Tag Archive: Christian Love


Jesus, the Fulfilment of the Law

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August 13, 2013

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

Jesus, the Fulfillment of the Law

Jesus said:

17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

One has to ask the question, what does Jesus mean when He said: ‘to fulfill?’  A definition found in an online dictionary provides insight.

ful·fill also ful·fil  (fl-fl)

tr.v. ful·filled, ful·fill·ing, ful·fills also ful·fils

1. To bring into actuality; effect: fulfilled their promises.

2. To carry out (an order, for example).

3. To measure up to; satisfy. See Synonyms at perform, satisfy.

4. To bring to an end; complete.

So based on this definition we can see that Jesus is saying that the law and the prophets must bring their promises to actuality. Therefore, prophetic prophesy must become a reality and God’s intention for the law, (to make covenant with the people and to dwell with them on Earth) is realized.

The Fulfillment of the Prophetic Promise

What this means is that an order made to deliver something has to be carried out. So when the words of God are delivered by one of His prophets, the fulfillment comes when his statement becomes a reality.

In the case of the law, it is fulfilled when the purpose of the law is achieved. The purpose of the Ten Commandments was to change the behavior of Israel such that would enable them to enter into a covenant relationship with the Father, in which He would be able to dwell with them as He did in the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve in the Garden

Adam and Eve in the Garden

The Promises of God must be brought to an end by way of Competition

So, in these two cases, the fulfillment of God promises must come to pass. Therefore, the prophetic message has to become reality. The people’s promise to abide to the commandments delivered by Moses must be achieved.

Those things that once existed in the law for example, must be brought to an end.  Jesus is the fulfillment of the law as He was able to live in accord with the law. Because He lived a perfect life He was able to dwell on Earth with men, being God and therefore fulfilling the promise of the law and the Mosaic covenant.

Moses and the Ten Comandments

Moses and the Ten Comandments

For those who believe in Him He is the fulfillment of the Tabernacle’s function and purpose. He has fulfilled the rigid rules of the law by simply commanding us to love on another as He loved us. He has fulfilled the blood sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin with the blood sacrifice of His own body and blood. For those who believe in Him, He has fulfilled the Mosaic covenant with the New Covenant of His body and blood.

God gave Moses the specifications for building the Tabernacle and therefore it was built in accord with a heavenly model.

Jesus, Moses Discuss the Fulfilment of Tabernacle Prophesy

Jesus, Moses Discuss the Fulfillment of Tabernacle Prophesy

As such it has to also be fulfilled in the life and words of Jesus. In addition, the portion of the law that provided guidance for the priest who provided services at the Tabernacle who also have to be fulfilled as well. In fact, every component and every object found in the Tabernacle must have their promise fulfilled in the life of Jesus. In thinking about the Tabernacle in this way we see it as a prophetic blueprint for the future. This blueprint when fulfilled results in God dwelling with men in such a way that all of its functions, purpose, and attributes of it are realized. The good news is that Jesus fulfills all of these conditions and we therefore can validate that He is the Christ.

This web site goes into great detail demonstrating this truth by referencing scripture. Go to our home page (https://possessthevision.wordpress.com/) to access the index into our writings on these subjects.

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God’s Promise is the Basis of Our Relationship

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August 23, 2012

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

​This posting is the third in a series of communications that look at God’s deliberate actions to reunite with His people. In our first posting we established that it is God’s desire to once again dwell with His people as He did with Adam and Eve in the Garden. Our second posting provided a generalized outline that demonstrated God’s repeated efforts to reunite with us. Today, we will look at one of God’s most influential covenants, one that became the foundation for the three most prevalent religions of the world today.

So, lets find out more about this covenant by looking at the 17th chapter of the Book of Genesis. As many portions of this scripture are prophetic of Jesus, I have inserted notes to identify them. I hope to be drilling down into them in future postings.

A Meeting Of Abraham And Melchizedek

The Covenant of Circumcision

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless (as Jesus walked before the Father and was blameless). 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers (as Jesus made a new covenant with us and greatly increased the numbers of those who walk before the Father and are blameless because of the shed blood of Jesus).”

3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations (as Jesus is the Father of all Christianity). 5 No longer will you be called Abram (Jesus); your name will be Abraham (the Christ), for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan (the Promised Land where there are many mansions) where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God. ”

9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant (the new covenant is a covenant of selfless love), you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised (symbolic of casting away ones own flesh). 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you (as our love for one another is a sign to others that we follow Jesus.) 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant. ” 15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” 17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.

I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. 23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day.

27 And every male in Abraham’s household , including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

What does the Covenant of Circumcision Mean to us?

Now while this seems like a nice story on the surface, it is very profound when you start to think about what happened here. God communicates with a 100-year-old man whose wife is barren and tells him that he is going to be the father of many generations. How many 100-year-old men do you know that have fathered a child? Most people would say that such a thing is highly improbable. Then God tells Him that His barren 90-year-old wife is to be the one who is going to give birth to his male child. I believe that this is an even more unlikely possibility. So we have a situation here that is doubly improbable, and even impossible to most people I know. Certainly, it would take an act of God to make these promises a reality and we find that Abraham has so much faith that he immediately follow His direction.

From my point of view the act of circumcision that Abraham performed is so contrary to the basic nature of man that I would also believe them impossible. Most men would most likely say something like, “What, are you kidding?” To cut the flesh off the tip of the organ that represents manhood, and throw it away as worthless is counter intuitive from my point of view. To start with, just think of the pain associated with this procedure. I might be able to believe that Abraham would be willing to circumcise himself, but then how did he convince the other members of his family to do so as well? Let’s internalize this for a moment. Visualize in your mind a situation where a member of your family comes to you and proclaims that they have heard from God and that all the men in their family were required to have a portion of their sexual organ cut off as a result. What would you say? Most likely you would say, “you are as crazy as a loon.” So once again we see a circumstance that appears quite impossible, but despite this Abraham does not even question the point with God, but rather simply complies and get’s his family to do so as well. How great a faith is that? For this reason, several of the New Testament scriptures proclaim that Abraham was deemed righteous based of his faith alone.

So when we look at this from a standpoint of God’s promise being the basis of our relationship, what we see is just another example of God directing His people in a way that leads them back into a relationship with Him. God trying to lead us back into a relationship like He had with Adam and Eve in the Garden.

Adam and Eve in the Garden

In this scripture we find God leading Abraham toward the promised land (Canna), where He planned to dwell with his people from inside the Tabernacle that would be built later by Moses. As we have reported several times, the actions reported in these stories are physical in their nature. They are in fact parables or stories that are told to communicate a spiritual message (one that we can not easily understand), by using analogies taken from the physical world that we understand very well. So for example, God’s directing Abraham to the promised land is simply a parable to communicate that there is a spiritual promised land (heaven or the Garden), that we can aspire toward inhabiting. Jesus reaffirmed this concept on several occasions when he spoke about the kingdom of heaven. Just prior to the ascension of Jesus into heaven He told the apostles that he was leaving to prepare a place for them, one that had many mansions.

The Ascension of Jesus

The bottom line here is that the actions of Abraham to God’s message are prophetic of the life, word and actions of Jesus Christ in every way.

So for example, the act of circumcision, or the cutting away of a man’s flesh serves several points. First, it points to our spiritual nature and tells us that the flesh profits us nothing (like Jesus told us). It also tells us that a sacrifice of the flesh is necessary to live in covenant with God, and this makes it easier for us to understand why Jesus had to sacrifice His life on the cross so that we could live under the new covenant, a spiritual covenant.

It tells us that there is nothing that is impossible for God and that it is in times like these, when things seem hopeless that God comes through. It teaches us that no matter how crazy the things of God may seem to the rest of the world, we must keep our faith and follow His direction. It also communicates that we must display a visible sign so that the world will know that we belong to God. In Abaraham’s day the sign was circumcision and today it is our love for one another. Therefore it is critical that people can tell that we are followers of Jesus by simply being with them.

But all of this is contingent upon us being able to hear from God directly and being sure that we can recognise His voice. So let’s take a look at this and all the other items identified here in greater detail. We will start this communication in our next postings.

Untill then, may all of God’s blessing be upon you.

Papa Joe Gordon

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God Wants to Dwell with us!

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June 29, 2012

 

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

God Wants to Dwell with us!

This posting is the first of a series of communications that look at the actions of God that have repeatedly resulted in the creation of opportunities for Him to dwell with His people. In this regard we see that He created the Garden of Eden expressly for this purpose.

The Garden Of Eden

Later, He instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle to bring His people into closer relationship with Him.

The Glory Cloud Covers the Tabernacle

God then sent His Son who lived with us on earth. He established a new covenant that included a promise that we all have the opportunity to dwell with Him forever in paradise.

Jesus Arises to Heaven

Jesus Arises to Heaven – Mansions in the Background

We initiate this new section because we believe that the actions of God reveal His love for us. The actions of God’s people to His direction are prophetic of the walk of the Christian nation today. We believe that the prior actions of God and His people are often predictors of what is to come. Therefore, we believe that they are prophetic messages are applicable to every church, ministry and individual seeking to carry on the ministry of Jesus. We hope to be able to demonstrate this as we move forward.

Today we start at the beginning in the book of Genesis with the creation of the Garden of Eden, (a place where God could dwell with His people.) I have attached Genesis: 2 (from biblegateway.com) to allow the reader to see what God created for man:

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created [a] and made.

4 [b] This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. 5  Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to [c]cultivate the ground. 6 But a [d]mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole[e]surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living [f]being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 Now a river [g]flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four[h]rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it [i]flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it [j]flows around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is [k] Tigris; it [l]flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the [m] Euphrates.

15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not [n]eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper[o]suitable for him.” 19  Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the [p]sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the [q]sky, and to every beast of the field, but for [r]Adam there was not found a helper[s] suitable for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 The Lord God [t]fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said,

“ This is now bone of my bones,

And flesh of my flesh;

[u]She shall be called [v]Woman,

Because [w]she was taken out of [x]Man.”

24  For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25  And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

 
From all of this we can say that it was God’s desire to have a place for us to live that was filled with all the good things that man needed. A place where God the Father could dwell with us and develop a relationship with us. God gave us a purpose and gave us dominion over everything in the garden. It is obvious from all of this that God loves us and wants to dwell with us forever in this paradise. This scripture tells us that this paradise is the end result that God wants for all of us. Even now, He is leading us to choose the Tree of Life (His Son Jesus) so that we can obtain this destiny.

The Ascension of Jesus

Further proof of God’s desire to restore the the Garden of Eden for us is found in the 21st chapter of the book of The Revelations of Jesus Christ:

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will [a] dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them[b], 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

Therefore, this current environment that we live in pass away and God will once again create a new place for us to dwell with Him, exactly like it was in the beginning. People who take up their cross for Jesus can become a part of the New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven as a bride. Jesus is the Tabernacle of God (see the-tabernacle-is-prophetic-of-jesus) who then dwells among men.

So, as we stated in the beginning, the scriptures taken from Genesis are prophetic of the actions predicted in the book of Revelations. We can believe that this is true because of the other  attempts to do this are recorded in the Bible. Certainly, the Tabernacle was built to be a place where God could dwell on earth with man (the-tabernacle-is-prophetic-of-jesus.) Ultimately, Jesus came and dwelt with us on Earth. Therefore, the prophetic value of the scriptures pertaining to God’s desire to be with us is confirmed. As a result, we can have confidence that the promises of God’s continued efforts will be in our future.

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Jesus Wants us to Follow Him

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January 31, 2012

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

Jesus Wants us to Follow Him

I suspect that every real Christian knows that Jesus wants us to follow Him. It seems however that we sometimes wind us right where we started. In fact, it even happened to the disciples such that Jesus had to come to them after the Crucifixion to get them moving in the right direction. We find this story by looking at the 21st chapter of the Book of John:

Jesus Appears at the Sea of Galilee

1 After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter *said to them, “I am going fishing.” They *said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.

4 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 So Jesus *said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.” 6 And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. 7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved *said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.

9 So when they got out on the land, they *saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread. 10 Jesus *said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.” 11 Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.

Jesus is the Light of the Wordl

12 Jesus *said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord. 13 Jesus *came and *took the bread and *gave it to them, and the fish likewise. 14 This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.

Jesus at the Tomb

So, what we find here is that four of Jesus’ closest disciples had gone back to where they had been when Jesus recruited them many years prior. Peter, Andrew, John and James were all fishermen. The 4th chapter of Matthew tells us this quite clearly:

18 Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. 21 Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

So based on this we can see that these four disciples started as fishermen and then returned to fishing after the death and Resurrection of Jesus. Jesus singles out Peter because he is the one that is the leader of the group. He gives Peter a message that no Christian would like to hear. This message is recorded in the 21st chapter of John:

The Love Motivation

15 So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus *said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Tend My lambs.” 16 He *said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” 17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep. 

Jesus the Good Shepherd

18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” 19 Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He *said to him, “Follow Me!”

This is  what Jesus want of all of us. So, if we find ourselves back doing the same things that we did prior to our commitment to Him, then we would do well to heed His words and follow Him. Here are a few messages that He gave to us that support the messages above:

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. (Matt 16:24)

 

Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matt 19:21)

Jesus *said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”  (John 21:22)

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What did Jesus mean when He Spoke about Judgment?

Filed under: Christian Love, forgiveness, Jesus, judgment, judgment day, the judgment — 2 Comments
January 9, 2012

 

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

 

What did Jesus mean when He Spoke about Judgment?

I read the following scripture this morning that pertained to judgment. The scripture is from Matt 7:

 1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

I have previously written about the subject of “judgment” several times. Quite frankly, much of this writing communicated my personal Judgment Day experiences at a time that I was near death. These experiences were spiritual in nature and are fascinating in that they reveal the truth about what lies on the other side of this life. If you would like to read about these experiences you can follow the following hyperlinks to them:

Judgment-Day

Reliving-my-sins-before-the-Judgment-Seat-of-Christ

Gods-Question-on-Judgment-Day

Opening-the-Books-on-Judgment-Day

Repentance-Brings-Salvation-Even-on-Judgment-Day

The Judgment Seat of Christ

I have also written about Judgment from a definitional point of view. In it I stated that there are two components of Judgment. In one we attempt to determine the truth and then determine the guilt or innocence of the accused.  If found guilty then the second component of judgment is invoked, which is the punishment for the offence.

So, when we look to the scripture presented above, we should ask ourselves what component(s) of judgment is Jesus speaking about? It certainly can not be about knowing the truth as the Holy Spirit often gives us discernment about such things. In addition, we could also be an eye-witness to the act and therefore know the truth. Is Jesus asking us not to be such a witness? Certainly not! Therefore Jesus must be talking about the delivery of punishment to others. 

The words of Jesus are quite powerful here. What they reveal is that if we can simply stop punishing others for their offences, then God will refrain from punishing us at the Judgment Day. This is an amazing promise because it directly impacts our eternity. What is even more amazing is what Jesus does not say. So for example, He makes no reference to any sin that may have committed in our lifetime. In fact, He does not communicate any other condition that would prevent anyone from being free from His Judgment. Simply put, punish not and you will not be punished.

In essence, we then become our own judge, in that how we deal with others will determine our fate. The measure we use to determine an offence worthy of punishment is the measure that will be used to determine our own guilt. The severity of our actions will determine how we are treated.

Jesus on the Cross

Why would this be? I believe that it is because it requires an extraordinary kind of love to do something like this, but it is precisely this kind of love that God desires from us. Jesus commanded us to Love one another as He loved us and we know that the love He gave us was His life on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. This is the ultimate love; to give up ones life so that others may live forever with God. This is the love that God wants from us!

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Moving Toward a Closer Relationship with God

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October 24, 2011

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

Moving Toward a Closer Relationship with God

There are three distinct levels of relationship that man can achieve with God, and each has its own set of unique benefits and rewards. Interestingly, they are not well understood by many Christians and this often leads to disappointment as some enter into ministry unprepared. One of the fundamentals to entering into ministry is to have an established relationship with God. The reason for this is that the ministry of Jesus is spiritual warfare and as such, one confronts the evil principalities and powers of the spiritual world. As in all warfare, the fighters are in danger of being attacked and possibly loosing their lives. Running into a battlefield unprepared is foolish. Winning battles requires soldiers that have been well trained, well equipped and well directed. This is why Paul made the following proclamation in his letter to the Ephesians:

 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.


14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; 18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints— 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

The body of Christ - On Earth as it is Heaven

But all of this requires preparation. Going out and buying a helmet, a flack jacket and a rifle will not make you a soldier. Intense training is required as is proper leadership. It this regard we look to Jesus and His Holy Spirit. The life of Jesus, His words and actions as recorded in the Bible are all examples of spiritual warfare. In His words and actions we can clearly see how they differ from ours. The journey toward God requires a transformation from our nature to His. When we are adequately prepared the Holy Spirit will lead us into the battle just as He led Jesus. The Holy Spirit will lead us to become like Him. This is confirmed in the following scriptures:

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden (Matt 5:14).

Jesus the Light of the World is Transfigured before His Disciples

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father (John 14:11-13).

Since everyone is created with a purpose, our relationship with God substantially affects our ability to complete our mission and destiny with God. As we uncover the basic principles of relationship with God, what we find is that in order to move closer to God we must go through a metamorphous in which we change our nature from what we were to an entirely new creature whose has conformed to God. In essence, the pupa becomes the butterfly in the eyes of God.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new (2 Cor. 5:17).

The transformation often requires a true heart, a burning desire to develop a relationship with God and in some cases a substantial effort that in some cases can take years. In essence, there is a calling to complete the baptismal promise of our childhood by conforming our mind, heart and spirit to God, so that we become effective in achieving our purpose in life.   

The bottom line here is that understanding the types of relationships possible with God means that if you are sincerely seeking Jesus you will then find the pathway that leads to a closer relationship with Him and you will find the breakthroughs and receive the protection you may be praying for.

Jesus is the Light of the Wordl

With that said, lets start by looking at what these levels are, what they mean and then identify the path to moving toward a closer relationship with God.  

The three levels of relationship possible with God are; A relationship of grace, a relationship of empowerment and a relationship of covenant. At a very basic level, the Relationship of Grace has been established as we proclaim that Jesus is God’s Son, who gave up His life for us as redemption for our sins. So, in effect, establishment of this relationship only requires our sincere proclamation of our belief in Jesus. Once this relationship has been established, the serious work of moving toward our baptism is conducted and this work is the preparatory work required to establish a relationship of empowerment, which is the next level of relationship. Once this level has been achieved, our relationship with the Father become personal, our pathway becomes illuminated and our prayers and actions become effective in bringing down the powers of evil. The final level is the establishment of a relationship of Covenant. At this level our relationship with God is as a precious friend that has the confidence of God. People like Moses and Elijah would fall into this category. Peter, John and Andrew would also qualify as Jesus had twelve disciples but only three saw the transfiguration on the mountain. At this level we talk to God face to face and we have the support of God’s angels in our ministry.

As we move forward in subsequent postings I will drill down on these levels and how one can work toward achieving a closer relationship with God. By the way, it should be noted that all of this work has been derived from a study of the Tabernacle that was built to the specifications of God to become the place where God would dwell with His people. The discovery of this study was that every component and object found in the Tabernacle is prophetic of Jesus and His words and actions on earth. Most of the blog posting contained in this web site have been devoted to this subject.

Jesus, Moses Discuss the Fulfilment of Tabernacle Prophesy

So please feel to go to our home page to find an indexed into the components of this study that you may be interested in. Alternatively, use the search box on this page.

God bless you.

Papa Joe Gordon

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The Work of the Holy Spirit in Ministry – Modern Day Miracles

Filed under: Faith, Jesus, Ministry, Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare, the Holy Spirit, Unity — 2 Comments
June 24, 2011

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

The Work of the Holy Spirit in Ministry – Modern Day Miracles

When our church decided to launch a program to increase membership, they secured speaking engagements from a number of well-known evangelists and pastors and offered special church services over a single weekend. To ensure that the public knew about the opportunity, they invested in an advertising campaign.

The church wanted everyone who attended these special events to get the message of our church out to our community. Therefore, they set up a number of tables just outside the church to sell books, videos, audiotapes, and other religious items. I had been asked to work the table that offered videotapes of a famous evangelist. In the course of the assignment, I struck up a conversation with an interesting man who came by the table. He mentioned that he had a food distribution ministry and had connections with several salmon companies in Alaska. These companies had a unique situation.

 

Due to government regulations, the fishermen had to collectively limit the amount of fish they sold each day. If they caught more than the legal limit on any given day, they had to dispose of the excess fish. This typically resulted in taking the excess fish back out to sea and dumping them in the ocean. As a result, the fishermen were dumping large volumes of fish back into the ocean on a regular basis. Now, this is where the opportunity came in. Although they could not sell the excess fish, they were allowed to donate it to a charitable organization. This was where his ministry came into play. He said that he worked with a number of people who would process and freeze the fish and others who would deliver it, all for free. I thought that this could be a great opportunity for our church food distribution program. This man seemed like a nice person, but I decided to check him out before doing anything. I asked him if he had worked with anyone else in our area. He mentioned two organizations, one about which he had many great things to say. He indicated that this organization was led by the Holy Spirit, and that the anointing there was unbelievable. The name of this organization is Friend Ships.

 

I was very impressed with what he told me about Friend Ships, so I called them and set up an appointment to meet one of their representatives. I also arranged for Johnnie, Wanda, and two other couples to see this organization with us. One day after work we drove over to the Friend Ships’ warehouse on the Long Beach docks. We entered the office area but found that the person we were scheduled to meet with was not there for some reason. However, there was another man there who seemed very interested in us. He introduced himself as Don Tipton. We were soon to find out that he was founder and leader of the Friend Ships organization. What an amazing and rare organization Friend Ships turned out to be.  At that time they did not ask for money. In fact, they operated very well with little money because every worker was a volunteer. No one was paid a salary, including Don and his wife, Sondra.

 

One thing that we noticed while we were there was that there was a lack of any organizational structure and minimal planning activities. I thought that anyone who came here from corporate America would be amazed at how this group got anything done at all. The irony of all of this was their tremendous ability to deliver food, supplies, equipment, and all sorts of other things to people who really needed it. This was all explained by the fact that they had a secret weapon—their faith in Jesus Christ. They simply stepped out in faith and trusted in God for what they needed. Time after time they watched in awe as God came through again and again.

 

Remember: Peter Walked on Water until he Doubted

Let me give you an example. They had a food distribution program in which they collected and distributed food for the poor each Saturday morning. Amazingly, they did not make any arrangements for people to bag the food into distribution packets so that the food could be easily passed out to the poor and needy. People just showed up. The right number of people showed up at just the right time to get the job done. They trusted in God, and God delivered.

 

The entire operation was run this way—on God power. There was something special about Don that I liked right away. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy. He had seen it all, and he was serious about his commitment to God. He told us a story of how he brought his wife to Jesus prior to their marriage. They had read the entire Bible together, and once they did, the call of God became clear to them, and they went into full-time ministry.

 

They sold their Beverly Hill’s polo field and other businesses and started their ministry by simply stepping out in faith. Their vision was to collect surplus food from the wealthiest country in the world—the United States of America—and distribute it to the poor and the hungry people of the world.

 

Don told us all about their ministry, and how they got started. For example, he told us a story of how their first ship was donated to them. Soon after they had entered full-time ministry, they found their heart was for the poor and starving people all over the world. But to care for them, they would require a ship to transport goods they had collected to the places where people needed them. So, they started praying for an ocean-going ship, but nothing happened at first. Consequently, they said to themselves, we must step out in faith and start looking at ships that are for sale.

 

One day Don went to look at a 300-foot ocean transport ship. The owner took him on a tour of the ship showing him everything it had to offer. After the tour, the owner invited Don to have a cup of coffee with him, and they sat down to talk. The owner was obviously very interested in selling the ship, and he immediately started to negotiate the price with Don. This, however, made Don uncomfortable because he did not know how to tell the man he didn’t have the money to buy it. Eventually, he told the owner that he ran a food distribution ministry and hoped that he would donate the ship to them. The owner agreed immediately. All he had to do was to come over the following day and sign the papers. That is how Friend Ships got into the shipping business. They stepped out in faith, and God delivered.

 

But now they had to find a place to store the items to be shipped when the ship was out to sea making deliveries. They found a warehouse that was not being used and got permission from the owner to use it rent free until he could sell it. That owner sold the property after six months, but the new owner extended the agreement with them until he could lease the warehouse to someone else. The result was that they were able to use the warehouse for an additional eighteen months prior to finding their next warehouse in Los Angeles.

 

Again, they stepped out in faith and God delivered. This kind of thing was the norm for this ministry. There are so many stories like this about Friend Ships. Miracles prevented disaster, money was given just when they needed it, and skilled people like retired naval officers showed up saying that God sent them.

 

Don explained that their food collection depended on what the local businesses gave them. They also worked with church groups and other individuals to distribute the food locally to the poor. Clearly, God was blessing this ministry. Don explained all of this as he escorted us through the warehouse. We got to see, first hand, all the items that they had collected and eventually would be shipped overseas. The items consisted of all of the things that are needed to support a community including —school desks, fire fighting equipment, and medical equipment. The Holy Spirit was overseeing it all. Pat and I broke off from the group for a while and walked through all three floors of the warehouse, crying like babies most of the time. We were humbled how God had supported this ministry.

 

Don took us out to the dock where the newest of their three ships was being renovated for duty. The ship was longer than a football field and more than five stories above the water line. The ship was being renovated to become a floating hospital. Their plan was to bring the ship into various ports around the world to deliver medical attention to the poor. As they brought people aboard ship for treatment, there would be opportunity to tell them about Jesus. We walked through the ship and found a great number of people working to convert it for her new mission. I thought: the ship is huge, what a job it is going to be to make her ready for the mission.

 

The Holy Spirit was on the ship as well. Don brought us to one of the finished meeting rooms and led us in prayer. I believe that every one of us had tears in our eyes in the midst of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. What a pleasure to find a ministry working under the pure guidance and direction of God. I guess that you could say that we got more than we bargained for, but somewhere along the way we did manage to ask Don about the man who had the salmon fish distribution ministry. He indicated that he knew him, and he had been there to visit with them but they had only gotten a couple hundred pounds of fish from him.

 

Subsequently, this information did not sway us one way or the other. We did not get what we went for, but God delivered what He wanted us to have. He was providing information once-again. This time it was to see how He worked with His people. He showed us a ministry that was His ministry. It ran with volunteer help and required very little money. It was a ministry that was directed by the Holy Spirit with little planning and organization. This ministry just stepped out in faith and learned to depend on Him. He showed us that miracles are still happening today. God has a heart for the poor and the needy. He showed us a ministry focused on building communities and enabling people to better care for their families. If you would like to know more about the Friend Ships ministry, read the book entitled, Jesus and Company—Part 1 by Don and Sondra Tipton. Information on how to order the book or learn more about the ministry is on the Internet. Simply go to http://friendships.org/

 

Thank you, Don and Sondra, for being such a true example of what it means to be a Christian.

 

Subsequently, this information did not sway us one way or the other. We did not get what we went for, but God delivered what He wanted us to have. He was providing information once-again. This time it was to see how He worked with His people. He showed us a ministry that was His ministry. It ran with volunteer help and required very little money. It was a ministry that was directed by the Holy Spirit with little planning and organization. This ministry just stepped out in faith and learned to depend on Him. He showed us that miracles are still happening today. God has a heart for the poor and the needy. He showed us a ministry focused on building communities and enabling people to better care for their families. If you would like to know more about the Friend Ships ministry, read the book entitled, Jesus and Company—Part 1 by Don and Sondra Tipton. Information on how to order the book or learn more about the ministry is on the Internet. Simply go to http://friendships.org/

 

Thank you, Don and Sondra, for being such a true example of what it means to be a Christian.

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PROPHESIES OF PROVISION

Filed under: Christian Education, Ministry, Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare, Unity — 3 Comments
June 13, 2011

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

 

Read the truly amazing life story about how the forces of good and evil battle over a man and the vision that God gives him. Joseph W. Gordon’s Possess the Vision (Xulon Press, $12.95, 140 pages, ISBN 1-59781-205-6) tells about the mysterious spiritual experiences that occur throughout his lifetime.

PROPHESIES OF PROVISION

 

Our past set of postings has proposed that a universal technology be developed and deployed with the purpose to unite and empower Christians around the world. This technology is to be built and established by Christians for Christians. It is designed to help usher in the kingdom of God by supporting the growth and development of all Christian churches, missions, and peoples. It is to be a tool to enable Christians to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ more effectively and, in so doing, become more fruitful as a people. Fundamentally, this technology is to be a tool to help Christians work together in the ministry of improving the world around them; by helping the poor and disenfranchised better take care of their families.

 

With this being said, God started to talk to me about His provision and support for the vision through the prophetic. This started one Sunday when a visiting pastor pulled me out of the congregation and gave me a message from God that was so accurate that it could only have come from God. The things that he told me were not only incredible but they revealed things that only I could have known. I was in awe of the words that he spoke. Here is what he said:

 

Tonight you are going to get a breakthrough. It has already started—it has already started. God has blessed you. Your mind is so sharp. It is so keen. It is so precise. Your memory, your retention, your energy for detail, it is so right there. But, the enemy comes at you. I am going to tell you something. You could see success in so many different ways. But, I want you to understand something. God has a success plan for you in your spiritual walk. He has planted you in this church. He has planted you within this ministry, and God is going to use your life supernaturally. The Lord said some things are going to begin to happen down in your spirit, and it’s going to be greater than any day that you have ever beheld before. But brother, sometimes the thing gets so heavy. You just feel like a weight is on your head. You get under so much pressure. You get under so much stress, and you say, “I can’t take this.” And the Lord said I am going to open up the anointing to your thoughts. This thing is going to lift. This thing is going to be destroyed, and you are going to begin to relax.

 

I look at people, and I don’t know anything about you. I do know one thing though. I know your name is Joe because you have it on your name tag. But Joe, I’m going to begin to turn some things into the hands of an almighty God. And the Lord said, whatever your hands do is going to begin to prosper. There is going to be a loosing of the blessing of God upon your life greater than you have ever known before. There is favor that is coming upon you in the corporate structure greater than you ever thought could happen. The Lord said, that you thought to yourself, “God, if I am what You want me to be I am going to get persecuted.” Oh, son, don’t judge that to be the truth. Judge this to be the truth: with anointing comes favor. I am going to give you favor like I gave Joseph. I am going to give you favor like that of Laban when he looked at Jacob and said, “I have been blessed because you have been with Me.” And the Lord said, “I will give those over thee an understanding that you bring favor, you bring wisdom, you bring direction.” And the Lord said, “I see the circumstantial struggles. I see the battles in your midst. I see even an individual that has stood against thee and has fought thee in the steps that you have been taking.” But the Lord said, “I will pull the teeth right out of the mouth of the lion. I will mute the voice of the devil. And you shall sound like a trumpet. You shall be heard in high places and it shall bring results.”

 

He continued prophesying: Oh my, I see a report. I see something lying on your desk. I see it is like recommendations. The devil is saying this isn’t going to fly. And the Lord would say, “Read about Joseph. You’ve got that kind of favor.” And the Lord said, “You know how I guided you, and you know how I directed you. And, you know that I have given you the insights that I have given you. I am going to cause favor to come upon you. And, son, you have not ever asked Me for promotions. You’ve not asked Me for raises. Oh, but son, don’t be surprised when they come, don’t be surprised when they come. Because you’ve sown seed and you have trusted Me, and, you’ve said, ‘God I just want to do what you want me to do.’” “And, I would say, I will uproot. I will uproot the thorns. I will uproot the briars. I will cause the fir and the myrtle tree to flourish because My Word will not return void”, says the Lord of hosts. “And, I would say, I have seen you as you have sat at your computer. I have seen you as your fingers have moved across the keyboard faster than you have ever watched your hands move before because I was putting the thoughts and directions into your mind. I know they have to do with carnal things, son. But it has to do with the fact that I put you where I have put you to let the glory of God shine.” And the Lord would say, “I have seen you, even in the early morning hours. I have seen your wife when she has come into the office and into the study of your home and said, ‘Honey, it’s late. You’ve got to come to bed and rest.’ But, I kept speaking concerning the natural but yet the supernatural is on it. Son, know I am with thee. Be not troubled. Be not distressed. Be not worried. For the glory of God is upon thee”, says God.

 

I take this prophetic message to mean that God was intending to support the development of a strategic technology to be a delivery system through which His love can flow. In my next posting I will get into the details of this message and why it was so profound.

 

 

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UNITING CHRISTIANS TO SUPPORT MISSIONS

Filed under: Christian Education, Ministry, Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare, Unity — 1 Comment
June 10, 2011

 

Read my story by ordering my book, “Possess the Vision”

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

UNITING CHRISTIANS TO SUPPORT MISSIONS

A few weeks ago we proposed that a universal technology be developed and deployed with the purpose to unite and empower Christians around the world. This technology is to be built and established by Christians for Christians. It is designed to help usher in the kingdom of God by supporting the growth and development of all Christian churches, missions, and peoples. It is to be a tool to enable Christians to proclaim the truth of Jesus Christ more effectively and, in so doing, become more fruitful as a people. Fundamentally, this technology is to be a tool to help Christians work together in the ministry of improving the world around them; by helping the poor and disenfranchised better take care of their families.

 

In our prior postings we have laid out the communications infrastructure for the mission, but this may be of little value in many third world countries where people are suffering the most. In addition, many ministries require person-to-person interaction. Book learning can only go so far. To become proficient, one needs hands-on experience. This certainly includes job and trade skills like auto mechanics, home construction, and farming. In addition, ministering to the homeless and disenfranchised in third world countries requires feet on the ground. Physical presence is also desirable in spiritual matters where praying for the sick and the laying on of hands can enhance the outcome. 

Jesus "The light of the World," Heals a Blind Man

Therefore, we need to do several things. First, we must build a courseware and expert knowledge to support the missionary efforts abroad. Second, we must expand the knowledge and capabilities of the existing missionary force through the educational and communication capabilities of the computer technology we have presented. Thirdly, we must recruit and train expert advisors who can augment the skills and courseware being used by missionaries. Fourthly, we must recruit and train additional missionaries, again through the leverage of churches and computer technology. 

Saint Peter Healing the Cripple - Raising Tabitha - Masolino

To achieve these things requires bringing the capabilities of computer technology to the world, starting with the industrialized countries that have the means to support outreach missions. The overall plan is to first deploy this customized technology in strategically located churches across the United States. These churches will then coordinate the development of the initial curriculum.

 

Each church will develop a portion of the curriculum using the technology and the human resources of the church. First, they will develop the curriculum by collectively seeking the advice of their existing missionary force. Once the curriculum has been established, individual courseware will be developed. Each church will have responsibility for the development of one course. Once completed, it will be reviewed by representatives from the other denominations and then certified. After certification has been accomplished, each church will have access to the entire curriculum of courseware. This should represent a substantial return on their investment because an entire curriculum of classes is now available to each church for the price of developing only a single class.

 

With this educational material in hand, the churches can now do a number of things. First, they can release the training material to their general population for individual use and development. The result will be a congregation that is better prepared for ministry and able to achieve a higher standard of living as a whole. Secondly, the training material can be used as a ministry to the communities in their vicinity. Even in America, there are plenty of people who would be interested in free education and training. This would be especially true if that training would help them improve their standard of living and increase their ability to take care of their family. The result of such a ministry is that the church will gain a solid opportunity to evangelize, which will bring people to the Lord and increase the membership. Thirdly, existing ministries can be extended to include the training and education programs available or initiate entirely new ministries based on them. Of course development will not stop at this point because there will be several rounds of expansion afterward. Many churches will be drawn into the program and with them will come the development of additional curriculum. More course work will be developed, more technology will be used, more outreaches will be created, more lives will be improved, and more people will know about Jesus and work in the service of the Lord.

Read my story by ordering my book, “Possess the Vision”

 

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A Plan to Launch Online Christian Education Services

Filed under: Christian Education, Ministry, Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — 3 Comments
May 9, 2011

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

A Plan to Launch Online Christian Education Services

In our past two postings we have looked at the core beliefs and core values of a Christian ministry. We have done this after recommending that Christians of all denominations work together toward developing educational and vocational course-ware to assist the poor and disenfranchised of the world to better care for their families and therein improve their lives and living standards. All of this of course, would be used to also deliver the message of Christianity while delivering practical living messages.

Jesus Speaks to the Multitude

We as Christians, therefore, should unite on these core values and beliefs by sharing what we have with the world. More specifically, we must share our knowledge, skills, and know how. To use an old analogy, we must teach them to fish rather than simply giving them fish. This being the case, we must proceed hand in hand toward the development and use of technologies that enable us to work together more effectively (presented previously.) In walking together in this way, we will demonstrate the love we have for our brothers and sisters in the world, and we will be doing what Jesus would have us do—have compassion on the poor and hungry.

Jesus Heals the Leper

One major goal of this ministry is the installation of a global network of Christian training centers that will change the lives of the people of the world. The people of the world will be touched by the words of truth about Jesus. The poor and impoverished of the world will be empowered to permanently improve the quality of their life and of future generations as well. The establishment of these facilities is designed to demonstrate the love of Jesus by preaching the gospel, healing the sick, caring for the hungry, visiting the imprisoned, clothing the naked, and caring and nurturing them in love. The ultimate hope is to enable the disenfranchised and poor to lead their countries to a higher standard of living by training them in religious, cultural, language, technical, and practical skills.

This all starts with the launching of the technology and capabilities identified in our prior postings. Missions will develop the training school component for the missionaries of the Christian nation. Cross denominational missions will develop a network of followers from all denominations, who will, in turn enter the mission field. They will provide hands-on experience in spiritual and life skills. They will focus on leadership principles with the goal of building nations of Christian leaders. It will be a model for others that will be built around the world.

Jesus Washes the Disciples Feet

The overall objective is to systematically build and partner with existing Christian ministries to:

● Achieve the vision through leverage of all the skills and expertise of the Christian body.

● Establish alliances with key individuals and corporations for materials and supplies.

● Negotiate agreements with other nations for facilities.

● Grow the body of Christ.

● Communicate the vision.

● Align the world of Christianity through common ministries.

● Do everything possible, and then step back and watch God take over and do the impossible.


 

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