Hi all,
Water balloon fight
It was a hot summer day in Kokomo, Indiana and we neighborhood kids were having a water fight. The new innovation back then was the 'water balloon'. Far better than a garden hose which had to remain connected to the faucet, a water balloon could be transported anywhere the attacker wanted.
The Fenn house was always ground zero for neighborhood activity, but across the road and down 2 houses was the Spencer family and their 2 girls. Next to the Spencer house were their cousins, the Spencers, who had 2 boys. That particular day the 4 Spencers attacked the 3 Fenn boys with water balloons in our own yard! The challenge had to be met!
I wanted to make a statement, filling the largest balloon with as much water as it would hold. I could barely tie the knot as I half ran and half waddled to the Spencer yard.
I had seen Stacey Spencer run around the corner of her house, where their garden hose was attached to the spigot, so it was immediately clear to me that as I turned the corner of her house she was going to spray me in a surprise attack. My timing had to be perfect - I had to let the balloon fly just as I rounded the corner in order to soak her before she could react to squeeze the handle on the hose.
My timing was perfect: The water balloon was just leaving my hands as I rounded the corner, but instead of Stacey standing there, it was her mother, Jo, innocently going outside to check her garden! It was too late. The big balloon hit her nose, chin, and top of her chest in an explosion of water, drenching her face to waist.
Stacey stood at the door of her house behind her mother wide eyed and uttering an audible gasp. I froze in horror. It was then the air was split with a scream by Stacey's mom: "OH YOU Johnny Fenn what are you doing?! You come right here young man we are taking this to your mother!"
The whole counsel
Jo was short and heavy, but strong, and at this stage of growth I was already at least as tall as she was. She had a grip on my right arm a bull dog would have been proud of as we marched to my house.
There we stood, short little fat Jo, drenched head to waist, me at age 10 with downcast eyes, and my mom holding back her laugh as Jo rambled on at 110 decibels about how I attacked her.
My mom knew me. She immediately knew I had not maliciously nor purposely attacked Jo, and once Jo calmed down she realized it too. The reason is that they both knew me. I was a kid of my word and would never, ever, be disrespectful to my elders - and certainly never attack an adult with a water balloon.
I apologized soberly, but once the door was closed my mom and I had a good laugh and that was that. Three factors were involved: They knew my character, they knew my life (actions), and they knew me by my words. They looked at this one instance in time and measured it against the whole of my 10 years alive on planet earth. I had never disrespected my elders, had never lied, had never beaten anyone up - this single incident was such an exception to what they knew of me, it was clear it the whole thing was an accident.
Know the character
What my mother and Mrs. Spencer looked at was 'the whole counsel' of my life and words and actions, and that is why they instantly knew I had not purposely singled her out for a water balloon attack.
If we understand natural things like this, why is it we don't treat the Father and Lord Jesus the same way? Why do people pull a single scripture out of the Bible and say 'that's what God says' rather than look at His whole counsel as seen in the entirety of His life, words, and character?
Plead the blood?
Here is an example. Popularized by Kathryn Kuhlman in the 1960's and 70's and carried on in the charismatic movement of the 80's and 90's until it has become entrenched as gospel in some circles, is the practice of 'pleading the blood' when confronting demons. But is it what Jesus and the apostles taught and practiced? Does that belief stand against the 'whole counsel of God'?
What Jesus said and did
"And there was in the synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out...And Jesus rebuked him by saying; 'Be quiet and come out of him."' Mark 1:23-25
"You deaf and dumb spirit, come out of him and enter him no more." Mark 9:25
"And they brought to Him a man unable to talk, who had a demon. And when the demon was cast out the man spoke." Matthew 9:32-33
"And when He had called to Himself the 12 disciples He gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out." "And they returned with joy saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us through your name!'" Luke 9:1; 10:17
"And these signs will follow those who believe in my name; they will cast out demons..." Mark 16:16-17
"But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit; 'I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!'" Acts 16:18
So there you have it - that's the Word. Simply command the spirit to leave in the name of Jesus. Space doesn't allow me to list all the gospel passages, but they consistently say the same thing, that we are to just speak to demons and command them to leave. Period.
The purpose for the blood of Jesus, what the Word says
"Whom God put forward before the eyes of all as a mercy seat and (appeasing) by His blood, the life giving and cleansing sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation..." Romans 3:25
"Since we are justified by Christ's blood..." Romans 5:9
"He took the cup and said, 'This cup is the New Covenant ratified and established with my blood.'" I Corinthians 11:25
"In whom we have redemption through His blood..." Colossians 1:14
"He went...into the Holy of Holies of heaven...by His own blood, having secured a complete redemption for us..." Hebrews 9:25
"You were purchased with the precious blood of Christ..." I Peter 1:19
What the error says
The error that has been exalted above what the Word of God says, is that we may appropriate the precious and holy blood of Jesus which was poured out for us 2,000 years ago on the cross to pay for sin, to now (merely) ward off demons. As you can see above, the blood of Jesus had 1 use - to pay for our sin.
We may be 'covered' by the blood of Jesus, for we are born again, that much is true. But everywhere in scripture the blood of Jesus is elevated as holy and sacred an reverenced as the payment for sin. No where in the scripture does it teach nor do we see Christians appropriating that blood to fight demons.
Now you have a choice to make if you have believed 'pleading the blood' is a scriptural way of dealing with demons. You must think. You must weigh what Jesus taught about casting out demons by commanding them in His name, how He trained the disciples, how they followed His instructions to get rid of demonic attack, and add in the whole of God's counsel on what the blood of Sacrifice was for in chapter and verse, against what you have believed. Do you dig in your heels or do you adjust what you believe to the Word?
Talking straight, blunt, fact, not to hurt feelings
Consider - many write me asking why they don't have wonderful spiritual experiences, why doesn't God open their eyes to see demons and angels. I don't have all the answers, but consider this:
Have you ever had a teenager or friend who believes differently about life or an event, and you try to talk to them about the reality of what happened but are limited in what you can share because they stick to their version of events? What you can share with them is limited. The same with Jesus and us if we stick to believing something that isn't what He said or did or taught, He must withhold revelation and information because we hang on to our version rather than the truth.
If Jesus appeared to you and talked to you about the angelic and demonic realm, could you understand what He was saying, because what He would teach you would be what He taught in the gospels and practiced there. Could He trust you, or do you have so many layers of erroneous understanding you either wouldn't understand the pure Word or you'd filter it through that error in your thinking and mess up the visitation?
Today's points: The whole counsel of God and the Word over anyone else. Know His character, His actions, His Word. Be willing to change what you believe if it isn't chapter and verse.
Hope I didn't burst too many water balloons on people, but if you know me, you'll know it wasn't done maliciously, for the whole of my life, teachings, and practice will bear this out. Next week more nitty gritty teaching on how you may be entrusted of the Lord with greater revelation,
blessings,
John Fenn
www.supernaturalhousechurch.org
Water balloon fight
It was a hot summer day in Kokomo, Indiana and we neighborhood kids were having a water fight. The new innovation back then was the 'water balloon'. Far better than a garden hose which had to remain connected to the faucet, a water balloon could be transported anywhere the attacker wanted.
The Fenn house was always ground zero for neighborhood activity, but across the road and down 2 houses was the Spencer family and their 2 girls. Next to the Spencer house were their cousins, the Spencers, who had 2 boys. That particular day the 4 Spencers attacked the 3 Fenn boys with water balloons in our own yard! The challenge had to be met!
I wanted to make a statement, filling the largest balloon with as much water as it would hold. I could barely tie the knot as I half ran and half waddled to the Spencer yard.
I had seen Stacey Spencer run around the corner of her house, where their garden hose was attached to the spigot, so it was immediately clear to me that as I turned the corner of her house she was going to spray me in a surprise attack. My timing had to be perfect - I had to let the balloon fly just as I rounded the corner in order to soak her before she could react to squeeze the handle on the hose.
My timing was perfect: The water balloon was just leaving my hands as I rounded the corner, but instead of Stacey standing there, it was her mother, Jo, innocently going outside to check her garden! It was too late. The big balloon hit her nose, chin, and top of her chest in an explosion of water, drenching her face to waist.
Stacey stood at the door of her house behind her mother wide eyed and uttering an audible gasp. I froze in horror. It was then the air was split with a scream by Stacey's mom: "OH YOU Johnny Fenn what are you doing?! You come right here young man we are taking this to your mother!"
The whole counsel
Jo was short and heavy, but strong, and at this stage of growth I was already at least as tall as she was. She had a grip on my right arm a bull dog would have been proud of as we marched to my house.
There we stood, short little fat Jo, drenched head to waist, me at age 10 with downcast eyes, and my mom holding back her laugh as Jo rambled on at 110 decibels about how I attacked her.
My mom knew me. She immediately knew I had not maliciously nor purposely attacked Jo, and once Jo calmed down she realized it too. The reason is that they both knew me. I was a kid of my word and would never, ever, be disrespectful to my elders - and certainly never attack an adult with a water balloon.
I apologized soberly, but once the door was closed my mom and I had a good laugh and that was that. Three factors were involved: They knew my character, they knew my life (actions), and they knew me by my words. They looked at this one instance in time and measured it against the whole of my 10 years alive on planet earth. I had never disrespected my elders, had never lied, had never beaten anyone up - this single incident was such an exception to what they knew of me, it was clear it the whole thing was an accident.
Know the character
What my mother and Mrs. Spencer looked at was 'the whole counsel' of my life and words and actions, and that is why they instantly knew I had not purposely singled her out for a water balloon attack.
If we understand natural things like this, why is it we don't treat the Father and Lord Jesus the same way? Why do people pull a single scripture out of the Bible and say 'that's what God says' rather than look at His whole counsel as seen in the entirety of His life, words, and character?
Plead the blood?
Here is an example. Popularized by Kathryn Kuhlman in the 1960's and 70's and carried on in the charismatic movement of the 80's and 90's until it has become entrenched as gospel in some circles, is the practice of 'pleading the blood' when confronting demons. But is it what Jesus and the apostles taught and practiced? Does that belief stand against the 'whole counsel of God'?
What Jesus said and did
"And there was in the synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out...And Jesus rebuked him by saying; 'Be quiet and come out of him."' Mark 1:23-25
"You deaf and dumb spirit, come out of him and enter him no more." Mark 9:25
"And they brought to Him a man unable to talk, who had a demon. And when the demon was cast out the man spoke." Matthew 9:32-33
"And when He had called to Himself the 12 disciples He gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out." "And they returned with joy saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us through your name!'" Luke 9:1; 10:17
"And these signs will follow those who believe in my name; they will cast out demons..." Mark 16:16-17
"But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit; 'I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!'" Acts 16:18
So there you have it - that's the Word. Simply command the spirit to leave in the name of Jesus. Space doesn't allow me to list all the gospel passages, but they consistently say the same thing, that we are to just speak to demons and command them to leave. Period.
The purpose for the blood of Jesus, what the Word says
"Whom God put forward before the eyes of all as a mercy seat and (appeasing) by His blood, the life giving and cleansing sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation..." Romans 3:25
"Since we are justified by Christ's blood..." Romans 5:9
"He took the cup and said, 'This cup is the New Covenant ratified and established with my blood.'" I Corinthians 11:25
"In whom we have redemption through His blood..." Colossians 1:14
"He went...into the Holy of Holies of heaven...by His own blood, having secured a complete redemption for us..." Hebrews 9:25
"You were purchased with the precious blood of Christ..." I Peter 1:19
What the error says
The error that has been exalted above what the Word of God says, is that we may appropriate the precious and holy blood of Jesus which was poured out for us 2,000 years ago on the cross to pay for sin, to now (merely) ward off demons. As you can see above, the blood of Jesus had 1 use - to pay for our sin.
We may be 'covered' by the blood of Jesus, for we are born again, that much is true. But everywhere in scripture the blood of Jesus is elevated as holy and sacred an reverenced as the payment for sin. No where in the scripture does it teach nor do we see Christians appropriating that blood to fight demons.
Now you have a choice to make if you have believed 'pleading the blood' is a scriptural way of dealing with demons. You must think. You must weigh what Jesus taught about casting out demons by commanding them in His name, how He trained the disciples, how they followed His instructions to get rid of demonic attack, and add in the whole of God's counsel on what the blood of Sacrifice was for in chapter and verse, against what you have believed. Do you dig in your heels or do you adjust what you believe to the Word?
Talking straight, blunt, fact, not to hurt feelings
Consider - many write me asking why they don't have wonderful spiritual experiences, why doesn't God open their eyes to see demons and angels. I don't have all the answers, but consider this:
Have you ever had a teenager or friend who believes differently about life or an event, and you try to talk to them about the reality of what happened but are limited in what you can share because they stick to their version of events? What you can share with them is limited. The same with Jesus and us if we stick to believing something that isn't what He said or did or taught, He must withhold revelation and information because we hang on to our version rather than the truth.
If Jesus appeared to you and talked to you about the angelic and demonic realm, could you understand what He was saying, because what He would teach you would be what He taught in the gospels and practiced there. Could He trust you, or do you have so many layers of erroneous understanding you either wouldn't understand the pure Word or you'd filter it through that error in your thinking and mess up the visitation?
Today's points: The whole counsel of God and the Word over anyone else. Know His character, His actions, His Word. Be willing to change what you believe if it isn't chapter and verse.
Hope I didn't burst too many water balloons on people, but if you know me, you'll know it wasn't done maliciously, for the whole of my life, teachings, and practice will bear this out. Next week more nitty gritty teaching on how you may be entrusted of the Lord with greater revelation,
blessings,
John Fenn
www.supernaturalhousechurch.org
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