Entitled: The Kingdom's Lost Teaching of Empowering Group Love by Fritz Springmeier

From http://poweredbychrist.homestead.com/files/articles/manna31.htm

Spiritual manna in a post 9-11 spiritual desert

no. 31, shared Nov. 26, 2001
Entitled: The Kingdom's Lost Teaching of Empowering Group Love by Fritz Springmeier

This manna is about an ideal. Perhaps we will only get glimpses of the glory
that God had intended for us, & never attain this ideal. But ideals, even if
never attained, serve a purpose. Christ mentions 3 times in a prayer for
believers "that they may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that
they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me." A
few pages further in Scripture, we see "Now all who believed were together,
and had all things in common..So continuing daily with one accord." We see the
ideal happening in Acts 2.

When I prayed with intensity to God for the solution to the New World Order, I
was told that the answer was for the Body of Christ to function like it was
intended to function. The model that we use today for the church is that of an
aggregation of individuals, often practicing pietism, coming together
(aggregating together) on a Sunday, or in some instances Friday or Saturday.
But the Body was to function as an entity that was in communication &
cooperation & intimacy and proximity just like an actual body. Every cell of
your body is in constant communication with the rest of the body. We were to
be animated by the same Spirit, and each of us lined up with what the Spirit
of God was doing.

The ability of love to heal & empower is amazing. All the more so with group
love, for it has a synergy of healing & empowerment. Love has both a soft side
(like watering & fertilizing our orchard) and a hard side (like pruning &
spraying our orchard). A rose has both soft petals & hard thorns. We need a
balance of firmness and forgiveness. We need a balanced deep love.

This manna message is an introduction to that ideal, which I call "Christian
community". It's the only vehicle for believers to really implement the love
we are called to give each other, such as bearing one another's burdens. The
words "Christian community" terrify many Christians, because they naturally
impose their own concept upon the terms. For the sake of this manna article,
please disregard your preconceived ideas of what the term means. I am not
using it as others would. In this manna, the term "Christian community" would
mean something like the dynamic Acts 2 ekklesia, (a Spirit-led organism, a
koinonia). Christians look forward to being in community for a short
time-which they call church camp, but have trouble translating that into a
broader concept because of the social engineering that has been perpetrated.

First, before your blood pressure goes up, let me assure you I am not trying
to start any group. The World Order has done a good job conditioning people to
have an automatic fear of Christian community. Years ago when I went about
mentioning the term, I was surprised how many people's eyes glazed over and
they began getting Jim Jones-type images when they thought of Christians
coming together. It's interesting how well the World Order has linked certain
concepts. Even long prior to 9-11 if you mentioned Arab the word that most
came to people's mind was "terrorist". If you mentioned "baby", many people
robotically thought "overpopulation". So relax I'm not trying to start a
group. I write this manna for your edification, not mine, nor for my own
benefit. Christians have so much fear about the whole subject including being
tainted with the label "cult"; they can't even begin to approach the ideal
that Christ prayed for. They have been well conditioned on this Orwellian Big
Bro. "thought crime". Just remember the original church was also called a
cult. What we are really discussing in this article is a vehicle through which
Christians can share each other's burdens and deeply be one and in love within
the Body of Christ. We are discussing the solution to the New World Order,
where the Body functions as a real live body, not an aggregation of disjointed
feuding parts (competing institutionalized state corporations). Speaking about
the enemy, Daniel saw a prophetic vision about when the end comes, "And when
he [the enemy] shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy
people, all these things shall be finished." There is no doubt that part of
the enemy's agenda is to divide & conquer us.

In recent decades, God has placed a vision of Christian community into the
hearts of various believers. I made a point to discover these believers and to
try to learn from them. I have yet to experience anything as intense as
Christ's ideal (like Acts 2). I have been in small close-knit Spirit-led
groups that began to approach the spiritual level needed. And I had been in
Amish communities that functioned as semi self-sufficient close-knit groups,
who were able to rely upon themselves for much of what material, skill, and
labor was needed. But I had never been in exactly what the Spirit was
revealing. After God's revelation I studied the Scriptures for clues to what
the Body was to be like. I visited various Christian communities, which had a
vision similar to what the Spirit revealed to me. I searched for written
accounts by other Christians who had started communities, and I prayed.

One of the things I learned was that starting a community is different from
maintaining one. Initially, people come from various backgrounds. They are not
on the same page. Somehow a balanced approach has to be made to get everyone
on the same page, while respecting his or her free will to learn from God.
This is not easy. It would be easier to put everyone through some kind of
spiritual boot camp to get everyone on the same page. We are advised, "Make
every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." EPH
4:3 We are also taught "Each member belongs to all the others." RM 12:5 And
"Honor one another above yourself." RM 12:10 "Accept one another, then, just
as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God." RM 15:7

Another lesson is that once people experience such things as real group agape,
someone taking care of their animals while they are gone, and the pleasures &
cost savings of community gardens, they begin to warm up to the multitude of
benefits. There are benefits they most likely did not experience as
individuals, unless they've lived in an extended family (as other cultures
do). As it is written, "serve one another in love". The Anabaptist groups have
typically had a sense of Christian community. Some make a point of setting
their young people up debt free in productive jobs. The church loans money
interest free, or donates, to get the young people started in life without
debt. In turn, as they become productive, they help others.

The geographic area (I saw in prayer) where God pointed to have a community,
turned out later to be the same point where God also showed more than half a
dozen other Christians (totally independent of me). Very interesting. One
Christian in Wash. D.C. had this area revealed to him in a dream!

Several matters concerning this revelation are worthy of note. When I
investigated creating a community in that area, the U.N. moved armored
vehicles into the vicinity. Next, some of the people to whom I shared God's
revelation of community, in turn shared these ideas with a particular NSC
double-agent, who then created his own Christian community. It reminded me of
the apostolic days when Christ created a church, and soon Satan had to have
his own counterfeit ones. Finally, God revealed to me that in order for the
Christian church (and by extension any attempt at community) to have any
chance, we needed to be able to root out and deal with the mind-controlled
robots that the World Order was infiltrating into all Christian groups. I
spent the next seven years on this.

Now, the season has changed. Now besides Christian community, another concept
that is worthwhile for Christians to explore is cell groups (which bear some
resemblances to families, but need to be tighter than the average Amer.
family.). Cell groups might be from 3 to 12 persons, who in turn negotiate
their relationships with and projects with other cell groups. A cell group
should be a cohesive mind set with similar values & goals. The idea of the
cell group is that it is tight enough to be safe from outside threats as well
as internal infighting. It would be nice if it had alternate living options
and safe places.

The Harlot's tricks of the trade that the Body needs to discard. We are being
betrayed by what is false within: by what is false within ourselves, our
churches, our communities & our nation.
Somehow Christians have to unlearn much of the denominational garbage that has
divided them. Christians also have to unlearn lots of our bad habits. For
instance, Christ taught us to clean the inside of the cup (the heart) before
we worry about the outside (outward appearance). Honestly now, when it comes
to getting ready for church, Christians have the habit of spending lots of
time getting outwardly clean, doing their hair, getting their suits pressed,
(even cleaning their cars) and this prep time for the outside exceeds the time
devoted to getting their hearts right for the Sunday service. But then our
churchianity doesn't give "lay" Christians much of a role in church. This
practice of a laity should be tossed. It's not scriptural. We are all called
to serve and to share. The churches are used to create mind-controlled sheep.
Just sit in the pew and bleat when called upon. Only the minister is generally
considered "holy", and therefore is often called "reverend". This is the
Master Pastor concept, which is unbiblical and also should be tossed. It's
time we got rid of the "one Christian church" idea. Everyone is a minister,
and should use the gifts God gave him or her so the Body can function in the
strength it was meant to function in. Yes, there are leaders, but Christ
taught that leadership means to serve.

Some of our spiritual garbage are those things which follow:
The Doctrine of Closure, which is my label for how the churches get people to
believe they already understand all there is to know about Christ and his
Spirit, so they deny his Spirit its 3 primary job responsibilities, which are
to make Christ known, reveal Him & the Father. Winds of Doctrine, (cf EPH
4:14) which is how ministers accept the latest spiritual fad because of the
"prevailing winds" of thought. This is often coupled to a fear of blasphemy,
so that discernment is turned off, and weird things (created by a spirit of
mass hypnosis) are done right in the churches. I'm talking about people being
"slain in the spirit" and barking like dogs, etc. The Numbers Pump vs.
Discipling: a disciple is one who denies himself, follows Christ, and picks up
his cross, but people today think a disciple is one who attends a "milk
serving" discipling class. The Money Pump, where the ministers use
sophisticated techniques to pump the money out of their congregations. Another
one is the glorification of scholars and dollars. Another is to mistake the
absence of conflict as being peace, when genuine peace is absence of strife
with God. Finally, there is the Gnostic fallacy that the material world should
be neglected, when in reality the physical is connected to the spiritual. By
ignoring our physical surrounding, we may insure the failure of the spiritual.
These are just a few of the putrid pieces of spiritually dead garbage clogging
up our churches.

Some thoughts from Scripture about Christian community.
One of the first big hurdles is doctrine. Often professing Christians divide
into two almost irreconcilable camps. One camp holds that unity should not be
based on doctrine, so therefore doctrine is not important, because unity is
what is most precious. The other camp says that doctrine is important, so
unless we agree on doctrine we cannot work together in unity. There is
actually some Scriptural truth in both viewpoints, but both sides are really
missing the real point, and the deeper issues.

We all realize the importance of eating, and we all recognize that certain
basic nutrients are needed to be healthy. But none of us insist that everyone
else eat the very same thing. It is possible for us to realize the importance
of training our spirits, minds, and consciences in godly ways, without having
to have everyone else be at the same spiritual learning point as ourselves.
God meets people wherever they are at and works with them, why can't we? Is
our pride getting in the way? Unity is the path of humility.

The path of humility begins with the New Birth, the prerequisite for
citizenship in the Kingdom (MT 5:20). Christ's Bride is to manifest the
Kingdom of God in the world. It is meant to function with the full range of
government, including health care, deliverance from oppression of the devil
and sin (freedom), old age retirement security (heaven), restoration, and
comfort. Luke in Acts 1:6-8 equates the coming of the Spirit to the coming of
the Kingdom. Scripture shows that both the Bridegroom & the Bride prepare for
the heavenly Marriage Supper of the Lamb. One of the important ways is to have
the oil of the Holy Spirit, lest one be found wanting. One can't be part of
the Bride and not love (abide in) Christ, the Bridegroom. In fact, the Bride
is called a spiritual "caste virgin" (2 COR 11:2). The body of the Bride is
not a bunch of disjointed parts. She is beautiful. She "is one body and one
Spirit, just as you were called to one hope that belongs to your call, one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all, who is above all
and through all and in all." EPH 4:4-6 So Christ has chosen a bride that is
compatible with himself.

Meanwhile the Harlot (apostate church) is wantonly making a big scene of
herself and is trying to draw attention to herself. The enemy also infiltrates
evil workers and legalists into the Body, which Paul had to warn about in
numerous scriptures including PLP 3:3-10.

In fact, Christ considers the unity of the different parts of the body
essential "that they may be one in us: that the world may believe that Thou
hast sent me." But this is not a superficial or artificial unity. The Bride
does not lean unto her own understanding.

When the Bride gets a fresh leading of the Spirit, rather than putting this
back into old dead institutions that have failed, the Bride should make a new
wineskin (new community of believers) for new wine. The knowledge of building
chairs is important to Christians especially for having a community, but it is
not in the Bible. Likewise, other important facets of community are simply not
going to be spelled out in the Bible, the Christian is going to have to use
wisdom given from God to work these things out. Ask and you will receive
wisdom.

In community, we are ask to bear one another's burdens (GAL 6:2). This is
where community is an advantage. Sharing common goals, developing humility (a
servant's attitude), and learning social & domestic skills are all positive
steps towards community. Christian community is a way a life. It is a way of
life where we give life to each other & build each other up in love. Some of
us today are not ready to walk in the Spirit, we need walkers & crutches.

To bear one another's burdens, we have to know what they are and also be
generally close enough to carry them in some way. We must give attention to
know & care about our brothers and sisters, and resist turning to music,
football, sitcoms and other distractions. The Mass media, esp. television, is
a great fragmenter of families, and by extension also communities. Although
many of us realize if we don't hang together, we will hang separately, we
maintain barriers to other Christians because of our fears. The World Order
constantly works to create those fears. Rather than face our fears, we justify
& rationalize our obsessions with privacy & a lack of transparency. We look
forward to a close fellowship with other good Christians, but how are we going
to have it, if we are afraid to share our lives?

People need space to grow together. If things are taken in steps, rather than
attempting to do everything at once, people get time to let their barriers
down, and to build trust. From one level of cooperation to a deeper level of
cooperation, we grow together in stages. It is time for the Bride to be rising
up & getting ready --cf. S. of S. 2:10,13. The Song of Solomon has long been
considered prophecy. The armed guards protecting the Bride in Solomon's bed
(S. of S. 3:7,8) show how protective God's ministers should be over the
Bride.

And this "community love" is the love that Christ prayed for us to have, and
is what he staked his reputation on. It is almost a lost teaching today.
Something that is a risk to even mention. Something the Spirit told me would
overcome the world.





Forward to Spiritual Manna 32