Category Archives: church

God’s Chosen Fast Is Spiritual, Not Physical

It is not denying yourself of earthly food.

The fast that God has chosen is not one of physical abstinence from food, but of spiritual abstinence from falsehoods. In Isaiah 58, Yahweh defines His kind of fast, emphasizing the rejection of false doctrines and the corrupt influences of the world.

By turning away from false teachings, He has promised us power to “loose the bands of wickedness” and “undo the heavy burdens” (v. 6). This spiritual fast grants us divine strength as we align our thoughts and actions with the mind of Christ. He is an invisible Spirit. “And they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). This includes fasting.

Yahweh calls on His people to avoid consuming the tainted spiritual bread of insincerity, wickedness, and falsehoods. Unlike literal bread, this sustenance represents the invisible, harmful spiritual nourishment that corrupts the soul. God’s fast is a call to purity and truth, inviting us to seek His guidance and embody His teachings in our lives.

It is natural to think “fasting from food.” But that is the point. Yahweh’s fast is not natural but spiritual. His fast is not earthly but spiritual. It is performed in our hearts and minds.

When we hear the word “fasting,” we always think of abstaining from food. But Yahweh’s fast is abstaining from spiritual things like false precepts, false doctrines, and false concepts about Christ and His plan and purpose.

Fasting under Old Covenant and New Covenant

Fasting from earthly food aligns with the Old Covenant, which was an agreement with God using earthly, physical types and shadows.

However, we now live in the New Covenant, and the fast Christ has called us to is in an invisible, spiritual realm. In that realm, Christ is everything, and we are a part of Him; we are members of His spiritual body.

The New Covenant is a spiritual witness and enactment of the Spirit of Christ working in us. Instead of a physical type, we have a spiritual reality in Christ.

Spiritual fasting involves refraining from consuming the ‘bread’ of false doctrines and misleading teachings. To fast spiritually is to reject and distance oneself from doctrines that are untrue or harmful.

We have come a long way; we love Christ, for He has saved us from our sins (Romans 6). But we are not in the growth of the early apostles; we have faults and shortcomings. These things are to be abstained from in a spiritual fast.

You may ask, “What things must I repent of to bear 100-fold fruit?” You must “examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? (II Cor. 13:5).

[Next time the Spirit of truth will show us an example of spiritual fasting in the Last Church Age. It is what we are to repent of, in order to be invited by Christ to sit with Him on His throne. The ball is up in the air. The time of the end contest is upon us. Who of us will leap up and learn from the Spirit’s teaching. I said “us.” Who of us will answer the “high calling”? Who will bear 100-fold fruit, as in the Parable of the Sower? Who will “rule over ten cities” during His 1,000 year reign right here on earth? Who will stop playing church and be the church, which is His body? The Spirit is asking us, Who will help me? Who will be my yokefellow?

He is rooting for us. Christ already sees us as His mighty men and women of valor. We need His eye salve to see the same thing that He sees. God bless all of you with His grace and mercy as you go through the spiritual life cycle, bearing 30, 60, and 100-fold fruit. {Read more here: parable sower | Search Results | Immortality Road If this resonates with your spirit, please make a comment and share this article with just one person on your email list. We need to reach out and feed His lambs and sheep, to show Christ that we love Him (John 21:15-17). Study it out.]   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Two Promises from God—Conditional, but Powerful (Part 1)

Christ made two great promises. But they are conditional. If the condition is met, then we are catapulted into the 60-fold and 100-fold spiritual growth (Matt. 13:3-23). This is the growth that Christ and His apostles walked in. Yes, this is the ticket for entry into His inner circle, the Round Table, if you will. {Please take a moment and hit the “Subscribe” button.}

Some of you may not believe me about being like Christ and attaining Christlike growth. Yet it was the King Himself who said, “He that believes on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do because I go to the Father” (John 14:12). What “greater works”? The miracles! This is the spiritual growth that the early apostles had: The power to raise the dead and heal the impossibly and terribly sick.

[This is what you have prayed and asked God for. You’ve asked Him for a great move, that He would fill you with His Holy Spirit, that His church would awaken. He is showing us how He is doing it. He is coming back for “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:27). To be ready for His coming, we must stand faultless, cleansed of all spiritual spots and moral blemishes. We must be holy and worthy to be immersed into the Holy Ghost and fire (Acts 2:1-4).

The First “If…”

Christ said, “If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” (John 14:23). “If a man love Me…” Here is the first condition. The person that loves Christ will “keep His words.” If we love Christ by keeping His words, then the Father will love us. And the godhead will come and stay and dwell within us. This is the abiding!

This is a powerful promise. The Father Himself has promised to live in us—if we keep Christ’s words! We want this relationship, to have the Father living in us and doing His works (Acts 2:33).

So, how do we “keep Christ’s words”? As we have seen before, the word “keep” is translated from the Greek word meaning “to guard, to preserve, to protect.” And the word “words” comes from the Greek word logos, which is the plan and purpose of God spelled out from the beginning. We know that Christ is the Logos, the Word “made flesh” that dwelt among us and still does in the Spirit. Christ is the Purpose enacted for us all to see. [For more on this, see links at the end of this article.]

A Higher Love

Someone will say, “The Father already loves us.” Yes, He does. But now He is talking about a higher love. The depth of this love for us comes after we love Christ by keeping His words.

For, you see, the Father loves us in our spiritual infancy. But the Father’s love for us in this context is a deeper kind of love. It is like in the natural world. Our love for an infant is on a certain beginning level. Our love for a baby is not based on the same criteria as for a mature human being walking in the Spirit, making their “calling and election sure.”

The Father’s love for us as seen in John 14:23 is deeper, based on our hunger for His knowledge and our performance of His desires. God’s love at this stage of growth is a profound appreciation of our walk of faith, trusting Him, even though the trials are daunting. We are spiritually talking about young men and women in spiritual growth.

John wrote to “young men because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one” (I John 2:14). John is not writing to a “babe in Christ.” He is writing to the spiritually strong, to those with the word of God dwelling in them, having overcome Satan’s tricky ploys. This is 60-fold fruit bearing. They know God’s plan and purpose of reproducing Himself in a body of sons and daughters. They are strong with the Spirit abiding in them. They have overcome the devil.

The trouble is this: Most children of God want to remain spiritual baby Christians. They are content to bask in the Father’s love. They are mostly alive for what they can receive from the Father. But He wants them to grow in wisdom and understanding that they might learn how to love Him like He loves them. But most really don’t want to grow; they want to be happy and not face any trials and problems. God sees this as being “lukewarm.”

To show that we love Him more deeply, He tells us to guard, protect, cherish, and preserve His words, the Logos. We are to watch and guard His eternal purpose, which was with God in the beginning. And His purpose is this: God is reproducing Himself in us. When we guard the Logos, the Father will love us, and God will feel welcome to abide, stay, and remain in us. This process brings the abiding.

Why isn’t this happening much more often in the world? Because before you can guard and preserve His eternal plan and purpose, you must know what His plan and purpose is. We are talking about “knowledge of the holy.” Those that love Christ will learn of the Logos (November | 2024 | Immortality Road; Guarding the Logos | Immortality Road).

God loves those who guard, cherish, and protect the logos, the mind of Christ. He promised that He would dwell and abide in us! A wonderful promise!     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[For more: “Love Makes Known the Plan of God” | Immortality Road; abide | Immortality Road ]

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Sowing the Seed, the Word of Our Testimony

Several of my readers have wondered, “How do I get this truth out into the public square? How do I find the sincere seekers of truth? The most effective and exhilarating is face to face. One on one is fine if you’re not fighting the cell phone and other interrupters. There is another way, a way that I have witnessed as an observer and a testifier.

This is something you can do. How do we personally reach those who are hungry for this light, famished for the deeper walk? We go to where they are. We go to the church houses who have an “open mike.”  They will ask for testimonies. This is where you stand up and tell them your testimony. That is what Yahshua and His apostles did. They went to the synagogues and spoke.

How does this work? Which churches do we visit? Usually in charismatic, “full gospel,” Assembly of God, Pentecostal, and “Bible” independent churches do you see this “calling for testimonies.” The goers have left the mainstream denominations, and a few are looking for a deeper walk with the Savior.

He has given us much knowledge. So, what do we share during our two minutes? Christ is our example. Christ’s opening message was always, “Repent.” Of course, to stand up and just say, “Repent,” will not do it. It is better to give a testimony of how repentance has worked in your own life, how your sins and sinful heart died with Christ on the cross, and how you were buried with Him and how by believing in His resurrection, you now have been raised to walk in a newness of life. You are telling them that you are a living example of repentance found in Romans 6:1-12.

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been set free from sin…” (6:6-8 NIV). “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God…” (Col. 3:3).

You have seen “Romans 6” in many of my writings. It contains the cross message, which is what the world needs. The cross is where the old selfish heart dies; it is the end of the sinful road for mankind. The message of the cross is the first of the apostles’ doctrine. It is what our Savior wants us to share. He will convict the heart that is ready. Our job is to deliver the message. The cross message is the powerful contact point for those seeking more than a religious social club. The cross and the resurrection walk [the second doctrine, Faith toward God] is the message.

Just tell them your story, your trip to the cross. And watch the miracle of another’s conversion come to you. For after you speak and the after the service, they will come and shake your hand. That is where you give them links to the reading material, perhaps a copy of one of the Immortality Road articles on the cross. Perhaps you would want to order your own business cards with your contact info along with the website address, etc. All avenues are open to you when you are doing the Father’s business. Yahshua said, “I must be about my father’s business.” and so should we be about His business. This is what He is doing. He is calling out His people to enter through the narrow gate. He is doing it through us, thus fulfilling his purpose of multiplying Himself.

Note: Most in the church houses do not want to go to the cross and let their old heart die. It is not a popular message. That is why the preachers don’t touch it. But when that one or two respond, a true ecclesia is born, as in where “two or three are gathered together in My name, there I am in the midst.”

The next step after gaining a portion of His knowledge is to share that knowledge. We do this by sowing the seed, the word, into the good ground, into the “good and honest hearts” of His people. And in so doing, we become an active part of His body, known as the Sower, who went forth to sow (Matthew 13).

This vessel is sowing right now. Through Yahweh’s grace, I have a song to sing that rushes down the corridors of light, illuminating the hearts of those He knew before the world began. “And they that impart wisdom shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever” (Dan. 12:3). That is our destiny and our calling, brothers and sisters. We just need to step out on the water.  Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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The Secrets in the 90% of the Verses They Don’t Teach

Preachers only teach a few Bible verses that support their company line.

But let’s face it: Everything we know about Christ is from words written down by a few of His followers. These disciples became apostles, sent forth to spread the good news of His Royal Government come to earth. Christians the world over count their words as the scriptures of truth, inspired by the Spirit of God.

Almost all denominations say that they believe the apostles’ words. They say that they go by every word of God found in the Bible. Yet each denomination uses very few of the apostles’ words, yet still claiming to have the whole truth of God.

Although many congregations are sincere, they still, in essence, are saying, “Join us, walk the aisle, be baptized, come to church, enjoy the fellowship, pay your tithes and offerings and you are in. You’re going to heaven.” They patchwork a few verses of the Bible, yet never dig deep into those very apostles’ words about Christ’s plan and purpose. Their sermons recount others’ interpretations. They are in a straitjacket, bound by doctrines based on 10% of the Bible.

But you won’t hear about how the cross puts sin to death in our lives. You won’t hear Romans 6 preached. Why? The people in the pews don’t want to hear it, and they might just leave and not come back when they do hear it. Roman 6 is about our crucifixion with Christ, our death, burial, and resurrection with Him. Can’t have a resurrection without a death. It is about the death of our old sinful self and our resurrection with Christ. These are somber, yet joyful words, but you won’t hear it preached.

Furthermore, you won’t hear the apostle John’s gospel, except for John 3:16 and maybe John 1:1. What about the rest of the Gospel of John? What holy mysteries await us in the 90% of the apostles’ words that they don’t teach?

What They Wrote

What did the apostles write down for us? They wrote about Christ’s Kingdom, which is the gospel, the good news (Mark 1:14). They recorded Christ’s words about the Kingdom in parables, which contain the mysteries of God “which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 13:35). They wrote about the way to become like Christ, which is the “riches of the glory of this mystery…Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col.1:27).

They wrote about God’s eternal purpose: the reproduction of Himself–in us! They wrote about God’s plan to fulfill His purpose. And a portion of His plan is presented in one of His new commandments: “Add to your faith” certain attributes of God’s divine nature, hence the title of this book, The Additions to the Faith.

These additions have been written down plainly in the Bible for us by none other than the apostle Peter in his second letter to us. Peter walked with Christ. He was privy to many of Christ’s secrets and mysteries. But, alas, you won’t hear about those mysteries in church on Sunday because those mysteries are hidden, to be revealed to those whom God has chosen for that honor. The mysteries that Peter speaks of are contained in the 90% of the writings not taught today.

The Additions to the Faith explains Peter’s words as to what those additions are and how they work together to help His elect grow spiritually. When all seven are added, Christ’s Spirit will be living in us fully. Thus, fulfilling the Father’s eternal purpose.  

This and much more are contained in the 90% of the verses that they don’t teach. Christ said that the Spirit of Truth “will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). He will show us what is in the 90%.

[This is part of the Introduction of my new book due out next year. Thought I would share it with you. It is extremely important knowledge for those called to bear “much fruit.” Don’t be dismayed that you have not heard some of these things. They are found in the 90% of the verses I was talking about, and Yahweh is revealing more about them each day.]

Be sure to order my previous books, free with free shipping, found here: Ordering My Free Books in Paperback | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Yahweh’s Joy Is Our Strength

On those dark and painful days of doubt, we sometimes wonder, “Where will I find the strength to carry on? I know that I am weak, and deep down I know that God is my source. But how does it happen? What is the spiritual mechanism that transfers His strength to us?

In the end, strength to weather the world’s “whips and scorns” does not come from us. We are the weak ones in the equation. We are the ones manufacturing a grim quizzical look toward our troubles. But this faux face of courage ultimately fades as God backs us into a tight corner to face down our personal enemies—Doubt and Unbelief. These culprits prevent us from getting strength. But God’s elect will overcome all doubts and unbelief.

The elect are those whom He has chosen to be the first to tap into and manifest the full strength of the Spirit. They are “a kind of first fruits.” They are the first humans that He will fully show His secrets to during this, the time of the end. They will learn how their old, weak, sinful nature dies on the cross with Christ. It has already died on the cross with Christ. “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth we should not serve sin” (Romans 6: 6). And then we are “buried with him in baptism, wherein also you are risen with him” by just believing that God has “raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2: 12: 13). Just believe in the Resurrection? Yes, both Christ’s and now yours, too !

Halleluyah! Faith! Belief! It’s God’s faith in His resurrection plan, not our puny faith. The truth is, there is only one faith—His (Eph. 4:5). It is the “faith of the Son of God.” That’s where we tap into His strength.

The Joy of Yahweh

The “joy of Yahweh is our strength.” At first glance, that sounds good. The joy of God. He has joy; we don’t, as seen in the previous scenario. And then we begin to see that when we are down, weak and without strength, we can look at our Creator’s joy, and we can wait and wait and, alas, somehow it is not becoming our joy. We do not get strengthened by this. We don’t understand about how to tap into His strength.

There’s a deep revelation here. Yes, the “joy of the LORD is our strength,” but it is when we realize and believe that it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me (Gal. 2:20). We will rejoice with great joy when we believe this: We no longer live in our flesh bodies, which now is His body. We are dead and our “life is hid with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). It is the Spirit that now lives in our earthly bodies. When we really believe this word of God, great joy will abound and gush through us like rivers of living waters of joy and with it, strength.

This is the revelation simply put: We are dead. We have, however, through belief in his resurrection, a new life living inside us. It is eternal life; it is Christ that lives within us now, even when we don’t feel like it.

We are now members of a spiritual body called “Christ.” We now live in Him, and he lives in us. We must not look at Him after the flesh, but after the Spirit, this spiritual way that the apostles saw Him. When we believe that it is no longer us that live, but Christ that lives in us, then we will see wonderful strength-giving things. When He has joy, we have joy because it is Him exulting in us. When He strengthens, we get strengthened because that’s what the one Spirit does; He shares His strength, along with many other things. We need only to ask the “great cloud of witnesses that have walked with Him. They will tell us.        Kenneth Wayne Hancock (from a Journal entry 12-7-21)

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Small House Churches—Not Big Church Houses

We need two or three or four disciples meeting in homes, learning how to follow Christ all the way to manifested sonship. That will do the job. God always works that way–in small gatherings in homes, not in huge state of the art auditoriums.

It is a mistake to expect thousands, hundreds, or even scores of people to respond to these truths. Why? Because as Christ said, “Few there be to find this way of truth” And, because “many are called, but few are chosen.” In other words, few will be elected for the 100 fold walk. And “where two or three are gathered together, there I am in the midst.” It will be small groups in hundreds of places throughout the earth who will eventually communicate with each other, as they get on the same page with Christ.

Are you saying that there won’t be other Christians in the big churches. There will be others, but they will have not aspired to be like the apostles and prophets of old. It is because their leaders have told them that they cannot be like the Savior. Consequently, their spiritual growth will be stunted.

Why a Small Group?  

Why? We are admonished by what happened to the tribes of Jacob/Israel. It was always a small group that really knew God and His will for their time. Look at the patriarchs, Moses, Elijah and all the prophets. They were not pastors of large congregations. They even sometimes walked alone with God. We must not think it strange to be in that condition.

After fleeing Egypt at forty, Moses tended flocks with Jethro, his father-in-law. He waited forty years on Yahweh’s visitation and direction. He like other prophets chosen by God walked on practically alone.

Elijah was so alone that he thought he was the only prophet in all of Israel. But God told him, “I have 7,000 tiny groups scattered around this world who will do My will in surrendering to Me that I may reproduce Myself in them.

Look at Gideon’s 300. 10,000 showed up to fight, but God chose out 300. He did not want them to get the big head thinking that it was their great big army that had won the day. And the 300 did it God’s way, not the way of the world, not like the megachurches. They have their audience and followers. But so do I, saith Yahweh.

The way of the prophets of Yahweh is a lonely path. It’s going to be small groups to start out. That is His way as seen throughout the scriptures. But they will go out and find others to love and help and hopefully bring into the deeper calling.

We are talking about the fulfilling of God’s purpose of reproducing Himself. Very few, if any, of the denominations believe that human beings can be used to do this. They do not believe that Christ can be formed in us.

But this message of being His son or daughter is a fire. And who can stand close to the fire? For it will burn out all the impurities and assumptions about God and will light the path for the completion of God’s plan.

The first fruit elect company of which we speak will be small in each field of grain.  Those ordained by Him to bear 100 fold fruit will have their little flocks to love and care for and nurture for God’s sake. They will be meeting in house churches after turning their backs on big church houses. They will be teaching little flocks. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Free Copy of New Book “The Eleventh Commandment”

I am offering a free copy with free shipping of my latest book. Just send your name, mailing address, and the name of the book to my Email: wayneman5@hotmail.com

It usually takes a week or so to get it to you.

Those living outside the U.S. will receive a pdf. Let me know what you think of the book.

All the best. kwh

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The Seed, Repentance, and the Cross

You are a page out of “the book of life.” God is the author of this book. He wrote it eons ago, long before your mom and dad brought you into the world. For God knew you before you were born. You were in His heart before the earth was ever formed and before the stars began to burn (Jer. 1:5).

This book of life is the record of the who, what, when, where, how and why of God’s plan and purpose. His purpose is to reproduce Himself. His plan to fulfill His purpose will be witnessed here on earth. When you walk by faith in Christ’s life, you are a part of the witness of the record in heaven. It bears repeating: The book of life is the record of what God has done/is doing/and will do to accomplish His purpose of reproducing Himself (Love).

It all begins with a seed. And “the seed is the word of God.” And the word of God is truth. When error is found in preachers’ mouths, the seed is blighted and will not reproduce.

But His seed is “the incorruptible seed.” It takes root in our hearts through the sacrifice of the Lamb, our Savior. Only it must be our own spiritual death with Christ. The seed must die before it springs to life in a heart. At the time of any harvest, the original seed brings forth and bears more seed just like the original.  

We members of Christ’s body today are living in the day of harvest, the time of the end. There is and will always be seed time and harvest. Seed time is seen in the book of Genesis, the book of beginnings. The “harvest is the end of the world,” as seen in the book of Revelation.

The word is made up from the words of the plan on how God will reproduce himself in us. In fact, the “book of life” is made up of the word, which gives us clues on how to proceed in God’s reproduction process.

The book of life mentioned in the scriptures is the plan on how he will use us to divinely love through us. This reproduces agape love, which is God. That is why you are a page out of the book of life.

The Cross Experience

Christ said, “Except a seed fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it die, it brings forth much fruit.” Christ is that seed. “Christ is the seed, the word of God.” He is the Word made flesh.

God’s elect is the “good ground.” To get this growth process moving within us, His word, the seed, must germinate in our hearts. We surrender to him by submitting our old self to his spiritual growth process. Christ surrendered his body to death. God placed our sinful hearts on that sacrificial body, and when He died, our old sinful heart died with Him. When He was buried, our sinful self was buried. And when He was raised from the dead, we too were raised to walk in a newness of life.

This is the true cross experience. To lead someone to repentance is the first of the apostles’ doctrine. It is where you lead them to the mirror of their soul. And you tell them to look way past the simple facial skin tones and to peer into hearts. And ask them if they can see the dark place of their existence, the selfish and careless way they are. If they can and want to change, then you teach Romans 6 to them. It is the truth that will make them free. If they won’t look into that mirror, then they cannot receive the truth at that time. Maybe another day.

The Quiz

I gave you a one question quiz on August 5. It asks, “Can you explain in detail how one repents from sin?” It is about how to lead someone to true repentance, which is the first apostles’ doctrine. Christ’s death on the cross, His burial, and His resurrection is where we found our freedom from sin and sinning. It is here at the resurrection in our own hearts that the growth of the Seed in us will begin. And each seed bears its own kind.

When he perished, our old sinful selves died with him. When he was buried, our old selves were buried. And when he was resurrected—Hallelujah!—we “were raised to walk in a newness of life.” He that is dead is freed from sin. Free! But this freedom is only for those who know that they are in bondage to sin and know that they have a need to be freed. Those righteous in their own eyes will think that all of this is nonsense.

Repentance, Romans 6, and the Cross

Paul opens that chapter of his letter to the Romans with this thought: “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” In another translation we read, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death?” Immersed into His death. Water baptism is only a symbol of the baptism into Christ’s death. Which preacher/pastor/priest/or prophet teaches these thoughts of the apostle Paul? They pontificate on most every passage except Romans 6.

This is where true repentance starts; it’s at and after the cross. Christ is not our substitute; he is our example. He laid it on the line through His death, and we need to die with him. And then through belief/faith in the operation of God, we also can walk in a newness of life (Col. 2:12).

This truth will make a huge difference in people’s lives. But you won’t find Romans 6 preached in many churches. Just go ask the pastors their take on it.  I wish they would teach this truth because it is the gateway to all truth. Unless we repent, we’ll “all likewise perish” and be forgotten in the dusty tombs of the earth. This is paramount in being saved from the sea of death, where nobody remembers your name.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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“O, Father, Where Art Thou?”

“O, Father, where art thou?” We have all wondered it, especially during trials of our faith. Where is our spiritual Father—really? He is not where we just think He may be. He is not where the preacher thinks He is. He is not where we hope he is. He is not where we imagine Him to be. He is not where we feel He is. No. No. The answer to this question does not come from a feeling. Feelings will let you down. So, how can we really know where He is?

“O, Father, where art Thou?” We will find the answer to this question in God’s words that have been written down. He is where He said he is. The word says that the Father is in His Son. Christ said that the Father is inside the Son. In fact, Christ commands us, “Believe me that the Father is in Me.”

The Son of God is the head of the spiritual body of Christ, which is the church. We are “members in particular” of His body. He is the head; we are His body. Because the Father dwells inside the Son, and because we are a part of the Son’s spiritual body, the Father dwells inside of us, too. That is if we have received His Spirit within our hearts.

“O, Father, where art thou?” The Father lives within the hearts of His children. We need only look in the mirror to see the Father’s dwelling place. He is in His temple—you and me. I wrote a song right after my conversion to Christ some 50 years ago called “He’s Living Here.” He is living here, deep inside, and it’s so clear this love I can’t hide because with Christ my old man is crucified…

His sweet presence can only be enjoyed when the Spirit of Truth is in our hearts. For the Father is the Spirit of Truth. If we have error within us, we are blocked from the Father. Because He is Truth. 

How Our Father Communicates with and through Us

Hearing from our Father is through words that the Spirit of Truth speaks. These words are from the Word. The words from the Word comes to us through thoughts. Our thoughts come from primarily two sources–our Father and the adversary Satan, who oversees dispensing evil thoughts and confusion into the earth (see Job 1). Remember Satan’s lies in the garden of Eden? “Has God really said that? God didn’t mean that. God just does not want you to know the best things.”

Satan is the accuser of the brethren. He accuses through negative thoughts running through our minds. Consequently, not every thought is from God. How can we discern? How can we tell which thought is from God and which is from Satan? For the answer, we must go back to the written word of God, for His thoughts will coincide with His written word. So, let’s not be waiting for audible words spoken to us by God in order to receive His words to us. We waste time doing that. No doubt that is what the five foolish virgins were doing. They did not study the written word, and they wound up with no oil in their lamps (Matt. 25:1-13). Go to the written word; these are His thoughts which outlines His plan and purpose. By studying His written words, we will have a library of His thoughts that the Spirit within can draw from. But do not go down every rabbit hole that Churchianity provides. They are in error; I didn’t say it; He did.

Christ said, The words I speak, they are spirit, and they are life. Our thoughts, no matter how lovely they sound to us, must agree with the written word of God. Dreams and visions do not always come from God. That is why we must “study to show ourselves approved unto God.” That is why we are told to “bring into captivity every thought unto obedience to Christ.” It helps to have the Teacher, the Spirit of Truth, teach us.

“O, Father, where art Thou?” His word says that the Father, the Holy Spirit, resides in the Son, of which Christ is the head, and we are the Son’s body. The Father dwells in us if we have indeed His Spirit residing within our hearts. But the Spirit will not dwell in unclean temples filled with error. It will not happen. Why? Because His word says so.

Where is the Father, the invisible Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit? I leave you with this quote. We will let the Spirit in Paul answer: “There is one body, and one Spirit…one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all and in you all” (Eph. 4:4-6). Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Additions to Faith Insures Spiritual Growth

The Spirit of Christ through the apostle Peter has given us one of the “New Commandments” that Christ spoke about. When obeyed, it will insure our mature spiritual growth in God. Christ’s desire for us is that we bear much fruit. “Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, Christ said. The commandment that Peter is talking about is this: “Add to your faith” seven attributes of God’s very own “divine nature” (II Peter 1:4-7).

We will grow spiritually if we add them. But in Chapter Two he tells us why very few Christians obey this commandment. He warns us of the false teachings spewed by false prophets and false teachers whose doctrines wilt the young plantings of God. Instead of the latter rain from heaven watering young Christians, false concepts about God stunt their growth. You can see the effects on well-meaning church goers every Sunday morning, sitting there in the same pew that they have sat in for decades, still singing “Just As I Am,” stunted now, unable to grow to full spiritual maturity because of the drought of His word. The maturity that Christ and the apostles talk about is becoming just like Peter, James, John, and Paul. Church goers have been told that it is impossible. But “with God all things are possible.”

But Christ’s elect are scattered out there. Some will hear that faint sound of the ancient trumpet, and their heads will turn up to the sky from whence the call was made.

For God calls whomsoever He will. No man through his own willpower will become His elect, His chosen ones. He does the choosing. He places the hunger for truth in them. They don’t know at first how it all works. They just know that they need to find the truth. They need to get to the bottom of this thing called life-on-planet-earth. And somehow they finally realize that it was God all along who arranged all the serendipitous coincidences, all the failures and victories, and all of the, well, miraculous turning points in our lives.

In my case, the miracle was when Mortality was rearing its desperate head–my head, actually, which was going down for the seventh time. And there with me God had Larry Golden pull me out of that South China Sea undertow at Da Nang Beach in Vietnam. The LORD gives life, and the LORD takes away life. Blessed be His Name.

Such is the calling and election that God makes upon us. He has a plan and a timetable for everything. And He will put a hook in the jaw of those He is angling for, if that is what it takes. He has a purpose to reproduce Himself in us. He is omnipotent and will bring it to pass. He has created all things, and all things are in His repertoire. And He uses both “good things” and “bad things” to bring His plan and purpose to full fruition. Full fruit production is bearing “much fruit.”

Which takes us back full circle to the “additions to the faith.” They are virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and agape love. These attributes of the “divine nature” are powerful. They are like the finest fertilizer for God’s young plants.

They hold many promises for those who want to grow. “For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ [Yahshua]” (II Peter 1:5-8). With these seven added, you will be full of fruit. With them you will “make your calling and election sure.” With these seven added, “You shall never fall.” With them added, “an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom” of Christ, our “Everlasting Father” (II Peter 1:10-11; Isaiah 9:6). Such promises are breathtaking!

Those that have an ear to hear, let them hear what the Spirit is saying (Matt. 11: 15; 13:9; Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29, 3:6, 13, 22). In other words, God gives understanding to whomever He desires to give it. He opens the ears of the spiritually deaf. If He is doing that for us, then we need to hear and listen closely to what the Spirit of God is saying through Peter about the additions to the faith. Those with an ear to hear will understand.        Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Spiritual Hands of a Spiritual Body

To understand the apostles’ doctrine of the “laying on of hands,” we must first see how “hands” are members of the body of Christ. But what is the body of Christ? “Hands” are members of a body. Therefore, holy hands must of necessity be members of the body of Christ. Our search is leading us into the “unsearchable riches of Christ.”

Consequently, we must always in our search “look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal” (II Cor. 4: 18). The answers will not be found in the things we can literally see with our eyes. The answers will be gained through contemplating the invisible, eternal things.

The Body of Christ

Therefore, the body of Christ is invisible. For years I thought that your earthly body and my earthly body, cleaned up spiritually by God, was the body of Christ. I thought that the members of the body of Christ were the humans who gathered together in a building of some kind and wor-shipped God. Later I saw the church as a body of humans called out from the world, not necessarily “members in good standing” of some manmade religious organization. But I still thought that the church was the body of Christ and the church were the humans in that group of Christians.

But now I am realizing that there is a revelation waiting for us concern-ing the body of Christ. We have been “looking after the flesh” when dealing with the body of Christ.

Oh, we have had wonderful dreams of our hands doing great things. Totally understandable to have them. We looked at our hands and we imagined them being guided by the Spirit to heal, and, yes, even raise someone from the dead. We’ve seen our literal hands as being used by God to do special things as members of His body, doing His works in the earth.

Stop the daydream. This is looking after the flesh, however well inten-tioned. It is what Paul called “not discerning the Lord’s body.” For the body of Christ is a body of Spirit. It is a spiritual entity. The body of Christ is not a “form of matter.” It is not a “material substance” [“body” Webster’s].  It is not made of human flesh like your earthly body and mine. The body of Christ is not that which is gathered together in a church building, where humans sit in pews, or any other manmade structure.

What is the body of Christ then? It is a body of spiritual righteous actions that the Holy Spirit does. We must stop looking after the flesh! We have known Christ after the flesh; we have seen Him as a human who suffered bodily on the cross. That marred body, ironically, is not the “body of Christ,” for the body of Christ is spiritual and invisible.

“Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer” (II Cor. 5: 16). We must rather fully awake to the fact that Christ now is a Spirit that can and does enter into our natural earthly bodies. The aforementioned “unsearchable riches” are found in the glorious mystery, which is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” And it takes born-from-above eyes to see the Kingdom of God established in everyone who receives Christ, the Spirit, into their heart (Col. 1: 26-27).

We are talking about the Spirit of God—Christ—the Anointed One—the Anointing—the Truth—the Spirit of Truth. His Spirit will take up residence in us. “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith” (Eph. 3: 17). How can Christ the man from Galilee dwell in our hearts? By receiving His Spirit, which is the Father, for Christ and His Father are one—one Spirit.

So now, the body of Christ is a spiritual body of actions and attributes of the Spirit. And when we get out of the way and let Christ’s Spirit take over and love through us, then Christ will have reproduced Himself. This takes us back to His purpose—to reproduce Himself.

But, alas, that is the initial problem. We spent many years existing on the planet, nourished only on the imaginations of men. And habits of thinking and living have entrenched themselves into our grey matter. But God calls us out of the matrix-like soup of deception, and He saves us and gives us wonderful experiences that we cleave unto. But the habit of thinking ourselves to be part of the “other”—other than God—this thinking prevents us from making room for the Spirit Himself to dwell in our bodies fully.

This is why Christ provides a way for us to once and for all dispose of the blockage that prevents us from manifesting agape love. For our egos are the exact opposite of God’s nature of selfless love.

This is why Christ, as our example, died on the cross and now has required all of us to die in revelation with Him. The Spirit says, “You are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

Once again, let us look at our hands. They as a part of our current physical bodies are alive. But we are dead. The old selfish sinful nature of born-from-above children of God has perished with Him on the cross. And the life that we now live, we live by the faith of Christ, for He has given us of His Spirit, by believing in His resurrection. We are the second man, a quickening spirit, a righteous spirit now, hidden in the Spirit called Christ. We are no longer bound by the belief that we are members of the animal kingdom, human beings calling ourselves the church, the body of Christ. We are not. We are a spirit that makes alive, a righteous action, and a force of truth, wisdom, and mercy. All things have become new. Old ways of looking at ourselves have passed away. We are now “members in particular” of the mystical, spiritual body of Christ.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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