CIRCUMSPECTION IN THESE LAST DAY

CIRCUMSPECTION IN THESE LAST DAYS

By David Bar Yakov

It has become a tradition in our society to make what we call "resolutions" at the beginning of the new year. For some they might resolve to stop smoking, others might resolve to be nicer people and yet others might resolve to go to church more often. Yes, our society has conditioned us to turn New Year's Day into a day when we will make promises that we either cannot or will not keep. The motives behind any resolution of this undertaking are many times noble, but when people make any resolution without the guidance of the Ruach Ha Kodesh they will fail. People often forget a very important part of the "Lord's Prayer." Yeshua told us that when we pray we should recognize that "thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven." While the tenant of a person's New Year's Resolution are noble and for the most part they are seeking a way to be a better person, any attempt to do so without the help from Yahweh is moot.

But what does the word "circumspect" actually mean? Well, a visit to the Merriam Webster website yielded the following result:

Main Entry:

cir·cum·spect

Pronunciation:

\'sər-k^əm-,spekt\

Function:

adjective

Etymology:

Middle English, from Middle French or Latin; Middle French circonspect, from Latin circumspectus, from past participle of circumspicere to look around, be cautious, from circum- + specere to look

Date:

15th century

: careful to consider all circumstances and possible consequences

It is important that we as believers in Yahweh Yeshua always examine our ways and our motives. This is especially true when it comes to the battleground that we have been commissioned to fight on. Those of us who have been given the mantle to fight against the deception of the UFO/extraterrestrial deception seem to come under attack from Satan and his minions in a more focused way than do other believers. I'm not saying this to make us sound like we're more special or that our fight is better than the fight of others in the Kingdom of Yahweh. We do have to recognize that since the UFO/extraterrestrial phenomenon will play a big part in the end-time events. The enemy isn't exactly happy that we are exposing his deception for what it is. Picture if you will someone knowing Hitler's plans to invade Poland and France back in 1938. This person takes out an article in several major newspapers in Europe and published these plans for the whole world to see. Well, you can imagine the resources that the German SS would have mustered up to put an end to the people who published these plans. We have to thank Yahweh Yeshua many times each day for the protection that He provides for us against what must be a seething satanic horde.

To look at this with a Biblical illustration we can open up the pages of scripture to II Kings, Chapter Six. The King of Assyria had been warring against the ten northern tribes that had united under the banner of Israel. This king would sit in counsel with his captains making plans for battle maneuvers and think that his plans were secret, secure in what he thought was the privacy of his chambers. What he didn't count on was that Yahweh was telling these plans to Elisha who in turn would share them with the king of Israel. Every time the Assyrian king would wait in ambush for Israel's king and his army his plans would be frustrated because Elisha the prophet would warn the king of Israel. At first the Assyrian king suspected spies in his midst, but after a while he was advised that Elisha the prophet was the tactician for Israel's king. Assyria's king was angry with Elisha and sent soldiers to surround the town where Elisha was, but Yahweh blinded the Assyrian soldiers. When they were blinded, Elisha led them into Samaria where the army of Israel was.

I believe that the above situation is not only a historical account, but Yahweh included it the Bible to show us how we are protected by Him when we are fighting a spiritual battle. I believe that if Yahweh were to open our eyes so that we could see the spiritual realm all around us, we would many times see angels on horses with fiery chariots, and we would see them fighting in our behalf. So many times, when we are in the midst of spiritual warfare, we think that we are going it alone, or perhaps in the company of a few brothers or sisters; but there are many of the angelic hosts fighting alongside of us so that we will have the victory in both realms and so that Yahweh can receive glory in both realms. When we realize the scope of battle in which we are all a part of, we then can recognize why our brother Paul tells us to don the full armor of Yahweh.

It is vital that we remain circumspect in all things. To be circumspect means to be self-examining, searching our lives, or motives and our desires to see if they line up with the will of Yahweh and the desires that he has in our lives. When we were in school we were told that almost everything can be worked out by looking at the following formula:

who
what
when
where
why
how

When an idea comes to our heads we must immediately question who our actions will impact; what will be the whole impact of our action, when will the fruit of our action ripen, where will our action take us during the days, week, months and years to follow; why do we want to do this anyway; and, if we do take this action, how are we to accomplish it. I firmly believe that if everyone would use this method when undertaking any action (except for emergency or evasive action that require quick response) that the world would be a much better place, not perfect, but better.

Every day, every person that is involved in a personal relationship with Yahweh should ask Yahweh some tough questions: "Am I doing anything that offends You?" and "Is there anything in my life You want me to change?" and "Are there things that I believe that just aren't true?" and "Am I living in Your will, oh Adonai?" -- followed by the heart-felt cry: "I want to be the person you want me to be, despite my weaknesses, my incredible ability to say YES to every temptation that comes my way -- I want to change! I want to be like You! I want YOUR way, not my way, I want YOUR will, not my will, Your authority not my petty authority. Open my eyes, open my heart! Pour yourself into me, Yahweh, reveal Yourself to me, and Your way, help me understand Your Word, Your Law, Your Will! Baptize me in your Ruach Ha Kodesh, lead me Ruach Ha Kodesh, and open my eyes to error, the false doctrines built around Your Word. Lead me into ALL truth, even if I don't like at all what You teach me!"

The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for

"God resists the proud,

But gives grace to the humble."

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:1-11 NKJV

It is interesting that Peter used the illustration of the devil being like a roaring lion, seeking whom he might devour. Lions tend to track their prey and the prey that they kill the most are the animals that are young, frail or those who are injured. Like the rest of creation, they seem to take the path of least resistance. It is easy to see why lions go after the young; they are not up to speed and although they have the instinct to run away, they just lack the size and skill that comes with age. In our Christian walk this is true too. It's an established fact that if a new believer isn't discipled in the ways of the faith they are much easier for the enemy to ensnare and drag away. The frail can be compared to those who have come to faith in Yeshua, but they have lacked the initiative to want to grow, for whatever reason. But the wounded we have to examine more closely. How can a believer in Yeshua become wounded. Someone who truly had Yeshua in his/her heart, although they might suffer at the hands of others who call themselves believers, will always bounce back; it's just a matter of time. They might have a wound, but the wound is superficial, and given time and the salve of the Ruach Ha Kodesh, the wound heals and health is restored. More serious wounds come from a lack of circumspection, a lack of listening to the Ruach Ha Kodesh when He tells us that a wounding factor is close at hand.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17

A brief glace at the passage of scripture above shows the root cause of the wounds that make us easy prey for Satan. That cause is pride, and it is the foundation for just about every problem that we find ourselves in. All of the Ten Commandments deal with the root cause of pride. If people were humble in nature all of the newspapers would be reporting good deeds instead of robbery, mayhem, murder and war. The world however loves pride and they go out of their way to promote it and they've turned it into a religion and a multi trillion dollar a year industry. Why is this the case? Well, we have to remember that the world is in a fallen state, and those who refuse to serve Yeshua (even many Christians) refuse to serve Him because they lust after the flesh, or lust after the eyes, or enjoy the pride that goes along well in this world.

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18

We have to admit that this sort of thing happens because of the fallen state of mankind. It almost always starts with our own foolish pride. A lot of people would like to take the burden off of themselves and blame our enemy for the entire process, but the beginnings are in our own lives; in our own motives. It is probably a good thing to take this illustration back to the animal world, specifically how a lion finds its prey. As mentioned earlier, lions stalk their prey, but they find their prey much more easily when they can smell the wound of an animal. Yes, lions can smell blood and they use their sense of smell to find injured prey. Once located, the injured animal is stalked and the lion stealthfully sneaks up to its next meal. The victim doesn't realize that it will soon be food for the crafty lion until it is too late for them.

How does this apply to believers in Yeshua? Well, Satan (or his minions) are watching us all of the time. Through years of observance and practice they have become quite adept at how this whole thing plays out. They look for signs that their intended victim shows, whether it be lust or pride and then they capitalize on this fault. They might observe that a man or a woman glares at a person of the opposite sex when they pass by. They see the gleam in that person's eye while they behold that person that they would like to have. His minions might observe that a person is slightly enamored with money, or power or any other thing that people lust after. They see the wound in that person. Later, they will present the object of desire to their victim. Sometimes they will give the person what they want and they will do it in such a way that this person thinks that what they have gotten is a gift from Yahweh. Slowly and methodically the enemy gives more and more, while the vision of the victim is drawn farther and farther away from Yahweh and/or His precepts. In many cases the victim goes for months or years thinking that they are not wounded, but in fact they are in the best of health. In effect, at this point the lion has pounced on his victim with his jaws tearing intently at the victims throat, his Christian witness pooling on the ground, his life waning with each heartbeat.

Satan is quite the expert when it comes to pride, lust and rebellion. It was his pride and lust for power that cause him to rebel against Yahweh. Scriptures tells us how he thinks when it illustrates his infamous "five I Wills," found in Isaiah 14:12-14

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart,

I will ascend into heaven,

I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:

I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;

I will be like the most High.

Having had such high aspirations, and having had the utter gall to make such proclamations in the sight of El Elyon, it is probably a small thing to Satan or his fallen angels and demons to mix in the affairs of rebellious and fallen mankind. Since he is the author of pride, lust and rebellion, I think it is safe to assume that it is an art for them to heap their own wickedness in copious amounts on anyone that they see as an easy mark. Compare it to giving a bottle of booze to an alcoholic or bringing a person with a gambling habit to a casino in Las Vegas.

Those of us who walked in the Kingdom of Yahweh back in the 1980's saw a lot of famous preachers fall. We all watched as Jim and Tammy Bakker pilfered millions out of their television viewers and subsequently fell because of their pride and lust. We watched as Jimmy Swaggart gave into his lust by having affairs. One by one many "supposed" great preachers in succession fell like a row of domino's; their lust and pride exposed them and humbled them.

I've had occasion to see this more times than I have cared to see it. My first time to see such a thing was in a church in Vacaville, California back in the 1980's. It happened to a pastor with above average looks, who liked women, property and money. Satan stalked him, giving him all of those things and bringing him to ruin. To make matters worse, this man didn't hear the other members of the herd when we tried to warn him. It wrecked his Christian witness, caused his children to stumble (his sin was repeated by them) and it ruined his family life. He left town wounded and moved to another city where he repeated this cycle all over again. Like ducks in a shooting gallery many men and women in Yahweh have fallen and it is almost always because they proclaim themselves to be exalted over others and they take credit for the works of Yahweh and place it upon themselves; oh, how the mighty have fallen.

You see, the thing is that when Yahweh calls someone into spiritual warfare, and they accept the calling, they had better make sure that they are circumspect all of the time. People who aren't circumspect ALWAYS forget to fully armor themselves, they can't put on the armor of Yahweh and they can't put on that armor because some pieces cannot be found. For instance, how can a person gird themselves with truth if they are living a lie? How can a person shod their feet with the gospel of peace if they are walking outside of Yahweh's Commandments and furthermore, how can they show peace if their lives are a jumbled up mess of lies and deception and their souls are practically warring with the Ruach Ha Kodesh? How can they use the sword of the Spirit, the Word of Yahweh, if the sword is stuck in its scabbard due to perversion of that word by their actions? How can they protect themselves with the shield of faith if their pride or lust after the things of this world show that they don't trust Yahweh for their provision? Going into spiritual warfare without a sword, a shield, shoes and a belt to keep the armor fast is sheer suicide.

Over the past few years I have seen the spiritual pride and lust event raising its ugly head again. Because the Delusion Resistance is a spiritual warfare ministry it is natural for others with the same sort of calling to contact us, work with us and/or be affiliated with us. In 1999 I became acquainted with one fellow who moved to the desert southwest a couple years prior in order to start a ministry which revealed UFO's and aliens for what they really are. As time rolled on though, this man became puffed up and it wasn't long before he was doing things that were not really proper for a believer in Yeshua to be doing. They seemed like small things and they were pointed out to this man, but he blew the warnings off as trite and/or trivial. Had this man been circumspect and had he heeded the warnings of others then things would have improved. Instead, his ways started to take a downward spiral. First he started to explore his desire to become a photographer. That in itself is a noble profession, but his desire also included nude photography. Some Christian brothers and sisters expressed to this man that nude photography is not godly and they were not listened to. This man's desire to photograph women nude was so strong that this man produced a paper where he distorted scripture to try to prove his point.

At or around the same time this man decided to form his own church. The mission of his church was to start a new church that didn't subscribe to the 501c3 tax exemption provided by the US Government. According to this man, any church that had such a tax exemption placed itself under the authority of the United States government and thus became a ward of the state. There is some evidence that this is true, and if this was the only reason for the new fellowship then that would have been okay. There were other things about the church that were bothersome. First, not only did this man believe that the 501c3 was a wicked device of the government, but he made the claim that ALL churches that subscribed to this tax exemption were evil and that the congregants were deceived. Thus, he was claiming that almost all people in almost every church in America weren't true believers and that only those who were members of his church (and others like it) knew the truth. Most cults start out with this premise. This man further explained their missionary tactics. He said that members of their church would sometimes attend other churches so as to look for discontent parishioners in order to pull them out of their churches and into his. On another page of his website he explained that those who wanted to attend his fellowship had to request membership by sending a letter to his mail address. His reasoning for this was to keep interlopers from coming to his church. He said that he didn't want people coming to his church to cause trouble or draw people out of his fellowship; which is exactly what he was going to other churches to do. After reading his mission statement and other alarming parts of the website, and seeing that the original church name was the "anti-church," I was convinced that this was this man's second attempt to justify his pride and lust by twisting scripture. A detailed examination of his "anti-church" can be found on the our website.

Before July of this year Yahweh Yeshua dictated to me a prophecy for this individual. The word from Yeshua basically told the man that he started out with good motives but that he drank from "strange water" even after being warned not to do this. Yeshua went on to say that this individual would be brought low and that his ministry would be taken from him. He said that the people that he had been associated with would remove their support and that Yeshua had removed His support too. Yeshua told this person that this person would read the word from Yeshua and that he would say that the word did not apply to him. Finally, Yeshua told the man that he could be restored if he humbled himself and repented of his deeds. When I was in Roswell I delivered this word to this person's office (he had left town before I could give it to him) and came back to California the next day. I later heard that this person had read the word from Yeshua and the first thing he said was that the word was not for him. After a short while many of those who worked with this person walked away from him because they were fed up with his prideful ways and his continued practice of perverting scripture for his own prideful lusts. And to further prove his prideful rebellious ways, he now shacks up with a woman, not married by a minister or any recognized authority; both of them claiming that they are married in Yahweh's eyes. They both claim that scripture proves this to be a valid doctrine.

Certainly, this man is not circumspect. Had he been circumspect he would have considered all of his ways, and the consequences of his actions. His lack of circumspection not only led to his friends to distance themselves from him, but it led to a personal rebuke from Yeshua Himself.

Someone who learned about the lack of circumspection and the consequences of bad actions is named Jim Bakker. Jim Bakker, along with his wife, the late Tammy Bakker, formed a ministry back in the 1980's, called The PTL Club. The letters PTL stood for "praise the Lord." Anyone with any sort of discernment could see what the PTL Club was all about, but many people fell for this wonderful electronic media farce. After a few years this ministry came under the scrutiny of the Internal Revenue Service and it was found that the Bakkers had bilked millions of dollars from their followers and the Bakkers had violated many of the laws that govern Non-profit Organizations. Jim Bakker bore the brunt of the blame and he was sentenced to prison. While in stir, Bakker found Yeshua and was born again. After much reflection of his past life, Jim Bakker came to the following conclusion:

"As I studied the Scripture, I began to see things in the Bible I had never seen before. One of the most obvious reasons was that I was now taking time to study, not simply picking up the Bible for a quick dose of inspiration. In the past I had naturally gravitated toward those passages in the Bible that supported what I wanted to say or do. I found it easy to skip certain verses, passages, and sometimes whole books, such as the book of Revelation. I had made up my mind now, however, that I would not skip over any part of the Scriptures. And I was going to ask God all the difficult questions I had skirted during my busy years. I had time -- nothing but time -- to listen and learn from the Lord." "Prosperity and the Coming Apocalypse," Jim Bakker and Ken Abraham, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Page 20.

Jim had finally learned that Yahweh puts that "still small voice" in our lives for a reason. He learned that he had to examine all of his ways to see if they were of his flesh, of the enemy, or if they are indeed from Yahweh. Jim however had to suffer a horrible price for his misdeeds. Aside from his time in prison, his marriage to Tammy dissolved and his name became a descriptor for every charlatan and misguided shepherd in the Church.

Much Pride Equals Much Deception:

The lack of self-examinations has led to some of the greatest deceptions within the Christian Church thus leading to divisions in the Church and/or the formation of cults which, "have a form of Godliness, but deny the power thereof." It was a lack of circumspection that allowed Joseph Smith to form the Mormon Church. Some might argue that the deception came by way of a fallen angel named Moroni who gave Smith a great delusion, but the fallen angel was only appealing to the lust of the flesh and the pride of life the Smith was already entertaining.

It was a lack of circumspection that led Charles "Taze" Russell to form the Jehovah's Witnesses. Just like Jim Bakker had done, Russell picked the scriptures that he liked and used him for gain. The scriptures that he didn't like he simply changed to suit his own purposes. Our friend in Roswell shares a lot of traits with Charles Russell. Russell strove for recognition and fame as does our Roswell friend. Russell tweaked scripture to serve his own needs as does or Roswell friend. Russell formed his own church because he thought all other churches were corrupt, as did our Roswell friend. Russell spurned correction as does our Roswell friend.

Modern parallels to these deceptions can be found and there is a plethora of them. It is interesting to note that just about every time there is a movement of the Ruach Ha Kodesh, there is also a movement of the enemy that coincides alongside what Yahweh is doing. Many great revivals happened in the 19th century, around the time of the formation of both the Mormon Church and the Jehovah's Witnesses. The modern cults sprang up mostly during the "Jesus People" movement. Organizations such as "The Way International," "Children of God," "The Peoples Temple (Jim Jones)," "Branch Davidians," and others are all perversions that were born during the "Jesus Movement."

Perversion of the truth have always been around. Read just about any book in the Bible and you will see somewhere in that book where one of Yahweh's truths was taken by people and/or Satan and his hordes, and that truth was exchanged for a lie. It always seemed that sin would launch in a person's heart and an act was committed after which some sort of excuse was made for the sin. People took Yahweh's Law and twisted it so that they might work around the law, use a loophole perhaps. But Yahweh was always quick to point out that there are no loopholes in His Law. A good example of this would be the exorbitant plans that Melech David went through so as to have Bathsheeva as a wife. David had relations with her one evening and she became pregnant. Knowing that he was guilty of adultery, he had Joab send Uriah the Hittite (Bathsheeva's husband) to David so that he could have Uriah sleep with Bathsheeva, thus making everyone think that the child that she bore was Uriah's and not his. Uriah never did go to his own house and he never did have relations with his wife so David had Joab put Uriah into battle on a front line where they expected to lose many soldiers. Uriah died in this battle whereupon David took Bathsheeva for his wife.

But things did not end there. What David did set the stage for a lot of misery in his life and in the life of many in Israel. Nathan the prophet came to David and told him about a rich man who dealt treacherously with a poor man whereupon David became angered and pronounced a death sentence on the rich man. Nathan revealed that this was really an allegory relating to what David had done to Uriah and then Nathan told of judgments that would come upon David. Yahweh pardoned David's sin, but did not stop the consequences of the sin. These things are related in later accounts of Absalom's rebellion and all the blood that was later spilled in successive royal families in David's line.

One of the major themes of the Church fellowship that I attend is this, "don't mess with God." By this we are asserting that we as believers have to stop playing games with Yahweh. Somehow people have the idea that they can hoodwink Yahweh; like they can work the system, so to speak, and that they can find loopholes in Yahweh's kingdom. Yahweh warns us however about the consequences of this charade:

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Galatians 6:7-8

Like I mentioned in the beginning of this article, Satan desires to sift Yahweh's people like wheat. It is really sad that he has such an easy time of accomplishing what he has set himself out to do. The problem is that people just just don't examine themselves anymore. Many believers tend to think that if they attend church every Sunday, prayer meetings during the week and a Bible study, they are filling the prescription for a godly life. Such an attitude is one filled with pride because that sort of person thinks, "I'm doing all I can to live a godly life." Well, we can't do anything to live a godly life and all of our righteousness is as filthy rags:

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Isaiah 64:6

There are probably some who would argue with me about this. They will say that we are made clean by Yeshua's blood, and they are right. But, we have to remember that in our own accord, we are unclean and it is the blood of Yeshua that makes us acceptable to Aveinu (our Father). Looking at such a fact makes us humble, and when we are humble we tend to be circumspect. When people think that they have achieved righteousness they tend to "fade away." When people think that they have their "spiritual act" together they tend to let their guard down, they become complacent. Then, when their guard is down, Satan comes in and starts to devour them. In most cases, this sort of person becomes the very thing that they have hated, abhorred and even what they have themselves preached against. But where does one's righteousness really come from? Yahweh tells us through Isaiah the prophet the following:

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD. Isaiah 54:17

That's right, any righteousness that we have comes from Yahweh Yeshua. When we get a bead on the true source of our righteousness, seeing that it comes from Yahweh and belongs to Yahweh, then we become humble and thankful. Picture it this way. We all remember that prissy little girl in the playground when we were kids. She thought that she was better than all of us and it was because her father was a city councilman or a policeman or a lawyer; insert any profession that fits the story. Of course she had a right to be proud and to esteem her father, nobody can deny that. But, when we came down to brass tacks and we really thought about it, she was just an obnoxious little brat and she was riding on the shirt tails of her father who really deserved the honor for who he was.

When believers become prideful they will often do things to justify that pride. Many times they will turn to the Bible to justify their actions. Like our friend in the southwest, they will scour the scripture to look for passages in an attempt to quiet the voice of the Ruach Ha Kodesh who is gently tugging on the strings of their heart. Most of the time they will find two or three scriptures that they feel comforts their soul and then they will do word studies on those passages in order to cement their case in their own minds. Sometimes they will just skip the scripture twisting and will base their doctrine on what they have seen other people do. Most of the time they do this because they can't find a scriptural basis for their actions and they tend to base their decision and actions on the success of others who have fallen into the trap. Think about the poor lemmings who all follow each other off of the cliff to plummet to the jagged rocks at the edge of the sea as this is the same mentality.

I can't think of a better example of this then to illustrate a movement that has become quite popular over the last twenty years of so. There are some who have forsaken meeting in a church setting and they meet in their homes. Now, don't judge me too harshly. I am not talking about everyone who does this. There are instances where good fellowships cannot be found, or where a group of people had a bad experience in a church, or where people are forced into underground churches to ensure the safe practice of our faith. These are all valid concerns and I feel that Yahweh honors these people and their intentions. But over the years there has arisen a movement that doesn't recognize the office of the pastor in a church. These people are of the opinion that when a church has a position of pastor, they have set up for themselves a king, or some other sort of potentate. This is a particularly sad state of affairs especially when we see that the office of "pastor" is one that ordained by Yahweh and by His Word:

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Ephesians 4:11-12

In this particular instance we see that the Apostle Paul is telling the Ephesians of all of the offices that Yahweh has ordained for His Church. All of these offices are vital for the functioning of Yeshua's Church and they are all interdependent on one another. It certainly is a shame when some parts think that they are more important than others. When our brother, the Apostle Paul was writing his first letter to the Church in Corinth he wrote about such things. Apparently, some in the fellowship in Corinth thought that they were more important than others in the church. There appears to have been two divisions judging by what he wrote; a racial division between Jew and Gentile, and a division between the offices in the church and the various gifts ascribed to each office.

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14

It is interesting to note that those who adhere to this new "pastorless church" say that there is an order of importance in cadence to the way that the offices are mentioned in Ephesians chapter four. They say that since "apostles and prophets" are mentioned first they have the most importance to Yahweh. This is certainly a fallacy that must be addressed. The greatest commandment is that we love Yahweh, and that we love our neighbors as ourselves. The great commission from Yeshua is that we are to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. Since this commandment comes from Yeshua Himself, we should consider it very important. Since that is the case, and if there were to be an order of importance to our list in Ephesians, then the office of evangelist must move to the top of the list. And if bringing people to faith in Yeshua is first on the list, then a pastor and teacher must come second on the list because once the sheep are brought into the fold they needed to be shepherded (pastor means shepherd) and they need to be taught about Yahweh and then need to be versed in what to do and not to do. To a person with humility, this is very easy to see. The list of offices in Ephesians wasn't listed by order of importance, but they were most probably listed that way because Paul thought of them in that order.

Paul was quite adamant about each part of the body being just as important as the other, so much so that he wrote the following:

But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. 1 Corinthians 12:18-25

Paul says a lot in the scripture above, but two things are very important. First, no member can say to another member that they are less important and they cannot say that they are not needed. Each member of the body is important to the whole body. When one member suffers, the whole body suffers. Did you ever stub your toe on something during the night? When this happens, it affects your whole body and it can make life miserable depending on how hard you stubbed and what you crashed your toe into. The second thing that we must look at is what is said toward the end. Paul says that we must recognize each member as being necessary and equal so that we don't create a schism in the body. Schism is just a fancy word that means "division."

Whenever a person or a group think that they have a special calling, and that their calling is "higher" or more special than the calling of those around them they are entering into a condition of spiritual pride. Many times people cause schisms because they fail to examine their action and the implications that come from their action. As we said at the beginning of this article, we should enter every venture asking Yahweh if what we are doing is really of Him. Is what I am about to do serving my flesh, or is it a move of the spirit. Am I asking this question because I really care or am I just going through the motions.

There is a wonderful litmus system that Yeshua set up and it should be followed by anyone who wants to participate in ministry. Yeshua had to interrupt an altercation that was occurring between some of the disciples who were discussing which disciple would be the greatest in Yahweh's kingdom. Yeshua responded by saying:

And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. Luke 22:25-26

In other words, anyone who would want to be greatest among you, let him be servant to the least. Yeshua said that it is the Gentiles, the heathen, the lost, the upstarts and malcontents that like to practice lordship over their brethren. Be he sternly tells us that "you shall not be so!"

We live in a "have it now" society and it is hard to wait for answers or results because we have been conditioned to wait for a short time and if we don't hear from Yahweh in what we feel to be an adequate time we take that to mean that his silence is an affirmation that what we have proposed is really his will. This attitude is backward and contrary not only in the natural world, but also in the Kingdom of Yahweh. No answer means that we are to be still and wait for his answer, no matter how long it takes. The Tenach is full of stories of people who made the wrong decisions because they didn't listen long enough to hear Yahweh's voice. Not only do we see the wrong choices that they made, but we see that the fruit that is born from impatience is often bitter for the soul. We also see in these stories that often the answer is in Yahweh's Scripture and that if they, or anyone else, were to take the time and effort to honestly search His Word, they would find that His way isn't exactly what we had in mind:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

This scripture in Isaiah should make us all feel very humble. The very premise of this word should cause the humble and contrite heart to examine all of its ways continually. I caution you, if you think that you understand Yahweh, especially if you think that you understand Him more than what you consider the average believer does, then you have crossed over into dangerous ground. You become a wounded animal that then roaring lion will stalk and he'll seek to destroy you.

I would also like to say something else that we should all watch out for. We should be very careful about what we read outside of scripture. Many read books that appear to be from reputable authors, but in effect they are written by those who have the spirit of error. A good example of this happened in 1986 and 1987. An author named Edgar Whisenant was unknown until his book "88 Reasons Why The Rapture Could Be In 1988" hit the shelves of the Christian bookstores. He based his assumptions on a collection of dates and calculations from Biblical and historical factors. His premise was that the rapture of the church would occur on Rosh Hashana in 1988. When his prediction failed, he bumped the date back a couple of days, suggesting that the rapture would happen at 10:55 AM on September 15th of that year; then when that time didn't pan out he changed the date to October 3rd of that year. Eventually 300,000 copies of the book were mailed to ministers throughout the USA and 4.5 million copies were sold in bookstores and other places. The only rapture that occurred was the one that Whisenant felt as he took his royalty checks to the bank.

So why do I bring this up? Well, in that 4.5 million people who bought Whisenant's book there was a good number of those who felt that they were intelligent Bible believing Spirit Filled Christians. Some of those people bought the book and thought that Mr. Whisenant had some special revelation and they waited during Rosh Hashana for Yeshua to come and take His people away. Now Whisenant's book was in blatant error and many people saw it for what it was. If his book could cause strong believers in Yeshua to come into error, then what about the books, documentaries, movies and other forms of media that might approach subjects in a more subtle manner. The people who listened to Whisenant and proclaimed his word came to disgrace, and while they might have preached a lie, it probably didn't have the spiritual implications that other things might have. The error of things like the "no pastor church," is dangerous because it can indoctrinate people in unscriptural and ungodly things. For instance, if we deny a shepherd over us in a earthly fellowship, might it become easier to deny the authority of our great shepherd, Yeshua? If we deny the authority and structure that has been instituted in scripture than can it become easy to deny the authority of the one who inspired the scripture? We should all read the story about Dathan and Korah and their rebellion toward Moses and ultimately toward Yahweh. When we read it, we realize that pride and rebellion go hand in hand. Neither pride or rebellion have any place in the Kingdom of El Elyon.

Folks, I have to bring into focus something that we should all consider. Last year I went to a local Christian book seller and I was shocked to see all of the titles that lined the shelf. I found books that catered to cults and about half a million books that could be titled "self help" Christian books. I find it hard to swallow that good and well meaning believers frequent such stores and empty the shelves of all of their content. Most think that since the book is in a so called Christian bookstore, that the book is fit for reading. Well, just because a book is on the shelf of a Christian bookstore, it doesn't mean that it is fit to read. If I was born in a bagel shop, would that make me a bagel?? Personally, I believe that the only book with all of the answers is the Bible; anything else is the opinion of humans, or their interpretation of scripture. We all know that humans are quite faulty and that human commentaries can be faulty since they are written by faulty humans.

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. John 14:26

So, what I find hard to understand, is why people flock to Christian bookstores when we have the Bible to read from and we have the Ruach Ha Kodesh to interpret what we read in the Bible. The modern Bible is easy to read and anyone with a grade-school education can read it. There are concordances and a lot of online sources for researching the Bible. With all of these things at our beckoned called, why read the opinions of others? Well, I can think of only two reasons; laziness and self gratification. Most people are accustomed to having other people think for them and they willfully relinquish their wills to others who will think for them. This is a prime breeding ground for the forces of darkness who would love to have (and will someday soon have) a society where the elites will make every decision for the population. Don't think it will happen, then read the newspapers because it is already in force to some degree. During Medieval times people lost their lives for the right to have a Bible in their possession, but in our current era people let the sacred script collect dust on their bookshelves; but they'll flock to the bookstore to have others explain scripture to them. Again I stress, Yahweh's Word is correct 100 percent of the time, and man's wisdom always seems to lead to destruction. The other reason people buy books at the Christian bookstore is so that they can have their ears tickled. We go back to the "88 Reasons.." book that came out in the 1980's; how people wanted the harpazo to happen so bad that they were willing to read rubbish that pinpointed an actual day of the harpazo, even though Yeshua stressed that "no man knows the day or hour."

With all things considered, it is far easier and far better that we be circumspect in all the things that we do. It is far better to be safe than sorry. Being in the ministry that we're in and fighting the battle that we fight, it is imperative that we look before we leap and that we keep pride far from us so that we cannot lend ourselves to be prey for Satan and his minions who are looking for any opportunity to make us miserable and to ruin our walk with Yeshua. And we cannot end this article without proving through scripture what Yahweh is looking for:

For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Isaiah 57:15

One of the things that we find it easy to do is to criticize those who have fallen. We shake our heads at them and in our own way we condemn them. When you think about it, this is just another manifestation of pride. It is an act of our saying, "how could he/she do that. I could never do that." Instead of being this way we should immediately start praying for the person who is in error. We should be praying for their repentance and their restoration. We should also analyze their actions and what led to their downfall so that we can guard against the same thing happening to us. My dad always used to say, "it is a wise man that learns from his mistakes, but it is a wiser man who learns from the mistakes of others." When we look at this process we find out that it is called "being circumspect." A circumspect heart when guided by the Ruach Ha Kodesh will keep us from a spirit of error and will aid us greatly in walking the walk that Yeshua calls us to walk with Him.