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This is because God does not live inside angels.
God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
The Son Exalted Above Angels
5 For to which of the angels did He ever say:
“You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You”?
And again:
“I will be to Him a Father,
And He shall be to Me a Son”?
6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says:
“Let all the angels of God worship Him.”
7 And of the angels He says:
“Who makes His angels spirits
And His ministers a flame of fire.”
8 But to the Son He says:
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;
A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.
9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You
With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.”
10 And:
“You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
11 They will perish, but You remain;
And they will all grow old like a garment;
12 Like a cloak You will fold them up,
And they will be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years will not fail.”
13 But to which of the angels has He ever said:
“Sit at My right hand,
Till I make Your enemies Your footstool”?
14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?
” (Hebrews 1:1–14, NKJV)
We learn Christ from people, older, more mature spiritual people typically called elders. It’s a family thing as we see family to be the
The Shema
“Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged. 3 Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
” (Deuteronomy 6:1–9, NKJV)
20 “When your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies, the statutes, and the judgments which the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you shall say to your son: ‘We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand; 22 and the Lord showed signs and wonders before our eyes, great and severe, against Egypt, Pharaoh, and all his household. 23 Then He brought us out from there, that He might bring us in, to give us the land of which He swore to our fathers. 24 And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. 25 Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’
” (Deuteronomy 6:20–25, NKJV)
Face to face Accountable Discipleship
7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.
” (Hebrews 13:7–9, NKJV)
For you yourselves know, brethren, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But even after we had suffered before and were spitefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict. 3 For our exhortation did not come from error or uncleanness, nor was it in deceit.
4 But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. 5 For neither at any time did we use flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak for covetousness—God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, when we might have made demands as apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children. 8 So, affectionately longing for you, we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 9 For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God.
10 You are witnesses, and God also, how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; 11 as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father does his own children, 12 that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
” (1 Thessalonians 2:1–12, NKJV)
This is also why the commercial church aka Commercial Charismatic Church as a surrogate cannot make disciples properly.
Commercial Charismatic Church
- Building
- Stage
- Pulpit
- Band
- Pastor
- Service/Show
- Lots of sweet little Christians
- Programs
- Coffee Machine
- Kiddies Church
- Youth
- Bible school
- Missions
- Bank Account
- Board of Castrated Elders whose role is to condone the pastortute
Most Christians were born into KFC and think it is a powerful and biblical version of church.
Typical Theology of KFC
- Attendance
- Tithing
- Submitting to the pastortute (under cover)
- Alter calls
- Missions
- Programs
- A sense of community
- Superstition and fear of leaving
- Shallow sentimental theology that doesn’t require any real growth
- Theory of priesthood of all believers but not practiced in any real depth
- Mild sense of sectarianism
These features are not equally strong in various local KFC but do outline the typical dynamic.
The Father’s house was designed to function as a family not an orphanage. Plural elders proper, not a pastortutes who is mothering: nurture and control.
PS Forgive me for this criticism but understand that the Lord sends the prophets to do.
10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To root out and to pull down,
To destroy and to throw down,
To build and to plant.”
” (Jeremiah 1:10, NKJV)
Church Life Model
Maturity develops in multigenerational communities where bonded relationships produce joy and people are willing to share sorrow and distress.
Multigenerational communities require three or four generations of people living together in order to produce a healthy maturity. Attempts at transformation through community life that involve only one or two generations will always be too narrow in their scope and two extreme in their effects.
Communities become damaging when they serve an ideology whether political, religious or humanistic. In ideological communities the ideal soon begins to justify the treatment people receive and the bonds they are allowed to form. Therapeutic, religious, educational and corrective communities rarely have more than two generations and the members usually become peculiar in ways that cannot be called “thriving.”
Violence and abuse in communities are avoided when people are joyful to be together and they share each other’s pains and sorrows. If one must share the pain one causes with the one who got hurt, we quickly learn to live a better way.
Both natural and spiritual families need multigenerational involvement. We have a chance to thrive when many generations relate together in joy rather than through fear, control and threats. This kind of community is the mandate of Christianity and the character of the life we call “the family of God.” The present community fabric is disintegrating within churches and society. Whereas the church of 1900 could depend on society to provide the multigenerational community the church of 2000 can no longer afford to do so. In 1900 Sunday Schools divided by age groups so that people could get a break from multigenerational living and find some peer group time. It is now becoming rare for extended families to live in the same state or family units to even have one meal together in a week. It is time to rethink how we do church.
Multigenerational community provides shelter for younger/weaker members
For a community to continue for generations the past must be kept fresh to protect and direct the future. The older serve and nurture the younger, not so much with hard work as with protection of the individual and group identity.
The joy that grandparents and grandchildren take in each other is foundational to the attitude that we just love being together. Bonded relationships serve many purposes but as soon as they are used to serve a purpose people will rightly resent it. Community is damaged when people demand to be loved “well enough” before they will love. Communities are damaged when love is conditioned on change or performance. As deep as the center of our brain’s attachment system, we find that relationships have value because we are each other’s not because we perform.
Multigenerational community encourages both natural and spiritual family growth
A multigenerational community needs both natural and spiritual family participation. Natural biological families are subject to chance and history when it comes to providing the many nonverbal skills needed to correctly form their identities and train their children’s control centers. Missing skills will result in inadequate emotional regulation and unstable relationships. Since these skills can only be learned in bonded relationships, any natural family that lacks skills depends on a spiritual family to provide what they are missing. Spiritual families supplement natural families.
While spiritual families help us become who we were meant to be, natural families are the source of new generations. When one member of a family forms a bond with God this often draws other family members into the spiritual community. When spiritual communities gather, the younger members often form natural families.
Multigenerational community is both the purpose of creation and the objective of restoration
“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” God (Genesis 1:28)
“By you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves.” God (Genesis 12:3)
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. (Deuteronomy 7:9)
