Satan Destroys Nations

A man from Uganda had given a message that changed my life in regard to the way I perceive spiritual warfare. It has to do with fighting for our nation. Right off the bat, I almost feel the need to stress that this is not about patriotism, but about entering into the ultimate intention of God for our nation. We've prayed for revival for so long, and we've been pouring out our tears, and we've been hearing for so long that persecution is coming to America. So many seem to speak messages of revival, restoration, enduring hardships and suffering, and the coming persecution upon Christians.

Ignore all of it. They know almost nothing of God's purposes.

What people are sensing is from the enemy, and not from God. They are hearing the taunts of Satan, and are then crying because of his jeers. Let me explain this as clearly and concisely as I possibly can.

There are two ways that the enemy destroys nations. The first is only temporary to lead into the second. The principalities and powers will lull to sleep the strong, so that the net comes around them, and when they finally wake up, they have no strength, no authority, no voice, and no hope. Though they know their strength and have desire to fight (and will fight), they simply have handed over all strength to the enemy - like Samson gave his strength over to Delilah.

The second way that Satan destroys nations is to use violence and terror. He will come in like a flood to oppress anyone who stands in his way. Women are oppressed. Men live in fear. Children are taken from their homes and forced to serve in the military. Anyone who opposes the powers that be is annihilated. Absolute oppression is poured out upon all - even they who are being used as puppets at the top. For an example of this, look in the Middle East. See the work of ISIS for what it really is: the tactic of the enemy to destroy entire nations. (Another example in modern times would be Nazi Germany.)

Here is the problem: When we pray about issues regarding the Middle East, or regarding homosexual activism, or regarding abortion, or regarding the political agendas and the government that rules over us, we often are praying in regard to the issues that we see. There are deeper issues than that.

When we examine America's history, what is one of the issues that comes up over and over again? Racism. I saw somewhere that 150,000 people were killed in the trail of tears - the utter destruction of the Native Americans. Slavery has been something that has left a tarnish upon this nation, not just from 1700's, but even from the Civil War through the Civil Right's movement of the 1960's. When we see the racism issue being displayed every day on the media, it is not because we still struggle with racism. Whether that is true or not is a non-issue.

There is a principality over our nation that is driving the racism thing. It is an Assyrian spirit, one that would claim itself to be the "master race" (it was the Assyrians who coined this term), and their leaders were called “Khatti-sars”. From this we have words like Caesar, Tzar, Czar, Kaiser, etc. The Assyrians used symbols like the double-headed eagle, the iron cross, and the swastika as their representations. Yes, the eagle on the dollar bill comes from the Assyrian symbol. They are recorded by Philo and Josephus as being people with blonde hair and blue eyes, and white skin. The Indians (country) called them "white demons". This is what has infiltrated Germany, thus the rise of Nazism, and what has come across the sea into America, thus the racism and elitism.

The roots need to be noted and understood. We are fighting principalities and powers, not racism and abortion. The problem stems unto a spirit that presides over our nation, that until it be cast down by the Church that has come out from all influence of the principalities and powers, we will continue to find these problems. They won't stop here. The goal is to oppress the people of God, to numb them and to deceive them, until  eventually they have no power at all. To use their wisdom at all is to surrender your authority to them (see here and here for more information on their wisdom). To harness patriotism, which I do love what American is supposed to stand for (freedom), is to play directly into their power.

God has called us out of father, kindred, and nation - just as He called Abraham out - so that we might come into a different Kingdom entirely. It is from that heavenly kingdom, with the authority invested in us through freedom from demonic influence and manipulation, and freedom from sin, that we are able to war against those powers over our nation.

Ultimately, the casting down of principalities from a national level requires the command over even the elements of nature (see my blog here on the two witnesses). The replacement of government is not anarchy, but theocracy. The establishment of theocracy would require that we seek the heart of God, to understand what His purposes are for our nation, and to live from the reality of what He has called us to be. As Americans, God has called us to be that nation of freedom. But, what exactly does that mean? What precisely does God demand that we as a nation would do? This is something that we need to prayerfully wrestle with in community, for without the intuition and discernment of the saints in corporeity we cannot possibly come to solid conclusions of what God has called our great nation to be in this time. Whatever it is that He would call us to be and to do, it will relate to the Jew in our midst, and to Israel in the last days. What exactly that means is more than I can express at this moment, but for those interested, I would suggest reading this to start.

Head Coverings Leads to Angels?

            1 Corinthians 11:2-15 is one of those passages that very few understand, and I think that the trouble is more to do with our English translations than not. However, with that being said, I think that even when we try to understand what Paul is saying by examining the Greek, we're still only hearing one side of the conversation. What exactly Paul is referencing in this passage we're not 100% sure, and therefore it makes it difficult to understand exactly what he is saying. For this study, we're going to be looking at some Greek. Yes, the dreaded language that the New Testament was actually written in. Now, first off I want to say something: This is not going to be entirely conclusive, because I want you to form your own opinion. I’m going to give enough information to help us understand what is being said, but I don’t want to conclude and bring all of the loose ends together.

            If we translate literally from the Greek to the English, we find that 1 Corinthians 11:2-15 reads: “But I praise you because you have remembered all things of me and you hold fast to you the traditions as I delivered to you. But I wish you to know that Christ is the head of every man, and the head of a wife, the husband, and head of Christ, God. Every man praying or prophesying [while] having [anything] down over [his] head shames the head of him. But, every women praying or prophesying with the head uncovered shames the head of her, for it is one and the same thing with the woman who has been shaved. For if a woman is not covered, let her be shorn; but if [it is] ugly for a woman to be shorn or be shaved, let her be covered. For a man indeed is obligated not to be covered, the head being the image and glory of God; but the wise is the glory of husband, For man is not from woman, but woman because of the man. Therefore the woman ought to have authority on the head because of the angels. Nevertheless, neither woman separate from man nor man separate from woman in [the] Lord, for as the woman from the man so also the man through the woman; but all things of God. Among you yourselves judge: is it fitting, a woman to pray to God uncovered? [Does] not nature itself teach you that a man indeed if he wears his hair long, it is a dishonor to him, but a woman, if she wears her hair long, it is a glory to her? The long hair has been given to her instead of a covering.”

            This text has been used to say that men should keep their hair short, and that women should not shave their heads. It has also been used to support the notion of head coverings (one only needs to think of the Anabaptists). It has also been used to support the notion that men are superior to women, and therefore women should not teach, lead, learn, speak, etc in the church. Yet, when we read what the actual Greek says, it doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense to us English speakers. A lot of the things that we have alluded to are actually not entirely there, and the things that we thought were there are simply flat out vacant from the text. One thing that we do know is this: Paul is speaking of head coverings.

            Something to know about Greek is that the same words for man and woman mean husband and wife. Paul could have used words that would mean single men or women, but they bring a connotation that Paul was not wanting to say. So, it is the job of the translator to ask whether Paul is addressing husbands and wives, or whether Paul is addressing men and women. In the above translation, I chose husbands and wives only when we can be certain from the context that it is supposed to be husbands and wives.

            Paul used the Greek word kephale instead of arche when speaking of the head. Arche would mean absolute ruler, chief, or the one who is boss over. Kaphale means the literal head – that thing that has a skull, brain, nose, ears, mouth, etc. Kaphale can also be used as a military term: the first one onto battle. The fact that Paul would use the word kaphale instead of arche tells us that Paul did not intend on saying anything about Christ being the ruler over man, nor man being the ruler over the woman. Though Paul does assert that Christ is the arche over the church in Colossians 1:18, in this specific passage that statement is not made.

            The word for shorn is a form of the word keiro, which means to sheer (as in a sheep) or to cut short (as in one’s hair).

            The word for covered is katakalupto, which is used nowhere else in the New Testament. Kalupto is used elsewhere to mean “cover”, “hide”, or “conceal”, but Paul deliberately added the prefix kata to change the meaning to “cover down over”. In all other passages, when something is “on” someone’s head, the prefix used is epi. Here Paul is saying kata. For this reason, some have translated this as meaning “wearing a veil”. If veil means face covering, then this translation is misleading.

            Hair is the Greek word thrix, but here Paul uses the word kome. It, too, is used nowhere else in the New Testament. It denotes long hair that is ornamented.

            Nature, which Paul said bears witness that men should not have long hair, is the word phusis. Phusis can mean nature, as in the natural law, or natural order, but it can also mean instinct that we hold to from long standing tradition. In that sense, phusis can mean “long established custom”, or “habit”.

            What was Paul saying? Paul appeals to a “tradition” that he had told them before. Now, when Paul wants to say to remember the Gospel that was declared to them, he typically uses the word we translate as Gospel. Here, however, he seems to be alluding to something that he had taught while being with them. Because modern readers were not there when Paul delivered these teachings, we have little clue to what Paul is referencing. However, there is a hint in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18. Paul reminds the church in Corinth about Moses wearing a veil “over” his face. The idea of wearing a head covering was linked to the shekinah glory of God shining down upon the devout. Yet, Paul is asserting that we experience greater glory than Moses through Christ. And his point in 2 Corinthians 3 is that we should have unveiled faces, because it is looking into the face of the other believers that we are then changed from glory to glory. It is Christ in you – the hope of glory – that changes your brethren. We let that glory shine out from our faces, not hiding behind a veil or closing our eyes to it, but instead allowing all to see the glory of God in us and through us.

            Now, this leads me to a specific conclusion. Paul is talking about the prayer shawl. The prayer shawl would traditionally be placed upon the head, and it would then hang down over the head and face. Paul is instructing them not to have this sort of covering, because their covering is Christ. The head of every man is not Moses, but Christ. We have the blood of Jesus as our covering. This is important because we can interpret it for today as well. Should we close our eyes when we pray? Should we all bow our heads? Or should we behold in one another’s faces the glory of God? Should we sit in pews where everyone faces forward? Should we be seeing the back of someone’s head while listening to the preaching? Or should we instead be able to face one another and see everyone’s reaction?

            So, we don’t cover our faces, but allow our faces to be seen. That way, everyone is able to see our Head – Christ. It is a play on words here. Christ is the head over all, but Paul uses the word kaphale meaning the literal body part that sits upon your neck. He is pointing at your head and saying, “What you do with that, and whether you cover your face, is a reflection upon your head – Christ.”

            So lets get back to 1 Corinthians 11. Paul starts to speak about women, and how their head is their husband. Now, from the literal translation of the Greek text, we assume that Paul is asserting that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of every wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Now, when we say that the head of the wife is her husband, are we then asserting that women are under men? No. We’re saying that the wife is subject to her husband. But what does that mean? The word in Ephesians 5:21-33 that is used to say that the wife is subject to her husband is hupotassomai, which can be translated as, “be supportive of”, “be responsive to”, “give allegiance to”, or “tend to the needs of”. Paul is not asserting that the man is the arche over the woman, and therefore is the ruler of the house. Instead, Paul is saying that the man is the literal head – that thing upon the two shoulders – and thus needs to be supported by his wife. So, when we read this portion of 1 Corinthians 11, we need to understand that Paul is saying that the way you support Christ, as a wife, is by supporting your husband. The way that you tend to Christ is by tending to the needs of your husband. Does that not revolutionize everything?

            So, what do we make of this part, “But, every women praying or prophesying with the head uncovered shames the head of her, for it is one and the same thing with the woman who has been shaved”? This might be an allusion to culture. It was tradition that the married woman would cover her hair, or keep it bound up when they were married. It was the sort of “wedding ring” in their day – that which identified them as married instead of single. Paul might be saying to not go against that, for it brings shame upon the husband. At the same time, if a woman cuts her hair short, like the prostitutes of their day, it also brings shame upon their husband. Now, what is necessary to note is that Paul asserts that the wife is the glory of her husband. It isn’t simply that the wife needs to respect her husband’s dignity, but that the wife is actually worth something and precious. The husband is found glorious because his wife, not because of his own doing per se. This might be a hint back to Proverbs 31, which is a reflection of the Bride of Christ.

            What should we say about modern times? Is it wrong for a woman to shave her head? Is it wrong for a woman to not cover her head? The context of this portion directed to wives is still under the pretense that “Christ is the head of all”. You come to your own conclusions on that.

            Now, here is where this little bit about the angels comes in. “Therefore a woman ought to have authority on the head because of the angels”. Some have taken this as meaning the nephilim. When God destroyed the earth in the flood, there is a strange passage in Genesis 6 about nephilim. People have concluded that angels came down from their heavenly abode to have sex with women and create giants on the earth. I don’t think so. I think that what Paul is saying her should be taken within the context of other things that he said to the Corinthians.

            By the time we come to 1 Corinthians 11, we’ve already read chapter 6. 1 Corinthians 6 is about lawsuits among believers. Paul asks, “Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!” Did you not know that we will judge angels? The woman is told that should ought to have authority on the head because of the angels. Who is the head? The head is Christ. What is Paul saying? Women have authority in Christ. You have authority in the name of Jesus over the angels. This is necessary, because you are required to judge the angels. How can you judge them if you don’t have authority over them? Yet, what is the nature of this authority? This authority is most likely in reference to casting out demons and setting captives free.

            So the point of what Paul is saying is about what we do with our heads. If we cover them, we hide the glory of Christ in us. Thus, men are told not to allow their hair to become long enough to cover their face. Wives are told to be careful with what they do in relation to their head, because it is a reflection of how they treat their husband. If a wife mistreats their husband, they aren’t simply disgracing a man, but instead Christ. The assertion is made, then, that women are not left out of the authority in Christ, but instead Paul reassures that they do indeed have authority in Christ. It is not men over women, but instead men and women together. For, “neither woman separate from man, nor man separate from woman in [the] Lord, for as the woman from the man, so the man through the woman; but all things of God.”

The Most Important Thing

As I was praying last night, the memory passed through my mind of when I was very young in Christ. I was convinced that I was supposed to be a prophet. Mind you, I was only about 2 years old in the Lord, and very naive indeed. But I was convinced, and I was also convinced that others were being told that I'm supposed to be a prophet. So I would ask others, "What is my calling?" Some said they didn't know, and others said that I was called to be a prophet. It was exactly what I wanted to hear.

But it wasn't what I needed to hear.

In all honesty, I don't know that I can say one way or the other who God has called me to be. What I have learned is the most important thing: being you. What I needed to hear as a youth in Christ, one who was still carrying around  much baggage and speaking from the flesh, is that God has made me to be a very specific individual. Whether we're talking about apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, or teachers, their calling does not supersede who they already are. God has made you for who you are, and there shouldn't be anything else to tell you what that is.

When I was in school, I was bullied.

A lot.

It actually was something that was painful enough that I can't remember most of my childhood. I assume that my mind has actually blocked it out to keep from the pain. One of the very few things I do remember is at one point contemplating suicide. I felt absolutely worthless, and no one would care if I gave up my life. Then the people started going through my mind of who would care, my sister, my best friend... I couldn't do it.

What exactly is the most important thing? What is it that I know now that I didn't know then?

God has made me to be me.

There are certain aspects of who I am that I have put upon myself, whether good or bad. There are certain ways that I act and react, both being defense mechanisms. There are certain habits that I have created for myself. My likes, my dislikes, my personality, my habits, my opinions, and all other parts of who I am stem from something. It either stems from the core of my being, the essence of who I am, or it stems from my reaction to outside forces. The most important thing is to pull back the layers, however painful that may be, and look into the very heart. For anyone, whether Christian or otherwise, the most fulfilling thing that we can do is to live from the very center of who we are.

However, there is a catch 22 here. We cannot truly live from who we are, and who we were created to be, unless we are surrendered to Christ who made us. To live from that core, that center, we must be yielded to something stronger than that core or center. We are too weak to live out of our center alone. The result is what got us wherever we're at currently. The result of living as I knew how got me into alcohol, promiscuity, and rock n' roll culture.

Our callings do not replace the very essence of who we are. I would actually contend that the very core of our being is what defines our calling. Whether we're called to be a pastor, teacher, apostle, or some guy that sits on the park bench and comforts the man who called him at midnight asking for help, the most important thing is that we discover who we are and live from that. We are each a different member in a very large Body, and the beauty of holiness is found when we can be ourself in the midst of it. When we can function as we are intended to function, and we don't get picked on or run over by others who have 'better' callings, we are acting like the Body.

When I was young in Christ, I wanted to be a prophet because I saw the glits and glam of the so-called prophets. I saw the authority of the prophets in Scripture, and the relationship they had with God. But I did not see the suffering and the torment they endured. I didn't see anywhere close to the full picture. What I thought a prophet was at that time was only the 'good' things, and none of the 'bad'. That's why I wanted it. For my whole life I had been picked on and beaten down, and if I were a prophet, then I would be looked up to. I didn't realize that the prophets were also beaten and kicked.

God is unchanging. But why is He unchanging? It is one thing to make the assertion and say that He is God, therefore He doesn't change. It is quite different to see why. He doesn't change because He is free. Freedom is not defined by whether we are allowed to do something, or whether the option is available. I think in our Christianity we define freedom the same way we define freewill: to option to choose right or wrong, obedience or disobedience. Freedom is living from who you are. When there is nothing that hinders or restrains you, you are free. God is unchanging because He is free. He is who He is, and He lives from that essence of His being. He will never act outside of who He is, because that would be forfeiting His freedom. He is pure and incorruptible for the same reason that He is unchanging. These are all interwoven in a way to show you what freedom is all about. For us to find who we are in our essence, that we are made in God's image and have been designed by Him to live according to who He has created us to be, is the first step to ultimate freedom. Living out of the core of your being, that very core that governs everything about you, is freedom. To put something upon yourself that is not you, but only a reaction to the outside world, is bondage.

I would like to sum up with a challenge. How much of your life is lived from who you are? How much is lived from who you think you are supposed to be? How much is lived from the habits and reactions that you have placed upon yourself as a response to the outside world, but are not who you are? These things don't define you. There is a core that defines you and speaks as to why you act and react in these ways. It governs the decisions that you make. To live from that core of who you are, through the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace offered by the blood of Christ, is to find true freedom. Nothing else matters. If you run your life into the ground because you have been living from your center, it is well worth it. It is better to find yourself and live in poverty and isolation than to continue to live out a lie with many friends and many riches. I hope that this is something to bring the same freedom to the reader that I have found simply by pursuing this. I haven't arrived, but I praise God for the growth that has taken place simply for taking up the challenge.

It's not Good to be Alone

18 And the Lord God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” 19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

23 And Adam said:

“This is now bone of my bones
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

In Genesis 2:18, we find the first mention of "not good." Throughout the entirety of Genesis 1, we read about the first day, and God says it is good. The second day, God says it is good. The third day, God says it is good. All the way through to the seventh day, God says, "It is very good." Now we reach the first time that God says, "It is not good..." Isn't it fascinating that the first thing God says is not good is loneliness? 

Notice that God does not say it is sin. It is not sin to be alone, or to feel alone. Loneliness is something that we have all experienced at some time. The Hebrew word is bad (bawd). It has the implication of a branch severed from the tree, a body part disconnected. This is not mere isolation, but a disconnect from the whole. 

God's response to this loneliness is to "make a helper." The Hebrew word is etser, which comes from the root atsar - to surround. Etser means "one who helps," but seems like the implications are companionship and camaraderie, not service or assistance. It is also more than someone to talk to and be around. This suitable helper is supposed to be one that can come alongside and fill out the areas in life that are incomplete. 

We have in verses 19-20 the scene of Adam naming the animals. This has two implications. First, it implies hierarchy. Adam was "over" the animals in that he names them; they don't name themselves. In Daniel 1, Daniel and his three companions are given new names. The king of Babylon does this to show he has ownership over those young men. He named them; he owns them. The second implication is found in what a name represents. The Hebrew word shem (pronounced shame) means character. Adam would have deeply searched the soul of those animals to name them precisely as they are. Their name is the essence of their being. It takes intimacy with that other being in order to name them. You have to know them in their deeps and see what the animal truly is.

We come to verse 21 and God puts Adam in a deep sleep. The Hebrew word is tardemah. It means a trance, or a deep sleep (as if dead). The Greek equivalent is used in Revelation 1 when John sees Jesus and falls down before Him as if dead. Daniel sees a vision in Daniel 10, and falls down on his face into a "deep sleep." This is the same thing. It's the idea of being unconscious or in a coma or something. It makes me think of Paul when he said, "Whether in the body or out of the body, I don't know..." 

This idea of Adam being brought into a deep unconscious slumber, as if dead, is all the more amplified by the verb in the following phrase. Yashen means physical relaxation/being languid, but figuratively implies death. God took a rib out of Adam and from that rib made a woman. She was called such because when Adam awoke, he said, "Woah, man..." (That was a pathetic attempt at a joke). 

In the wording, "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh," we actually have an idiom. To understand what this means, it is actually a comparison of bone and flesh. Whereas bone is hard, flesh is soft. Where I am weak, she is strong, but where I am strong, she is weak. We complete one another. This is the helper that Adam needed. This is the kind of relationship that was needed in order to not be "alone." In the case of Adam, it was a wife that was necessary. In the case of many people in our world today, it is not necessarily a wife or a husband. The implications of what it means for them to be a wife or husband is found prominently in the next couple verses.

Before we get to that point, lets further investigate this scene. The Hebrew for rib is tselath. It means side, but can be used in anatomy, architecture, or figuratively. Depending on the context, we would call it a beam, side, rib, plank, etc. It comes from the Hebrew tsala, which means "to limp." Tsala is used in Genesis 32:22-32 when Jacob wrestled the angel and walked away limping. For Adam to be put into a deep sleep, as though dead, and then a rib taken from his side, we're looking at a metaphor for resurrection. Just as Jacob transformed from Jacob to Israel, so Adam is transforming from man to humanity. It was male and female - He made them in God's image. There is something about man and woman uniting to bring forth the image of God.

The Hebrew for woman is ishah; the Hebrew for man being ish. The woman has a hey at the end of ishah. The man has a yod in the middle of ish. When you bring together the yod with the hey, you have yah, which is the name of God. To be truly united, we bring Christ in us to one another, the God that He invested inside of you. When I as a male bring the image of God in me to my wife, and she brings the image of God in her to me, we make a complete yah, and therefore have a three chord strand that is not easily broken. 

To build a relationship upon Christ instead of upon "I love her" is completely different. Notice in verse 23 that Adam never named the woman. There isn't a hierarchy. Adam is not over the woman. Paul notes that the woman was created for man, not visa versa. What's going on here? Paul cannot be saying that man is over the woman. Thus, it must mean that woman is to serve God with man, not as a lesser, but not alone either. The reason for this is because of what I've already mentioned the "bone of my bone" idiom stands for. In the ways of God, He has purposed that woman should serve Him alongside of man. We'll dive into this a little more deeply in a minute.

The word for one used in verse 24 is echad. Echad is used many times in the Old Testament to mean one. It does not mean a multiplicity of ones. I've heard the argument that it is like one bundle of sticks compared to one stick. The truth is, echad would be used to describe both the bundle as well as the single stick. But here is what we do know: Adam and Eve would not have ended up somehow mutating together to become one being. They were still two distinct entities: male and female. Never does Adam become one with Eve in the sense of a merging of the flesh to become one person instead of two. So echad, even though it means one, is being used figuratively to make a point.

When we read in the shema, we read that the word echad is used at the end (the Lord your God is one). Jesus prayed in John 17:21 that we would be one as He and the Father are one. In Ephesians 5:31-32, Paul says that this is a mystery that is speaking of Christ and His Church. The very words in Genesis 2:24 are somehow now being related to Christ and His Church. 

I said previously that for Adam, the loneliness was cured by a wife. But for we in the twenty first century, it isn't necessarily marriage that cures loneliness. It comes from two sources, both being related inseparably. We are to be married to Christ, which is to say that we are to be one with Christ. That sounds nice and all, but what does that look like and actually mean? The ironic thing is that this is where the second implication comes in. To be one with Christ is to be one with one another. When we are willing to be intimate with one another, to the degree that you cannot tell where the one begins and the other ends, we are now being united with Christ.

It is beholding in one another's faces that we move from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). We're given a clue in Genesis 2:25 as to what it would mean to be one with one another. They were naked and felt no shame. Nakedness is not simply stripping down. There is a stripping that is not of clothing. There is a nakedness that does not involve nudity. Nakedness is transparency. We read in James 5:16 to confess our faults one to another and to pray for one another. Paul says to carry each other's burdens, for when one part of the Body hurts, the whole Body hurts. That kind of openness of confession to one another, and that kind of love to pray for one another instead of lording over one another is completely other worldly. 

In openness and honesty and nakedness, there was no shame for faults and failures. In all things, man was innocent. Could you imagine what it would be like to be that kind of person to someone else? Are you able to conceive what it would mean to be able to unload your heart to someone, and instead of judging or condemning, they embrace you and say with heartfelt tears, "Me too?" We've all failed in one place, and even if I've never committed adultery, I'm no better than the one who has. I've done things that the adulterer or murderer would never conceive of. The visions in my mind sometimes are so perverted and evil that to confess it would be to expose myself. I'm not a good person.

Yet, it is in the midst of that kind of relationship to one another that we find healing and freedom. We find healing from our sins, and we find innocence because we're not looking to hide or deceive. To be united one to another, so that we are no longer male and female, Jew or Gentile, black or white, slave or free, but are all one in Christ requires that we would be transparent before one another. The cure to loneliness is not to be around other people. The cure to loneliness is confession.

When we're united to a Body of believers that is naked before one another, shame is not felt. Adam and Eve were naked and felt no shame. This kind of innocence has been lost to us, but we can understand it and be a part of it through Christ. Honesty and transparency is being more naked than nudity would require. We don't like the idea of being that open and bare. We like to clothe ourselves and hide behind our fig leaves. It takes the Spirit of Christ itself to even get us to consider opening up and being real. 

The heck of it is that to be united to the Body here and now is actually more than just being united to the Body here and now. There is an unbroken continuum of saints that stretch back to Adam being a son of God, Abel offering a sacrifice that God accepted, Seth's descendants being the first mention of "At that time men began to call upon the name of the Lord", Enoch entering into eternity by faith, and all the other amazing saints that we're in line with throughout all ages. This is called the invisible cloud of witnesses. 

We are interwoven with this invisible cloud. Even when you feel alone, you are not alone. The others that have gone before you are ever and always about you. When we enter into the Body of Christ, we enter an eternal Body that spans from everlasting to everlasting. Before the foundations of the world, Jesus was the eternal Son of God. To enter into His Body is to enter into Him. To enter into Him is to enter into the Triune God. As the Bride of Christ, we are more than human. Divinity and humanity have been married, and in being united one to another, we are actually a fourth aspect of the Godhead. That isn't to say that we are divine as individuals, but to say that the marrying of Israel and the Church, Spirit and flesh, Heaven and Earth, and God and man brings us into an exalted place. We are somehow more than human, and even exalted above the angels, but not on par with Christ.

Just as the woman was created to serve God alongside of man, the Bride of Christ is to rule and reign alongside of Christ. The woman is not less than man, nor is she under man. She is not to be "ruled over", nor is she to be the head of the house. There is no "head" but Christ. When man and woman have been made equal and serve God together - one alongside of the other - we are displaying a mystery of how God has made the Bride to rule and reign with Christ in equality to Christ, and not in subjectivity or "underneath" Christ. 

Oh the depths and riches of our God! The tender mercies that would make man a little lower than the angels, but to be raised up unto Him as Sons and Daughters - co-heirs with Christ. Who is like the Lord? And who has been His counselor? To Him be glory in the Bride, forever and ever, amen.

Priestliness is Fatherhood, Fatherhood is Priestliness

            The Father loves the Son. His great love is shown through that He desired only to benefit His son. I think to say that God desired “the best” for His Son is provocative, to say that least. The Father didn’t simply desire “the best” for His Son, but desired an eternal blessing. It was the Father’s heart to glorify the Son, which is much deeper than saying “the best.” I think this might be where many of us go wrong. We desire to give “the best” for our children, but how do we define that “best”? God the Father desired to glorify His Son. That glory that He should impart upon His Son was to give Him a name above every name – even His own name.

            “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to” the Son. When it was the Father’s right, seeing as He is eternal and shall never die, to keep Himself upon the throne, nothing delighted Him more than to give everything He had to His Son. No longer do we don’t call upon the Father, but instead we pray “in Jesus’ name.” This isn’t to separate the Father and Son, but to say that it pleases the Father that His Son should receive the higher honor and glory. Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father who is in heaven…” The Father delights that we should honor the Son.

            Fatherhood is priestliness, and priestliness is fatherhood. The two are interwoven. To be priestly, one must be fatherly. Fatherhood is defined above: to desire nothing but the glorification of the Son. When we are spiritual fathers, adopting sons of our own to raise in the faith, our desire should not be to “impart something of worth,” but instead to sacrifice everything – expending ourselves and being spent – so that our son might be glorified and exalted higher than we ever could have dreamed. This is the priestly act.

            We are called to being a royal priesthood. Yet, I don’t know that I’ve ever heard the question asked: priests for whom? It is not wrong to say that we are priests to one another. In a real sense, we need to take up one another’s burdens and carry them together. I should go to the elders with my faults so that they might pray for me and I might be healed. I should look to the others in the Body to confess my faults, and in that confession to both be held accountable and have someone else to wrestle with me. I should take my petition to another brother as one would take the sacrifice to the priest. They, in return, then take that sacrifice of confession unto the Lord to seek deliverance from the power of sin.

           There is another level to this. We are called to be priests unto Israel. To be Israel’s priests is to take upon self their sins and their wretchedness. We endure the shame of their guilt, exchanging our glory for their shame, so that they might be glorified and exalted to such a place that they can fulfill their ultimate mandate: to be a nation of priests. When Israel is a priestly nation, then the other nations, as nations, can come unto God. As long as Israel remains a people that do not know their God, only individuals will come to Him. There will be a remnant. But when Israel is redeemed, then even the nations will come up to Jerusalem (Micah 4:2).

            Our calling to be priests is a call to being fathers. We need to have a father’s heart. Whether we have come to a place of having a father’s heart is going to be best explained in how we react to this generation. If our heart is to say, “Those darn millennials are just a bunch of hoodlums,” then our heart condemns us. But, if our heart is to break over the amount of youth that are giving themselves over to pornography, lust, violence, and crude entertainment, and we would say to those parents that don’t care about their children, “Send your unwanted children to me,” then we have obtained unto priestliness. It is a priestly thing to submit oneself under agony and suffering for the sake of a generation, or “corporate son.”

            Fathers are so much more than teachers. Priests are so much more than people that minister the sacrifices. To be a priest or a father is to impart life. In 1 Thessalonians 2:7-8, Paul elaborates a bit more for us: “We proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having thus a fond affection for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.”

            Unlike the gifts and callings of God, where God gives to some, the call of fatherhood is made to each and every man in the faith. We should corporately be a fatherly people, in which the world doesn’t have the slightest idea what it means to be “bastard.” If the world’s fathers are so bankrupt of anything sacred that they will abandon their children, then the men of the faith should open their homes and take in those that have no fathers. There should be a refuge and safe haven for all the orphans. Even James says that “religion that is pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

            This in no way means that we should run out into the streets and start pulling the first young man that we see into our homes. All things are done according to the Spirit. All I’m suggesting is that when we are truly of a father’s heart, or a mother’s heart, we yearn for those that are abandoned. We hear of those that have no fathers and we do everything in our power to help that one or two that we know. Maybe we know more than one or two; maybe we only know one. The point isn’t the number, but the heart.

            One man has written, “If we can be faithful to this call, the next generation may yet say to us, ‘Thank you for thinking beyond yourselves, for allowing the Lord to invest in you in such a way that you now have much to deposit in us,’ and thereby serving the purpose of God in your generation, as well as theirs.” Ultimately, the issue of fatherhood is first a spiritual issue. We are to be fathers to those in the faith. We are to take in those that have no father to teach them of the ways of God. There is a generation of young men and women that go to youth group, but have nothing to do with the generation before them. There is such a divide between the Baby Boomers, Generation X, and the Millennials. I am fearful to ask what the chasm will be between these and “the Silent Generation” (from the year 2000 to present).

            In the Old Testament, it is continually said over and over that we are to pass on to the next generation the Law of God and the stories of our history. Those that came out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land were to tell the stories of how God brought them out of Egypt and delivered into their possession the Land. Yet, we find in the very next generation after Joshua dies that Israel is carried away into idolatry. What happened? Either the children didn’t care, or the fathers weren’t fathers.

            The statement is made by Hosea, “Like priest, like people.” I think it can be paraphrased, “Like father, like children.” If the fathers don’t care about the things of God, then the children won’t care about the things of God. Too many times I look at the “elders” in the faith, and their eyes are glossed over. They’re still technically alive, but they’ve lost all joy and unction. While everyone else is still maturing in their faith, the one who should be a father to us all is sitting behind the television zoning out of reality. Their eyes have glossed over and their mind has dulled. The no longer see reality, let alone care about reality. And then that gets passed onto the next generation.

            You allow that for multiple generations in a row, and you’ll find yourself in the place where we are currently. Just as much as the question can be asked, “Where are the fathers?” the question can be asked, “Where are the sons?” We have raised up a generation that doesn’t want a father. They’ve become so accustomed to the dread of their own fathers, and the relationships of “lording it over the flock” that they really just want to rebel against anything that calls itself “authoritative.” But this isn’t because the youth have a rebellious heart.

            King Saul at one point told his army that they were going to fight all night. The men were tired. They were hungry. They were exhausted. Then Saul says that they aren’t allowed to eat until they have gained the victory. Guess what the people did. As soon as they had victory they started eating the animals of that people they had victory over. They didn’t even wait for the meat to be thoroughly cooked. They ate the meat with the blood in it. Then Saul laid to their charge that they were sinning by eating the meat with the blood. What’s wrong with this picture?

            That army would not have eaten the meat with the blood in it if King Saul had allowed them to sleep and eat. But instead, he continued to slave drive the army of Israel. We have the same thing in our time. There is a generation that has been stepped on, abused, misused, abandoned, and despised since their conception. They’ve grown up and began to rebel. Whose fault is it? Do we stand in self-righteousness like King Saul? Or do we weep because we have sinned in mishandling the things of God? The answer to that question will reveal more than we're willing to behold of ourselves. When we’re dealing with God’s ultimate purposes, we’re dealing with the very heart of God. It takes a priest to read and teach such things, let alone enact them.

            I think that it is past time that we pursue God's ultimate intentions. If that ultimate intention is fatherhood, which I'm beginning to think that it might be, then we strive with all of our might to be fathers. If there is anything that many of us buck against it is the idea of fatherhood. It might be the most needed thing in our culture, and yet the most opposed at the same time.

Church Leadership

This has been a question asked by a couple people, "What does Church leadership look like?" I am so unfit to answer this question. Before we even talk about leadership, we need to ask what do we mean by "church?" There is a lot to unpack.

When you ask someone what church is, they will typically tell you it is the people. Then you ask them about their church and they will tell you about programs, events, buildings, sermons, worship music, and other things that really make you wonder how much they truly believe that the church is the people. Lets get this one clear: the church is not a building. You might meet in a building, you might meet in a living room, you might meet at a different place each week, but where you meet does not in any way, shape, or form tell us one iota about your "church." The church is first and foremost the people of God, coming together frequently in fellowship together.

In the midst of frequent fellowship, and in the midst of adversity of life lived together, we find ourselves in a strange place. Questions come from the devil asking whether these people even like you. He tempts and taunts and earns his title as "the accuser of the brethren." Nothing short of complete transparency and honesty will help to overcome that hurdle. When we can be united in a way that we are able to confess our faults one to another, and honestly tell each other when we have felt wronged or when the devil has been speaking his deceptions into our ear, it is precisely at that moment that we have stepped out from being an institution and into being an apostolic reality.

Our lives and characters are to be interwoven in a way that you cannot see me without seeing the other members of my community. You cannot tell where the one begins and the other ends. When you hear me speaking about a certain subject, I have not come to this knowledge independent, but instead in the midst of corporate wrestling. We all have a word, a song, a prophecy, a tongue, an interpretation of that tongue, a cry, a burden, a hope, a love, a message that cuts through all the crap, and most of all, we all have hearts yearning for a coming Kingdom. In that context, when we meet, we don't listen to the one man who has prayed, but instead we listen to what the Spirit is saying to the Churches through this man, and that woman, and these brothers, and those couples, and even the children. God speaks through each and every one, or He doesn't speak at all. Even in silence, we can be speaking the very word of God.

This brings me to another question often asked: How do you maintain order? We have set up "church" so that we have the worship, a little bit of announcements, and then the sermon, and then we all "fellowship" or leave. How is it that if there is no set schedule that we will have order?

It is not a cop out when I say that the Holy Spirit gives order. When we take off our control and allow Him to be in control, we find that the amount of order is amazing. Our time together can actually be more ordered and seamless when He is in control than when we are in control. The problem is this: often we let go of control and God is not in it. What happens when the Holy Spirit does not come in our midst to have authority and lead? Is God required to take the authority over the meeting?

When we come together, if there is no order, it is not because we haven't set up rules and bounds and guides, or that we lack leadership. The reason that there might be a lack of order is actually a spiritual issue. For those that have kept their hearts and are following the Spirit, there will be order. But if we have spent our Saturdays watching the football game, and have neglected prayer and the Bible, then it is no wonder that we need a system in order to keep from going berserk.

The quality of our life lived before God is no greater than the quality of the life we live together. When our lives together are constituted by seeing one another once or twice a week, we've already shown our cards. When we "fellowship" by playing games and watching movies together, we've already shown our lack. When we need some sort of entertainment to sit together for multiple days back to back, then our quality of life together is quite poor. How is it that the same eternal Spirit that is at work in me is at work in you, but we can't even find something to talk about? How is it that so often what we talk about and discuss has no eternal weight to it? How is it that we are far more intrigued with the ball game than we are with what it means to have a corporate character of holiness?

I say these things to our shame.

And then we want to talk about how we need church leadership. The leadership is often times equally as wanting in character and life as the person in the pew. The only difference is that you have a man or woman that is now a toddler in the faith that is able to lead the infants. This is not true of every congregation, but it is certainly true for the majority. Church leadership is born out of the intensity of life lived together. When we have wrestled with these first and foundational issues of how to even come together frequently, then we can start discussing leadership.

Leadership is never something that we promote because of a title, education, or credential. It is based on one thing, and one thing only: the word of God. When the credentials are met according to the Bible, and when that word comes from heaven to say, "Separate unto me..." then we shall know who the leaders are. God appoints the elders and deacons. He appoints the pastors and teachers. If it weren't for the assured times when discipline is necessary, you would not even know who the elder is and who the layman is. They are one together.

Submission to authority is thus a submission to the Holy Spirit. Those that are to be great among us are to be our servants. Just as Jesus did not come to be served, but instead to serve, so we are to serve one another. Those that God has appointed as elders are in actuality very rarely the ones that "stand a head and shoulder above all others" (reference to King Saul). Typically God chooses the servant and the least of all. That does not mean the least educated or least knowledgable, but the one that does not identify himself or herself as anything worthy of such a title. The one that does not desire to be sent out and speak to the world as a prophet is the one chosen as a prophet. Why? Because God knows that that man or woman will not speak their words, but will instead remain humble and speak only the words God has given. Likewise, the servant, the one that is truly humble, will not seek to somehow lord over anyone else when they are given authority, but will instead have the authority because of the anointing of the Spirit. They will not govern according to the way that the world governs, but instead have a different disposition: one that asks how Jesus leads; one that asks what it means to rule and reign in the Kingdom of God.

In this manner, God has made it that those who lead are not always those that are most qualified. It is a humbling to those that are more qualified to then submit to the authority. The authority, by the way, is never a man with a title - even one given of God - but instead a submission to the Holy Spirit. If the youngest and newest convert speaks a word that is cogent and drips with anointing, no matter how much we desire to scoff and say we're the elder or we know more, we bend the knee and submit to that word or rebuke that has come from even the babe in Christ.

The oldest is not too far from being rebuked by the youngest. All are able to speak into one another's lives, because what is more important than leadership is apostolic character. Our greatest pursuit is that we do not offend the Holy Spirit of God, which is to say that we we live solely for the glory of God. Anything less than the glory of God is apostasy, and we will not settle. Our leaders are to be those that have discernment to know when a word is truly coming from God and when it is coming from the flesh. These are men that might not know everything as far as knowledge goes, but they do know God. They do know His presence. They do know His power. They do know His Spirit.

Because the leadership has cherished that Spirit that is within them, they are able to see the false a mile away. Any kind of false humility, false speaking, false prophecy, false hope, or false spirit is utterly opposed. And know that it is never the person that is attacked, but the spirit of deception. We speak the truth in love to one another. That doesn't mean that we are somehow timid or wimpy. We can speak boldly and confidently without assailing.

In the context of community, in the midst of adversity of life together, we find an unusual calling. How can we even be to each other what we ought when our privacy is taken away? How can we show each other love when all of the luxuries that we've enjoyed up to now are no longer legitimate? It takes a certain kind of stamina and love for the truth to endure this. When we are willing to submit to that love of truth over our personal ambition, then we have come to a place where maybe we can start asking questions about church leadership. Out of that Body that is consecrated to the Lord, and has been sanctified through the outworking of His Spirit in the midst of that Church, God will speak, "Separate unto me." There will be no question of who the elders or pastors or teachers or deacons or leadership are. It will be blatantly obvious if we are indeed in the Spirit.

I hope that this answers some of those questions about leadership, authority, and submission to that leadership and/or authority.