Tag Archives: faith

February 27, 2010 · 2:39 pm

CHRIST: You Must “Hate” Your Family to Be My Disciple–Counting the Cost of Discipleship

I know. “Hate” is a very strong word. Surely, Christ did not mean for us to hate our family members, as in loathing them.

Here is exactly what He said: “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple“ (Luke 14: 26).

These are powerful words and very perplexing. Surely He did not mean hate hate. Pondering this, I looked up the word in the Greek. Miseo is used with several shades of meaning. Consulting Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words, I found that it is indeed used for “malicious feelings toward others.” But it is also used to speak “of relative preference for one thing over another, by way of expressing either aversion from, or disregard for, the claims of one person…to those of another.”

The Key to Understanding What He Meant

The key to understanding this kind of “hate” for earthly family members that Christ speaks about resides in understanding “aversion from” and “disregard for.”

Christ is saying that when we answer the call to become a son or daughter of God, earthly family members will stand in the way of us walking on with God. Consciously or unconsciously, they will obstruct us. Christ called them blind and the walking dead. Even though some may mean well, Christ sees them as enemies endeavoring to thwart His plan for our new lives in Him. They have their plans for us–how we should act towards them, and it is always about them. And God has His plan for how we occupy our minds with His thoughts. Therefore, we must choose God’s thoughts for us and “disregard” their little self-centered world, around which they want us to spin. We must avert or turn away our minds and hearts from dwelling on them.

Simply put, in comparison to the high calling, they are a hindrance and must be put on the back burner when we are forced to choose between Christ and them. We must set Christ and His plan as the top priority and not antagonistic family members. In a word, we must separate ourselves from them.

The Rest of Christ’s Lesson

Christ continues His teaching on all this in the verses that follow, illustrating the actual cost, the actual price we must pay for discipleship. For He immediately asks, “For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it?” For you may come up short and not be able to finish the project.

By that He wants us to ask ourselves, “What might it cost to seriously follow Christ into Sonship?” It just may cost us a row, a major blow up with a family member. It might cost a wife [I have actually seen this happen more than once, and thank God that mine stayed with me]. It may cost you a relationship with a son or daughter [I know about the son].

Following Christ the way He wants us to follow Him may cost us someone dear to us. “For how can two walk together, except they be agreed? And “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion has light with darkness? Wherefore, come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord” (II Cor 6: 14-17).

The Conclusion of Christ’s Lesson for Us

Finishing up His lesson on counting the cost of serving Him, He says, “So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsakes not all that he has, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14: 33).

The “all that he has” here is the earthly life mentioned seven verses before at the beginning of the lesson–his earthly father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters.

Christ is teaching us that we should disregard and turn away from, and thereby forsake earthly family members if they continue to be used by Satan to prevent us from fulfilling our calling. We still love them and pray for them that they might repent and turn toward God. But we should hear Christ’s words and not theirs. He did warn us about all this. He said, “For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter agains her mother…and a man’s foes shall be they of his own household” (Mt. 10: 34-36).

Finally, we must ask ourselves this: Are we going to flail around in the deep dark lake of fear and dread, trying to save someone whose thrashing about just might drown us in the process? Or are we going to obey and trust our Master by standing on the banks with Him as a beacon of light and thereby be able to help those who want to come to the light and walk with Him?

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Filed under calling of God, elect, eternal purpose, God's desire, sons of God

Tagged as Christ, disciple of Christ, discipleship, faith, sonship

December 20, 2009 · 8:39 pm

The Armor of God–Conversations With the Seer

(Formerly in Israel, if a man went to inquire of God, he would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” because the prophet of today used to be called a Seer. I Samuel 9: 9)

“The last time we talked, you mentioned the armour of God. I have been thinking about it a lot lately. And I’ve been studying it out. But I’m really having difficulty grasping what it means, ‘to put on the whole armor of God.'”

The Seer smiled at me and said, “It is difficult to grasp the heavenly things with a mind that is thinking on an earthly plane, and next to impossible to comprehend spiritual things with a finite mind. It is difficult to understand because of unbelief.”

“But I believe,” I blurted out.

“You want to believe desperately,” the Seer said. “I will grant you that, and that is good. But wanting to believe and actually believing are two different matters. Belief in the armor’s efficacy brings the ability to grasp its power. It all goes back to trusting in His word.”

I was really confused now. “Well, what is the armor of God exactly?”

“First, the armor is spiritual. The apostle likens it to literal devices like shields, armor, a breastplate, a helmet, and a sword. Through this extended metaphor, we take away the idea of a spiritual, protective layer. It is the armor of God (Eph.6: 11-18). And God is Spirit [1]. He is also truth. Therefore, it is the armor of the Spirit and truth and light. And we are to ‘put on the armor of light [2].'”

“And what is light?” I asked.

“Light is the life of God. If you want to see light, then look at the Light in action by studying Christ. Because ‘in Him was life; and the life was the light of men’ [3]. God dwelt in the Son of God fully [4]. God is life and ‘this life is in His Son. He that has the Son has life'” [5]. When we truly receive this truth in our hearts, then we receive the secret to answered prayers [6].”

“Wait a minute. I didn’t get all of that. Let me see if I got this right. God is the Spirit of Truth, which is light and life. And the fullness of life and light dwelt in the Son of God. And if we believe that, then we receive the same light and life of God, too.”

“That’s right,” the Seer said. I don’t know if I was seeing things or not, but his smile radiated a glow of inner light. He continued, “For, you see, since God dwelt fully in Christ, if we reject the Son of God, we reject the Father, as well, because the Father was inside the Son” [7].

“But how does all this tie in with the armor of God?”

“The armor of God is not some equipment that God possesses that He wants to give to us. No.

“The armor of God is God Himself! It is a spiritual protective covering comprised of the invisible Spirit of God Himself. Since His Spirit is truth, when we know and then believe the truth, we are believing God. And by believing, God comes down into us. When you believe the truth, the truth (God, Spirit) takes up His abode in us, and we become one with Him. In other words, by believing all this truth how that the Father dwelt fully in the Son, giving light and life to the world–this truth is God, and through faith or belief of this truth, the Spirit of God comes into our hearts and minds. This is the armour of God–God’s Spirit in our hearts and minds.”

We just sat there for what seemed an hour. Finally I said, “I understand it now, but why haven’t the preachers told us about all this?”

“The only part of the apostle John’s writings they quote is John 3: 16. They stay clear of the rest of his gospel and his three letters to the churches.”

“But why? Why don’t they preach it?”

“Either they don’t know what is in John’s writings or they don’t have it in their hearts because they don’t believe it. Either way, they will have to give an account to God about it. I would like to think that the vast majority have not been taught these truths. They have been taught old leaven from a hundred years ago. There is no new light in them. They are still preaching what their grandfathers did in the 1950’s, and they are proud of that fact. Spiritual stagnancy is equal to spiritual bankruptcy. However, ‘when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth’ [8]. But there I go quoting more of John’s gospel–the part they don’t like to read or quote.”

“He will guide you into all truth?” I asked.

“It is the ‘unsearchable riches of Christ’ [9]. ‘All truth’ are these unsearchable riches. And if those preachers are not leading their flocks into more and more astounding and fresh truth, then it is safe to say that the Spirit of truth does not reside in them. Because that is the sign that a person has the Spirit of truth. At least that is what John said. And I’m sticking with him.”

“This is a lot to take in,” I said.

“We will save some for later,” the Seer said.

“There’s more about the armour?”

“It’s the unsearchable riches. Remember?”

John 4: 24
Romans 13: 12
John 1: 4
Colossians 2: 9
I John 5: 11-12
I John 5: 14-15
I John 2 23
John 16: 13
Ephesians 3: 8

The Greatest Hit of the Ages–The Called According to His Purpose*

(Formerly in Israel, if a man went to inquire of God, he would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” because the prophet of today used to be called a Seer.” I Samuel 9: 9)

One time I asked the Seer, “What is life all about? What’s really going on? Why are we here?”

And then the Seer answered in a sweeping monologue.

First of all, there is a Creator, a Supreme Being with a plan and purpose. Modern man will just have to get over it and accept that there is Someone higher in the food chain. Just look around. Things that are alive come from living things. If anything ever lived, it owes its existence to something else that was living–of its own kind. Every living thing reproduces itself. Since every living thing gets its life from another living being, then an Initial living being, a Supreme Being, had to have given life to all the living.

It is only logical. Two pieces of granite cannot reproduce. Only the living things of creation are reproducing, and their pro-creating drive has been ignited by the Creator, the Life Giver.

But the kicker, though, is that the Creator has put in motion all this reproduction as a type or metaphor of what He is doing with Himself. The Creator’s plan and purpose is written into the quintessential action of every living thing–procreation. His plan and purpose is written into nature, and it is just waiting there to be deciphered.

So what does the secret writing of both nature and the scriptures reveal as to what God is saying? Answer: Hey, creation, I’m reproducing Myself, too! You didn’t think I was going to let you have all the fun of raising a family, did you? I have a family, too.

And this is how I am going to do it. My essence is Love. And I desire to magnify and reproduce Love. So, in order to reproduce the real Spirit of Love, which is Me, I will create a special being that can contain Me.

I’ll create this special creature, the human being, male and female. And I will place within them both a desire to procreate. I will make them capable of loving with a heart that longs for love. And their lives will be like a play, lived out on the stage of this earth.

But this play will seem like a tragedy in the first few acts, for the human beings will have tragic flaws. As my crowning creation, humans will be extremely complex characters. In their inner being, they will want to do good, but their innate selfishness will thwart their intents to do that good and right thing.

Some humans will eventually come to their wit’s end. They will do craven acts of unkindness, driven by the first nature I have given them. Their foolish and selfish heart will drive them to cheat on their spouses, steal from their fellow humans, and tell falsehoods to further their own selfish desires. And other sins they will do.

But some will feel horrible about their actions. Their consciences will torture them. They will long to do good, despite succumbing to the temptations of the old nature. It is from these who feel the need to repent that I will choose to reproduce Myself in. They will know that they have done wrong and will search for a place of repentance and redemption as desperately as a lost man in the desert seeks water.

And they will find forgiveness of all their past evil deeds and thoughts. Then I will give them of My Spirit, which is their new seed beginning in the garden of their hearts. And through this new spirit within, they will blossom in love. And this love will be shed abroad, by them forgiving their fellow human beings–especially those who are still using them for their own selfish desires.

They will learn to bless those who hurt them and persecute them. They will love their enemies and do good to all unenlightened human beings. They will forgive everyone in their old Adamic past, and they will reach out and love any and all. And they will love Me who gave them a new chance–an opportunity to become one of My children, one of My princes or princesses.

And they will walk on this earth, shining forth this spiritual light of My own reproductive perfectness. For I will multiply Love, which is my nature, through their realization of the great deliverance I have brought them through. They will be fountains of forgiveness, shedding forth the refreshing water of life to all so called.

And in due time, I will change these redeemed ones into my immortal offspring. For they will be those human beings who have believed My word. In the face of all the gainsayers, they will have persevered despite the doubts of those who persisted in pernicious ways.

And then I said, “So this is what the Bible is all about.”

“Exactly. It is not about sanctimonious ceremonies in “castles midst the poverty” once or twice a week. It is about Life, an abundant Life, a life that will last forever. It is all about God sharing Himself with His creation. And this Life is the play foreseen and written by God and revealed to a few. It is a real play produced and directed by God. He wrote it eons ago, and we as the principal players in this drama should submit to the Director. The sooner we do, the sooner we will be a part of the Greatest Hit of the Ages.” Kenneth Wayne Hancock

*Romans 8: 28-30; Ephesians 3: 11-19

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Tagged as eternal life, eternal purpose, faith, immortality

December 5, 2009 · 5:04 pm

The Battle in the Mind–The Weapons of Our Warfare Are Not Carnal [Conversations With the Seer]

(Formerly in Israel, if a man went to inquire of God, he would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” because the prophet of today used to be called a Seer. I Samuel 9: 9)

I didn’t have to say anything. I’m sure that my countenance said it all. The Seer once told me that my face telegraphed quite clearly what was in my heart. And yet he asked, “What is troubling you?”

I said, “I’m not sure. I think some doubts are creeping in about God and things.”

“Doubtful thoughts are a formidable weapon that our enemy uses. They are like mortars hurled at us during those long blackouts that we must endure.”

“It is worse at night.”

“Yes, under the cover of darkness, the doubtful thoughts charge onto the battlefield of our mind. And the battle insufferably rages on. Two opposing armies of thought are clashing. Each is establishing a beachhead in our mind. Both are digging in for the long haul. Both are vying for the spoils of our souls. They do it, first, by controlling our thoughts. And then our thoughts grow wings and fly past our lips as utterances. And finally, our words materialize into actions that either justify us or condemn us [1] . You must know that there is a battle raging. Make no mistake about it,” the Seer said.

“It’s good to know about the particulars of a war. When I was in Vietnam, I asked many fellow soldiers and officers, ‘Why are we here?’ And, you know, not one of them could tell me why we were killing and being killed in that hot, muggy hellhole. Not one.”

“Of course, that is a different kind of battle. This battle in your mind that I speak of, however, is over our very existence, both present and future. The outcome of our own personal battle will answer one of two questions. Will we finally realize that we are created by God, who has a definite will and purpose guiding every human being, which culminates in our surrender to Him? Or, will we remain adamant, ruled by a secular humanistic delusion, and persist in pretending that we are our own god, serving our own selves, and thereby forgetting the ‘Rock from whence we are hewn’?”

“No wonder I feel torn up inside. Thoughts and doubts are whirling and churning inside of me.” I heard a rooster crow and looked out the window at the golden red mist of light in the east. I hadn’t slept all night and had waited until his lights had come on to come over and get some help.

The Seer continued. “Yes. A war is being fought inside of you. It is the War of the Wills. God’s will is fighting your own will. And your own will for your life is being fed and reinforced by the enemy of God. The “prince and power of the air” [2] supports your determination to hang on to your own purpose for your life. And our old man’s purpose looks at everything through this prism–what’s in it for me? You see, God’s thoughts for His creation is opposed to man’s thoughts about himself and his purpose on earth.”

“What are man’s thoughts about himself?”

“In general, the prevailing wind blowing in the politically correct arena is that we are just animals with higher intelligence, that there really is no personal Creator who has a will and purpose for us. God’s thoughts toward us are that mankind is a special creation, formed and shaped in every way by the Creator for a highly specialized purpose: to be the dwelling place, the temple for God to reside in. He grants to some eternal life, so that they can house the Eternal One.”

“How does this tie in with the battle?”

“This great destiny of eternal life will be given to those who win the battle staged in the theater of our minds. For the Creator does not just go, Poof!, and we all are miraculously transposed into gentle, smiling, sweet little humanoid robots who go about saying, ‘Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!’ Oh, no.”

“How does He do it then?”

“First, God has given us everything needed for victory–weapons, armor, food. Yet He has allowed a sly and cunning spiritual enemy to be able to speak to us anonymously by injecting thoughts right into our own brains. It is so deceptive that humans think that these thoughts are coming out of the ether of their own minds. Because, after all, they reason, I don’t believe in a world of spirits, where a diabolical spirit would do that to me! And, anyway, if a God of love existed, He would not put those He loved through all this mental anguish and suffering.”

The Seer stopped to emphasize the point. “That right there. That thought is an example of the ‘cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive’ [3]. And yet, there is a great paradox at work in this battle. In the world of man’s wisdom, when you surrender, you lose. But in this battle, when we surrender to God and His plan, we win! And through our victory, we realize that when we surrender to Him and His will and purpose for us, then we enlist in His army and begin to march forward helping others in the battle they are fighting for their very souls.”

The truth is that, although of course we lead normal human lives, the battle we are fighting is on the spiritual level. The very weapons we use are not those of human warfare but powerful in God’s warfare for the destruction of the enemy’s strongholds. Our battle is to bring down every deceptive fantasy and every imposing defense that men erect against the true knowledge of God. We even fight to capture every thought until it acknowledges the authority of Christ [4]. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

Matthew 12: 37
Ephesians 2: 2
Eph. 4: 14
II Corinthians 10: 4, Phillips

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Filed under eternal life, mind of Christ

Tagged as armor of God, eternal purpose, faith, mind, will of God

December 3, 2009 · 3:54 pm

The Cure for Depression

I have found a surefire cure for depression. It is simple, natural–well, it is really spiritual–and it is free. No money, clinics, or doctors needed. The only physician involved in this cure is the Great Physician.

The cure? Depression is cured when the sufferer just sits down and thanks God for his blessings. For a state of depression and a grateful heart cannot co-exist. There is no such thing as a depressed praiser of God.

As the Savior taught, at the bottom of most maladies we will find a spiritual cause. Think about it. When was the last time you saw someone depressed, sitting there on their couch and saying to you, “My friend. Thank you for coming to visit. I was just thinking about you. You know, I thank God for the wonderful friends and family I have.” That grateful heart cannot utter a depression-filled negative thought. A depressed grateful person is an oxymoron. Those two cannot go together. Impossible.

Depression, sadness, and worry spring from self-centered thinking. A depressed person only thinks of themselves. It all centers on self. Woe is me! they will say. Self-pity, fear of what others think, and selfish thoughts cannot exist in a mind and heart that is thankful to God. It is impossible.

So what can the depressed do? They simply must stop the negative thinking, just for a moment. Then think about God and say, “Thank you, God, for _________________.” Everyone can fill in the blank with one thing. Sunshine, air, food, a son, a daughter, a wife that has stuck with them through thick and thin, a husband who works and brings home bread and milk. Hey, fill in the blank with something, and in that very instant of thanksgiving, the depression begins to lift.

The darker the hour, the more need to thank Him. “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus (Yahshua) concerning you” [1]. Everything. The “good” and the “bad.”

For we must realize that God has diliberately built in hardships and sufferings, so that our belief in Him may be purified [2], and that joy may abound within us. But most people get down, blame others, or blame themselves, instead of seeing this truth: “Acknowledge Him in all our ways, and He shall direct our paths” [3].

We then, should realize that when negativity attacks our minds through self-centered thoughts bringing on depression, we should simply thank God. For depression is caused by a spiritual thought that cannot co-inhabit a grateful mind. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

I Thess. 5: 18
I Peter 1: 6-7
Proverbs 3: 6

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Tagged as cause of depression, cure of depression, depression, faith, gratefulness

November 11, 2009 · 5:00 pm

Conversations With the Seer–How Do I Get Closer to God?

(Formerly in Israel, if a man went to inquire of God, he would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” because the prophet of today used to be called a seer. I Samuel 9: 9)

I asked the Seer, “How do I get closer to God?”

And he said, “You’ve got to ask Him to take you to that place–that special place where He dwells, where we can commune with Him.

“What is that place you speak of?”

“It is in a corner of His kingdom where He rules and reigns. It’s in a spiritual world, invisible to mortal eyes.”

“It sounds very mystical and mysterious to me.”

“All true seekers must by definition be mystics. For they believe that it is possible to transcend our first estate as humans and finally become one with the Higher Power. That is their goal, their hope, their belief. And so it has been throughout the ages. Philosophers, prophets, and sages of every ilk the world over have known that a spirit world exists. They knew that a spiritual place apart from our five senses is out there somewhere–a place where the unexplained things intrigue the mind of man. There are many ways that seem right, but only one way leads to the celestial home, and that is Christ. He is the way to that special place. He and He alone is able to take us by the hand and lead us to where we want to be.”

“I want to get there, but how do I?”

“It is not a physical place that we can travel to and enter, like a concrete city with its buildings of brick, mortar, stone, and colored glass. Nor is it where the ocean’s waves lap at our ears with its endless breath. Nor is it in the green cathedral forest, where the congregants stand erect, lifting their verdant arms up to the light blue ceiling, listening to the crunch of our footsteps and the whispers of our wonder at being in their presence. No, this is not the special place where God will meet us.”

“Where is that place then?”

“It is that quiet country that spreads forth its boundless plain in another dimension where God dwells. Because He is an invisible Spirit, to experience His presence, we must finally come to that special place.” It was as if the Seer was speaking in riddles. The words, separated from each other, made sense, but when strung together, they spoke of something inviting, but covered in a fine mist.

I finally said, “I’m reminded of a line in that song, I really want to see You, Lord, but it takes so long, my Lord.”

“Yes, that sums up nicely the soul of the seeker, how we all feel, or have felt. To our finite mind, time is slow. That inkling of a ray of the light of truth that we glimpsed when we were twenty may not be fully illuminated until we are sixty. The knowledge that we need to love others, for instance, and not our selfish selves, may come to us when we are young, but how to incorporate the love-from-above into living takes time. We must learn to forgive, appreciate, and in so doing, love others in all their human frailties. This may take a lifetime. And it is this needed patience on our part that shipwrecks hope.”

“I do want to be a loving human being.”

“Of course, you do. But before being comes doing, and before doing comes knowing. Knowledge comes first.”

“What knowledge are you speaking of exactly?”

“First, knowledge of the Creator’s plan and purpose must be attained. Then we must get knowledge as to how we corrupt humans fit into that plan and purpose. We must realize that we are special to Him. We are ‘the apple of His eye.’ We are in and have been in His thoughts before time was ever stretched and measured out over the earth. We are blessed for we know that plan.”

“What is His plan for us?”

“The teeming masses swarm to the latest thing that will tickle their greed or assuage their fear, and most, alas, will not come to the knowledge that God has created them for one major purpose: He wants to reproduce Himself in us! While the majority of humans plod their own path or someone else’s path, He is quietly calling out a few with plans to transform them into vessels that will display Himself. That is what His ultimate purpose is about. All those who get on board with what He is doing, will be at peace, for they will be on the same page as the Great One.” KWH [To be continued…Let your thoughts be heard; make a comment. To read more go to my books here http://yahwehisthesavior.com/unveiling.htm ]

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Filed under belief, eternal purpose, sons and daughters of God

Tagged as Christ, faith, kingdom of God, knowledge, mysticism

November 2, 2009 · 4:03 pm

A Childlike Faith in God Is What We Need

This world and the people of this world are sick. The malady comes from a steady diet of doubt. Almost all of the systems of man–the media, politics, education, and even religious denominations–almost all are starving God’s people and feeding them the poisonous pablum of lies. And the major lie is that either there is no God or, if there is, He is untrustworthy and His word is no good.

It is getting so bad that people are afraid to speak of God; it is not politically correct to believe in the Savior. The atheists, marxists, maoists, and communists have done a job on the American people–so much so that people are reluctant to even demonstrate for our great republic founded on Christian principles. No matter what Pres. Obama says, America is a Christian nation, but we have lost our way.

But some are finding the way. In the midst of all of this immoral morass, God is still in control. He has a plan, and it does not matter to Him just how dark the sky seems to us, He will bring His plan to pass. He will raise up a few good men and women who will believe Him and His promises found in the Holy Bible. Christ is coming back to earth soon. He is searching for those with “like precious faith.” He is looking for those who believe Him and take Him at His word. “When the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18: 8). I believe He will.

A Childlike Faith

He said to let the little chidren come to Him for the Kingdom of God belongs to them (Matt. 19: 14). Why to them and those like them? Because they don’t doubt. They believe. It seems that the older we get, the more doubts enter into our hearts. But the little child believes. Ralph Waldo Emerson knew this and believed that we adults could go back to a childlike state to see the world through a prism of belief or faith.

For God is calling out His future sons and daughters right now. They will be His future rulers with Him in the world government that He will set up right here on earth. And the very quality that we need in order to fulfill this calling is a childlike faith.

I was talking to my two grandsons, Cody and Austin, 12 and 10, the other day. They had been playing a “Civilization” video game and asked me, “What are ages?” I explained that they are major chunks of time marked by a certain characteristic of that era of time. Now we are in the Information Age. We have just left the Industrial Age, which started back in the 1800’s.

“Well, what does A.D. mean?”

“It is an abreviation of the Latin Anno Domini, which means year of our Lord, or since Christ was born. Isn’t it amazing, guys, how man’s dates are reckoned by Christ’s life here on earth? He was so great that everyone acknowledges Him when they give a date.”

I looked at my two grandsons. Not one doubt clouded their shining faces. Their childlike faith readily believed that Christ was so important to mankind that man would include Him in every date in their history. No doubts fogged their thinking–just clear belief, unfettered by negatives, unhindered by man’s puny fears and foibles.

And then I smiled and realized that God has the last laugh. Always has, always will. Every atheist, marxist, and maoist that picks up a newspaper today will be faced with this year of our Lord, 2009 A.D. Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Tagged as atheism, Christian, christianity, doubt, faith

October 25, 2009 · 4:57 pm

The Manifestation of the Sons of God–What the World Needs Now

{Order your free copy of The Unveiling of the Sons of God or my new book The Royal Destiny of God’s Elect. It is totally free with free shipping to my readers. Just send your mailing address to my email address: wayneman5@hotmail.com Specify which one.}

This world has one major need right now at the beginning of the 21^st Century. The world doesn’t need another politician telling the people what they want to hear. The world doesn’t need a steady robust economy to help it through the hard times that have been prophesied upon it. No. The world needs the sons of God to arrive on the scene. They must come forth for these last days.

The whole creation, the apostle Paul wrote, (whether it knows it or not), is anxiously awaiting the sons of God to come upon the world stage. For the sons of God will have something that all mortals walking the face of the earth must have. They will have the key that will set the whole creation free from the chains of a certain physical death. These children of the Most High are God’s elect, His sons made in His image, and they are what this world needs. They are the ones who will have cut through all of the deception and vice in this world system. They alone will see the Spirit and walk in the Spirit and be filled with the Spirit of the living Yahweh. They will build the old waste places and build the spiritual walls to the heavenly city.

Why the World Needs the Sons of God

The creation has purposely been subjected to mortality by its Creator God. The impending gloom of a certain death is no accident or aberration of God’s original plan. It has been His will all along for death to come to all living. And then, a few mortals will be brought by Him to an awareness of the abiding power of His spiritual presence and will become His actual spiritual children. He will change them and will engulf them with immortality one day soon. And it is through them that the whole creation will finally come to know this glorious liberty from a certain physical death. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. Romans 8:19-21, NIV.

Every living thing on this planet will die; the whole creation will decay and go back to dust. And we, this earthly creation, are “in bondage of corruption,” as it says in the King James Version.

The word “corruption” is translated from the Greek word phthora, #5356 in Strong’s. It means “decay.” Its root comes from #5351 phthio, to waste, shrivel, or wither. We, the creation, are bound to become decaying matter someday. And all of us, be we religious or not, are groaning under the impending physical doom that awaits us.

All of us have a built in desire to live forever. Every ancient culture, without exception, was concerned with this impending gloom of an early exit from life. All the ancient religions were concerned about how to secure immortality for the mortal. And so it is with religions today. Man keeps on waiting, waiting, waiting for something real that will happen in order to deliver them from a certain death.

The creation is like the wife of the Creator, who is in the deep pains of childbirth. She is struggling to deliver her children, the sons of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. Romans 8: 22-23, KJV.

The whole creation is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the sons of God because they are the first ones who will be released from mortality’s chains. They will be the first ones who will not have to taste death. And then after they are made known, the creation can look forward to its redemption. That is how important the sons of God are. When they are adopted or placed as sons, then a new era begins—an era where immortals will stride the earth, showing forth God’s way.

We Who Have Some Truth Also Desperately Need the Sons of God

Just look around us. What do we see in every corner? We see lurid trash in political high places, filthy-minded movies and TV. There is no shame to the world system. And it is not getting any better. So we try to lock in on the word of God. We endeavor to glimpse a truth here, a truth there. Some of us are trying to lead a holy life, but we “see through a glass darkly.” We know, or should know that we are not walking in all truth. For if we were, we would be bearing the same spiritual fruit as the prophets and apostles of God. And we can’t seem to get in agreement and one accord with other sincere followers of Christ.

As a large body of people, we can’t see eye to eye enough to get together. Divisions abound. We, if we are blessed, have a place to meet with a few other people who share some of our own beliefs, but something is dras-tically missing. The unity of the Spirit is only a dream, for one group does not see eye to eye with another. We are to be in one mind and one accord, and yet, who is to say just what that one mind is? Who has the authority to say for sure anything? Who has a sure word? There are several thousand “Christian” denominations, and they are growing exponentially daily. There is probably a different concept of God and His plan for every one of His professing followers.

And it appears that the enemy is gaining ground, and we, the body of Christ, because of our disagreements and lack of unity, are seemingly losing ground as far as any “great move of truth” is concerned.

So what is the answer to this dilemma? It is as if Yahweh Himself is needed to come down and just flat appear to His select few, whoever they are! That would clear up the dim vision of those He has chosen. They would definitely “get on the same page” after that shared glorious experience. In the light of His own countenance and glow filling the room each would be in, He would straighten out off-concepts, purge out old leaven, old hypocrisies, and false concepts of Himself. There would be no self-delusion if the King Himself came down to a handful!

Then a fire would well up from out of their bones! Then they would cry to His people in His stead. They would be His voice with his word welling up and out as springs gush out making rivers where dry land once was.

That is what we all need. We need a sure word. We need the Captain of our faith Himself to get a cadre of His brothers to catch on fire and, in turn, ignite the world. We need a group of people baptized with the Spirit and with fire. We need them! We groan within ourselves, longing for someone to stand in the gap between God and the world.

That is the only thing that will ever turn this world upside down—if the people of the world were ready and knew they had a need for God in human form, had a need for the sons of the living God.

This whole creation is crying and groaning looking for someone sincere and true to believe in. The heroes are gone; the people run to their idols of music and movies. Those are their gods—gods who cannot see or hear them and their longings and needs, for their gods can see no one but themselves. The whole creation does not know it, but they are groaning and longing for the manifestation of the sons of God. And these sons will walk with the Lamb wherever He goes, for they shall be like Him. These are they who will do the greater works that the Master spoke of.

It All Hinges on the Sons, But Do They Know Who They Are?

Yes, the manifestation of the sons of God is of extreme importance in God’s plan, but do they know who they are? Do they realize their calling that He has placed on them? Do they know that He knew them long before their earthly sojourn began? Do they at present realize that He has already given them a glorious destiny—a destiny that has them justified from sin, set apart for this special work, and also glorified from heaven? Does God’s elect, His chosen ones, know these things?

Have they called on His name and restored their heart back to Him? But if they haven’t believed on Him, then how are they to call on Him? And how can they believe on this God if they have never heard Him, never heard His Spirit, never heard Him who is the Word? They are going to have to hear Him being spoken out of the mouth of another son in order to believe on Him. And how shall these prospective sons hear unless there be a preacher? And who is really going to be effective as a preacher? The world is full of preachers. Anyone who thinks they have heard from God calls himself a preacher. The future sons will be reached by those who proclaim the truth. And these proclaimers will be sent. For whosoever shall call upon the name of Yahweh shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?

[This is chapter one of The Unveiling of the Sons of God. Be sure to order your free copy while supplies last]

Kenneth Wayne Hancock

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Filed under eternal life, glorification, immortality, perfection, sons and daughters of God

Tagged as Christ, christianity, faith, religion, sons of God

October 16, 2009 · 4:25 pm

Conversations with the Seer–Heirs of God and Joint-heirs With Christ

(Formerly in Israel, if a man went to inquire of God, he would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” because the prophet of today used to be called a Seer. I Samuel 9: 9)

I asked the Seer, the Teacher of Righteousness, “The Scriptures say that we are now heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (1). How do we become that?”

“It is all in Him. For in the end He will be all in all (2). We must decrease; He must increase in us to the point that He is all (3). At that time it will only be Yahweh in His fullness walking around in us here on earth. There will no longer be any more ‘us’ involved.”

“We will cease to exist?”

“In essence, yes. For we now have the same testimony as the early apostles when we say, ‘It is no longer I that lives, but Christ that lives in me’ (4). We now live by His Spirit of the anointed truth dwelling within our new hearts.”

“How does this happen?”

The Seer looked into my eyes and on down into my heart, searching for sincerity. Having found it, he answered, “It is by faith. By believing, having not seen as yet.”

“How do we step out in faith?”

“We must reckon it so. We must count it as done (5). The Creator has revealed His truth to us. He has said that our old sinful lives are a thing of the past. They are crucified with Christ on the cross. We must reckon it so by faith in what He said, even if we don’t understand it fully. The understanding and comprehension of how it happens takes place after we reckon it done.”

“You mean, Just like that! Reckon it so and it is done?”

“When we reckon the truth of God accomplished in our lives, we are merely doing what God has already done. For He had faith first in His own plan and ability to accomplish it in our pathetic little earthly lives (6). He gave us this destiny before of old, before we ever came forth from our mother’s womb. He knew us and pre-destined us for this very purpose: to work out a glorious future in our lives, guided by His very Spirit” (7).

“So we count it done in our lives?”

“Whatever He said in His word concerning our walk with Him on this earth–we have merely to believe it by reckoning it done by His Spirit, not by our own power. And He will, like He did for Abraham, account it unto us for righteousness.”

“Abraham, the father of our faith.”

“Yes. But why was he the father of our faith? Because he believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness by God (8). God said that He could live a righteous life right here on earth, and Abraham just believed Him, and it was so. Many promises are made by God to His people, but they don’t believe it, and therefore, it never happens.”

“Like what?”

“Man’s wisdom teaches that a person cannot stop sinning, but the Spirit spoke through His apostles and taught the opposite. The truth says, Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin (9). Man limits God’s power through his unbelief in what God said. They have no faith. They believe what fearful and unbelieving man says and not what God says. They believe that man is still a sinner because they teach that natural man with his old Adamic heart retains that old heart after his ‘conversion.’ They never get to the root of the problem. They never get old Adam to the cross where their old heart can die with Christ.”

“But they say that they believe God.”

“Yes, but their words betray them, for they only say, and do not. They do not believe the simplest of His words, ‘With man it is impossible. But with God all things are possible’ (10). Even to live a righteous life. For you see, we must realize that Christ was made to be sin for us (11) so that we could recieve His Spirit and walk with Him. They don’t teach the truth of how we must identify our old sinful heart with Christ that day, die, and through faith in the operation of God that raised up Christ from the dead, walk in a newness of life–new in that it is a life that is free from sin and sinning (12). When He died, our old self died and the sinful core of our being with it.

“Since they never teach the truth that old man Adam dies out at the cross, then they can’t fathom a person living without sin in their lives. When actually it is no longer our original sinning self that lives, but now the Spirit of Christ that lives in these mortal bodies! This is what they don’t believe.”

“So then, those that don’t believe this first principle cannot be the heirs of God?”

The Seer looked at me and smiled. “Precisely. A vessel cannot inherit God while still thrashing selfishly about the earth, interested only in pumping up their own ego.”

“The heirs of God, then, reach that spiritual plateau through humility.”

“Precisely,” said the Seer. KWH

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Romans 8: 17
I Cor. 15: 28; Eph. 1: 23
John 3: 30
Gal. 2: 20
Rom. 6: 11
Eph. 1: 12
Eph. 1: 11
Gal. 3: 6
I John 3: 9
Mark 9: 23
II Cor. 5: 21
Col. 2: 12

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Filed under crucified with Christ, death of self, faith, humility, perfection

Tagged as belief, Christ, christianity, faith, heirs of God

September 24, 2009 · 11:00 am

God’s Spiritual Life Cycle–Babes in Christ and What Stunts Their Growth

To fully understand the profundity of the Creator’s eternal purpose in “bringing many sons [and daughters] unto glory,” we must learn of the spiritual life cycle of God’s Spirit in us–how it grows unto full maturity.

This is a great mystery that has been “kept secret from the foundation of the world” (1). This mystery of the growth of the Spirit within us has been carefully guarded, couched in the criptic words of the parables of the kingdom. These are the very secrets of the kingdom of God, how He rules and reigns both in His children’s hearts and throughout the earth and universe.

These parables are not nice little stories to make it easier for all to understand what the Master is teaching us, but to prevent interlopers from receiving it. They are secrets, after all, and are hidden in plain sight.

Why Parables?

The disciples asked Christ why He spoke to the crowds in parables. “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand” (2). They may hear the words, but they won’t understand what they mean. Those who do not have “ears to hear” will just not get it.

The Seed Is the Word

In the parables, Christ likened this spiritual growth unto a seed that grows. He refers to a natural seed. And He explains that this seed in His parables represents the word of God. He said, “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God” (3). A seed must die in the ground; it must lose its original identity as a lonely grain of wheat, for instance. It takes in moisture, which corresponds to the “water of the Word,” and then, as it dies, new life springs out of it, and a blade of grass rises “from the dead” and vaults out into the sunlight.

First Stage of Growth–Babes in Christ

This answers to newborn “babes in Christ,” spiritual infants, who have not matured or grown. They are like natural children–mostly alive for what they can receive from their parents. A little child receives nourishment from their parents and grows. There is nothing wrong with this, for all new children of God must receive spiritual food from God’s word in order to grow. Truth plus study and prayer is the recipe for spiritual growth.

The problem lies in the fact that most Christians stay in this growth as babes and children. They do not mature, for they are fed with teachings tainted with error. Even with much study in false doctrines, the child of God cannot grow. “We are not meant to remain as children at the mercy of every chance wind of teaching and the jockeying of men who are expert in the crafty presentation of lies” (4). The truth is that “certain men have crept in unnoticed,” (5) and they are teaching lies to the new Christians who are desiring to have their lives changed from darkness to light.

For we are warned of this very thing. “There will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies”. “Many will follow their shameful ways…and in their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up” (6).

Thus we see that a newborn babe in Christ is in peril because of false teachers and preachers. As disease and malnutrition stalks natural babies, false teachings and lies stunt and threaten the lives of the children of God.

So Which Are the Lies About God That Stunt the Growth of Babes in Christ?

How can we tell the false teachings from the true teachings? Christ gave us the answer. “By their fruits you shall know them” (7). Look around and observe the fruits of the various ministries and denominations. Are the people growing? Are the flocks changing, or are they still trapped in sin and sinning? Are the people still mostly alive for what they can receive of God, or are they unselfish? If they are not changing and growing “up into Him,” if they are remaining selfish, desiring to be blessed and not yearning to be a channel of blessings unto others, then it is safe to say that the teachings they are fed with are tainted. KWH

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Matt. 13: 35
Mark 4: 11-12
Luke 8: 11
Eph. 4: 14 (Phillips)
Jude 1: 4 (NKJV)
II Peter 2: 1-3
Matt. 7: 20