Shadow Lands - Part Two

Matthew 11:12From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,^[a] and the violent take it by force.

The primary meaning of the verb paratz is, 'to break or tear down...e.g. a wall...to break asunder, to break forth, as a child from the womb, Gen. 38:29; of water, to burst forth...a torrent bursts forth...also to break out, act with violence, Hos. 4:2'.

…the Kingdom of the Heavens is being breached (The Messiah) and the breachers (us) are possessing it.'

The Messiah the Shepherd has breached or teared open a section of the fence or wall of the Sheepfold (the earthly existence). The Sheep (believers; breachers), would then continue to break down and break through the fence of the sheep-pen into greener pastures.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (esv) For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. 4For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.

The scriptures are clear that there is a war waging, and it is not according to the flesh. Another way of saying this would be:

"There is a spiritual war going on, and it will only be won in a spiritual way, through divine powers"

If we think that we will combat this present evil buy human efforts alone (i.e. wars), we are hugely mistaken. I believe that this present evil in the world today is driven by a greater hostile spiritual evil.

How do we wage this spiritual war? The scriptures say that we have "divine power to destroy strongholds". When I read verses like this I can't help but think what does this mean? It is clear that it is telling me that I have a Divine Power. It is also clear that it is telling me how I should use this power - "To Destroy Strongholds"

Maybe if I read it from the New Living Translation it might shed a bit more light and maybe be more specific.

2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (nlt) We are human, but we don't wage war with human plans and methods. 4We use God's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil's strongholds.

In the Greek the word strongholds means:

1. A castle, stronghold, fortress, fastness
2. Anything on which one relies
3. Of the arguments and reasoning’s by which a disputant endeavors to fortify his opinion and defend it against his opponent
   

Satan and his evil minions have built this evil spiritual castle, a fortress that has declared war upon humanity. I believe that this evil or shadow has manifested itself in the destruction of the World Trade Center (9/11)[i].

Ephesians 6:10-12 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

We must not allow fear to grip and control our lives. We must remind ourselves that we have Divine Powers to destroy these strongholds. How do we wage war with our divine powers?

---

[i] The USA defended itself in the flesh, or in a human way or manner. I am not here to discuss on how the USA or any sovereign country chooses to defend it self, Sovereign countries in my opinion have the right to defend it's borders, and to defend against any hostile evil force that would invade or threaten it's people.

Shadow Lands - Part One

Hebrews 8:4-5 (ESV) Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.

Colossians 2:16-18 (ESV) Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

As I read these scriptures I am amazed at these profound phrases "shadow of the things to come" and "a copy and shadow of the heavenly things"

When I stop to think about the meaning of these verses I cannot help to wonder what other things are copies and shadows of things to come? I don't want to read into these verses, and I am not by any means injecting what is not there.

I am just wondering...

I wonder if the evil and war that we see in the world today is just a copy and a shadow of a greater spiritual evil and warfare that is happening in the heavens.

I wonder if these evil spiritual forces have declared a war upon humanity.

I wonder if this is just a precursor of a greater evil to come.

If the evil that we are seeing today is just a copy and a shadow of a greater spiritual evil, then I think we better start praying to a greater degree than we ever have before.

Win, Build, Send

Pastor Chris Chapman (Praise Chapel, Indonesia) asked the question "how are we (Praise Chapel) going to deal with the under-ground church"?

90% of the unreached world is hostile towards Christianity. How does this translates for us? Well for starters we may not be able to have our traditional building, traditional outreach, and may have to seek other methods to Win, Build, Send.

How would we do this? What about our lives being in danger? How do we support those that go? Most of will not visit a missionary work if there is no building. Why, because of the preconceive notion that there is no church without a building. However, the lack of a building does not define the church, or Body of Christ. The first century Christians mostly met in homes, and not in an official church buildings. That should not prevent us for recognizing an established Body of Christ, and should not prevent us from going and supporting them.

There is a great opportunity for us to do so much more. Just because we are not able to preach a sermon behind a pulpit does not mean that we don't minister. We must adjust and be ready to support those that are called and willing to go. We already have a few works in the Middle East, China, and Indonesia, and some of them are in very difficult places. The reality is that they may never have a church building. How many of our top USA Pastors have gone and visited these workers? If you have not gone, ask yourself why? Are you only able to minister if they have a building? We have to change our paradigm if we are going to truly make an effort to reach the world with the Gospel.

Here is another thought. The Muslim world is vastly different than the areas that we have been successful in. For instance in the Philippians, and Africa we have had great freedom, and openness. We can hold crusades, and conferences. It is highly unlikely that we will be able to do those types of functions in Muslim countries. Now there are areas in the Muslim world where that might be possible, places such as Lebanon, and Turkey, where the government is not ruled by Muslim law. But even then there is a certain amount of danger. Other areas like North Korea, Cuba, and Northern Africa to name a few are hard places that we have not yet made any impact in. Our new work in Iran, only time well tell what the possibilities are. But to be frank we may have to go under-ground there. If that is the case how many of you would be willing to go and spend a week or two and support them?

I say all of that to ask this basic question, "How do we build a model where we can Win, Build, Send in areas where we are restricted, where we can't have buildings, where we have to be under-ground?"

Just some things on my mind that I pray and think about. I am open to hear your suggestions. So post away.

Robert Jimenez

Welcome PCCF

Weird Thikers.com is the brain child of a recent conversation with Chris Chapman (Pastor of Praise Chapel Indonesia). We were writing to each other and he said "I think if I had a chance to be around more "weird" thinkers I wouldn't feel so "weird"".

He nailed it for me. I always feel weird, and out of place. Mostly because I have different ideas, I see things differently, and think very differently than most of my peers. I have always wanted to setup a website where there was no focus or agenda, or goals, just a place where I could express my thoughts on any issue. I guess there would be one goal, keep the thought process Christian.

This would give me the ability to express concerns on subjects ranging from Faith to Politics (although I will keep the politics to a minimum).

I hope that my friend Chris Chapman will also contribute and not shy away. I also hope to draw other weird thinkers. But if you get too weird I will block your comments ;-)

Also, one other thing that I want to accomplish. I don't just want to motivate our thinking, but I want to motivate our actions. We can sit here all day long and debate issues, discuss ethics, contemplate how to reach the world with the Gospel. But without taking any action it will only be empty dialog.

I am not here to have heated debates with anyone either. I am a Faith based person, and cannot explain everything, nor am I striving for any scientific reasoning, since I am not a scientist there is no point.

However I do welcome solid Christian thought that will challenges us to take action.

Who is my target audience? Praise Chapel of course. We must continue to think about how we do things and what challenges we are facing. For example, one great thought that Chris had, is how are we (Praise Chapel) going to deal with the under-ground church?

Robert Jimenez