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Is a Workman Truly Worthy of His Hire?

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There are several scriptures that relate to the phrase “a workman is worthy of his hire.” To name a few: Luke 10:7, 1 Timothy 5:18, Mathew 10:10, Leviticus 19:13, and Deuteronomy 24:15. CLICK HERE to read those scriptures in Bible Gateway.  Consider looking at each scripture in a variety of translations. Depending on your religious paradigm, the interpretations will vary.

Here’s the issue with our standard belief system concerning people getting paid, specifically to “minister.” For some odd reason, we seem to have it in our minds that since “freely you’ve received – freely give.” This scripture comes from Matthew 10:18. CLICK HERE to read a variety of translations in Bible Hub. I encourage you to read those translations before looking at the definitions below. Once you’ve done that, look at the original Greek in Bible Wheel. CLICK HERE for that information. Here is a synopsis of those definitions.

  • FREELY: δωρεαν dorean {do-reh-an’} without a cause, in vain, for nought, freely, undeservedly
  • RECEIVED: λαμβανω lambano {lam-ban’-o} receive, take, have, catch. To take, to take with the hand, lay hold of, any person or thing in order to use it, to take up a thing to be carried, to take upon one’s self, to take in order to carry away. Without the notion of violence, i,e to remove, take away. To take what is one’s own, to take to one’s self, to make one’s own. To claim, procure, for one’s self. To associate with one’s self as companion, attendant – of that which when taken is not let go, to seize, to lay hold of, apprehend. To take by craft (our catch, used of hunters, fisherman, etc.), to circumvent one by fraud. To take to one’s self, lay hold upon, take possession of, i.e. to appropriate to one’s self. Catch at, reach after, strive to obtain. To take a thing due, to collect, gather (tribute). To take, to admit, receive. To receive what is offered, not to refuse or reject. To receive a person, give him access to one’s self. To regard any one’s power, rank, external circumstances, and on that account to do some injustice or neglect something. To take, to choose, select. To take beginning, to prove anything, to make a trial of, to experience. To receive (what is given), to gain, get, obtain, to get back.
  • GIVE: διδωμι didomi {did’-o-mee} grant, put, show, deliver, make. 1) to give 2) to give something to someone of one’s own accord to give one something, to his advantage. To bestow a gift. To grant, give to one asking, let have. To supply, furnish, necessary things. To give over, deliver. To reach out, extend, present. To give over to one’s care, entrust, commit. Something to be administered. To give or commit to some one something to be religiously observed. To give what is due or obligatory, to pay: wages or reward. To furnish, endue. To give, to cause, profuse, give forth from one’s self. To give, hand out lots. To appoint to an office. To cause to come forth, i.e. as the sea, death and Hell are said to give up the dead who have been engulfed or received by them. To give one to someone as his own. As an object of his saving care. To give one to someone, to follow him as a leader and master. To give one to someone to care for his interests. To give one to someone to whom he already belonged, to return 4) to grant or permit one. To commission.

Let’s take this scripture and reword it a little and see if that changes the meaning. Here’s the original in the NIV: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.” Now, let’s replace the words freely, receive and give with another translation that might explain the scripture a bit better. “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Undeservedly you have laid hold of; undeservedly deliver.” There is nothing in any of the above definitions that points toward receiving pay for services rendered. There is no hint of that anywhere! On the other hand, when looking at the scriptures in the first paragraph, there is clear evidence that a workman is truly worthy of his hire. Bottom line, when people provide a service, pay them what they’re worth. If you don’t agree, go somewhere else.

With that, we move onto a story. Many reading this know that I’m a musician and create music for the purposes of it being therapeutic. In addition, I create exercises and “practice” opportunities (available on this site) for those on a journey of Christian maturity. In a sense, they are both a form of ministry. The music is more acceptable by the church for “pay” than teachings. In the minds of some, I should be giving out these materials for free. I also get that request (only from Christians) on the Healing Frequencies Music website, especially those who really want a particular album but can’t pay for it. In fact, Christians tend to be the cheapest and want something for nothing. The only rude correspondence to date has come from those who say they are Christians – 100% of the time. What does this say about the Christian community as a whole?

I see some strange attitudes when it comes to Christian conferences as well. Conferences aren’t cheap to host. People fail to realize that renting a building, purchasing supplies, and paying service providers costs money. There’s this paradigm of “God will provide” so you should just let us in for free. I was at a conference where a group of women all wanted a teaching set. They agreed to pool their resources so they could purchase the whole set (as a download) and share it among themselves. In other words, the woman who purchased it would then send a copy of the downloads to the other women so they’d all have their own copy. I watched this play out for a bit while they discussed it and eventually asked a simple question, “Do you think that’s a good trade?” Long story short… after some further discussion, they decided not to go through with it.

When you do a job, you’re providing of form of “ministry” to someone whether it be fixing a vehicle, cutting your hair, giving your money to the teller at the bank for a deposit, etc. That person is doing something for you that you can’t do yourself. So, he/she is ministering to your needs. To understand more of why I say that, consider reading my article about ministry vs. jobs. From what I’m reading in Matthew 10:8, it doesn’t direct any meaning toward providing services for free. There aren’t more scriptures that seem to point to that interpretation either (unless I’m missing one) but there ARE plenty of scriptures that address being paid what you’re worth.

The topic of a workman being worthy of his (or her) wages intermingled with the “freely receive, freely give” concept has messed up some people because we tend to swallow what’s preached at us – hook, line, and sinker. We haven’t been responsible for our own spiritual growth because we allow what pastors teach us as “thus sayeth the Lord.” We seem to have no problem paying a pastor… well…  most of the time. They tend to live on next to nothing and have to get a second job in order to make ends meet while we demand their attention to “fix” issues in our lives that we could often fix ourselves by putting at bit of effort into a good solution. This includes Christian counseling, which I had first-hand experience during marriage counseling. What’s the point if we’re not going to do what’s suggested?

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Here’s the thing…. when you pay for something, you have ownership in/of it. When you don’t pay, you have zero ownership unless the giver chooses to turn over the ownership to you. A gift is a choice by the giver, not the recipient. I was at another conference where one of the speakers kept coming up to the booths saying, “You’ll give me one of those for free?” It was more of a demand than a request. This is all about trading. When you trade, you’re exchanging one thing for another. We can have good trades and bad trades. Much of that depends on our attitude in the midst of the trade. If there’s an expectation that something will be free, that’s a bad trade. I have another teaching on trading so I’ll not go into those details here. CLICK HERE for that post.

The Bible also states that we’ll reap what we sow. If we sow bad trades, we’ll reap bad trades. If we have expectations that things will be free because we believe they should be, then we’re not operating with honor or good character. That’s also a bad trade. A good trade involves putting something of value towards what you desire. When you do it that way, you own it. When it comes with an expectation, that’s of no value because it dishonors the giver. Let the giver make the choice to freely give.

We now get back to the main point at the beginning – a workman is worthy of his hire. That’s plain and simple with little room for misinterpretation. When reading the various versions of the Bible on this subject, there does seem to be uniform agreement. That’s not the case with Matthew 10:8. Hmmm…. I find that interesting but will leave that up for your own pondering as to why that is. The key here is that in order to make a good trade, both the giver and recipient should be on the same page. If you find something overpriced, then don’t moan and whine about it. (There is cheese to go with that whine.) Go find something within your price range that works for you. This includes counseling, receiving services of any kind, attending conferences, etc. If we simply don’t have the funds, then let’s not put it on the giver to lower the price enough that we can have what they’re offering. This might be a growing opportunity for each of us to learn how to exercise our faith muscle and see how God provides.

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Why expect someone to meet our needs and desires when we can use a situation as an opportunity to sit with Jesus and discuss His best plan? When we learn to look at our situations through the eyes of Yahweh, we often have a completely different picture of the process and any solutions that go with it. As we learn to move from our personal expectations and paradigms to those of Yahweh, we grow in character. I encourage all those reading this to get outside old religious boxes of expecting things to be free just because of a perception that it’s “ministry related.” For many of us, what we do replaces a 9 to 5 job. We have training in our fields and offer a high quality product. Why should we be expected to give our product and services for free? That attitude is not honoring the God-given gifts of the giver. Even when something is offered for free, it’s “good form” to sow into that person or ministry. What it does is release more blessings over you! It opens the door for more!

Honestly, it took me some time to work through a bad paradigm concerning this topic. The “freely receive; freely give” Bible verse was used as a weapon to get me to give things to people. This included time, service to a ministry, and physical items or services. It’s a rampant problem in the church, especially for those in the artistic community. Why conference hosts often don’t pay the worship team is beyond me. Those leading worship tend to spend more time on the stage than guest speakers. It seems that we have our priorities a bit messed up concerning two things: 1) the definition of a worker, and 2) our expectation that ministry should be free. I believe that as we honor those who meet our needs and desires (via our pocketbook), we’ll see more breakthrough in our finances.

May you be blessed in your giving and receiving!

Del

© 2019 Del Hungerford

 

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When Life Throws You Lemons

The phrase “when life throws lemons” seems to pretty well spell out the “sour” parts of life that are often not pleasant. How do we deal with those? Do we even NEED to deal with them? These are two of the most asked questions I hear when it comes to life circumstances and how to handle them.

One thing I’ve learned over the past umpteen years of my life is that life happens – the good, the bad, and the ugly. We live in a world where it’s “all about me” and what’s best for me. When we have that attitude, it’s pretty difficult to see beyond ourselves. Unfortunately, society seems to be training us to become self-focused. Yes, some of that is good but there is an overboard to everything. Too much of a good thing perhaps? It’s the pendulum swing that hits both extremes. So, how do we find the balance point?

On my journey into wholeness, I’ve had many opportunities to look at life circumstances in a new light. I share some of my own journey in the video titled “Embracing Trials” at The Gathering conference for NW Ekklesia in the summer of 2019. I encourage you to watch it so you have an idea of how I view it when life throws lemons my direction. Here’s the deal…. various religious organizations treat the subject of trials in a variety of manners. The most popular version of that is “Well, it’s God’s will for me to go through this.” Uh, really!? I’m not sure where that teaching came from but how can a loving God purposefully force trials on us? Would you do that to your own children? Of course not! The best “teacher” in getting through life allows us to learn from the “school of hard knocks.”

The other popular belief is at the opposite end of the spectrum. It’s the attitude that we should never have to go through trials. We then spout off a “command and demand” wording. When we do have struggles, we think we’ve done something wrong. There is some truth to this belief because science does say that our thoughts and intents really do affect us. We should be careful with what comes out of our mouth. The Word also says that “life and death are in the power of the tongue.” It’s in Proverbs so have fun looking it up. Where people get it wrong in this belief is the idea that we should never have to deal with trials and tribulations. My question to those people is “How are you going to learn to deal with life if nothing ever goes wrong?” When we don’t experience hardships and then learn how to practice working through those hardships, we don’t mature. It’s like giving a kid everything they want growing up. Then, when they move out of the house, they don’t know how to handle any form of opposition that comes their way. Since I teach at the college level and have for over 30 years, I see this first-hand. I call it the “entitlement” attitude. When we feel entitled, we assume things will go as we expect. When we expect, we don’t honor those around us. And, when things don’t go as expected, entitled people don’t know how to handle it.

How then do we handle life when it throws lemons at us? I’ve been on a journey for several years now in learning to look at trials in a new light. At the same time, I’m also learning that Holy Spirit speaks to us, giving us a “heads up” at times, too. It’s those thoughts that flit by that we often ignore because they don’t make sense. I’ll use a recent example in how I actually paid attention to that “still small voice” coming from within. I recently purchased a new computer because the old one started having issues. I researched before deciding what to buy. I looked at consumer reports, talked with computer geeks, and consulted those knowledgeable concerning computers. I finally settled on going directly to a computer company rather than a retailer. The salesman walked me through the options after I told him what I needed. At that point, we began to talk price and all the add-on options, one of which included a premium support plan. At first, I didn’t want to spend the extra money but something within said it was a good idea. I’ve never done it before but the thought of having technical assistance for a lengthy amount of time intrigued me, especially since I just moved to a small town where there’s limited resources.

Long story short… A Microsoft update fried a few things on the new computer after I’d had it only three months. Because I had the premium support plan, the company sent a technician TWICE to my house to replace the fried parts. Many days and hours later, my computer was fixed. Yes, it did hinder progress but I chose not to let it frustrate me. The day after everything was fixed, I was sitting in my heart garden having a discussion with Yahweh about it. He said to me “Do you remember when you felt the nudge to purchase the premium support?” I thought about that for a moment before He replied, “You listened to My voice… When you listen and then do, those things minimize the chaos of a situation.”

I learned something new from that conversation. When we spend time developing a relationship with the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit), out of that relationship, we learn to function IN Christ which in turn infuses a frequency of entrainment with the Trinity from that relationship into how we live life on earth. How many times do things flit through our mind that are directly from the heart of the Father? We ignore them because they don’t make sense. And, we’ve not practiced hearing His voice. Those thoughts can prepare us for an upcoming situation if we pay attention. No, having computer issues wasn’t fun. However, I did rejoice because it didn’t cost me anything to get it fixed and I didn’t have to send the computer back. It was still operational in it’s fried state but on a limited level. So, I still got some work done. For me, this was a victory because I listened without the understanding of why I should do so. The more we practice doing this, the less life’s lemons have the potential of wreaking havoc on our lives.

As you watch the video of my presentation at The Gathering, you’ll get the opportunity to see how I walked through seven years of uncertainty about my living situation. I share times I messed up as well as those I got right. (Because the original video didn’t turn out, I re-recorded it once I got home. And, it allows you to see the entire PowerPoint presentation.) I’ll be honest, the years 2012 – 2019 were a bit tricky. I had no control over the eminent domain process. What I DID have control over was my attitude and response to the situation. I chose to make lemonade rather than eat sour lemons from this experience. I matured through it, learned to legislate from the heavenly realms, met territorial angels, understood more of what’s on my life’s scroll, and received a better home than what I previously lived in. I believe that had I chosen more negative responses, things would be different. I understood this was an opportunity to learn and grow in the midst of a circumstance. How I chose to do that was totally up to me, even when I didn’t have control of the outcome.

CONCLUSION…

When life throws us lemons, it’s important to pick them up and ask Father, “What should I do with this?” This helps us put on the right attitude that in turn sets the wheels in motion for us to walk through the circumstance with honor. Life is simply going to stink at times. It’s HOW we deal with a situation that determines the level of peace we walk in during the circumstance. When we step into the heavenlies and partner with the Trinity, making our relationship with Them first and foremost, we create character building practice sessions. Without practice, we don’t mature. In order to mature, we get to go through trials. If we keep facing the same trials, that means we’ve not yet passed that test. That’s when I go before Yahweh seeking the truth, even when I may not want to see it. Ultimately, when I make the decision to deal with junk from my life, I get to be free of those things that hold me back.

Finally, as we develop that intimate relationship with the Trinity, we’re able to recognize that still small voice. If we give priority to building an intimate relationship with the Trinity, we learn to function from our true identity IN Christ. This is a perfect life opportunity to practice hearing the voice of Yahweh. But, it’s best done when our focus is on building relationship. It’s not about going before God and saying, “I need this from you today….” Everything else begins to fall in place OUT of that relationship. May you enjoy making lemonade out of life’s lemons!

Del

© 2019 Del Hungerford

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Living the “Ascended” Lifestyle

When I first started my journey into deeper intimacy with God, I had no idea it would take me into uncharted territory. When I say that, for years, I said the standard, “Father, come down here and meet with me” that I was taught in church. However, over time, I began to realize that if we’re the temple of the Holy Spirit and God is as close as the air we breathe, He’s already here. My problem? I wasn’t looking in the right places. In Revelation 4:1, why did God tell John to “Come up here” to talk with Him?

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Since God is as close as the air we breathe, and the Holy Spirit makes our body His temple, and we can “come up here” to meet God, then that’s what we should do. He’s in us, around us, and above us. It’s a matter of stepping into the realization of that fact. How do we do it? Well, for me, that was rather difficult figuring out. I asked questions for years about many things and people just didn’t have answers. Those questions continued to sit on a shelf until the first time I heard Ian Clayton. I had no clue what he was talking about but what he said witnessed with my spirit and… he was the first person who had answers to the questions I’d asked for years. A couple of years later, I started listening to Mike Parsons and others who mirrored what Ian said.

In a nutshell, I learned that as a Son of God (no male or female in Christ), I can live an “ascended lifestyle.” What exactly is that? I’ve coined the phrase “come up here principle” where my focus is on spending time with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit “up here.” I see things through the spirit rather than in the natural. John even says throughout scripture that he was “in the spirit.” If he could do it, so can we. We see in the spirit through our imagination. For the longest time, I didn’t know how to do that. I practiced and practiced and practiced daily seeing with my spiritual eyes. As with all things in life, the more you practice, the better you get at something. Seeing in the spirit isn’t a gift. It’s part of what we’re supposed to do as believers. For some, it comes very naturally. That wasn’t the case for me.

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Many of you may remember Rick Joyner’s book The Final Quest. That’s a wow book for me because it’s so vivid. The first part grossed me out but never-the-less, I read beyond the gross part because something about the story intrigued me. Joyner was in the spirit and shown many things. In the two other books of the series (The Call and the Torch and the Sword), the rest of the story is told. The overall gist of the books focuses on repentance, humility, and a deeper understanding and relationship with God. I had all but forgotten about the books until I began to have similar experiences. That’s when I pulled them back out and read them again with my spiritual senses rather than physical.

Learning to live “from heaven to earth” is like anything new. It takes practice. Oh, and did I say that it takes practice? The age-old teaching based on gifts has nothing to do with this principle. I never functioned in any of the spiritual gifts so there’s nothing special about what I do. I practice and practice and practice ascending and staying in the kingdom realms where I’m seeing things from a heavenly perspective rather than our normal run-of-the-mill boring life. Oh wait, and I should say overly-dramatic and often negative, too. Somehow, I managed to stay away from much of that because I always had a sense that God is good… ALL the time. No, I didn’t understand everything that happened but in most cases, I chose to see how God used a situation to help me mature. My most recent experience with that involved losing my home to the eminent domain process. That story is for another time…

Living an ascended lifestyle is simply focusing on being in the presence of God through the “come up here” principle of being with Him in the kingdom realms of heaven. Yes, there are lots of amazing things that I see but those all direct me to Him… Yahweh… God… my Creator. In that place of the ascended lifestyle, I get to know the persons of God (Yahweh), Jesus (Yeshua), and the Holy Spirit. Just like best friends, we sit and talk about many things. I watch and learn, then “do” myself. Not only do they want to get to know me but I learn about their desires, too. Friendship goes both ways. It requires two to make a relationship work. If I’m always going up saying, “God, I need this!” and never spend time getting to know Him, that’s no different than writing a check for goods. There’s no relationship involved in that at all!

How do we learn to live an ascended lifestyle? You guessed it… practice! If seeing in the spirit is difficult, go to Ian’s website (www.sonofthunder.org) and type in “I Can See” into the search bar. That’s a great teaching to get you started. It was my first introduction into learning to see with my spiritual eyes. I then added my own exercises. I journal and write what I see, hear, and sense even if it doesn’t make sense. Check it for scriptural accuracy later is my best advice. If we second guess what we’re writing, we’ll often miss the good stuff. If we ask God to give us bread, He’s not going to give us a rock. There’s no need to be concerned about deception when our hearts are pure and our goal is intimacy with Yahweh. When our eyes are on Jesus, they aren’t on the enemy. Who cares what the enemy does anyway! As they say in the book Teaching With Love and Logic, ignore the bad behavior and focus on the good. We learn best by focusing on the good things, not the bad. If there’s still concern, decree and declare a sanctified imagination and go for it!

Happy practicing!

Del

© 2019 by Del Hungerford

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Is it Possible to Reprogram our DNA with Words?

In Internet land, articles about reprogramming our DNA by our words are making the rounds. That intrigued me simply because of my own experiences in changing what I say over myself. Scientific data or not, I know there’s something to it. In “Accessing Your Spiritual Inheritance,” I talk about going into my bloodstream and taking out the dark spots to clean things up. Those dark spots were words spoken by me or by others over me. The fact that this experience took place in my bloodstream tells me there was a reprogramming of my DNA since DNA is carried in the blood. With that, we move on…

The original researcher’s name is Pjotr Garjajev. He’s a Russian scientist who works with the Institute of Linguistics and Wave Genetics. The introduction for their site says “Linguistics – Wave Genetics is a major branch of the main trunk of the biology and classical genetics. Institute of quantum Genetics takes the concept of a GENE on the quantum level and actually displays Classical genetics of experimentally-theoretical impasse.” If you’re interested in reading about this research project, it’s mentioned in the “Journal of Epigenetics” from February of 2017 (Vol 3 No. 1:4) in an article titled Application of Sound Frequencies as an Epigenetic Tool in Reversing the Limiting Symptoms of Autism by Rajalakshmi Kandaswamy. CLICK HERE to read it. Kandaswamy’s research focuses on using sound frequencies as part of the process of healing autism.

Here are some important key factors in studies completed by both Kandaswamy and Garjajev as well as other scientists in the field of epigenetics:

  • At least 93% of all communication is non-verbal.
  • Dr. Albert Mehrabian conducted several non-verbal communication studies. He found that only 7% of any message is conveyed through words, 38% through certain vocal elements, and 55% through nonverbal elements (facial expressions, gestures, eye contact, posture, and tone of voice).
  • Hearing is a vibrational interpretation of particular frequencies (energy waves) in the form of sound upon the ears.
  • Seeing is energy waves in the form of light in the body that includes the retina, rods and cones, the optical nerve, etc..
  • The Russian team discovered that human DNA stores data like a computer’s memory system. In addition to this, the human genetic code uses grammar rules and syntax in a way that closely mirrors human language.
  • The structuring of DNA-alkaline pairs follows grammar’s set rules. This shows that all human languages are simply verbalizations of the human DNA.

In the article by Kandaswamy, he provides some details of Garjajev’s study. The team discovered that DNA could be changed and rearranged in living human DNA with words. The right frequency is also a key factor. The original article is  quoted… “Since clear ‘communication’ with DNA requires the correct frequency, individuals with more highly developed inner processes will be more able to create a conscious channel of communication with the DNA. Individuals whose consciousness is more highly developed will have less need for any type of device (to apply radio or light frequencies). Scholars of this science believe that with consciousness, people can achieve results using only their own words and thoughts.” (http://www.clinical-epigenetics.imedpub.com/)

The article by Kandaswamy mentions that the “pureness” of the intent in the person working with autistic children is a major factor in how the “signals” are received. Signals = frequency. They call this “Intent Healing,” which involves making sure the intent is pure when working with autistic children. Simply put, what’s being said needs to match the intent so it’s pure. If the two are opposing, then there’s a problem and the process won’t work.

The original article by Pjotr ​​Garjajev is titled “Wave Genetic Code” and was published in 1997. His team reported in 1996 on laser-active chromosomes. The chromosome apparatus emits laser-like waves. Garjajev and collaborator, M. Maslov, demonstrated that the genetic code exists as a substance and at the same time as a hologram. On a screen, they received a typical wave pattern that persisted after removal of the sample, as though there were still a matter sample present. Control experiments exclude errors, confirming the accuracy of the experiment, which is repeatable at any time and is referred to as a phantom DNA effect.

You may be asking, “How does this affect me?” A frequency occurs through speech. Paired with intent that matches the speech, it brings purity into the frequency. We call this “entanglement” because the two are necessary to work together in perfect harmony. Without that purity, the process doesn’t work. This appears to be well demonstrated in the Russian team’s study. The original article is in German and I can’t find a translation. So, I rely on credible studies that quote the research.

The implications of this study are huge in understanding the importance of our words as well as our thoughts. If you read my article on Healing Frequencies Music titled,  “Thoughts, Intents, Action!,” I comment on the importance of our words and how they frame our world. In a sense, how we frame our world affects our DNA. So, in a nutshell, if we want to change our very cellular makeup, matching our words and intents creates a “pure” frequency that positively changes our DNA. I believe the opposite is also true. Negative words with wrong intent won’t have a positive effect on our bodies. Maybe that’s why so many people struggle with illness. Add how our current society feeds on the “gloom and doom” aspects of life and we have a recipe for sickness and disease to run rampant.

When we focus on the goodness of God rather than the badness of the enemy, we’re framing our intent and resonating at a higher frequency. They say in the counterfeit money world, those who handle money are trained to recognize the real thing rather than the counterfeit. That way, when the counterfeit does present itself, it’s easy to tell. We should function the same way with kingdom protocol. Too much energy is wasted on studying the enemies tactics. By being in the place of LOVE and learning to entrain and entangle with the being of Love, we become more aware of the negative things that pull us down. We literally reprogram our DNA to align with God’s when our intents and words line up in a positive manner.

To end on a more positive note, there are ways to “practice” changing our thought patterns. One way I do that is through my “Song of the Month.”  I  provide a daily practice platform to help subscribers learn to re-frame their personal worlds according to practices of a culture that’s been around for at least 3,000 years. Obviously, if it’s still being used, there’s something to it! A key point in all of this is the importance of our thoughts, intents, and words. They really can reframe our world!

May your thoughts, intents, and words be full of joy, peace, patience, kindness, hope, and love!

Shalom!

Del

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My Journey into Ekklesia

Ekklesia seems like a new buzz word in the Christian world but, is it really? If you look at the New Testament model, ekklesia has been around for quite a long time. In fact, the word “church” in the Bible is really “ekklesia.” It refers to a gathering of people who are like minded. That can literally happen anywhere – in a home, through video conferencing, in a coffee shop, or other meetings. The key is to build relationship where everyone participates and grows as a community.

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My first real experience with ekklesia came as a junior high schooler. This was during the “Jesus movement” in the 1970’s (yes, I’m dating myself here). People were so excited about getting together to discuss all the new and cool things we were learning about the Christian walk. A group of people in my community started meeting on Friday nights at various homes around town. We called it “Friday Night Fellowship” and people from many local churches came. Most Fridays, there were around 30 people who attended. There was no one leader, everyone participated, we all shared testimonies, we all participated in worship, and we all read scripture together. Now that I look back on it, this was true ekklesia.

Skipping many, many, many years ahead (let’s do the time warp again….) I’m now reminded of those early years where we discovered together how to function as a unit. I meandered around for many years wondering, “Father… what do you have for me? Where do I find like-minded people?” My pastor left the ministry, my church disbanded, and I was left alone to figure out where to go, what to do, and how to do it.  During this time, God began to speak to me about personal maturity and the importance of building relationship – intimacy with Him in a way that I never knew was possible. That’s when things started to change.

Many reading this will recognize the names Ian Clayton, Mike Parsons, Justin Abraham, Dr. O, Grant and Sam Mahoney, and many others. They are forerunners in this “movement” of discovering and living out of intimacy and functioning from the kingdom realms first. It’s when I discovered the importance of developing intimacy with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit that things begin to change. I practiced seeing in the spirit. I practiced being in the presence of God from a heavenly position rather than an earthly one. My focus now on Christ and being IN HIM made all the difference in the world. No longer did I plead with God to do things for me. I learned how to legislate situations in my own life bringing the truth from heaven to earth IN that situation. I began seeing things from that heavenly perspective so that what was going on around me no longer affected my vision of life’s circumstances. No, I don’t always get it right but, it’s getting easier as I practice functioning from that place of intimacy.

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I became a part of NW Ekklesia in the spring of 2016. For me, it was a new chapter for me because being “in ekklesia” helped me mature even more. It wasn’t about me listening to someone preach a great sermon. It was about discovering all that Papa has for us as a group and growing into what we’re each called to do as Sons of God. We each have a part, just like every body has parts that make it work correctly (head, shoulders, knees, and toes, etc.). I also found that all experiences (the good, the bad, and the ugly) leading up to this time of my life had the opportunity of training me into greater revelation and responsibility if I allowed that to happen. Nothing is wasted! God can redeem any situation and circumstance as we use them for maturing tools.

In “ekklesia,” we’re given the opportunity to build relationships with one another to a much deeper level than in most church situations. I believe that’s why many churches have home fellowship groups. When these small groups focus on group participation, you have ekklesia. Fellowship is great in person but it can also be done using our modern system of technology! So, let’s not be limited to “in person” meetings.

When I first began this journey of seeing in the spirit and directly communing with God IN His presence, I had no local people that I met with. I didn’t know anyone who desired a similar journey. For many, “church as usual” was good enough. I wanted more than that. But, I didn’t let the lack of knowing people stop me. As we continue to seek the things of God, by divine methods, He brings people together. I had to learn to function from a place of rest and peace even though it felt like I was flailing about with no direction. What helped was my focus on Jesus and being “In Him” during the process. That’s what the faith walk is all about! We step out without having to know the answers. Our trust and focus directs us into the arms of the Father and from that position, we learn and grow. In and through that, I found ekklesia.

For those who are on this same journey, I encourage you that there really is nothing wrong with feeling like a fish out of water. The question to ask Papa is “What is it you have for me in this?” Grab a journal and start writing what comes to your mind – what you see, sense, hear, and feel.  Ascend into The Presence and function from that position. Then, allow divine connections to be made. As we mature, we each contribute to the health of an ekklesia. It also requires that we understand and believe that we each have a part to play.

Shalom!

Del