Mishpachah Yeshua Newsletter
A Newsletter To The Family Of Jesus From Restoration Ministries
The Hebraic family is not simply an individual or private matter.
Rather, it is an institution in which the whole community has a stake.
Thus, the Hebrew word “mishpachah,” meaning family, not only refers to parents and children,
but to the whole extended family worldwide in the body of “Yeshua”—our Jesus.
[click here for a printable copy]
September/October 2001 Topic: Making
Level Paths for Our Families
Dear Brothers,
Matt’s Mom called and told me to turn
on the TV. Before the reporter’s words hit me, the image
of the World Trade Center burning just caused me to start
crying. I walked outside to where Sue was watering her flowers.
She saw the tears in my eyes and all I could say was,
“You have to come in and see this for yourself.” As
with many of you we just sat there staring—numb with
tears flowing down our cheeks. Later in the day I said to Sue, “A whole lot of people showed up in front
of the Judgment Throne instantaneously.”
Were those who died ready to face God? How
many followers of Jesus were promoted to heaven ahead of us? I
envy them. But tragically, how many entered an eternity where
they would live in agony never to see Jesus? This thought
grieves me. For instance, the Bible tells us that fornicators
will not be welcomed in heaven. How many fornicators were among
the dead? How many of the dead were never told about Jesus by
their believing neighbors who saw their religious expression
more in sitting in a church service than befriending a neighbor
in the Name of Jesus?
This past weekend Sue and I did a Demolishing Strongholds seminar at the faith community in Redding, CA. where
my sister Mary and her husband John attend. I listened with joy
as John shared a testimony going back 25 years ago. He and Mary
had been divorced for several years. During this time Mary had
given her life to Jesus and wanted to remarry John. Prior to
the remarriage and in answer to the prayers of many, John came
to the Lord when Lars Wilhelmsen, a pastor in the area who had
vowed to visit every home within a 10-block area of their
church building within a year, knocked on John’s door. As
they talked, the Holy Spirit knocked on John’s heart. How
many people in your neighborhood have heard the Gospel from your mouth?
Jeremiah Is Still Speaking to God’s
People Today
Yes, I was angry as more and more pictures
came across the TV screen, but a deeper prompting kept speaking
to me: “That act of violence represented tremendous
hatred. You must match it in love. The people in this country
consider themselves innocent, but not so. They have murdered
millions of babies who will never know what love is. They
export sex around the world, destroying people’s
understanding of intimacy. More weapons of destruction are
produced in this country than in any other, and sold to both
parties at war with one another.”
The morning of the tragedy I had just
finished reading: “The Lord,
the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his
messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people
and on his dwelling place. But they mocked God's messengers,
despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath
of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no
remedy. He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians,
who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and
spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God
handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar” (2 Chron. 36:15-17).
I know people have a difficult time with a
God who is driven by the immensity of the sins of His people to
bring about severe chastisement. Those of us who have walked in
the prophetic over the years understand acts of God which
uphold His holiness. Yet, we know even more His mercy. Every
prophecy the Lord Jesus ever gave me came from His mercy and
compassion—His desire to see people repent and turn from
their sins and turn to Him. What the Lord was compelled to do
in ancient Israel because of the depth of idolatry of His
people had been prophesied by the prophet, Jeremiah, the author
also of the Book of Lamentations. It is interesting that
tradition has him writing Lamentations on the hill next to
Golgotha.
The prophet’s words bear repeating
because he is speaking to the church today:
“Stand at the gate of the Lord's
house and there proclaim this message: ‘Hear the word of
the Lord, all you [Christians] who come through these gates to
worship the Lord.’. . . To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will
listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The
word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in
it. . . My
people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of
living water, and have dug their
own cisterns, broken cisterns that
cannot hold water. . . ‘Return, faithless people,’
declares the Lord, ‘for I am
your husband. I will choose
you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring
you to Zion. Then I will give you
shepherds after my own heart, who
will lead you with knowledge and understanding’” (Jer. 7:2; 6:10; 2:13; 3:14, 15). “I have struck you as an enemy would and
punished you as would the cruel, because your guilt is so great and
your sins so many” (Jer.
30:14).
Our Father never envisioned His Church to
be “user friendly.” God sends His people into the
world to bring them to repentance, not to indulge their sinful
nature. As a naval warship fires warnings across the bow of a
ship to deter it from its course, God has been warning the
church for many decades to change its course. I would encourage
you to read the warnings he has given the prophet David
Wilkerson for this country. His website is
<worldchallenge.org>. During my 11 years of counseling
church leaders there were two men that many leaders despised:
David Wilkerson and Bill Gothard. The first has been warning
them for some time to get back to the Word of God. The second teaches how to live out the
Word of God.
Our August newsletter was entitled, “Walking in the Holy Spirit in an Age of
Concupiscence.” I had first
heard the word “concupiscence” at the same Bill
Gothard seminar where I had learned the word
“lasciviousness”—inclined to lust, arousing
sexual desire, wanton. The day after we sent our August
newsletter, David Wilkerson’s letter arrived. It was
entitled, “Turning the Grace
of God into Lasciviousness.” Sue and I had a strong sense concerning the angel’s words
to John in the Book of Revelation, “For
the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Rev. 19:10b). By how many different prophets
and in how many different ways has the Lord been attempting to
warn His people?
To Trust in Our Idols or To Trust in Jesus?
The Lord’s ten plagues against the
Egyptians were His frontal assault against their false gods in
whom they trusted. Even though our coins still say “In
God we trust”, people will tell you that their security
is in our financial markets and in our military might. Sadly,
pollster George Barna tells us the values of the born-again are
hardly different than those of unbelievers in this nation. As
we have taught Demolishing
Strongholds, for the past 10 years
we have found the stronghold of
idolatry to be the fastest
growing among God’s people. Wherever idolatry exists, the
strongholds of fear and insecurity begin to accompany it. If
you are plagued by the symptoms of fear and insecurity,
consider where your trust lies.
Consider this: Can
it be that God is taking on the “gods” of our
financial and military institutions in which many of His
children have wrongly placed their trust?
Few present-day Israelites have faith in
God; for the most part they have placed their trust in the
Israeli Defense Force and in American aid. I received an
article that recently appeared in the The Jerusalem Post.
By Michael Freund. (August 29) - The news,
it seems, gives us no rest. Every hour brings with it another
attack, another victim, more tears and more bloodshed. We reach
for the tuner on the radio, like alcoholics grasping a bottle,
punch-drunk from its effects yet unable to free ourselves from
its stubborn hold. With each passing day, the danger facing
Israel seems to mount, as does our frustration. We all want to
help, we all want to do something at this critical hour that
will make a difference for our people. And yet, we seem at a
loss as to just what we can and should be doing.
The usual array of pro-Israel activities -
contacting one's elected representatives, combating media bias
or even writing a check - just doesn't seem to cut it anymore.
People are dying in the streets, being shot on their way to
work or blown up at the local pizza parlor. There must be
something more, something that each and every one of us can do
to directly affect the situation, no matter who or where we
might be. And, in fact, there most assuredly is. However you
might define yourself - be it Jew or Christian, agnostic or
simply confused - the key to Israel's victory may very well lie
in the palm of your hands or, more precisely, in the words of
your heart. Israel's best defense is the power of prayer, and
it is time we unleash this weapon with all the fury and
determination that we can muster.
To modern ears, it might sound archaic,
even simplistic. But modern solutions have failed us miserably
in recent years, with diplomacy and statesmanship bringing us
all to the edge of the abyss. For all of our advanced
technology and finely-honed military prowess, Israel seems at a
loss as to how to extricate itself from the current impasse.
Perhaps it is time to put aside our cynicism and our doubts,
and to do what people in trouble have always done in their hour
of need - turn to their Father in Heaven and plead for help.
Keeping Our Families Out of Bumpass Hell
While on our trip to Redding, Sue and I
visited Lassen Volcanic Park. Within the park is an area known
as “Bumpass Hell.” It is named after a man named
Bumpass who first found the site and lost his leg when he fell
into a boiling cauldron. As we climbed the path out of the area
I received a rhema for this newsletter: “The board walk across the geothermal area
represents the narrow path of obedience I desire my people to
walk. My ways are level paths for my people. They must apply my
Word to all areas of their lives. Destruction lies outside the
path of protection.” The
visual image really had my attention and was especially
strengthened by the strong smell of steaming sulfur.
Intimate Relationship Versus Religious
Activities
“Make level paths for your feet, so
that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Make
every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy;
without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Heb.12:13,14).
As God is bringing the Israelites back to
the land during our day, He is sending forth a message to us
Gentiles to restore the trust-filled faith of our father
Abraham. Yet, religious activities rather than loving trust in
our Lord make it hard for His people to hear. Remember that our
Father desires that our activities flow out of our love
relationship with Him. You cannot
love Him as He deserves unless you ask Him to enable you to
love Him as He deserves. In
other words, we must humble ourselves and ask for help.
For those who refuse to love Him, Satan has
introduced a myriad of religious activities that appeal to
people’s concupiscent/lascivious motivations. If your
Christian life is comprised of activities that serve your own desires but
bear little reflection of Jesus, then it’s time to
tremble. You don’t want to come to the Judgment Throne
just as you are—the decision of the Judge will not be
what you want to hear.
Christian Relationships:
Value Based, Positionally Based, or
Activity Based
It’s nearly impossible to live on
this earth and not form relationships. Our Christian
relationships tend to reflect the intensity of our relationship
with our Lord. The strongest are called “value
based” and the weakest, “activity based.”
Value Based Relationships
Our emotions are attached proportionally to
those things we value the most. When these important values are
attacked, our frustration and anger are readily aroused. True
followers of Jesus have established a value based relationship
with Him. In this relationship the Word reveals a way of life
that is opposite the relationships of the world. From the time
of our conversion, the basis to our relationships must change
in order to truly follow Jesus. Jesus reveals this new value system when He
tells His audience about His true family:
“[Jesus] replied to him, ‘Who
is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ Pointing to his
disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does what my Father in heaven wants is my brother
and sister and mother’” (Matt.
12:48-50).
Followers of Jesus place tremendous value,
even unto death, on their ongoing relationship with our Father.
Since Jesus is the Firstborn among the rest of us who have been
adopted into our Father’s family, He is our role-model
for living out the values of the Father. The Bible tells us to
“find out what pleases Him”; in response our love
relationship will compel us to do.
A key facet of value based relationships is
that you have to make choices. In other words, you make a
series of decisions in your life that indicate those things you
value over other alternatives. As a result of choosing to love
and obey our Lord, we are attracted to others who place
comparable value on their relationship with our Lord. It is
because of the value we place on our love relationship with our
Father and our desire to please Him that when we find others of
like mind, these relationships grow into the sweetest
fellowship. Value-based relationships in Christ are the
strongest and most enduring, and they also bring the greatest
glory to our Father. These are the type of relationships your
family needs to see you sharing in.
I have written before that our mouths speak
forth first and most often that which we value most. Do your
words reveal the incredible value of your trust in Jesus? Even
now in light of the current tragedy, do your words reflect fear
and insecurity, or confidence in the Only One who can save us?
No matter who carried out these despicable acts against this
nation, don’t let your words be those that seek revenge;
rather, pursue the path of justice and love.
Your wife and children need to see your relationship
with your Lord. Out of this relationship make level paths for your family.
Use your dinner time together to evaluate the events your
family faced that day in light of God’s Word. The dinner
table is your table as the spiritual leader of your household. It is
your family time to share your
testimony of seeing God’s
activities around you that day and to guide the conversations
of your family so that the foundations found in the Bible apply
to their lives. You don’t have time for dinner together
as a family? You most likely have lost them already then to the
activities of Satan. Do all you can to get them back to the
dinner table. Dinner with your family can be a life-changing
experience.
Positionally Based Relationships
Unlike value based relationships that
require a conscious choice, people are often plopped into
positional relationships. All of us were born into a particular
family without the chance to choose our relatives or
circumstances. People who fail to biblically
question the doctrine of the
denomination they were raised in make their faith positional
rather than value based.
Family members using the phrase,
“Blood is thicker than water,” are reaffirming
their positional relationship. Mothers can cause unnecessary
tension in their son’s marriage by emphasizing their
position against the value relationship he has with his wife.
Where positionally based family
relationships are strong, it is often very difficult for people
who would choose to follow Jesus to establish value based
relationships. Often your extended family perceives these other
relationships as a threat to the good order and controls
already being practiced within the family.
Activity Based Relationships
Relationships that form because of common
activities are the most pervasive throughout Christiandom. They
insidiously block out a Christian’s ability to establish
value based relationships. Because of the programmatic
methodology of the church growth movement, leadership of a
faith community need to have a
personal relationship with the
individuals they are leading. How else can they fulfill: “Obey the ones leading you and submit to
them; for they watch on behalf of
your souls as those who will render account. May they do this with joy and not groaning, for this
would be profitless to you” (Heb.
13:17, from the Greek).
Instead of servant, role-modeling
leadership we have corporation-style control and direction
without personal involvement. The sad part is, so many
Christians like it this way. Organizational control produces
the least personal accountability to God or anyone else. All
you need to do is attend any of the designated activities. You
vicariously have a relationship because you find yourself
sitting in a row alongside other people. In reality you are no
more relationally closer than you are with a gas station
attendant or supermarket clerk
Activity based programs are so widespread
because they are the most efficient to manage. Very few in
leadership are needed in order to direct the activities of so
many. On the other hand, in value based relationships a leader
who follows Jesus probably would have a difficult time leading
more than 6-10 people. For most leaders, more than this would
be impossible for them to have the time to know others
personally. The leader would never be able to render account to
God for each one.
Several years ago a friend of mine
purchased a 200- year-old house in Connecticut. As he was
tearing out a wall during remodeling, he found 12 dead mice,
one-behind-the-other, stuck in the narrow passage behind the
wall. They were emaciated, having been in the wall a long time.
As best as he could determine, each followed the other until
the first got stuck and the passage was too narrow for any of
them to turn around. How would you like to die nose-to-tail?
Isn’t that what the activity based church is doing to so
many?
With clergy leading this country in
divorce— 600,000 congregations throughout the land
producing so few changed lives to bring this nation under the trust-filled
Lordship of Jesus—a Christianity in name only where the
values of those who sit in pews on any given Sunday are hardly
different than those who don’t—because of
unfaithfulness among His people there is Judgment: “For it is time for judgment to begin with
the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the
outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (1Peter 4:17). The “Jeremiahs” have
been warning long enough; only a value shift borne on
repentance may still save us. Selah
Your brother in trust,
Mike Psa. 32:10
Choices: To Follow Jesus or Satan
Isn’t it time for us husbands and
fathers to truly lead our families into establishing the way of
the Lord for our households? Satan has introduced through a
psychological view of life the concept that all Christian
pursuit should be pleasurable—“If it doesn’t
feel good, it can’t be of God.” That makes it all
the tougher for us men who build our path on the Word of God.
Men who stand on God’s principles appear uncaring to
those bent on giving in to the sinful “feel good”
desires of others. Yet, we are the
most caring! Our path leads to life! Theirs
ultimately leads to death.
Love for our Lord compels us to
uphold the freedom and boundaries of the Bible regardless of
whether they make people feel good. In loving our Lord and
standing on His Word, we confront the sinful concupiscence that
Satan uses to lure our families away from loving obedience to
our Lord.
May our children never have to confess
before God for our failures, as the refugees did who came back
to Jerusalem with Nehemiah:“[Our
fathers] were disobedient and rebelled against you; they put
your law behind their backs. They killed your prophets, who had
admonished them in order to turn them back to you; they
committed awful blasphemies. So you handed them over to their
enemies, who oppressed them. But when they were oppressed they
cried out to you. From heaven you heard them, and in your great
compassion you gave them deliverers, who rescued them from the
hand of their enemies” (Neh.9:
26,27). Selah
