Hi all,
I've been sharing how the Bible is an Oriental book written by Orientals, and how we in the west (Occidentals) so often miss key points a verse is trying to make, or pull a scripture completely out of context to make it say something unintended. 
 
The west is largely governed by elected officials, while Jesus is repeatedly described as a King, the King of kings and Lord of lords. Even if a nation has a king or queen today, they are submitted to parliaments and elected bodies in a legislative branch. The few modern absolute kings in the nations today could be described as dictators or despots, as their absolute rule with no accountability leads to the oppression of their subjects. So we don't have any modern examples of a good and kindly king, let alone the culture of a true kingdom in which the citizens benefit from the benevolent nature of a good king. 
 
The kingdom of God
We lightly throw around the term 'kingdom of God' but have nothing in our minds to define and describe what that means. So let's start with ancient Israel, when God came out of the realm of the Spirit to meet with Moses on the Mount, 'face to face as a man speaks to a friend' (Exodus 33:11).
 
(For the sake of clearing up religious tradition: Many are confused how the Lord and Moses could talk 'face to face' in v11 while 9 verses later in Exodus 33: 20 it says, 'No man shall see my face, and live'. John's gospel in 1: 18 says no man has seen God at any time and in 6: 46 Jesus said 'Not that any man has seen the Father, except He who is of the Father, He has seen Him.' The context is talking about no man in the natural has seen or can see the Father. If you are in the Spirit, you can see His face and live. That is the difference between Exodus 33: 11 and v20.
 
In the flesh no man can see His face for the glory and power would destroy our earth-bodies. When we are there in heaven spirit and soul, or when we receive our heavenly-created bodies, we can see His face. Today, if one is in the Spirit, such a one can see His face. Thus in Exodus 33:11 Moses saw Him face to face as a man speaks to a friend as he was in the Spirit, but later in the natural in 20 he had to have his eyes covered. 
 
The Father is seen by many when they were in the Spirit: Moses and the other 73 men in Exodus 24: 7-11, Ezekiel in chapter 1, Daniel saw Him as the 'Ancient of Days' with 'the Son of Man' in chapter 7: 9-13, and the apostle John describes Him in the whole of Revelation 4, to whom chapter 5: 7 says, the Lamb that had been slain but is now alive, came and took the book out of His right hand and began to open the seals - which is the rest of The Revelation. 
 
Therefore if you hear someone say they went to heaven which would be in the Spirit, but couldn't see the Father's face, then run from that testimony for it is a lie or embellished or colored through their own religious traditions and lack of understanding and therefore will have inaccuracies, at least in part. In the Spirit one can see His face and live. In the natural it is not possible to do so and live.)
 
A kingdom has its own rules, its own culture, and its all about its king
We are told in Hebrews 8:5 that Moses saw the plans for the tabernacle and all its furnishings, being told 'see that you make it according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain.' Moses had an exact set of plans that he had seen in the Spirit with the Lord of how the Lord wanted everything built.
 
Among the plans God gave him was how He wanted the Ark of the Covenant, His throne and the place of His presence, to be carried. Even as late as King David some 400 years later, he knew Him as 'the one who lives between the cherubs.' (II Samuel 6: 2)
 
In Exodus 25:9 we have the actual command from the Lord to build it according to the plan shown to him on the mountain, and among the first things He said in this passage was to build the Ark with 4 rings, one on each corner, through which poles slide, and by which the priests can put the poles on their shoulders and carry the Ark wherever Israel was wandering. 
 
The litter
The fact the Ark of the Covenant, the place of God's presence, was to be carried on a 'litter' borne upon the priest's shoulders is completely consistent with kings of the day. In ancient during that same time in history, in Egypt, India and China, that is exactly how kings were carried. In India a statue of the god Krishna was carried about in the same way. It was so common, even in Europe, that by the year 675AD the Roman church had to make a command NOT to carry Bishops on a litter. (Third Council of Braga, 675AD)
 
I find it amazing we still have that concept today in some charismatic churches, in which the (so called) pastor or 'bishop' or 'apostle' has his coat and Bible carried by a lesser person, and there is even a video from 2016 of a Nigerian pastor held high by others as he sits in his chair and preaches. I wonder what part of 'for I am meek and lowly in heart, learn of me' they don't understand? The level of the lack of revelation of the Lord in our churches today  is astounding and shameful. 
 
But the fact the Lord gave instructions to carry the Ark of the Covenant with His presence on the shoulders of the priests is completely consistent with rulers of the day. The ancient Israelites understood the concept of a king, and that God is King of all. 
 
Let us carry this understanding that Jesus is the King of kings, the Lord of lords forward to our time. He said in Luke 17: 21, 'Behold, the kingdom of God is within you!'. Paul said we have a mystery, 'which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.' (Colossians 1: 27)
 
Internally then, we have the absolute King in our spirit. But we live in an earth-body in a fallen world, so there is continual push and pull between the absolute King in us who we want to serve perfectly, carried within a flesh created from the fallen earth and which wants to go the way of the world. That give and take is life-long. 
 
But we can learn to let the absolute King in us dominate us from within, which will change our thinking which then causes us to change what we allow our body to do or not do. In our hearts we carry the Lord in a litter above all, worshipped and adored as He should be, King of kings and Lord of lords. Our lives are spent making what is in our heart a reality in our thoughts and actions. That is normal Christianity. That is the discipleship process. 
 
We are comforted by the words of the amazing apostle Paul, author of about 2/3 of the NT: 
 
"I don’t mean that I am exactly what God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal. But I continue trying to reach it and make it mine. That’s what Christ Jesus wants me to do. It is the reason he made me his. Brothers and sisters, I know that I still have a long way to go. But there is one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach the goal before me. I keep running hard toward the finish line to get the prize that is mine because God has called me through Christ Jesus to life up there in heaven." (Easy to Read Version, ERV)
 
More about Jesus the Oriental King next week...until then, blessings,
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

Hi all,
A Malaysian friend and I were having lunch one day and talking about Bible culture. Malaysia sits at the end of the Malaysian Peninsula in South East Asia. The peninsula extends from Thailand in the north, nearly to the island of Sumatra in the south. Most Americans would recognize the region includes Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam in that same general area of SE Asia. 
 
We were talking about Bible culture and he brought up the intimacy of having a meal in someone's home. My friend commented that when he goes to people who haven't heard of Jesus, the biggest reaction he gets from them is not about the torture and the cross, and not the healings and miracles. But rather when he tells them Jesus was betrayed during a meal, detailed in John 13.
 
He said he regularly sees tears running down the faces of the people at the realization Jesus was betrayed while having a meal with His closest friends. They cannot imagine a more hurtful situation, and many come to the Lord as a result, realizing the price He paid for our sins. The most intimate time one can have with friends in easter culture, is over a meal. 
 
We in the west see the cross alone as the hurt Jesus suffered, and read John 13's betrayal of Jesus as a mere dinner from which we get 'the Lord's Supper.' We completely miss the impact of the betrayal though the writers of the New Testament did not. Matthew mentions it more than 10 times, Mark at least 8 times, Luke 5, and John 9 times. Even Paul in I Corinthians 11 when sharing about the Lord's Supper, makes the point to mention Jesus was betrayed during dinner.  
 
Clearly the gospel authors and the people of SE Asia understood the offense of being betrayed, and not just betrayed, but at dinner! 
 
That difference in perception is the difference between *Orientals of the east, and the *Occidentals of the west. The Bible is an Oriental book, written by Orientals, with customs and practices largely unchanged from Abraham to The Revelation. The Bible is not written from the perspective of the west (Occidental), but of the Orient. We call China 'the far east' and are numb to the fact we call the land in the region of Israel 'the middle east'. It is still 'the east'. (*The word 'occidental' is Latin for 'west', and 'oriental' is from the Latin for 'east')
 
Why does it matter?
No one likes to have their words taken out of context. Yet that's what many Christians do when they read their Bible. They try to understand it filtered not through the Oriental culture of the day, but by their own 21st century western church culture. 
 
In the same way the New Testament was written by apostles doing church in the house and writing to people doing church in the house, many pull the context of the '5-fold' and how the gifts of the Spirit function out of the home and try to put them into the auditorium building called church, only to end up confused and frustrated with few getting to flow in the gifts God gave them - and they wonder why.
 
The same thing happens when reading the Bible and trying to understand it for our personal lives. For instance, in Psalm 69:22 it says "Let their table become a snare to them; and that which should have been for their benefit, let it become their trap." 
 
That passage is confusing to the westerner, for how can a table become a snare? But if we remember the oriental custom of laying a mat on the ground on which food is placed, and diners sitting on the floor on and around it, the verse starts to make sense. 
 
The Hebrew word translated here as 'table' and pronounced 'shool-khawn' (shul-cha-nam) is literally "a skin or leather mat spread on the ground." 
 
Therefore the Psalmist when saying 'let their table become a snare to them', is saying 'let them be tripped by the mat on the floor; and let that which would have been a blessing become their trap." Now it makes sense, but only if you understand first the custom of eating on a mat on the ground. 
 
Jesus the Oriental King
Today in the west a church 'altar call' (if they have one) often consists of the Pastor asking for every head bowed and every eye closed while they ask for a show of hands raised by those who want to 'accept Jesus'. That is so very western, for an Oriental would never think they have the privilege of merely 'accepting' the King into their lives. They in fact would instead, give their lives to the King, humbly asking that He accept them. 
 
Dr. Michael Brown and I were having lunch one day while he was visiting Tulsa - I had ministered in his church and Bible school when they were located in Pensacola, Florida, and so when he was in town we got together for a meal. We were talking about some of these differences between east and west and he mentioned a trip to India and what one of the Indian pastors had said - India also being in the Orient. 
 
"You in America preach a different gospel that we do in India", the Indian pastor said. When Michael asked what he meant, the pastor replied: "You preach that if you accept Jesus He will heal your family, He will heal your money and give you more, and He will heal your body. You will be blessed if you accept Jesus. We preach that if you believe in Jesus your family may reject you, you may lose your health, you may lose your finances, and you may lose your life."
 
The west invites Jesus into their already busy lives, while the east gives their whole life to Jesus to the point of immediately being willing to die for Him if called upon to do so. The west doesn't understand Jesus is a King, but instead think of Him first as a friend, one on our side to make our boo boo's in life better. The east realizes He is the King who will rule the earth, and even now as Head of the body of Christ, rules and reigns as the God-Man. 
 
One is horrified that God in the flesh would be betrayed by a supposed friend over an intimate dinner, the other merely sees a dinner in which one of the attendees left to carry out his plan. 
 
I look around at the body of Christ in the west and see so much sin, so much love of the world and all that is in it, and I wonder at the lack of revelation about Who Jesus is. And that is the key, our churches have largely left receiving revelation from God as the purpose for meeting, and for prayer and worship, in favor of entertainment copied from the world. Instead of attracting people with the banner proclaiming they can know God, the church tries to attract people under the banner proclaiming Jesus can make your life better if you include Him in it. 
 
But to the remnant who know Him as King...the King who is also our friend, but one cannot go without the other - to that remnant, great grace and peace is upon them. More next week on Jesus the Oriental King. Until then, Blessings
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com
 

Hi all,
The term 'backsliding' has been used for years to describe a Christian who is no longer going to church or isn't also currently 'walking with the Lord'. 
 
Where does the term come from?
We see the term in Hosea 4: 16:  "Israel slides back as a backsliding heifer."
 
But the term 'backsliding' doesn't mean what you think. When we say 'backsliding' we picture an animal sliding backwards away from its master down a slippery, muddy slope. So the image of a backsliding Christian is that of a person on a slippery slope, sliding down towards eternal separation from God, not knowing their end. 
 
The truth of the Hebrew word 'sarar' translated here as 'backsliding', is that it means 'stubborn, rebellious'. The word picture of Hosea 4:16 is not of an animal sliding backwards, but rather one digging in its heals while the master pulls the rope; a heifer or donkey sitting down refusing to move at all. One who backslides is one who has dug in their heels and refuses to move on even though the master is tugging at the rope to go with him. 
 
Have you ever been a backslider?
I think by that definition we've all been backsliders at one time or another. As they say, "If you don't feel as close to God as you used to, guess who moved?"
 
When you have a spot on clothing, all you see is the spot
The New Testament says our righteousness is spiritually speaking, white linen robes. This is seen in Revelation 19: 8: "The fine linen clean and white, is the righteousness of the saints."
 
These robes of white linen are seen also in Revelation 3: 4, 5 and 3: 18, 6: 11 and 7: 9-14. And these are the robes it says we have in Ephesians 5: 26-28 where it talks of a husband loving his wife as the Lord does the church, "that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it might be without spot or blemish..."
 
But consider the word picture of a robe of fine linen, without even a wrinkle or spot on it - that means it is possible to have such a robe with a wrinkle or spot on it. 
 
A spot doesn't ruin the garment, but when you get a spot on a clean outfit all you see is that spot. 
 
So it is the Lord on this side of heaven can deal with us on an issue we don't want to deal with, and we are like that stubborn mule sitting down, digging in its heels, refusing to move on the subject. The rest of the robe is fine - we love the Lord, we are all smiles, we see Him blessing us in this area and that.
 
If only He would leave us alone with that one spot on our garment. We don't want to do what is right in that one area. Now if we were to die in such a condition that one spot of stubbornness would be burned away like wood, hay, and stubble that Paul talks about in I Corinthians 3: 1-15 - we will be saved, but as one having come through a fire, for that dirt will be burned away that the garment may be clean and fresh.
 
Have you noticed what He deals with us about is very simple?
I remember one time Barb asking me to do something around the house that I didn't  want to do. I don't recall what it was now, but I remember the rebuke from the Lord I received about it. I think it was something I didn't feel was needed, or that she could do herself but didn't want to, and I sat refusing to move, complaining to the Lord about her. I was backsliding, digging in my heels. 
 
Suddenly the Lord said to me: "If I asked you to do it, would you do it?" I admitted hesitantly, 'Yes' because I knew I could never win an argument with the Lord. He then responded: "Very well then. I am asking you to do it, for I am in her. Now go do what she asks, for I am asking as well." (I obeyed)
 
It seems whatever the little spot on the linen is, it is always something simple, basic, just Jesus 101 so to speak. And it is so easy to 'backslide' about it - dig in our heels, sitting on our rump, refusing to move. 
 
Little things like making our relationship right with someone, things like give a friend a call to check up on them, things like forgive that person that hurt you. Simple, basic Christianity. 
 
Is it any wonder people run after the fun things instead? Doing the basic things is not something that is fun. It always involves crucifying the flesh. The temptation is to backslide, dig in our heels. 
 
Yet I've found if I concentrate on doing the simple basics of the faith, the rest falls into place. I find no desire to get into the peripheral things that mean nothing to my faith but serve only to kill time and stir me mentally. Godliness with contentment as Paul said, is great gain. There is such peace just doing the little things, the simple things, and walking with Him. New subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com
 

Hi all,
Late one night I was up praying, and suddenly I was in the Spirit, with the Lord standing before me in my living room. I could see Him and the natural things of my living room at the same time. He said, "I want to teach you how I teach people".
 
I knew some of the basics 
Mark 4: 33 says He taught them 'as they were able to receive it' - revealing He didn't then nor does He now, overwhelm us with things we are not able to understand nor walk in. And if we aren't ready for a truth, He withholds until we seek Him about it.
 
A good example of this is the baptism with the Holy Spirit. I was born again at age 16, but within weeks became frustrated over my lack of understanding of the Word and lack of power, but I didn't know anything else. I remember telling the Father one day: "I don't want to seem ungrateful Father, and I don't want to offend you, but is this all there is? I thought there'd be more." 
 
The next day my friend who led me to the Lord started talking to me about the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Up to the day before I hadn't even heard about it, but when she told me I'd be able to be taught by the Lord via the Holy Spirit and enter into a deeper realm, I was ready! He had caused her to wait until I was ready and able to receive information about it. He waited until I asked for more knowledge from Him - He didn't force a new teaching on me. 
 
This night the Lord taught me what sometimes happens when a person doesn't first repent before believing in Him.
 
John 3: 22-26 tells us John the Baptist is baptizing people in one place...
...and Jesus and His disciples are baptizing people in another place. We are told some of John's disciples were concerned because Jesus was drawing more people than John was, which is where John responded in part: "He must increase; I must decrease."
 
Chapter 4 starts this way: "So when the Lord learned that the Pharisees had been told that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), He left Judea and returned again to Galilee. Now He had to go through Samaria."
 
The Lord said He knew the Pharisees would not follow Him through Samaria, so He used it as a sort of filter so they would be forced to go back to John. It meant they had to return to John and his baptism of repentance. If He had let them, the Pharisees would have followed Jesus without first receiving the baptism of repentance from John. 
 
Every head bowed and every eye closed...
He then started talking about the modern western practice of raising the hand to 'accept Jesus', and how many never repent but go directly to being born again - never truly dealing with their heart about their past sinful life. That is what the Pharisees would have done - followed Jesus without ever having first repented of their sins. They would have held onto their sinful Pharisee way while 'accepting' Jesus - and that isn't right. 
 
The Lord's comment about how people today believe in Him without dealing with their previous life - repentance - means a person comes to the Lord with these past sin issues still present and occupying a place in their heart and lives. 
 
They aren't giving their lives to Jesus, rather they are inviting Jesus into their sinful life. That's backwards.
 
It means very often because they've not first repented but have gone right to Jesus, they will struggle with sin rather than being able to say 'No sin, I repented of you and have turned another way.' Many have not brought closure to their past life of sin when they come to Jesus, so they are constantly struggling between their former life and their new life in Christ. 
 
Consider the foundational teachings of the faith
As listed in Hebrews 6: 1-2: Repentance from dead works, faith toward God, teaching on baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement. 
 
Notice the progression from repentance from dead works to the end teaching on judgement. How many of us started with 'faith towards God', then to the baptisms of water and Holy Spirit, then to laying hands on people for healing or prayer, then to looking for heaven - without ever first having repented?
 
Is it any wonder many struggle with sin? The know deeper things in the Lord, yet still struggle with old sins because they never repented before coming to Jesus. 
 
It's not too late...
It is possible for a person who went right to Jesus without first repenting and coming to terms with their sinful past, to stop where they are right now, and repent of those things - even if that was 10 or 30 years ago. If you never stopped to really look at your sinful past, and repent of it to God the Father, to let that godly sorrow wash over them, then it might be a good thing to do so. And once done, move on. 
 
It can be a simple act over and done with in seconds - that moment you bring to remembrance your sinful past, and out loud tell the Father you repent of those sins - you turn from them in godly sorrow. He leaves the memory of our past with us that we not return to them, as a sort of warning. If not repented of they become temptations. That's how you'll know your heart on the matter. If you repented, the sins of the past are no longer temptations. If you still hold some lust for them in your heart, they will tempt you. Repent, then press toward the mark of the high call in Christ. 
 
In Acts 2: 38 when the people heard Peter's explanation of the day of Pentecost and asked what they needed to do to be saved, Peter said, 'Repent'. He didn't say 'believe', but 'repent' - repentance is the first word of salvation. Without it, a person may struggle with old sins throughout their new walk in Christ. Until next week, blessings,
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

Hi all,
More than any other time since I've been a disciple of the Lord I'm seeing believers who think they are mature because of the wealth of teachings available and what they think they know, yet they don't do the most basic teachings of Jesus - what I would call 'Jesus 101'. Entry level class to being a Christian. They are hypocrites of the highest order, yet as with most hypocrites, they don't see their own hypocrisy. 
 
Many of us have experienced being 'unfriended' on Facebook for example. And if you're a church-goer you've no doubt also experienced being 'unfriended' long before Facebook ever came around with that term, lol. The 'unfriending' of a fellow church friend or social media friend is a prime example of those who think they are mature but are in fact babes in Christ. 
 
What do you do when someone at church ends the friendship, or on social media you are unfriended and blocked?
 
Jesus' commands: Reconciliation is nearly always the goal
Jesus said in Matthew 5: 23-24 if you're at the altar to bring a gift to the Lord, but remember your brother has something against you, leave your gift and go be reconciled to your brother. 
 
In Matthew 18: 15 He said if your brother has trespassed against you, go to him privately and be reconciled. 
 
That's basic Jesus. Paul and James would emphasize the same thing in Galatians 6: 1-3 and James 5: 16 when they said to seek restoration with someone who has trespassed against us, and admit our mistakes to one another and pray for one another for healing of the relationship. 
 
Woven throughout the New Testament letters are commands to make allowances for one another, to love and forgive one another, to be diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, and so much more. The objective is always reconciliation. 
 
The only reasons given for not reconciling is the other person insists they are right and won't compromise, or they cause division and strife and hurt, or they refuse to reconcile, are going further into sin, or they teach error. (Matthew 18: 15-20, Galatians 6: 1-6, Romans 16: 17-18, II Timothy 2: 25-26)
 
Who obeys basic Jesus these days?
A typical Facebook unfriending goes something like this: A person gets a message from someone whose post they had responded to and they say something like: 'It seems you are always trying to correct me or point out what I did wrong or take offense, so I think it best we part friends'. And that is that. When the person responds they get a 'this person is not receiving messages right now' or other notice that they have cut off all possibility of contacting them. 
 
The person doing the unfriending does not follow Jesus' instructions about seeking reconciliation and trying to make peace, for they don't give the other person an opportunity to discover the issue and apologize.
 
I get many emails from people on the receiving end of such treatment; hurt, rejected, wondering what they did that was horrible enough to be 'unfriended and blocked'. The same unfriending happens in church. In fact unfriending on social media is just an extension of what existed in churches long before the computer age existed. 
 
Their issue is with Jesus
But if a person refuses to obey Jesus in a matter, there isn't much you can do about it. That is their wood, hay, and stubble they will carry into heaven to give account before the Lord. He will ask them why they didn't do what they knew was right. Their issue is truly with Him, not with you. 
 
And that is the take away today - when a person refuses to do something basic that is woven throughout scripture - their issue is with the Lord and their own heart. Somewhere deep inside they want to put themselves forth without any challenges or accountability to what they say. They want authority without responsibility. 
 
With the exceptions mentioned above, we should as much as is within our ability, seek to live peaceably as scripture says. But some find it easier to cut you out of their lives than to do the hard work of making peace. 
 
Jesus is always moving us towards being diligent to add to our faith moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, consistency, godliness, brotherly love, and unconditional love. He is always moving us into love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, meekness, kindness, faithfulness. 
 
If we move away from these qualities of character and soul, we move away from Him. Next week, a visitation where the Lord taught me how He deals with people who refuse to learn their lesson. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com