The New Testament Church is called to unite to make the name of Jesus known. We live in a time where it is overdue to go outside the four walls of the church and the walls of denominations and pursue a true and genuine outpouring of God’s Spirit. Unity of the body of Christ must be founded upon truth and not compromise. There is a portion of the church today that is compromising on numerous fronts, but there is a great remnant that is staying faithful. The Lord calls His remnant to join forces together, despite differences on secondary issues, and bring the Gospel to the lost.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:19-22 (LSB), “So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, is growing into a holy sanctuary in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”.

This is in the context of the Apostle Paul addressing the dividing wall that existed between Jews and Gentiles before Jesus, and now no longer exists. All who have been born again into God’s Kingdom are one people, whether Jew or Gentile, there is no distinction. Yet today there are many denominations in Christianity, and that was never the intent.

If we would be led by God’s Spirit and put away pride we would see greater outpourings of God’s Spirit in this day, we would see the ongoing work of Ephesians 2, where believers are in fellowship together and are being matured both individually and corporately into a dwelling place of the Spirit of God! In Christ, believers are the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we are called in Ephesians 2 to be in fellowship with other believers for the ongoing growth of being a holy sanctuary of the Lord, that displays the Hope of Glory, Jesus Christ, to this world!

The New Testament Church was founded upon the five-fold ministry offices (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers) for the equipping of the saints, we are to be founded upon that today. The five-fold ministry along with the work of the Holy Spirit is what kept believers in unity in the Early Church as displayed in the Book of Acts, and it is the same for today as God does not change!

Some sincere believers take issue with the continuation of the five-fold or the sign-gifts of the Holy Spirit. Please know I affirm some extremes and abuses exist today, however, that does not change God’s Word. He is no respecter of person, and Jesus even commissioned the church in Mark 16 that signs would follow those who believe, He never limited it to any particular group.

A study of the early church writers even confirms this, and through the dark ages, many have become blinded to the way God wants to move. It is a doctrine of devils to say that God’s Power has changed. But God through time is bringing His church to the place and position it belongs to and that is walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Oregin of Alexandria in his work “Homilies on Numbers,” Origen notes: “The Church has received from the Apostles a ministry of teaching and prophecy, and the different gifts for building up the Church.” (Origen, Homilies on Numbers, Homily 6). Additionally in his commentary on John, Origen writes: “The power of miracles did not cease with the apostles, but it still continues in the Church to this day. Those who have received the Spirit are able to perform the same works of healing and other miracles as the apostles did.” (Origen, Commentary on John, Book 1).

Irenaeus of Lyons writes in Against Heresies “But, to this day, miracles are performed among us by the Church. We hear of those who are restored to health by the laying on of hands, and those who are possessed by demons are freed from their power, and those who are suffering from various diseases are healed by the invocation of the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book 2, Chapter 32, Section 4).

Clement of Alexandria wrote, “And the Church is not without the gifts of the Spirit, which are still manifest today in various forms and work wonders.” (Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, Book 6, Chapter 6).

This is a topic that can be very much debated in Christianity and often causes division. We read in the Bible in 1 Timothy 2:12 (NET), “But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. She must remain quiet.”. One would quickly jump to say women have no business standing behind a pulpit and preaching the Word of God, and many without thinking would quickly stand behind that. However, before we make any kind of doctrine we need to always understand the context of the text we are using. 

We are told many times in the Word of God that wives must submit to their husbands, but before that, we are to submit to one another. Ephesians 5:21-22 (NET), “and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.”. Given this and if we look back to 1 Timothy 2:11 (NET), “A woman must learn quietly with all submissiveness.”. The reason Paul wrote this was not to forbid women from the pulpit or any other five-fold ministry office but to deal with the cultural issue at the time when most women were not educated enough. This is why he wrote for them to learn from their husbands and to submit to them. If they were proven in the faith and their husband was in agreement then there would be no issue with them being involved in ministry. 

Additionally, Acts 2:17 (NET) says, “‘And in the last days it will be,’ God says, ‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people, and your sons and your daughters will prophesy, and your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.”. If a woman can prophesy then she would be in a position of authority and even so possibly over a man in the local church. 

Additionally in Romans 16:7 (NET), we see it recorded of a female apostle, “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my compatriots and my fellow prisoners. They are well known to the apostles, and they were in Christ before me.”. Junia was an apostle, if a woman can be an apostle, then a woman can fulfill any of the other five-fold ministry offices. 

In Matthew 28 we see two women, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary preaching the first sermon to the original disciples, “He is risen”. If women were not to have any authority at all over men, then why would Jesus permit these two women to go back and tell the disciples that He was indeed risen? If 1 Timothy 2:12 and other similar verses were truly meant to be taken out of context with no consideration to the culture at the time of their writing, then Jesus would have told the two women, “Go back but don’t say anything to the disciples, I will catch up to them later”. 

If churches believe in women being silent in the church, then why do they allow women to lead worship, do announcements, and so forth in the church? Where does the buck stop with such a claim with zero consideration towards the context of the Scriptures? You cannot take one verse of the Bible out of its context and make a doctrine out of it. Scripture needs to be interpreted with Scripture. 

I’ve seen some say that women preachers are false teachers. Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-16 (NET), “Watch out for false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are voracious wolves. You will recognize them by their fruit. Grapes are not gathered from thorns or figs from thistles, are they?”. Jesus told us we would recognize false prophets by their fruit, are they bringing people into the Kingdom of God, are they fulfilling the Great Commission? 

Mark 16:15-18 (NET) says, “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name, they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; they will pick up snakes with their hands, and whatever poison they drink will not harm them; they will place their hands on the sick and they will be well.”. Some men behind the pulpit will claim women cannot be in ministry, but some of these men in ministry do not walk according to the great commission. They might preach the Gospel of Salvation, but they stop there and no signs accompany the Gospel. Some churches skip discipleship and are only concerned about growing the number of people. If we are going to throw a fit over who can and cannot be a minister out of one verse and hinder the expansion of God’s Kingdom, then we need to ask ourselves are we living up to Mark 16?

If a woman is truly called by God to be in ministry, there will be fruit, the same is true with men as well. Whatever God has called you to there will be fruit. 1 Peter 2:9 (NET), says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” We are all called to be ministers of the Gospel in our daily lives. This is known as the priesthood of all believers. If a woman has the opportunity to share the Gospel with a man, should she then forfeit it out of fear of breaking one verse? If so, are we willing to assert women not being allowed in ministry and end up with fewer people sharing the Gospel with the lost?

Disclaimer: Please know that many sincere believers will disagree with me on this matter, but that does not change the fact that we are brothers and sisters in the Lord, while we may disagree on this secondary issue.

All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Revelation 13:8 (NKJV)

A majority of people reading this may not know much about what Jesus Christ truly did 2,000 years ago that we take time to recognize this weekend. While we can debate the exact timing of events, that is insignificant, because the fact is that Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, resurrected, and then ascended. Now what does that mean for every person?
Many have wrongly assumed that the New Testament was God’s “plan B” for humanity, nothing can be further from the truth. When Adam and Eve fell, God was never surprised by the event. The fact of the matter is that the work of Jesus Christ was already established well before the fall of mankind. The Scripture tells us that Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. Jesus Christ was slain before the events recorded in Genesis during the Creation account.
Every sin must be paid for. You can read of the sacrificial system in the Old Testament. For many the Old Testament can be confusing to understand at first, the key is seeing it through with a New Covenant mindset. The Old Testament is full of foreshadowing of the Savior to come. In the Old Covenant, they were given Kings, High Priests, Judges, and Prophets, even at their very best, they all fell short. The Old Covenant was showing us that we need a better King, High Priest, Judge, and Prophet. Jesus Christ is all of those foreshadowings in One.
Jesus did not come to be an earthly ruler, but a heavenly ruler. The Kingdom of God is spiritual, one must be born again to be birthed out of the kingdom of darkness and into the Kingdom of God.
You are born into this world initially with a sinful nature after the first man Adam, today is the day to become born again after the Last Man Adam, Jesus Christ. Who is the only One to live a total sin-free life and was tempted at every aspect of His humanity. He gave Himself willingly as the perfect spotless Lamb of God to pay the penalty due to us. His sacrifice paid the penalty for sin, when one declares their faith and trust in Him alone their old nature is buried with Him, and they are risen to the newness of life. When one is born again, they are never alone, they are placed back into right standing before God and can have a living relationship with Him.
Eternal life is not just about making it to Heaven after this life. Being born again as mentioned in John chapter 3 is talking about being born of God’s original intent which was lost at the fall, and Jesus came and made the Way for us!
Romans 10:13 “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussions of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God.

1 Timothy 1:4 (NLT)

With the many distractions going on this year, I wanted to share a few thoughts…
I’ve seen numerous posts and videos about certain so-called prophets saying this or that will happen during the upcoming solar eclipse. Please know solar eclipses and blood moons have happened many times through the course of history. Concerning the return of Jesus Christ, He will return when He returns, we are not called to try to figure out the day or hour.
These so-called predictions while maybe done by well-meaning people are the same as the predictions that went around in 2015 about the four blood moons.
We need to be focused on God’s Word and sharing the Gospel, not popcorn prophecies about current events or who will win a race.
The enemy is working hard to distract the church,. Many (with good intentions) gave into following the so-called ‘prophecies’ concerning 2020. Let us not repeat that this year! If the result of a race robs you of your joy, then are you truly established on the rock of ages, Jesus Christ? He is our true source of joy!
The gift of prophecy in the New Testament is about edification, exhortation, and exhalation for the body of Christ. Predicting who will win a race does not fit the genuine gift that is sovereignly given by the Holy Spirit as seen in the New Testament.
As someone who believes in the gifts of the Holy Spirit still being available today, I remain grieved to see continual abuse and counterfeits of these gifts.
Don’t follow the various fads that go on in the name of Christianity, stick to following God’s Word!

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

John 4:23-24 (NKJV)

Today we have what is called the seeker-friendly movement, they seek to draw people in by various means with worship and other tactics. The seeker-friendly movement is one of the most unbiblical movements in Christianity.
It makes man the consumer of worship. It focuses on how can we attract the unconverted man via carnal means. The question in the seeker-friendly church is how can we make worship attractive to the world?
The consumer of worship is not man, God is the consumer of worship. We need to ask how God wants to be worshiped. How God wants to be worshiped is founded upon Scripture alone for His glory. It’s not supposed to be about fog machines, nightclub lights, and having a catchy tune.
True conversions will not come from drawing people in with things they can get from the world. True conversions will come from people seeing the power of God displayed in the lives of people within the church in both worship and daily living. You can worship with your carnal means and invite a counterfeit spirit of this age in, or you can truly worship in Spirit and Truth founded upon Scripture alone and have the undeniable presence of God fill the sanctuary.
No one in the early church was ever converted from the church blending what was popular in the world with the things of God. Yet many today think that is the formula. The Apostle Paul didn’t get saved because he was in a trendy worship service, he had a genuine encounter with Jesus.
Get back to the Bible folks! The church should be attractive to the world not because it is like the world, but because it offers what the world can never offer! This is not about being legalistic, it is about being Biblical!

1 John 4:18 (LSB), “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.”.

As believers, we must be beyond certain that The Father truly loves us. His Son paid the penalty due for sin as the result of the fall, through the high price paid for our redemption, we have been reconciled to the Father.

As believers when we fall, we can run to our Father with open arms and obtain mercy. The Father desires intimacy with His children. Too many believers are struggling with something because they have lacked intimacy with the Father, they have little to no time in the secret place. There are things from our past that He wants to root out. It may not even be something that is a result of sin, it may be a trauma that happened in our life, and we have carried shame or self-hatred because of it. The Father wants to take those burdens and heal our innermost parts.

A place of true intimacy with the Father is not just singing along to someone else’s words for a few minutes, while there is nothing wrong with that and it has its place for corporate and private worship, there is a deeper place to go to. We must sing the spiritual songs in our hearts, we must sing our own praise to the King of Kings!

We must be people with a truly seeking heart to sit at His feet daily and be aware of His presence and indwelling with us in every moment.

Psalm 42:7 (NET), “One deep stream calls out to another at the sound of your waterfalls; all your billows and waves overwhelm me.”