Framework vs Formula In Ministry

     I'm actually hesitant to begin this topic, because I'm sure that I will leave out some principle that I believe about following Jesus's models, so I run the risk of being mis-interpreted.  But this topic has come up in a number of conversations I have had with other Christians about the ministry the Lord has brought to Mark and me, so I think it bears discussion.
     These conversations have centered on the method, for lack of a better word, of how we approach each deliverance session of our ministry. There has been concern raised about whether we use a "formula" and if that is consistent with Scripture and Jesus's healing/deliverance ministry.  Let me begin to answer those concerns by saying that the word formula has a decidedly negative connotation, suggesting a set procedure or blueprint that we follow.  And I agree that there is no "one-size-fits-all" plan that is a failsafe path to setting the captives free.  Jesus treated each person's situation individually and was led by the Spirit to do what needed to be done to end their physical sickness or spiritual torment.

    But that being said, there are common denominators in what ails people.  The unforgiveness, anger, jealousy, child molestation, rejection, abandonment, blindness, paralysis, demonic oppression, and many more physical and spiritual afflictions that Jesus healed are the same ones that we see burdening people today. The difference is that when Jesus walked the earth, those people experienced His physical presence during their deliverance.  Today, He appears to them from the spiritual realm as we partner with Him in their deliverance.
     So, do we use a particular formula when we co-labor with Jesus in a deliverance session?  While there are common issues that are addressed in every deliverance -- such as events in their lives that were possible openings for demonic oppression; or spiritual roots that must be explored in regards to particular illnesses -- we listen for the Holy Spirit's guidance as to the direction Jesus wants to take the individual in helping them to see that He was always there with them and He desires to set them free from whatever is keeping them in bondage.  So, rather than "formula", which implies a fixed recipe that is never adjusted, I prefer to say Jesus has shown us a "framework" from which to work out of; a flexible shell that can be modified and customized to fit that person's spiritual identity -- we start with the model He has brought to us (inviting the Kingdom of Heaven into the situation) and then let Him and the Holy Spirit mold it to fit that person's needs.  We just do what Jesus tells us, or what we see in the spirit that He wants done ... the exact same principle that He followed with the Father.
     It is important to understand that the details, if you will, of the deliverance might change ... we see Jesus healing by instructing the blind man to wash in the pool of Siloam; in another case, He spit on the eyes of a blind man; He healed the Centurion's servant from afar; and the woman with the issue of blood was healed by touching His robe.  We see in the Bible that Peter's shadow was used by God to heal the sick in the streets; and that handkerchiefs and aprons that Paul had touched manifested healing.  The point I am trying to make is that there was no set method, yet there were various [and consistent] configurations of healing that seemed to apply ... the spoken word; the laying on of hands; and, sometimes a combination of these practices or customs that God used to heal.  In other words, there was a foundation upon which God and the Holy Spirit based their instructions to Jesus, and later to the Apostles and Disciples of Jesus.

     It is no different today.  In regards to those with whom I am acquainted [who are obedient to God's calling to a deliverance ministry], I would be willing to say that no two deliverance sessions would look exactly alike.  How could they?  What needs to be healed is going to be different in each case!  But I would also stand on the statement that there is a basic framework that is common to all and adhered to by everyone who seeks to heal and deliver from a Kingdom perspective ... that framework begins with being led by the Spirit to heal that person the way God desires them to be healed -- because He knows what they need.
     You see, it is God, Himself, who lays the path a deliverance or healing will take.  That's why you see the variety of physical healings and spiritual deliverances throughout the Bible.  Whether it was Jesus, or those that came after Him, all have listened to the Father and the Spirit for guidance.  And if we see some repetition in that Spirit-led instruction, who are we to say that God doesn't know which of His divine principles for healing work better than others? And we might begin our ministries with a limited set of instructions, but as we become more proficient with the work God has given us to do, we invariably find that those instructions evolve, and new, higher level instructions are imparted.  God has set no limitations on what He can share with us to set His people free.
     So while God has particular principles that serve Him well, He is not bound by any formula, and neither are His deliverance ministers.  However, we operate within a framework that the Spirit leads and has shown us works! But we always do whatever the Holy Spirit directs. Just as God uses creative methods to bring people into the Kingdom, He does the same when He heals and delivers. Those creative methods might look conspicuously like a formula to those on the outside, but every move is orchestrated by the Father and conveyed by the Spirit.  It is our humble desire to always have Jesus abiding in us, and to walk as He walked.  

John 14:10    Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you I do not say on My own initiative or authority, but the Father, abiding continually in Me, does His works [His attesting miracles and acts of power].  

Remembering All That God Has Done

     Last post, I focused on that situation in Mark, Chapter 8, where the Disciples are concerned that they only have one loaf of bread between them for lunch -- this after witnessing the supernatural power from Heaven that multiplied five loaves to feed 5,000; and seven loaves to feed 4,000!  Jesus must have been frustrated with them!  He asks them,  “Why are you discussing [the fact] that you have no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Though you have eyes, do you not see? And though you have ears, do you not hear and listen [to what I have said]? And do you not remember, when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces you picked up?”  
     In other words, Jesus must have been thinking, Can't you see? Can't you hear? And, can't you remember all that God has done for you? Why are you worrying about what you will have for lunch when you've witnessed over 9,000 people fed with a few loaves of bread?  Actually, the message to focus on God's supernatural works has been a recurring theme in the Bible, beginning in Deuteronomy 6.  The Word says God instructed Moses to tell the Israelites to hear His commandments and to keep them; to keep His statutes (which are His values), and to teach them to their children so that [your generations] "do not forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery"... See, hear, and remember.

     And it is my opinion that our remembrances, which are kept alive in our testimonies, are the record/history of God's supernatural activities in our lives, and they are the lenses through which we should see everything else around us in this world. But, here's what often happens ... once we get some time and space between that moment when we receive God's invitation to let Jesus become the Lord and Savior of our life, we begin losing some of the awe of that momentous and supernatural occasion.  First, we quit talking about our transformation.  Then we quit expecting more supernatural experiences.  And then, pretty soon, if we're not careful, we are no longer seeing or hearing evidence of Him in our daily lives.  It's not too long before we are engaging with a religious form of God -- we still profess faith in Him; go to Church and go through the motions, but there is no power in our Christian walk, no life, no encounters, and no real relationship with our supernatural God. Our connection with God can become so sterile that we can begin to even question whether He is real.  And people will eventually abandon what they perceive to be fake or artificial.
     You see, Christianity has all the distinctive characteristics of a God who passionately and supernaturally walks with the children He loves: He provided manna from Heaven every day while they were in the wilderness; when they were desperate for water, He provided it out of a rock; He secured their passage through the Red Sea and the flooding waters of the River Jordan. And I do not doubt that God still desires to work supernaturally in each of our lives.  In fact, I'm sure many of us could share our own stories of the wondrous and miraculous things He has done for us.

     Now, you will recall that after the nation of Israel had passed over the Jordan, that the Lord instructed Joshua to have one man from each of the twelve tribes place a stone on the banks of the River as a sign and a call to remembrance for all generations for the people of Israel.  When future generations saw and looked upon this memorial, it would cause them to remember all that the Lord had done for them in bringing them into the Promised Land. And that is a lesson that we should sincerely take to heart, as well.
     For when we lose the memories of God's supernatural works in our lives, we can lose the courage to do the hard stuff, and the strength to get through the hard times.  When trials come our way, it is so important to have those memory touchstones to return to... to be able to recall how God supernaturally delivered us, or provided for us.  And when what seems like an impossible situation arises, and we are called to radical obedience, it is paramount that we rely on our memories of all God has done for us so that we do not become cowardly in the conflict.
     One thing we need to realize... by not remembering the displays of His power in our past, we limit Him and restrict what He wants to do.  Remember, He wants us to co-labor with Him to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth. But He needs our cooperation and our involvement. When we stop living our lives conscious of the God who invaded this realm, and accomplished the impossible -- healed the sick, cast out demons; freed the oppressed and tormented; and raised the dead -- we begin to reduce the ministry He wants us to do on behalf of the Kingdom.  When we forget what He has done, then it becomes all about our gifts and what we have done.
     I never want to reduce the possibilities of Him supernaturally conquering this world!  I want to live with an ever-present awareness that God can invade every situation in my life. And I want the history of my life to be a reflection of His Presence, and I want to remember every detail to share with whomever will listen.  It is vital for the Body of Christ to never lose their memories of God's supernatural activity in their lives.
     Like those stones on the banks of the River Jordan, we need to leave a lasting testimony that not only preserves the memories of God's Greatness and Provision, but prophecies of His future acts of Righteousness and Justice.  Nothing has changed since those long-ago days in the Bible. We are serving a God that deserves to be praised and lauded for all He has done.  It is important that both we and our future generations never forget. Joshua said it so well ... Testify to the [supernatural] works of the Lord, our God, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is Mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.

Psalm 78:4     We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that He has done.

The Multiple Sides of "Leaven"

   

     If you are like me, I was always taught in Sunday School or Bible Study classes that "leaven" equaled sin.  This idea is carried out in the Exodus story, when in preparation for Moses leading the tribes of Israel out of the land of Egypt, God instituted the Lord's Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. This Feast followed the Passover Day, and lasted 7 days.  During the first day of this week, they were commanded to remove all leaven from their houses. In addition, they were not to eat any bread which contained leaven for the whole week.  This symbolized that God was about to do a mighty work in the nation of Israel by removing all the sinful influence (leaven) of 400 years of bondage in Egypt and the pagan worship of false gods.  Furthermore, because leaven is equated with sin throughout the Bible, the "unleavened bread" was a picture of bread without sin in it, i.e. Jesus, as the Bread of Life.
     But are you aware that Jesus talked about leaven in broader terms?  And in one instance, He even referred to leaven as a good thing? I'm always fascinated by what God shows me; that no matter how much I think I know about Him and His Character and Nature, and the teachings of Jesus, there is always something new that He wants revealed.  So, it was with great interest that I discovered these different facets of leaven.
     My interest was first piqued as I ran across a reference to leaven in Mark, Chapter 8.  This is the second time that Jesus performs the miracle of feeding the multitudes from a few loaves of bread.  You will remember that we have the account in Matthew 14 of Jesus feeding 5,000 with five loaves and two fish.  At a later date, in Mark 8, He feeds a gathering of 4,000 with seven loaves and a few small fish.  After getting into a boat with His disciples and going to a different district, Scripture tells us He encounters the Pharisees, who "began to argue [contentiously and debate] with Him, demanding from Him a sign from heaven, to test Him [because of their unbelief]. He groaned and sighed deeply in His spirit and said, “Why does this generation demand a sign? I assure you and most solemnly say to you, no sign will be given to this generation!" Leaving them, He again boarded the boat and left for the other side".
     And here is where the subject of leaven comes up ... The Disciples had forgotten to bring any bread with them, and only had one loaf between them.  Jesus says, “Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” So, what did He mean by that?  And why is this His response to the fact that they are discussing their lack of bread?  First of all, remember that these men had already seen Jesus multiply five loaves of bread in order to feed 5,000; and just witnessed Him doing the same thing with seven loaves that fed 4,000!  And they are seriously questioning how they are going to make one loaf feed the 12 of them? Have they forgotten that quickly, Who they are with, and the supernatural works He has done?  But they relate His admonishment about the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod to simply be about the subject of bread, and their lack of it.
     But Jesus wanted them to understand so much more.... here He wanted them to understand leaven as the concept of an impure and pervasive influence that modifies something and spoils it.  In the case of the leaven of the Pharisees, it is the leaven of Religion -- their man-made traditions and hypocrisy have pervaded the Jewish Religion, which will result in preventing the nation of Israel from accepting the Messiah.  Luke 12:1 explains it concisely:  In the meantime, after so many thousands of the people had gathered that they were stepping on one another, Jesus began speaking first of all to His disciples, “Be continually on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees [that is, their pervasive, corrupting influence and teaching], which is hypocrisy [producing self-righteousness]". The leaven of the Pharisees will cost the nation of Israel their redemption for centuries.
     A second aspect of leaven is the leaven of Herod [Antipas], which is political. His father, Herod the Great, was an Edomite who converted to Judaism, but was not a religious man.  He was appointed King of the Jews by the Roman Senate, and his son, who succeeded him, was also a Jew in name only.  In fact, Herod Antipas was involved in a great deal of lying in his political wheeling and dealing, abusing the power of his office. So the leaven of Herod represents the corrupting influence of politics in the nation of Israel.
     But there is a third leaven that Jesus mentions in both Matthew 13 and Luke 13....  “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and worked into three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.” This is the first mention of leaven in the New Testament, and it's significance is quite different from the concept of leaven in the Old Testament, and its later reference, in comparison to the Pharisees and Herod.  Here, Jesus intends leaven to mean something different.  The Hebrew word for leaven, seor, refers specifically to the leavening agent (the Kingdom of Heaven/God coming to earth) as opposed to the dough containing it (the nation of Israel/the world).  Rather than symbolizing impurity and corruption, Jesus is using the illustration of leaven’s ability to permeate a mass of dough many times its own size as a picture of the spread of the Kingdom of heaven throughout the entire earth -- spilling over and impacting all mankind. In this instance, leaven as an influence is a very good thing, indeed.
     To be honest with you, it is only very recently that I have understood and seen the positive side in Jesus's parable about the leaven.  And I believe that I was blinded to the fact that He equated it to the Kingdom of Heaven... all I saw was that word leaven, and I only understood it to be sin.  But I think this points to the bigger realization that I, along with much of the Body of Christ, have been ignorant about how much Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God.  In reality, it was His favorite subject matter and what He focused on more than anything else!
     So, I am grateful for God's new revelations, day by day, as I glean more of His truth in His Word.  And this broader understanding of leaven is not the only thing I derived from Mark, Chapter 8.  In my next post, I want to share the bigger issue Jesus discussed when admonishing His Disciples about their concern over the lack of bread.  He warned them to not be influenced by hypocritical religion or religious politics, but He also chided them with three questions:  Don't you see? Don't you hear? Don't you remember?  Those are questions we need to ask ourselves. Stay tuned....

Luke 13:18    [ Parables of Mustard Seed and Leaven ] So this led Him to say, What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it?
   

Harry Potter vs The Bible As Sacred Texts

     Imagine my shock and downright revulsion when I received an email containing a link to the following article, titled New Religious Movement Rising Up Around Podcast of "Harry Potter and The Sacred Text".  Yes, you read that correctly ... according to the website Now The End Begins, "hosted by Harvard Divinity School graduates Casper ter Kuile and Vanessa Zoltan, the podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text became the number-two podcast in America on iTunes soon after it debuted last summer".
     And to show you just how deceived our youth have become, consider these thoughts by Mark Kennedy, an impressionable young Millennial.  Kennedy grew up a Catholic, and a Harry Potter fanatic. Only one stuck. “I considered myself a non-spiritual person,” he said. He thought he was done with religion. And then he stumbled on the podcast ‘Harry Potter and the Sacred Text.’  The podcast told him that the Harry Potter series — the books that he always turned to for solace when he was angry or stressed or in need of an escape — could be a source of spiritual sustenance. "I feel like I’m born again,” he said.
     All I could think of was how far we've slid when the oldest non-denominational divinity school in our nation is turning out graduates like Casper and Vanessa, who have tapped into the "spiritual but not religious" mantra of our youth.  Seeking to develop a religion out of an obsession with the Harry Potter series of books, Casper ter Kuile and Vanessa Zoltan ask the question, "What if we read the books we love as if they were sacred texts"?  Then their mission statement goes on:  What would we learn? How might they change us? Harry Potter and the Sacred Text is a weekly podcast reading Harry Potter, the best-selling series of all time, as if it was a sacred text. Just as Christians read the Bible, Jews the Torah and Muslims read the Quran, we are embarking on a 199-episode journey (one chapter an episode, to be released weekly) to glean what wisdom and meaning we can make from J.K. Rowling’s beloved novels. We will read Harry Potter, not just as novels, but as instructive and inspirational texts that will teach us about our own lives".
     But when I looked into the resources for spiritual practice for this absurd "religion", I found articles on various theories of reading for religious purposes, such as lectio divina (a traditional Benedictine practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's Word) and havruta (an Aramaic term meaning friendship or companionship and is commonly used to refer to two people studying Jewish texts together). Sadly, the Bible didn't appear as a resource... and this coming from two Harvard Divinity graduate students!
     I just keep coming back to not only how far this sham has come from real religion, but how far this has come from Harvard Divinity School's original purpose, which was "to perpetuate a learned ministry, in preparation for religious learning and leadership; to ensure that every encouragement be given to the serious, impartial, and unbiased investigation of Christian truth".  The slide is evident in one of the listed goals of the Divinity School in 2017:  to offer significant scholarly expertise in the Christian and other religious traditions.  As if to exemplify this new direction, the school magazine writes of a third-year Masters of Divinity student, Abshishek Raman, who rises from his seat and walks to the pulpit. Raman offers a sermon that is conspicuous in a Christian church: Instead of a Bible lesson, he reads from the Bhagavad Gita, using it as a springboard to teach about corporations, social justice, and Super Bowl ads through the lens of Hindu ethics. Unbelievable!
     In fact, in recent years the Masters of Divinity program has been responsible for the education of all ministerial students at the school, whether they are Buddhist lamas, Christian pastors, or Muslim imams. Dudley C. Rose, associate dean of ministry studies at the Divinity School, oversees the program and says, “I think of creation as God’s gift to itself, and the diversity within it is a part of that gift. When we move to exclude, almost always we’ve seen that we’re on the wrong side of history.” Rose is proud that inclusivity at the Divinity School has allowed the representation of beliefs like Native American religions and humanism and has given queer students and minorities a place on campus. And now Harry Potter and his sacred texts have found a home, too.
     It all points to the host of new gods that society is willing to embrace.  But it greatly saddens me when I see graduates of a Divinity School willing to use the same word to describe the Bible and Harry Potter books.  I'm sorry, but in my world of faith, the word sacred has a meaning connoting great respect and reverence [or awe] for the writings of God's Holy Book.  I found it deeply disturbing to watch the YouTube video made by the founders of the Harry Potter religion, in which they state that, to them, "sacred is an act, and not a thing -- so you can treat the Bible as sacred; totally legitimate. OR, we think it is more fun and authentic to .... use traditional religious methodology to read Harry Potter as if it was the Bible or the Koran".  Are these people serious?!?!?
     Apparently so, because those who follow them testify that they have been non-spiritual and nebulous when it comes to religion or faith, but have been able to connect to Harry Potter and it's themes on commitment, fear, loneliness, being a stranger, generosity, betrayal, friendship, hope ... and of course, let's not forget the "cross to bear" of this generation.... white privilege.
     Other testimonies from the Harry Potter "faithful" reveal that they don't come to the sacredness of Harry Potter out of any skepticism [as they do the Bible], but come to it out of a sense of its worthiness. They are a lot more open to Harry Potter, than the Bible, because they know the characters "more intimately".  They talk of the joy and the unexpected reflections that come from reading the Harry Potter text; how it speaks to their lives today. One student even gushes that she "felt it in her soul". Others say that reading Harry Potter as a sacred text helps them to live their lives more intentional; that no matter how many times they've read it, they will never "conquer the book" -- there is always more to be revealed.  For them, it helps make the world a more inspiring and exciting place to live.  Can you see how the devil has distorted the sacredness of the Holy Bible and applied it to a fictional series about a boy wizard?
      Have we failed this generation so miserably that they are abandoning our churches in favor of this  shallow kind of belief system?  To compare Harry Potter to the Bible is not only blasphemous, but nearly comical.  Yet, you can tell by the declarations of these young people, just how earnest they are in their pursuit of meaning for their lives ... and just how lost they are.  And I speak of those Divinity School graduates as much as the vulnerable they are leading astray.  But I guess it shouldn't surprise me that we are seeing this kind of absurdity in today's world.  What will we see next?  Disney World worshipped as the New Jerusalem?

2 Timothy 3:14-15    "But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus".

The Importance Of Discernment: Who Do We Believe?

     I know for a fact that we are not the first Christians who have faced a multitude of different teachings about Jesus, and have struggled with whose teachings to follow.  All we have to do is look at the Early Church and we can see the problems that arose -- problems not unlike those we face today.
     In Scripture, we can see an explosion of faith after the experience at Pentecost in the Book of Acts.  Important Christian doctrines were established, such as the Incarnation of the Son of God (fully Deity and fully man); His death, burial, and resurrection; man's fallen nature and his need of a Savior; and Salvation is by God's grace through our faith in Jesus, just to name a few of the foundational doctrines.  We see the Gospel Message [of the Kingdom] taken to distant lands, as the Apostles carried out their commission from Jesus to heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, and preach that Kingdom Message.
     But we can see that things must have become distorted as the decades and centuries passed, because the Church today doesn't teach that full Gospel; it has been reduced to the "Gospel of Salvation" alone.  A fleeting glance at history shows us some of the problems that began arising in the Church, especially after the deaths of the Apostles and the martyrdom of Paul.
     It isn't hard to imagine the early Christians meeting together for worship, and someone stepping forward to give their oral testimony of how they had heard an Apostle or other eyewitness tell of hearing the Lord say this or that. Or how they had seen the Lord heal the sick and give sight to the blind. Persecution of the new Christian faith soon thinned out these credible eyewitnesses, so that it wasn't long before very few persons remained who could give firsthand testimony regarding the teaching and activities of the Lord.
     Fortunately for us, the Synoptic Gospels were soon written, verifying those oral testimonies and preserving them for posterity.  But before we ascertain that the First Century Church was all sunshine and roses, we can see in Paul's writings and the epistle of James that differences of opinion and various disturbances among groups of Believers were beginning to cause dissension.  Once that first generation of actual eyewitnesses and the second and third generation of those who had known the eyewitnesses were gone, the Church became subject to teachers and theologians who applied their own personal subjectivity to the Bible, and Christians had to decide whose teachings were the most credible and true to the original teachings of Jesus.
     Nothing has changed in all these centuries.  Today we are presented with a wide range of teachings -- all purported to be in alignment with Scripture.  And as in the past centuries, we are presented with various "movements" that may or may not be in strict agreement with the Bible.  Let's face it, the modern Christian has to be serious in their discernment.  And it is not uncommon to agree with parts of a particular ministry, while having difficulty with other parts of its theology because it doesn't exactly align with Scripture.
     There is such a huge number of teachers, Bible scholars, authors, ministers, and internet personalities for us to choose from, that it can be difficult to know how reliable their teachings are.  We are rightfully concerned about being deceived; and any teacher or movement whose foundation is anti-Biblical should be dismissed. But at the same time, I have found that I can oftentimes get a nugget of Truth [from Biblical teachings] that I can apply to my theology, and then discard other parts of the message until I can study them further to see if I agree. As my husband often reminds me, "We can eat the meat and spit out the bones".
     I can understand the hesitancy to accept any part of a teaching that may have questionable doctrine.  But we must remember that even in the early Church there arose various opinions about what constituted "faith" because people misunderstood the teachings of Paul.  For Paul, the word faith meant complete reliance upon Jesus Christ for salvation, and we know that this is correct teaching. But some converts were using the word faith to mean nothing more than they were members of Christian groups, and so on.  So James, the brother of Jesus, and a leader of the Jerusalem Church, wrote his epistle to point out that Paul was speaking of "saving faith".  He wrote to clarify that faith required "doing", not just hearing.  These differing opinions did not mean that groups within the early Church discounted each other. Rather, it called for further study and clarification.
     Also, during this first Century there was a difference in how some of the Jewish Christians regarded the concept of "works".  For some it was the observance of the strict Jewish ceremonial law; while to others, it referenced charitable acts, or the fruits of Christian living.  As you can see, there were differences of opinion that resulted in different theologies, although these disparate groups all proclaimed obedience to Jesus's teachings and Christianity.

    So, how should we look upon the variety of teachings that are available to us today?  Do we submit them to a stringent test, and require that they be 100% in accordance to Scripture?  Or is it OK to extract the Biblical truth from a teaching, while discarding those ideas that we are skeptical about?  I think we can agree that it is impossible today to find any teacher that meets the standard of Jesus.
     I can only answer for myself, and tell you how I apply discernment.  I try to follow Jesus's example in Mark, Chapter 9, when the Disciples came to Him and said, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.”  And what was Jesus's reply?  “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in My name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. For the one who is not against us is for us".  Jesus understood that not everyone would be part of the intimate group of His followers.  But if they did the works that He did, and credited Him [instead of themselves], then they were doing the work of the Father and advancing the Kingdom.  In effect, they were part of God's team and not Satan's -- for them, and not against them.
     And that's what I try to do.  I truly believe that God's character and knowledge are so great that He cannot download it all into one man or woman --- we are simply unable to contain the vastness of Him.  But He can impart a piece of revelation to each of us -- this man might understand repentance at a really high Kingdom level; while this woman might receive God's wisdom regarding seeing in the spirit; and this person has had God's heart revealed in the area of Deliverance in partnership with the Holy Spirit.  See what I'm saying?
      I don't think it is possible to receive all God wants us to know about Him from one person.  Yes, He has revealed Himself in the Bible, and it is up to us to seek Him through His written Word.  But I also believe that He has no problem with us sharing what we have come to know through a heart seeking Truth.  And just as Jesus said of those who were doing mighty works in His Name, we can discern whether today's teachers/scholars/authors/ministers are producing fruit for the Kingdom, and if they are, then it's safe to say they are for us, and not against us.  It is not necessary to discard the sum total of their teachings.  Use your God-given discernment, along with confirming Scripture and prayer. Then keep what has worth, and toss the rest. If you are seeking genuine Truth, the Holy Spirit within you will guide you and counsel you; He will not lead you astray.  Above all else, God isn't interested in limiting what we can know about Him, and I want all the Truth about Him I can get!

Proverbs 2:3-5    "Yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God".

God, Molly & Me

     Forgive me, but this post is going to be quite personal, and in a way is a conversation I am having in my head with God.  And I want to share this experience with you because any one of you might be going through a similar scenario with a friend or family member.  And if you aren't at the moment, I want you to remember this conversation, so you can encourage others in the future.

     While on vacation last week, I received a text message regarding a young woman from our community who had been in a terrible accident.  Her name is Molly and she is a beautiful young wife and mother of a three-year-old daughter.  She and her husband were returning home from their own vacation, when Molly grew tired and climbed in the back seat to rest.  Tragically, her husband fell asleep at the wheel and hit a tree.  Both he and their daughter were buckled in; Molly was not.  She suffered a compound fracture of her right leg, and during the surgery that followed, Molly developed an embolism which traveled to her brain, and she is now in a coma.
     Mark and I received the text asking us to join with all those back home in prayer for Molly and her family.  I knew that there would be those  faithful Believers who were going to travel to the hospital to lay hands on her -- it was two hours from our little community -- and we made the decision that as we returned from our own vacation and passed near the hospital, that we would go by the ICU unit and lay hands on her, too.
    There have been small signs of hope; she opened her eyes a little bit after we approached the throne room of Heaven in boldness and confidence that we could petition God on her behalf.  There was also some slight movement which offered hope that our prayers were heard.  The opinions of the doctors and nurses have varied ... they were discouraged two days ago when we visited the hospital, and just a couple of hours ago [as I write this} the report was that she had developed shingles and no one would be allowed to visit her but family.  There was slight improvement in the swelling of her brain and the fluid in her lungs was decreasing.  I am believing that the power that was released into Molly's body by people praying and following Jesus's model of laying on hands is taking effect!
     And the fact that no one would be allowed to see her [because of the shingles] might preclude that we wouldn't be allowed to pray over her anytime soon, but that didn't keep me and my husband and our neighbor from going in the spirit and laying hands on her. And I will tell you that I felt [even at this 2-hour distance from her] something happening... my spirit was in that hospital room with Molly and I knew that God was delivering His healing power.
     The prayers will not stop, neither corporately nor individually. Mark and I approached God this morning with a heartfelt request and this is how that conversation went ... "Father, Jesus says in John, Chapter 14:  I assure you and most solemnly say to you, anyone who believes in Me [as Savior] will also do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these [in extent and outreach], because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in My name [as My representative], this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified and celebrated in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name [as My representative], I will do it.
     So, Father, we have been obedient. We have done what Jesus did, and what You ask of us [in extent and outreach] -- We have acted as Jesus's Representatives and we have laid hands on Molly to heal her.  So, now, Father, we need You to do what Your Word says -- to do what we have asked in Jesus's Name, and heal Molly -- completely and wholly.  She is a daughter of Your Kingdom and You tell us that if we believe in Your Son, our spirits are seated in the heavenly realm with Him.  So, as Molly is in Heaven, we ask that You make her here on earth --- healthy and healed.
     And, Father, we aren't going to quit asking until You deliver this promise in Your Word.  Because Jesus also tells us in Chapter 16 of John that whatever you ask the Father in My name [as My representative], He will give you. Until now you have not asked [the Father] for anything in My name; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy may be full and complete. 
     Father, I am telling you now, that our joy will not be full and complete until Molly returns home, fully restored.  Molly needs You to fulfill this promise; her husband and daughter need it, and so do her parents.  But, Father, the small group of faithful servants who are stepping out in faith to be obedient to Jesus's Great Commission of healing the sick needs it, too.  Father, we need this miracle -- not as a test of Your Power -- but as validation to other doubting Christians that when we submit ourselves to Your Word, our obedience will bear fruit.  Father, we want to see You glorified and Your Son celebrated. We trust You to be faithful to our service to the Kingdom".
   
     As I have been sharing [with you] our conversation with God, I have received an update on Molly.  Another doctor was called in for a second opinion, and his perspective is that Molly has made "substantial strides".  Furthermore, he stated to her parents and husband [point blank] that Molly was "going to make it".  He said everyone should keep praying that she doesn't develop any blood clots, and he thought her MRI showed minimal brain damage.
     Now, I will let you decide if you think this latest turn of events has anything to do with the fervent prayers or laying on of hands.  And I know Molly is far from out of the woods.  She is still in a coma and has a long way to go.  But I believe in God's promises, and those statements that Jesus made in John 14 and 16 are hard to deny.  I fully expect to report back that Molly will soon be going home to finish out the number of days God has appointed for her.  Until then .... I go on praying and believing.

Psalm 139:5    "You [O Lord] have enclosed me behind and before, and [You have] placed Your hand upon me".  

How Fasting Changed My Life

     As I prepare to write this post, I am well aware of what the Bible tells me regarding how I am to speak of fasting.  And it is not my intent to call attention to myself by writing about my fasting experience -- that is personal between me and God.  But I want to share the results of my fast in order to encourage others to consider this practice as a means of opening revelation from God to the sincere  Believer.  Let me explain...
     I have instinctively known the importance of fasting because of its significance in the Bible.  Before Jesus began His public ministry, He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness in preparation to resist the temptations of the devil that were coming.  Remember, Jesus lived His life on earth as a man, so if fasting was a critical tool for Him in defeating the devil's schemes, then don't you think we should have it in our spiritual arsenal?

     In addition, as Jesus taught His disciples how to carry out the Commission He was assigning to them, He shared that some of satan's spirits aren't defeated except by prayer and fasting ... again showing us that fasting is a powerful spiritual weapon.
     Without sharing the details of my week-long fast, I will tell you that I approached this time of fasting as a means to achieve a spiritual breakthrough with God.  I knew of some issues that I had been struggling with; issues that I felt were keeping me from experiencing the intimacy that I so desperately desired.  The Lord spared no spiritual matter that needed addressing.  I was humbled by facing the truth of my deficiencies and inadequacies, yet also experienced the Grace of God in confronting them with a heart that sought cleansing.
     But it was the consequence of that week's fasting that I am most surprised and grateful for.  The reason that I stopped my fast at a week was because I was leaving the next day to spend several days with my family in Illinois.  And it had been nearly 10 years since I had returned to where I spent my grade school and high school years.  I am in constant touch with my brothers and sisters, and we have visited each other on vacations.  But most of my four siblings have strong ties to the state, while I do not.  And my two sisters and their husbands and children still live there, so they are the only reason that I even consider going back.  You see, when I graduated from high school, I couldn't wait to leave there -- not from any difficulties with my family, but because I instinctively felt I didn't belong there.  There was always a sort of subtle darkness or heaviness that my 17-year-old self could never explain, but I felt it nonetheless.  And I sensed it every time I have returned over the next 46 years.  I thought it was just me; that I was unfairly casting this place in an unfavorable light --- until this time.
     As I look back on the last few days, the word "amazed" doesn't even cover what the Lord has shown me.  And I believe that, because for the first time in my Christian life I had just finished a sincere and devout time of fasting, I was able to receive new revelations and a new consciousness of seeing through spiritual eyes -- something I had been unable to do in all my other return trips to my childhood home. And here is what was revealed to me... Everywhere I looked was evidence of Freemasonry: Masonic lodges every few miles; the Masonic symbol of the square and compass was displayed openly and conspicuously on government and public buildings -- even on the City Limit sign of the town I grew up in!  And when I went to visit my parents grave, I was shocked to see the immense section of the cemetery devoted to the Masons. Freemasonry was everywhere, yet I was unable to perceive it for all those years.

     Now I understood why I felt such an oppression there and knew I didn't belong.  Now I understood why I was so anxious to leave and escape to an out-of-state college.  Now I understood why the state of Illinois is bankrupt and the people seem so defeated and unhappy.  And especially sad for me, was that I could see the effect of the occult spirit of Freemasonry on my beloved nephews.  And I began to see the path that God had designed for me.  It is no coincidence that I felt I needed to leave that area at a young age. And it was now obvious why I would suffer a terrifying car accident in which I was rear-ended by what I assume was a car (all I saw was bright lights in my rearview mirror, and then something slamming into my car) and then rolling my car five times up an embankment that stood at the foot of a known Freemasonry "dark site" -- yet no one stopped to help me.  It was as if no one saw it and it happened in the spirit realm -- even though I had a totaled car to prove it, and six stitches in my scalp.  Or that years later, the subject of Freemasonry would cause a rift with a local church community because it offended some that I could personally testify that Jesus had set one woman free from the effects of Freemason oaths.
     These last few days, it has become startlingly clear to me that God truly does know all the days of our lives and what we will be faced with.  Although He has given us free will to make important decisions throughout this life, I believe He has a purpose for each of us to advance His Kingdom here on earth.  And I also believe that He knows how the Enemy is going to try to thwart our assignment.  But even more importantly to me, at this moment, is the fact that I believe that my time of fasting succeeded in opening my spiritual eyes to see "the big picture" of what has turned out to be a pretty consistent spiritual battle throughout my life.
     I'm sure there are some of you who will dismiss this as either the product of an active imagination; and even some who will discount my thoughts as unjustified vilification of Freemasonry.  But this last trip "home" was different than the other 30 or 40 times.  It was as if a veil had been lifted from my spiritual eyes and all the unanswered questions and inexplicable feelings of unease I had felt were accounted for. I now could understand why I had always felt in a funk when I was there, or sensed that family members were struggling just under the surface.
     And I am convinced that my genuine desire to get closer to God [during my fast] opened the lines of communication between Heaven and earth and I could see with a new heart and transformed mind.  Needless to say, I am grateful for this revelation, and more determined than ever to storm Heaven with prayers and intercession on behalf of my family as I continue my battle with the occult forces existing in Freemasonry.  And it goes without saying that I will continue to fast because it opens this dark realm to the Light of God's heavenly realm. Fasting pours out His revelations on me, and helps loose the power of Heaven so that His will might be done in our lives.  And, best of all, fasting allows us to partner with Him to see Him glorified in all circumstances.  So, the question is this ... Have you considered fasting?

Isaiah 58:6    "Is this not the fast which I choose, to undo the bonds of wickedness, to tear to pieces the ropes of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and break apart every [enslaving] yoke?"

Getting To Know My God

   

     Anyone who is truly seeking God knows that our concept of Him changes as we mature in our faith. We know all His attributes ... that He is all-knowing and all-powerful; His immutability; His holiness; that He is eternal and incomparable.  King David, Isaiah, and the Apostle Paul all declared Him to be inscrutable, unfathomable, unsearchable, and past finding out as far as understanding Him completely.  Yet He desires a personal, intimate relationship with each of us, which requires getting past all those seemingly impossible traits, right?
     So, what is He really like?  And how do we ever hope to get to know Him better?  I think that is one of the most pressing and difficult missions of our Christian life.  And I believe it takes a lifetime of devotion to the task. It requires that we continuously search the Scriptures, evaluate what the Holy Spirit reveals, and then adjust our conceptions of Him.  I am thankful each and every day that it is His desire that I seek Him and come to know Him, and that He is willing to reveal more of Himself to the faithful.  Yet I do not think it wrong to state that there will be differing opinions and conceptions as to who He really is.  But that's Ok with me.
     As I have been discussing with my amazing Christian friends, we all have our own predisposition, or "bent", as to how we perceive God.  We all have a foundation that was laid by a Sunday School teacher, a Pastor, or a particular denomination, and let's face it, our life experiences. And as we engage in edifying and encouraging conversations, those "bents" are going to become obvious as to how we see God, the Person. So coming [in unity] to a true and Biblical conception of God is not easy.  And I believe that it is absolutely essential that we maintain a reverential fear and awe towards the majesty of God, while at the same time, developing an open, friendly, and intimate relationship whereby we can ask Him anything, and expect to receive it!
     I find it quite interesting that a study out of Baylor University revealed that out of the number of Americans who believe in God, there are four different concepts of Him: the Authoritarian God; the Benevolent God; the Critical God; and the Distant God.  And all these people are reading the same Bible (or at least I hope they are reading it)! Is it because when Adam and Eve sinned and were cast out of the Garden (where they had personal communion with God), mankind became subject to satan's deception and we lost that true knowledge of who He is?  Do we only have bits and pieces now, and we must seek Him for more revelation before those pieces begin falling into place?
     Or, is it that as we begin to seek deep encounters with Him, we lose ourselves and are therefore able to see and know Him more clearly?  I will tell you that I am seeking a breakthrough in my relationship with my Father in Heaven. I feel that I have hit a brick wall and on the other side of that wall is more of the intimacy that I so desperately want.  I have just ended a week-long fast, and boy, did I need to deal with some issues between me and Him. And the hunger I felt in my flesh was no match for the hunger in my spirit.  Do I know Him more?  I can say that at this point, I know what He desires in me, and I am working on transforming my mind to be in sync with His.  But I will not be satisfied until I can feel my heart beating in sync with His.

     The apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:17 that we know the Father through the Son.  And while I intellectually understand that, and can imagine what the Father is like through my experiences with Jesus, I am still left with this ache to know my Abba on a loving, personal level.  As a child, I knew the sound of my earthly father's footsteps, the feel of his embrace, and could recognize his voice in a crowd.  I want the same experiences with my Heavenly Father. But I also want to know and love Him as I do my husband.  I want that kind of love that is passionate and all-consuming. I want that kind of love that makes me want to be in His presence all the time; that kind of love that misses Him the minute He is out of my sight. And I want to know him completely, and for eternity. That's how much I want to know my God!
     But then I consider this, that Paul tells us in Philippians 3, that even after more than 25 years of service to the Lord, he felt he still hadn't attained perfect knowledge of Jesus, who is the image of God; and it was still his aim to know Him.  As for myself, I know that any distance I feel from God is laid at my feet, not His.  He is always seeking relationship with me.  It is up to me to be deliberate in my efforts to stay close to Him and grow more intimate. Just like any relationship, you have to work at it! I must not think I can divide my attention between the world and Him, and still maintain that intimacy and devotion.  Our relationship must be one of love and trust.  There must be no doubt where my loyalty and heart lie.
     So it is paramount that I never become content within my relationship with God!  There is always more of Him to know and experience.  I want to keep that passion alive, and never take His love for granted. To that end, one of the things the Holy Spirit has been showing me is the danger of complacency; a feeling of uncritical satisfaction with myself and my journey of faith. I know that this entire journey is about knowing Him more and more, and I want every step to bring me into closer proximity of Him.  I want to see His Face, hear His Voice, be in His Presence.
     And, so, I continue to cry out, and pray, and search for Him in His Word.  In a way, it is akin to one of my earliest memories as a child ... of sitting on the front steps of our house, waiting to see my Dad walking home from the high school where he taught.  My mother would put a clean dress on me, comb my hair, and tell me to wait until I could see him.  Even these long years later, I can remember the expectancy and the excitement, as I waited for that first glimpse of him, and when my childlike discernment was sure it was him, I flew off those steps and ran to him as fast as my little legs could carry me.  I can still see his smile of delight as he saw me running towards him, and feel the love that emanated from him as he held me tightly to his chest, and whispered in my ear that "Daddy loves you".  That memory has stayed alive in my heart for over half a century.  I know it is a mirror image of how my Abba in Heaven feels about me.  And isn't that what we are all searching for in our relationship with Him?  May your heart's desire to truly know Him be realized today and every day until we see Him in His Glory!

Psalm 42:1-2     As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.


   

I Finally Understand The Beatitudes!

    Are you like me ... Have you spent years in the Church and never received an explanation that made sense of what Jesus was trying to say in the Beatitudes?  Maybe, there are those of you who are smarter than me, but I don't mind saying that I have struggled with fully comprehending their significance. I mean, I have heard countless expositories on this section of His Sermon on the Mount, and I understand that He is showing us the character of citizens of His Father's Kingdom.  These are the attitudes that Christians should have.  But what does it mean to be "poor in spirit" and have the kingdom of heaven; or to be "meek" and inherit the earth?  What does it mean to "hunger and thirst" for righteousness and be satisfied; or to be "persecuted for righteousness' sake" and receive the kingdom -- all the while being blessed/happy/content to be in these circumstances?
     One well-respected commentary teaches that the poor in spirit recognize that they have no spiritual "assets." They know they are spiritually bankrupt. With the word poor, Jesus uses the more severe term for poverty. It indicates someone who must beg for whatever they have or get.  It has been taught that those who are poor in spirit, so poor they must beg, are rewarded. They receive the kingdom of heaven.  And poverty of spirit is an absolute prerequisite for receiving the kingdom of heaven, because as long as we harbor illusions about our own spiritual resources we will never receive from God what we absolutely need to be saved.  OK, I can see that, but that sounds more difficult than I think Jesus meant it to be.
     This commentary teaches that to be meek means to show willingness to submit and work under proper authority. It also shows a willingness to disregard one's own "rights" and privileges.  We can only be meek, willing to control our desire for our rights and privileges, because we are confident God watches out for us; that He will protect our cause. The promise "they shall inherit the earth" proves that God will not allow His meek ones to end up on the short end of the deal.
    I do not disagree with these interpretations, but they somehow leave me feeling ... I don't know how to express it ... a little cold in my spirit; as if they have been over-explained, if that makes any sense.  I know the Beatitudes [as a whole] are meant to convey some profound meaning of my relationship with God; an overall concept that just keeps escaping me.
     And then during a discussion between my husband and two of my dearest Christian Sisters, Mark shared with us what he had learned from listening to a lesson by Bible teacher, Chuck Missler.  And it made so much sense!  Missler teaches that in order to gain the "big picture" of what Jesus is teaching us in the Beatitudes, we must consider the order in which each characteristic appears.... we are poor in spirit; we mourn; we become meek; we hunger and thirst for righteousness; we become merciful; we gain a pure heart; we are peacemakers; we are persecuted for righteousness' sake; and finally we are reviled, persecuted, and falsely accused, with the result that we will rejoice and be glad, for our reward is great in heaven.
     When you look at the Beatitudes as a whole, and the order in which the blessed states occur you can actually see the process of our sanctification in the Lord:  We start broken (poor in spirit); have to be torn down (causing mourning) and reborn (meek and obedient).  Then we seek Him (hungering and thirsting for righteousness). This process leads us to imitate Christ (being merciful, with a pure heart, and seeking peace on earth).  But it will eventually lead to persecution and then redemption -- a full cycle from broken and sinful to righteousness.  There is an order and purpose to the Beatitudes.
     That's all I need to know, and it shows me the journey that we each take to receive our Kingdom inheritance.  I don't need a deep, Biblical exegesis.  Because, somehow, this rather simple diagram, if you will, is more profound than all the theological presentations I've heard.  It is Jesus showing me the attitudes and character I will develop as I live the Christian life through my faith in Him.  It is how God wants me to live on this earth, seen through His heavenly perspective.  I can't tell you how much more these well-known, and somewhat puzzling, verses mean to me, now! What joy we receive when the Word is taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.

John 7:16   Jesus answered them by saying, "My teaching is not My own, but His who sent Me".  

The Importance of "Experiential Knowledge" To Our Faith

     I fully expect that the title [alone] of this post will result in excoriation by the Religion Police, who won't be able to get past what they think I'm going to say, and be able to read with an open mind and a willing heart to listen. That term ... "experiential knowledge" ... is most often [in the realm of religion] related to the concept of gnosis and the Gnostic teachings.  And if you know anything about the history of Christianity, Gnosticism was a pretty big challenge to the new faith founded by Christ. I would like to suggest that experiential knowledge is a concept completely within the Christian faith, and does not resemble the false Gnostic teachings at all.
     But we need to begin with an understanding of what Gnosticism is before we can look to the Bible for any evidence that experiential knowledge is different, and actually coincides with our faith.  First, the word gnosis, means "Knowledge of Spiritual mysteries".  And if you have read my last blog, then you know why this term and the Gnostic movement it spawned make Christians nervous.  According to Christianity.com, "Gnostics did not call themselves by that name and there were many variations of what we now call Gnosticism. While some forms were completely unrelated to Christianity, others considered themselves a higher type of Christian [faith]. But although Gnostic beliefs varied a good deal, we can sum up a few essential points on which all of us can agree:
•  The material world is bad, the spirit world is good. The material world is under the control of evil, ignorance or nothingness.
•  A divine spark is somehow trapped in some (but not all) humans and it alone, of all that exists in this material world, is capable of redemption.
•  Salvation is through a secret knowledge by which individuals come to know themselves, their origin and destiny.
•  Since a good God could not have created an evil world, it must have been created by an inferior, ignorant or evil god. Usually the explanation given is that the true, good God created or emanated beings (Archons) who either emanated other Archons or conjugated to produce them until a mishap by Sophia (Wisdom) led to the creation of the evil Archon who created our world and pretends to be God. He hides truth from humans, but sparks of Sophia in some humans fill them with an urge to return to the Pleroma (divine realm) where they belong".
     It is not my focus to debate Gnosticism in this blog post. In fact, these ideas had implications that could not be squared with either the Old Testament or apostolic writings, which is why early Christians rejected them -and so do I! Let me make this perfectly clear -- Gnosticism has no association to my Christian faith. BUT, I cannot ignore that term "experiential knowledge" -- which often gets confused with the principles of Gnosticism -- and I want to show you that it is mentioned in the Bible, and why it does have a connection to my faith.  Experiential knowledge is not intended to imply "secret knowledge", as some Christians suggest [and why the term is so often associated with Gnosticism].
     You know that I love to dig deep and look at the words used in the Bible in their original languages.  I think we can all agree that every true Christian yearns to know more of our God; to have more knowledge about Who He is, and His Nature and Character.  The Apostle Peter says that we can have that, in 2 Peter 1:3, His [Jesus's] divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.  But guess what?  In the original Greek language of the Bible, that word "knowledge" reads like this:  through the experiential knowledge [which the believer has] of the One who called us into salvation by means of His own glory and virtue [or power].  
     So what's the difference?  Why is it important that we know that experiential knowledge is valid in a believer's life?  Experiential knowledge, in Greek, is epignosis, and if you will indulge me for a moment, let me dissect the word... In comparing epignosis [experiential knowledge] with gnosis [knowledge], the epi gives the compound word a greater strength than the simple word alone possesses.  In other words, Epignosis is the complete comprehension we gain after first knowing something. It is knowing something better and more fully than I knew it before; a more exact view of a subject as I get closer to it.
     In Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, “epignosis denotes "exact or full knowledge, discernment, recognition," and is a strengthened form of gnosis, expressing a fuller or a full "knowledge," a greater participation by the "knower" in the object "known," thus more powerfully influencing him".  The New Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon says epignosis specifically refers to Christ, i.e., the true knowledge of Christ’s nature, dignity, and benefits.
     So, how is this understanding that there is a fuller knowledge of Christ [through our faith experiences] evidenced in the Bible?  In the original Greek, Paul uses the term "experiential knowledge" 15 times in his epistles.  In 2 Timothy 2:24-25, he writes, The servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome ... correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a precise, experiential knowledge of the truth.
     In Philemon 6, Paul writes, And I pray that the faith you share in common with other believers may become effective in the sphere of a full and perfect experiential knowledge of every good thing in us, with a view to [the glory of] Christ.  Paul says in Ephesians 4:13, until we all attain to the unity of the Faith and of the experiential, full, and precise knowledge of the Son of God ... Other examples are Ephesians 1:10, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a lifestyle of wisdom and of revelation by means of an experiential knowledge of Him, and 1 Timothy 2:4, who desires all men to be saved and to come to an experiential knowledge of the truth. And there are many others.
     By now, it should be apparent that God desires that we come to know Him through a process of personal encounters (experiences) that result in new revelations from the Holy Spirit about the mind and character of both Christ and the Father.  Knowledge that is acquired by experience over a period of time, and from which we grow and mature into an intimate relationship with the Father, is superior to knowledge just gained, or that which is not fully realized.
     Historically, Gnostics claimed Christians were a step lower than themselves in the scale of enlightenment, and that Jesus gave secret knowledge which the uninitiated did not share.  But we can see in the Bible that the knowledge is not secret at all.  It is there for all those who seek it, and through our experiences of seeking, we hope to receive that perfect knowledge of God's Holy will and the blessings which He has bestowed [and still constantly bestows] on men through Christ.  So, I am thankful for each and every experience that brings me closer to God, and to the knowledge of His full character.

2 Peter 1:8   "For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful with respect to an experiential knowledge (epignosis) of our Lord Jesus Christ".