Category Archives: spiritual growth

August 8, 2015 · 6:15 pm

Abiding in Christ = Bearing the Fruit of the Spirit = “Walking as Children of Light”

The apostle Paul says that we are light, and we are to “walk as children of light” (Eph 5:8).  Then, in the very next breath he says, “For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness…”  This thus signifying that “light” is equal to bearing the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Gal 5:22-23).

We become the children of light when we have His Spirit abiding in us, bearing the fruit of the Spirit.  Light is what makes something known; therefore, God will be manifest in us when others see and experience His love, joy, and peace coming through us.  We are the light of God when we have the fruit of the Spirit because others will see God in us.

We bear this spiritual produce when we abide in the Savior Christ.  We are commanded by the Savior to “abide in me,” and let Me abide in you.  Let my Spirit live and flow through you.  Then you will bear much fruit (John 15: 4-5).   Much love from above, joy, and peace will flow down from Him by His Spirit within us and out to others.

How Does His Spirit Abide in Us?

Yes, we are told by the Savior to let the Spirit of God come and flow through us.  But how does this happen?  Is there something that we, His children, need to do to effect this?  How will His abiding presence come into us so that we can bear this fruit of His Spirit?

The Savior Jesus (Yahshua) makes a conditional promise to us concerning this.  “If a man love me, he will keep my words…” (John 14:23).  Good things will come to the man who loves the Son of God.  Loving Him will mean he will obey his words and what He tells us to do.  “If you love Me, keep my commandments”.  If we do this, then He will give us the Spirit!  And the Father “shall give your another Comforter; that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth…for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you” (John 14: 15-17).   This is the Spirit of God coming down into us!

He just said, those that love Him will keep His commandments.  “He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loves Me” (John 14:21).   The person that loves the Son of God understands just what He requires of him, just what He wants him to do.  This person that loves the Son of God will comprehend that doing this prerequisite must happen before we can receive the  in-dwelling Spirit of truth.

What exactly are these commandments that Christ wants us to keep?

Most initially think that these commandments are the ten commandments. But Christ talks about “new” commandments (John 13: 34). The first new thing that He commands us to do is, “Believe Me.”  That is a command, which is a commandment. Real simple.  Not complicated.  Even a child can comprehend this.  He is saying, Believe Me when I tell you about my relationship with the Father.  “Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me.”  That is a command.  Those of us who take this to heart and do it will receive His Spirit in a reality and bear much fruit of the Spirit.

He did not request mythic gargantuan tasks to prove that we love Him.  He merely gives us a simple command: “Believe me that I am in the Father and believe me that the Father is in Me” (John 14:11).  We are to believe that He was in the Father’s will, heart and mind, soul and body.  And we are to believe that the great Spirit Father, Yahweh Himself, was walking around doing the great miraculous works through Christ!

That’s it in a nutshell.  That is what the book says.  This is worshiping God in spirit and in truth.  This is the truth:  The Father dwelt bodily in the man Christ Jesus (Yahshua) of Nazareth.   “For in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Col 2: 9)… “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father…I and my Father are one…God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself…”

There is so much riding on this.  If we get this one, then the gates of heaven will open, and we shall be the recipients of His very Being in our bodies!  He goes on, “He that believes on Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works  shall he do!” (John 14: 12).  Because the Father will be abiding in us, too!  HalleluYah!  This is how we get the Father to come down and live in us: we must first believe that the Father was dwelling fully in the Son of God.

We get this right and great joy, great peace, and great love will come down through us and on out unto the world.  Believing that the Father walked around in the Son of God and did the works is the first step in us receiving the Father and having Him walk around in our bodies here on the the earth.  It will be He loving others through us.  He will be touching others with peace and joy.

Christ goes on and confirms it again: “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” (Jn 14:23).  This is how the Spirit will come down and abide in us.

“He that abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit…”  Much love, joy, peace and all the rest, coming down and through us to the love-starved world.  This is how we glorify the Father–that we bear much fruit of the Spirit (John 15: 8).   These fruit-bearers will be His disciples.

Once the belief has begun–belief that the Father is in Christ fully–then “whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”  We now have confidence to ask for more of His presence, more of His Spirit, so that it can be channeled out to others who need to know that God is real.

In this way the light of God’s Spirit will shine so that all men can be drawn to God.  “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto Me.”  We are then to “let your light so shine that others may see your good works and glorify your Father (which is walking inside of you, doing the works).

Why is this so difficult for us to comprehend?  It is because of the old leaven, the old teachings about the Father and Christ taught by the false prophets and teachers throughout the centuries.  They have made it mysterious and difficult to understand God through subtilty, lest our “minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Cor 11: 3).

Here it is. The God of the Old Testament, the God Yahweh that the patriarchs and prophets served–that Great Invisible Spirit/Creator/Father came down here to earth and took up His abode in the person that English speakers call Jesus Christ. And though all powerful, Yahweh-in-human-form through humility showed us how to treat each other in love. And through His physical walk on earth, He was reconciling the world unto Himself, being a Savior to all. When we obey what He commanded us to do–“Believe Me that the Father is in Me”–then we will bear the same fruit of the Spirit that He did. God will be glorified, for He will have been multiplied in and through us!

This revelation is huge. Reread it. Restudy it. Don’t delete it if it does not quicken  right away. It is precious and is the key for more of His Spirit coming down and through us, thus enabling us to grow into the manifested sons and daughters of the King.       Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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July 25, 2015 · 6:46 pm

Christian Growth–Additions to the Faith (Part Two)

Those of us who believe in the God of the Holy Bible have faith that He created the millions of galaxies and has a guiding hand in His creation. He made us and knows us and has instituted His plan and purpose for us and this earth. We have to believe that much.

Is it then a stretch for us to believe that this all-powerful Supreme Being has left us the map to find the treasures of His Spirit which is to grow up in our hearts? Christ is the truth, and now, if we are His, then His Spirit of truth is in us. Are not then the scriptures of truth, the Holy Bible, a book of written clues to help us find the treasures of His grace, mercy, and pleasure? He did say, Seek and ye shall find. So we have to believe that the Creator God is powerful enough to make sure some of His created human beings would preserve for us in our day a book that contains God’s treasure map.

For the scriptures contain for posterity the clues to the ultimate desire and longing of mortal man–immortality, eternal life, everlasting life. This is the reward Christ promised His followers.

It is all there in the Bible. Why then can’t we see clearly the clues to spiritual growth? Could it be unbelief that we can grow into having the same spiritual power as the early apostles? Like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They like Peter saw that the tomb was empty, but they just did not believe that Christ was actually raised from the dead. And that unbelief blinded them so much that they did not recognize Christ Himself when He joined them on their walk. And after Christ showed Himself to them, then they believed and “their eyes were opened.” Before, “their eyes were holden that they should not know him.” And when He opened their eyes, they said, “He opened to us the scriptures” [1].

God Is the Only One that Can Open the Scriptures to Us

It is all Him, brethren. He opens the door that no man can close. And this door is the door to understanding and enlightenment as to the spiritual growth in His Kingdom. And this door that He opens is the opening of His written word that speaks of Him, the Word, the Logos.

Why are we not walking like the early apostles? It is because we have 2,000 years of false doctrines  and false concepts about Christ super-imposed on top of the initial truth. The early apostles literally saw Christ in action. He made them to be solid in their belief, for He needed witnesses to write the clues down that we would be pondering in our era.

They had the pure doctrines of Christ after He showed Himself after the resurrection. But now we have the traditions of men. That is why we do not grow very much. The mud of man’s traditions have been smeared on the eyes of the sheep of His pasture. And now He is crying to His people, Come home to Me! Leave your old concepts about Me behind. Cut off the traditions of men from your thinking. Repent of your sins, once and for all, and return to Me, and I will show you the new and living way.

Yes, what if the clues to the mysteries of spiritual growth are clearly given to us in the scriptures, and we have but to listen with fresh ears and hungry believing hearts the new thing that God wants to teach us.

For, brethren, there is so much more than what churchianity is teaching us. Let me put this in all capital letters. I hardly ever do this, but what I am about to write is so important. IF THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUR INFORMATION ABOUT GOD IS IN ERROR, THEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH IS NOT SPEAKING THROUGH THEM TO YOU.

That is why our Savior says for us to “prove all things.” Test everything. Examine all things. All things includes also what you think to be false. Prove it out from the scriptures, asking the Spirit of truth’s guidance. Seek and you will find the answers as to what is true and what is false. Getting this right is huge, and every one must bear their own burden of proof. And remember what the apostle John wrote to us: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many  false prophets are gone out into the world.” Test the teachings, for there are many false teachers out there (I Thes. 5: 21; I John 4: 1).

Once the old leaven teachings about Christ are purged out of our minds, then we are ready to add to His faith that “was once delivered to the saints.”  For it is His faith now in us. Seven attributes of His divine nature are to be added–not to just blind faithof ours in something about Christ. But added to His faith that was delivered to us. For there is only one faith, not many (II Peter 1).

Adding more of His divine nature is what spiritual growth is all about. But we must get rid of the false concepts before the Spirit of truth, which is God Himself, will come to take up His abode in us more fully. Which is the definition of real spiritual growth [2].        Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

1. Luke 24: 13-32

2. For more on this, check out these articles: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/category/false-prophets/

[For more on the additions, check out these articles: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/category/additions-to-our-faith/ ]

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July 18, 2015 · 4:45 pm

Christian Growth–Additions to the Faith (Part One)

How does a Christian grow? What steps must be taken to “grow in grace”? What do we need to know and then to do, to spiritually progress to the growth God wants for us?

Somebody will say, Well, obviously you have to pray and read the Bible. But is that all there is to it? That’s a good start, but millions of well-meaning people have been uttering words to God and reading verses daily, and yet, they have not become mighty men and women of valor in God.

Will just praying and reading the Bible and going to church insure real spiritual growth? Millions sit in their weekly pews wanting to grow but remain stagnant and stunted like yellowed spindly  tomato plants, starving for rain and nourishment.

Stages to Our Spiritual Growth

To answer these questions, two major concepts must be understood. First, one must realize that there are stages to our spiritual growth. Christ taught these stages of spiritual growth in parables. In the parable of the sower the good ground (people with good and honest hearts) will bring forth fruit from the seed–some thirty fold, some sixty fold and some one hundred fold. In the parable of the seed cast into the ground, spiritual growth in the kingdom of God brings forth fruit, “first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear” [1].

The apostles taught us about these three stages of spiritual growth. The apostle John wrote unto “children, young men, and fathers,” detailing spiritual characteristics of each level. We must recognize this reality. If we do not understand this, then we will not know how to judge ourselves and examine ourselves [2].

Thirty fold Christians are spiritual children, starting out as babes in Christ. Paul tells us how to recognize a babe in Christ. They are “dull of hearing.” They either have forgotten the “first principles of the doctrine of Christ” or were never taught them. They have need of milk and not strong meat. They are “unskilful  in the word of righteousness.” And they do not have “their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” [3].   They cannot tell the true doctrines of Christ and the false doctrines we are warned about by Christ and all of His apostles.

I am not trying to be callously critical about these. God expects us to grow up into Him. And it takes a frank look at ourselves to see where we need to change. I love the babes in Christ and want them to grow up into Him. I am merely relating what Christ and His apostles said about this growth level. We have to know about this so that we can grow and help others to grow. For it is all about His Spirit growing up in us. I mention this to substantiate this teaching about growth levels. {For much more on this subject read the articles found here:  https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/category/spiritual-life-cycle/ ]

Most neophyte Christians are mostly alive for what they can receive from our Father. They often “ask amiss” to consume their request on their own desires for themselves. Most of the time they are asking for material things–jobs, money, houses, goods–but God already knows our earthly needs. It is the spiritual things that He is most concerned with as in “the kingdom of God and His righteousness.”

The Second Thing–Discerning Both Good and Evil

The second thing that we must exercise  in order to grow is the discernment of “both good and evil.” And to discern these, one must have knowledge of what are  the true doctrines and what are the false doctrines about Christ and His plan and eternal purpose.

To bear the same spiritual powerful fruit that the early apostles did, we must purge out the old leaven false teachings that we have learned growing up on the planet.  They must be repented of and forsaken for good. For believing false concepts about Christ is the main reason young Christians don’t grow into strong, powerful men and women of God. False doctrines will stunt our growth! But to get rid of them takes courage and a love of God, despite the blow back of the foes of our own household. The clinging to traditions of men will hinder us from growing into Him [4].

One of the most damaging faults committed by young Christians is to believe that every church that they choose to go to has what is needed to help them grow and please God. The truth is that many old leaven false teachings and false concepts are taught in the denominational churches. These would include congregations that are non-denominational and yet still teach the same traditions and doctrines.

How can one know the true from the false? Christ said that you will know them by their fruits. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, He said. If they teach things that you cannot prove in the scriptures of truth, then it is suspect. We are to prove all things. Take everything that is taught to you and ask God to help you prove it out whether it is true or false. For in the end, you and I are responsible for our own walk. We cannot blame the preacher. For the Judge will say to us, Why did you not study it out and trust Me to help you in your search for truth?

For His people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. If what is taught to you is not helping you grow, ask God to lead you in your search. Ask Him for the Spirit of truth, and He will grant your request. Ask and it shall be given. Once the Spirit of truth abides in you, then He will lead you into all truth.

Hundreds of millions of professing Christians are languishing, caught up on the broad way that leads to destruction. They need proper instruction so that they may grow and not be those who hear the heart-breaking words our Savior told to them who claimed to have taught in His name and done many mighty things “serving” Him: Depart from Me; I never knew you [5].

After Getting Rid of False Doctrines

After we know about the growth levels in the Spirit, and after we begin to throw out the false concepts, what if God has provided for us the teachings to replace them–pure teachings that like strands of golden threads lying on a table, the Spirit of truth now begins to weave them into a golden chain that supports a spiritual locket that is filled with all the mysteries of God? Knowledge of the holy, knowledge fit for the offspring of the King, knowledge that unlocks growth for His future kings and queens?

For the way into the holiest is lighted once the old false teachings are removed. For the false doctrines about Christ spiritually blind us. Remember Paul, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, full of false doctrines, and how when he was enlightened on the road to Damascus, the scales fell away from His eyes? That is what we are talking about here. After the scales fell, then He could see into the pure teachings of Christ.

I believe that He wants to show us these true doctrines and teachings, truth necessary for us to really grow like the early apostles.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

1. Mark 4: 14-20, 26-29

2. I John 2: 13

3. Hebrews 5: 11-14

4. https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2015/01/31/warning-beware-of-mans-traditions-about-christ/

What Prevents Christian Growth–The Deceitfulness of Sin

5. Matt. 7: 23

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May 30, 2015 · 5:36 pm

The Meat of the Word of God–The Harvest of Souls

Spiritual babes and young children of God need the milk of God’s word in order to grow spiritually into young men and women of God. They are “dull of hearing” and have need to be taught again the “first principles of the oracles of God.” They are “unskilful in the word of righteousness,” and need to be taught the “principles of the doctrine of Christ” so that they may “go on to perfection.” Yes, perfection–complete spiritual maturity–just like Christ and His apostles (Hebrews 5: 12-6: 2).

This spiritual milk that they need is the foundation of repentance from sin, faith in God, baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. These concepts need to be solid in a young Christian’s life, and are taught by God’s gift to mankind–His apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

These five offices are in His body “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ,” until the whole body of believers grow unto “the stature of the fulness of Christ.” Until we all grow to become just like the early apostles and just like Christ Himself! That is what it says. The Spirit of God writing through the apostle Paul makes our destiny very clear.(Eph. 4: 11-14)

So these “first principles” above are the milk of the word that will help us grow spiritually. With them working in our lives, we grow and no longer are children, “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”

Ever wonder why young Christians (and those with several years attending church) jump from “one new teaching” to another, from one TV evangelist to another, from one interpretation to another? It is because they can’t spiritually tell the difference between the false and the true.

But the meat of the word “is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (v. 14 NIV).

But like any babe that sees his dad and mom eating a T-bone steak, he begins to want a more substantial meal than what the bottle is providing. They want some of that meat.

So What Is the Meat of the Word?

As we grow in Christ out of childhood, we get our strength from the meat of the word and not the milk. Milk will just not sustain us. We need solid food. Grown up, spiritually mature food is what we need for nourishment–especially in these latter days just before the King’s return to set up His kingdom. We need His strength; we need to eat what the King eats. What is it?

Yahshua, called Jesus in the English speaking world, said that there was a certain food, a certain meat, that He ate to keep Him going while here on earth. He said, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4: 34).

Most Christians have read this, and most stop right there and do not read the next verse. They will surmise that the Father’s will is for Him to go to the cross and shed His blood for our sins. This is what most understand about Christ, having heard this every Sunday. And it is a very important thing, no doubt.

But we need to read the next verse to see what the Father’s will is and the unfinished work to be done. In verse 35, He reveals that the harvest of souls at the time of the end is His meat, His food. That goal and what it takes to accomplish that goal is the food that strengthens Him for the task. He goes on to say that we are fellow laborers with the prophets of old who sowed the seed for the final harvest of souls, and now we reap (v. 36-38).

Those of us who have learned and walked in the first principles of Christ’s doctrine will only be nourished by doing the Father’s will and finishing His work. And that work is the harvest of souls in these last days.

Working toward this goal and purpose is doing what He did. It is eating that bread. It is taking in our Example’s actions and doing the same thing, with the same drive and determination. Doing the harvest is what will give us strength to continue and not be “tossed to and fro” like little children.

We will be fed spiritually by making His vision for this world ours. We have got to own it. When this harvest becomes our vision, He will give us the power to accomplish it. This is the meat we are to eat: to do the Father’s will and finish His work, which is the harvest. The same power He gave to His early apostles will be given to us to prepare a harvest of people to populate His kingdom that He will establish here on earth at the end of the age.

This is the reason to be seeking the gifts of the Spirit, which include the ability to speak and write the word of wisdom and knowledge, faith, healings, miracles, prophecies, and discerning of spirits, among others. These are all manifestations of God working through us for one reason: to help us harvest the souls that will populate His kingdom.

But Some Will Say…

There will be some who say, I am already doing that. The moment I came to God I started telling everyone about Christ and telling them about Him and His love for us. I’ve been a Christian now for several years and preach and teach my heart out for Him. And our church is growing and we are helping the poor and needy, and…and I am already busy doing the harvest of souls…

Really? I know many mean well, but they are still grappling with the sin in their own lives, teaching others that they will be sinners till the day they die. They never teach true repentance from sin, which is complete and utter freedom from sin and sinning. That is what He and His apostles taught. They don’t teach that “our old man (self) is crucified with Christ” and how we do not continue sinning in Christ, for “in Him is no sin” (Rom. 6: 1-12). This is “repentance from dead works,” the very first of Christ’s doctrines, the first bottle of milk we are to drink and get down pat in our lives as newborn babes in Christ! And yet they ran and taught and preached about Christ and did not teach the message that He taught.

I am reminded of what Jeremiah told the people. “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD…I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied” (23: 16, 21).

Do we have a New Testament parallel of this?  Did Christ speak of devout ministers with the wrong message? Yes. He said that “not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.” This is the same will of our Father, which is the harvest of souls. But wait. This person that calls on Him believes that he is doing God’s will. Christ continues: “Many will say to Me in that day [of the harvest], Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity” (Matt. 7; 19, 21-23). “Iniquity” is translated from the Greek word meaning “breaking the ten commandment law,” which is sin (I John 3: 4). This person was still breaking the law and making up excuses as to why it was impossible to keep the law, but this is not the message that He taught. This person was sinning; that’s the reason that Christ did not know him as a righteous co-laborer in the Father’s harvest.

For one is not working in His harvest of souls when he is gathering people together and teaching them the wrong message. He makes that clear, warning us over and over about false doctrines taught by false teachers. We must did deep and not believe every teaching about Christ that is out there. We must “prove all things” and not be drawn to teachers that preach things that is the smooth and comfortable way, which is the “broad way that leads to destruction.” We must seek and cry out for the truth, even if the message is not what we want to hear. We must stick with the word.

Finally, It Is Not About Us and What We Would Want for This Earth

It is so easy to get lost in the weeds and lose sight of what God is doing and what we should be doing. It is all about the harvest. Period. It is not our harvest. We did not sow the seed. It is our honor to help reap for the Father.

It is not about us. This is how a little child looks at life–mostly alive for what they can receive from the Father. Do you want to know where you are at in your Christian growth. Reread the previous sentence. Young adults in God, however, are mostly alive for what they can do for the Father. And spiritual fathers and mothers are mostly alive for what they can be for the Father. This is your 30 fold, 60 fold, and 100 fold growth levels God taught us in Matthew 13.

“One plants, one waters, and God gives the increase,” says the Spirit through Paul. And now, we reap. And we are all nothing, and God is everything. It is all Him. We are just humans that He has chosen to finish His work through. And that work is His harvest, which includes feeding them the milk and meat of the word. That is the food that will sustain us and feed us and nourish us during the rough times ahead.

Christ said for us to pray for more laborers to help in the harvest (Matt. 9; 37-38).

Getting this vision, consuming it, and making it our daily bread is eating His flesh. His flesh or His body did at all times the will of our Father and finished His work. His flesh is food indeed. When we do what He did, then we are eating His flesh. Those of us who do this will “abide in Him.”

And this abiding in Him is huge! He said that if we abide or remain in Him, then we could ask what we will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15: 7). Whatever we need in order to complete the harvest and bring in the kingdom to this earth–that request He will grant to those on the same page as He. He has our backs because we have His back.  Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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May 9, 2015 · 4:41 pm

My Confession of Tears

I have a confession to make. I had quite an experience the other night. My heart broke, and my  body collapsed into a crumbling blubbering mass. At first I did not understand what had happened to me upon hearing that voice.

Because that voice and the power that pierced through the crevasses of the never-cry rock of my heart was beyond explaining–though now I try.

The words in the Italian were unintelligible and superfluous. It was the sadly moving melody channeled by the force of the cords of the tenor’s voice–that is what did it. That is what broke through into the realms of the core of my being–into the secret chamber where lurks the hidden desires and dreams which serve as mortar that plasters and binds our bricks of tenderness into stone.

As I sat there stunned, weeping uncontrollably in waves of joy and sorrow, at 4: 00 am in front of the television set, a blue dawn of understanding began to come over me. I remember saying to myself, “I get what they see in opera now. I get it.”

The catharsis produced in this art form is similar to the effect of Shakespeare’s tragedies, which I taught many years. I have also experienced it in the sadness and loneliness of traditional country songs by Vern Gosdin and George Jones among others. Nothing sadder than lost love as in “You don’t know lonely until it’s chiseled in stone” or “He stopped loving her today; they placed a wreathe upon his door; soon they’ll carry him away. He stopped loving her today.”

The human need for catharsis is universal. And it seems that most cultures try to meet the need  to have our hearts broken. We must need it–the humbling, the vulnerability of a man whose defensive walls break down leaving him sobbing vehemently.

We fight it at first, of course, doing our best to stop the raindrops from our eyes, knowing innately the emotional sea change that will ensue. And yet, deep down we want to be broken. If we did not, then the patently sad movies, books, plays, songs, and operas would cease to sell copies and tickets.

God evidently made us this way, with this need and desire to be purged and purified through brokenness. After all, He did say that He is near to them of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I just did not know that He would use Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma” sung by Mario Lanza to do the breaking.  Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

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April 12, 2015 · 5:37 pm

The Milk of the Word

The spiritual growth life cycle revealed in scripture is like the natural human life cycle. We all start out in our new life as babes in Christ.

After that first flush of joy of entering into our new life, we start growing and we are hungry. Just like a baby. Peter admonishes us, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.”

But what exactly is the “milk of the word”? The spiritual milk is the “first principles of the oracles of God.” Paul the apostle uses this phrase in an admonishment to the Hebrews. He was concerned with their lack of growth, saying that they should be out there teaching the newcomers in Christ. But they had “need that one teach [them] again which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and have need of milk, and not strong meat (Heb. 5: 11-12).

Two “needs” are mentioned here–a need to be taught the first principles and a need for milk. So we see that they are one and the same: milk = first principles.

So What Is the “Milk”?

What are these first principles? The next verse says that if a Christian is still on the spiritual milk, then they are “unskilful” and lack spiritual experience, “for he is a babe.” Strong meat  is for mature Christians, meaning that their senses have been “exercised to discern both good and evil.” In other words, a babe in Christ finds it difficult to tell the difference between good and evil. Babes in Christ need to be taught the difference between the true doctrines of Christ and the false doctrines. And there are many (5: 13-14).

The “first principles of the oracles of God” are the “principles of the doctrine of Christ.” They are found in the next two verses of Hebrews. We are to learn them and then leave them! We are to walk in them but not circle the same old mountain like our forefathers did. Rather we are to do them, incorporate them as good spiritual habits, and then “go on to perfection,” which is spiritual maturity. That’s the place where there’s no more need of milk but strong spiritual food (6: 1-2).

And then Paul lists these principles of the doctrine of Christ, which is the milk of the word. “Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.” That’s the milk that when fully consumed and digested, will bring us into a higher walk with Him.

These are the first principles of Christ’s doctrine, and we should know them backwards and forwards and be doing them. Yet, some churchgoers say that they do not want doctrine–they just want Jesus. Sorry. You can’t have Him without His teachings. He is the Great Teacher of Righteousness, after all.

These teachings comprise the milk of the word, and they are wonderful stuff and very much needed, but it should not be our spiritual food forever!

The New Blog

For those of us who do have need of the milk, I will be sharing a series of articles in a new blog with the working title The Milk of the Word. It will be there for new Christians as well as those in the body of Christ who desire to firm up the foundation of Christ’s doctrines, which will help us all to go on to perfection. “Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4: 11-15). But first, let us imbibe the pure and sincere milk of the word.

{I will be announcing the new blog The Milk of the Word shortly here on this blog}

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March 28, 2015 · 6:41 pm

It’s All About the Fruit–Spiritual Fruit, That Is

It really is all about the fruit that we followers of Christ are to bear. This nectar of knowledge concerning fruit-bearing is of utmost importance to Him and should be to us.

In fact, Christ mentions fruit and how to produce it in our lives in an abundant harvest of verses. The understanding centers on the Kingdom of God. And in order to comprehend the mystery of the gospel of the Kingdom, one must understand the parables, chiefest of which is the parable of the sower.

The Sower sows the seed, the word of God about His plan and purpose, the kingdom of God. Some seed falls on careless hearts, some on hard stony hearts of unbelief, and some seed falls among thorns, and these hearts do not bear fruit at all for God. But some seed will fall on a good and honest heart, and that person “understands it, and bears fruit, and brings forth, some an  hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty” (Matt. 13: 18-23). That’s a “hundred, sixty, and some thirty times what was sown” (NIV).

“And He said to them, Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?” (Mark 4: 13). This parable is the key that will unlock the mysteries of all the other parables. Yes, the parables are “dark sayings,” deliberately spoken to prevent those who are not suppose to understand. They are not nice little stories to make it easier for everyone to comprehend God’s mysteries, contrary to the current wave of “political correctness” drowning the land.

For the disciples had asked Christ aside, “Why do you speak to the multitudes in parables?”

“He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever has, to him shall be given.” Has what? Has grace given by God to understand the mysteries of God’s government portrayed in Christ’s teachings, predominantly through the parables.

“But whosoever has not [this grace, this favor], from him shall be taken away even that he has” (Matt. 13: 11-15). This is unintelligible through modern man’s thinking, who does not understand that Christ was teaching primarily to the remnant. “For blindness in part is happened” to the twelve tribes of Jacob/Israel “until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in,” which will provoke His chosen people to return to Him (Romans 11: 25).

But It’s All About the Fruit Bearing

The big idea from this parable is this. There are three general levels of spiritual fruit production taught by Christ. We see it here in 100, 60, and 30 times what was sown. His apostles taught these levels, also.

John quotes Christ teaching about the different levels. “Every branch in Me [the Vine] that does not bear fruit, My Father takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, He purges it that it may bring forth more fruit…He that abides in Me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit” (15: 2-5). There it is in one passage–the 30, 60, and 100 fold spiritual fruit bearing concept–fruit, more fruit, and much fruit. But what is especially important here is the key teaching on how to increase our spiritual fruit production–abiding in Him and He in us. This abiding is where we are heading in our studies.

The three levels are taught in the way of the growth of the seed: “first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head” (Mark 4: 28). And speaking of spiritual growth the three levels are seen in “children, young men, and fathers” (I John 2: 13-14).

What’s the Importance of the Different Levels?

It is important because those lukewarm Christians will not literally be close to Him during His kingdom reign right here on earth. And we want to serve the King as any good subject would. And who wants to be “taken away” and not be near Him. Bearing spiritual fruit to our potential is of utmost importance. We must learn all about it from the greatest Teacher the world has ever witnessed walking on this planet.

[Note: I know that this information is very new to some of you. There is a strong tendency of the human mind and heart to prefer the old and reject the new; it is common and age-old. His plan is not how we would have done it. God said as much: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, and My ways are not your ways” (Isa. 55: 8). We must prove all things, whether we think they are true or not. These things I have read in 15 different English translations and one Spanish translation, and have consulted the Greek, as well. And they all say the same thing about the Parable of the Sower]

If all this resonates and you understand then I will close with this quote at the end of Christ’s teaching on the matter: “Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. For many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them, and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them.        Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

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January 17, 2015 · 8:47 pm

What the World Needs Now Is…Agape Love

Life is really all about love. Rather, a fulfilled life is all about love. Books, songs, poems, and most artistic masterpieces have as their major theme something about love. It is “what the world needs now.”

So we have the thinkers and poets penning down for the masses the hidden longings of the heart, for love. Although they may not realize it, mankind’s longing for love is really a desperate desire for God on some level. For there is only one entity in the universe that actually is love, and that is God, for “God is love” (I John 4: 16).

Thus, mankind’s search for love ends when he finds God. Seeking to be loved from another individual is seeking an earnest of God that He has placed in man and woman, who was created in His image.

The Hebrew prophets and apostles speak of just these very things. The Son of God Himself spoke of love, living it out dramatically through His Passion. He is Love incarnate, for He exhibited the greatest love that a mortal can ever do–to lay down his life for his friends.

This act of self-sacrifice for another instantly touches the human heart like no other act. The Son of God presented Himself the sacrificial Lamb for our deliverance, and now He asks His followers to do the same. But this time we are “to present our bodies a living sacrifice.”  Through this humble service to our King, we will not become self-centered proteges of this world system, but we will be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” We will change into His image through thinking His way, by His Spirit. (Romans 12: 1-2).

Now His Holy Spirit of Love multiplies and abounds in us when we do what He did, which is lay down our lives to help save mankind from a life without love (God). It is not so we can escape hell and go to heaven. That is not why He laid His life down. To follow Him, we must do it for the same reason.

How Do We Lay Our Lives Down Like Christ Did?

He wants us to join Him on the cross. The moment just before Christ died, all of the sins of mankind were place upon Him. He wants us at first to join Him on the cross. This signifies that our old haunts and sinful desires and deeds coming out of our old heart die with Him. Our old sinful nature died with Christ that day. And “he that is dead is freed from sin” (Romans 6: 7). We are free from the enslavement to sin and sinning that was our old selfish life! The problem is many just do not believe it. They have not heard of it and are loathe to believe anything “new.” They think that it is impossible to be rid of sin in a Christian’s life. But is anything too hard for God? To him that believes, aren’t all things possible with God? (I John 3: 9).

Dying with Him is the initial baptism or immersion into His death. Then we  believe that we are buried with Him. And then we believe that He was raised from the dead after 72 lifeless hours in the tomb. It is through believing in His resurrection that enables us to believe that we are raised from the dead, too! (Romans 6: 4-5). This is His faith, His belief. When we also believe this great act of the greatest love, then we receive His Spirit of life and love, and we walk “in a newness of life”! And love!

His resurrection power is born of love. For it surges forth after the selfless act of laying down His life for His friends, the greatest love. Our conscious act of following Christ in doing this is met with the resurrection power of love (God), now in us.

Spiritually Growing
And then we, “as newborn babes,” are to spiritually grow in Him. Or rather, we will spiritually grow as the Spirit of Love grows in us.

“Babes in Christ” need the “sincere milk of the word” in order to grow properly. They are, of course, mostly alive in their new life for what they can receive from the Father. Their prayers reflect this, for their petitions  center on their own needs. This is why Christ teaches all of us to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” and all of our earthly needs will be supplied. But it takes a spiritual growth to become mature in Him enough to do this. A growth that the milk and then the meat of the Word will accomplish. For we all must be taught His thoughts, desires, and will, in order to grow (I Peter 2.2; Matt. 6: 31-34).

But herein lies the problem. Instead of the sincere and uncorrupted milk and later meat of the Word, they are fed with half-truths, imaginations, and traditions of men about God and not the “food that is needful for [them]” (Prov. 30: 8). Thus, the little children of God, lamentably, are stunted in their spiritual growth in Christ, stunted by erroneous concepts of the Savior and His plan for this world.

But a “babe in Christ” is like a child fed only with junk food their whole life. When the white sugar, corn syrup, and white flour products are taken away and a wholesome diet is place in front of them, they will say that the old junk food is  better. “And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.’ ” “Wine” is universally accepted to be a symbol of “doctrine” (Luke 5: 39).

Warnings about this problem in the last days fill the writings of the apostles of Christ. All of the New Testament writers, along with the prophets of old, expressed their concerns.

But Some…

But some will break out of the stunted pack, pulled by a strong yearning for the answer to life’s riddle. God has called some according to His purpose. He foreknew and conferred on them a destiny “to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8: 28-29). He has chosen them “in Him before the foundation of the world, that [they] should be holy and without blame before Him in love.” Agape Love (Eph. 1:4).

These chosen ones, invisibly guided by His Spirit, will answer the “high calling.” They will decrease so that He can increase His presence in them to the point that Love (God) will express Himself fully to every one on earth–through them.

These He is calling. They have already been chosen. And they will respond and become the over comers of all things like the the corrupted half-truths and traditions of men about God. Fed with the sincere truth of God’s plan, they will grow fully to express Christ in human form again. They will believe Christ’s words: “Greater works shall you do than what I have done.”

They will be the princes and princesses in God’s kingdom, soon to be established earth wide upon His return. Filled with Christ’s Spirit, during the 1,000 Year Reign, they will be His viceroys, governing the provinces of the earth after the dust and ash of Tribulation settle.

How Will They Grow?

This vision of the “gospel of the kingdom” is what will feed and nourish young Christians so that they can spiritually grow to be just like Christ.

And the growth of God within them is the growth of love within them. Christ’s words confirm this: “All men will know that you are My disciples if you have love one to another.”

The last days are upon us. All these promises of sonship are written for our time, brothers and sisters. We are living in the time of the latter rain of His Spirit. Are we the ones who will shake off the chains of Christian mediocrity and free ourselves from spiritual infancy? Will we stand up and answer this highest of His callings–to sit with Him on His throne? Not every Christian will. Consider the five foolish virgins (Rev. 3: 21; Matt. 25: 1-13).

Or will we recede to the rear near the nursery and hide our talents in the earth, only to be chided by the Master, “You slothful and unprofitable servant.”

Sadly, this will come upon some Christians, all because they did not dig deep and prove all things and study for themselves the “new things” presented to them along the way. Christians who don’t grow will never express the greatest love, the love that comes from above, that heals the poor and needy, that rights the wrongs of human depravity, that restores God’s righteous judgements in the earth, thus incarnating God (Love) once again to a love-starved earth.

It is this kind of love that we are to finally add to the divine nature within us now. “Agape love is the bond of perfectness.” It is that last attribute of God’s divine nature that makes us complete in Him. It matures us, for when added, we will have been “conformed to the image of His Son.”  {My readers, I have poured it out for you. Can a brother get an “Amen”? Tell me what you think about these things. Did they make you think? Did they inspire you? Did they make you angry? Make a comment. Let me know your thoughts about these things. Holler at me. I need your fellowship.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock}

 

 

 

 

 

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July 8, 2014 · 3:02 pm

“Seek First the Kingdom of God,” the Government of the Invisible Spirit

The phrase “kingdom of God” has been used so much by so many people from so many different religious backgrounds that its real meaning may have been lost.  Heretofore, most  have understood the phrase to mean “God’s kingdom,” or the kingdom that belongs to Him.  And this is true, it does belong to Him and His children.  However, there is another way to look at that phrase, and that is “the kingdom of the Spirit.”

It says in John 4 that “God is Spirit.”  Therefore, “kingdom of God” can be construed as “kingdom of Spirit.”  Or, in other words, it means a form of order and government headed by a Sovereign entity that is comprised of Spirit.  The Master did say that “the flesh profits nothing; it is the spirit that makes alive.”  “All is vanity,” in other words, except the invisible spiritual things.

We are admonished that we should seek first this invisible spirit kingdom.  Also, the only true worship of the Father is in spirit and in truth.  It is not any old spirit worship, but it must be spiritual and truthful. It won’t be anything remotely having to do with earthly natural things.

True worship is an invisible connection between our spirit in the human heart and the Eternal Creator Spirit.  It is the connection you cannot see.  You cannot legislate it, tax it, build fine buildings in order to coax true worship into your midst.  It is an invisible agreement between the Creator and His special spiritual creation, Adam.  “The true worshipers must worship the Father in spirit and in truth.”  They must find out the truth about His invisible Spirit reign within, for “the kingdom of God (Spirit) is within you.”

It is a realm of the heart, an inner sanctum full of true thoughts about the true nature of things.  “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.”  You can’t see it with your fleshly eyes.  It is not of this earth.  Consequently, when we look out over this earth, anything we see, be it ever so religious, cannot be or have anything to do with the kingdom of Spirit (God).

“Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights.”  The kingdom of God is a dimension and realm that our five senses don’t pick up on.  It is not of this earth.  It must first be believed on, and then it will begin to manifest itself to the understanding of our hearts.  We will never see it first with our earthly eyes and then believe.  Faith must be exercised—believing having not yet seen with the fleshly eyes.  The kingdom of God is a government of God, who is Spirit, and who rules in our hearts by His very essence, which is spirit.      Kenneth Wayne Hancock        {For more on this topic see this earlier article  https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/2008/03/14/not-of-this-earth/ and the one dated 3/17/08 }

 

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June 7, 2014 · 5:18 pm

Christ Is the Seed of Love–Greater Love Has No Man Than This

Christ is the Seed. He is the Seed of Love that is planted in our hearts. This happens when we believe that He laid down His earthly life for us.

“Greater love has no man than this that he lay down his life for his friends,” Christ said. That is the very definition of love in its fullest magnitude. So when we believe this about what Christ did for us all, then  that same seed of love is generated in our hearts.

This regeneration of love in our hearts truly begins when we believe that Christ was resurrected from the dead. When we believe that He was resurrected, then we, too, can be “raised to walk in a newness of life.” This is the seed of love being germinated in our hearts. And this new life that springs out of our new heart and spirit reflects His love for others in our life. For these other human beings are the very ones He laid down His life for.

Loving others with the generation of Love from within us by His Spirit is the “work of God.” Many have proclaimed their desire to do God’s work in the earth. Well, this is it: “This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent” (John 6: 29). Christ’s own words. For in believing in the resurrection of Christ and all that it entails, it puts God’s very Spirit of renewal and germination and growth into our hearts. And “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 5: 5).

That same Spirit of Love, courses through us now by believing in Christ’s resurrection, which comes out of His  great love for us in giving His life.

Faith/belief of all this germinates the Seed/Truth in us and starts the growing spiritual life cycle of love in us. This love channels through us to others. But it is all generated by believing in His resurrection from the dead. When we believe this, then a rebirth of the seed of love springs out of our hearts just like seeds in our garden burst through the sun warmed soil in the spring. And so Life begins again as we remember His words: I am the way, the truth, and the life.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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