the season of chasing spiritual butterflies is over - time to be the church, not play church. Time to be a Christian, not play Christian.

New subject next week, blessings,
John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

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Spiritual butterflies #2

1/3/2015

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Hi all,
Barb and I have iPhones which include the computerized software assistant with the female voice known as Siri. For those who aren't familiar with Siri, if you press and hold the round button on the phone a female voice, Siri, will ask "What can I help you with? You can ask Siri everything from the latest sports score to directions to the closest gas station to the weather forecast and most anything else.

Barb and I were deep in conversation when she started digging around her purse looking for something, and accidentally pressed her iPhone's round button. Immediately Siri asked, "What can I help you with?' and Barb, who was in the middle of a sentence said to Siri without thinking, "Oh be quiet, I wasn't talking to you", to which Siri immediately responded from the depths of the purse, "That isn't very nice!" We burst out laughing at the idea a phone spoke to and responded to Barb in such a way.

I feel a little like that when talking about the visitation with the Lord where He shared about His people chasing spiritual butterflies. In my digging around the 'purse' of Christendom to find definition and solution I don't want to accidentally touch a hot button and someone think 'That isn't very nice'.

I've chased a few spiritual butterflies

When Barb and I were teenagers there was a time in our teen prayer meetings it seemed nearly everyone had a demon or a demon was to blame for all life's ills. Talk of having a 'deliverance ministry' went around.

Some in our teen group certainly did have demons that manifest and were cast out. There were also those who didn't have demons but wanted the attention they received if they said they had a demon, so they put up a great show of writhing and moaning worthy of an Academy Award nomination.

The Lord used those experiences to help us find balance, to experience the real and fake and work through it. It was for a season, and we came away thankful for having experience with the demonic and the fake, and focused once again on Jesus and the Father instead of 'the dark side'.

In 1979 in our first year of marriage, we got into the '100 fold return' spiritual butterfly with my pay of $110 per week - giving $11 and expecting $1100 to somehow be directed into our account. Barb brought us back to balance when she said, "This doesn't feel right and I know what changed. We used to give because we love God and His work, but now we give to get, and that's wrong and that's why this grieves our spirit when we give." A moment of repentance later and prayer to tell the Father we really don't care if we ever see that money again, we give because we love Him and His people, and we were back on balance.

Our church versus Peter and Paul's church

But the fact is, Christianity in the New Testament looked remarkably different than practiced today in the auditorium church. There were no spiritual butterflies to chase because their focus and time was all about what Jesus said in Matthew 25:40 about caring for the physical needs of the brethren.

"...if you have given (water/food/clothes/visit) even if to the least of my brethren, you have done it unto me."

This isn't works salvation because Jesus is talking to believers about caring for believers, so these works of ministry flow from us as a result of our salvation, not to attain it.

Care for those in the faith first, then outward to the unsaved

He said 'my brethren'. That means the focus of our giving is to the 'brethren', not the unsaved. Brethren is an old term used when addressing both men and women.

This focus on taking care of the body of Christ first rather than using the meeting of physical needs of the lost as an evangelistic tool may be a surprise, but the New Testament consistently shows they gave to other believers, not to the unsaved, remaining consistent with Jesus' command to care for His brethren.

This explains why throughout Acts the believers gave among themselves to be sure there were no needs in their midst - they didn't try to take care of the whole city. That is why when the famine in Judea was prophesied by Agabus in Acts 11, the church sent an offering to fellow believers in Judea, not the unsaved victims of the famine. And Paul's offerings for the poor saints in Jerusalem in Romans 15 and I Corinthians 16 and II Corinthians 8 & 9 was received by the churches for the church in Jerusalem - not for the poor sinners in Jerusalem. Money and resources in the body of Christ stayed in the body of Christ.

That isn't to say we completely ignore the unsaved, but they are to get the overflow, not the focus of our attention in giving. Paul said in Galatians 6:10 to do good to all men, but especially to the household of faith. The brethren are our first priority.

It also explains why so many people were added to the Lord in the first couple of years after Pentecost - the unsaved saw a group of people on fire for God, and loving one another to the extent there wasn't a single need in their midst. If you were on the outside looking in, and you lacked food or clothing, and you saw this group of happy people who had all needs met, wouldn't you want to see what it was all about? Some were afraid, some joined, some stood back and watched - but the net effect was people added to the Lord.

What has this to do with butterflies?

By contrast the auditorium church has programs for ministry work, meaning (statistically) 80% of the congregation has no expectations placed upon them other than attending church and giving when asked. So there are now a lot of Christians focused on self and what self needs from God, they feel they can chase every wind of doctrine and every 'hot' thing out there, making God in effect, their servant instead of them, His.

The programs and their need for infrastructure and money explain why the auditorium church is so willing to help the unsaved while church members who need help with a mortgage or car payment are turned away. Their priorities are exactly 180 degrees from what Jesus stated He is looking for at His return. If we gave to those brethren in our midst and were in relationship with each other, there wouldn't be time nor interest to chase the latest spiritual butterfly that crosses our line of sight.

James said "True religion and undefiled before God is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep yourself unspotted from the world." The context is CHRISTIAN fatherless and widows because he was writing to Christians, as also demonstrated in Acts 2-6 as they cared for the brethren. That is true religion. Look at your average church - do they look unspotted (untainted) from the world? Is their priority as a church to feed/water/clothe/visit those BELIEVERS in need in their pews? Can they say 'There are no needs among us because no one says anything he has is his own'?

What is the ministry the "5-fold" is to equip His people for? Ephesians 4:11-16

To be consistent with what Jesus said about the work of ministry He is looking for at His return, to be consistent with the rest of the New Testament's description of the work of the ministry FIRST being to care for the physical needs of the brethren, we must conclude the core 'work of the ministry' the 5-fold is to equip people for, is to water/feed/clothe/ and visit the sick and in prison. The core mission of the 5-fold is therefore first to empower individuals to make sure there are no physical needs lacking among the brethren.

This is why when the first staff was added to the church in Jerusalem it was 7 men to help manage the care and feeding of widows. Not a clothing program to the unsaved in the city. Not a food program for unsaved in the ghettos. Their focus was caring for the needs in their midst. Food, water, clothing, housing. (Acts 6)

Ephesians 4:15 continues by saying if we do the work of the ministry (water/feed/clothe/visit the brethren) we won't be like children tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine that comes along, but will in fact grow up in Him in all things as the sinews of the body connect all of us together. Read Ephesians 4:11-16 with the understanding that the core work of the ministry is founded and flows from Jesus' priority to make sure all His brethren's needs are met, and you will see amazing things that are 100% consistent Matthew through The Revelation.

To start thinking like Jesus taught and Acts and the apostles demonstrated, will rock your brain and turn all you thought you knew about priorities and relationships in church upside down, and you will be able to spot wasn't isn't scriptural - and you'll never be the same. And THAT is where the body of Christ is headed.

Remember this visitation about spiritual butterflies was a prophetic word about what the Spirit is saying to the church - I'll pick it up next week with how this rearrangement of priorities is going to come about, until then, blessings!

John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

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