Justin Jedlica, one of the many “Human Ken Dolls” popping up around the world.
Bringing the message of God’s eternal love to our generation might be more of a challenge than what most of us realize. This is partly due to the fact that today’s popular culture seems to be constantly pushing people into the pursuit of ‘originality’. This post is an exhortation from a Biblical standpoint. According to the dictionary definition, an exhortation is “a speech or discourse that encourages, incites, or earnestly advises”. It’s about finding and losing ourselves in the pursuit of self. It’s about a cultural trend, manhood, womanhood, and personhood. If nothing else, this might be helpful to some young people who live under incredible pressure “to be somebody”, to be “cool” and so on. This might also be helpful to those of you who want to do well as parents and love your children unconditionally, while they go through their process of finding themselves in this crazy world. And crazy world it is.
Take for example one of the many “Human Ken Doll” individuals who have been popping up around the world. What a sad state of mankind we are “privileged” to witness in our lifetime! I wonder how many young people read stories like these and think to themselves “I can’t wait to do this one day!” Hopefully not too many! And please don’t think for a minute I am somehow hateful of this individual. I’m not. I read his story and it made me incredibly sad. The same goes for the Human Barbie lady Valeria Lukyanova from Moldova.
Welcome to a world obsessed with modifying its own visage in a pursuit of “our better version” – physically, that is, not spiritually. How do we articulate the wonderful, simple truths of God, to a generation obsessed with rejecting itself and trying to remake itself in order to find acceptance and popularity?
The truth is we don’t need to be ‘eccentric’ in order to be ‘original’. What makes us ‘great’ is not perfect looks. Furthermore God has already made each one of us an original, inside and out. Even though we are all made of the dust (same chemical elements as nature), we all are in essence a combination of glorified DNA dressed in a body suit, we all have fears and hopes, we all get hungry and thirsty, even while we are all incredibly unique in God’s eyes.
Coming to a place of being aware of “who you are” in your personhood in a healthy way is entirely possible when you come into a loving relationship with our Creator. Psalm 8 is a beautiful prophetic poem and a tribute to this awesome realization – in light of who God is as our Creator and Father.
“…what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet.”
When we recognize others for who they already are, not what we project onto them what they should be, it may be the greatest form of respect one person can render to another. Too many people don’t simply “see” who others are, possibly because they have never experienced the blessedness of having been accepted for who they are themselves. So much of mankind is caught up in the vicious cycle of pressuring each other to become something we are not, based on what someone else thinks we should be.
As we come into Christ, as we transition from darkness to light and as we become grounded in who our Creator is and his great love for us, we gain a firm foundation under our feet. We are aligned with the unchanging, incorruptible, ever just and all powerful God whose verdict of us as his children is “You are now mine. You are now loved and accepted.”
It’s what people do with this verdict that separates us.
HE OFFERS HIMSELF TO US – ON HIS TERMS
Some people hear about the Love and the Life of God but never experience this on a deep, existential, spiritual and even emotional level. They give up on the journey too soon and revert to despair and short-term philosophies in an attempt to spare themselves from the agony of trying to connect with God and not succeeding. This is sad and true for many such people. It’s hard for them to accept that God chooses to reveal himself on his own terms. But that’s one of the things that makes God – God. He gets to prescribe how we connect with him.
As we the Jewish people celebrate Shavuot, we are reminded of how God gave Moses the Law. In it, He prescribed how his covenant people should meet with Him. The time, the place, the way it should work, the clothes the priests were to wear, the utensils to be used. God offers himself to us – on his terms!
Now, it’s true that God is all-present but we can’t manipulate him into “showing up” for us in a personal way just because we decided he needs to show up for us when we think He should. It takes laying down our agenda and coming to him with an attitude of reverence, if we are serious about coming to know Him. We, humans would turn God into our slave and will even abuse him, if our fallen nature was given the chance to be “in charge” of God. Think about that!
But I digress.
Deep inside people who reject God would actually love to experience this God, this Creator of theirs, but they feel like it’s too much work to go through (remember, we are the generation of “instant” coffee and “real time” information). Or they feel as if this was never really meant to be and choose another path.
Some even turn hostile. But I think very few ever indeed descend to a place of truly hating God. Usually God-haters have a story and it’s a very personal and sad story of a loss of some kind. Or some kind of abuse. Either way, when a real deep, personhood-level wound is inflicted on our soul, it generates a deep and sometimes violent reaction, i.e. hate. And when people don’t know who to direct this reaction at, they lash out at the one they think should have protected them from evil. That would be God. Or whatever they think God should be or is.
THERE ARE WOUNDS AND THERE ARE WOUNDS
Most of us have been wounded in some way or another. But some people have been subjected to a deep, personhood altering wound in their psyche. That’s different. There are wounds and there are wounds.
I believe God loves such people no less than all the “good boys and girls”, i.e. those who have come to terms with God and live a life of personal obedience to Him.
So long as people who have rebelled against God don’t cross the line of ‘hating’ God into blaspheming the Holy Spirit, there is hope for them. Sometimes people ‘think’ they hate God when in reality they really don’t, their wounds are producing a reaction to the trauma. Jesus was very explicit that the line that can’t be crossed has to do with blaspheming the Holy Spirit, which is an entirely different type of a response.
Think of the two criminals who were crucified each at Jesus’ side on Calvary. One came to a place of breaking down before God and repenting of his sin, the other one blasphemed God even with his last breath. Let’s not confuse people who have done maybe bad things and have even said harsh things about God, with true, deep-level God-haters who have crossed the line of no return. Judas the Iscariot would be another example of such individuals.
MORALISTS ARE OF NO HELP
The worst thing is when moralists try to “fix” wounded people. No one really knows how to “fix” people. We can only work with God to love on people and “be there” to the best of our ability.
We also need to be aware of boundaries. A wounded person needs to be made aware of boundaries. Wounded or not, legal, moral, ethical, social and relational (personal) boundaries are for everyone. You may be as wounded as anyone, but you must respect the STOP sign on the street, otherwise you might run over someone and end up in jail as you should.
So woundedness is not an excuse for crime or harassing or abusing others.
The best thing we can do is to accept people in their woundedness, without allowing their woundedness to take over and to begin dominating the “game” of life, to begin rewriting “the rules”, the first principles of what we know to be true and right. On a personal relatioship level, in a family, in a business relationship, at work and in society.
IN CONCLUSION
Some of us are content with who God is to us, who He has made us to be and we can’t imagine a greater blessing than to be found seeking to become more like Him, to become more human in fact, more real, warmer, loving and accepting. This is the heart of what it means to be ‘spiritual’, I believe. I don’t care too much about religious activities of one kind or another that leave people cold, hardened, shallow and fanatical, lacking compassion, love and acceptance of others. This is what I call “the religious spirit” and it’s all over the place. It turns people into petty religionists I don’t have much patience for.
Some of us have been wounded. Maybe even at home, by someone who should have given us the most love and affirmation. But instead they hurt us. God has deep compassion and love for such people, even if in their pain they lash out at him or other people.
And yet, there are those who have crossed the line. They have given themselves to evil and have chosen to serve it. We need to be aware of the difference between wounded people who do dumb things out of their woundedness and those who have chosen to serve evil.
Finally, I offer this wisdom from a great American eccentric, student of the world and thinker, whose writings I find very interesting, even though I don’t identify with his belief system and philosophical conclusions. At the end of the day, this is just a common sense truth one could easily observe how it plays out in different contexts and even cultures around the world.
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
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You and I have been created with the energy to create energy. This energy will either be wasted, or put towards the purpose of God in your life.
For example, according to FactRetriever.com, “every day, the heart creates enough energy to drive a truck 20 miles. In a lifetime, that is equivalent to driving to the moon and back.”
Whether this is true or not, or exactly how this is calculated, I don’t really know. But we do know that every day we wake up with certain amount of energy which we need in order to function.
The apostle Paul writes to the believers of his time about putting God’s energy to work. We have all been given the energy to create God’s world in our world. We have been given the energy, the ability to build our lives, our families and even our societies according to God’s patterns in this world. The world might never become a paradise on earth (some people believe this is possible), but we all have been called by God to transform it closer to His patterns of life, justice and productivity.
The apostle Paul is telling the believers he is writing to, that in fact he “toils to full exhaustion”, which is the literal translation of what “I labor” means in the Greek (“kopio“). He is “agonizing”, which is how “striving” really translates (“agonizomenos” – to remain “meno” in a state of “agon“, which means to struggle, literally (to compete for a prize), figuratively (to contend with an adversary), or genitive case (to endeavor to accomplish something) — fight, labor fervently, strive.).
But the apostle wants to make sure everyone understands the source of both his motivation and energy: it is Christ in him, the Holy Spirit at work in him. God’s energy working in him. (“according to his energeian“), which works in Paul like “dynamite” (“dynamei” – Gr.)
I don’t know about you, but just reading all this, fills me up with faith and energy!
This energy has been given to us who have come into oneness (covenant) with the Lord, primarily so we can:
1) Love the Lord our God with all our mind, heart and strength
and
2) To love others as we ourselves have been loved by God
But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:34-40
1) On loving the Lord
When we seek God, we surrender to Him, we entrust ourselves to Him and in return we hear from Him words of comfort, direction and correction.
Comfort and reassurance are essential to our lives. We all need them on a ongoing basis, don’t we? The Shepherd of our soul knows just what to say to us, how and when, in order to touch our soul on a deep intimate level. This is how we are reassured. This is how we know deep inside that we are loved, that He is with us and that “everything will be alright” (“all things work together for good”).
Correction is also a form of love, even though many people have experienced various types and degrees of trauma throughout their lives, which prevents them form relating to correction as a way of God loving us. This explains why we have so many “goats” amongst the flock. They know all the right words to say, they have read all the right books and have been to all the important conferences. But deep inside they don’t feel like sheep. On a deep level they abide in fear, a sense of uncertainty and not sensing a personal value (low self-esteem). They despise and fear a life of submission to God because their trauma interprets as hostile everything and anything that has to do with authority figures.
How sad. God is the greatest authority figure ever. All other authority stems from His authority – parental, spousal, legal, societal, professional, etc. James Dobson, in his acclaimed book Dare To Discipline, speaks to this issue, clearly showing that one of the earliest signs of showing parental love is to discipline a child, when the child tests the healthy boundaries set by the parent. It doesn’t feel nice to the child, but it sends a message: the parent so cares of loves the child, that he or she will take the time to apply discipline and reinforce the boundaries that have been set. This means the parent cares and is not just saying some cheap, meaningless words. This is how a child internalizes a sens of “I am important enough” and “I matter enough”, even to the point of my parent following through on what they said I shouldn’t do. “Good, now I know you are committed to me. Now I know you care about me”, is what the child’s brain translates.
Conversely, a parent who doesn’t follow through with discipline, compromises the very integrity if his/her own words, which demoralizes a child, leaves him or her with a sense of being on their own, a sense closer to being alone in a boat in the midst of a storm, rather than a king or a queen sitting on a throne.
All of this correction stuff only works and makes sense within the context of a loving, kind and reassuring parental relationship. He who doesn’t first know how to love and show unconditional love to their child, doesn’t really have the spiritual, moral and ethical right to try to discipline, especially in a way of being firm and strong. This confuses a child and inflicts a wound in their soul, leaving them forever suspicious of the world around them, but most importantly suspicious of those in authority.
Needless to say we have a lot of people out there whose trauma sets them up literally for a life of endless cycle of living in fear and sabotaging themselves and others they are connected with.
The most extreme examples of such cases are those prone to a life of crime, the people who end up populating our already overpopulated prisons.
But don’t be fooled, there are plenty of “high-functioning” goats out there, people you meet every day, who are able to function in various degrees in their lives, yet on a deep level their spiritual and emotional baseline remains fear and anxiety – sometimes throughout their entire lives. Jesus loves the goats, too. However, they are difficult and not too willing to receive the help they need, which is why it’s possible to waste their entire lives running around as wild…well, goats.
When we entrust our lives to Jesus as our Creator, King, Savior and Friend (The Lover of Our Soul), we can finally find true rest. This is what it means “to love yourself” – i.e. to create the space and the time needed to receive God’s love towards you; his comfort, guidance and correction.
As we surrender to Him, we make room for His energy to kick in and to begin energizing our very soul and lives, which energy becomes poured into us in a way that it fills our own need of love and energy, as well as we have excess amounts of it to serve and bless others.
This is how we get to the next arena of God’s energy working in us:
2) Loving our fellow man
Loving our fellow man takes more than just words. It takes time and energy for us to have received God’s love. Likewise, it takes time and energy to love someone else. It’s a whole different matter whether they will receive it or reject it.
It takes time and energy to listen, which is one of the primary ways of showing love, appreciation and respect for someone else. Recently, someone I care deeply about, told me that when they spend time with me, they feel like I’m there, giving them my full attention, as if they were the only person in the world that matters to me at that moment. That’s the greatest compliment I could have possibly received. But I wasn’t a good listener for many years. This is something I had to learn about and also learn how to apply in the way I relate to others. I still fail on a regular basis to be a good listener.
It takes time and energy to actually “help” people. Words are cheap. In real life there are real situations and the people we tell we care about will need us to be “there” for them. This takes time and energy. People who show up for other people in their time of need, potentially may strike some of the greatest friendships.
It takes time and energy for married couples to develop their relationship and even to have sex. Many studies have shown that tiredness is a huge factor in sexless marriages.
It takes time and energy to rear children.
It takes time and energy to help our parents when they become elderly.
It takes time and energy to be a good neighbor to those you live next to, or close by.
It takes time and energy to foster good relationships with colleagues, business partners and clients, if you own a business or if you are building a professional career.
In all of this, God desires for us to abide in Him on a daily basis because
“in Him we live and move and have our being”. (Acts 17:28)
Rejecting God leaves us at a terrible place of being on our own when facing the chaos of life and the never ending demand on us by others, by work and by circumstances. It is understandable why people give up on life and others, feeling like they give of themselves but get very little in return. People will always fail us, if this is all we live by. I refuse to depend on what people can do for me. I accept people’s limitations and let people be who they are. My ultimate expectation is with God and he has never let me down.
God desires to be our Primary Source and Provider of life, strength, joy, peace and energy, which we all need all the time. He wants to give us the energy needed to create God’s world in our world. He is good and his love endures forever. Bad things do happen and they will happen. However, this doesn’t change who He is and who He desires to be to us as we go through the journey of life.
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Today, the Church is losing its influence in American culture, and Apostles, Prophets, and the Saints should do something about it. It is time to take action and ready ourselves to go through the Gates of Our Nation, States, Counties, and Cities to serve the world. For those who hear and respond, they will be the ones to lead in commerce, advise officials concerning foreign affairs, warn world leaders against foreign alliances, and attack and dismantle the social injustices of the day.
Go through, go through the gates, Clear the way for the people;
Build up, build up the highway; Remove the stones, lift up a standard over the peoples (Isaiah 62:10).
As spiritual leaders, it is upon us to shake off mediocrity and live up to the call and commission of God. He inspires people worldwide to reach for and become more than they ever thought possible. God has provided through scripture many examples in the historical text, as well as, inspirational encouragement to move forward:
That in blessings I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply your seed and the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore, and your seed shall possess the gate of his enemies. (Genesis 22:17).
Throughout scripture and as recorded by the historian Josephus (Of the War, Book V, v, 3), the “gates” of a city was the place for vital activities for the organisation and health of the city and the citizens within. Naturally, it was the area for defence and easily evolved as the marketplace location, where business and social life thrived. The Gates were also the place for justice and law to be established publicly, for the kings and judges would mete out their decisions at the opening of the gate. If an elder had a seat at the gate, it was a high honor. The seats of authority established at the gate are the predecessors for the Branches of Government in our society today: Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary decisions were made among the kings, rulers, ambassadors, and prophets.
Go through, go through the gates
Godly governance requires the proper attitudes, techniques, methods, and strategies that will penetrate every area of society and impact future generations. Wisdom in governing begins with respect and love for your neighbour, and worship, love and honor to God with our whole heart. These attitudes are commanded by God and certainly begin to paint the proper picture of the believer in authority.
Honor every person, love your brethren, worship God and honor Kings (I Peter 2:17).
Like a natural King of the earth, the ultimate rule of Civic Government is part of God’s supreme reign and responsibility.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a King (Matthew 22:2).
“Kingdom of Heaven” – Spiritual; “like a King” – Political
Samuel was a Prophet, Priest and Judge (I Samuel 3:1-21).
Samuel, a “Prophet and Priest” – Spiritual; Samuel, a “Judge” – Political
Therefore, it is His to promote or position whom He will to govern the people, both spiritually and naturally (civically). Samuel ruled in both natural and spiritual realms. Samuel kept Israel under the rule and spiritual subjection of God by decreeing God’s judging action, not wavering, to reinforce the wisdom and word of God. And Samuel was effective in his mission through personal, corporate, and territorial prophecy, continued prayer, and the offered sacrifices on behalf of God’s people. He also accomplished much through the training and mentorship of prophets, priests, and kings, his supernatural ministry, by being God’s divine oracle, and from ministering in the house of the LORD.
Faith in God and morality are central to the civic virtue required for our republic to survive and prosper;
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars.” George Washington, Farewell Address (1796)
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with passions unbridled by morality and religion . . . Our Constitution is only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.” John Adams, Address to the US Military (1798)
“I sought for the greatness and genius of America. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America (1835)
Augustine, on the other hand, wrote The City of God where he argued that the City of God (God’s kingdom) transcended the City of Man (Rome) and was not dependent upon it. Yet, the peace of the (citizens of the) Heavenly city is in direct relation to the harmony of the earthly city.
The earthly city, which does not live by faith, seeks an earthly peace, and the end it proposes, in the well-ordered concord of civic obedience and rule, is the combination of men’s wills to attain the things which are helpful to this life. The heavenly city, or rather the part of it which sojourns on earth and lives by faith, makes use of this peace only because it must, until this mortal condition which necessitates it shall pass away (Augustine, City of God, Ch. 17, 3).
Clear the way for the people
It is imperative that we re-establish our positions to not only “occupy until I come” (Luke 19:13), but also, to become leaders and towering giants in government.
He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come (Luke 19:12-13).
Historically, Apostles and Prophets are a called people holding a unique place in world history. They were great and courageous souls—the guides to proper religious belief and correct conduct. Apostles and Prophets were outstanding men and women of character, with great minds, credibility, and members of devout study and training groups.
Apostles and Prophets, with the reputation for wisdom, continually were positioned to speak on behalf of God—delivering messages from the mind, heart, emotions, and will of God, as revealed by the Holy Spirit. These divine messages were proclaimed to the church, regions and nations, as well as, individuals, spiritual leaders, and social and political leaders. The purpose of these messages through these oracles was to provide biblical insight and alignment and, therefore, success in their duties and responsibilities each commanded.
The time is upon us to press into that level of effectiveness and productivity in society, not allowing anything to baffle us or prevent us from going forward.
…of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times and knew what Israel should do– (I Chronicles 12).
When the righteous are positioned in seats of authority, we will see the church catapult into greater levels of achievement in society—the plans and plots of foreign enemies will be revealed, the state of our nation and the state of the state will be made known by the church (2 Kings 6).
The prophet of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there (2 Kings 6:9).
Some Apostles and Prophets of today, even now hear the call and reason to be leaders in the kingdoms of this world— by making known the wisdom of God to the kingdoms of this world, through our unique gifting, anointing, and biblical understanding.
It will take time to reinstate the saint’s role in civic government; first, by renewing the minds of church leadership and laity to let go of an old mindset of antiquated or misunderstood laws (i.e. separation of Church and State) and then, using new courage, step into places of influence in Our Nation’s Executive, Legislative and Judiciary Branches of government.
Build up, build up the highway
Following are scripture examples of key principles of, and godly leaders in, civic government: first and foremost, God is the one who decrees and declares laws.
The Lord is our lawgiver (Isaiah 33:22).
There is one lawgiver (James 4:12).
It is the responsibility of His Church to write legislation and appoint judges and officers in all the towns (Deuteronomy 16:18).
When the righteous rule, there is rejoicing in the city (Proverbs 29:2).
We shall possess the gates of our enemies (Genesis 22:17).
We shall possess the gates of those that hate us (Genesis 24:60).
Joseph exalted to Governor (Genesis 41:37-44).
Deborah called to Judge (Judges 4).
Daniel promoted to Governor (Daniel 2:46-49).
All authorities are established by God (Romans 13:1-5).
We are predestined to lead, govern and legislate in the midst of our enemies (Psalm 110:1-3).
The principal and most damaging widespread belief restricting the Saint from these governmental positions of authority is the belief that the minister of the gospel should have no part in politics. This limiting idea, embedded in the Church mind, has done more to stagnate the mission of apostles, prophets, and saints more than any other. This false belief is simply a stubborn fear and keeps one caught in the old model of thinking. Denying this aspect of the Apostles’ and Prophets’ calling to kings, world leaders, and commander of armies, is wreaking havoc in the effectiveness of the Christian Body advancing in Power and Influence.
As we break out of this old pattern of limited thinking, we will begin to experience and demonstrate the height and width of God’s Purpose and Vision for Our World. Using His Power, Authority, and the depth of His Wisdom and Intelligence, we will release His divine messages into the ears of those who manage worldly affairs.
As the Prophets and Apostles operated in laser-sharp focus, accuracy, and integrity— the time is now for saints to step up and reach their full capacity and potential of living a Holy Spirit-led life, filled with Godly revelation and knowledge, growing in intelligence and wisdom and impacting the world.
The whole Earth is waiting for a public demonstration of the saints; and God commands us to war and take possession of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven and establishing His will, governance and values on earth until all dominions serve and obey Him.
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were 10 times better in every matter of wisdom and understanding that the king consulted them about than all the diviners, priests and mediums in the entire kingdom (Daniel 1:20).
Remove the stones
Personal transformation is needed.
Daniel distinguished himself above the administrators and satraps because he had an extraordinary spirit (Daniel 6:3).
Be strong for the people and the city (I Chronicles 19:12,13).
Free yourself from self-limiting beliefs that hold you back. Identify and eliminate negative emotions and false doctrines. Develop clarity about who we are and why you are here. Unlock the power of your spiritual gifts and learn to release the anointing.
Overcome every attack that comes, dominate the devil, reclaim the anointing and receive the impartation of Christ, Savior and King (Luke 4:14,18-19,21).
Reach beyond the walls of the church. Be the full expression of God’s glory, with clear, biblical knowledge of our important role in the world.
God is looking for those He can strongly support (II Chronicles 16:9).
Lift up a standard over the peoples
To be relevant the Church must take a leap of faith (with knowledge) and start to seek positions in the power bases. In doing so, we build citadels of hope for those in the world to witness–solving problems and overcoming worldly conflicts and obstacles—rapidly leading our nation to greater victories with illumination, insight, and wisdom from God (Daniel 5:10-12).
Daniel had an extraordinary spirit of knowledge, insight, and the ability to interpret dreams. He explained enigmas and solved difficult problems. No one could find any ground for accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs; they could not find any evidence of corruption or negligence. Nothing baffled Daniel; he was not defiled by the customs and cultures of the day (Daniel 5 & 6).
World leaders must see the Church with an extraordinary spirit possessing insight, intelligence, wisdom and perception, the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems. The King of Babylon said to Daniel,
Surely your God is God……You have been able to reveal this mystery (Daniel 2:14-48).
Our task ahead is to bring the church to the knowledge of how important the training of saints to serve in seats of authority by understanding biblical principles concerning our role in government. The biblical texts record the positions of the righteous believer repeatedly occupying positions of authority in government and these examples should be the accepted and realistic expectation of the saintly life in civic service.
Living a yielded and obedient life to the Word of God is the common detail in each of the personal examples of authority and rule as recorded in the Bible. The saint in power and position of influence with a life empowered and fueled by the Holy Spirit is equipped to perform supernatural acts and demonstrate the kingdom truths. When this realm of divine reality is accepted and reached, there is nothing that will restrain an equipped body of believers ready to govern, legislate and demonstrate God’s judgment in this present world.
Expecting this transformational outcome, individually and corporately, will require high engagement: accelerated studies and learning, the gain of knowledge and experience through mentorship and fathering. These deliberate steps will give believers the knowledge, insight, and wisdom to dramatically enhance their lives ethically—equipped to lead, govern, legislate, and make righteous judgments.
Through understanding, operating, and properly discerning kingdom principles, the process of breakthrough begins. Believers will experience the certainty of apostles, prophets, godly judges, and officers in every branch of government to serve with righteous judgment, not denying justice, showing partiality or accepting bribes (I Kings 22:10; Deuteronomy 16:18,19; Proverbs 29:2).
We owe the world more… an intelligent encounter with God!
God has given us courage, a sound mind, and strength to perform conquests; He has given us the ability to face and resolve worldly conflicts, just as He has equipped us to display wisdom, knowledge, and insight, or to perform miracles, heal the sick, and strengthen the faith of the weak.
And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers, when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring, all the families of the earth will be blessed (Acts 3:25).
As saints, we are challenged to bless the nations of this world with lawful expertise leading the families of the world into holiness, prosperity, success and breakthroughs in society, in business, and in the political arenas.
It is time for the saints to jump in, take risks, and challenge ourselves. We must trust God to grant us boldness and strengthen us to fulfil His plans as Saints on the Earth. Our God-given instincts, innate talents and anointing are calling out for use!
Jesus had no dependence on human reasoning.
I can do nothing on my own (John 5:30).
Devoted to God and the ways of righteousness, the men and women of the Bible used their personal relationship with God and His word to guide the decisions of kings and nations. It is the duty of the Apostles and Prophets to bridge the gap of church and politics, and rewrite this school of thought— separation of church and state—to being positioned in leadership roles in Government and in cabinets of Governments, Educational Institutions, Media, Arts & Entertainment industries, and Business, by becoming effective saints doing exploits with our dependence solely on the Father.
Go through the gates! Let us go through the Gates!!!
Samuel Rivers Jr.is a member of the board of Threefold Christian Alliance. He is an Ordained Minister, Motivational Speaker, Educator, The Republican Whip-Member of SC House of Representatives District 15 -Berkeley & Charleston Counties. You can learn more about his work in the South Carolina House of Representatives at this website www.samuelriversjr.com and more about his ministry at www.thevoiceofthelordintl.com
https://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/samuel-rivers.png400400Georgehttps://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.pngGeorge2017-03-14 04:43:582020-07-27 08:30:28How can the Church become Kingdom Influencers and establish Law and Order in an unruly world?
In this first of a series of posts I will feature under the category “Great Leaders”, I want to share with you the story of how the famous “Roaring Lion” Churchill photograph came about.
Turns out Yousuf Karsh, the photographer who took the shot, is largely responsible for the famous face Churchill made on that day:
Churchill’s cigar was ever present. I held out an ashtray, but he would not dispose of it. I went back to my camera and made sure that everything was all right technically. I waited; he continued to chomp vigorously at his cigar. I waited. Then I stepped toward him and, without premeditation, but ever so respectfully, I said, “Forgive me, sir,” and plucked the cigar out of his mouth. By the time I got back to my camera, he looked so belligerent he could have devoured me. It was at that instant that I took the photograph.
To find out more about this fascinating story, visit Michael Zhang’s post here. There you can also see the two photographies from that historic photo shoot in their full size glory.
https://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/img_7625.png16001600Georgehttps://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.pngGeorge2017-03-12 02:57:342020-07-27 08:34:06Great leaders: The story of the Roaring Lion Churchill photograph
To learn more about my background and how it connects with the vision of the Threefold Christian Alliance, check out this page here.
https://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/george-bakalov-mic-e1704158300414.jpg4801191Georgehttps://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.pngGeorge2017-03-08 01:22:492020-07-27 08:54:53What is the Threefold Christian Alliance?
Let’s take a look at some texts in the New Testament and try to get some clarity on this.
The apostle Paul wrote about the importance of revelation knowledge on a number of occasions. However, it’s worth noting there is, of course, a whole entire book in the New Testament called The Book Of Revelation.
The Greek term here is “apokalupsis” and yes, it’s root word for the modern day word “apocalypse”. But worry not, we are not going to talk about the end of the world right now, after all, if and when the end comes, it will all be over so why even worry about it, right?
The revelation I want to draw our attention to is the work of the Holy Spirit that has to do with the revealing of things that have to do with the Kingdom of God, with the realm of God, but are not accessible to the natural man.
So let’s begin by looking at the second chapter in the first letter of the apostle Paul to the body of Christ in Corinth. (We know that the chapter and verse organization of the Scripture content wasn’t part of the way these letters were given originally, but nevertheless, the whole of chapter two is dedicated to making a contrast between the natural and the spiritual man, as well as natural and spiritual knowledge.)
Natural knowledge is knowledge we obtain by observation and by the empirical, scientific method, allowing us to make certain conclusions based on the data.
Spiritual knowledge, by contrast, is knowledge, something we become aware of or gain access to, or are able to see and understand, based on the revealing work of the Holy Spirit.
But what does it mean?
“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.” 1 Cor. 2:7
I can see how some people who are more inclined to seek the thrill of accessing the spiritual realm, would get excited about this verse and others like it. Secret and hidden wisdom of God? Wait a minute, is this a New Age seminar or the Bible we’re reading?
Yes, it is the Bible, and it’s the writing of it’s most prolific New Testament author, as well as probably the most active and productive amongst the apostles if such comparison is even appropriate.
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” — these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.” 1 Cor 2:9-10
Paul states clearly that God reveals to us through the Spirit things that are real to Him but unseen to our natural senses.
So there it is, revelation is the Spirit working to reveal to us things that are reality in the Kingdom of God, but are hidden from our senses, mind, i.e the natural man.
Why is this important for us to define?
Because are we literally drowning in a sea of false “revelation”, also known as the occult. The occult (which means literally “hidden”, as in “hidden knowledge of spiritual kind”), is false “revelation”. It doesn’t reveal anything that is actually real. It only “reveals” things demons project onto people’s minds. It’s deception. A religious deception is also a form of the occult. When Paul speaks of people preaching a “false” Christ, it really speaks of an “occult” Christ, something that really isn’t, a Christ that’s the product of the perverted imagination of people’s minds inspired of demons. These Paul calls “doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1).
By contrast, when the Holy Spirit reveals something, it is something real, something that actually exists, whether it’s God and his blessed creation or the realm of darkness. If the Spirit opens eyes to something like an angel, it’s because the angel is there, it actually exists.
Not so with the occult.
The occult is actually the false revealing of things that don’t really exist in order to lead us astray and captivate our minds, hearts and will away from God. Satan gains access to our mind, soul and possibly our body when we accept false, occult knowledge about spiritual things.
One more verse:
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Cor. 2:14
The natural “person” or in other words, the mind of someone who relies on their senses alone, not only is oblivious to the realities of the Kingdom of God and the spiritual world, to the natural mind all this might is “folly”, as Paul puts it.
Notice when Paul says “the things of the Spirit of God”, he means what the Holy Spirit reveals in regards to Jesus, the cross, the Kingdom of God, etc. So someone whose thought patterns are deeply entrenched for example in Judaism, even though it’s rooted in God’s Truth and in the Torah, as soon as you bring up the Son of God to someone like this, their mind revolts and the reject the revelation, or the truth of Jesus and His Cross and Resurrection. To the natural person, it sounds like “folly”.
Today’s agnostics, atheists, and naturalists are a good example of people who rely solely on their natural senses, even to the point of denying God and the divine origins of life. Notice I said “solely”. I believe in the scientific method and the knowledge that it gives us about the natural world and its laws. However, this method is limited to empirical knowledge and fails completely when it comes to probably the most central of all issues and that is the soul. No one has any understanding of what the soul is, it can’t be measured, quantified or dissected and yet it’s THE most important part of who we are as human beings and the very purpose of life itself. Jesus said:
“What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” Mat. 16:26
The scientific method can give us much (not all) knowledge about the natural world. But if it can’t account for the soul, the very core of who we are as human beings, what good is it to us? It’s only good for certain limited things and that’s the truth.
The Bible doesn’t give us all there is to be known about the spirit of man, or the soul, but it gives us much, it gives us enough knowledge for us to handle this life and it certainly gives us more what empirically based science has ever given us on this subject.
Furthermore, the natural world itself “reveals” to us there is a Creator by it’s sheer beauty, design, perfection and complexity.
What are some of the things God desires to “reveal” to us? Let me draw a quick list here enough to get you going in your own pursuit of the things of God on this subject:
Who He is
The correct meaning of Scripture
Who we are (as He sees us) – revealing our original purpose
Who other people are in Him – how God sees other people
The nature of His Kingdom
The presence and the work of evil
And more…
I can provide many other details for an in-depth study of each of these, but this is not what this article is designed to do. Ask me about The Apostolic Institute for more in-depth studies in the Word of God.
CONCLUSION: For our eyes to be opened to the Kingdom of God we must be born again (John 3:4). But revelation knowledge doesn’t end there. It requires us to remain humble, seeking and hungry so we can remain at a place of continued spiritual growth. Yet God doesn’t “owe” this to anyone. He is not obligated to reveal anything to anyone, especially not on their terms. That’s called “testing the Lord” and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone! Rather, when we humble ourselves and we open up our hearts for him, He is faithful and true to reveal things to us about Him, about ourselves, about our kids, about other people, about things in Heaven and things on earth.
God desires most of all to reveal to us the cross, the death and the resurrection of Jesus. This happens as we dig into the Word of God and apply the effort needed on a daily basis. People who take lightly the Word of God shouldn’t expect much spiritual revelation. God only reveals his secrets to people who love Him and who respect and study His Word – not in an academic manner alone, but mostly relying on the Spirit to illuminate our mind, spirit and soul.
https://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/IMG_4020.jpg22172217Georgehttps://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.pngGeorge2017-03-04 03:41:292020-07-27 09:04:34What does ‘revelation’ mean anyway?
Someone asked me recently how I define a micro-church. I think this has yet to be determined and defined, but there are some basics attributes of what makes a healthy micro-church that shouldn’t be too difficult for us to understand.
First off, it’s probably a good thing to ask ourselves how do we define “church”, before we can dive into what makes up a micro-church. After all, we are borrowing a term that has been used for centuries to mean one thing and we’re adding to it one of the most emblematic terms, symbolic of the technology revolutions (micro). I didn’t hear anyone talk about micro-churches until just recently Lance Wallnau actually did talk about this trend in one of this Facebook video chats. In fact, I wrote to Lance to thank him and let him know that as an early adopter I got so excited about what the Lord began to show me already 4 years ago, that I purchased the domain www.microchurch.us! Lance brought some very needed affirmation to those of us who have seen this wave rising across the world.
So what’s the main idea with micro-churches?
The whole idea here is to marry (in the right way), something ancient to something modern and come up with a working model of a functional vehicle for Christian life in a community that represents adequately the Body of Christ. Actually, the task of defining “church” might be a lot more challenging than defining “micro-church” in and of itself. In fact, if we take a good, long, fresh look at what “church” really means, based on the teachings of Jesus, the apostles and early Christians, defining “micro-church” might simply boil down to describing the mechanics of how to do micro-church, rather than get too dogmatic about defining it.
However, since the task of defining (or redefining) the very word and concept of “church” as it has been known traditionally in Christendom, is quite a daunting and challenging endeavour, I’ll skip it for now and will jump right into the micro-church idea as a stand alone concept.
The way I see it after much prayer, research and observation can be summed up this way: *a micro-church is a small, sustainable body of believers, which allows for the healthy development of a believer from the point of coming to faith in Christ, all the way to releasing people in who they are meant to be as a whole person, spiritual and natural giftings working together towards and life of peace, joy and righteousness in the Holy Spirit.”
I’ll try to break this down to its most essential attributes:
Small: possibly anywhere between 5 on the low end, all the way to 15 members, which might be pushing it.
Sustainable: being able to stand on its own feet, not critically dependent on the “mother ship”.
Healthy development: the leadership and the people understand the process and are aware of the pitfalls and the possibilities. People choose to go through the process and pursue desired personal and body-life outcomes. Boundaries are well accepted and honoured. Warmth, empathy, and common sense carry the group through the tough seasons in this sustained effort.
Releasing: leaders understand the lifecycle of discipleship, how people work, how life circumstances play out and what role spiritual gifts play in it all. Activation is key to avoiding stagnation and thus preventing the religious spirit from gaining a foothold.
Guidance: the process of oversight and ongoing equipping. The leader of a micro-church is someone who has a clear understanding of the spiritual authority God has given them, what this means, who they are accountable to and what larger context they are part of and why.
Ideally, micro-churches will get planted or adopted by an “Antioch” type of a local or regional apostolic team (the apostolate), which will usually be made up of the three leading gifts listed by Paul in 1 Cor. 12:28
“…God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers..”
The apostolic team, identifies (under the guidance of the Holy Spirit), the right overseer/leader for a specific area. This future overseer of a micro-church must be trained and nurtured to a place of activation. The apostolic team is part of the initial effort of planting a micro-church or adopting it and bringing oversight to it. The next phase is development, growth and potentially the micro-church branching out into other areas.
One apostolic team might serve in a city or in a rural area where tens or even hundreds of churches are part of its conglomerate. Periodically the micro-churches come together as one body to share their testimonies, to get “baptized” into the spirit of unity and receive inspiration for tomorrow. These can be monthly or bi-monthly gatherings, or whatever the leadership and the people deem feasible based on their local context, culture, and preference.
The structure is kept light and straightforward. No need for permanent, excessive buildings and big staffs. Most resources: people (time, energy and expertise) as well as money, are being poured into helping or developing people, not building projects or programs.
There are definite differences between the micro-church concept as compared to house churches and cell churches. These differences will be discussed in future posts at length.
I’d like to take this opportunity and share with you not only this picture, which my friend had just uploaded on Facebook, but also share in brief the story of one of the most amazing people I’ve come to know in the last 2 decades.
Meet Peter Peev, who is, amongst other things married to his wife Alisa and together with their five kids are one amazing family. You see, I came to know Peter and Alisa back in the year 1999-2000 when they were coming off many years of drug addiction in Sofia, Bulgaria. At that time I was pastoring the church known today as Breakthrough Christian Center.
A move of God was taking place in a community of some 12-15 of these drug addicts, when they started coming to the church I was pastoring at the time. They were kind of a wild group, going from church to church, some of them not quite sober yet and very controversial.
One prominent Bulgarian pastor called me on the phone to warn me that I now have responsibility to have these people clean their act together and complained that they were preaching some strange ideas and doctrines. My response was what I can only imagine Jesus would have told this very concerned with proper things pastor – take it easy, so long as they hold on to the Lord and are serious with Him, they’ll get it right, they just need some grace and love and patience. And most of them did get it right.
Peter and Alisa are one of those who got serious about not only quitting drugs but getting back into life and completely starting anew.
I had no idea Peter was one of the leaders others looked up to. But he was.
In addition to being a drug addict, Peter was a drug dealer himself. He came from a family of intelligent parents, his father being the nationally well-known and loved by many actor, Svetoslav Peev. Still, his son, as per his own admission and testimony, grew up on the streets of Sofia, partying with friends and taking part in theft and other small crime exploits already as a teenager. All this taking place in Communist Bulgaria in the 80s and throughout the post-communist 90s period.
Peter and Alisa with their kids.
Several years into his career as a heroin, weed, ecstasy pills and amphetamines dealer and an addict, Peter was trying to quit. Nothing seemed to work. He lost weight and was depressed all the time. He kept trying to quit for about five years. His parents began to spend all kinds of money on recovery treatments. In addition to drugs, he was also drinking.
“My psychological condition was worsening. I started to suffer from neurosis and didn’t want to leave home. My daily dose was pushing the limits. At night, I couldn’t even go to sleep without four heroin shots, smoking weed and taking some pills. I wouldn’t bathe for weeks in a row. Toward the end there I had no spot left on my arms where to give myself a shot. I started to look like a walking deadman”, says Peter.
One day two former drug addicts came to his home. He knew one of them. He looked very different. Peter hadn’t seen him in a while and was sure this guy had been dead from overdose for some time.
Instead, he was looking great, standing in front of him and talking to him about Jesus. Peter was blown away!
“For the first time in many years I wanted to live, I wanted to have the same power like him”, says Peter.
These former drug addicts told Peter they have been set free by Jesus Christ and that this was Peter’s only hope.
“I gave all my pain to Him. I’ll never forget this moment. I was crying profoundly while they were talking to me about the cross. I couldn’t even understand why! I could just see the cross and the body hanging on it and I was crying. It was washing me clean and I felt naked before Him. All my sins and mistakes were obvious to Him. But He wasn’t judging me. On the contrary, He loved me. Jesus gave me a second chance. I stopped doing drugs! I changed completely. I realized this is the life I’ve always had been dreaming about.”
After quitting drugs he became part of our church and later on married Alisa, who is also a former drug addict.
They became part of a church plant in the city of Pernik, Bulgaria. Peter worked hard for several years to establish the newly planted church in one of the toughest spiritual climates in Bulgaria.
Peter and Alisa have four beautiful children. Today they live in Varna, Bulgaria. Peter is developing a small business and in addition to that he and his wife are building relationships with people who don’t know the Lord. No one knows where all this will lead this family on fire for God.
They may form a new Christian community or they may continue to bring Christ to individuals and families as they continue to grow in Him and share their amazing testimony, which has been featured already on Bulgarian National television and major internet publications.
When Jesus transforms drug addicts, the result is nothing short of an amazing turn-around and a testimony for the generations!
Here I am in a small plane with my buddy Chris, (to how many places around the world have we been together now, Chris?) approaching Masbate – one of Philippines’ 7,000 islands, home to some 85,000 people.
We’re coming here trusting the leadership of pastor Roy.
Why do I trust pastor Roy? Because I trust God in pastor Roy, I trust Roy’s heart for the Lord, I trust God has raised up Roy to bring Jesus’ rule and reign to many Philippines.
It’s because this man, in his own way is another Manny Pacquiao – even if the arena is not the boxing ring and even if pastor Roy hasn’t earned millions of dollars for fighting the fights God has gotten him involved in.
Still, pastor Roy who was living in the streets of Manila Metro at one point in his life, feels like he’s a fighter called by God to fight for the people in the slums.
“When I tell them where I came from and what God has done for me, they listen to me,” says Roy in his very good English but with his unique Philippine accent.
His vision is bigger than the helping rescue kids from the misery of the slums of Manila.
He realizes the Gospel is for all people, everywhere, all the time.
Which brings us to Masbate. It’s where pastor Roy felt the Lord lead him to plant a new work and build a base.
We’re here to learn, listen to him, observe, pray, hear from the Lord and minister together with him to small towns and individual families. We’re unable to do God’s work on our own. Together, everyone flowing in their unique gift mixes and strengths, nothing can stop us! We can make a difference – even in places as remote as Masbate!
It’s Sunday morning in Manila and the weather is beautiful. Our cabbie drives up to the front of the hotel and we jump into it, wasting no time.
“You’re about to start feeling very grateful for everything you have”, tells me quietly my companion and friend Chris Heinz as we approach Tondo, a district of Manila Metro, known for its slums and one of the most densely and poor areas on the planet.
Chris should know.
Few years ago he and his wife Colette adopted Rex, an amazing 4 year old boy from the Philippines. Couple years later they adopted another Philippine boy – Asher.
Together with their natural born daughter Asia, they make quite a family. It’s like “INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS” is written all over them, regardless of which one of the their family pictures Chris is produly showing me as he browses through them on his phone. An amazing testimony for what God’s love can do in and through people who are fully after His heart.
The whole Heinz family visited the slums in Tondo few years ago after adopting Rex. “It was very hard for Rex and also for Asia to see all this poverty”, tells me Chris.
Even though I’ve seen similar types of poverty, particularly amongst the Gypsies in Bulgaria, as well as in Addis Ababa and other places I have traveled to in the last 15 years, it’s hard for me, too. It’s hard to accept the idea there’s so much advancement in some countries and yet so much poverty in others.
The taxi enters the slum area, bumping along deep into the district. We finally make it to the very end of the road, and we stop.
The church meets in a building painted in green, which looks distinctly better in comparison to everything else around. Once we enter, the difference is seen even better. Tiled floors and a sense of cleanness mark this facility, setting it apart as a sort of a phenomenon, given the shape, looks and smell of just about everything else around us.
The people inside also look…well, normal.
A group of older men are in the front two rows.
“These men are all professional scavengers”, tells me pastor Roy in English. “They pick up plastic bottles and push them out of here in their carts, to be sold to the recycling brokers. This is how they feed their families.”
The way he speaks of these men is very respectful. But his goal is to earn the trust of the parents by feeding their kids and providing them with other basic thigns for their needs. Ultimately, he believes the best course of action is to get the kids out of the slums and give them a chance at life by bringing them to a boarding school, and providing them with education.
“This is a miserable place”, says Roy. Yet he and his wife have adopted two kids from the slums and take care of them, in addition to their own two biological kids.
To understand better this pastor and his mission, you need to know a bit more about his own story.
“I used to be like these kids, living on the streets,” says Roy and points to some butt-naked kids wandering aimlessly by the roadside.
I listen to him fascinated, realizing if miracles are still happening in our world today, I’m talking to one right now.
“I used to live on the street, too. I used to commit robberies, living without purpose”.
Roy’s parents abandoned him at an early age and became glue-sniffing street junkies. They separated, each going their own way, each marrying another person and abandoning Roy.
Roy got adopted by a Christian woman and heard about Jesus at the church she used to go to.
“Everything changed when I heard about Jesus. I got a brand new start, a new way of thinking and living”, says Roy.
He became active in the church and the pastor let him work with the youth as a teenager. The youth group grew. Eventually Roy graduated high school, went to a 4 year seminary, earning a bachelor’s degree in theology.
But after he married his wife Evelyn, he was told by the church is no longer eligible to receive aid and he started to earn living in all kinds of ways, including catching and selling fish and crab meat, as well as making charcoal and selling it.
Twenty years passed. Roy and Evelyn kept preaching while earning living in other ways.
And then six years ago he connected with George Bakalov Ministries through our web site. When I got the inquiry, I wasn’t sure how real Roy was. In fact, I was quite skeptical since at that time I was getting all sorts of requests from churches and ministries in poor nations from all over the world.
I forwarded the email to my friend Chris and asked him to get in touch with Roy and investigate further. Which he did. Not only that, but soon thereafter the Heinz family met with pastor Roy as they connected deeper with the Philippines and went through 2 adoptions of boys from the the struggling nation.
This is only my first time to be here but I know it won’t be the last. There’s hope amidst the garbage in the slums of Manila, in the Philippines, with people like pastor Roy and his crew involved.
To learn more about this project and how you can get involved, click here to start giving immediately or get in touch with our team if you have more questions.
George Bakalov
14.611891120.9780244
https://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.png00Georgehttps://threefold.life/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/threefold-2024-80x80.pngGeorge2015-03-10 14:17:572015-03-10 14:17:57Hope amidst the garbage
Human Ken and Barbie Dolls: On Finding and Losing Ourselves in the Pursuit Of Self
/in ExhortationsJustin Jedlica, one of the many “Human Ken Dolls” popping up around the world.
Bringing the message of God’s eternal love to our generation might be more of a challenge than what most of us realize. This is partly due to the fact that today’s popular culture seems to be constantly pushing people into the pursuit of ‘originality’. This post is an exhortation from a Biblical standpoint. According to the dictionary definition, an exhortation is “a speech or discourse that encourages, incites, or earnestly advises”. It’s about finding and losing ourselves in the pursuit of self. It’s about a cultural trend, manhood, womanhood, and personhood. If nothing else, this might be helpful to some young people who live under incredible pressure “to be somebody”, to be “cool” and so on. This might also be helpful to those of you who want to do well as parents and love your children unconditionally, while they go through their process of finding themselves in this crazy world. And crazy world it is.
Take for example one of the many “Human Ken Doll” individuals who have been popping up around the world. What a sad state of mankind we are “privileged” to witness in our lifetime! I wonder how many young people read stories like these and think to themselves “I can’t wait to do this one day!” Hopefully not too many! And please don’t think for a minute I am somehow hateful of this individual. I’m not. I read his story and it made me incredibly sad. The same goes for the Human Barbie lady Valeria Lukyanova from Moldova.
The truth is we don’t need to be ‘eccentric’ in order to be ‘original’. What makes us ‘great’ is not perfect looks. Furthermore God has already made each one of us an original, inside and out. Even though we are all made of the dust (same chemical elements as nature), we all are in essence a combination of glorified DNA dressed in a body suit, we all have fears and hopes, we all get hungry and thirsty, even while we are all incredibly unique in God’s eyes.
Coming to a place of being aware of “who you are” in your personhood in a healthy way is entirely possible when you come into a loving relationship with our Creator. Psalm 8 is a beautiful prophetic poem and a tribute to this awesome realization – in light of who God is as our Creator and Father.
When we recognize others for who they already are, not what we project onto them what they should be, it may be the greatest form of respect one person can render to another. Too many people don’t simply “see” who others are, possibly because they have never experienced the blessedness of having been accepted for who they are themselves. So much of mankind is caught up in the vicious cycle of pressuring each other to become something we are not, based on what someone else thinks we should be.
As we come into Christ, as we transition from darkness to light and as we become grounded in who our Creator is and his great love for us, we gain a firm foundation under our feet. We are aligned with the unchanging, incorruptible, ever just and all powerful God whose verdict of us as his children is “You are now mine. You are now loved and accepted.”
It’s what people do with this verdict that separates us.
HE OFFERS HIMSELF TO US – ON HIS TERMS
Some people hear about the Love and the Life of God but never experience this on a deep, existential, spiritual and even emotional level. They give up on the journey too soon and revert to despair and short-term philosophies in an attempt to spare themselves from the agony of trying to connect with God and not succeeding. This is sad and true for many such people. It’s hard for them to accept that God chooses to reveal himself on his own terms. But that’s one of the things that makes God – God. He gets to prescribe how we connect with him.
As we the Jewish people celebrate Shavuot, we are reminded of how God gave Moses the Law. In it, He prescribed how his covenant people should meet with Him. The time, the place, the way it should work, the clothes the priests were to wear, the utensils to be used. God offers himself to us – on his terms!
Now, it’s true that God is all-present but we can’t manipulate him into “showing up” for us in a personal way just because we decided he needs to show up for us when we think He should. It takes laying down our agenda and coming to him with an attitude of reverence, if we are serious about coming to know Him. We, humans would turn God into our slave and will even abuse him, if our fallen nature was given the chance to be “in charge” of God. Think about that!
But I digress.
Deep inside people who reject God would actually love to experience this God, this Creator of theirs, but they feel like it’s too much work to go through (remember, we are the generation of “instant” coffee and “real time” information). Or they feel as if this was never really meant to be and choose another path.
Some even turn hostile. But I think very few ever indeed descend to a place of truly hating God. Usually God-haters have a story and it’s a very personal and sad story of a loss of some kind. Or some kind of abuse. Either way, when a real deep, personhood-level wound is inflicted on our soul, it generates a deep and sometimes violent reaction, i.e. hate. And when people don’t know who to direct this reaction at, they lash out at the one they think should have protected them from evil. That would be God. Or whatever they think God should be or is.
THERE ARE WOUNDS AND THERE ARE WOUNDS
Most of us have been wounded in some way or another. But some people have been subjected to a deep, personhood altering wound in their psyche. That’s different. There are wounds and there are wounds.
I believe God loves such people no less than all the “good boys and girls”, i.e. those who have come to terms with God and live a life of personal obedience to Him.
So long as people who have rebelled against God don’t cross the line of ‘hating’ God into blaspheming the Holy Spirit, there is hope for them. Sometimes people ‘think’ they hate God when in reality they really don’t, their wounds are producing a reaction to the trauma. Jesus was very explicit that the line that can’t be crossed has to do with blaspheming the Holy Spirit, which is an entirely different type of a response.
Think of the two criminals who were crucified each at Jesus’ side on Calvary. One came to a place of breaking down before God and repenting of his sin, the other one blasphemed God even with his last breath. Let’s not confuse people who have done maybe bad things and have even said harsh things about God, with true, deep-level God-haters who have crossed the line of no return. Judas the Iscariot would be another example of such individuals.
MORALISTS ARE OF NO HELP
The worst thing is when moralists try to “fix” wounded people. No one really knows how to “fix” people. We can only work with God to love on people and “be there” to the best of our ability.
We also need to be aware of boundaries. A wounded person needs to be made aware of boundaries. Wounded or not, legal, moral, ethical, social and relational (personal) boundaries are for everyone. You may be as wounded as anyone, but you must respect the STOP sign on the street, otherwise you might run over someone and end up in jail as you should.
So woundedness is not an excuse for crime or harassing or abusing others.
The best thing we can do is to accept people in their woundedness, without allowing their woundedness to take over and to begin dominating the “game” of life, to begin rewriting “the rules”, the first principles of what we know to be true and right. On a personal relatioship level, in a family, in a business relationship, at work and in society.
IN CONCLUSION
Some of us are content with who God is to us, who He has made us to be and we can’t imagine a greater blessing than to be found seeking to become more like Him, to become more human in fact, more real, warmer, loving and accepting. This is the heart of what it means to be ‘spiritual’, I believe. I don’t care too much about religious activities of one kind or another that leave people cold, hardened, shallow and fanatical, lacking compassion, love and acceptance of others. This is what I call “the religious spirit” and it’s all over the place. It turns people into petty religionists I don’t have much patience for.
Some of us have been wounded. Maybe even at home, by someone who should have given us the most love and affirmation. But instead they hurt us. God has deep compassion and love for such people, even if in their pain they lash out at him or other people.
And yet, there are those who have crossed the line. They have given themselves to evil and have chosen to serve it. We need to be aware of the difference between wounded people who do dumb things out of their woundedness and those who have chosen to serve evil.
Finally, I offer this wisdom from a great American eccentric, student of the world and thinker, whose writings I find very interesting, even though I don’t identify with his belief system and philosophical conclusions. At the end of the day, this is just a common sense truth one could easily observe how it plays out in different contexts and even cultures around the world.
George Bakalov
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Energy to create God’s world in our world
/in TeachingYou and I have been created with the energy to create energy. This energy will either be wasted, or put towards the purpose of God in your life.
For example, according to FactRetriever.com, “every day, the heart creates enough energy to drive a truck 20 miles. In a lifetime, that is equivalent to driving to the moon and back.”
Whether this is true or not, or exactly how this is calculated, I don’t really know. But we do know that every day we wake up with certain amount of energy which we need in order to function.
The apostle Paul writes to the believers of his time about putting God’s energy to work. We have all been given the energy to create God’s world in our world. We have been given the energy, the ability to build our lives, our families and even our societies according to God’s patterns in this world. The world might never become a paradise on earth (some people believe this is possible), but we all have been called by God to transform it closer to His patterns of life, justice and productivity.
The apostle Paul is telling the believers he is writing to, that in fact he “toils to full exhaustion”, which is the literal translation of what “I labor” means in the Greek (“kopio“). He is “agonizing”, which is how “striving” really translates (“agonizomenos” – to remain “meno” in a state of “agon“, which means to struggle, literally (to compete for a prize), figuratively (to contend with an adversary), or genitive case (to endeavor to accomplish something) — fight, labor fervently, strive.).
But the apostle wants to make sure everyone understands the source of both his motivation and energy: it is Christ in him, the Holy Spirit at work in him. God’s energy working in him. (“according to his energeian“), which works in Paul like “dynamite” (“dynamei” – Gr.)
I don’t know about you, but just reading all this, fills me up with faith and energy!
This energy has been given to us who have come into oneness (covenant) with the Lord, primarily so we can:
1) Love the Lord our God with all our mind, heart and strength
and
2) To love others as we ourselves have been loved by God
But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:34-40
1) On loving the Lord
When we seek God, we surrender to Him, we entrust ourselves to Him and in return we hear from Him words of comfort, direction and correction.
Comfort and reassurance are essential to our lives. We all need them on a ongoing basis, don’t we? The Shepherd of our soul knows just what to say to us, how and when, in order to touch our soul on a deep intimate level. This is how we are reassured. This is how we know deep inside that we are loved, that He is with us and that “everything will be alright” (“all things work together for good”).
Correction is also a form of love, even though many people have experienced various types and degrees of trauma throughout their lives, which prevents them form relating to correction as a way of God loving us. This explains why we have so many “goats” amongst the flock. They know all the right words to say, they have read all the right books and have been to all the important conferences. But deep inside they don’t feel like sheep. On a deep level they abide in fear, a sense of uncertainty and not sensing a personal value (low self-esteem). They despise and fear a life of submission to God because their trauma interprets as hostile everything and anything that has to do with authority figures.
How sad. God is the greatest authority figure ever. All other authority stems from His authority – parental, spousal, legal, societal, professional, etc. James Dobson, in his acclaimed book Dare To Discipline, speaks to this issue, clearly showing that one of the earliest signs of showing parental love is to discipline a child, when the child tests the healthy boundaries set by the parent. It doesn’t feel nice to the child, but it sends a message: the parent so cares of loves the child, that he or she will take the time to apply discipline and reinforce the boundaries that have been set. This means the parent cares and is not just saying some cheap, meaningless words. This is how a child internalizes a sens of “I am important enough” and “I matter enough”, even to the point of my parent following through on what they said I shouldn’t do. “Good, now I know you are committed to me. Now I know you care about me”, is what the child’s brain translates.
Conversely, a parent who doesn’t follow through with discipline, compromises the very integrity if his/her own words, which demoralizes a child, leaves him or her with a sense of being on their own, a sense closer to being alone in a boat in the midst of a storm, rather than a king or a queen sitting on a throne.
All of this correction stuff only works and makes sense within the context of a loving, kind and reassuring parental relationship. He who doesn’t first know how to love and show unconditional love to their child, doesn’t really have the spiritual, moral and ethical right to try to discipline, especially in a way of being firm and strong. This confuses a child and inflicts a wound in their soul, leaving them forever suspicious of the world around them, but most importantly suspicious of those in authority.
Needless to say we have a lot of people out there whose trauma sets them up literally for a life of endless cycle of living in fear and sabotaging themselves and others they are connected with.
The most extreme examples of such cases are those prone to a life of crime, the people who end up populating our already overpopulated prisons.
But don’t be fooled, there are plenty of “high-functioning” goats out there, people you meet every day, who are able to function in various degrees in their lives, yet on a deep level their spiritual and emotional baseline remains fear and anxiety – sometimes throughout their entire lives. Jesus loves the goats, too. However, they are difficult and not too willing to receive the help they need, which is why it’s possible to waste their entire lives running around as wild…well, goats.
When we entrust our lives to Jesus as our Creator, King, Savior and Friend (The Lover of Our Soul), we can finally find true rest. This is what it means “to love yourself” – i.e. to create the space and the time needed to receive God’s love towards you; his comfort, guidance and correction.
As we surrender to Him, we make room for His energy to kick in and to begin energizing our very soul and lives, which energy becomes poured into us in a way that it fills our own need of love and energy, as well as we have excess amounts of it to serve and bless others.
This is how we get to the next arena of God’s energy working in us:
2) Loving our fellow man
Loving our fellow man takes more than just words. It takes time and energy for us to have received God’s love. Likewise, it takes time and energy to love someone else. It’s a whole different matter whether they will receive it or reject it.
In all of this, God desires for us to abide in Him on a daily basis because
Rejecting God leaves us at a terrible place of being on our own when facing the chaos of life and the never ending demand on us by others, by work and by circumstances. It is understandable why people give up on life and others, feeling like they give of themselves but get very little in return. People will always fail us, if this is all we live by. I refuse to depend on what people can do for me. I accept people’s limitations and let people be who they are. My ultimate expectation is with God and he has never let me down.
God desires to be our Primary Source and Provider of life, strength, joy, peace and energy, which we all need all the time. He wants to give us the energy needed to create God’s world in our world. He is good and his love endures forever. Bad things do happen and they will happen. However, this doesn’t change who He is and who He desires to be to us as we go through the journey of life.
George Bakalov
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
How can the Church become Kingdom Influencers and establish Law and Order in an unruly world?
/in Exhortations, TeachingToday, the Church is losing its influence in American culture, and Apostles, Prophets, and the Saints should do something about it. It is time to take action and ready ourselves to go through the Gates of Our Nation, States, Counties, and Cities to serve the world. For those who hear and respond, they will be the ones to lead in commerce, advise officials concerning foreign affairs, warn world leaders against foreign alliances, and attack and dismantle the social injustices of the day.
As spiritual leaders, it is upon us to shake off mediocrity and live up to the call and commission of God. He inspires people worldwide to reach for and become more than they ever thought possible. God has provided through scripture many examples in the historical text, as well as, inspirational encouragement to move forward:
Throughout scripture and as recorded by the historian Josephus (Of the War, Book V, v, 3), the “gates” of a city was the place for vital activities for the organisation and health of the city and the citizens within. Naturally, it was the area for defence and easily evolved as the marketplace location, where business and social life thrived. The Gates were also the place for justice and law to be established publicly, for the kings and judges would mete out their decisions at the opening of the gate. If an elder had a seat at the gate, it was a high honor. The seats of authority established at the gate are the predecessors for the Branches of Government in our society today: Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary decisions were made among the kings, rulers, ambassadors, and prophets.
Go through, go through the gates
Godly governance requires the proper attitudes, techniques, methods, and strategies that will penetrate every area of society and impact future generations. Wisdom in governing begins with respect and love for your neighbour, and worship, love and honor to God with our whole heart. These attitudes are commanded by God and certainly begin to paint the proper picture of the believer in authority.
Like a natural King of the earth, the ultimate rule of Civic Government is part of God’s supreme reign and responsibility.
“Kingdom of Heaven” – Spiritual; “like a King” – Political
Samuel was a Prophet, Priest and Judge (I Samuel 3:1-21).
Samuel, a “Prophet and Priest” – Spiritual; Samuel, a “Judge” – Political
Therefore, it is His to promote or position whom He will to govern the people, both spiritually and naturally (civically). Samuel ruled in both natural and spiritual realms. Samuel kept Israel under the rule and spiritual subjection of God by decreeing God’s judging action, not wavering, to reinforce the wisdom and word of God. And Samuel was effective in his mission through personal, corporate, and territorial prophecy, continued prayer, and the offered sacrifices on behalf of God’s people. He also accomplished much through the training and mentorship of prophets, priests, and kings, his supernatural ministry, by being God’s divine oracle, and from ministering in the house of the LORD.
Faith in God and morality are central to the civic virtue required for our republic to survive and prosper;
Augustine, on the other hand, wrote The City of God where he argued that the City of God (God’s kingdom) transcended the City of Man (Rome) and was not dependent upon it. Yet, the peace of the (citizens of the) Heavenly city is in direct relation to the harmony of the earthly city.
Clear the way for the people
It is imperative that we re-establish our positions to not only “occupy until I come” (Luke 19:13), but also, to become leaders and towering giants in government.
He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come (Luke 19:12-13).
Historically, Apostles and Prophets are a called people holding a unique place in world history. They were great and courageous souls—the guides to proper religious belief and correct conduct. Apostles and Prophets were outstanding men and women of character, with great minds, credibility, and members of devout study and training groups.
Apostles and Prophets, with the reputation for wisdom, continually were positioned to speak on behalf of God—delivering messages from the mind, heart, emotions, and will of God, as revealed by the Holy Spirit. These divine messages were proclaimed to the church, regions and nations, as well as, individuals, spiritual leaders, and social and political leaders. The purpose of these messages through these oracles was to provide biblical insight and alignment and, therefore, success in their duties and responsibilities each commanded.
The time is upon us to press into that level of effectiveness and productivity in society, not allowing anything to baffle us or prevent us from going forward.
Some Apostles and Prophets of today, even now hear the call and reason to be leaders in the kingdoms of this world— by making known the wisdom of God to the kingdoms of this world, through our unique gifting, anointing, and biblical understanding.
It will take time to reinstate the saint’s role in civic government; first, by renewing the minds of church leadership and laity to let go of an old mindset of antiquated or misunderstood laws (i.e. separation of Church and State) and then, using new courage, step into places of influence in Our Nation’s Executive, Legislative and Judiciary Branches of government.
Build up, build up the highway
Following are scripture examples of key principles of, and godly leaders in, civic government: first and foremost, God is the one who decrees and declares laws.
The principal and most damaging widespread belief restricting the Saint from these governmental positions of authority is the belief that the minister of the gospel should have no part in politics. This limiting idea, embedded in the Church mind, has done more to stagnate the mission of apostles, prophets, and saints more than any other. This false belief is simply a stubborn fear and keeps one caught in the old model of thinking. Denying this aspect of the Apostles’ and Prophets’ calling to kings, world leaders, and commander of armies, is wreaking havoc in the effectiveness of the Christian Body advancing in Power and Influence.
As we break out of this old pattern of limited thinking, we will begin to experience and demonstrate the height and width of God’s Purpose and Vision for Our World. Using His Power, Authority, and the depth of His Wisdom and Intelligence, we will release His divine messages into the ears of those who manage worldly affairs.
As the Prophets and Apostles operated in laser-sharp focus, accuracy, and integrity— the time is now for saints to step up and reach their full capacity and potential of living a Holy Spirit-led life, filled with Godly revelation and knowledge, growing in intelligence and wisdom and impacting the world.
The whole Earth is waiting for a public demonstration of the saints; and God commands us to war and take possession of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven and establishing His will, governance and values on earth until all dominions serve and obey Him.
Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, were 10 times better in every matter of wisdom and understanding that the king consulted them about than all the diviners, priests and mediums in the entire kingdom (Daniel 1:20).
Remove the stones
Personal transformation is needed.
Lift up a standard over the peoples
To be relevant the Church must take a leap of faith (with knowledge) and start to seek positions in the power bases. In doing so, we build citadels of hope for those in the world to witness–solving problems and overcoming worldly conflicts and obstacles—rapidly leading our nation to greater victories with illumination, insight, and wisdom from God (Daniel 5:10-12).
Daniel had an extraordinary spirit of knowledge, insight, and the ability to interpret dreams. He explained enigmas and solved difficult problems. No one could find any ground for accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs; they could not find any evidence of corruption or negligence. Nothing baffled Daniel; he was not defiled by the customs and cultures of the day (Daniel 5 & 6).
World leaders must see the Church with an extraordinary spirit possessing insight, intelligence, wisdom and perception, the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems. The King of Babylon said to Daniel,
Surely your God is God……You have been able to reveal this mystery (Daniel 2:14-48).
Our task ahead is to bring the church to the knowledge of how important the training of saints to serve in seats of authority by understanding biblical principles concerning our role in government. The biblical texts record the positions of the righteous believer repeatedly occupying positions of authority in government and these examples should be the accepted and realistic expectation of the saintly life in civic service.
Living a yielded and obedient life to the Word of God is the common detail in each of the personal examples of authority and rule as recorded in the Bible. The saint in power and position of influence with a life empowered and fueled by the Holy Spirit is equipped to perform supernatural acts and demonstrate the kingdom truths. When this realm of divine reality is accepted and reached, there is nothing that will restrain an equipped body of believers ready to govern, legislate and demonstrate God’s judgment in this present world.
Expecting this transformational outcome, individually and corporately, will require high engagement: accelerated studies and learning, the gain of knowledge and experience through mentorship and fathering. These deliberate steps will give believers the knowledge, insight, and wisdom to dramatically enhance their lives ethically—equipped to lead, govern, legislate, and make righteous judgments.
Through understanding, operating, and properly discerning kingdom principles, the process of breakthrough begins. Believers will experience the certainty of apostles, prophets, godly judges, and officers in every branch of government to serve with righteous judgment, not denying justice, showing partiality or accepting bribes (I Kings 22:10; Deuteronomy 16:18,19; Proverbs 29:2).
We owe the world more… an intelligent encounter with God!
God has given us courage, a sound mind, and strength to perform conquests; He has given us the ability to face and resolve worldly conflicts, just as He has equipped us to display wisdom, knowledge, and insight, or to perform miracles, heal the sick, and strengthen the faith of the weak.
As saints, we are challenged to bless the nations of this world with lawful expertise leading the families of the world into holiness, prosperity, success and breakthroughs in society, in business, and in the political arenas.
It is time for the saints to jump in, take risks, and challenge ourselves. We must trust God to grant us boldness and strengthen us to fulfil His plans as Saints on the Earth. Our God-given instincts, innate talents and anointing are calling out for use!
Jesus had no dependence on human reasoning.
Devoted to God and the ways of righteousness, the men and women of the Bible used their personal relationship with God and His word to guide the decisions of kings and nations. It is the duty of the Apostles and Prophets to bridge the gap of church and politics, and rewrite this school of thought— separation of church and state—to being positioned in leadership roles in Government and in cabinets of Governments, Educational Institutions, Media, Arts & Entertainment industries, and Business, by becoming effective saints doing exploits with our dependence solely on the Father.
Go through the gates! Let us go through the Gates!!!
Samuel Rivers Jr. is a member of the board of Threefold Christian Alliance. He is an Ordained Minister, Motivational Speaker, Educator, The Republican Whip-Member of SC House of Representatives District 15 -Berkeley & Charleston Counties. You can learn more about his work in the South Carolina House of Representatives at this website www.samuelriversjr.com and more about his ministry at www.thevoiceofthelordintl.com
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Great leaders: The story of the Roaring Lion Churchill photograph
/in Great LeadersIn this first of a series of posts I will feature under the category “Great Leaders”, I want to share with you the story of how the famous “Roaring Lion” Churchill photograph came about.
Turns out Yousuf Karsh, the photographer who took the shot, is largely responsible for the famous face Churchill made on that day:
To find out more about this fascinating story, visit Michael Zhang’s post here. There you can also see the two photographies from that historic photo shoot in their full size glory.
What is the Threefold Christian Alliance?
/in FAQTo learn more about my background and how it connects with the vision of the Threefold Christian Alliance, check out this page here.
What does ‘revelation’ mean anyway?
/in TeachingSo what does ‘revelation’ mean anyway?
Let’s take a look at some texts in the New Testament and try to get some clarity on this.
The apostle Paul wrote about the importance of revelation knowledge on a number of occasions. However, it’s worth noting there is, of course, a whole entire book in the New Testament called The Book Of Revelation.
The Greek term here is “apokalupsis” and yes, it’s root word for the modern day word “apocalypse”. But worry not, we are not going to talk about the end of the world right now, after all, if and when the end comes, it will all be over so why even worry about it, right?
The revelation I want to draw our attention to is the work of the Holy Spirit that has to do with the revealing of things that have to do with the Kingdom of God, with the realm of God, but are not accessible to the natural man.
So let’s begin by looking at the second chapter in the first letter of the apostle Paul to the body of Christ in Corinth. (We know that the chapter and verse organization of the Scripture content wasn’t part of the way these letters were given originally, but nevertheless, the whole of chapter two is dedicated to making a contrast between the natural and the spiritual man, as well as natural and spiritual knowledge.)
Natural knowledge is knowledge we obtain by observation and by the empirical, scientific method, allowing us to make certain conclusions based on the data.
Spiritual knowledge, by contrast, is knowledge, something we become aware of or gain access to, or are able to see and understand, based on the revealing work of the Holy Spirit.
But what does it mean?
“But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.” 1 Cor. 2:7
I can see how some people who are more inclined to seek the thrill of accessing the spiritual realm, would get excited about this verse and others like it. Secret and hidden wisdom of God? Wait a minute, is this a New Age seminar or the Bible we’re reading?
Yes, it is the Bible, and it’s the writing of it’s most prolific New Testament author, as well as probably the most active and productive amongst the apostles if such comparison is even appropriate.
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” — these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.” 1 Cor 2:9-10
Paul states clearly that God reveals to us through the Spirit things that are real to Him but unseen to our natural senses.
So there it is, revelation is the Spirit working to reveal to us things that are reality in the Kingdom of God, but are hidden from our senses, mind, i.e the natural man.
Why is this important for us to define?
Because are we literally drowning in a sea of false “revelation”, also known as the occult. The occult (which means literally “hidden”, as in “hidden knowledge of spiritual kind”), is false “revelation”. It doesn’t reveal anything that is actually real. It only “reveals” things demons project onto people’s minds. It’s deception. A religious deception is also a form of the occult. When Paul speaks of people preaching a “false” Christ, it really speaks of an “occult” Christ, something that really isn’t, a Christ that’s the product of the perverted imagination of people’s minds inspired of demons. These Paul calls “doctrines of demons” (1 Tim. 4:1).
By contrast, when the Holy Spirit reveals something, it is something real, something that actually exists, whether it’s God and his blessed creation or the realm of darkness. If the Spirit opens eyes to something like an angel, it’s because the angel is there, it actually exists.
Not so with the occult.
The occult is actually the false revealing of things that don’t really exist in order to lead us astray and captivate our minds, hearts and will away from God. Satan gains access to our mind, soul and possibly our body when we accept false, occult knowledge about spiritual things.
One more verse:
“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Cor. 2:14
The natural “person” or in other words, the mind of someone who relies on their senses alone, not only is oblivious to the realities of the Kingdom of God and the spiritual world, to the natural mind all this might is “folly”, as Paul puts it.
Notice when Paul says “the things of the Spirit of God”, he means what the Holy Spirit reveals in regards to Jesus, the cross, the Kingdom of God, etc. So someone whose thought patterns are deeply entrenched for example in Judaism, even though it’s rooted in God’s Truth and in the Torah, as soon as you bring up the Son of God to someone like this, their mind revolts and the reject the revelation, or the truth of Jesus and His Cross and Resurrection. To the natural person, it sounds like “folly”.
Today’s agnostics, atheists, and naturalists are a good example of people who rely solely on their natural senses, even to the point of denying God and the divine origins of life. Notice I said “solely”. I believe in the scientific method and the knowledge that it gives us about the natural world and its laws. However, this method is limited to empirical knowledge and fails completely when it comes to probably the most central of all issues and that is the soul. No one has any understanding of what the soul is, it can’t be measured, quantified or dissected and yet it’s THE most important part of who we are as human beings and the very purpose of life itself. Jesus said:
“What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” Mat. 16:26
The scientific method can give us much (not all) knowledge about the natural world. But if it can’t account for the soul, the very core of who we are as human beings, what good is it to us? It’s only good for certain limited things and that’s the truth.
The Bible doesn’t give us all there is to be known about the spirit of man, or the soul, but it gives us much, it gives us enough knowledge for us to handle this life and it certainly gives us more what empirically based science has ever given us on this subject.
Furthermore, the natural world itself “reveals” to us there is a Creator by it’s sheer beauty, design, perfection and complexity.
What are some of the things God desires to “reveal” to us? Let me draw a quick list here enough to get you going in your own pursuit of the things of God on this subject:
I can provide many other details for an in-depth study of each of these, but this is not what this article is designed to do. Ask me about The Apostolic Institute for more in-depth studies in the Word of God.
CONCLUSION: For our eyes to be opened to the Kingdom of God we must be born again (John 3:4). But revelation knowledge doesn’t end there. It requires us to remain humble, seeking and hungry so we can remain at a place of continued spiritual growth. Yet God doesn’t “owe” this to anyone. He is not obligated to reveal anything to anyone, especially not on their terms. That’s called “testing the Lord” and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone! Rather, when we humble ourselves and we open up our hearts for him, He is faithful and true to reveal things to us about Him, about ourselves, about our kids, about other people, about things in Heaven and things on earth.
God desires most of all to reveal to us the cross, the death and the resurrection of Jesus. This happens as we dig into the Word of God and apply the effort needed on a daily basis. People who take lightly the Word of God shouldn’t expect much spiritual revelation. God only reveals his secrets to people who love Him and who respect and study His Word – not in an academic manner alone, but mostly relying on the Spirit to illuminate our mind, spirit and soul.
George Bakalov
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Micro-church Fundamentals
/in TeachingSomeone asked me recently how I define a micro-church. I think this has yet to be determined and defined, but there are some basics attributes of what makes a healthy micro-church that shouldn’t be too difficult for us to understand.
First off, it’s probably a good thing to ask ourselves how do we define “church”, before we can dive into what makes up a micro-church. After all, we are borrowing a term that has been used for centuries to mean one thing and we’re adding to it one of the most emblematic terms, symbolic of the technology revolutions (micro). I didn’t hear anyone talk about micro-churches until just recently Lance Wallnau actually did talk about this trend in one of this Facebook video chats. In fact, I wrote to Lance to thank him and let him know that as an early adopter I got so excited about what the Lord began to show me already 4 years ago, that I purchased the domain www.microchurch.us! Lance brought some very needed affirmation to those of us who have seen this wave rising across the world.
So what’s the main idea with micro-churches?
The whole idea here is to marry (in the right way), something ancient to something modern and come up with a working model of a functional vehicle for Christian life in a community that represents adequately the Body of Christ. Actually, the task of defining “church” might be a lot more challenging than defining “micro-church” in and of itself. In fact, if we take a good, long, fresh look at what “church” really means, based on the teachings of Jesus, the apostles and early Christians, defining “micro-church” might simply boil down to describing the mechanics of how to do micro-church, rather than get too dogmatic about defining it.
However, since the task of defining (or redefining) the very word and concept of “church” as it has been known traditionally in Christendom, is quite a daunting and challenging endeavour, I’ll skip it for now and will jump right into the micro-church idea as a stand alone concept.
The way I see it after much prayer, research and observation can be summed up this way: *a micro-church is a small, sustainable body of believers, which allows for the healthy development of a believer from the point of coming to faith in Christ, all the way to releasing people in who they are meant to be as a whole person, spiritual and natural giftings working together towards and life of peace, joy and righteousness in the Holy Spirit.”
I’ll try to break this down to its most essential attributes:
Ideally, micro-churches will get planted or adopted by an “Antioch” type of a local or regional apostolic team (the apostolate), which will usually be made up of the three leading gifts listed by Paul in 1 Cor. 12:28
The apostolic team, identifies (under the guidance of the Holy Spirit), the right overseer/leader for a specific area. This future overseer of a micro-church must be trained and nurtured to a place of activation. The apostolic team is part of the initial effort of planting a micro-church or adopting it and bringing oversight to it. The next phase is development, growth and potentially the micro-church branching out into other areas.
One apostolic team might serve in a city or in a rural area where tens or even hundreds of churches are part of its conglomerate. Periodically the micro-churches come together as one body to share their testimonies, to get “baptized” into the spirit of unity and receive inspiration for tomorrow. These can be monthly or bi-monthly gatherings, or whatever the leadership and the people deem feasible based on their local context, culture, and preference.
The structure is kept light and straightforward. No need for permanent, excessive buildings and big staffs. Most resources: people (time, energy and expertise) as well as money, are being poured into helping or developing people, not building projects or programs.
There are definite differences between the micro-church concept as compared to house churches and cell churches. These differences will be discussed in future posts at length.
George Bakalov
PS: To lighten things up a bit, check out this funny (and well produced) video by RightNowMedia.org :)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Former Drug Addict & Dealer – Transformed!
/in TestimoniesMeet Peter Peev, who is, amongst other things married to his wife Alisa and together with their five kids are one amazing family. You see, I came to know Peter and Alisa back in the year 1999-2000 when they were coming off many years of drug addiction in Sofia, Bulgaria. At that time I was pastoring the church known today as Breakthrough Christian Center.
A move of God was taking place in a community of some 12-15 of these drug addicts, when they started coming to the church I was pastoring at the time. They were kind of a wild group, going from church to church, some of them not quite sober yet and very controversial.
One prominent Bulgarian pastor called me on the phone to warn me that I now have responsibility to have these people clean their act together and complained that they were preaching some strange ideas and doctrines. My response was what I can only imagine Jesus would have told this very concerned with proper things pastor – take it easy, so long as they hold on to the Lord and are serious with Him, they’ll get it right, they just need some grace and love and patience. And most of them did get it right.
I had no idea Peter was one of the leaders others looked up to. But he was.
In addition to being a drug addict, Peter was a drug dealer himself. He came from a family of intelligent parents, his father being the nationally well-known and loved by many actor, Svetoslav Peev. Still, his son, as per his own admission and testimony, grew up on the streets of Sofia, partying with friends and taking part in theft and other small crime exploits already as a teenager. All this taking place in Communist Bulgaria in the 80s and throughout the post-communist 90s period.
Peter and Alisa with their kids.
Several years into his career as a heroin, weed, ecstasy pills and amphetamines dealer and an addict, Peter was trying to quit. Nothing seemed to work. He lost weight and was depressed all the time. He kept trying to quit for about five years. His parents began to spend all kinds of money on recovery treatments. In addition to drugs, he was also drinking.
“My psychological condition was worsening. I started to suffer from neurosis and didn’t want to leave home. My daily dose was pushing the limits. At night, I couldn’t even go to sleep without four heroin shots, smoking weed and taking some pills. I wouldn’t bathe for weeks in a row. Toward the end there I had no spot left on my arms where to give myself a shot. I started to look like a walking deadman”, says Peter.
One day two former drug addicts came to his home. He knew one of them. He looked very different. Peter hadn’t seen him in a while and was sure this guy had been dead from overdose for some time.
Instead, he was looking great, standing in front of him and talking to him about Jesus. Peter was blown away!
“For the first time in many years I wanted to live, I wanted to have the same power like him”, says Peter.
These former drug addicts told Peter they have been set free by Jesus Christ and that this was Peter’s only hope.
“I gave all my pain to Him. I’ll never forget this moment. I was crying profoundly while they were talking to me about the cross. I couldn’t even understand why! I could just see the cross and the body hanging on it and I was crying. It was washing me clean and I felt naked before Him. All my sins and mistakes were obvious to Him. But He wasn’t judging me. On the contrary, He loved me. Jesus gave me a second chance. I stopped doing drugs! I changed completely. I realized this is the life I’ve always had been dreaming about.”
After quitting drugs he became part of our church and later on married Alisa, who is also a former drug addict.
They became part of a church plant in the city of Pernik, Bulgaria. Peter worked hard for several years to establish the newly planted church in one of the toughest spiritual climates in Bulgaria.
They may form a new Christian community or they may continue to bring Christ to individuals and families as they continue to grow in Him and share their amazing testimony, which has been featured already on Bulgarian National television and major internet publications.
When Jesus transforms drug addicts, the result is nothing short of an amazing turn-around and a testimony for the generations!
Story by:
George Bakalov
Photography: Ivo Oreshkov https://facebook.com/ivo.oreshkov
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Philippines Ministry Trip
/in Ministry Updates, MissionsMay 11, 2015
Here I am in a small plane with my buddy Chris, (to how many places around the world have we been together now, Chris?) approaching Masbate – one of Philippines’ 7,000 islands, home to some 85,000 people.
We’re coming here trusting the leadership of pastor Roy.
Why do I trust pastor Roy? Because I trust God in pastor Roy, I trust Roy’s heart for the Lord, I trust God has raised up Roy to bring Jesus’ rule and reign to many Philippines.
It’s because this man, in his own way is another Manny Pacquiao – even if the arena is not the boxing ring and even if pastor Roy hasn’t earned millions of dollars for fighting the fights God has gotten him involved in.
Still, pastor Roy who was living in the streets of Manila Metro at one point in his life, feels like he’s a fighter called by God to fight for the people in the slums.
“When I tell them where I came from and what God has done for me, they listen to me,” says Roy in his very good English but with his unique Philippine accent.
His vision is bigger than the helping rescue kids from the misery of the slums of Manila.
He realizes the Gospel is for all people, everywhere, all the time.
Which brings us to Masbate. It’s where pastor Roy felt the Lord lead him to plant a new work and build a base.
We’re here to learn, listen to him, observe, pray, hear from the Lord and minister together with him to small towns and individual families. We’re unable to do God’s work on our own. Together, everyone flowing in their unique gift mixes and strengths, nothing can stop us! We can make a difference – even in places as remote as Masbate!
Hope amidst the garbage
/in Ministry Updates, MissionsOriginal post date: May 10, 2015
It’s Sunday morning in Manila and the weather is beautiful. Our cabbie drives up to the front of the hotel and we jump into it, wasting no time.
“You’re about to start feeling very grateful for everything you have”, tells me quietly my companion and friend Chris Heinz as we approach Tondo, a district of Manila Metro, known for its slums and one of the most densely and poor areas on the planet.
Chris should know.
Few years ago he and his wife Colette adopted Rex, an amazing 4 year old boy from the Philippines. Couple years later they adopted another Philippine boy – Asher.
Together with their natural born daughter Asia, they make quite a family. It’s like “INTERNATIONAL MISSIONS” is written all over them, regardless of which one of the their family pictures Chris is produly showing me as he browses through them on his phone. An amazing testimony for what God’s love can do in and through people who are fully after His heart.
The whole Heinz family visited the slums in Tondo few years ago after adopting Rex. “It was very hard for Rex and also for Asia to see all this poverty”, tells me Chris.
Even though I’ve seen similar types of poverty, particularly amongst the Gypsies in Bulgaria, as well as in Addis Ababa and other places I have traveled to in the last 15 years, it’s hard for me, too. It’s hard to accept the idea there’s so much advancement in some countries and yet so much poverty in others.
The taxi enters the slum area, bumping along deep into the district. We finally make it to the very end of the road, and we stop.
The church meets in a building painted in green, which looks distinctly better in comparison to everything else around. Once we enter, the difference is seen even better. Tiled floors and a sense of cleanness mark this facility, setting it apart as a sort of a phenomenon, given the shape, looks and smell of just about everything else around us.
The people inside also look…well, normal.
A group of older men are in the front two rows.
“These men are all professional scavengers”, tells me pastor Roy in English. “They pick up plastic bottles and push them out of here in their carts, to be sold to the recycling brokers. This is how they feed their families.”
The way he speaks of these men is very respectful. But his goal is to earn the trust of the parents by feeding their kids and providing them with other basic thigns for their needs. Ultimately, he believes the best course of action is to get the kids out of the slums and give them a chance at life by bringing them to a boarding school, and providing them with education.
“This is a miserable place”, says Roy. Yet he and his wife have adopted two kids from the slums and take care of them, in addition to their own two biological kids.
To understand better this pastor and his mission, you need to know a bit more about his own story.
“I used to be like these kids, living on the streets,” says Roy and points to some butt-naked kids wandering aimlessly by the roadside.
I listen to him fascinated, realizing if miracles are still happening in our world today, I’m talking to one right now.
“I used to live on the street, too. I used to commit robberies, living without purpose”.
Roy’s parents abandoned him at an early age and became glue-sniffing street junkies. They separated, each going their own way, each marrying another person and abandoning Roy.
Roy got adopted by a Christian woman and heard about Jesus at the church she used to go to.
“Everything changed when I heard about Jesus. I got a brand new start, a new way of thinking and living”, says Roy.
He became active in the church and the pastor let him work with the youth as a teenager. The youth group grew. Eventually Roy graduated high school, went to a 4 year seminary, earning a bachelor’s degree in theology.
But after he married his wife Evelyn, he was told by the church is no longer eligible to receive aid and he started to earn living in all kinds of ways, including catching and selling fish and crab meat, as well as making charcoal and selling it.
Twenty years passed. Roy and Evelyn kept preaching while earning living in other ways.
And then six years ago he connected with George Bakalov Ministries through our web site. When I got the inquiry, I wasn’t sure how real Roy was. In fact, I was quite skeptical since at that time I was getting all sorts of requests from churches and ministries in poor nations from all over the world.
I forwarded the email to my friend Chris and asked him to get in touch with Roy and investigate further. Which he did. Not only that, but soon thereafter the Heinz family met with pastor Roy as they connected deeper with the Philippines and went through 2 adoptions of boys from the the struggling nation.
This is only my first time to be here but I know it won’t be the last. There’s hope amidst the garbage in the slums of Manila, in the Philippines, with people like pastor Roy and his crew involved.