Truth in HD November 2012

7/29/2019 Truth in HD November 2012

1/12

..then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, Who is on the Lords side? Come to me. And all the sons of Levigathered around him. -Exodus 32:26

Moses started down the mountain, carrying in his hands the tablets made of stone, written on either side the laws of God.He descended to the place where Joshua remained, and Joshua was alarmed. While hearing the cries coming from withinthe camp, he feared the people of God were being attacked. As Moses and Joshua drew closer to the people, there stoodan idol surrounded by a multitude of Israelites dancing around it. Moses threw down the tablets, burning with anger. The

sacred stones lay in fragments before an idolatrous crowd, saturated in their worldly pleasures. Moses cleared the campby throwing down the idol and burning it so that the people would feel his sorrow and anger. Aaron, having allowed such

sin to continue, faced Moses questioning. Moses cried out, asking who was for Jehovah. Who has not forsaken theirGod? Who will come forth from this sin and serve the Lord before any idol?

The Levites stepped forward. Some had indulged themselves in the nations sin, yet many had refrained from it from thebeginning. Moses commanded them to take their weapons and march through the camp, kill the people of Israel leadingthe sinful practices. In carrying out this command, many had to kill their own brothers, friends, and neighbors. The obe-

dience of the Levites was the consecration of themselves to God. They were rewarded the honor of guarding and protect-ing the tabernacle (Numbers 3:5).

These men of Levi stepped forward, seeking righteousness and following the wisdom of the Lord. The book of Proverbs

central concern is practical wisdom for living. Levites knew what it meant to truly live that particular day. We read(Proverbs 1:7) that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The essence of wisdom is a hearts trembling

before God. The willingness of the Levities to walk towards Moses stems from the deep desire to make themselves rightbefore the Lord. My son, do not lose sight of them- keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul

and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. (Proverbs 3:21-

23) Adorned on the neck of every believer is the wisdom of our Holy God.

The armor Paul tells us to wear during battle is the necessary parts of a spiritual life with God. Strapped around the

shoulders, hanging tightly around the neck is the breastplate of righteousness. Not only does this protection of righteous-ness defend us from schemes and attacks from evil, it reminds us of the need to keep our hearts on track with God. Theweight of this plate should remind us of the responsibility we have with the Lord.

The Levitical priests, because God had consecrated their tribe, were given the command to intercede for the people ofIsrael. They had to be adorned with both the ephod and the breastplate. Both pieces were woven by the same type ofcraftsman as the inner curtains of the sanctuary of God. The shoulder pieces of the ephod were made of gold and had astone on each side engraved with the names of all the tribes of Israel. Likewise, the breastplate had twelve precious

stones embedded into the gold with the name of one tribe on

each stone. Therefore, the priest wore a memorial upon theirheart. Hanging around their necks was a reminder of the

provision and protection of God, the source of wisdom.

The Levites were blessed with the opportunity to adorn theirnecks with the memorials of God, not by luck, but throughtheir boldness to seek God first. If we are to receive Godswisdom and wear it around our necks, we must be righteous

before the Lord and serve him over any idol around us.

BRINGING THE TRUTH INTO FOCUSNovember 2012Volume 2, Issue 11

The Truth In HD

Inside this issue:

The Church You Can Believe In Today (Part 2)

2

A Royal Priesthood 3

Go! 4

Confessions of a Thankful Heart 5

Faith Revival 6

Blessed Are the Meek 9

Adornments Around Our Neck


2/12

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and

deceptive philosophy, which depends on human traditionand the basic principles of this world rather than on

Christ. -Col 2:8 NIV

In religious circles (and I dont mean Christianity) there

are counterfeits, in some preachers and lay people alike.

There are some that profess one thing and live or do anoth-

er. And there are the perceptions of what the church looks

like, or what people think the church is, and often times the

perception is based on those who do not have any kind of

understanding regarding the Church of the Bible. Theres

not much from the worlds perspective that we can really

believe in today regarding the church because, in many

instances, what the world call the church is influenced by

societal trends, opinion polls, the opinion of people who

have influence, some politicians and their ungodly andimmoral stances, some who call themselves the church

(including cults) and some who call themselves Christians,

and even some pastors.

I have spent several months and even several years trying

to reconcile this and to understand all of this from a Bibli-

cal perspective. I have, at this point in time, come to these

thoughts: What Gods vision OF the church is and what

mans vision FORthe church is are two entirely different

things, and often times we in the church confuse the two.

Every one of us, as pastors, wants our congregations to

grow and we want to see God move on our people. Over

the last twenty to twenty-five years however, that priority

has been taken to a level of reckless abandon. In some cas-

es we have tried to rationalize through misinterpretation of

the Scripture why we need grow (and we do) and why we

need to use the methods that are cutting edge to make a

difference.

I would suggest to you that mans vision for the church has

come down to methodology and we have spent years trying

to transplant ideas from other success stories to our own

congregations. No doubt sometimes they work, however,

we seem to never hear about the churches that pastor di-

vide and conquer over these methodologies. Thats why we

are warned by the Apostle Paul that, no one takes you

captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which

depends on human tradition and the basic principles of thisworld rather than on Christ.

I have been in several Ministers Meetings over the last

two to three years where those leaders in positions in the

hierarchy have been saying that most congregations are

either declining or are plateaued. These are some of the

same people who have fought the good fight of methodolo-

gy for all these years. What they are admitting is that all

this STUFF they have bought into and championed HAS

NOT WORKED! If I were them, I would not be going

around telling everyone what is happening in the life of the

church. They are admitting failure and do not even realize it.They are sounding the alarm now that we need to change direc-

tion; we need to figure out some other way. HOW ABOUT

THE WAY OF THE BIBLE? Maybe even this, If all else fails,

read the instructions! In our case that would be the Bible.

So back to my original thought, what needs to be seen is Gods

vision of His Church, because no matter what anyone else see,

Gods vision of the Church is what really matters. His vision of

the church is all throughout the New Testament and is foreshad-

owed in the Old Testament. His church is not based on popular

opinion, but is made up of those who are willing to take up the

cross and follow Jesus. His is a vision of people who are a holy

people that are shining the light of Christ in this dark world. His

is a vision of those who are being saved being added to the

church through spiritual birth, not through a class or a commit-tee saying a person is a member. The church is Gods and it is

for Him to say who is in and who is out based on the condition

of ones heart.

Mans vision for the church, try as men and women may, has

been nothing but methodology, how we do church. I would sub-

mit to you that in spending time reading about methodology,

going to conferences about it, and trying some of it, the problem

is, time after time, we leave out the most important part: The

Holy Spirit! I have read books and looked at websites about

church growth that never mention the Holy Spirit. How insult-

ing is that to God, that we would actually think we know more

than Him or think that we can figure things out apart from Him?

I know we dont come right out and say that, but isnt that what

we are doing when we consult with the world on how to do

church? What about those churches and pastors who have

church for people who dont like church? WOW! Can you be a

Christian and not LOVE Gods church?

There is only ONE church, the Church of the Living God, the

Church of the Bible. Dear friends, here is what God sees,And a

highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The

unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in

that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. No lion will be

there, nor will any ferocious beast get up on it; they will not be

found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, and the ran-

somed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with sing-

ing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy

will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away(Isa

35:8-10 NIV).

God bless you on your journey on the Holiness Highway.

The Church You Can Believe In Today (Part 2) by Bruce Wilson

Page 2 The Truth In HD


3/12

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy na-

tion, a people belonging to God, that you may declare thepraises of Him who called you out of darkness into His won-

derful light.-1 Peter 2:9,10 NIV

Have you ever considered our tendency to hold someone in

high regard even though we really know nothing about them?Our society is consumed by anyone that has attained some sortof celebrity status. We hang up pictures of them; we even have

people who make a living by following celebrities to get pic-

tures of them in compromising positions. We have magazines

and TV shows devoted to the latest gossip. We have realityshows to follow the daily lives of these people (even thoughwe know, or should, that it is scripted anyway). Sometimes we

as Christians are just as consumed by these things as the

world. We also totally ignore the lifestyle, the beliefs, or mor-al standard of these people. It is not difficult to find celebritieswho are devout atheists, or outspoken supporters of many

immoral things, and these people are able to sometimes influ-ence the views of those who blindly follow them just based onstatus.

We are a chosen people. We were chosen by God before thefoundation of the world. Ephesians 1:3-10 says, Praise be tothe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessedus in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in

Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of theworld to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love he predes-tined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, inaccordance with His pleasure and will-to the praise of His

glorious grace, one he loves. In Him we have redemptionthrough His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance withthe riches of Gods grace that He lavished on us with all wis-dom and understanding. Before we were formed God had a

plan in place that all man would have the opportunity to be

part of that royal priesthood in Christ. As we have sacrificedand surrendered to Him, we were adopted into that family and

became priests of the Church of God. We were chosen byGod and blessed with every spiritual blessing!

We are a royal priesthood. Our Savior is the one great High

Priest. All authority is in Him and everything is under Him.By His grace He has made the Church to be a holy priesthood

and all those who are saved in His name are priests unto God.Under the ancient Law the priests only entered into the tem-

ple, the high priest alone into the holy of holies, and that butonce a year; but now the veil which hid the holiest place is

rent in twain, and all true Christians may enter as priests intothe immediate presence of God, having boldness to enter intohe holiest by the blood of Jesus (Pulpit Commentary). The

priests in the old covenant came with sacrifices. The apostle

tells us in 2:5 we are to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable toGod through Jesus Christ.

Prayer is a sacrifice: Let my prayer be counted as incense

before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!-

Psalm 141:2 ESV

Praise is a sacrifice: The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacri-fice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show thesalvation of God! -Psalm 50:23 ESV

Giving to please God and not for the glory of man: Do not neglectto do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleas-ing to God. -Hebrews 13:16But the chief sacrifice that we can offer is the sacrifice of our-

selves. My Son, give me thy heart, is the Lords requirement. If

we give Him that, we give Him all: it is a poor gift, worthless initself, but yet precious in His sight because He first loved us, mademore precious still by the precious blood of Christ which was shed

that these hearts of ours might be cleansed and purified for a holy

offering (Pulpit Commentary).

We are to be a holy nation. Nations of the world may have earthly

riches, or great culture, or great military. They will always havethings that set them apart from other nations. The church is a holynation. Without holiness the Church is nothing. If not a peoplesanctified and set apart for the Father, the Church ceases to be a

spiritual people and begins to be a captive people living in weak-ness under the power of world. The Church is a nation of spiritual

power and influence. We are to be a distinct people to be known byour demonstration of holiness declaring with our lives the praises of

Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.

We are to declare His praises: I will give thanks to you, O Lord,among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations. -

Psalm 57:9

We understand the great mercy and grace of God, lifting us fromour sin and despair and adopting us as His children. Our livesshould be constant praise and worship. Because of His great love

for us we should live a life that displays that love for all mankindthat they too would gain vision to flee from darkness and embraceHis great light.

We have a tendency to hold people up, almost as idols. Sometimeswe ignore what they are living for and what they stand for. We

praise peoples gifts and talents above their commitment to the Godwe are committed to. We need to take this to heartBut you are a

chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belongingto God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you outof darkness into His wonderful light. We are to seek things fromabove. In light of Gods promise and our calling as the Church, I

believe we have a great responsibility to pursue His guidance anddirection. Too many times we are more than willing to seek thecounsel of men than the counsel of the Spirit. We are to be set apartfor Jesus only. He is the one High Priest and it is by His grace that

we have been adopted as priests. Let us begin to pursue Him livingup to that call.

A Royal Priesthood by Josh Wilson



4/12

I used to think that if I gave my life to Christ He would send

me to Africa as a missionary and in my mind I used to pictureuntold hardships, disease, bad water, and the absolute worst; no

indoor plumbing. Instead God has placed me in the center of aloving rural community, it is here that Ive had the privilege tocome to know a missionary who lived the life I have alwaysdreaded, raised in Africa living 2 hours from the nearest

store and about 9 hours from the boarding school she attended,if the muddy roads were passable, she experienced living in the

bush lands and the poverty of the African people for about 10years.

In Matthew 28:19-20 we read; Go therefore and make disci-ples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Fatherand of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe

all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with youalways, to the end of the age . This is the Great Commission.

Now The Great Commission is all about making disciples, andI want to make that clear, but there is a little word in it that has

taken on many different meanings: Go. It is often expressedas Missions to other lands, foreign and mysteries places, deep

jungles, and desolate country sides, just like our missionaryexperienced in Africa until she was about 20.

My Wife and Daughter traveled with the church to the impov-erished towns and back streets of Mexico. They lived in tentsso that they and others could build houses of mortar and chick-

en wire for people they had never met. Friends have been to thedumps of Mexico City where orphaned, abandoned, and home-less children scavenge for food, clothing, and anything they cansell. They went to teach, help, and feed the children who live

there amongst the garbage. Others have been to the backwatersof Belize traveling by bus on single lane dirt roads cut into the

mountain side to help build a church. That was the Go forthem.

Still Go to others has meant ministry in our own country onNative American reservations where they taught the Word ofGod and helped to build houses, and school buildings.Our youth groups, womens groups and Mens groups within

the church have helped at soup kitchens in Chicago, New York,Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh feeding the poor and homeless,they have cleaned and helped take up and tear down tables,swept floors and cleaned toilets. They too answered the Go

of the Great commission.

There are those who see the Go as an effort to reach into thecommunities in which the church has been placed, they stop

and talk with folks on the street, do neighborly things like washwindows, rake leaves, or household chores for the elderly.They clean vacant lots and paint fences and buildings not just

for those who are unable but also for the community at large.Single moms get their cars oil change, children are watched,and food is dropped off. Sometime they just give of their timeand sit and talk with a lonely soul.

In their Go, as with the others, they will share their testimonyand be a witness for the Gospel in not only what they say, butalso in what they do. Then there is the Go of equipping. ThatGo is done in classes and groups through the teaching and

instruction of the saints and this is where you see a lot of Pas-tors. We too travel to foreign lands and local soup kitchens, but

we are for the most part involved in the preaching and teaching Go

of the Great commission. But this Go also includes teachers, evan-gelists, and those that encourage.

Ephesians 4:11-16, And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evan-gelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work ofministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to theunity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature

manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, sothat we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves andcarried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by crafti-ness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are

to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, fromwhom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint withwhich it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes thebody grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Romans 12:6-9 gives us another list of gifts that enable us to equipfor the work of ministry. There the list is prophecy (exhorting theWord of God), serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leadership, and

mercy. These too are a Go. Go lead, teach, preach, give, encourage,and show mercy.

We are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head of the

Church; we are to become Christ like in our doing and saying. Andwhen each of us is doing, our GO working properly, we grow andare built up in Love!

Jesus in giving the Great Commission did not have to tell the elevenabout being the church, about being united in their doctrine, or about

building their relationships. That, they already had.The Church today is divided into different denominations and congre-

gations and a lot of the congregations are just strangers to one-another. They meet once a week for an hour or so and then they go

their separate ways until next week.

They do nothing together, have no fellowship, and without fellowship

the only Go you are going to see is the go of going home and the goof separation and division. All to often this is where there is no Goof the Great commission and the church building and the inward turn-ing are all that is left.

There has to be a Go of fellowship, of unity, and of oneness, a join-ing in the Go of the Great commission. The Gos of the Great Com-mission are part of a healthy going and growing church. The Go of

the mission field is where you are, where you have been placed, andin what you are doing.

Before the mission field, whether it is in or out, here or there, there is

the Go to prayer. There is not a soul who cannot go to prayer for theGos of others as well as their own. And prayer should be our first Go

before under taking any other.

Our missionary is still doing mission work raising money for or-phans and the homeless in that African village, but, every time thedoor to her home opens she still sees the mission field; Roughly 155thousand people die every day. 6250 every hour, about 105 every

minute and that number is increasing every day.Here is one of the greatest reasons to Goonly 3 out of 10 peopleclaim to be Christian worldwide.That means that today roughly 104 thousand people will die separated

from God forever.

GO!

GO! by Kenny SeidlerPage 4


5/12

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.

-Psalm 50:2

We dont have to look very far in our day to find criti-

cisms of the church. We need go no further than our localChristian bookstore to read about all the ways the churchis getting it wrong. If we arent feeling ambitiousenough to go to the bookstore we can find this attitude

perpetrated on thousands of web sites. If you type the

question, Whats wrong with the church today? intoGoogle you will find 76,500,000 hits. A lot of the criti-cism deals with the idea that we are too narrow when itcomes to doctrine, and that the church today is

judgmental and legalistic. Everywhere we go we aretold that doctrine doesnt matter anymore and we need to

change course and focus entirely on the mission of gettingpeople to make a profession of faith, even at the expense

of compromising the Word of God. We call that being

missional. Is it possible that in spite of all the criticism,maybe the church isnt so wrong on some of these things?I understand that there are certainly issues in every con-

gregation that need to be addressed, but as I consider someof the things we claim to be wrong I find that I dont thinkthey are all entirely bad. In fact, I have to confess that I

am grateful for some of them.

The Issue of Narrow Mindedness. We have all strug-

gled with those who will not open their mind to thetruth God has to reveal to them, and I understand thatthis is a problem. But some people in our day seemto want us to be so open-minded that we will accept

things that we know to be wrong. We are expected toignore what the Bible says about divorce and holi-ness. We are considered narrow-minded if we make

the claim that God has called us to live above sin. Iam thankful that there are some who are willing to be

true to Gods Word in spite of the unfounded accusa-tions against them. Some of the greatest influenceson my life and ministry are those who have been

willing to stand firm in the truth whether its popularor not, and for those faithful men and women I amgrateful.

The Issue of Legalism. Scripture teaches us that we are

called to be holy, but as he who called you is holy,you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is writ-ten, You shall be holy, for I am holy (1 Peter 1:16,17). Dont mistake this, Im not condoning that we

become tyrannical about the way people dress or

look. I dont believe that those things make us holy,but I do find a standard in Scripture for Gods people.There are some things that Christians just should notdo. And there are some things in Scripture that are

very clear and should not be compromised. Thispostmodern idea that truth is different for everyoneand each person should use the Bible as they see fithas no basis in the revelation of God that we have in

Scripture. Countless thousands are misled today bythose who teach that we can live however we want tolive as long as we claim to be a Christian. We have

lost the glory of God that comes through the trans-formed lives of those who are truly saved. I am grate-ful for those who will uphold and teach the standard

set for in Scripture of Christlikeness.The Issue of Judgmentalism. Im not saying that we are

free to tell everyone we meet everything theyre doingwrong. I am saying that I am grateful for those who

are close to me, and their willingness to tell me when Iam off base. I am grateful that they will tell me whenI am not thinking clearly and can do so without fear ofme telling them they are judging me. We claim we

want to be submissive to God, but the fact is that, attimes, we deceive ourselves and are blinded to thingsin our lives that need to be pointed out.

The Issue of Truth.Jesus Christ is the same yesterdayand today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse

and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart tobe strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have

not benefited those devoted to them (Hebrews 13:8,9). We are told that everyone has a different doctrine,so it is not worth our time to study it. In a world thatdoes not recognize definite truth I am thankful fordirection and guidance from Gods Word. We do not

have to stumble around in the darkness trying to finddirection. God has called us to a life lived in Hislight! This keeps us from being subject to the con-stantly changing whims of man, the trends of the

world, and the fads embraced by the church. It istruth, Jesus told us, that will set us free! When othersearch for some foundation in this sin-cursed world,we build on the truth of Jesus Christ. What greater

gift could God have given us than Jesus, the embodi-ment of His truth and character? I do not claim to

know every truth in all the world, but we can standfirm on what God has revealed to us. It is unchang-ing, uncompromising, and definite. I am thankful that

we can sing as we did in days past, When the voiceof heaven sounded warning all to flee, from the dark-some courts of Babel back to Zion free, Glad my heartto hear the message and I hastened to obey, and Im

standing in the truth today.The world around us teaches that the church is irrelevant toour modern culture, and if Gods church is to surviveeverything must change. Despite the constant rhetoric,

some of these things are not wrong. In spite of the difficul-ties we face today, the church is still Gods city. Thechurch remains a place where God provides for, and em-

powers His people. We talk a lot about the things that

arent going well in the church, but I remain grateful.Grateful for the people God has placed around me to sharethis journey of faith. Grateful for the truth of His Wordand those who have made it their lifes work to carry that

truth, clergy and laity alike. Maybe we would be betterserved if we quit worrying so much about what we think iswrong, and spend our time doing what God says is right.My ministry has never been without trial. There have been

difficulties and frustrations, but as I reflect on the church, I

do so with a grateful heart.

Confessions of a Thankful Heart by Nick Wilson



6/12

Abram, we must consider, lived before the written Word of

God. He didn't have the privilege of looking back over a com-munity of faith to notice past experiences of how God had

been involved with His people. So Abram has an experience

with God and life changes.

In Gen. 12:1, God told Abram to leave his land and family tofollow Him to the land He had for him. The initial commandwas for Abram to leave land and family, and Abram took with

himself Lot and his family.

In these opening days of Abram's experience with God there isa considerable amount of trial and error, and in the error wecome to see the inadequacy of "freely interpreting what God

has to say" instead of adhering strictly to His words.

This is something we keep experiencing; of course, in life

humanities unwillingness to adhere to what the Word of theLord is always comes into play. Satan's uses what seems like

his favorite ploy of slightly twisting God's Word, temptingman to turn away from God. When Satan spoke to Eve, hesimply played on what God had said, introduced a variance to

God's Words and the course was set. Eve ate, believing theywould gain wisdom. Adam lived in openness and purity inrelationship with God, freely enjoying fellowship with God,

and when he ate, he died to that purity and holiness. In willful-ness, evil entered from the acceptance of doubt, through selfinterpreting God and making self God which broke the purityand holiness of the relationship. Look today in our culture how

the human reproductive ability has become a constant sourceof dispute and doubting each other and God. The culture haslabeled reproduction as a woman's right to choose and coupled

that with the action of aborting an unwanted pregnancy. Let'sback up and consider a core issue for a moment. The silent andnot so silent male supporters of woman's right to choose havea vested interest in maintaining this "right" with women. Theshared vested interest value behind the right to choose is, of

course, sex without consequence. Behind it is God's outline forsexuality, one man with one woman in the confines of faithfulmarriage. Clearly think about this. At the core is the desire to

remove God's Word from our lives and culture.

When you have a politician affirming a faith stand that life is

sacred and begins in conception and then acting as though it iscompletely congruent to affirm, but women have a right tochoose, we should be calling into question their ability to lead

anything when they promote they affirm two completely dif-

ferent positions at once. I should not apply this strictly to thecultural politician. It happens with Christianity. We may ques-tion an individual's real relationship with God by their words,

but in some cases they have audience in the circle called

Christianity and thus influence whether we like it or not.

When man chooses to question God and His Word, eitherthrough Satan's method of the doubtful question, "Did Godreally say?" or through the Abram method of loosely interpret-ing what God has said to accomplish a desired end that we

have already determined that's where we want to arrive, then

we are not only playing loosely with God and His Word but we are

at the edge of setting ourselves up as our own god, or already havedone it!

Today the methodology for establishing doubt in the mind of God's

people to arrive at a pre-determined end seems to follow a pattern.

First the person will declare their allegiance to God. Next a particu-lar area that is under consideration will be attacked specifically, forinstance, consider this introduction, I love the Bible. This love

goes back to childhood for me, to warm memories when my par-ents would read me Bible stories, either directly from a big, black,leather-bound King James Version or from a childrens illustratedstory Bible. (Bryan McLaren p. 67, ch. 7 How Should the Bible

be Understood?A New Kind of Christianity) After declaring hislove of God's Word and winning your appreciation for his love ofGod's Word and open-mindedness, then we hear the satanic type

question.

"The Bible, when taken as an ethical rule book, offers us no clearcategories for many of our most significant and vexing socioethicalquandaries. We find no explicit mention, for example, of abortion,

capitalism, communism, socialism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,obsessive-compulsive disorder, autism, systemic racism affirma-tive action, human rights, nationalism, sexual orientation, pornog-

raphy, global climate change, imprisonment, extinction of species,energy efficiency, environmental sustainability, genetic engineer-ing, space travel, and so on--not to mention nuclear weapons, bio-logical warfare and just war-theory. (p. 68-69A New Kind of

Christianity, McLaren)

In that paragraph, the same exact pattern unfolds that was present-

ed to Eve, question through doubt inserted in your thoughts.

Now another interesting attachment is the process of assertingsupport first, then inserting doubt to lead a group down a different

and/or a predetermined path has been given much thought through

the years, and uses.

Hegel developed his dialect approach to leading group behaviorwhich was picked up by a University of Chicago professor by thename of Saul Alinsky, who wrote an interesting book called Rules

for Radicals. He teaches the use of developing group consensus tolead people in a desired direction. The idea in the consensus devel-opment follows specifically the pattern of declaring your similar

belief and position, i.e. I love the Bible and a page later insert

"but." Today we see this same behavior brought into Christiangroups presented as the more affirming, loving method, avoiding

conflict and any heated debate because that just can't be God's way.When anyone would present an opinion differing from the leader'sdesired outcome, then attitudes are brought into question, and why

you are upset or angry" or whatever attitudinal action, can bequestioned to undermine their position and continue to take the

group towards the desired, predetermined outcome.

In this consensus pattern, propositional truth or a propositionalposition is avoided at all costs. So let's follow the chain

again...Satan, Hegel, Alinsky, group consensus and throw onemore into the mix...governance policy. Why bring governance

Faith Revival! by Henry Sco



7/12

policy into this? Because if a governing policy can be createdthat is broad enough to allow an individual or a group to makedecisions without clearing the decision with the larger owning

body, then in relationship to the church, real "body life" isundermined.

There is a core of guiding the Body of Christ called elders whoare called to make certain types of decisions but they are toinvolve openness, which includes debate where propositions

must be clarified and shown support for, through voting andtaken before the larger body allowing for the same process ofopen debate on the larger scale, because no humanity is per-fect. Governance policy becomes the vehicle to encourage

consensus to undermine all propositional truth, which leads

right back to "Did God really say!?!"

Post modernity doesn't want to hear "Thus saith the Lord."Post modern people want to live in the willy-nilly, warm fuzz-

ies of everyone has their own truth, what's true for you maynot be true for me.

Propositional truth is standing on God's Word and what wediscover in it even when it is completely counter to cultural

trends.

Look at the cultural, political and even faith-based trend of

believing only good will happen when you throw enough mon-ey in the right direction. In politics this game has been playedcontinually and it filters its way into the life of the Church.When we come to compassionate and evangelistic ministries,

the opinion to throw more money seems to persist, no onewants to be labeled as not caring for those in need or lost so if

we are about to be labeled as not caring on the average, wewill succumb and agree to throw the money! But is there more

that has to be considered?

In John 12:1-8 Jesus confronts the compassionate opinion ofJudas Iscariot when Mary took the very expensive ointmentand anointed Jesus feet and worshiped. Judas contended itshould have been sold and given to the poor. Jesus' response istelling. He did not deny caring for the poor, but He affirmed a

higher value of worshiping Jesus Himself. Does the highervalue lead to better results in ministry to the poor? If yousimply look at those involved in the encounter, Mary as bestwe know never turned away from following Jesus and Judas

did, so his statement resulted in no benefit to the poor out of

his own life!

Our primary value must, of course, be Jesus first and personalsacrifice for Jesus. Before we simply vote on giving money,

we need to clearly have established in our lives the higher

value of Jesus first and His values in us.

Many years ago I was attending a huge pastor's event thatbrought pastors together from every imaginable church group.One evening a group of us were walking through some shopsand eating areas when we saw a street beggar. Many, of

course, did the normal thing of ignoring and walking by. Only

after we had walked further did we realize a couple of pastors weremissing. Later we found them only to discover they had taken the beg-gar for a meal! The greater value of personal sacrifice expressed in

compassion meeting the beggars need. If in our compassionate minis-tries the greater value of setting people free from sin and poverty isn'testablished, then we only facilitate dependency. The poor have to behelped into the work force and the least must be reached by true ex-

pressions of Grace and faith so they in turn have opportunity to cometo Jesus and not simply to be carried in dependency because, when itisn't supported, often their apparent faith dies. True faith results in truefaith works which touch lives with the gospel and all glory goes to

God!

Consider Gen. 15:6 speaking of Abram, "And he believed in Jehovah;and he reckoned it to him for righteousness." Ray Dunning quotingWalter Brueggeman stated, "No other Old Testament text has exer-cised such a compelling influence of the New Testament." (p. 56 Abra-

ham)

We find the text in Romans 4:3, Galatians 3:6 and then Galatians 3:7makes the connection between us and Abra-ham, "Know therefore that they that are offaith, the same are sons of Abraham." Faith

active in us becomes the prime ingredientto unfold a true work of faith. In fact, oneof John Wesley's key verses concerningholiness is Galatians 5:6, "For in Christ

Jesus neither circumcision availeth any-thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith work-ing through love." James, in expressinghow works flow out of true faith, again

refers to Abraham (James 2:23). For us toaccomplish God's work then, "faith work-

ing through love," is the qualification andmethodology for working together not a

program, not training, but the work of theSpirit of God having transformed us out ofdarkness into light and setting us apart inthe work of the Spirit of God! The Spirit of God working in and

through the Word of God is always building the Body of Christ, TheChurch of God. Every local church is to be an expression of the uni-versal church. No other program or entity should be wedged betweenthe Spirit and Word working in people to build the Body. When the

Word is proclaimed, salvation comes and the Spirit calls forth the vari-ous Body members to build the local expression of the Body. Everytime a program or a method becomes more significant than the Spirit

and the Word, they run their course and die off because they are themethod of one and when the one is no longer leading, the method, the

passion for it disappears. God's way calls for Abraham-type faith in us

that is constantly cleansing the individual members of selfishness.This faith elevates the Spirit and Word, thus allowing the Spirit tospeak in all and through all. The Spirit and the Word are Gods two

witnesses and when they are set free among the people of God, thenthe Work of God advances. The people of God are not simply team

players who are indoctrinated into another person's play calling, classi-fied as the vision to which they are to comply, but are living members

of the Body of Christ. They are neither angelic nor automatons but as

Maybe we

fear leng

go and

leng God

be God...



8/12

Oswald Chambers observed, "A saint is not an angel and

never will be; a saint is the flesh and blood theatre inwhich the decrees of God are carried to successful is-

sue." (p. 95,Not Knowing Whither)

Postmodern leadership philosophy places all people in one

of two positions. They either are supportive of the leadersvision or they are not. The philosophy seems contrary towhat it means to be a member of the Body of Christ and

allowing for differing gifted people to bring input to thetable. The view today seems to resemble the corporatementality of team depicted at a place like Lowes. Thereare team meetings in which people are given the newest

sales "tactic" in the form of a cheer, which is all aboutgetting you to buy more! The Body of Christ isn't a team;it is individuals created in the divine image, each gifted tocontribute. Maybe a better analogy is the quilt made of

what appears to be random squares of material sown to-gether. It becomes both beautiful and functional. TheBody sown together through the Holy Spirit covers anarea with the praises of God bringing gloryto God as they

together proclaim theLove of Jesus to thenations! Faith istricky the moment

we think we have itunder our controland we are bringingfaith to fulfillment.

We do Abraham-type actions and

create an Ishmaeland we know howthat worked out. But

when we submit tothe Lord, then we doMary-type things

and say, "Be it untome according to

Your word, Lord."

Maybe we fear let-ting go and letting

God be God becausethere just might not

be any acclaim for usand only for the Lord. Ray Dunning in his marvelous little

book "Abraham, The Tests of Faith" asks us, "What didAbraham believe: He heard nothing new; he saw no mar-velous manifestation of power that is the significant mo-ment of faith. Your energy hasn't increased, your ownabilities weren't improved but you now saw God more

clearly as the promise and you becamefully centered inHim. Dunning quotes Brueggemann who states, "Surely itis not because he feels new generative power in his loins.

Nor because he has new expectations for Sarah. The new

promise for his life is not any expectation of flesh and

blood. Rather, he has come to rely on the promise speaker. He

has now permitted God to be not a hypothesis about the future,but the voice around which his life is organized. (p. 56 Abra-

ham)

Life fully organized around God is faith! Faith in the Word and

the Spirit to bring the voice of God into our lives and into theChurch producing, heaven-sent revival that brings all glory toGod, restoring the Church to glorifying God through the super-

natural work that only He can do. Jesus' words "I will build Mychurch" get reinterpreted in the post modern culture of corporateleadership theory to mean, follow my human vision, recite myteam slogans and we will gather a crowd of people. The Lord

wants to discover those who would "Humble themselves andpray and call upon Him to heal the land", believing through faith

that He will move in His Body, the Church.

Life fully

organized

around God is

faith!



9/12

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.-

Matthew 5:5

When I was in high school I decided to spend the begin-ning of one summer umpiring Little League baseballgames to earn extra money. I did that for a few years anddecided to do something more substantial, so I began to do

high school baseball games. For a few years I took part inthose games, and during that time something stood outthat I had never noticed when I played baseball during mychildhood. When a game begins both teams have a hope

of winning. The players have received instruction fromtheir coach in practice and they take the field to apply thefundamental principles of baseball that they have learned.They believe that as long as they apply what they have

been taught by their coach and do not deviate from the

plan there is little that can keep them from victory.

But sometimes things dont go the way we plan. A playermight make a mistake, or something unexpected happens

that takes thefocus from the

plan. Manytimes failure to

execute the plancan be cata-strophic for theteam. The play-

ers are not surewhat to do and it

becomes evenmore important

for them to listenfor the instruc-tion of theircoach, however,

when things getbad enough thatthe plan chang-es, players begin

to hear the ad-vice of people

besides theircoach. The

score becomes

lopsided and oneby one the par-ents in the

bleachers beginto call out in-structions to the

team. They all know what needs to happen and what eachplayer needs to do, and very few are shy about sharing that

advice publicly. As the situation deteriorates, the onlyhope of the team is to listen through all the voices that callout to them for the one voice that will bring them together

the voice of their coach. That is the one voice that will offer

consistent counsel and bring the team together giving them thehope of victory.

Our charge to carry the culture of Gods Kingdom into the worldaround us is similar to those baseball games in some ways. Wehave been called by God for a specific purpose, and to carry out a

plan. God has taught us through His Word what we need to knowto live within the culture of His Kingdom. As we live withinGods counsel that we receive in His revelation, we are confronted

by voices that call out for our attention. People all around us know

what we need to do, and how we need to live. Some know how weshould handle our finances and what we should do with our freetime.

Among the voices that cry out for the attention of the church is the

voice of trends. The things of this life go through cycles. Thingsbecome desirable and then their popularity fades. We see this inclothing, music, and many other parts of popular culture, and thechurch is not immune to this. For years the church has tried to

incorporate popular elements of culture into our worship and thework of God. The purity to which Scripture has called us is com-

promised when we begin to allow the culture of the world dictatethe culture of the Kingdom of God. We go through phases of using

certain fads and programs, and then those pass and something newcomes along. This should not be. We cannot allow the world tochange the church, it is the call of the church to change the cultureand the values of the world around us through the power of God.

But the voice of trends calls out to us nonetheless.

The church also contends with voices that originate a little closer tous. Tradition is often allowed to control the work of Gods church.

At times it helps to focus us on the foundation we have been given,but many times it distracts us from that very foundation. We have,at times, been guilty of forgetting the call to invade this world on

behalf of Gods Kingdom as we endeavor to maintain the traditions

we have put in place. Our identity becomes so closely associatedwith certain traditions that it becomes almost impossible to followthe guidance of Gods Word and Spirit. Throughout the history ofthe church there have been times when Jesus could have said of us

as He did of the Pharisees, in vain do they worship me, teachingas doctrines the commandments of men. You leave the command-ment of God and hold to the tradition of men.

In addition to trends and tradition, values of the world call out to

the people of God. The culture of the world always takes our at-tention away from God and points it to the riches that the worldoffers. The world continually tries to catch our gaze with thingsthat it tells us we must have, and at times we allow ourselves to be

convinced that we need what it has to offer. We get caught up inseeking wealth and possessions and it becomes impossible to carryout the call that God has given us to create a different culture in ourlives.

These voices are always calling us vying for our attention. But as

Blessed Are the Meek by Nick Wilson

The world

connually tries

to catch our

gaze with things

that it tells us

we must have...



10/12

these voices cry out to us there is one that still, small voice

that cried out to Elijah so many years ago that will give usthe direction we need to live the lives to which God has

called us. The voice of God calls out among all the voices ofthe world, pleading for us to sit back in a spirit of humilityand meekness to listen for His direction. It transcends theculture and the trends, and even the tradition that we have put

in place as Gods voice draws us to something more. It callsus out of the world into His marvelous light.

The church today stands in need of those who will be meek

enough to listen for this voice as it stands in stark contrast,and direct opposition to the culture of the world. God usesteachers who are not afraid to stand up for His Word and whowill be sensitive to the gentle whisper of His Spirit. As un-

popular as it may be to proclaim the whole counsel of God, it

must be done. But the necessity of our day is men and wom-en who will listen for this counsel, people who are not afraidto tackle the depth of Scripture and seek out all that God has

to offer us. God called His people to this character of meek-ness long ago when he said, Therefore, you shepherds, hearthe word of the Lord If the Word is ever to move in pow-er today we must be willing to listen to the prophecy of the

Word and proclaim what God reveals to us through the powerof His Spirit. Men and women who will say along with A.W.Tozer, I do not know what the future holds. But I know one

thing: Rather than betray the sheep of God, rather than lie tothem and deceive them and keep them agitated and stirred up

with all kinds of popular topics; rather than take my materialfrom Time magazine, Ill preach the Word to empty seats and

sigh and cry for the abomination that is in the earth.

We live in a day when the voices of the world have become

so strong that they too often drown out the voice of God.When we want to see a renewal of Gods power we invent a

program in an attempt to bribe God into showing it. We gettogether and talk about what we should do and take the best

of our ideas and ask God to bless them. Never in this processdo we listen for the voice of God as He speaks His will to us.If we want to see the Word move in power we must be meekenough to listen for Gods direction as to how to carry outHis will. Why is that so hard for us to do? It only makes

sense that if we are carrying the culture of His Kingdom weshould do it His way, but sometimes we just cant seem to get

that. We might be humble and spend our time mourning forthe state of the world, but unless we are willing to be meek

enough to listen for Gods direction those things will not domuch good. God leads those who will listen to His voice.

Too many Christian lives and the work of too many congre-

gations are trial and error. We just do what we think weshould do and if that doesnt work we will just try somethingelse. We convince ourselves that its alright to live that way

because its risky business to do Gods work. Where do we

see that in Scripture? When was it ever a risk to follow the will of

God? We may face persecution or trials, but God has never doneanything to give us the impression that He will not sustain us if

we will follow His will.

The meek are never alone. They spend their lives listening forGods direction as they serve Him and do His work. They are

willing to test the Word that Gods Spirit speaks to them. Wehave conditioned ourselves not to test the promises of God be-cause Jesus said that we should never test God. That has be-come our excuse for disobedience. Jesus said that when He was

tempted by Satan to do something that would bring glory to Him-self rather than God. Scripture teaches us that Gods promises arefor us and we can test the power God has promised to us. Theentire ministry of Jesus was such a test. Everything the disciples

did in His name was such a test. Scripture even tells us, Bring

the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in myhouse. And thereby PUT ME TO THE TEST, says the Lord ofhosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour

down for you a bless-ing until there is nomore need.

The meek are familiar

enough with Godsvoice that they willtrust Him as He speaksto them. Those who

are not gentle and low-ly enough to listen forHim will never befamiliar enough with

the shepherds voice tohear when He calls outfrom among thoseoverwhelming voices

of the world.

The meek have powerto walk through this

life under the directionof Gods Word, andthey also overcometemptation. Despitewhat we so often think,

meekness does notmake us a doormat. Itis not weakness. Ken-neth Jones wrote, The

meek person does notfight back at persecu-tors, not because he or

she is weak-willed, butbecause he or she is sosure of his or her right-

We live in a

day when the

voices of the

world have

become so

strong that

they too oen

drown out the

voice of God.



11/12

ness before God that he or she is willing to be mistreated

since he or she knows that God and right will win in theend.

Moses faced opposition from his own family when Aaronand Miriam opposed him. He could have had them ex-communicated or even killed, but this man was so in tune

with the will of God, and had listened to the voice thatcalled out to him to such an extent that he did not need togive a heavy-handed response. Numbers 12:3 tells us,Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all peo-

ple who were on the face of the earth. He did not showweakness by being meek, but a resolve to follow Godsvoice in any circumstance.

This power came from a devout faith in the voice of the

One who spoke the Word to him. He knew that He couldtrust the voice of God and when a question or a difficultyarose, Moses knew enough to listen for the voice thatwould guide him. He did not form an exploratory com-

mittee to re-search thesociologicaleffects of the

situation. Helistened forGod. It is notour ingenuity

or determina-tion that willdeliver theculture of the

Kingdom intothe world. Itis the Word ofGod working

in and throughour lives. Thiswill bring thecounter-

culture of God to those who are in need of it.

Scripture tells us that meek shall inherit the earth. Theyare heirs of what rightfully belongs to God. They need notcreate a revolution or train a great army, but usher the

culture of heaven to earth by the power of God at workwithin them. They are those through whom God answersthe prayer Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earthas it is in heaven.

Those who will experience Gods power firsthand as Heinvades the earth with this heavenly culture are the meek.Men and women who will not charge ahead without direc-

tion, but who understand what it means to wait upon theLord. God has given such people a call to represent Him

in this world as priests. But you are a chosen race, a

royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his ownpossession They reflect His image in the place that

He created to be His domain, or Kingdom. Look at therest of the words of the Apostle Peter in this verse, Butyou are a chosen race, a royal priesthoodthat you may

proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of

darkness into his marvelous light.

The meek are the ambassadors of Gods grace and mer-cy. They are stewards of the Word which He has spoken

to, and through them. If we want to see Gods work inthe world today, it will be when we take the time to listento His Word as it is revealed to us by His Spirit. In a daywhen programs and ideas dominate the church, we would

do well to remember that it is the meek who will inherit

the earth. Maybe today we need a moratorium. Not onoffshore drilling as those put in place by governments,

but on programs and activities in Gods churchj. Maybe

we need to spend some time meekly listening for thevoice of God. We are called to carry His Word into theworld, but when was the last time we honestly, earnestlylistened for His voice? The church needs nothing more

today than the voice of God.

According to Leonard Ravenhill, If the church todayhad as many agonizers as she has advisers we wouldhave revival in a year! Among all the voices of the

world there is one that calls out to us and speaks of afuture and a hope. He cries out as Jeremiah did so manyyears ago, I know the plans I have for youto give youa future and a hope. He has promised a blessed inher-

itance to those who will heed His voice. He has revealedHimself in His Word and speaks to the church todaythrough His Spirit. Will we listen? God will bring Hisculture into the world today through those who are meek.

Will He find such people within the church today?\

For more information on voices that call out for the

churchs attention, see The Virtues of a Healthy Church by

Bill Konstantopoulos. The idea of the voices of our cul-

ture was based on his writing on the topic.

If the church

today had as many

agonizers as she

has advisers wewould have revival

in a year!

-Ravenhill



12/12

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The Truth In HDNick Wilson

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Phone: 724-376-3075Email: [email protected]

The Truth In HD is circulated in an attempt to lift up the truth ofGods Word. Those of us who write the articles contained in thispaper are committed to carrying this truth to wherever God willlead us, and offer our help in whatever we can do to aid you in

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Truth in HD November 2012