PAUL THE PIONEER?

Was Paul a pioneer?  We often think of pioneers here in America as those who moved into uninhabited places and settled there to start new farms or ranches and communities.  They could be those who landed on the east coast, and using hand tools, they built houses and tilled the land.  They also hunted and fished until they could establish livestock herds or flocks.  They could also be those who moved away from those early settlements in covered wagons to repeat what the earlier pioneers had done.

Well, Paul never wore a tricorn hat, or travelled in a covered wagon, built a log cabin, or grew crops, but he was a pioneer.

Pioneers open up new territory.  That's what Paul did for the Gospel.  But we don't call him a pioneer, and maybe we should.  Then, we might also gain a better understanding of what an apostle is in the New Testament.

Before Alexander expanded the Greek empire to the east, the Greeks had already established a commercial and cultural empire of sorts acound the Mediterranean Sea by sending out groups of people to start colonies on the islands and shores.  These groups would have a leader called an apostle.

So, apostles in the Body of Christ are pioneers.  Their job is to take the Good News of Jesus to areas where it hasn't gone before.  They are not only to proclaim the Gospel, but to make converts into disciples.  Then, when the local assemblies of disciples has grown in both size and maturity, he appoints elders and moves on to pioneer another area.

In Hebrews, Jesus is called the Apostle of our confession (3:1).  Could the Father have sent apostles before Jesus?

Abraham is a possibility.  So is Moses, and Joshua.  I'll leave it up to you to study out.

I believe apostles are needed today. Maybe not to open up new geographic areas, but demographic areas.

I don't see many apostles in action today.  Those who strut around calling themselves apostles probably aren't apostles after all.  The real apostles will be operating in areas unknown to the larger Body of Christ.

I Believe In UFO's

Surprised by the title?  Well, hang on.  I do believe in Unidentified Flying Objects.

What is a UFO?  First, it is something that appears solid, so we call it an object.  It also appears to move through the atmosphere, so we say it is flying.  We can't tell what it is, so it is unidentified.  That's why we call them UFO's.

Unfortunately, people use that term to mean alien spacecraft.  They do that because saying UFO is quicker and easier to say than "alien spacecraft."

UFO's are real.  They have  been, seen photographed, filmed and videoed, so they are not just something someone made up.

But are they alien spacecraft?  I don't know for sure.  I believe some sightings can be explained.

I believe some are experimental aircraft.  Some could be atmospheric in nature, such as lenticular clouds, ball lighting, thunderstorm sprites, or the result of electromagnetic interactions we don't yet understand.

I recently thought of another possibility:  holograms.  Holograms are projected images.  The military could have tested holographic equipment over large cities to measure their effectiveness and range.  Holograms could then be used as a weapon to deceive enemy forces or spies.  This could also explain why some UFO's seem to enter mountains, ridges or cliffs.  Some appear to move faster than man-made aircraft.  A projected image can be made to do the same.

Of, course, another possibility is demons.

Whenever a UFO sighting is investigated, I believe a complete environmental data set should be compiled before analysis begins.  Weather conditions (including space weather), geological background (seismic, topographical, mineralogical), RF (tv and radio broadcast stations in the area), and demographic (population, industrial, and commercial profiles) are the types of information needed beyond date, time, location, and visual evidence (witness accounts, pictures).   Without this, investigations will continue to go round and round, and never come to a conclusion.

MUFON, are you listening?

FIVE-FOLD WHAT??

That title refers to a doctrine known as the Five-Fold Ministry.  This doctrine was first spread through Pentecostalism by a movement known as the Latter Rain.  Today it is a major part of the New Apostolic Reformation.

The major emphasis is on the restoration of apostles and prophets to the Body of Christ, along with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in order to produce a revival that will bring Jesus back to Earth.

Seems legit doesn't it?  Well, hold on to your Bible belts, muh frens...

But first, let's start with some Scripture:

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  Therefore it says,

 “When He ascended on high, 

He led captive a host of captives, 

And He gave gifts to men.”

(Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth?  He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) And He Himself gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ, so that we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming, but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is Christ, from whom the whole body, being joined and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the properly measured working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

Ephesians 4:7 - 16, Legacy Standard Bible

Hmmm, that passage does mention apostles and prophets, but it doesn't say anything about restoration or revival or bringing Jesus back to Earth.  Well, those other parts are taken from cherry-picked verse elsewhere in the New Testament.  I might cover those later if I see a need.  That last part is actually very dangerous, as we shall soon see.

Now, let's break down this passage.

First we see that we have received grace "according to Christ's gift."  Thank God!  We often forget, or we don't know, that Christianity is by His grace.  We don't deserve it, and we can't do anything to earn it, or to make ourselves worthy to receive it.  It's all Him!

You should be able to see why I said that part about us bringing Jesus back is so dangerous.  It shifts the responsibility for His return onto us and off of Him.  As if we were capable of doing that!  No, the only contribution we can make is to trust and obey.

The verse that mentions apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists, and teachers, says He gave "some as..."  What does that mean?  Did He give men as gifts, or did He give men the gifts they needed to serve in the roles He called them to fulfill?  Which is more consistent with His grace?

Also, notice this passage doesn't contain the words five-fold or ministry.  We do see five roles, so that part is okay.

But, when we read or hear the word "ministry," we often think of clergy.  But ministry means service.  Not every member of the Body of Christ is called to one of the five roles mentioned, but we are all called to serve.

In the Gospels, Jesus said several times that "many are called, but few are chosen."  Sounds mysterious, doesn't it?  But to someone who worked in recruiting, it makes perfect sense.  A nation goes to war, and recruiters hit the streets, looking for bodies.  The branches of service compete for those bodies.  Young men and women sign up, and they go through a screening process.  Not everyone passes through the "screen." Many have been called, but few are chosen to continue in military service.

One thing I need to add here about the doctrine.  The proponents of the Five-Fold Ministry have labelled these roles as "offices."  They turn the whole concept into an authoritarian structure, with apostles at the top.  The ministers then become intermediaries between the people and God.  You need them to tell you what to believe, what to think, what to say or not say, who to marry, etc.  This just opens the door to abuse.

Contrast that with the rest of the passage.  The last phrase can tell if a congregation is lining up with this Scripture: "building itself up in love."

That's all I have for now.  I will post more about the "offices" later.

A WORD ABOUT CHURCH

That word, "church," gets thrown around a bunch.  It has come to have many meanings.  In its broadest meaning, we use it as a synonym for religion.  We also use it to designate a building dedicated for the instruction and practice of a religion.  A worship service is also called church.  

Those are okay uses for the word, but I  need to point out that we also use the word to mean the people who follow a religion, whether it's a local or worldwide group.

Do those other uses match what the Bible means when that word appears on its pages?  No.  Not at all.

When ever "church" appears in the English Bible, it is always a translation of the Greek word "ekklesia."  Ekklesia refers to people, especially citizens, that have been called out to assemble for a purpose.  At no time does it refer to a building or a religion.

You might be thinking, "So what?  Why is this information important?"  It is important so that we don't misinderstand God's Word.

So, why do we use "church" to mean so many different things?  Some of the words in Christianity have been taken from the Greek New Testament and transliterated into English, such as "baptism" and "Christ."  Why didn't that happen with Ekklesia?  Where did "church" come from?

The English word "church" does come from a Greek word, but not "ekklesia." The original Old English word was "chirchon." It came from the Greek, "kyriokos.". That word comes from two root words that mean "lord" and "house." So, it means "lord's house."

I surmise that once Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire, the government let Christians use government facilities, or even gave them buildings. Some of those buildings where called "basilicas" in Greek. That word means, "king's house."

Since Greek was the predominant language of early Christians, they changed basilica to kyriokos.  Then any building used for Christian worship became kyriokos.  The word then migrated through other European langues, including German, "kirche."

GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT AND THE BODY OF CHRIST: PART THREE

If you haven't read my posts on prophecy and the gifts, please read them now.  I'll wait.

I see confusion in the Body of Christ concerning discernment.  Some of it could be a confusion of terms, but it could also be a lack of understanding.

Discernment works two different ways in a believer.  One is a gift, the other is an ability that a believer develops as they mature in Christ.

The gift (1 Cor. 12:10) is often called discerning of spirits because of the KJV.  The New American Standard uses the word "distinguishing" instead.  I like that better.

The discerning of spirits has been defined as being allowed to see a demon with one's physical eyes for a time so that it could be driven away.  I don't see where seeing a demon is necessary before dealing with it.  Especially if a believer is tasked with casting it out of a person.  The demon will show itself by its behavior.  More likely, the gift occurs when a demon is not showing itself, and the believer needs to know it is there so it can be handled.

Distinguishing of spirits would go beyond learning that a demon is present to learning what kind of demon it is, or what its intentions are.  It could also apply to determining the state of someone's spirit. This might explain Peter's response when Simon Magus offered him money for the ability to make people speak in tongues.

In Hebrews 5:13 - 14, we read, For everyone who partakes only of milk is unacquainted with the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.  But solid food is for  a the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil (NASB).  No need for a gift of the Spirit here.  All that is required is to become acquainted with the word of righteousness (READ YOUR BIBLE!) and put it into practice.  Then, as you grow in Christ, you will develop discernment.

I haven't covered all the gifts mentioned in the Bible.  I haven't studied all of them in depth.  But, I can tell you this: If you wish to learn more about them, especially how they are to be used, the best place to start is the Gospels, because Jesus is our pattern.  Then, look into the Acts of the Apostles for other examples.