The hidden meaning of Jesus BBC Part 1

Jesus is the most mentioned name in the history of mankind. His influence is far beyond the soil of Israel. He is no longer a far away image of God. he is a flesh and real person in our daily life. Most interestingly, come the Holy Spirit who is a comforter and guide. I like the intimacy of Holy Spirit in my life, almost love envelop with peace, joy and security. The miracle of Jesus is relied on Holy Spirit. HS foretell to Jesus the miracle he is going to perform. HS will enable the miracles. I have had such experience. HS will tell me first - miracle, prophecy. healing, cast out something bad, healing. I was just available for HS to be the instrument to show the love of God. I like this documentary. It demonstrated the reality and power of Jesus. It unveil Jesus's real life.

Holy Spirit Eagereness to know him

Holy Spirit is a very special person to me. Jesus is so eager to Holy Spirit to come to the disciples. He knew too well only the Holy Spirit can empower and embolden them to live a life with love, joy hope The desire to know him, to get close to him, he will lead you the deep secret of God.

God is real. He lives beyond the book of Bible. He live the dimension beyond us and beyond time. Hearing God has three steps a. desire to build relationship with God the father, Jesus and Holy Spirit b. quiet your heart to speak and listen. c. visualize the interactions and share everything

Peter and Jesus in their scene of catching fish 1. Jesus look for availability of our heart. it is not the our might or wisdom, it is the holy spirit who can change things for us. Our willingness to follow the plan he has for us. The word availability is crucial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60YCt10Zgyo

Good example of Youtube learning: 7 Steps to Health: Reverse Your Diabetes Without Drugs, Pills or Insulin...

集団行動 (playlist)

R.P. Nettelhorst: Is There a Question About the Gender of the Holy Spirit?

Is There a Question About the Gender of the Holy Spirit?
In my graduate Semitics program at UCLA, one of the languages I had to study was Syriac, a dialect of Aramaic written with rounded letters reminiscent of modern Arabic. Syriac was the language of people living in northern Mesopotamia, from at least 300 BC until the time Arabic became dominant in the region, around 1000 AD. Most of the Syriac documents available today were produced by a Monophysite branch of Christianity, today known as the Syrian Orthodox Church (monophysitism is the belief that Christ had but one nature). One striking puzzlement of the texts, at least to me, was the constant reference to the Holy Spirit as "she". I was aware, of course, that in Aramaic (and hence in the dialect known as Syriac) the natural gender of the word "spirit" was feminine; however, I was surprised to discover that this accident of grammar had resulted in a whole theology constructed around the femininity of the third person of the Godhead.
An example of Syriac theology is found in the apocryphal Acts of Thomas; it is usually assumed that this particular work was influenced by speculative gnostic Judaism because it contains the notion, that associated with God was a wisdom, or creative power - a spirit - which was feminine. In an invocation accompanying baptism, Thomas calls for the Holy Spirit:

Come, holy name of Christ that is above every name;
Come, power of the Most High and perfect compassion;
Come, thou highest gift;
Come, compassionate mother;
Come, fellowship of the male;
Come, thou (f.) that dost reveal the hidden mysteries;
Come, mother of seven houses, that thy rest may be in the eighth house.
(Acts of Thomas 2:27)

---

Come, silence that dost reveal the great deeds of the whole greatness;
Come thou that dost show forth the hidden things
And make the ineffable manifest;
Holy Dove that bearest the twin young;
Come, hidden Mother;
Come, thou that art manifest in thy deeds
and dost furnish joy and rest for all that are joined with thee;
Come and partake with us in this Eucharist
Which we celebrate in thy name,
and in the love-feast in which we are gathered together at thy call.
(Acts of Thomas 5:50)

---

After reading such materials I decided that Syrian Orthodox Christianity was somewhat heretical (though perhaps only through an accident of grammar), and so I wanted nothing to do with Syriac literature. I would find something else on which to do my dissertation.
Then came the Spring of 1986.
I was teaching advanced Hebrew, and I had decided to take the class through the book of Judges. As we read along, I noticed something odd about Judges 3:10:

The Spirit of Yahweh came upon Caleb's younger brother...

In English, this passage from Judges doesn't appear startling, but in Hebrew something strange leapt out at me: "came upon" was a third person FEMININE verb, indicating it's subject "Spirit" was being understood as a feminine noun. Hebrew is not like Aramaic in its use of the word "spirit". While the word is exclusively feminine in Aramaic, in Hebrew it is sometimes masculine. Therefore, the question that came to mind was why had the author of Judges chosen here to make the Spirit of Yahweh feminine, when he could just as easily have made it masculine? Oh well.
I just shrugged my shoulders and went on, not overly concerned. Occasionally, I thought, one finds something inexplicable in the Bible: no big deal. But then came Judges 6:34. Again, "Spirit of Yahweh" was feminine.
At this point I decided to consult the concordance. Much to my surprise, every occurrence of "Spirit of Yahweh" in Judges is feminine. As I pondered that, I recalled Genesis 1:2, the first occurrence of "Spirit of God" in the Bible, and realized to my shock that it too is feminine.
Back to the concordance. Out of 84 OT uses of the word "spirit", in contexts traditionally assumed to be references to the Holy Spirit, 75 times it is either explicitly feminine or indeterminable (due to lack of a verb or adjective). Only nine times can "spirit" be construed as masculine, and in those cases it is unclear that it is a reference to God's Holy Spirit anyway. (Please see Appendix 3 for a complete list and detailed discussion of the usages.)
The New Testament references to the Holy Spirit are not helpful for conclusively deciding on the gender of the Holy Spirit, since "spirit" in Greek is neuter, and so is referred to as "it" by the New Testament writers.
The conclusion of all this is that our traditional assumption of a masculine Spirit is questionable; in fact, the evidence seems overwhelming that the Spirit should be viewed as "She", which does seem to make sense, since the other two members of the Godhead are labeled "Father" and "Son".
What are the theological implications of a feminine Holy Spirit? There are four:

• A feminine Holy Spirit clarifies how women can also be said to be created in the "image of God". It has long been recognized that he Godhead must include some feminine aspects, since Genesis 1:26-27 explicitly states that both men and women were created in God's image.
• A feminine Holy Spirit explains the identity of the personified wisdom in Proverbs 8:12-31:

I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence;
I possess knowledge and discretion.
To fear Yahweh is to hate evil;
I hate pride and arrogance,
evil behavior and perverse speech.
Counsel and sound judgment are mine;
I have understanding and power.
By me kings reign
and rulers make laws that are just;
by me princes govern,
and all nobles who rule on earth.
I love those who love me,
and those who seek me find me.
With me are riches and honor,
enduring wealth and prosperity.
My fruit is better than fine gold;
what I yield surpasses choice silver.
I walk in the way of righteousness,
along the paths of justice,
bestowing wealth on those who love me
and making their treasuries full.
Yahweh possessed me at the beginning of his work,
before his deeds of old;
I was appointed from eternity,
from the beginning,
before the world began.
Where there were no oceans, I was given birth,
when there were no springs abounding with water;
before the hills, I was given birth,
before he made the earth or its fields
or any of the dust of the world.
I was there when he set the heavens in place,
when he marked out the horizon
on the face of the deep,
when he established the clouds above
and fixed securely the fountains of the deep,
when he gave the sea its boundary
so the waters would not overstep his command,
and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
Then I was the craftsman at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day,
rejoicing in his whole world
and delighting in mankind....

Some commentators have tried to tie this personification of wisdom to the idea of Christ as divine "Word" [Gk. logos]. Unfortunately for this theory, the genders of the words in question get in the way. The gender of the word "wisdom" is feminine, and is therefore personified as a woman. This makes a direct identification of "wisdom" with "Christ" virtually impossible.
Other commentators have pictured "wisdom" as a created being, like an angel; better have been those who argue that the personification of wisdom in Proverbs 8 is simply a literary device, without objective reality.
However, if the Holy Spirit is feminine, then the identification is relatively easy: Genesis 1:2 pictures the Spirit of God hovering over the deep, active in creating the world, just as Proverbs describes. Both the Old and New Testament connect the idea of teaching and imparting wisdom with the function of the Holy Spirit (Ex. 31:3; 35:31; Acts 6:3; Ephesians 1:17; Luke 12:12; and John 14:25-26).

• The third benefit of recognizing the femininity of the Holy Spirit is that it explains the subservient role that the Spirit plays. The Bible seems to indicate that the Spirit does not speak for itself or about itself; rather the Spirit only speaks what it hears. The Spirit is said to have come into the world to glorify Christ (See John 16:13-14 and Acts 13:2). In contrast, it should be noted that the Scripture represents both the Father and Son speaking from and of themselves.
• Finally, a feminine Holy Spirit, with a Father and Son as the rest of the Trinity, may help explain why the family is the basic unit of human society.

Other Tasks of the Holy Spirit

---

• Enabled Mary to conceive Jesus.

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most
High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of
God. (Luke 1:35)

• The Holy Spirit was the author of Scripture

Matthew 5:17, 2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Pet. 1:21, Act. 2:16

• The Holy Spirit is the interpreter of Scripture

1 Corinthians 2:10-14, Ephesians 1:17
On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit gave birth to the Church as a body of living members of which Christ is the risen, exalted and living Head. (Acts 2:1-4). The foundation of the Church is the death and resurrection of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 1:20-23; 2:15-16). The "new man" is the Church.
The Holy Spirit possessed and indwelt the church as the temple of God. The Holy Spirit indwells the whole church and individual believers simultaneously (Ephesians 2:19-22; Romans 8:1, 11; John 14:17; 2 Corinthians 1:22).

 R.P. Nettelhorst

 Source: http://www.theology.edu/journal/volume3/spirit.htm

what did the Holy Spirit do in the Old Testament?

what did the Holy Spirit do in the Old Testament? Nine functions (at least) can be listed.

• The Holy Spirit came upon people to empower them for specific tasks (Judges 6:34; 1 Chron. 12:18; 2 Chron. 24:20).
  • interpretation of dreams (Gen. 41:38, Dan. 5:11)
  • special skills (Ex. 31:1-7)
  • prophesy (1 Sam. 10:6, 2 Sam. 23:23, Ezekiel 11:5, 24, Joel 2:28-29)
• The Spirit of God was involved in creating the universe (Gen. 1:2, Prov. 8:22-31, Ps. 33:6, Is. 40:12,13).
• The Spirit gave wisdom (Prov. 8, Is. 11:1-3). mind=ruah.
• The Spirit moved people geographically (Ezekiel 2:2, 3:12-15, 11:24, 37:1, 37:14, 43:5).
• Brings righteousness (Psalm 143:10; Isaiah 4:4).
• Gives life (Gen. 2:7, Job 33:4).
• Sustains life (Psalm 104:10-14, 30).
• Takes life (Is. 40:7; Psalm 104:29; Job 34:14-15).
• The Spirit is omnipresent (Ps. 139:7-10). 

Link:  http://www.theology.edu/journal/volume3/spirit.htm

Great Leadership: 28 Leadership Development Recommendations for your Individual Development Plan

Great Leadership: 28 Leadership Development Recommendations for your Individual Development Plan

Receiving Model of Christian Fellowship

Receiving model of christian fellowship from Laurence Yap

Receiving Model

 A. Vision

My dream is to have a church bring us closer to love, peace, hope.

B. Background

The current church model is Giving Model. 

Under this model, the believers are expected to demonstrate their commitment to God.

Believers are expected to

give 1/10 of their income
evangelize to people about Christ
expect to involve in weekly family fellowship
expect to involve in a ministry
expect to involve in Bible study and prayer meeting

They expect to GIVE and God will bless them in return

The results are burn out and tiredness. They lose the joy and the intimacy with God


C. New Approach : Receiving Model

Receiving Model is to let the believers to receive the blessing from God before they give their talent, finance and time to Christian community

Receiving Model emphasis of joy, miracle and freedom and experience the presence of God.

Blessing and joy first. Service secondary. God own the Universe, He does not need our services to enrich the world. The world mission will be fulfilled according to His time His way and His methods.

John 10:10
Prater of Jazbes.


D. Methodology
1-24 months

God - learn the presence of God (Trinity), learn to listen to God;s voice, visualization
Fellowship - Experience the love of brothers and sisters. Zero Expectation
Love offering - Give only after God's financial blessing according to your faith
Evangelism - No need until God instruct you specifically
Ministry - Serve only when God tell you. Usually it is when the love of God overflow in your life
Rules - Only two from Jesus - love God and  love ourselves
Administration - Seek the direction from God. Let God makes the plan

  



 

 

My quest in life is to lead a rich life with focus on getting closer to Holy Spirit and transfer this experience to others

First book I gain this experiec is Letters from Brother Lawrence in his book "The Practice of the present of God".

 His quotes:

Let us think often that our only business in this life is to please God. Perhaps all besides is but folly and vanity.

 In order to know God, we must often think of Him; and when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure.

 I wish you could convince yourself that GOD is often (in some sense) nearer to us, and more effectually present with us, in sickness than in health.

 We ought to act with God in the greatest simplicity, speak to Him frankly and plainly, and implore His assistance in our affairs.


Background of Brother Lawrence

 
Brother Lawrence, born Nicholas Herman, a lowly and unlearned man, who, after having been a footman and soldier, was admitted a Lay Brother among the barefooted Carmelites at Paris in 1666, and was afterwards known as "Brother Lawrence."
      
       His conversion, which took place when he was about eighteen years old, was the result, under God, of the mere sight in midwinter, of a dry and leafless tree, and of the reflections it stirred respecting the change the coming spring would bring. From that time he grew eminently in the knowledge and love of GOD, endeavoring constantly to walk "as in His presence." No wilderness wanderings seem to have intervened between the Red Sea and the Jordan of his experience. A wholly consecrated man, he lived his Christian life through as a pilgrim--as a steward and not as an owner, and died at the age of eighty, leaving a name which has been as "ointment poured forth."
      
       Nicholas entered the priory in Paris as a lay brother, not having the education necessary to become a cleric, and took the religious name, "Lawrence of the Resurrection". He spent almost all of the rest of his life within the walls of the priory, working in the kitchen for most of his life and as a repairer of sandals in his later years.
      
       Despite his lowly position in life and the priory, his character attracted many to him. He had a reputation for experiencing profound peace and visitors came to seek spiritual guidance from him. The wisdom he passed on to them, in conversations and in letters, would later become the basis for the book, The Practice of the Presence of God. Father Joseph de Beaufort, later vicar general to the Archbishop of Paris, compiled this work after Brother Lawrence died. It became popular among Catholics and Protestants alike, with John Wesley and A. W. Tozer recommending it to others.
      
       He found a peace in reconciling himself to the thought that this struggle and longing was his destiny. He said his soul "had come to its own home and place of rest." His death in 1691 occurred in relative obscurity, but his teachings lived on in the compilation of his words.
 
My focus with me on Holy Spirit. The third person of the Trinity.

Building Fellowship Effortlessly  - Part 1

I had led a fellowship beofe. It grew from 4-5 people to 12-15 people in less than few months. The results are not great, but the process led us there was joyful and effortless. I feel the sense of utmost freedom there.

If you want to learn the secret and the process.

The secret is let Holy Sprit lead and let God centered. 

I will unfold my experience little by little.

The receiving and God Centric model of congregation

- receive the blessing of Gid in all aspect
- Listen to God
- Let HS lead you in evangelisme
- Reverse the tactics of evangelism and tithe
- Lead congregation to experience God

After talking the andre of my experience of growing a fellowship, it dawn on me that I am using a receiving model than growing model. 1. Context The fellowship grew from few people to 15 people without much effort. The fellowship enjoy love, joy, faith and healing. what is the secret? The relying on holy spirit in growing the fellowship. Let me unfold the changes more in the following stories 2. Background I decided to reverse the usual fellowship method and look into the first century Christian. What did they do? I found in the book of acts that the believers shared things. This is heaven like. Not so. Uch of the materials and food, but the trust and care they extend to each other. Receiving model Curre growing model The role ofnholy spirit Experience Challenges to fellowship leaders

Understand Holy Spirit

Personality
1. HS is a person with full personality of God.
2. HS is our comforter, protector, strategist and also mentor
3. HS is on earth. Jesus and God is in heaven. We rely on HS for victorious life.He will bring us to the Father

Characteristics
1. Ommipresent - exist in our dream, thinking,subconscious and conscious, and God can talk to you
2. Omnipotent - to heal, cast out demon, move mountain and nature, to love
3. Omnitime - can dwell in our future, past and present. Therefore we shall ask his guidance

Practice the Present
1. Believe that HS is real and can interact like us. Give HS an image you can relate but remember it is not HS but a door to reach HS.
2. Visualize in your mind - walk in the Garden with HS, river side
3. Have Conversation with HS
4. Receive images, interpretation, signs, feelings of love and hope, Bible verses
5. Act on the experience and miracle by faith

Law of Attraction

(Prayer of Jebez)

1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. (NIV)

1. Ask - Ask you shall be given - Ask clearly and visually
2. Believe - You shall be given according to your faith - Believe God is moving the Universe to make it possible for you. (If God is with yoiu, who can against you - Psalm 122). Believe that God always wants to bless us to have good life (John 10 10)
3. Act - Rely on Holy Spirit to act on it. (You shall have power if the Holy Spirit come upon you Acts 1:8). Have constant conversation with God
4. Gratitude - Appreciate what you have now. Roman 8:13. All things work for those who love God
5. Acceptance - Accept you new being. New wine with new bag

Holy Spirit is a person. A living God. The third person in the Trinity of Chrsitian World.

The misconception of most people on Holy Spirit, as far as my encountered in the church as I was growing up in Asia is taking Holy Spirit as "IT" and as "POWER SOURCE".

Vivid Vision of Hope

One vision Holy Spirit had for me in 2004 was the promise of hope of my future.

The vision goes like this - I see in my spiritual eyes, I am surrounded by a group of enemy. They beat me up and I am badly injure. I see it as a 3rd person. No pain. Only the feelings of hopelessness.

Out of sudden, Holy Spirit in the appearance of Galadriel comes to rescue me. She comes like a lighting and fans off my enemies. It is like fairy tale but real.  She carry me in her arms. and Look at the 3rd person me She smiles wit comfort. She tell me telepathecally, I will lift you up and the trouble you have had right now will be over.

In real life, I have a tough time. Finance and career are not exactly well. May be at the bottom of my life. But spiritual, it was the time that I got really close to Holy Spirit.

Later on, a week laer, someone confirm of my vision. The rest is history.

Holy Spirit is real.  I wanted to reconnect to her more. The one that God and Jesus love most.

The science of getting rich

It is a  book about how to prosperous according to God's way by Wallance D Wattles

Tamara Lowe: Motivational DNA

By Heather Salon
The 700 Club

CBN.com – LIFE-CHANGING MOTIVATION
Tamara Lowe grew up on the streets of New Orleans. At age 10, she was taking drugs.  She became a drug dealer at 12 and dropped out of school in the eighth grade. For the next decade, she went from one drug-induced high to the next. Then, Tamara had a life-changing transition - she got motivated. 
She got off of drugs, earned her high school equivalency diploma, and went to college.  She decided to spend her life helping the people she felt she knew the best – drug addicts, alcoholics, the poor, the homeless, and the abused. To her surprise, she ended up working with five U.S. presidents (Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George HW Bush, and Bill Clinton), numerous world leaders (British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev), politicians, heads of state, business leaders, professional athletes, Hollywood celebrities and other influential people (including Billy Graham, Colin Powell, Joe Montana, George Foreman, Goldie Hawn, Charlton Heston, Bill Cosby, Christopher Reeve, Rudy Giuliani, Mary Lou Retton, and Mother Teresa). 
Through the Get Motivated Seminars, more than two million people have been taught to advance in their careers, have more fulfilling relationships, achieve their goals and make more money. Holding these seminars isn’t just a business to Tamara, it’s her calling.
During each seminar there is a straightforward, unapologetic, non-religious presentation for the gospel to the more than 200,000 annual attendees. Every year, Tamara hosts about 30 of these seminars in America’s biggest arenas, with tens of thousands of people at each meeting. 
The Washington Post has called her seminars “the Superbowl of Success.” Time Magazine has called Tamara and her group “the motivational Dream Team.” The New York Times says they “rouse sales reps, entrepreneurs and executives to higher levels of performance.” The Wall Street Journal calls the meetings “a barnstorming feel-good tour de force.”
TAMARA’S TESTIMONY
When Tamara looks back at the spiritual dimension of her success, she remembers that she was put off by religion. Her mother was Jewish and her father was Catholic, and neither one of them regularly attended weekly worship services. Tamara was not interested in God, the Bible, or organized religion as a child or a teenager.
At 17, someone gave her a Bible as a Christmas present. She thought it was not a very good gift, considering she was a drug addict. Knowing that the gift giver would ask if she had read the Bible, and not wanting to lie, Tamara figured she would read a few sentences from the New Testament so she would be telling the truth. She assumed the Bible was an old-fashioned book that was hard to understand and irrelevant. However, she found when she started reading it, she couldn’t put it down.
Tamara read the parts about Jesus and found herself addicted to the Bible. She finished reading the New Testament in about three weeks. Through reading the Bible, she found her life radically changed and she had a new motivation in life. It was not religion that changed her life, but a personal encounter with Jesus. Her faith is a great motivator for everything she does. In her 28 years of being a Christian, she has read the Bible from cover to cover many times over and still gets excited. Applying its words and wisdom is the secret to her success.

Source: http://www.cbn.com/700club/guests/bios/tamara_lowe042309.aspx