I. Co. 11:17-19- Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that you come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together in the church ( as the church), I hear that there are divisions among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be “heresies” (factions) among you, that they which are approved may be manifest (recognized) among you.

*heresies- from haireomai, “to choose.” The word originally denoted making a choice or having an opinion. Progressing to having a preference because of an opinion or a sentiment, it easily slipped into a mode of disunity, choosing sides, having diversity of belief, creating dissension (divisions), and substituting self-willed opinions for submission to the truth. The dominant use in the NT is to signify sects (factions), people professing opinions independent of the truth.

2 Pe. 2:1- But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who brought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.

I John 2:19,22,23- ‘They’ went out from us (from verse 18-antichrists as the heretics, deceitful, destructive, divisive; prophets, teachers), but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out (with-drew) that they may be manifest (recognized), that none of them were of us…Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist (not just ‘against’, but ‘instead of’) who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

I. John 4:1-6- Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses the Jesus Christ has come ‘in the flesh’ is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus christ has come ‘in the flesh’ is not of God. And this is the ‘spirit of the’ antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them (antichrists) because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

2 John 7- For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. vs. 9- Whoever trangresses (goes ahead) and does not abide in the doctrine (teaching) of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son….

Today we laid to rest our sweet Bobbie Maxwell, and it was such an honor to participate and be a part of this great family! Shawn Gould spoke so heartfelt in sharing for the family concerning his grandmother and for their legacy! Shawn and his wife Holli Garet supplied the music and songs and Pastor Kent Brown led in some old-time hymns and songs at the graveside service that gave tribute to Sis. Bobbie! There was such a wonderful turnout, including Jack Maxwell‘s fellow officers from the Harris County Constable’s Office Precinct 4! What an honor that was!!!

I felt to share something here in the post I shared at the service, just sensing that it might help those going through some difficult times:

One verse in Isa. 38:12 says in the NKJV- “My life span is gone, taken from me like a shepherd’s tent; I have cut off my life like a weaver. He cuts me off from the loom; From day until night You make an end of me.” It’s called the “weaver’s shuttle.” Job 7:6a says, “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle.” The Living Bible says Isa. 38:12 like this: “My life is blown away like a shepherd’s tent; it is cut short as when a weaver stops his working at the loom. In one short day my life hangs by a thread.”

I found Matthew Henry’s commentary on Hezekiah’s prayer for the Lord to add years to His life, which is the context of Isa. 38. He wrote this:

“A good man wishes not to live for any other end than that he may serve God, and have communion with Him. Our present residence is like that of a shepherd in his hut, a poor, mean and cold lodging, and with a trust committed to our charge, as the shepherd has. Our days are compared to the weaver’s shuttle, passing and repassing very swiftly, every throw leaving a thread behind it; and when finished, the piece is cut off, taken out of the loom, and showed to our Master to be judged of. A good man, when his life is cut off, his cares and fatigues are cut off with it, and he rests from his labours. But our times are in God’s hand; he has appointed what shall be the length of the piece. When sick, we are very apt to calculate our time, but are still at uncertainty. It should be more our care how we shall get safe to another world. And the more we taste of the loving-kindness of God, the more will our hearts love him, and live to Him… ”

I spoke this as to Sis Bobbie’s life as being the “little weaver”! And as the weaver’s shuttle carries the “thread of her life” across the loom that creates the thread or yarn which creates the “cloth” of our lives! Sis. Bobbie, like the weaver’s shuttle, kept weaving the thread of her life through this precious family and created a cloth, the fabric of their lives, that they can continue to build on. Not only a legacy, but a great lineage of life will continue through Jon Maxwell, Leigh Anne Maxwell, Roger Debbie Cochran, and through all the grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and as many as the Lord our God calls… What an honor and privilege for Pam and me to serve this great family as we all serve the greater purposes and plan of God for our lives….

The generations call for us to respond with a boldness and confidence to “step up” and finish the race well that the Father has set before us….As Shawn said, we have a great “cloud of witnesses” that have gone on before us, cheering us on and waiting on us to be perfected…. Much love and blessings… heart emoticon heart emoticon

Something I’ve learned through the years on both sides of the spectrum of 1) pioneering a church, and/or 2) taking over an existing work, I believe would be helpful to share with many pastors! Then, add to that the last 17-18 years of now being a prophet/apostle or apostolic father to both of these scenarios:

1) I found it took at least 3-5 years to establish a work from the ground up, and that was to be the basic in having people and leaders established in the vision of the house that were ready to help be a part of a team! It takes that long for the leader to find Himself, and he and his spouse be able to properly relate to the house together.

2) I’m finding more, and this is primarily from now working with existing churches, that it takes 7-10 years when a leader takes over a fellowship that had a history of multiple leaders or a founding pastor, to “weed out” all the former leadership and build the team that comes in with your DNA! That takes about twice as long, and brings many frustrations and burn-out to the pastoral nature of the church. Not to mention the pastor’s wife… smile emoticon

So, now after 40 years of my calling and 37 of those being involved in the many facets of the church, the body of Christ, in its many various forms, I can now say with confidence, NEITHER OF THOSE TWO WAYS ARE THE WAY TO COME INTO A TOWN, CITY or COMMUNITY TODAY! THIS THIRD ONE IS BETTER:

3) The Antioch Model of Acts 13:1-4 (with Acts 11:19-30), combined with the Ephesian model of Acts 19:1-10 establishes the “ecclesia” in a city and the apostolic/prophetic team in a region!!! The first model or paradigm, was of course, the Jerusalem Church. It was a church, even after experiencing great Holy Ghost power, turned inward, and until persecution hit the church, was not fulfilling the apostolic mandate of “being witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria…” (Acts 1:8) Thank God, Philip, one of the seven, went to Samaria and preached Christ to them and the kingdom of God, and became known as “Philip the evangelist.” Evangelists should be working in cities to help establish the church and the saints in evangelism, not travelling from “church to church”, trying to revive a dead church!

The Antioch paradigm in Acts 13 had the saints established in the word of God, with prophets and teachers serving as elders until the time of the “setting apart” of Barnabas and Saul into their apostolic work! They were now, not just a teaching or training center, but an apostolic “sending” center to empower and establish churches in the cities and regions. Acts 11:25,26- “Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. And when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.”

The Ephesus paradigm in Acts 19 had Paul finding sincere brethren who were moving in all the truth they had, that of John’s Baptism, but had not even experienced Pentecost! After bringing them into the baptism, he brought them into the ‘synagogue’ (church) but when the system of religion refused the “things concerning the kingdom of God”, he withdrew them and taught them daily in the School of Tyrannus, until after TWO YEARS, they had turned ALL of Asia UPSIDE DOWN with the word of the Lord Jesus, which is, “preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching the things concerning the LORD JESUS CHRIST, with all confidence…” (Acts 28:31)

HOW DOES THAT RELATE TODAY?

Thank God, some local churches are experiencing and embracing the apostolic model of New Testament government and order, therefore with the set leader, are establishing local ministry teams! With the help of apostles and prophets and teachers, they are envisioning, equipping, and establishing leadership and the saints in the “apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in breaking of bread and in prayers…(Acts 2:42) Then, these tran-local apostles and prophets are finding those who are “outside the system”, many who have not even experienced the fullness of the Spirit and stayed within a paradigm that has kept them from maturing, to knowing who they are in Christ and who He is in them!!!

Many times they have to draw them aside, not cut off from the body, but being entrusted to apostolic ministry, be trained, discipled, and raised up as SONS OF GOD, to mature in relationships and instead of following gifts and ministries, they are embracing fathers and relationships for a “kingdom ‘ecclesia’ regional model, instead of the “performance oriented, ecclesiastical church system that have kept many a good man and woman of God “stymied” and frustrated in their anointing, gifts, and calling! May we “SHIFT” forward to SEE true local assemblies established within the apostolic regional centers, in Jesus name!!!

JB