Unity and an Eschatological mindset

12/24/11

Greetings,

                The New Year is right around the corner! What’s more, tomorrow is Christmas. Believe it or not this is the fifty-second BRIDE email on the topic of unity. This will also be the last. I will be taking a week off and BRIDE emails will resume beginning the first Saturday of 2012. The topic of the coming year will be spiritual warfare. We will discuss what it means, what’s involved, and most importantly how to exercise the victory that we have in Jesus Christ. If you have friends, family, or acquaintances that you believe will benefit from learning about spiritual warfare please send me their email addresses so that I can add them to the recipient list! With all that is coming upon the earth, it is time for the body of Christ to arise as the powerhouse that God has appointed us to be.

                With that said, I was asked an interesting question recently. A friend of mine asked me what perspective the body of Christ should have in regards to the last days. This was a good question because many perspectives have been suggested by various sources. Some have said that we should simply focus on being “rapture ready.” This means we should be saved and prepared to vanish at any time so that we don’t have to deal with all of the negative things coming upon the earth. Another perspective suggests that we should be prepared to hide in caves, under rocks, or in holes in the ground. Some have even suggested that Jesus won’t come back until the whole world becomes Christian, so we should just keep evangelizing the lost.

                All of these suggestions have reasons for embracing them, but I am not convinced that any of these are the final say as it pertains to what perspective we should assume. As God has opened my eyes to His unfolding plan I have realized that He has a grand, awe-inspiring agenda prepared for the last days. In light of this, one passage in particular gives us a blunt glimpse of the plan that God has. The book of Daniel actually tells us what we will be doing in the last days. When we stop and consider what is truly being said it begins to reveal what kind of perspective we really should be embracing.

                “…but the people that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits.” (Daniel 11:32)

                In order to understand the ramifications of this brief passage we must establish its timeframe. Believe it or not, the timeframe for this comment is the coming antichrist’s rule. This season will reveal the greatest evil ever released upon the earth. In spite of the darkest season history will ever record and without concern for the seemingly impossible circumstances under which they will be operating—the Christians of the last days that know their God will be strong and do exploits.

                There is nothing impossible for the true people of God because we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13). We are not looking forward to evacuation, but to a glorious mission. However, we must know our God. These people of Daniel 11:32 will have become the answer to the following prayer of Jesus:

                “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word (the testimony of the first apostles); That they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are.” (John 17:20-22)

                The implications of this prayer are staggering beyond the imagination. Jesus is essentially praying for everyone that will ever believe upon His name. However, what He prays for them is nothing short of bewildering. He prays that they will be one in the same way that He and the Father are one. There is no unity as powerful as the unity of the Godhead. Jesus prays that the church will achieve the same unity that He shares with the Father. (This unity is manifested trans-dimensionally which is why Jesus says that the unity will manifest “in us”). This unity will allow for the saints to be strong and execute great exploits in the face of the antichrist agenda.

                Jesus goes on and declares that the activation of this unity among the saints will cause the world to believe in Him. This means that the result of unity is a massive harvest of souls—a side-effect of the strength and exploits of the last day saints. Jesus also speaks about His glory. Some people think that God will not share His glory. This is not what the Bible says. The Bible says that God will not give His glory to another (Isaiah 42:8). However, He will share His glory with those found in Him. The very glory of Jesus has been given to the church. Jesus says that He has given His glory to the church that we might become one in Him. This glory will empower unity, strength and great exploits in the last days.

                Unity is inseparable from the coming moves of God. As I have said before, unity is not an end in and of itself. Unity is necessary in order to achieve the things that God has planned for the last days. Moreover, I am not speaking of a counterfeit unity based around a globalist agenda. This is a false unity and it is a counterfeit and a means of control. There is only one true unity and that is unity based on the common goal of coming to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). As the year winds to a close, let us keep in mind that Jesus has more prepared for us than we can imagine. Let us together press on towards the mark of the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14)!

Discussion

1.       What perspective regarding the last days have you embraced until this point?

2.       What perspective regarding the last days does Daniel 11:32 suggest we should embrace?

3.       When Jesus prays for the unity of the church, what kind of unity does He pray for?

4.       What are some of the most powerful lessons in reference to unity in the body of Christ that you have learned in the past year?

5.       Do you have any suggestions that will allow me to improve these letters in the coming year? (Feel free to email me the answer to this question)

The Power of the Blood

12/17/11

Greetings,

                The old saying, “There’s power in the blood,” is as relevant today as it was on the day that the blood dripped from the body of Jesus. Why is the blood powerful? In order to understand the power of the blood of Jesus we must understand the system of dealing with sin that God instituted. All sin had to be paid for, and the payment for sin has always been blood. The first sin—when Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—was paid for with blood. This blood was shed when God killed an animal and used the skins to clothe Adam and Eve.

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them” (Genesis 3:21)

                This set up a pattern. This pattern followed into the sacrifices of Cain and Abel. God respected Abel’s sacrifice because it was a blood sacrifice. God did not respect Cain’s sacrifice because it was not a blood sacrifice.

“And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.” (Genesis 4:3-5)

 Why does it have to be blood? This is a very relevant question, particularly from our cultural standpoint. Most would cringe at the thought of attending a blood sacrifice ritual. The matter comes down to the issue of life and death. The Bible is clear that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). When Adam and Eve sinned, death entered by that sin (Romans 5:12). Since sin brings death, this must be counterbalanced by life. Life is the opposite of death. Where is life to be found? Life is found in the blood.

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” (Leviticus 17:11)

Where ever there is sin, death is given entrance. When life is introduced, death is defeated. The blood sacrifice introduces life. The blood sacrifice releases the life that is necessary to make atonement for our souls. This is important because God’s goal is to redeem us from death. God calls death His enemy. In fact, God’s ultimate plan is to destroy death altogether.

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:26)

In order to crush the problem of sin and overcome death God appointed a solution. A sacrifice was to be made whose blood contained enough life to destroy the power of sin forever. There was only one sacrifice that had the power to do this. God had to sacrifice His only begotten Son, because the blood that His Son carried contained the very life of God. By the shedding of this blood, Jesus would become the ultimate payment for the sins of mankind. The Greek word that refers to the life of God is the Word zoe, and this is the term that Jesus employs in the following verse.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life [zoe]: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:26)

                Not only did this life abide in Jesus, but when it was poured out it gave us access to the very life of God. This life was passed down to us through the breaking of His body and the shedding of His blood. This is one of the reasons why communion is so powerful—the wine represents the blood that forever broke the power of sin and gave us access to the very life of God.

                “Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh [the communion bread], and drinketh my blood [the communion wine], hath eternal life [zoe]; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:53-54)

                The word propitiation means to atone for; it can also be defined as an expiatory work. In plain English propitiation is the means by which man is reconciled to God. Jesus, by shedding His blood, became the means by which we were reconciled to God. This is why He is the only door (John 10:9) and why salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone (Ephesians 2:8).

“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2)

                As we begin to understand the power and purpose of the blood of Jesus, a lot of things begin to go deeper. This leads into the concept of the family of God. God is big on family. One thing that all families share is a common bloodline. When God set out to create a family, He decided that He was going to birth children into His own kingdom. This is why we are born again. We must be born into the kingdom of God, and this is a spiritual birth into the life of God. At this point we not only become members of God’s family, but also members of God’s blood line. The same blood that was in Jesus is the blood that works in us.

“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named” (Ephesians 3:14-15)

                As Christians we are a family united by the bloodline of God. The same life force that redeemed us from sin literally runs in our spiritual veins fueling us with the life of God. This blood allows God to grant us eternal life! In light of this an important question must be asked. How is it that such a supernaturally strong force can be working in us, yet unity among the body of Christ remains a fleeting thought throughout much of Christendom? We truly are blood brothers and sisters in Christ, let’s tap into that.

Discussion

1.       What are the wages of sin?

2.       How does a blood sacrifice make atonement for sin?

3.       What is the meaning of the word “propitiation”?

4.       What kind of life abides in the blood of Jesus?

5.       What is the role of the blood of Jesus is the family of God?

Transdimensional Church

              12/10/11

Greetings,

                The nature of the human spirit, particularly when considering the spiritual nature of the Christian, is truly an amazing concept. This week we are going to explore some deep spiritual implications regarding the spiritual nature and tie it in with our function as the body of Christ. We are going to pick up with a comment made by Paul in the book of Ephesians.

                “And hath put all things under his [Jesus’] feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” (Ephesians 1:22-23)

                This passage is the tail end of a prayer written down by the apostle beginning in verse 16. To be honest, I recommend to everyone that this prayer be memorized and prayed on a regular basis because it is supremely powerful. Nonetheless, when we arrive at the end of the prayer we learn some important lessons.

He begins by saying that all things have been put under the feet of Jesus. This is interesting because when I look outside my window I don’t actually see the foot of Jesus stepping on anything. Do you? Of course not! So then if all things are under the feet of Jesus, where are his feet? This sounds like a silly question but I am very serious. When we read this we often immediately think: Oh that’s just an expression. Is it really? I propose that it’s much more than an expression.

If we do not regard this as an expression then we have to figure out why when we look outside of our windows we don’t see the feet of Jesus standing on everything. How does this work? The answer is that the feet of Jesus, being located in the third heaven (2 Corinthians 10:2-4), are fixed in a dimensionally superior position. Jesus has been seated in heavenly places in the third heaven at the right hand of the Father.

“which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:20 NKJV)

Every dimensional realm or “heavenly place” where the activity of Satan is permitted is therefore underneath the feet of Jesus.

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12 NKJV)

In order to comprehend what I’m about to tell you, it is going to require a conscious decision on your part to stretch the realms of your understanding. Going into the deeper truths of God requires a dismissal of unilateral thinking. We often try to bring the Word of God down into a framework that accommodates a practical approach. This is okay at times, but to truly walk out our inheritance involves allowing the Word of God to bring us up into a heavenly framework to accommodate a heavenly approach.

Notice that the phrase “heavenly places” is plural in both Ephesians 1:20 and Ephesians 6:12. One group of heavenly places houses wicked spirits. Another group houses Jesus and the realms of heaven. The group of heavenly places that houses Jesus is defined by the Bible as the third heaven. Therefore, beneath this realm are more heavenly places that can be understood as the second heaven. This is the spiritual realm from which Satan and his kingdom conducts their activity.

Within the respective heavens are multiple dimensions. This is why the phrase “heavenly places” is plural in both occasions.  Notice that Jesus is seated in heavenly places. A single person (Jesus Christ) is said to occupy multiple dimensions. The existence that Jesus enjoys in heaven is a trans-dimensional existence. Moreover, this trans-dimensional existence extends right through the second heaven and into our world because the Bible says that Christ is in us.

“To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)

Not only does Jesus Christ enjoy a trans-dimensional existence, but so do Christians. All humans are born as trans-dimensional entities because of the fact that we have a spirit. Our spirit participates in the spiritual realm while running our physical body on this dimensional plane. It is therefore, trans-dimensional. While we have a conscious mind (soul) and a subconscious mind (heart) we also have an unconscious mind which comes from the spiritual experiences that we have neither conscious nor subconscious awareness of. What distinguishes Christians from other people is the fact that our trans-dimensional nature extends all the way into the dimension containing the throne of God (which is the beginning and end of eternity). Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father and we are seated in Him.

“and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6 NKJV)

This is why we can come boldly to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). Only once we understand all of these things can we understand the passage that we began with. Here it is again:

“And hath put all things under his [Jesus’] feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” (Ephesians 1:22-23)

The church is the body of Christ and the fullness of Him that fills all in all. Just as Jesus in His trans-dimensional identity fills all in all so that He is omnipresent, so the church corporately partakes of the omnipresent nature of Christ in the heavenly places. Doing battle with a church that has a full revelation of the power we wield corporately is what the devil is scared to death of. It is my prayer that as you meditate on this letter, you will begin to comprehend these higher concepts. There is much more that can be said on these things, but we will save that for another time.

Discussion

1.       Is the church the body of Christ?

2.       What does it mean to have a trans-dimensional nature?

3.       Is Jesus trans-dimensional?

4.       Are you trans-dimensional?

5.       What does this mean for the church acting in unity?

2012

12/3/11

Greetings,

                We are officially in the last month of the year. For the past eleven months we have been focusing on the power, the purpose, and the necessity of unity in the body of Christ. The reason we need unity is because many of the works that God wants to do in the coming years will require increasing degrees of unity among His people. Unity is not an end in and of itself, but it is a means to an end. We must begin to grasp this, it is imperative.

                After this month is over the focus of BRIDE emails will most likely be transitioning. I’m not yet sure what direction God will take these emails, but this will undoubtedly be clarified by the beginning of 2012. The year 2012 is going to be a major part of our discussion this week. There is quite a lot of buzz regarding what it will bring, and this week we are going to bring out some important elements.

I have a great deal of confidence that the enemy has big plans for the following year. Will it be the end of the world as some have suggested? Don’t count on it. The real danger of the year has to do with the astrological significance of the planetary alignment that will be occurring. What many don’t understand is that witchcraft in all its various forms and identities is largely based around the cycles of celestial bodies like the sun, moon, and planets. Without going into too much detail, suffice it to say that we can expect unprecedented coordination of rituals throughout the entire kingdom of darkness in an attempt to take advantage of the fact that our solar system will be coming into alignment with what is known as the galactic center.

                This alignment with the galactic center is something that only happens once every 25,920 years. To put this into perspective, if one were to hold a strict young earth view (meaning that they believe the entire history of events on earth is confined to roughly a 6,000 year period) then they would have to accept that earth has never experienced this alignment before. On December 21 of next year, our sun is expected to rise in perfect alignment with the galactic center pictured below. The galactic center is also known as the mouth of the ouroboros (the snake which eats its own tail according to esoteric belief).

                With such an astrologically significant event occurring there will probably be preparations throughout the year by the kingdom of darkness to make sure that full advantage is taken of this astrological alignment. So why should we be concerned? I think the answer is obvious.

                Whether people involved in darkness realize it or not, the very underlying structures of their respective belief systems will be pulling them together in the following year. These underlying structures involve the common beliefs in astrological alignments and their importance. In other words, I expect for the following year to serve as a unifying force within the kingdom of darkness among other things. Will the body of Christ step it up to shut down what the enemy is trying to do? I certainly hope so.

                A major problem that I have become increasingly aware of in the body of Christ is that we really don’t know what to rally around. At the most basic level, Christianity is divided into those that consider themselves evangelical and those that do not. To be evangelical basically means to believe that we must be saved by a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Obviously, groups that do not believe this have little business claiming to be Christian. Moreover, even if they try to unite with evangelicals, what are they going to effectively unite around?

                The answer is usually good works like feeding the hungry and getting medical attention for those that can’t afford it. These are good causes but the problem is that humanitarian causes do not require any form of spirituality whatsoever. Moreover, they can be done in the name of any god. The solution to the problem of unity in the body of Christ will not be found in figuring out ways to feed the hungry together. This must be done, but the calling of the church is higher.

                One of these major calls is spiritual warfare. There is only one group of people in the world that is capable of destroying the works of the enemy on a spiritual plane. This is the true church of Jesus Christ.

“For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds” (2 Corinthians 10:4)

The church must unite around the very purpose for which we have been placed into the earth. This purpose is actually to corporately come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). We will never achieve this by continually putting all of our efforts towards feeding the hungry and providing humanitarian aid only. There is so much involved in this, and it will require heavy duty warfare with the powers of darkness. Unfortunately, most Christian leaders know little of how to train people in or personally carry out heavy duty spiritual warfare. This leaves the body of Christ largely defenseless against large scale efforts of the enemy. At this point I’m going to put it plainly: the year 2012 will result in large scale efforts by the enemy.

So what are we going to do? I believe that it’s time for all of us to personally seek out training in our spiritual weaponry from leaders that are equipped. We are going to need it to face the coming increase in darkness. We also need to deepen our relationships with Jesus, without which we will never become effective spiritual warriors. We need to unite with those that are of a similar mind to begin to shut down the works of the enemy and establish righteousness. We need to open ourselves up to receive the truth about what the enemy is already doing and stop plugging up our spiritual ears when we get “uncomfortable”.

Consider that the whole earth is built around an extremely hot core. In the same way, a united body of believers will effectively unite around an extremely hot core. I challenge you to be part of that hot core, because the moves of God that are coming are going to be built around forerunners that are hot, powerful, and well able.

“And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” (Numbers 13:30)

Discussion

1.       Is unity an end in and of itself?

2.       Should we be worried that 2012 is the end of the world?

3.       What is actually going to happen on December 21, 2012?

4.       Who is the only group of people capable of truly destroying the works of the devil in the spirit realm?

5.       Are you an effective spiritual warrior, why or why not?