Category: Lord & Doc Ministry


The Lord Jesus Christ gave us an order and it is for us to stand fast at all times against an enemy. The Lord knows that we may become weak in times of tribulation so He provides us with His strength. “But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”(2 Thessalonians 3:3-5 NIV) The keyword here is perseverance. 

When we read or hear of God’s protection, we will first experience no physical harm. The actual security is that of our spirit, so we do not lose hope and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s protection through the Holy Spirit strengthens us to stand trials and persecution, even unto death. A Christian Warrior must always be on guard from listening to the notion that God will free you from a painful death by torture. A look at the history of nearly two thousand years will show many men and women who died martyrs death; this is what it means to have perseverance.

Today many Christian have grown soft and believe that God will plunk them from the earth when some terrible trouble and adversity arrives, but trails are always present. War, famine, killing, and disease are still ready to destroy us. We are to stand fast, to have perseverance, and not crumble in these times of trial. A Christian Warrior’s mindset is one that no matter how badly the fighting goes, you continue to fight even when all is lost. Unlike those of Masada who choose suicide, then die at the hand of a Roman soldier or become a slave. A Christian Warrior as orders from the Lord to stand fast, to persevere to the last breath. 

Advertisement

The first rule in playing Follow the Leader is you need to deny yourself of the leadership role and submit to following the Leader. In the game, there can be only one Leader that everyone playing follows and imitates. The Leader begins the game with this statement “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24 NLT) To pick up “his cross” means to bear the burdens of the trials and tribulation that the game will take you through without complaining but with a steadfast and total focus on the Leader before you. What he does and endures you must do as well, or you fail at the game. One essential point we must consider in following the Leader is choosing the right Leader before the game begins. If any leader’s opening statement to follow does not include the cross, picking up a pleasure is a leader taking you to self-destruction. Therefore, avoid this Leader’s trap.

In the game of Follow the Leader, the leader has a goal and a destination to where he wants to go and where he would like his followers to join him. Picking up the cross is the key to entering into the final stage of the game, which is to enter through the gate of heaven. Without the cross, there is no salvation and no hope of eternal life. The leader is the first to pick up his cross of salvation and life. The leader cannot expect a follower to do something that he has not done first. Jesus is the leader who goes before us and leads the way. Jesus bears His cross and overcomes the obstacle of death. As we follow Him, we step where He steps; we jump where He jumps. In turn, we can bear our cross and die with Him and live with Him and make the same leap into eternal life. A childhood game that has a powerful meaning for our spiritual life.

When I was young, before my teens, we would often play a game called Follow the Leader and when following the leader in this game is to do what the leader did. If the leader jumps, you jump. If the leader ran or climbed a fence, you did the same. Hence, we can say that following is to imitate the leader. Jesus said this about following him. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 NIV) Well, back to the game, if Jesus is the light and walks in the light, then if I follow Him, then I too am in the light, and I too am light because a follower imitates the leader and the Holy Spirit helps us to do both follow and imitate.

If, while playing the game, the leader walks in the sand or the snow, then we who follow must step where the leader stepped. Therefore to follow Jesus, we must walk in His footsteps without changing His steps’ imprint, so we must also imitate Him. To imitate Jesus Christ, we must learn to think and act like Jesus Christ to follow him accurately. Every action that the leader makes in the game of following the leader must be carried out. To be successful, we must stop trying to do something else behind the leader. When we do, we are not following.

What then is the first thing a follower must do to follow the leader accurately? The follower can no longer think of what to do and when to do it. The key to this is in Psalm 46:10 when God says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” This is the basis of all spiritual work. Let the voice of the Holy Spirit tell you what to do and when to do it. When you listen and do what the Holy Spirit says to do, and you do it. You are following Christ in His footsteps. Let me remind you following in Christ’s footsteps is not easy. Like in the game I play as a pre-teen, the leader would jump over, crawl under, climb over obstacles. In life, we face many challenges but if we follow Jesus Christ and imitate what He does, we get over them. The game begins when the leader Jesus said, “Come, follow me,” (Matthew 4:19 NIV)

After the fall of mankind, a separation and blockage took place in sensing the Spirit of God within, and “Oneness” was lost.  

Since subconscious divided in two, it still possessed some of its earlier attributes; these attributes still provided man with a certain level of dominion that he had before the separation. The Law of Attraction and The Law of Manifestation were still within his grasp. However, he would now have to learn through hard work how to use them. Humankind now would have to use his will power and trial and error to discover mastery of these Laws. Hence, the man was and is capable of achieving great success in all areas of his life. Abundant or eternal life was out of reach, so no matter how great was man’s success, he would “surely die.”    

The next level mixes beliefs or thoughts of both good and evil. For example, the person holds to the idea that if you work hard, you will become successful while looking at others who are successful, claiming that they got all the breaks. Two conflicting thought processes exist at this level; therefore, the individual experiences some success but never to the degree desired. It is because the conscious level is saying, ‘If I work hard, I will become very successful, while emotionally, he is also saying, I never get any breaks.’ It is due primarily to the unawareness of envy, resentment, or some other negative belief. Since, in this case, the emotional thoughts upload more easily into the subconscious, the results are counterproductive. The majority of people are at this level due to conflicting views between emotional consciousness and mental consciousness; therefore, they block their success. The results are the individual never achieves the desire of the heart.

Moving upward to the next level of manifestation is consciousness in control, predominantly a positive or a good thinker and emotions that agree. Here we have the people who manifest their businesses and other forms of affairs and activities through; sheer willpower. They know that it is a numbers game. It requires physical action, which means working extended hour days, making a large number of phone calls, physically organizing, seeing clients, running errands, administrating, and doing whatever it takes to be successful. It may, however, create an unbalanced lifestyle but a financially sound one. 

The final stage of human conscious programming the subconscious mind to manifest our desired results. The individuals are those who seem to get all the breaks in life. They use the power of their imagination to attract and manifest their desires. They understand and use the fundamental Law of Manifestation to their advantage. Winners believe that they can win on both the conscious and subconscious levels; we accomplish this by visualizing the win both mentally, emotionally and expecting it to happen. This law functions regardless if you are aware and understand it or not. It is the Hermetic law of correspondence, which states, “As within, so without, as above, so below.” What you think and imagine in your conscious and subconscious mind, abstract world of thought will manifest its mirror likeness in your concert world of matter. Your outer world is a reflection of your inner world. It is the law, and it displays for good or for the bad. In short, there is only one result for the Law of Manifestation, and that is a success. 

The final level is a conscious and subconscious awareness of “Oneness with the Lord” Here, success is not measured, but earthly forms of wealth since things never completing fill the void of the heart which longs to be reunited with God. It is this level where we achieve contentment and happiness results in “oneness” since only the Spirit of God can fill the void. 

The song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is an English Christmas carol in code From 1558 until 1829. The Scottish Reformation then British made it illegal for Roman Catholics in England to practice their faith openly. Notice that many came to America to practice their religion freely during that time. The reason for the Constitution to separate Church and State so the government would not interfere with one’s faith.

Someone during that era wrote the 12 Days of Christmas as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to Church members. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember the “True Love.” One hears in the song is not a smitten boy or girlfriend but Jesus Christ, because truly Love was born on Christmas Day. The partridge in the pear tree also represents Him because a mother bird is willing to sacrifice its life if necessary to protect its young by feigning injury to draw away predators. Here in America today, some wish to stop Christians from practicing their faith. In the future, we may see more coded songs and home churches.

Here are the lyrics and their meaning. 

A Partridge in a Pear Tree is said to represent Jesus Christ (a mother partridge is willing to die while protecting her young, and is given on “the first day of Christmas” since the first of the twelve days falls on Christ’s birthday

Two Turtle Doves symbolize both the Old and the New Testaments. Three French Hens stand for faith, hope, and love. Four Calling Birds are the four gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Five Golden Rings represent the Pentateuch—the first five books of the Old Testament. Six Geese-a-Laying are the six days of creation (before the seventh day of rest). Seven Swans-a-Swimming symbolize the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: Prophecy, serving, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading, and mercy. Eight Maids-a-Milking are the eight Beatitudes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-10). Nine Ladies Dancing represent the fruit of the Spirit (according to Galatians 5:22-23): Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Ten Lords-a-Leaping are the Ten Commandments. Eleven Pipers Piping stand for the eleven faithful disciples. Twelve Drummers Drumming, finally, symbolize the twelve points of belief stated in the Apostles’ Creed.

I hope you enjoyed the decoding and give you added joy when hear the song this Christmas. 

“Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.” (2 Timothy 2:3-4 NIV)

Today many churches of various denominations emphasize the prosperity message. The doctrine teaches a joyful, comfortable lifestyle of wealth if you give your life over to Jesus Christ. However, true warriors in the army of God know they are committing to going into harm’s way for the Gospel and the righteous cause. It teaches we may perhaps pay the ultimate price for the ideal.

We must understand that God’s mission for us is to be engaged on the battlefield against the evil in this world. It is a difficult battle because we must resist our selfish nature. Yet, it is easy because we live by the new nature that Christ provides. Hence we may suffer persecution as mighty warriors worthy of the Kingdom.

The apostles were warriors; this is the response they gave after the Sanhedrin had them flogged. “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”  (Act 5:41) Christian warriors are always prepared to lay down their lives; in doing so, they find it; this is a comfort and a peace that the world cannot give. It does not mean we will be free of problems, but a warrior faces each one without complaint, knowing that the solution is at hand. 

In closing, it means when you are a born-again Christian; you are behind enemy lines in the middle of the battle, so you must have on your armor and are ready to fight. (Ephesians 6:10-18)

The critical element of a Christian warrior’s mindset is no matter what rank, position, or career, is how the warrior deals with the idea of death and their behavior at the moment of death. It does not matter the degree of education, intelligence, and eloquence the warrior may have; if you lose composure on the brink of extinction and die in an unfaithful manner, all your previous good works and belief will all be in vain.

Like nonbelievers, today’s Christians put greater emphasis on living here on earth with a notion of a long life, with little care of living with Christ. Since the idea of living with Christ focuses on our earthly presents, it shadows over our future home. No one will have eternal life on earth until Jesus Christ returns, and the Kingdom of God will be here on earth. Each generation wants to believe that the Lord is coming in their lifetime. Their spirit desires that they are alive to see Jesus arrive. Hence, the deep concern for being healthy. The importance of health and long life focuses on the self and is a form of idolatry.

The Christian Warriors differ in their mindset. They focus on being prepared to die with strength and dignity. Complaining and crying is not an option. It would be an embarrassment. A warrior understands that life at any moment may end. Also, one may need to die so that others may live, a firefighter running into a burning building, a police officer in an emergency, and citizens saving someone from drowning. Christian Warriors are ready to die every day, and it affects their lives as a result.

When we think, today may be our last. Hopefully, we will have made beautiful memories for those we leave behind. The last memory we want our loved ones to have is also how we died. A Christian Warrior dies as he did every day, not complaining, thanking the Lord for the trials and tribulation for they build strength, courage, and endurance for the peace that comes after that final journey. When we die with courage, we set the tone and example of how those left behind should live and die, with the Lord’s Grace.

It seems the news media most of America has lost the idea of a “Warrior” even with all the superheroes. In some ways, Hollywood has replaced or re-imagined who and what makes a warrior. The central element is a superpower. Hollywood has also added the cape as their uniform. In replacing the warrior with the superhero. The subliminal message is the warrior, a caped man, and a woman with a superpower. Hence we have lost sight of the warrior that walks among us daily.

Let’s examine that a warrior, knight, or shogun all savor something in common, like the superhero who all share a power that the average human does not possess. What unifies warriors is what the greatest of all warriors set as the standard. Those requirements are to surfer even to giving up one’s life. Jesus set that standard John 15:13 “Greater love has no on greater than this: to lay down one’s life for a friend. ” Many American’s have lost respect for the warrior. The individuals who are willing to risk their lives every minute of the day. The obvious ones wear a cape in the form of a uniform. The firefighter enters a burning building to save you. The police officer may get shot because you called for help.

There is another type of warrior, and you walk by them. You may even do business with them and shop at their stories. They are Christian Warrior; some Christian Warriors wear “capes.” These are the people who step in and stop a fight, help a stranger in need; it sounds like the Boy Scotts. Warriors have to learn somewhere. It begins with Jesus Christ; He is whipped so that pieces of His flesh yanked away, leaving a gash bleeding. The number of gashes was nine times 39. It is called the cat o’ nine tails. Whip with nine pits each had mental pieces like razors attached. Now here is the word never mentioned, Jesus never said, “Ouch.” Not once in fact, His dying words were “Forgiven them for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34 A warrior does not complain or express pain.

The next standard that Jesus set for Christian Warriors was to die not only for his friends but for every human being for all time. The point here is to be looking out for the other person, even if to the point of death. We seem to hear what makes us happy, living your dream, how to be this or that. The emphasis is on the self with less concern about our neighbor. Think of all the crimes that would end if we had a sense of well-being for our neighbor. Well, Jesus, the Lord of lords, a warrior, is also the trainer. He permitted Covid, so we have to start doing just that by not giving the virus to someone else. The outcome of the lesson is to be righteous and loving your neighbor.

I started to blog sharing some thoughts on God the Landlord & the tenant in this blog I want to show what is God’s intention as a Landlord.

Let us take a closer look at the landlord’s responsibility. The one thing left out in this landlord analogy is that in many cases the landlord often pays for some of the utilities, for example, the I pay the water bill. The tenets would not live there without running water. The same is true about our bodies, without the breath of life our bodies are lifeless. So God is making an investment in you whether you believe in God or not. Similar to my tenets they both get the same treatment. Another example that is lifted out is not all properties are the same. Some are small shacks while others are massive mansions and they require different amounts of energy to keep them warm or cold. The same builder many build a home and something like Trump Towers. They each have different users with different tents. These different tents also have larger spaces that they rent, greater to pay, and greater abilities to host the landlord into their home. Someone living in a shack may only be able to offer you a beer while the one living in the mansion fine Champaign, of course, the landlord can also bring the tenet a gift. Like in the case of Jesus, Peter and Paul’s shadow landing on a faithful person causing healing or touching the garment is the result of the degree of the Holy Spirit’s presence in them. Not everyone is a Paul or a Peter and certainly, there is only one Jesus.

You see I own the property but I don’t use. So there is something different taking place here. We arrive at the key element that was missing in the Landlord and tenet analogy. Where did Peter and Paul receive the power to heal they certainly weren’t Jesus the second part of the Holy Trinity? The speaker seems to have either we humans in control of our bodies or the Holy Spirit, God in control of our bodies. When my tenets control the flat and if the flat is empty I do. However, something different must take place to be similar to Peter and Paul.

The Spirit that dwells in me seems to disagree with those to extremes, Yes God can use me to do His will even when I am disobeying Him, but is that the relationship that God desires?  The more I thought about the tenet landlord relationship it isn’t one or the other that occupies the house meaning our body but God is seeking a roommate. Scripture makes reference to Israel being a Wife to God and the Church the Bribe to Jesus. A husband and a wife share the same home, they are roommates, partners, scripture tells us they become one. God wants to be roommates He already occupies our bodies with the breath of life but He wants a more active team role. God wants us to be One. Jesus said, “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.” (John 17:21 NLT)  With the Holy Spirit, we are able to be that Oneness, a team effort working together. God seeks an intimate relationship. God wants to be our roommate, living in us in harmony. God wants to be the planner of our lives and we are to be the achiever who puts God’s plans to work, working together in one property.

I was reading and an interesting analogy of God being a landlord and we the tenets. While reading this is what came to my mind. As an owner of a two-family home with two tenets the analogy of God the owner and us the stewards of the body was an interesting one. Since I only enter their apartments when I call the first two set up an appointment to visit. Since the agreement is that they are in possession of the apartment’s use for a fee. In ten years neither one of my tenets has ever invited me to a diner or a party. However, when something breaks I quickly get a call; this is true with the majority of people and Christians included. Suddenly when something breaks, isn’t working, not enough of this or that the phone call to God is now ringing off the hook. I often imagine what it must be like to have 8 billion calls coming in at one time. God must have an operator to direct your call to the proper department: this example came to me by the Holy Spirit. No wonder why Catholics pray to Saints and Angels they have the extension to the right department, with all the calls to God and Jesus, it’s no wonder some dial directly the Mary the Mother of Jesus. When you think of a Kingdom the King does not perform the mundane chores for the Kingdom. Someone has to filter the calls. The Holy Spirit has a sense of humor but it makes sense. It makes a person think God saying, “You never invite me in now you want something.” “What you did not do for the less of my brothers you did not do to me.” (Matthew 25:45 NIV)