Paths of Progress in Time

Learning to find Church Life

2009-12-20T12:25:00.000-08:00

I am enthused about Watchman Nee's teachings on church life. These are found in the book "The Normal Christian Church Life" ... not to be confused with "The Normal Christian Life" by the same author. Also available online for free (!) is the book "Church Affairs" by Nee, expanding and explaining more clearly what was already published.

One thing Nee says to do, to have good church life, is to have four kinds of meetings: The Lord's Table, Prayer Meeting, the Prophecying Meeting, and the Home Group Meeting. Personally, by participating in all these meetings, I am finding more fellowship, more corporate worship, and more personal involvement (and growth) than in any other church setting I have tried.

I am trying (but often failing) not to mull over past church-life experiences ... especially since I do not remember them accurately. My recent very positive experiences and readings do, however, suggest to me that I can perceive better now what was lacking previously. So far, I am really enthused that the Nee foundation of extensive work on ecclesiology fills in much of what was lacking in my understanding.

On the subject of authority, Nee may seem a bit rigid but actually is more flexible than he seems at first reading. Nee states that elders retain the responsibility to reject or accept the apostolic words from the apostolic workers. This iterates the responsibility of elders at a local level to discern the truth for themselves.

Seems to me that the local elders' responsibility to accept/reject apostles is the whole basis for church disunity ... as touched upon by Paul to the Corinthians. And God foreknew we would have this responsibility and would fail miserably most of the time. But it is an inevitable organic phenomenon which occurs because of carnality ... as Paul illucidates. "Denominations" are defined by the elders' choice of which apostles they accept and reject. Yet some individuals such are able to study the writings of apostles or teachers which they accept while being participants in assemblies which do not receive these apostles or teachers. Fascinating.

Even Paul recognised the organic plurality of the work of the apostles. [Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.] Yet it is the carnality of leaders and followers which leads us to accept only certain apostles and reject all others.

All of which brings us back to the individual's responsibilty to judge for himself what is right. And whether or not there are imperfections in the leaders with whom I have chosen to associate myself, there always remains the personal responsibility I must accept... that it was I who chose to remain or go along with this or that situation. [I think I recognise several junctures at which I should have rejected the leadership and created some distance between me and the church of my choice (so to speak) so that I could have time and space to run my life the way I saw fit. One needs to be able to implement the Truth as you see it in your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Watchman Nees book: God's Plans and the Overcomers

2009-01-03T07:51:00.000-08:00

“God’s Plans and the Overcomers”, Watchman Nee, Copyright 1977, Christian Fellowship Publishers, Inc., New York.

[Contents are in two parts. Part one is “God’s Plan.” Part two is “God’s Overcomers.”

I will quote from part two.

Under the subject heading “Who God’s Overcomers Are”, Nee quotes the promises to the overcomer from Rev. 2 and Rev. 3. We begin our quote with the next subheading.]

p.53-54

“The Failure of the Church”

“The reason for the church to remain on earth is to maintain and
demonstrate the victory of the cross of Christ by binding Satan in every place, just as the Lord himself-the Head of the church – bound Satan at Calvary. On the cross the Lord has already judged Satan according to God’s law. Now God entrusts to the church the task of executing that judgment on earth.
Knowing well chow the church would affect his defeat, Satan began to persecute and kill the church. He later changed his tactics to deceive the church with falsehood. He is a liar as well as a murderer. Yet the church fears neither his smiling face nor his angry face. The book of Acts is a record of life out of death for the church. God utilized the attacks of Satan to demonstrate through the church the victory of Christ. Unfortunately, the church gradually failed – as shown in such instances as the lie of Ananias and Sapphira, the greediness of Simon, the creeping in of false brethren, the seeking by many believers of their own things, and the forsaking by many of the imprisoned Paul.

God Looks for Overcomers

Now whenever the church fails, God finds a few in the church – called to be overcomers – that they might bear the responsibility which the church as a whole ought to but fails to bear. He chooses a company of the faithful few to represent the church in the demonstration of the victory of Christ. He has His overcomers in all the seven periods of the church (as represented by the seven churches described in Revelation

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chapters 2 and 3). This overcomer line is never cut. The overcomers are not some special class. They are simply a group of people who conform to the original plan of God.

The Principle of Overcomers

The way God works, as illustrated in His Holy Scriptures, is to find a few as a nucleus in order to reach the many. This was true in the patriarchal age. At that time God chose people individually: those such as Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham. Later on through Abraham (the few) God reaches the whole nation of Israel (the many) – that is to say, god reaches the dispensation of the law through the patriarchal age. Then from the dispensation of the law (the nation of Israel) God reaches to the dispensation of grace (the church out of all nations); and likewise from the dispensation of grace He will reach to the dispensation of the kingdom (the entire world), and from the dispensation of the kingdom to the new heaven and the new earth (the new creation), for the kingdom is the prologue to the new heaven and the new earth. So then, the principle of God’s operation is from the few to the many.
“…the Head, from whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bans, increaseth with the increase of God” (Col. 2:19). The joints are for supplying, while the bands are for knitting. The Head holds the body together through these joints and bands. And these joints and bands are the overcomers.

p.57:

Jerusalem typifies the whole church, whereas Zion – which is in Jerusalem – represents the overcomers in the church. Jerusalem is larger than Zion, yet Zion is the stronghold of Jerusalem. What answers to the heart of God is called Zion; that which speaks of the failure and sins of the Jews is called Jerusalem. God allows Jerusalem to be trodden down, but He usually keeps Zion intact. There will be a new Jerusalem, but there is no new Zion because Zion never grows old.
Each time the relationship between Zion and Jerusalem is mentioned in the Old Testament we are shown that the characteristics, life, blessing and establishing of Jerusalem are invariably derived from Zion. The elders were in Jerusalem are invariably derived from Zion. The elders were in Jerusalem, the ark was to be in Zion (1 Kings 8:1). God does good in His good pleasure to Zion, and He builds the walls of Jerusalem (Ps. 51:18). God’s name is in Zion, while His praise is in Jerusalem (Ps. 102:21). God blesses out of Zion and Jerusalem receives the good of it (Ps. 128:5). The Lord dwells in Jerusalem, yet He receives praises out of Zion (Ps. 135:21). God speaks first to Zion, and then the good tidings reach Jerusalem (Is. 41:27). He dwells in Zion and thus sanctifies Jerusalem (Joel 3:17).
God today is seeking, among the defeated church, 144,000 (a representative figure, to be sure) to stand on mount Zion (Rev. 14:1). Each and every time, He uses relatively few believers as channels to pour forth life into the church for her revival. As their Lord did, these few must pour forth blood in order to let life flow. The overcomers are to stand on the ground of

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victory for the church and instead of the church. They are to endure sufferings and shames.
Therefore, God’s overcomers must forsake all self-complacencies, pay the cost, let the cross cut off all that comes out of the old creation, and stand against the gates of Hades (Matt. 16:18).
Are you willing to hurt your own heart that you may gain God’s heart? Are you ready to let yourself be defeated so that the Lord may triumph? When your obedience is made full, God will quickly avenge all the disobedience (2 Cor. 10:6).

[Next Subsections we will not quote, but to note their titles.]

What the Work of the Overcomers Is
The Work of the Overcomers
Standing in Death That Others Might Live
The Selection of the Overcomers
How to Become an Overcomer: the Case of Gideon
The Victory of the Overcomers
The Outcome
The Prayer of the Overcomers
Authoritative Prayer
The Relationship Between Authoritative Prayer and Overcomers

[Now we enter back into the study as it begins to reference the book of the Revelation.]

Things God’s Overcomers Ought to Do in the End Time

[“Scriptures to be read” include Gen. 3:14, 15 and Rev. 12:1-11.]

p.78

These two passages of Scripture respond to each other. The first one is found in the opening book of the Bible, while the next one is in the closing book of the Bible. In Genesis 3 there are (1) the serpent, (2) the woman, and (3) the seed in view. In Revelation 12 there are again these three: (1) the serpent, (2) the woman, and (3) the man child.

God’s Judgment against the Serpent

Genesis 3 reveals God’s judgment against Satan. It also tells us of His judgment against fallen man as well as of His plan of redemption. “Upon thy belly

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shalt thou go” is God’s decision that Satan can only work on earth, no longer can he work in the universe. “Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life” suggest that God has ordained that henceforth man (man of the dust) shall be Satan’s food. Thus all the descendants of Adam, as God has ruled, become food – that is to say, they are a people – for Satan.
“Woman” refers to the mother of all living. Hence she represents all living: all whom God desires to save.
“Her seed” refers to Christ was on earth He crushed the serpent’s head on the cross. Since in the head lies the vital region of power, the Lord has broken all the principal powers belonging to Satan.
For the Bible to say that the serpent is to bruise the heel of the woman’s seed is simply to denote that Satan will work behind the back of Christ. After Christ has bruised the serpent’s head and left, Satan works behind His back. This means that he works on the lives of the believers in Christ – and such is a behind-the-scenes sort of work.
The woman’s seed points to the corporate Christ as well as to the personal Christ, since all who have part in the resurrection of Christ are included in the seed of the woman. As our Lord was born of a woman without the help of a man, so the new man who is reborn in a believer does not have the Adamic nature. As Christ is the Son of God, so the new man is also a son of God. As Christ was not born of blood, so the new man is not born of blood nor of the will of man (John 1:12, 13).

p.80:

From Genesis 3 onward, the hope of both God and man centers on the seed of the woman. Satan too pays great attention to the seed of the woman. For this very reason he (1) instigated Herod to kill the Lord, (2) tempted the Lord in the wilderness, and (3) tried to harass the Lord throughout the three and a half years of His public ministry. But in all these the Lord was victorious.

The Overcomers Deal with the Serpent

Narratively, Revelation 4-11 is one section, 15-22 is another. Chapters 12-14 are parenthetical; these do not belong to the main text but serve to explain what has been written before. In thought, chapter 12 is linked with chapters 2 and 3: for note that chapters 2 and 3 mention “he that overcometh” seven times and then chapter 12 says “they overcame him”; chapters 2 and 3 tell us how God calls for some to be overcomers when the church has generally failed, while chapter 12 shows us who are these overcomers and what they do; and again, 2:27 relates how the overcomer shall rule the nations with a rod of iron and 12:5 confirms that he who shall the nations with a rod of iron is the man child. The man child represents the overcomers in the church. This man child is corporate in nature, because he is the brethren spoken of in 12:10, 11.
“The old serpent” is the name God purposely mentions here in Revelation 12 to help us recall the record in Genesis 3.
The woman who gives birth to the man child as

p.81:

spoken of in Revelation 12 is Jerusalem. It refers not just to the earthly Jerusalem, it also points to the heavenly Jerusalem. The Bible tells us that God is our Father, the Lord is our older brother, and Jerusalem is our mother (Gal. 4:26).
The sun, moon, and twelve stars coincide with Joseph’s dream. Hence this must allude to the children of Israel. Jerusalem is the center of the nation of Israel. Consequently the woman should be Jerusalem.
The woman is the Jerusalem of Revelation 21 and 22. This city includes all who have the life of Christ and are saved during both the Old and the New Testament times. Before she gives birth to the man child the woman represents the church; after she has brought forth the man child she stands for the children of Israel: because before the man child is born she is described in her heavenly state – the sun, moon, and stars, whereas after the man child is born she is spoken of in her earthly situation – she is fleeing into the wilderness.
The woman symbolizes all the redeemed of God. They are severely persecuted by the Enemy. How the woman suffers from the serpent! These who are represented by the woman ought to fight for themselves, yet they cannot. So god calls from among them a company of overcomers to fight the battle for them. These overcomers shall rule the nations with a rod of iron since they will occupy a special place in the kingdom. As these overcomers (as represented by the man child) are caught up to heaven, they cast down Satan and regain the heavenly places from the serpent.

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When they are on earth, Satan has to retreat; and when they ascend to heaven, Satan is cast down. Victory lies in regaining the ground. The man child conquers on behalf of the mother; the overcomers win the victory for the church. Moreover, in the end time, God uses overcomers to conclude the war in heaven. These overcomers shall bring “the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ” into heaven. The serpent therefore has no more place in heaven. Hence wherever the overcomers are, Satan is forced to retreat.

The Arms of the Overcomers

They overcome the Enemy because of: (1) “The blood of the Lamb” – First, in the blood of Christ the natural life is poured forth; hence Satan can no longer work in us. Satan’s food is the dust of the earth: he can only work in natural life. Second, the blood of Christ overcomes the attack of Satan. Under the protection of the blood of Christ we will not be attacked by him, just as the children of Israel were fully protected by the blood of the Paschal Lamb. The blood satisfies the righteousness of God, because the shedding of blood signifies death. For this reason, Satan cannot attack us. Third, the blood of Christ answers the accusations of the Enemy.
(2) “The word of their testimony” – What the Enemy tries to do to the church is to overturn the testimony. The church is a lampstand, which symbolizes testimony. In order to overthrow the church Satan has to overturn the testimony. The testimony mentioned here

p.83:

is especially related to the testimony given against Satan. Three words which our Lord used while tempted himself form the testimony to be used against him. We should testify against the Enemy. When he tells us we are weak, we tell him that Christ’s “power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). Use the word of God to implement the victory of Christ. The blood stands for such victory. Using the word of God to execute the victory of Christ is testimony.
(3) “Loved not their life even unto death” – Offer up our body and life, have no self-pity and, like Paul “hold not (your) life of any account as dear un (yourself)” (Acts 20:24). The battle shall be won if we trust in the blood, give the word of testimony boldly, and maintain an attitude of no fear of death. Such people can fulfill the determinate will of God recorded in Genesis 3:15.
As the dragon waits to devour the man child about to be delivered, so Satan will now persecute and cause us to suffer. But these very persecutions and sufferings will impel us to be the man child so that we may be raptured first. The first rapture is not only a blessing, it also entails a responsibility. All who give ground in their hearts to Satan will be persecuted by the dragon in the Great Tribulation. But those in whose hearts the Enemy has no foothold shall bruise the head of the dragon under their feet (cf. Rom 16:20). Because the serpent has injured the woman, it takes the seed of the woman to defeat the serpent. God himself does not come to defeat Satan. He calls overcomers to defeat him. May we be among the ranks of the overcomers!

[End of book.]

Logic of the Resurrection

2008-10-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

Human logic is, so far, imperfect. “Belief” is similar to hypothesis … it is an attempt at grasping what is the system in the data we have observed.

Sir Isaac Newton developed hypotheses which helped us all to grasp what physical principles are behind what we observe. The Newtownian Laws of Physics were useful in invention of machines and in understanding astrophysics.

Despite the truth (relative truth) of Newton’s beliefs (theories) concerning physics, when Albert Einstein discerned the theories of relativity, he proved Newton’s laws to be somewhat in error.

Then came Niels Bohr (and Stephen Hawkins and others) who have advanced theories (not absolutes) concerning quantum mechanics. Albert Einstein had apparently been somewhat in error.

Things which would have appeared “supernatural” to the mind of one trained in Newtonian physics are now thought of as natural. The discerning of unseen principles behind the observable systems around us is called “science”… but it is also, in a real sense “religion” … because it is an attempt to explain anything of any importance to us. The artificial rhetorical distinction between “natural” and “supernatural” is an example of how there exist artificial rhetorical distinctions between “science” and “religion”.

I hope that opens up some discussion…since it probably needs to be explained.

We might look at it this way:

It has never been PROVEN that the Messiah Jesus was not resurrected from the dead. Rather it is supposed and believed by many that he did not rise from the dead and that he was not an incarnate equal to God. But prove he wasn’t? How are you going to do that? So… disbelief is a matter of faith.

My theory … based on evidence … is that it was perfectly natural for God the Father to raise His Son from the dead at that point in time. I use the word “natural” very carefully as a word meaning “the nature of things as they are in the universe in keeping with laws which govern how everything in the universe operates.”

The Resurrection of Jesus from the dead is no more outside the realm of things in the universe than is quantum physics. The rhetorical distinction between “science” and “faith” is simply rhetorical.

I chose to believe that Eistein’s theory of relativity and Bohr’s theory of quantum mechanics and Hawkin’s theory of the universe with no fixed point of origin … are all true… even though I cannot examine the details of their equations. I choose to belief those things because they are consistent with what else I have seen.

Similarly, I choose to believe in a resurrected Jesus Who can be as God to me just the way His Father was as God to Him. I cannot replicate ALL the equations, but I can observe enough consistent evidence … which is consistent with what else I have seen… and this I call science.

Some people may not think that Einstein or Bohr or even Newton’s theories are valid. Maybe to them these things are not proven. Certainly, these theories are not understood by everybody.

Most of mankind does not accept the evidence that Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of Moses and the prophets. Most of mankind does not accept the evidence that the message of the Christian Scriptures … though shrouded by traditions… are of divine origin. But the evidence is there.

Christian Scriptures say that mankind is in rebellion against a Father God. That would seem to be almost self-evident. The fact that most of mankind rejects the Christian Scriptures… and what is even more overwhelming… the fact that Christian leaders have misused authority and have been hypocritical JUST AS THE PROPHETS FORETOLD … is evidence that these Scriptures are true.

I hope that carries the discussion forward.
Would be glad to hear from readers.
-Peter

Christian Absolute Socialism - Commanded By God?

2008-10-17T11:33:00.001-07:00

PAVB. 2008.10.11 CHRISTIAN ABSOLUTE SOCIALISM – COMMANDED BY GOD?

PREFACE
In this article I am addressing only my friends and brothers in Christ Jesus. We accept the Christian Scriptures as authoritative and also "reason together" with Jehovah Elohim using logic, looking to Jesus Who by the Holy Spirit can open Truth to us. We extensively use the patterns of God’s handiwork as basis for discussion of Truth. I am not planning to use this article to embarrass my friends who live in what they call "Christian community", but which I am calling a Christian absolute socialist system. All quotes will be from the Authorized Version (King James Version) unless otherwise stated. This is so that Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible and its dictionary may be used easily for research.
EXPLANATION OF TITLE
The title requires explanation. I did not want to refer to "Christian community" since, in my view the word "community" is commonly understood to mean a broader category of groups (such as, “village”) than the communal group. I did not think the word "communism" was appropriate since that has connotations of Karl Marx’ system which is, emphatically not the subject at hand. I would have liked to use the word "communalism" because it expresses the characteristic of shared property in a group which has come together to share its wealth and working strength for the good of all. However, "socialism" seemed a bit more accurate because it emphasizes the role of government [in this case, church government] in supervising the communal process. I think that the word "authoritarian" is appropriate only because the communal system I wish to challenge has a government which professes to have total authority over all the money, tools, working strength and time of its members.
There have been utopians that believed that a communal system should equalize all people and give equal benefits to all. This is not the kind of system that I am addressing. Rather, I am describing a system in which stewardships are restructured by the administration of the leader who is granted - by the group - total authority to restructure or re-assign the stewardships over money, tools, and time. The leader’s administrative endeavor is not to equalize stewardships, but ideally to optimize results by assigning stewardships according to ability and specialty while meeting the basic needs for survival of each and every member. Potentially (or ideally) the goal of this communal system is the optimum nurture and exercise of each and every member toward maturity as Sons of God in Christ, both individually and corporately. The expression, "From each according to his ability; to each according to his need" does not describe the communal society in question. This is because "need" cannot be defined except, in a limited sense, as the basic needs for survival (yet even these are not necessarily the responsibility of the society since no society can guarantee the ongoing life of another who must pay the penalty for his/her deeds). What is being advocated, I believe, by the Christian absolute socialist movement, is the optimization of stewardships toward the greatest good for God and for God’s people. In short, they advocate Christian absolute socialism as the expression of Christ’s command that we should love one another as He has loved us.
NOT A QUESTION OF SOUL SALVATION
I am not challenging whether members of this movement possess the gift of life in Jesus. That is quite another issue. I am confident that salvation exists among members of these groups.
BENEFITS TO BE GAINED
There are benefits that may be sought and gained by the authoritarian socialist churches. These are truly benefits regardless of whether or not the communal system is decreed by God. The benefits of Christian absolute socialism include: 1) the benefit of protection of the young or weak from destructive influences, 2) the facilitation of financial and social comfort in time of need, 3) the benefit of close proximity to one another, 4) the benefit of facilitated administrative control over immature members by which destructive behavior is readily detected by administrators and may be easily corrected by the administrators for the instruction of the errant member as well as the benefit of the community.
WHAT SHOULD BE OUR STANDARD OF RIGHT AND WRONG?
What is to be our standard of right and wrong conduct for today? For those of us who believe in the incarnate God Jesus, Son of the Most High God, there is only one answer. We must uphold the principles upon which "the Law (of Moses)" was hung, namely "You shall love YHWH your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength" and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Essentially, deeds of love for someone are deeds which will cause the greatest benefit to the receiver. The Law of Moses helped to define for us what deeds will bring the greatest benefit to society. Yet, in our current environment, the definition of "love" is subtle and requires elaboration. The spirit of the Law of Moses, true and effective today even though the covenant of Sinai has been fulfilled and no longer is in effect, is hung upon the principle, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
In this current Age of Grace, the individual must subjectively judge the working out of the principle of love. God’s purpose in mercy, justice and grace is to lead us to repentance and righteousness, and, ultimately, to maturity as Sons of God.
In this Age of Grace, one must decide for himself whether he thinks that Christian totalitarian socialist structure effects the greatest growth-in righteousness for the all the members of the body of Christ.
CHRISTIAN AUTHORITARIAN SOCIALISM - COMMANDED BY GOD?
I can think of two approaches to answering the question. The two approaches are: 1) to examine those biblical quotes often used to advocate the radical commitment of persons to the cause of the communalism and 2) to examine the spirit of stewardship within the panorama of the path of progress planned by God as revealed in the Bible. That would involve primarily the stewardship of the spirit within, the soul garment, and the body garment (or vehicle of expression). Secondary in the hierarchy of stewardship are vocation, time, possessions, and money. Here let us examine literal Scriptures pertaining to the stewardship of property using continually as a backdrop the Bible-based concept of the spirit of stewardship as it applies first to spirit, soul, body, vocation, property, and money. It is this concept of stewardship that forms the spirit of the law, against the theory of Christian absolute socialism.
Since many readers who have assumed that the Book of Acts, chapters 2, 3, and 4 state plainly that Christian absolute socialism is the way of love for one another which Christ commanded us to live, let me state point blank that theirs is a false assumption. The actual Scriptures often cited by Christian communitarians emphatically do not advocate the absolute socialist form of community. That matter will be dealt with shortly.
JESUS AND THE TWELVE DISCIPLES
Jesus and His twelve all had one purse. The disciples had left houses and lands in order to follow Jesus. Is this a formula for Communal Christianity? I say "No" because these disciples were specifically being called into a ministry of teaching, prayer, and miracles. Jesus pointedly did not command the disciples did to combine their assets - all of their fishing equipment or houses - into any common vocational work.
Authoritarian Socialist Christianity advocates a common purse and endeavors to use this common purse for vocational interests. Such was neither modeled nor advocated by Jesus in His ministry and in His training of the disciples for ministry.

ANSWERING THE HUTTERITE PRINCIPLES

THE HUTTERITE SOCIETY
A particularly well-known and widespread example of Christian absolute socialism is Hutterite Society. The Wikipedia says this about them:
“Hutterites are a communal branch of Anabaptists who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the 16th century. Since the death of their founder Jakob Hutter in 1536, the beliefs of the Hutterites, especially living in a community of goods and absolute pacifism, has resulted in hundreds of years of odyssey through many countries. Nearly extinct by the 18th and 19th century, the Hutterites found a new home in North America. Over 125 years their population grew from 400 to around 50,000. The Hutterite community has one of the highest fertility rates.”
I will use the Hutterite system in this article as the model for discussion because the nature of Hutterite communities has been well documented in books widely available, including HOSTETLER JOHN ANDREW, HUTTERITE SOCIETY published by J HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1974.
A FORMAL TOTALITARIAN SOCIALIST SYSTEM
The basic design requires a contract or firm commitment on the part of the individual to give to a specific communal church absolutely all possessions, future income, time and working strength.
“The Hutterites reject a purely ‘spiritual’ community which does not bring property under the control of the body of Christ. Community of goods … is the will of God, who from the beginning created all things for common use.” [p.174]. “Material goods as well as capital earnings are for the welfare of the community and are clearly at its disposal. Every member ‘shall give and devote all his or her time, labor, services, earnings, and energies … [to] the community, freely, voluntarily and without compensation….’ [Reference to E. A. Fletcher, Constitution of Hutterian Brethren Church and Rules as to Community of Property (Winnipeg, Man., 1950)].
Commonality of possessions, time, and labor are accomplished by submitting these things to Administrators who are in charge of the communal church. The administrators receive all wealth, time, and strength yielded to their direction. They in turn delegate authority and stewardship or job assignments to others.
HUTTERITE SOCIETY – A SUCCESS STORY
I will not address the subject of the governance of Hutterite Society except to point out its general characteristics. In Hutterite Society, the power of leaders is tempered by several important factors. “A council … headed by the first preacher, is elected to serve as an executive body.” There is a division of stewardship among the council. “The head preacher has the highest leadership position, but his actions are constantly subject to review by the counsel. Authority is thus group-centered.” [p.162]
There are checks and balances within Hutterite Society. I would suppose it is these checks and balances – and the overall milieu of Hutterite Society – as well as the possession of faith in Jesus which have contributed to the survival and success of the movement. As interestingly healthy as the governmental structure may be, I challenge the Hutterite assumptions concerning the “communal” (read: absolute socialist) economics of the society rather than the many principles of the governmental body itself. So we will return to the question of whether God decrees a community of goods as the highest command of love.
The economic ideals for which the Hutterites strive may be described in one of their foundational books by Andreas Ehrenpreis. I think it may be appropriate to examine some of the major statements by brother Ehrenpreis and to answer them respectfully. Please see (below reproduced) pages 59 – 63 of "Brotherly Community the Highest Command of Love", by Andreas Ehrenpreis 1650. And pages 123-124 of the same book in the writing by Claus Felbinger, 1560.
"But community, perfect unity, and separation from the world are to be found only in the perfect Kingdom of Christ. We know that Christ has called out all those whom He appointed to have eternal life. With His death He sealed the New Covenant given by God in His mercy and won from His Father the promised Spirit, who shall lead all true believers into the truth. It is this Spirit who taught them the way of community, of which we read in the first five chapters of the Acts of the Apostles [Acts 2, 4, 5]: all who believed were together and had all things in common; and no one said that any of the things he possessed was his own. Those who possessed land or houses sold them and brought the proceeds and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and distribution was made to each as any had need. “–Claus Felbinger.
Brother Felbinger assumes that in Acts 2 and 4, as in Acts 5 that proceeds were always laid at the apostles’ feet and that distribution was made by the apostles.
HOW DID THE EARLY CHURCH IN JERUSALEM SHARE
In the Book of the Acts, there are two references to how the church shared possessions. These are in Acts 2 and Acts 4. We will look at these each in turn.
The earliest distribution to the poor did not even involve the Apostles as administrators. Acts 2:44-46 expressly states that it was individuals who did the selling and distribution of their own possessions. "And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house …”?
In this text, the apostles are not mentioned. It is the believers who counted all “common” without having an authoritarian institution in place to govern their flow of capital. I have checked the Greek words, by means of Strong's Concordance and Dictionary. And, evidently, the King James Version correctly translates these verses. If the words in Acts 2:44-46 say what they mean, then it was the believers themselves who parted them to all as every man had need. Notice that final phrase "as every man had need." It does not say that they sold anything when there was no need. And it does not say that they distributed any proceeds to persons who had no need. It is evident that there was no formal contract concerning the yielding of all properties and vocational resources to the apostles. Furthermore, it is apparent that the believers administrated the sharing process directly to those in need.
In fact the latter verse, 46, says that they ate "from house to house." Quite probably, the houses were the personal property of believers. This helps bring to mind the important point that the "held all in common" phenomenon was most certainly not a legally organized system but was an attitude of the heart.
Hutterites and other communitarians seem to assume that this phrase, "held all things in common" was – and should be – an organized contractual arrangement similar to what occurs in communal organizations such as the Hutterian Brothers. The Scriptures themselves demonstrate that "holding all things common" was effected neither by the selling of property, nor by the surrender of authority to the apostles, but by the individual stewardship from the heart at the time of need.
Commonality of possessions is again mentioned in Acts chapter 4.
"And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul; neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things common." [Acts 4:32]
Acts 4:32 states plainly that these believers had possessions. That is, they were owners of properties. By the time referred to in Acts chapter 4, an unspecified time has passed since Acts 2. There had been enough time to collectivize the property into the hands of apostles or other chief stewards. Yet, they that believed possessed houses and things while saying that these were all common.
What is the meaning of “common”? It is the Greek word koinos and it means “shared among all.” Commonality of possessions, known in Greek as koinonia was an attitude held by the early church. When understood as an attitude rather than an instituted economic system, this commonality of property was actually still lived out in the context of individual possession of property. Observe the actual wording of the Scriptures,
"And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold. And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, the son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet." [Acts 4:33-37].
By the time of Acts chapter 4, the church is seeing the apostles brought into the financial administrative process. People placed proceeds of sales “… at the apostles’ feet.” [Acts 4:35] This may have been months, or it may have been more than a year after the original Pentecost experience. This particular event required the apostles to administrate the distribution of the money to the needy ones, whereas, previous references to distribution did not specify that it was done by the apostles. This particular flow of money could have been pragmatic when the apostles were aware of needs which they could meet administratively. Isolated needs could yet be being met by "good neighbors" while a body of widows and otherwise destitute ones were on a "dole" which had become institutionalized. If the apostles were to make a special announcement that there existed a need for a contribution, this would have led a generous brother, such as Barnabas, to sell a possession which was still his possession, and bring it to the apostles rather than he himself distributing the proceeds.
Ananias and Saphira seem to have seen this very public demonstration of generosity as an opportunity for vainglorious giving. They lied to the church and the Holy Spirit. The apostle said “Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power?” [Acts 5:4].
Now in Acts Chapter 4 we have the introduction of the apostle’s administration of funds. Acts Chapter 4 says that those who sold possessions laid the proceeds at the apostles' feet. And that the apostles made the distribution to those in need. If we are justified in understanding this as an evolution of the sharing process into being one administrated by the apostles, we may speculate that this administration occurred because of a pragmatic need in that time and place. Perhaps the Apostles were the ones in position to know of needy persons. Yet, these Scriptures do not describe any communal contract or formal system or any totalitarian governance being instituted.
EVEN IF THEY DID IT IN THE EARLY CHURCH WOULD IT BE, THEREFORE A PRINCIPLE FOR US?
The Book of Acts records for us some of the decisions of the apostles during the history of the church. The Scripture does not say that these decisions were to become law for us. Indeed, even in their own time, these decisions may, for all we know, have been in some degree of error. The Apostles were not above being corrected and learning knew standards of conduct years after their Pentecost experience. As, for example, the Apostle Peter was inclined to be prejudiced against the Gentiles and even made a glaring error recorded in Scripture concerning prejudicial behavior
Should we implement a “commune” today? No. Even if we had apostles of the stature of Peter, James, and John, we should not misinterpret the Scriptures and misapply them out of context in order to satisfy our desire for an enforced community of sharing.
Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), 37and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. Acts 4:36-37
Acts 5:4. King James Version "Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God."
Probably, Barnabas’ sale of property was occasioned by a need that arose some number of years after Pentecost. Does it not seem obvious that believers still owned their own properties for a rather long time even after they had begun to have an attitude of considering all their possessions as common? Does this not show that “having all in common” was an attitude of heart rather than a system?

THE RICH YOUNG RULER
Jesus said unto him, "If thou wilt be perfect, go [and] sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come [and] follow me." (Matt.19: 21). Jesus asked the man to give what he possessed to the poor. Jesus did not ask that all be given to His ministry or the disciples. Jesus asked the man to follow Him, implying that he become involved in the school of the word, prayer, and miracles. Neither Jesus nor His disciples were involved in using assets to produce wealth; they did not want to become financial or business stewards over any of what the Rich Young Ruler had to give. The advocates of Christian absolute socialism quote Jesus’ words to the rich young ruler as a text to advocate their Christian absolute socialism. But that very text is in marked contrast to what the Christian absolute socialists are saying and doing. The Hutterite communities, for example, certainly do not sell all their collective possessions, distribute to the destitute, and come and be submitted solely to the direct leadership of Jesus to the individual. Rather, they collectivize these possessions, give them to themselves as a group, and submit rather absolutely to leadership that is not the equivalent of Jesus.
THE WIDOW’S GIFT (LUKE 21:1-4)
The Widow's Gift
1 And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury.
2 And He saw a poor widow putting in two small copper coins.
3 And He said, "Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all of them;
4for they all out of their surplus put into the offering; but she out of her poverty put in all that she had to live on."
This widow gave all she had to live on. Is that a joining of a “Christian Community?” She gave to the priesthood – those who were in charge of spiritual things and the care of the poor but emphatically not in charge of agricultural projects or business ventures. Many “Christian Communities” such as the Hutterites and smaller but similar groups do not exist predominantly for spiritual ministry but rather pool their capital into business and agricultural projects.

CONCERNING THE WORD “ALL” IN SCRIPTURE
Scripture says they held "all" in common. The Scriptural use of the word "all" is as a figure of speech. For instance, in Exodus 9:6 "all the cattle of Egypt died." Yet, in Exodus 9:20, the Egyptians still had cattle. "He that feared the word of the LORD among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee into the houses: 21 And he that regarded not the word of the LORD left his servants and his cattle in the field." Therefore expressions in Acts 2 and 4 which say "every one who had possessions sold them" or they had "all things common" are figures of speech.
COMMON PURSE NOT ALWAYS GOOD
Proverbs says "My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, come, let us lie in wait for blood, we will find precious spoil, we shall all have one purse. My son, do not walk in the way with them…." By this example we see that "having all in common" or having all in one purse is not necessarily a good thing. And, even if it were, in one instance, a relatively good thing, it may not be the best thing. There may be a benefit, for certain situations, when a group has “one purse.” If the spirit of the group is good, and if the leadership of the group is good, and if the deeds of the group are good, then a benefit may result from having one purse. But would it not be for a greater good if these people were to maintain separate purses and separate property to the extent that these individuals are given wisdom from above as to the use of their properties. Scripture states that we are “stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
- 1 Peter 4:10
The various stewards are to manage each his own gift by the grace of God. This pattern, when carried into all things, proves that ownership of personal property is as holy as any other stewardship granted by God to his individual children.

THE KINGDOM OF "BABYLON" AND THE KINGDOM OF MESSIAH GOD
If Christian communalism is not the way decreed by God, then what is? Are we not commanded to “come out of Babylon”?
Jesus ("Messiah God") established the kingdom of God in the hearts of those who became lifted up and inspired by holy spirit and were surgically, by the holy spirit, implanted in their hearts with the flesh-seed of Jesus. The kingdom of "Babylon" is essentially the same Roman world system into which Jesus was born, which He marvelously overcame, and which is being overcome by any and all of us who follow Jesus. The king of "Babylon" is his majesty Lucifer. I do not say this in jest or disrespect. When I use the words "his majesty" I am referring to the great intelligence and important status of Lucifer who is the mightiest of the rebellious children of God. Moreover, these are the two great kings: Jesus and Lucifer. We humans must choose which king we will serve here and now, today. Every new moment that God grants breathe to you or to me is another great opportunity for you or me to choose Jesus or Lucifer for one moment.
We are called to be “in the world but not of the world.”
“I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” [John 17:14-17]
The kingdom of Messiah God is being founded in the hearts of any and all that turn toward Him as a response to His voice. His voice operates upon the hearts of mankind through circumstances, through the Holy Scriptures, and through the observable created systems of God which exemplify His words to us. The kingdom of Messiah God is growing from within those individuals who are being transformed by the spirit & flesh & blood of Jesus and by the working (in the individual hearts) of the Holy Spirit messenger sent by Jesus. All the humanly observable major centers of power today are essentially the Roman system. (See writings of Prophet Daniel in which Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the statue is described.) The centers of power and influence in this age are emphatically not being turned, at this time, into the kingdom of Messiah God. The centers of power and influence include the "religious, political, and financial" systems known today. Some of these centers of power are certainly more influenced by good than are others, but all owe allegiance to Lucifer. The system in the United States of America, for instance, is not, and has never been a truly Christian system, but is a Roman/Babylonish system with some Christian influence. When, in the future, the system requires us to take the literal “mark of the Beast” then we will be called to literally come out of the financial system which will be established at that time. [Revelation 13:17]. And, while in the meantime there are spiritual and partial ways in which followers of Jesus are coming out of Babylon, yet to come into a communistic group is not a step out of Babylon.
At this time, we owe submission, not only to Jesus but to the powers that be (with this stipulation, that IF the powers that be command us to do something against what the Holy Spirit expressly commands us at this hour then we are to disobey the powers that be.) However, we are not to attempt to "come out of Babylon" by removing ourselves from the national legal boundaries of the existing nations, or the existing religions, or the existing financial systems.
“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities For there is no authority except from God and those which exist are established by God.” [Romans 13:1]
We are to progressively come out of Babylon by responding to the Holy Spirit as it imparts to our hearts the flesh and blood of Messiah God and as He joins with us in reordering our inner thoughts (mind and heart.) The High Priest of Jesus’ day spoke, prophetically, to another Priest "You are benefiting nothing. Lo! The world came away after him." Indeed, the whole inner world of the individual overcomer of this world is transformed progressively if and when the individual daily renounces self-centered life and follows the Holy Spirit as it progressively transforms the governments of the human mind, heart, and body in the likeness and image of Jesus-Messiah-God.
The process of living “in the world but not of the world” is best accomplished outside of communal organizations. It is best accomplished with a degree of personal property within the boundaries of the current Babylonish systems. This is redundantly taught to us in the Scriptures.

THE INDIVIDUAL
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. They shall be filled." It is good to have "the righteousness through faith in Jesus" which saves a person from doing time in the prison of the Grave as well as the fire of the Trash-heap. Fear not man who can kill the body, but afterward can do nothing. Rather, FEAR HIM who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna (the burning trash-heap.)
We must begin with salvation in Jesus. Yet we do not stop at the door of entrance into life in Messiah. God our Father calls us to hunger for more of the process and product of obeying His voice. We are called to be stewards. We are called to serve the younger. We are called to administrate justice and mercy to anyone under our care in family, workplace, and government (including church.) Maybe you do not think that you are an administrator. However, whenever you speak you administrate to the hearer truth or falsehood, kindness or unkindness, justice or injustice. We will be judged for every word we speak. That is, we must account to a higher authority for all of our stewardships, even the stewardship over words. Cain said, "Am I my brother’s keeper?" Yet, we should say to Cain that he is called by God to protect, and preserve his brother. We are called to sanctify ourselves for others. Primarily our stewardship is over that which is INSIDE us: Our thoughts, words, and emotions.
Secondarily, we may, at times, have money, vocational talents, property, and spiritually imparted gifts that may be used to help others.
STEWARDSHIPS WITHIN THE FAMILY OF GOD
How to administrate society? Appointed leaders who re-allocate resources are, as Scripture and historical experience tell us, ordained in every age by God. Yet, the question is not whether leaders/administrators are ordained by God, but whether these leaders should be at the head of an absolute socialist structure. The question can be broken down in the following fashion: (1) should this re-allocation of resources be (a) a leveling of all resources [even distribution] (b) allocation to each according to his need, or (c) allocation to each according to his ability as steward? And furthermore, (2) to what degree is this re-allocation to be done? (a) the existing administrators capable of most effectively administrating and delegating authority in kingly fashion, or (b) in the fashion of a republic or (c) something else? [Whether the administrative reallocation of stewardships is ordained of God for any leader or for specific leaders having specific credentials.]
AUTHORITARIAN EXTREMES

Moses was a judge, not a King.
It has been rightly said by some Christian communal teachers, with reference to their authority structure, that "the kingdom of God is not a democracy." True as this may be, yet it understates the problem. For while we readily admit that the Bible, as a constitution of a people, does not advocate a democracy, yet the Bible certainly does not advocate a totalitarian authoritarian regime in the hands of mortal men. The Law given at Mount Sinai commanded the election of judges who would rule in matters which were publically disputed. The Lord told them not to appoint a king... for they had one king, Yahweh. There have been leaders (not Hutterites) who interpret Matthew 23:1-3 to say that the members of church should obey the pastor in all matters concerning even finance, time, labor, and so forth. "Matthew 23:1-3 1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: 3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not." Have they ever thought about what Moses did on the judgment seat referenced by the Lord? Moses judged disputed cases of ethics and morals. Moses did not make himself king and he did not make himself or any delegated judge lord of all finance and labor of all the people. (Exodus 18:16-13, 25-26).
MISLEADING MOVEMENTS
While we disagree, based upon Scriptures, with the communal Christian movements, yet we leave them be. We encourage them to continue growing in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Messiah. We do not seek to “pull up the tares.”

What are the tares? Jesus said that “tares” [weeds] would be sown among the wheat. “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.” Matthew 13:24-26 . Some versions of the Bible refer to them as the tares. It is a certain kind of weed which looks a lot like wheat until it is mature. We look expectantly for the harvest (at this end of this age). At the harvest, the Lord said, the tares will be separated from the wheat so that the wheat can be gathered into the Lord's barn.
The Lord said for His disciples to allow the tares to grow up among the wheat until the harvest. Thus, it is not for us to campaign hard to eradicate errors from the midst of Christian movements. It is our task to try to sort out for ourselves what is right [Luke 12:57 "Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?"]

A man who sows some false teachings would be, by analogy, a sower of tare seeds. Jesus said that false prophets would arise. (Matthew 24:11). A false prophet, in this age, is not necessarily a non-Christian. We may have many Christian teachers who teach some false teaching along with the true teaching. This makes them relatively false prophets when compared to Jesus.
In Matthew 24:5 Jesus says, "Many will come in My name saying, I am Christ'" Readers of that passage have usually taken it to say that the false prophet will claim to be the Christ. Yet, taking the original words in a slightly different nuance, we hear our Lord warning that there are some prophets who, according to Jesus, will acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ.
Look at His words carefully. "Many will come in My name saying, I am Christ." You see, the “many” are not coming in their own name but are coming in Jesus’ name. They are not claiming themselves to be the Christ but are acknowledging that Jesus is Christ. Otherwise, Jesus would have worded it this way: “Many will come in their own name claiming that they themselves are the Christ.”
Since the punctuation does not occur in the Greek, it has been the interpretation of the translators which has assumed that the false ones referred to in verse 5 claim to be the Christ. Yet, without the added punctuation, the Greek passage may just as well be rendered, "Many will come in My name, saying [that] I [Jesus] am Christ, and [yet] shall be deceiving many." This rendering is what I consider most likely.
Be that as it may, there are many Christian teachers who have mixed some untruths with the truth. They do come in His name and they do say that He is Christ, yet they add false teachings to the Christian teachings. Moreover, Jesus wanted to warn us that serious deceptions would come from those who are Christians (in His name). If these deceptions were not coming from Christian ministers how would it be almost possible to deceive even the very elect? (Matt. 24:24). The “very elect” of Christ would most certainly never be deceived by one who came in another name than Jesus Christ.
So, in avoiding the deception of so-called Christian Community, we are avoiding a tare seed which would hinder those who would go on with Christ and be of the very elect who run the race for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
JEREMIAH VERSUS HANANIAH
False Jewish prophets of the pre-Messianic era were participating in the religion of the covenant of that day else they would not have received a hearing. The prophet Hananiah was a Jew who came to the people in the name of Jehovah their God. Hananiah did not deny the Holy Scriptures or the basic reverence for Jehovah God. Yet, Hananiah prophesied falsely that the bondage in Babylon would be ended within two years of his prophecy (Jeremiah 28). Hananiah said it would be two years but Jeremiah said it would be seventy years!
We mortal humans tend to look for quick and easy solutions. Hananiah’s quick and easy “two years” are typical of this. In contrast, Jesus emphasized endurance and maturation for His saints. Jesus said, "He who endures to the end shall be saved." The "70" and the endurance to the end are parallel symbols of the inner maturity to which Jesus wants to lead each of us by the Holy Spirit before we can be delivered from Babylon. We are to be “in the system but not of the system.”
The maturation process includes the cutting out of a stone without hands. [Daniel 2:43-45] That stone is the kingdom of God. The hand of mortal man is not to be involved in the sanctification of that “stone” which will crush the current world system. In keeping with that pattern, there is no simple joining of a "Community" which is going to transfer anyone out of Babylon into the Kingdom of God. Those teachers who have taught that Christians were progressing out of Babylon by joining "Christian Community" were false to the degree that they taught this false idea. And, it has been a teaching which, if it were possible, would deceive the very elect. It is a teaching which hinders the maturation of those who will become the very elect Bride (symbolized by the "70 years" in Babylon) of Jesus Christ.
At a more basic level, these teachers of "Community" have partaken of those characteristics of false teachers described by Apostle Paul in II Timothy 2:26 in that they "lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts." Whether knowingly or inadvertently, they convince Christians to join Christian Community by offering an attempt at freedom from the Christians' confused guilt feelings concerning covetousness, selfishness, and rebelliousness-against-authority. People are tempted to join a commune because it has the appearance of a radical change away from these vices of the heart. Yet, the move into “community” fails to bring deliverance from the Babylonish systems of this age. The kingdom of God does not come by outward appearances but arrives in the heart. The kingdom is a progressive changing in the heart. The love of God and of ones neighbor is expressed best by good stewardship over talents that one delights to use for God and for others. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the best ones at directing the individual follower of Jesus in how to use his/her talents.

In Revelation 18, the call to come out of Babylon does not go out until approximately the very end. Jeremiah 29:4-6 etc., describe how the Lord would have us dwell within the system of Babylon today until the Holy Spirit calls us to come out of Babylon physically. Do not be deceived by those who falsely prophecy that Christian Community is your step out of Babylon.

Jesus the Motilone Indian

2008-10-03T17:27:00.000-07:00

I named this whole blog "Ants of God" after part of a story of the Motilone Bari Indians of the high mountains of Columbia. See more about them - and listen to a few nice native songs at http://www.bruceolson.com/english/english.htm

I do not have any copies for sale.

Chapter 17 ... JESUS THE MOTILONE

We had been on the trail three days and were nearing Norecayra. It was late afternoon. Bobby and two other Motilones were ahead of me, their dark brown bodies hidden from view by the thick vines and bushes of the jungle. It was a beautiful time of day. The approaching darkness made the greens of the jungle soft and velvet-like.

We were walking fast. In a few miles we would reach the communal home. I began to hear loud shouts ahead of us, excruciating yells that sounded as if they came from many different mouths. I had never heard anything quite as agonizing. My steps quickened, and I began mentally to sort out the medicine in my pack.

The cries seemed more desperate as we approached. I had never heard Motilones cry out like that. They never even whimpered under the greatest pain. But Bobby and the other Motilones kept walking straight ahead on the trails, as though nothing were wrong.

"Stop!" I said. Bobby and the others turned around.

"What's that shouting?" I asked. "Shouldn't we see if there is anything we can do?"

Bobby looked down at the trail. One of the other men, who was a witch doctor, shook his head. "There's nothing we can do."

"But what's going on there?"

None of the three said anything. They stared at me with dark, quiet eyes.

As the cries continued to echo through the jungle, I got a little agitated. "Well, look," I said, "maybe you don't care about whoever that is, but I do. I want to see if we can help."

They still didn't answer me. They're sad, I thought. There's something over there that is too sad for them to bear.

"You don't have to come with me," I said. "But I want to see."

They stood motionless until I turned and walked off the trail into the jungle, toward the sounds. After I had gone a few yards I heard noises behind me. They were following.

The shouting men were closer than I had thought. And there were only two of them. One I knew well. He was a leader in his communal home and a fierce warrior. He had killed oil-company employees just to get their safety helmets to use in cooking. He wore a necklace of buttons from his victims' clothes and another necklace of jaguar teeth from a jaguar he had killed with his bow and arrow. Now, standing in front of a hole that he had dug — a hole that was a good six feet deep — he was shouting in a desperate, searching voice, "God, God, come out of the hole."

The other man was in the top of a high tree. He was stuffing leaves into his mouth and trying to chew them, while shouting, "God, God, come from the horizon!"

It was the strangest sight I had ever seen. It could have been laughable, but something kept me from seeing any humor in it.

My three companions came up alongside me, looking sad and embarrassed.
"You knew about this?" I asked Bobby.

He nodded.

"What's the matter?"

He explained that the brother of the man shouting into the hole had died in a region that was not his home. He had been bitten by a poisonous snake and had died before there was time to get him back. According to their traditions, that meant that his language, his spirit, his life, could never go to God beyond the horizon. Now the man was trying to look for God, to get Him to bring his brother's language back to life, to live in his body.

"And what makes him think he can find God by calling into a hole?"

Bobby shrugged. "It's as good a place as any to look." The hopelessness of his expression was transmitted to his words.

This was why God had let me live. I was there to tell them where they could find God. Perhaps this was an opportunity God had arranged. My body tightened at the thought of having a chance to share Christ after five years of waiting. Yet it seemed too much to expect. Inside I was praying.

The man stopped shouting into the hole and came over to us. His hair was disheveled, his body covered with dirt. His eyes were holes into black space. "It's no point," he said. "We've been deceived."

"How long have you been here?" I asked quietly.

"Since the sun came up this morning."

"And why do you say that you've been deceived?"

He told me again the story of the false prophet the Motilones had followed, whose false promises had led them away from God. "We no longer know God," he said quietly.

Then the other men tried to explain a Motilone legend that confirmed why this brother's death had such terrifying implications. I didn't understand it all. Motilone legends are as complicated as any theology. But I did understand something new: their great sense of lostness. I had wondered again and again what Christ had to offer them. Their way of getting along with each other was far superior to that of Americans. But there was more to life than that.

I thought of the night Jesus had entered my life. It had been so many years before, such a small point in time. Yet it was the root out of which everything I was had grown. Through it God had brought me peace and real purpose.

And here were the Motilones in a search for God. But how could I explain things like grace, sacrifice, the incarnation? I could tell a there's simple story, and they would understand. But how could I communicate real spiritual truth?

A lively discussion started. The man who had been in the trees came down and joined us. He reminded us of the legend about the prophet who would come carrying banana stalks and that God would come out of those stalks.

I couldn't quite understand the idea behind the legend.

"Why look for God to come out of a banana stalk?" I asked.

There was puzzled silence. It made sense to them, but they couldn't explain it. Bobby walked over to a banana tree which was growing nearby. He cut off a section and tossed it toward us.

"This is the kind of banana stalk God can come from," he said. It was a cross section from the stalk. It rolled at our feet One of the Motilones reached down and swatted at it with his machete, accidentally splitting it in half. One half stood up, while the other half split off. Leaves that were still inside the stalk, waiting to develop and come out, started peeling off. As they lay at the base of the stalk, they looked like pages from a book.

Suddenly a word raced through my mind. "Book! Book!"

I grabbed up my pack and took out my Bible. I opened it. Flipping through the pages, I held it toward the men. I pointed to the leaves from the banana stalk, then back to the Bible.
"This is it!" I said. "I have it here! This is God's banana stalk."

One of the Motilones, the one who had been in the tree, grabbed the Bible out of my hand. He started to rip out pages and stuff them in his mouth. He thought if he ate the pages he would have God inside him.

When nothing happened, they began to ask me questions. How could I explain the gospel to them? How could I explain that God, in Jesus, had been like them?

Suddenly I remembered one of their legends about a man who had become an ant He had been sitting on the trail after a hunt and had noticed some ants trying to build a home. He'd wanted to help them make a good home, like the Motilone home, so he'd begun digging in the dirt. But because he was so big and so unknown, the ants had been afraid and had run away.

Then, quite miraculously, he had become an ant. He thought like an ant, looked like an ant and spoke the language of an ant He lived with the ants, and they came to trust him.

He told them one day that he was not really an ant, but a Motilone, and that he had once tried to help them improve their home, but he had scared them.

The ants said their equivalent of "No kidding? That was you?" And they laughed at him, because he didn't look like the huge and fearful thing that had moved the dirt before.

But at that moment he was turned back into a Motilone and began to move the dirt into the shape of a Motilone home. This time the ants recognized him and let him do his work, because they knew he wouldn't harm them. That was why, according to the story, the ants had hills that looked like Motilone homes.

As the story flashed into my mind, I realized its lesson for the first time: If you are big and powerful, you have to become small and weak in order to work with other weak beings. It was a perfect parallel for what God had done in Jesus.

But there were so many unknown factors in the way the Motilones reasoned. How could I be sure that I would convey the right thing?

I couldn't. Yet I felt sure God had given me this time to speak. So I took the word for "becoming like an ant" and used it for incarnation. "God is incarnated into man," I said.

They gasped. There was a tense, hushed silence. The idea that God had become a man stunned them.

"Where did He walk?" the witch doctor asked in a whisper.

Every Motilone has his own trail. It is his personal point of identity. You walk on someone's trail if you want to find him. God would have a trail, too. If you want to find God, you walk on His trail.

My blood was racing, my heart pounding. "Jesus Christ is God become man," I said. "He can show you God's trail."

A look of astonishment, almost of fear, spread over their faces. The man who had been shouting into the hole looked at me.

"Show us Christ," he said in a coarse whisper.

I fumbled for an answer. "You killed Christ," I said. "You destroyed God."

His eyes got big. "I killed Christ? I did that? How did I do that? And how can God be killed?"

I wanted to tell them that Jesus' death had freed them from meaninglessness, from death and the powers of evil.

"How do evil, death and deception find power over the Motilone people?" I asked.

"Through the ears," Bobby answered, because language is so important to the Motilones. It is the essence of life. If evil language comes through the ears, it means death.

"Do you remember," I said, "how after a hunt for wild boars the leader cuts the skin from the animal and puts it over his head to cover his ears and keep the evil spirits of the jungle out?"
They nodded, listening closely.

"Jesus Christ was murdered," I said. "But just as you pull the skin over the chieftain's head to hide his ears, so Jesus — when He died — pulled His blood over your deception and hides it from the sight of God."

I stood looking at them, hoping desperately that they would understand. Then I saw on their faces that they did.

I told them Jesus was buried. A wave of grief swept over them. The man who was searching for his brother's language began to weep. It was the first time I had ever seen a Motilone cry. But the thought that God was dead, that they were lost, brought tears and sobs.

I picked up my Bible, opened it and said, "The Bible speaks that Jesus came alive after death and is alive today."

One of the men grabbed the Bible from my hand and put it to his ear. "I can't hear a thing," he said.

I took it back. "The way the Bible speaks does not change," I said. "It is like the papers of your speech that I have. They say the same word one day to the next. The Bible says that Jesus came to life. It is God's banana stalk."

I showed him the page and told him that the little black markings had meaning.

"No one has ever come back from the dead in all Motilone history," he said.

"I know," I replied. "But Jesus did. It is proof that He is really God's Son."

They asked many more questions. Some I didn't fully understand. But I was sure that God had spoken through me. That night I prayed, "God, give validity to Your Word. Make it touch these lives." I claimed God's promise that His Word would not return to Him without any response.

Yet there didn't seem to be any response. I continued to walk the trails with bobby, giving medicine to the witch doctors and showing them how to do their work more effectively.

One evening, though, Bobby began to ask questions. We were sitting around a fire. The light flicked over him. His face was serious.

"How can I walk on Jesus' trail?" he asked. "No Motilone has ever done it. It's a new thing. There is no other Motilone to tell how to do it."

I remembered the problems I had had as a boy, how it sometimes appeared impossible to keep on believing in Jesus when my family and friends were so opposed to my commitment. That was what Bobby was going through.

"Bobby," I said, "do you remember my first Festival of the Arrows, the first time I had seen all the Motilones gathered to sing their song?" The festival was the most important ceremony in the Motilone culture.

He nodded. The fire flared up momentarily, and I could see his eyes, staring intently at me.

"Do you remember that I was afraid to climb in the high hammocks to sing, for fear that the rope would break? And I told you that I would sing only if I could have one foot in the hammock and one foot on the ground?"

"Yes, Bruchko."

"And what did you say to me?"

He laughed. "I told you you had to have both feet in the hammock. 'You have to be suspended," I said."

"Yes," I said. "You have to be suspended. That is how it is when you follow Jesus, Bobby. No man can tell you how to walk His trail. Only Jesus can. But to find out you have to tie your hammock strings into Him and be suspended in God."

Bobby said nothing. The fire danced in his eyes. Then he stood up and walked off into the darkness.

The next day he came to me. "Bruchko," he said, "I want to tie my hammock strings into Jesus Christ. But how can I? I can't see Him or touch Him."

"You have talked to spirits, haven't you?"

"Oh," he said. "I see now."

The next day he had a big grin on his face. "Bruchko, I've tied my hammock strings into Jesus. Now I speak a new language."

I didn't understand what he meant. "Have you learned some of the Spanish I speak?"

He laughed a clean, sweet laugh. "No, Bruchko, I speak a new language."

Then I understood. To a Motilone, language is life. If Bobby had a new life, he had a new way of speaking. His speech would be Christ-oriented.

We put our hands on each other's shoulders. My mind swept back to the first time I had met Jesus and the life I had felt flow into me. Now my brother Bobby was experiencing Jesus himself, in the same way. He had begun to walk with Jesus.

"Jesus Christ has risen from the dead!" Bobby shouted, so that the sound filtered far off into the jungle. "He has walked our trails! I have met Him!"

From that day our friendship was enhanced by our love for Jesus. We talked constantly about Him, and Bobby asked me many questions. But he never asked the color of Jesus' hair or whther He had blue eyes. To Bobby, the answers were obvious: Jesus had dark skin and His eyes were black. he wore a G-string and hunted with bows and arrowss.

Jesus was a Motilone.

Censored By Fivedoves.com

2008-09-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

As can be seen from a couple earlier posts of mine here on this blog, I have been reading and posting at the fivedoves.com website. You've got to understand, however, I disagree with a lot of what is posted there. But, that's okay because there is a lot of diversity within the Christian community.

Recently, I wanted to communicate to the readers of Fivedoves that I am well convinced that there will be no - repeat: no - rapture in 2008. I have a lot of reasons for my conviction in this regard.

Yet the webmaster at the site ... who had posted everything else I sent and who posts a wide variety of opinions ... told me he would not post my short article because my opinion would offend a lot of people who participate in the site.

There you have it folks. The Lord bless them anyway. I just have to "go public" with this statement because the censoring of this throws all my other fivedove.com posts into imbalance (in my opinion) and my only way to complete my ongoing testimony is outside of that site.

Peter A. Van Breemen

Endurance Unto His Judgment Day

2008-09-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

Endurance and Rapture

Sharon Kaiser’s vivid dream (posted Sept. 26, 2008 at fivedoves.com) has earmarks of being a holy spirit led dream.

Here is a quote from Sharon:
“I wanted to share a very vivid dream I had last night. I was in a public building with largeglass windows. I was on the 11th floor. I looked out a window and saw the most fearsome tornado; it reached to heaven, large and powerful beyond comprehension. I screamed "tornado!" People just didn't seem to react, or some said it will veer off and miss the building. I shouted that we are on the 11th floor and will be destroyed and that we must get to the basement. I ran my legs off getting down the stairs, but made it to the basement just as the tornado slammed the building and demolished it. It was one of those dreams that are "different," and leave a very strong impression.”

We notice that there is no time to lose… that is, there is just enough time… to seek humility and arrive at the basement in time for this judgment day which the dream envisions.

As the apostle Paul says, we run with endurance the race set before us, looking to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith Who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of the Father… .

His house, where judgment begins, is obviously beginning to enter a time which will shake us all to the basement of our beings. Thoroughly. Let us continually seek Him by His word-made-flesh, by His spirit, and by His blood. These three agree.

Many say they are eager to be raptured and for the judgment day to begin. Yet the Scriptures emphasize endurance of tribulation. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, yet wisdom brings endurance. It is for discipline that we are enduring [Heb. 12:7].

Importantly the Lord has said that he who endures to the end shall be saved. That does not mean that those who fall in the wilderness… yet have a measure of faith in Him… go to hell. But they fail to see the kingdom until later than others, relative to their position in Christ.

There are indicators that the Lord may be looking at a potential date in area of 2018 for His strange work to finish this age and inaugurate the millennial age. That is not a prediction. One thing is certain, there is no time to lose but to walk with a clear conscience closer to Jesus.

Peter A. Van Breemen

Troubled Water Finances according to D. Wilkerson

2008-09-26T06:46:00.000-07:00

GOD IS STILL KING of THE FLOODS-
by David Wilkerson (Sep 15).

The Psalmist writes, "The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves" (Psalm 93:3). The floods represent the rising waters of afflictions, the overwhelming crises that are coming on the earth affecting multitudes. This is the flood of unemployment, housing nightmares, ever-growing financial difficulties.

We now face a great flood of fear and confusion about what to do to survive the storm.It tears my heart to have a single mother stop me on the street weeping, "Pastor, what am I going to do? I lost my job, and I may lose my apartment. I have nothing to live on. Where will I go?" Top-level executives are being laid off with no warning. Workers tell me they see bosses crying at their desks, asking, "What will I do? I'm broke. What about my mortgage? I have no benefits."Some terrible things are happening, even to some of the godliest believers. I ask God, "Lord, what do I tell them? They are in the flood." I know these saintly people pray and read God's Word. Indeed, they have learned to trust the Lord. But now their faith is being tested to the limit. I get calls from some who are soon to lose everything. I can't just give these people a pep talk and a few Scriptures and ask them to cheer up. I am not suffering theway they are. I still get paid, and I am not in danger of losing my home.

I ask you, please, hear my heart as I say this: The time is not far away before we all will be deeply affected by the economic flood coming to the whole world. Great trials are ahead for all of us who deeply love the Lord. Here is what I am led to do by the Holy Spirit. I ask it of my family, all of whom work with the church body. I urge you to pray to see if the Lord is leading you to do the same: No more buying of luxuries. Cut all spending except absolute necessities. Sell every unneeded item. Turn it to cash and give it to ministries to the poor and needy. Downsize as much as possible. Be willing to let it all come to this: "Having food and raiment [covering], let us be therewith content" (1 Timothy 6:8). Build up your faith by reminding the Lord daily of his promises: "The Lord sitteth upon the flood; yea, the Lord sitteth King for ever" (Psalm 29:10).

"In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness" (Psalm 31:1). In Christ, David Wilkerson
http://www.tscpulpitseries.org/

First Blog Post

2008-09-06T10:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome, viewers.

I have changed the blog title from "Ants of God" to "Paths of Progress in Time." I think the new title fits where we are going with this blog.

The "Ants of God" idea was inspired, partly, by the Motilone Bari tribe's fireside story of how the ants came to live in domed communal huts similar to those of the Motilone Bari people.

I will post that story later.

For now, a link to the Motilone Bari (a people of the Colombian Ande's) site will have to do:

"He Touched a Tribe" (A five-and-a-half-foot-long Motilone arrow in his thigh).

My small size compared to Dobi-dobi [God] is like that of an ant. But, there is peace and joy in walking the trail with Him Who came down to walk my personal jungle trail with me ... all the way back to His dwelling.

Peter A. Van Breemen