Month: January 2011

“Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.” Ephesians 5:21-22 KJV This passage is deeply misunderstood. First of all, in the Greek, the word “submit” does not appear in the second statement. It is something like, “…wives also to their husbands.” It is not a separate sentence, nor command. It is a continuation of a thought the apostle Paul was expressing.

A group of people cannot work or live in a harmonious way unless there is submission to some sort of leadership. But the admonition here is for ALL to live in an attitude of submission to one another. When this occurs, there is joy in the doing – whatever it is.

We have already covered that submission is a heart matter. Unless the heart is saying “yes” then the action is not submission – obedience, maybe, but not submission. So as we lean into the Lord, everyone’s heart is trained to be submitted to everyone. This creates an attitude of trust and willingness.

The person in leadership that does not submit to anyone is a very dangerous person, no matter what the title may be in front of the name. Submission in walking in Jesus is voluntary – but not optional. That is a strange understanding to have. It is the training of the Holy Spirit in the heart – male or female. Submission applies to ALL!

Our Friday Fellowship was a precious time in our Lord’s presence. It was well attended with some new folk as well. The Lord gave us delightful, anointed worship and then my lesson was on “In His Image.” We studied some of the ways we can begin to express our life in Christ that reflect this New Covenant and this “imaging” that the Father in Christ has done and is doing in us. We worked with learning to think and speak the accomplished work instead of what is yet to be done; to count on the identity we have in Christ instead of the identity of flesh; to expect the promises to be true and to live in the light of that fact; on and on. It was well received and we all need to learn to think, speak and live truth from the Word instead of the various forms of “religious” thinking, speaking and feeling that are everywhere. (For instance – the confession of being a sinner, when those born again in the Scriptures are never called sinners, but “holy ones,” or the old KJV – “saints.”) These are just little ways of thinking and speaking that lead us to live much less than the reality of the truth that has been paid for. The payment of the blood of Jesus was awesome – we want to learn to live in its truth. The CD or DVD is available through the office, and it will be on our web site as soon as I get the processed tape. That takes a bit of time.

Just a short reminder that tonight at 7 is our first Friday Fellowship of the new year. Hope you are planning to be with us at the Bible Learning Center. Oh yes, it is still snowing, but ever so lightly and should not get in our way at all tonight. Lauren will lead the worship ensemble and I will be preaching. See you then.

Oh yes, if you normally listen on the web, it will be there, but not for a couple of weeks as my volunteer who does the technical re-formating of the recording so it can go on the web, is out of town for a week. So sorry. But hang in there, it will be coming.

All events are available by CD and DVD also for a small price. Contact the office if you would like one of these. 315-396-0129

It continues to snow here. It is very beautiful, cold but lovely. We are out and about like normal as this type and amount of snow will not keep us in. There are storms in some years that keep us house-bound for a day or so, but never more than that.

The big difference between here and parts south is that we are accustomed to snow and our road crews etc… handle it very well. I am grateful for both – the snow and the road crews.

Don’t forget about Friday night Fellowship at Psalm 19 tomorrow evening for all nearby. We always have a wonderful time in the Lord’s presence.

I have just published a “Memory Slideshow” for the Fall Conference 2010. You can see the show here:  http://www.psalm19ministries.org/psalm19ministries/Slide_Shows.html

I will be posting here very soon. Much has occurred and I am full with “stuff” that needs to be shared. So plan on revisiting soon.