July 4, 2020 · 4:48 pm

The Need for the Additions to the Faith

When the Spirit of Christ says through Peter, “Add to your faith” certain attributes, He is not saying that we must add them in order to be saved. Personal salvation is not the issue, though it is the first important step on our spiritual quest. The additions are the key to our spiritual growth after salvation. They are the key that unlocks the door to our spiritual perfection.

Like Jeremiah, Yahweh has known us by name before our earthly mothers brought us out into the light of day. We add these heavenly attributes of God’s “divine nature” because we are called and chosen by Him to do just that. Our names are written down in the book of life before the worlds were ever spoken into existence by our God and Savior Yahshua, the Son of God.

Consequently, we have no choice in the matter. My readers are a rare group of humans who have seen through the plastic façade of churchianity and have “come out of her.” He has predestined a vanguard who will be the first fruits that will show their brethren the way to the glory land. They have been “called according to His purpose [the reproduction of Himself—Love].”

“For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified” (Rom. 8:28-30). He knew us before we were born into mortality. He gave us our destiny to be like the Son before we came here. Because of our pre-destiny, He called us; He “got our attention” that He is real. He showed us the phoniness of human society and culture and began to teach us His way. He saved us out of the quagmire of sin by justifying us. And in His mind, He has already glorified us. For He declares the end from the beginning.

All I can do is shake my head and go, “Wow!” For the Spirit is speaking to me as I write this down. What a precious privilege—to join the ranks of our brethren like David, Jacob, Daniel, Paul, John, and so many more. Their fame lives on because they answered His call upon their lives, just like we are doing. He is working the same way today as He did two, three, and four thousand years ago. He said, “I change not.” There is not one single scripture that says the miracles ceased being performed by His followers 1,900 years ago.

Our Lives Now Are His Doing

It is His ball game now since our surrender to Christ. When we really believe Romans 6:6, we enter into His rest. How do we enter into rest? When we die with Christ on the cross and are raised up from the dead with Him, we have ceased doing our own works for our old self. It is because our old man Adam is dead. And so we begin our Sabbath rest when we cease working for our old selves. This is what brings the love, joy, and peace and the other fruit of the Spirit. This is what casts out fear. There is nothing to be afraid of now. What are they going to do, send me to Vietnam? Once our old ego dies with Christ, what are they going to do? Kill our body? “Death has no more dominion over us.”

So we wait on the Spirit of truth to lead us into all truth. And He shows us that we are to grow spiritually, that we are to finally mature by bringing forth “much fruit.” And then the Spirit through Peter tells us that in order to bear “much fruit,” we need to “add to your faith” seven additions, seven facets of His divine nature. These seven things are crucial in order to come to full maturity/perfection. With them we will be able “to make our calling and election sure.” What calling? God has called us “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” In other words {Oh, words that will get you thrown out of churches} to be like the Son of God!

“Nobody can be like Jesus! That’s blasphemy!”

“Well, if you won’t let me be like Jesus, will you let me be like Peter, John, and Paul? They performed miracles like Christ. They bore much fruit.”

Bearing Much Fruit

To become a mature Christian, we have to add these seven attributes of His divine nature. If these seven things are pulsating and abounding in us, then they will enable us to bear much fruit   of the Spirit, never to be barren of love, joy, and peace (II Peter 1:8).

Those Christians who do not add them to the faith will be blind to the vision of our true destiny, for they will have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins (v. 9-10). Old sins are like blighted branches that are lopped off at the cross. Belief/faith in His resurrection gets them started in Christ, but they need the additions. If they don’t add them, then blindness overtakes them. They will get stagnant, which stops spiritual growth.

Such is the state of most church houses. Every gathering in them is a cookie cutter copy of the last meeting. Because no new light is being shared, the manna becomes stale and spoils, and most of the clergy and laity languish in the stalls of forgetfulness.

It is sad really. I still want to reach out and touch them like I have endeavored to do, but they say that they are “increased with goods and have need of nothing” (Rev. 3:18). I am learning to not be dismayed nor frustrated. For one who speaks God’s message is honored, but not “in his own country and in his own house.” (Mt. 13: 57). This explains why we can’t get any respect from those in our own home. [Perhaps you have experienced this. Please share in a comment].

The Need to Add to the Faith

Finally, those foreordained and predestined will feel the need to add the seven additions to the faith. God will reveal the need to them. No man with man’s wisdom will do it. “It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy” (Rom. 9:16). But those who are called and chosen will soldier on to complete the quest. That quest is “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” The gainsayers will tell them that it can’t be done, that they are crazy for thinking such a thing. But the elect will hear His voice. The others will just hear a rumble off in the distance, shrug their shoulders, and ask for seconds on the apple pie.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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June 17, 2020 · 2:37 pm

“This One Thing I Do”—Bearing “Much Fruit”

We are living in the “time of the end” spoken by Daniel the prophet. Things are getting bad as prophesied. For the masses, their Babylon based hopes and dreams will be consumed in the fires of God’s displeasure. However, out of the ashes will rise God’s body of sons and daughters who will do the “greater works” that Christ spoke of—greater miracles and signs than even what He did! Those are His words, not mine.

These sons and daughters are His elect, those that He has chosen out of the multitudes of His people scattered all over the planet. They are the first fruits unto the Father, the first to bear “much fruit.”

“Much fruit” of the Spirit is the goal and destiny that the Father Yahweh has set for them. They are to be the “saviors” that God will send as ambassadors to the furthest ends of the earth during the 1000 Year Reign of Christ. “And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S [Yahweh’s]” (Obad. 1:21). They will be emissaries of Christ the King. They will be strong and do exploits in the land (Dan. 11:32).

At present, very few know about these things, much less believe them. The eyes of the masses are held from perceiving. They sleep, but their eyes are open. They walk yet know not to where.  They speak, yet no one is listening. They cry with desert tears. For most, this vision of sonship is like a pretty melody at first hearing, but it soon fades away, dissipating into the breezes of forgetfulness.

Nevertheless, right now, a few of the elect chosen ones are crying in the wilderness. They are announcing their King’s soon arrival. They are sharing this vision of sonship, Christ’s vision of us bearing 100 fold fruit, which is the “much fruit” aforementioned (Matt. 13: 18-23). Bearing “much fruit” can only take place after first bearing “fruit” and then “more fruit” (John 15:1-5). It is a growth from a tiny seed of faith.

The High Calling

The sons and daughters are at this present time answering the “high calling.” They today are following the Spirit’s bidding. They follow the Lamb by walking in the Spirit (Phil. 3:12). Christ has chosen them; He has “apprehended” them for His purpose of magnifying the Spirit of Christ within them (Phil. 1:20).

Thus they must surrender to His will and lay down the natural burdens that plague them—the fears, the insecurities, the doubts as to the validity of their earthly dreams for their own little “lives of quiet desperation.” They must now lay aside all worldly acclaim and count it but loss, thus trading their pasts for an opportunity to know their Creator in all His glory.

They now must take on a singular view in this new life in Christ. “Old things are passed away…all things are become new” (II Cor. 5:17). To attain the spiritual growth of manifested sonship, they must forget the things of the past—both good and bad—and reach out to embrace the magnificent adventure of sonship and daughtership that awaits them.

The apostle Paul was clear on this. This reaching out, this stretching forth of our new hearts, is a surrendering to His pull. We are iron filings, and He is the magnet that draws us to Him. Our focal point is a burning desire to “know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings…” (Phil. 3:10).

Knowing Him has to be real to us. When we communicate with Him, it is like if Christ were in a hidden locale and we are talking to Him on the phone. And while we speak with Him, thanking Him for all He does for us and the rest of His body, we remember that He was dead for three days and three nights. Dead. And we are talking to Him in prayer because the power of the Almighty raised Him from the dead. He suffered and died and was resurrected. And through His sufferings and triumph over death, we have followed Him by baptism into His death. Our old sinful life is now dead, and His Spirit now dwells within our hearts (Rom. 6:3-11).

Notice how the Spirit through Paul writes, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him…” (6:6). We’ve got to experience this in order to “know Him and the power of His resurrection.” [Brothers and sisters, you won’t hear this from preachers in pulpits. It is rare knowledge that the Spirit of truth is sharing with us.]

Those so drawn to “know Him” will begin to set priorities in their lives. And as they do, they will realize that everything on today’s to-do list is flimsy, non-consequential and superfluous. Then one day, “one thing” will rise to the top of the list. Again Paul was clear on this: “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling” (Phil. 3:13-14). In another version it reads, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me…”

That One Thing

That one thing is a focused striving for spiritual growth, a yearning and pulsing forth to bear “much fruit.” It is a total leap of faith to grab ahold of the plow and not look back like Lot’s wife did. We are like that tiny blade of corn that has only one thing on its mind. It is striving and pushing up and up into the light. And to do this, the tiny blade of corn shoots down roots to assimilate necessary nutrients in order to grow and bear fruit. The one thing that it does is to fulfill its destiny, to bear grains of corn to be shared as food and to be planted in God’s garden. We are those grains of corn. “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection” (Rom. 6: 5).

To do this “one thing,” we must forget the past and then strive ahead to learn and grow toward this goal: Somebody is going to sit with Christ on His throne. That is the high calling. That is the prize. Christ has put it out there. It is not some figment of somebody’s imagination. It is going to happen to a few. The question is this: Will it be you and me?

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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June 10, 2020 · 3:21 pm

Disband the Police? Have Y’all Gone Mad?

What are you, nuts? Defund the police? That’s insanity! We saw what happened in Minneapolis when the police were ordered to flee the scene and not arrest the rioters. They burned down the precinct headquarters and scores of other buildings and businesses. With no police presence, complete chaos ensued—rioting, looting, arson, assaults, vandalism.

Disband the police? Are you crazy? If they ban the police, this is what will happen. Social tribes will form. On the left and right. In order to protect their homes, conservatives will become vigilantes. Somebody’s got to patrol the streets to protect our children and property.

With no law enforcement, existing gangs will become stronger and bolder. For an example, just look at El Salvador, and you will get a glimpse at what life would be like if you allow lawlessness to go unchecked. The citizens there are terrorized by the gangs. They cannot defend themselves because they do not have firearms. In the USA, we still have the right to bear arms. But that is next on their agenda—confiscating our guns.

The Answer

Getting rid of the police is utter madness. The question is this: Where did this insanity come from? Who put these insane thoughts into the radical left’s minds? The Bible is the source of truth. So I went there seeking an answer. The answer is surprising. The God of the Bible, the one true God of heaven, on many occasions sent madness upon the people. Yes, the LORD sent insanity. We don’t like to think that our Creator would do that. We wouldn’t. But then, our thoughts are not His thoughts, nor are our ways His.

So, why does He send insanity into the minds of people? He set before the people blessings and cursings. Blessings if they obeyed Him and cursings if they rejected Him. He promised blessings that would set us “on high above all nations of the earth…if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God” (Deut. 28:1-2). Great Britain and the USA once held that position with God. America use to be chaste and God fearing and polite and morally strong. But it has allowed the revolutionaries to take over our education system, our courts, and our culture. Yet, through it all, I know that there is a remnant, a small portion of we the people who lament the takeover of our Christian values as a nation. You know who you are. I salute you.

But as a nation, however, we have failed our Founder. We as a nation allowed international bankers and one world enthusiasts to commandeer our economic system. Now our currency is almost worthless compared to the true silver dollar that was in circulation until 1965.

We as a nation stood by and allowed Congress to legalize the killing of our unborn children. This killing of His own children is a stain that deeply blackens our national heart. We as a nation did not take to the streets by the millions over the abortion issue. They took away praying to the God of heaven at school. We as a nation did not protest en masse over that.

Our government’s armed forces have killed millions of people in unnecessary foreign wars. I saw gallons of blood in Vietnam. While there I asked everyone from the colonel on down why we were there. Nobody knew.

We as a nation have turned to pleasure as our guide and companion. We seek after the rush that our new god provides—Technology. The “whole world wondered after the beast”—the beast of technology and those who control it. What other movement in the earth has such a profound hold on the human imagination?

Because of these national sins against God and man, God promised to send curses upon His people. “However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you… The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind.  The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to…because of the evil you have done in forsaking him…(Deut. 28: 15, 28, 20; [really the whole chapter].

Wait a Minute

I know what some of you are thinking. That’s the Old Testament that’s been done away with. That is a wrong thought. They are the scriptures that the apostles and prophets and Christ Himself read and lived by. And these scriptures are quoted abundantly in the New Testament by the apostles and Christ. Furthermore, it was “the Spirit of Christ which was in them” (I Peter 1:11). Christ’s Spirit, living in the old prophets, did the writing. That is why the Old Testament is so important.

But some may ask, “What was done away with then?” After Christ’s shed blood, there was no need for the blood of animal sacrifices, which is only a type and shadow of the reality in Christ. All of the accouterments of old covenant worship has been done away. The Spirit of Christ’s love now writes our bylaws.

Don’t Think It Strange

Make no mistake. These people on the left who want to disband the police and bring in nihilistic anarchy are insane. But now we know what is happening. God’s hand is in it, since “we live, move and have our being in Him” (Acts 17: 28). Because of the sins of our nation, He has sent insanity into the minds of the powerful ruling class and those who follow them.

According to the Spirit of Christ coursing through the pen of Moses, God has smitten them with insanity and confusion. Why? Because they have turned their backs on our great King and Savior.    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

 

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June 6, 2020 · 9:44 pm

Riots, Looting, and Terror on the Streets–A Christian Perspective

Millions are asking, “What is happening to our cities? Why all the destruction?

Thousands of rioters bashed in thousands of targeted windows and looted upscale neighborhoods with impunity. They terrorized the owners with violent assaults. They killed several law abiding citizens. They struck fear into hearts as they destroyed shops across the nation, and the police were nowhere to be found. They subdued the weak by destroying their livelihood. Thousands of businesses were looted and torched by anarchists.

Did you think I was talking about what happened to the cities of America last week? I was not.  These are notes taken from encyclopedias concerning Crystal Night 1938 in Germany. It was “crystal” because of the shards of broken glass from over 7500 destroyed establishments. The SA brownshirts, a large paramilitary group, destroyed those businesses in Germany.

Sound familiar? America has its own paramilitary group that did so much damage to America. They call themselves Antifa, which stands for anti-fascism, they say. That is a misnomer, for their deeds are just like the fascists. They are very sneaky; they infiltrated the thousands of peaceful protestors in order to further their goals.

They want a revolution. They want to destroy the American way of life through wanton destruction of our values and culture. They are nihilists.  They proved that last week. [“Nihilism” from two dictionaries: “An approach to philosophy that holds that human life is meaningless and that all religions, laws, moral codes, and political systems are thoroughly empty and false”… “total rejection of established laws and institutions; anarchy, terrorism, or other revolutionary activity; total and absolute destructiveness, especially toward the world at large and including oneself”…  https://www.dictionary.com/browse/nihilism]

We need to understand that every revolution has a vanguard, a paramilitary branch of ruffians who bludgeon the peace loving citizenry into submission. They terrorize the populace by killing, looting, maiming and destroying the existing system.

That is what happened on Crystal Night in 1938 and last week here in America. The same thing happened with Mussolini’s blackshirt thugs in Italy in the 1920’s and the Bolsheviks in Russia in 1918. It all turns out the same, be it national socialism in Germany and fascist Italy, or communist socialism of the USSR, Cuba, and N. Korea.

The Question

The question is this: Will we allow history to repeat itself? Will we fail our children and grandchildren by losing their rights through a collective lukewarmness? Will we surrender our dreams through our inability to summon the courage to make them come true through hard work and faith? Or will we be like our ancestors, who came against those “dark designing knaves” that President Washington spoke about? It is time to look inward, you mighty men and women of valor.

For it is like what happened to Gideon in the Old Testament. The angel appeared to him and said, “The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.”

And Gideon said, in essence: “I am the poorest of the poor. I got only one little flatbread left; that is it. If the LORD is with us, then why are we a conquered nation? And where are all the miracles like when Moses brought us up out of Egypt?

And God replied, in essence: So you want to see that kind of power? Fine. I have chosen you. “Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent you?” (Judges 6: 12-14).

He has given us the power to overcome all of the petty little tyrants who stand in the way of righteousness, peace, and joy. All we got to do is ask Him for the power. And then we must believe that He is answering, and we will receive that power. And “if you are down and out, feeling small,” it is okay to ask God for signs along the way. Gideon, that “mighty man of valor” did. And God gave him a flat out miracle of a sign that He is super real. But I won’t tell you about that now. You can read about it (Judges 6: 15-23).

The giants are not too big.  All the great men and women of God believed that. They are great because of their walk of faith. We still remember their names, even sometimes naming our children after them. We recount their deeds from two, three, and four thousand years ago. God wants us to be like them. That is what it is going to take to stand against the evil.      Wayneman

 

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May 30, 2020 · 4:29 pm

Ask God–Don’t Command Him–And Then Believe and Receive

You may be saying, “Look, I ask God all the time. I even say the word “ask” in my prayers.”

I know what you are saying. I did the same thing until I realized that I was not asking. I was announcing to God that I was asking Him for something. I was saying, “God, I am asking You to  heal my brother William.” You notice that there was no question mark at the end because there was no asking a question. It was a statement, announcing what I wanted God to do.

I should have said, “God, would you please heal Brother William? Would you touch him and comfort him? Would you make him whole? I ask in your name Yahshua, which means Yah is the Savior. Thank you.” In this communication, I used three questions that ask God for His healing power. I noticed that as I wrote these questions just now, my heart became softer.

Compare that to the announcement which told God what I wanted Him to do. But God already knows everything. He knows our needs before we ask. He doesn’t need for us to apprise Him of the situation; He knows. He would like to see humility grow in us, and it will, when we ask Him for help in time of need. He is near to the humble.

Besides, God likes a challenge. He relishes an opportunity to dramatically show His love to His people. And He really likes the holy boldness that asking-Him-questions portrays. He likes that faith because it is the same faith that ushers forth out of His heart. God tries our hearts and proves and examines our inner thoughts. He does this to bring us to great righteous changes within us. And He then tells us to see if He will keep His word toward us: “Prove me now herewith, saith the LORD (Yahweh) of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Prov. 17:3; Mal. 3:10). God likes a challenge; He rises to the occasion. He will come through—for the sake of His name.

In the end, we shall see that asking Him a question is that humility-producing element that puts our hearts in the right place with His heart. It gets us in sync with Him and His plan.

Asking God questions in our prayers, when done humbly, puts the ball in His court. He is bound by His word when He said, “Ask, and it shall be given.” And, “You shall pray for the sick, and they shall recover.” If we ask for a fish, He will not give us a stone. It all begins with a humble spirit that asks the great Healer of mankind, “Father, would you please heal him?”

And lastly, He ties it all up with this reminder. “Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them” (Mark 11:24). It’s all about the faith.     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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May 23, 2020 · 5:58 pm

Ask God—Don’t Command Him–Another “New Commandment”

“Ask” is one of the new commandments that Christ has given us. No. Really. Ask. Simple, right?

He has commanded us to ask. We are very acquainted with His words. “Ask, and it shall be given.” And so we try to ask God for things in our prayers. But most of us are not really asking; we are commanding Him, not asking Him!

I examined my prayer life, and I found that I was using commands in my prayers: “God, help brother William. Give him strength to fight the disease. Heal him, God.” Sounds okay. I’m trying to get some help for William. But I was giving God commands! “Help…Give…Heal…” I was telling God what to do and when to do it. I was not asking Him reverently. I was giving Him commandments instead of obeying His new commandment.

Someone will say, “But my heart was in the right place. God looks on the intent of the heart.” But should the “right place” be a source of commands for God to keep, dished out by us?

This new commandment is clear: “Ask.” Ironically, it is a command, telling us to use the interrogative mood in our prayers, by asking Him to supply our petitions. But we do not do this; we use the imperative mood, commanding Him to do things for us.

We need to stop telling God what to do. What audacity and hubris we exhibit toward Him! What a complete lack of humility we demonstrate. And we are not even aware of it!

Demanding of God and commanding Him to do things is being childish. We see it in our earthly offspring. Little children rarely ask for anything. For example, they don’t say, “May I have more toast?” They will innately use a command: “Give me some more toast.” Children command and demand; that is what they do.

The spiritual children of God are still giving commands. We must grow up and mature and obey Christ’s new commandment, “Ask.” By asking Him instead of commanding Him, we will immediately see and feel a softening of our hearts toward Him and others. We will begin to sense just how weak and vulnerable we are, and how strong He is.

“Ask and it shall be given” (Matt. 7:7). It is one of the first biblical precepts that we were exposed to. And yet, it is so profound. For when we ask God and not command Him, it leads us through the gates of humility and ushers us into the arena of true communion and communication. Getting this revelation opens up a most astounding promise. “If you ask anything in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14). It does not get any more exciting than that!    Kenneth Wayne Hancock

 

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May 14, 2020 · 3:13 pm

Chapter 25 Virtue Is Moral Strength and Power—Where Does It Come From?

God has given you and me power and authority over Satan. I know. I know. You’ve heard this all before, heard it through powerless, well-meaning lips. Nevertheless, you and I are the recipients of power from God to change this world.

Because we have taken our old sinful self to the cross and have received a new heart from our Father, He has given us “the faith of the Son of God.” And now He commands us to add virtue to that faith. We have received His faith, which is Him believing in His own word. And virtue is that moral strength, vigor and power of God’s divine nature, now given to us to add to faith (II Peter 1: 1-10).

And through His virtue in us He has given us the power to share with others the goodness of our King. We now have power to liberate those who remain captives of carnality, to those still struggling with sin in their lives. Through His Spirit within, we have power to help the brokenhearted through their trials. He has given us now the strength and power to free those who are bound like prisoners in dungeons of despair. He has sent us “to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified” (Isa. 61: 1-3).

But before divine power will flow through us to achieve all these things, evil must first strike. Why? You cannot be a savior if there is no one that needs saving. You cannot be a healer if there is no one who needs to be healed. Before a resurrection miracle, there must be a death. The ultimate show of moral strength and power is resurrecting someone. That can only happen through the death of the one to be raised up.

Christ said it best. “Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” I scratched my head for 45 years on those enigmatic words. Translated: Every day has its own ration of “evil” for us to overcome or deal with. Let’s not add to it.

Adding Virtue

That is why those chosen for this auspicious calling will add the seven additions to the “faith once delivered to the saints.” They have no choice really. “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”

But this power is not given to Tommy Thomson or Larry Lansing or any other human being. This power is given to Christ in Tommy, Larry, you, and me. For it is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” And it is glorious when the anointed Spirit in us flows through our bodies, surging through and into the soul in need, thus proving Yahweh’s love and mercy.

But how is this power exercised in us? How does God work miracles through us? First things first. It starts out by understanding and then walking in the early apostles’ teachings. They had the power and authority from God, and they left us a roadmap to intense spiritual growth.

That roadmap is the teachings of Christ passed on to the early apostles. Luke called them “the apostles’ doctrine,” the teachings of the apostles. Christ’s doctrine became the “apostles’ doctrine.” Some people today are averse to the word “doctrine,” but it only means “teachings.” The early apostles “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine.” The fruit of that brought “many wonders and signs…done by the apostles” (Acts 2: 42-43). Power was given to the apostles because they were faithful to the teachings of Christ. And His teachings became theirs. And His power became theirs, also.

If you are seeing what I am saying, then “blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” If you have seen through the shallowness of churchianity and long and hunger for the true living waters, then perhaps He has chosen you to “bear much fruit” and to walk with the patriarchs, prophets and the apostles, along with the King Himself.

Realizing all this brings a moment of gravity and humility. “For to whom much is given, much is required.” Think about it.  Of all the billions living on this planet, the Creator has chosen us to reveal His secrets and mysteries to. And the secret and mystery is this: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” The Spirit of Christ in you and me! This is where the virtue power comes from.

The following is very important. The amount of the Spirit in us depends on how much understanding and knowledge we have about the Father’s ways and means. We must know Him as the instigator of all things in this life—both good and bad—for our perfection. When we know Him as our “Prince of peace” and our “Prince of pain,” our Savior and the Supplier of our sufferings, then we will be closer in “knowing Him and the power of His resurrection.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[Order my book The Apostles’ Doctrine. It is free with free shipping. Just email me. Include your name, address, and the title of the book. To:  wayneman5@hotmail.com  ]

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May 11, 2020 · 5:06 pm

Adding the “Additions to the Faith”—By Faith

To bear “much fruit” and thereby attain to full spiritual maturity, we must add certain qualities of His “divine nature” to our faith (II Pet. 1: 3-10). God has called and chosen us to grow and bear 100 fold fruit (Matthew 13, “The Parable of the Sower”). To walk in His divine nature, knowledge must be added to virtue. And we see that virtue is the initial moral goodness and righteousness that comes with a new heart.

To grow we must understand God’s use of not just what we perceive to be “good” toward us, but also what we perceive to be evil. We will never grow to be like Christ and His apostles if we do not understand how God uses evil to develop the attributes of agape love in our hearts. That is His whole purpose, a mystery hidden from the eyes of man. And that purpose is to reproduce agape love, which is Himself.

The apostle Peter says, “I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things…” So, it goes like this. By faith we have received a new heart and a new spirit from our Father by believing that Christ is raised from the dead—in our hearts. “Old things are passed away, and all things have become new.” We are “new creatures in Christ.” This is the way that God sees His work in us (Rom. 6: 1-11).

To His way of thinking, it is a done deal. God “quickens the dead and calls those things that be not as though they were.” You and I are the “dead” here. He has raised us from the dead through Christ’s Spirit now in us. We, walking in 100 fold spiritual growth, are the “things that be not.” We are not there yet, but Christ has great faith, and He sees us there! We are to walk in His belief system (Rom. 4: 17; I Cor. 1: 27-28).

Our struggle is to believe the same thing that He believes about us. He has chosen us, the weak, to confound the mighty. That is His faith that we have received in our hearts. And to that faith we add virtue. We add it—by faith. And to virtue we add the knowledge of good and evil. And to knowledge we add temperance, and to temperance patience/endurance. And to endurance, we add godliness, which is loving God [forgiving Him for using both “good” and “bad” in our life]. And then adding “brotherly kindness”/loving other people [Forgiving them for being human, and understanding that they have been dealing with some harsh “bad things” in their lives].

And we are to add agape love to all of the above. For His love is the bond of perfectness, of maturity. With this spiritual maturity in us, God will be loving mankind—through us! And that will fulfill His eternal purpose to reproduce Himself.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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April 29, 2020 · 2:44 pm

From My “Beginning” to THE BEGINNING

I say, “In the beginning was the ________________.”

And you say, “Word.”

And I say, “Right. The Word is in the beginning. The Word is the beginning.”

Many confuse God’s initial call on their life as the end all, be all. And they keep going back to those first experiences when God made Himself real to them. I know because God gave me wonderful revelations while I was a stark raving sinner. While others were seeing imaginary pink elephants and purple paisley wall coverings visually melting, I was seeing the oneness of God and how we should all be living together and loving each other. I called these experiences my Jesus trips.

And I held on to them as my life became unbearable because I was unbearable. In fact, one of the revelations became my sign: The old self had to die. This began my search for the truth. And I vowed that I would follow the philosophy or religion that could teach me the death of self.

For I was studying all the religions at the time. And none of them could tell me how the old selfish ego dies—until I heard the answer from this preacher who had just set up a Missionary Training Center in East Texas twenty miles from where I was visiting my mother and stepfather. I had no idea that the Bible would give me my sign. But there it was all along. The preacher taught from Romans 6, where the Spirit through Paul speaks about how our old man is crucified with Christ.

My early experiences were preparing me for the day when I would meet my mentor who would teach me the intricacies of being crucified with Christ. But at first I held on to those original experiences. I wanted to stay at my “beginning.” I did not fully realize that God reveals things to us—wondrous things—as a way to call us out of darkness. But that initial calling is not Him choosing us to be like His Son. Those that are chosen by Him to be in His first fruits company of manifested sons and daughters must go into basic and then advanced training. I learned from my mentor that there was so much more knowledge than those first experiences that God used to call me out of darkness.

Yes, they are wonderful experiences where He shows us a glimpse of what our walk here on earth can be. Those experiences were our alarm clock that woke us up to the fact that God is very real. And it is not that we are to totally forget those experiences. But we are to use them to get to the real purpose that He has for us. They are the first stepping stones that lead us across the creek. If we keep going back to that first stepping stone, we will never get to our destination, our destiny in Him. The objective and purpose of the stones is to get across. We are not to stay on the first stone and admire its attributes.

­­­­Remaining in our past, in the “beginning” of our new existence with God, will never help us to grow to be like Christ and His early apostles. We need to speak what they spoke. They “continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine. They spoke the words of Christ’s teachings (Acts 2: 42; Heb. 6: 1-2). They spoke of God’s purpose, and His plan to fulfill His purpose. This purpose of reproducing Himself in us will not be found in our “beginning,” in our initial experiences when God was calling us out of darkness. His purpose will only be found in THE BEGINNING—Him and His words. If we are to ever be counted as one of God’s future kings, sitting alongside the King Himself, we must realize that it is all about “His beginning.” He must take pre-eminence in our thinking.

“In the beginning was the Word.” Our King Yahshua is the Word. In Him are all of the Father’s details and plans to accomplish His purpose. And we can only get to where He desires us to be by studying Him, the Word.

We must study His plan to know it inside and out. What future king worth his salt does not prepare himself through studying his father’s will for the kingdom? The apostle Paul was clear on this: “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3: 13-14).

How do we change our words and speak of His purpose and plan? “We” cannot get it done. It will be the Spirit of Truth abiding in us that will change our speech from our “beginning” to The Beginning. The Spirit of Truth is the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. Christ promised to send Him to us. The Spirit of Truth is our guide into all truth. His presence in us insures that we will not speak about ourselves. When He abides/remains/stays in us, He will take over our words that will only speak from the mind of Christ (John 16: 13).

Someone will say, “Well, what should I talk about then?” Study out His vision of sonship and share it with others. Share about His soon coming Kingdom. Learn the apostles’ doctrine and give it to others. Study out true repentance in Romans 6. That is the message for new followers, not our initial experiences. It is not about “us.” It is about Christ and His vision for us all. Study out the armor of God and teach it to others. Study out the Father’s purpose and plan to fulfill His purpose.

Finally, my brothers and sisters, feed His lambs and sheep. Not with old manna that was good for the purpose of calling you out of darkness. Feed them with the hidden manna that the Spirit of truth channels through us to others. Thank Him for those initial experiences and for the change He has made in your life. And then thank Him for the truth, for Christ is the truth, and He is the Word that was from the beginning (I John 1: 1; John 1: 1). kwh

[All these things and more are explained in my books—The Apostles’ Doctrine, The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect, The Unveiling of the Sons of God, and Yah Is Savior. They are free with free shipping. To order one of the books: https://immortalityroad.wordpress.com/donate/ ]

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April 25, 2020 · 6:25 pm

Adding the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Part Two

Once we get this knowledge of good and evil and believe this knowledge, then we will be entering the mind of Christ—or rather His mind will be entering us.

We must understand that God has ordained both “good” and “bad” things to happen in our lives in order to fulfill His will. And His will is the force that executes His plan to fulfill His purpose of reproducing Himself.

“No, God Wouldn’t Do That!”

Some may say, “No way. God would never afflict an innocent person.” This is an understandable position, but spoken in man’s wisdom.

To prove that God will bring afflictions upon us, let me relate a story that happened to the prophet Moses. Moses is eighty years old. He has been shepherding flocks for forty years after being expelled from Egypt. He has been waiting and waiting upon God. He has been seeking God because he has finally found Him in the burning bush on Mt. Horeb. God tells Moses that He plans to deliver His people Israel from Egyptian oppression, and He plans to use him.

But Moses says, “They will not believe me, nor hearken to my voice, for they will say, the LORD has not appeared to thee.”

To prove to Moses that the Egyptians will listen, God asked Moses, “What is that in your hand?”

“A rod.” Now rods have been used for many years as a shepherd’s tool for good, to fend off wild beasts and to generally help both the flock and the shepherd. But Yahweh tells Moses, “Cast it on the ground.” He did, and it changed into a serpent, a symbol for evil. When Moses picked it up by its tail, it changed back into a rod (Ex. 3-4).

We get an incredible picture of our Creator in all His sovereignty. God makes little distinction between the “good” rod and the “bad” serpent. They are merely two sides of the same coin. I say one coin because if He needs “heads” to come up, He gets it. And if He needs “tails” to enter the picture, tails turns up. The rod symbolizes the “good” things that happen to us, and the serpent represents the “bad” things that befall us. God uses both to mold and shape us.

God is showing us through this miracle of the rod turning into a serpent a glimpse into His mind. It is like having a tree with good and evil fruit spread out on the branches above us. We walk “under” this tree and God, as it were, causes to fall the fruit we need in order to grow. Sufferings come; many are caused by our faults; some are not.  Sometimes a rod or staff is needed for our support and comfort, and sometimes the serpent bites or scares us like when “Moses fled from before it” (Ex. 4: 3).

But Moses did not flee the next time the rod became a serpent. He was not afraid of the evil any longer. He knew that the serpent/devil was merely doing his job in the grand scheme of things [1].

The Excuses of Moses Answered by Yahweh

After the rod/serpent miracle, Moses makes an excuse as to why he is not the man for the job. “I am not eloquent…I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue.” Moses was implying that God had made a mistake in choosing him because of his stammer.

To which Yahweh profoundly replied, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the dumb, or deaf or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I Yahweh.” God tells us that He makes the dumb, deaf and blind.

It is like when the disciples asked the Son of God concerning the blind people in their midst. “Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” And Christ responded, “Neither, but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9: 3). And then He healed his blindness. God made the man blind to give His sons opportunity to work miracles and heal them. Let me repeat that. God made the innocent man blind.

This is rare knowledge that needs to be added to virtue, which is moral goodness,  strength, and power. Some would accuse God of being cruel and immoral for making the man blind. They accuse Him because they do not understand that both “good” and “bad” issue forth from the Father. We will only see it His way when we believe this knowledge about God using both good and evil to accomplish His will.

The Father’s sons and daughters will judge it properly. And that judgement is this: The devil and his minions have a job to do. Their recalcitrance is written and choreographed by the Director and Author of our play. As the antagonist is needed to bring out the best of the protagonist, so the devil is serving God’s interests by their resistance to us.

It is said, No pain, no gain. So it is in the spiritual realm. The evil spirits cause much pain by becoming our opposing adversaries. It is like a football game. We are on offense, and they are on defense. God, our coach, has given us the right training and the necessary pep talk and the right plays to beat the devil and his minions. God finally wants us to—just run the plays! If we do, we win.

Better put: Because you and I are part of God’s elect, we not only will win, but we have already won in His sight. This is the faith of the Son of God. You and I “have obtained like precious faith.” His faith now resides in our hearts, and we are adding knowledge to it–the knowledge of good and evil.

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

[1] http://www.sonplace.com/sonplacing/sp_chp3.htm p. 49

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