ted4leaders

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

In the early 1500’s there was a Reformation in the Church. The grace of the Spirit of the Lord and a revelation of justification by faith was released into the earth. Martin Luther took a stand for reformation in the church with the posting of his thesis on October 31, 1517. I believe that reformation laid hold of in 1517 was not merely a reformation of that day. I believe that it opened the door to the increasing reformation in the church. The church is the gate of heaven in the earth, and it is through the church that the influencing power of true revolution and reformation is released into the earth. “The just live by faith” is still a resounding testimony in the nations. We can all experience the increasing fruit and testimony of the desire of the nations. We have been granted the power of repentance unto life and a testimony of repentance from dead works in Christ.

When God releases a revelation of grace, that revelation grows in the successive generations. Lightning strikes and a testimony of thunder is heard. Thunder is heard and it causes the established earth of the past to quake and the earth experiences change. That change becomes an increasing sound in the earth that others can find with further and deeper understanding in the future. I believe that the grace of repentance unto life, a justification by faith, can be understood today in an even greater measure than in the foundation given though the reformation of Martin Luther.

The teachings of Martin Luther are often summarized in what is called the Five Solas that set the foundation for the doctrine of the just live by faith. I want to address one of those today. This is Sola Scritura (Scripture Alone). This is defined as: The Bible is the sole, ultimate authority for faith and practice. No pope, tradition, or council stands above it. Martin Luther taught this belief as a reaction to the ways of the universal church (the Catholic church) that had added many traditions and placed many conditions upon the church that created a structure of hierarchal authority. Martin Luther sought to simplify the understanding of God and the foundations for true faith. The church had become a system of clergy and laity. The clergy were those educated in the understanding of the things of God and the laity were the uneducated, unlearned, and dependent masses that were vulnerable to complications placed upon them by a few that found their pride and identify in religious superiority. That clergy/laity system had created a gospel of fear and control, and the grace of the Spirit of the Lord was inspiring Martin Luther and others to know the freedom of knowing the love of God.

I embrace the need for Scripture Alone to understand God’s voice. Unfortunately, this foundation has led to some interpretation that the rule of faith is the Scripture. I believe that the rule of faith is the voice of God to our hearts. Faith comes by hearing God’s voice within us.  I believe that the Scripture is essential to our understanding of the voice of God to our hearts. I don’t believe that the Scripture is the ultimate authority for faith and practice. Surely no pope, tradition, or council stands above the authority of the Scripture as a witness to the voice of God, but the Scripture is not our rule of faith. Holy Spirit is the voice of God in our hearts that empowers each of us to be obedient to the faith.

John 5:39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

Jesus told the Pharisees that the Scriptures were a witness to Him. The voice that gives us faith is the voice of Holy Spirit to our hearts. Holy Spirit is the testimony of Jesus within us and to us. The fruit of hearing God is faith. The rule of our faith comes by hearing God. Our obedience is to Him, not merely His written word. This is obedience to God’s personal word spoken to each person’s heart. The Scripture is a witness to the voice of God, but Holy Spirit is our teacher.

1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

The study of Scripture is most important to know the character, nature, way, power, and authority of God to properly discern that we are hearing Holy Spirit and hearing Holy Spirit correctly in our lives. Without an understanding of the principles, patterns, and values found in Scripture we are vulnerable to misinterpret God’s voice to our hearts or even fall for a deceiving voice that we believe to be the words of God. Without Scripture we are not able to be taught by God in a way that brings stability to our understanding of God’s voice to us. For the just to live by faith, we cannot depend upon any controlling authority of a pope, tradition or some other external council. The authority to understanding God’s voice to us is found in Scripture but the Scripture is not our teacher. It is a witness to the voice of our teacher. Our teacher is Holy Spirit and by His authority we are justified by faith. We can know God’s love, and we are granted life within by Christ in us. This brings change to our lives by a change in the desires of our hearts. True repentance is not a discipline of our flesh. It is a transformation of our hearts and minds that comes by a work of the Spirit of the Lord within us.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Leaders lead others to be a blessing to their world. Five-fold ministers are given as gifts to the body of Christ to equip believers for the work of ministry.

Ephesians 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ…

What is the work of ministry? I believe the work of ministry is seen in actions that demonstrate God’s love for one another. Those actions are inspired and empowered by the supernatural power of God’s love. When we become a testimony of God’s love we give God’s life to others. It’s not a matter of ministry. It’s a matter of love that is willing and able to minister.

We are a dwelling place of God by His Spirit to bring the life of His Spirit to our world. Our world is a matter of relationships. Who we find in our world are candidates for the life that we give to our world. When Christ lives in us, the life of Christ gives the blessings of heaven to our world. Leaders demonstrate this in their own lives, but they ultimately lead others into a way of life that demonstrates God’s life-giving love to others through the service and works of their lives. Leaders don’t lead people to simply know the love of God. They lead them to become a testimony of God’s love to others. Leaders lead people to live for the wellbeing of others.

1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. 24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being.

To live for the wellbeing of others is the evidence of being a dwelling place of God by His Spirit. This is in the very foundation of the gospel that was preached to Abraham. A former Chaldean who lived in a culture of self-seeking people became a father of faith through an encounter with God the Father; the One who gives life, breath, and all things.

Galatians 3:5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

The word gospel means good news. What was the good news that was preached to Abraham? It was news that would bring God’s blessing to all the nations of the world.

Genesis 22:17, 18 “…blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

God’s words to Abraham had four levels of ingredients. Those levels are generational in their nature. They are the ingredients of a 100-year plan:

1)  In blessing I will bless you

2)  In multiplying I will multiply

3)  Your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies

4)  In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed

Leaders lead others to be a blessing to their world. In being a blessing, God will bless us as leaders to be a blessing to those we lead. God also blesses those we lead to be a blessing to others in their world. It is not merely a matter of being blessed by God. God blesses us to be a blessing to our world. When we live to be a blessing, we also live to empower others to be a blessings. This is a testimony of multiplication. It is not a matter of adding others to our cause in life, but to release others to be a measure of blessing to their world as we are. When we live to multiply, God blesses us to multiply. The fruit of this is seen in life-giving change that comes to our world through our children and our children’s children. The goal is that the nations will know the blessing of knowing God and the blessing of being a testimony of God’s blessing to their world. This is good news and leaders lead for this glory.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Leaders don’t merely lead others in knowing the power of God or doing the works of God, they lead them in becoming the testimony of His character, nature, and way. Leaders lead others in being transformed by Holy Spirit to manifest a testimony of the Father’s likeness and image in this world. For this to happen, a leader sets an example to others in growing in a relationship with God. That relationship includes a responding to the voice and presence of God in all things and at all times. God’s voice and presence will transform our hearts and minds by the power and testimony of His grace.

The life of Holy Spirit doesn’t just flow through us to reveal a powerful God. The life of Holy Spirit flows through us to reveal a supernatural testimony of God’s love. Knowing God means knowing His love. When we know His love, we find Him transforming our hearts and minds. When we know God’s love, we love others. It is a working of the power of Holy Spirit within us. That work is one of the Father’s powerful love.  

Cultivating a relationship with Holy Spirit will be evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit. We will grow in a testimony of the fruit of Holy Spirit. That fruit increasingly becomes the substance of our own character. Knowing Christ will cause us to become like Him in His ways.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Leaders set an example of growing in the testimony of the fruit of God’s Spirit. Love should increase in their lives. They are increasingly filled with joy, and they walk in peace. The are steadfast and able to endure hard things. They become more kind, and they live to do good for the sake of others. They have a reputation of being good people. They are not easily shaken but are more and more faithful in their connection to God and others. They are not hard and bitter but gentle in their deminer to others in their world. Leaders grow in tenderness; they don’t let opinions driven by their personal emotions dictate their attitudes or their actions towards others. Leaders lead others in knowing the liberty of inner change that comes by intimacy with God in Christ.

Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 

A leader sets an example to others as a child of light, and they walk in God’s goodness, righteousness, and truth. Some translations of this Scripture in Ephesians chapter 5 say that the fruit of light is goodness, righteousness, and truth. These verses in the New King James Version reveals that the fruit of the Spirit is in whatever is good, righteous, or true. In either case, the evidence is seen in the fruit, not pretend doing. Sometimes the lines between good and evil, righteous and unrighteous, true and false get blurred. A good indicator that we are walking in the path of life is the evidence of the fruit of life. We cannot do fruit; fruit is something that happens when we live in the place where fruit grows. Fruit is something that gives life-energy to someone else and produces seeds for a future generation of life. Fruit is not a self-gratifying thing; it is a life-giving thing to others beyond your own life.

Cultivating a relationship with Holy Spirit will be evidenced by the character of God’s Spirit. Leaders set an example for others to also embrace the life-changing testimony that comes through a relationship with God in Christ.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Leaders don’t merely lead others in knowing the power of God or doing the works of God, they lead them in becoming the testimony of His character, nature, and way. Leaders lead others in being transformed by Holy Spirit to manifest a testimony of the Father’s likeness and image in this world. For this to happen, a leader sets an example to others in growing in a relationship with God. That relationship includes a responding to the voice and presence of God in all things and at all times. God’s voice and presence will transform our hearts and minds by the power and testimony of His grace.

The life of Holy Spirit doesn’t just flow through us to reveal a powerful God. The life of Holy Spirit flows through us to reveal a supernatural testimony of God’s love. Knowing God means knowing His love. When we know His love will transform our hearts and minds. When we know God’s love, we love others. It is a working of the power of Holy Spirit within us. That work is one of the Father’s powerful love.  

Cultivating a relationship with Holy Spirit will be evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit. We will grow in a testimony of the fruit of Holy Spirit. That fruit increasingly becomes the substance of our own character. Knowing Christ will cause us to become like Him in His ways.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Leaders set an example of growing in the testimony of the fruit of God’s Spirit. Love should increase in their lives. They are increasingly filled with joy, and they walk in peace. The are steadfast and able to endure hard things. They become more kind, and they live to do good for the sake of others. They have a reputation of being good people. They are not easily shaken but are more and more faithful in their connection to God and others. They are not hard and bitter but gentle in their deminer to others in their world. Leaders grow in tenderness; they don’t let opinions driven by their personal emotions dictate their attitudes or their actions towards others. Leaders lead others in knowing the liberty of inner change that comes by intimacy with God in Christ.

Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 

A leader sets an example to others as a child of light, and they walk in God’s goodness, righteousness, and truth. Some translations of this Scripture in Ephesians chapter 5 say that the fruit of light is goodness, righteousness, and truth. These verses in the New King James Version reveals that the fruit of the Spirit is in whatever is good, righteous, or true. In either case, the evidence is seen in the fruit, not pretend doing. Sometimes the lines between good and evil, righteous and unrighteous, true and false get blurred. A good indicator that we are walking in the path of life is the evidence of the fruit of life. We cannot do fruit; fruit is something that happens when we live in the place where fruit grows. Fruit is something that gives life-energy to someone else and produces seeds for a future generation of life. Fruit is not a self-gratifying thing; it is a life-giving thing to others beyond your own life.

Cultivating a relationship with Holy Spirit will be evidenced by the character of God’s Spirit. Leaders set an example for others to also embrace the life-changing testimony that comes through a relationship with God in Christ.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

The kind of unity that God calls us to is not merely a unity of belief. It’s a unity that comes from God’s presence. When we experience God’s manifest presence in our lives we are transformed in our hearts and minds. This inspires our beliefs. As leaders we don’t merely lead people in beliefs. We lead them to know the One to believe. The manifest presence of God is most important in all that we do. True unity is not found in the place of man being the center of the world. It is found in the place where Christ is in the center of the room. Today I am reposting something that I have written before. Out of the mouths of little children comes truth. The following is a testimony of an experience in my granddaughter Zaria’s life when she was four years old.

When my granddaughter, Zaria, was four years old, she was video recorded by her parents presenting what I believe to be excellent theology. She had several pillows on the floor in the living room of their house. There was a pillow in the center, small pillows to the side, and two big pillows on either side of the pillow in the center of the room. She explained to her parents that the little pillows were the Holy Spirit. She said, you ride them like a horse. This is good theology. Holy Spirit is a seven-fold Spirit that is like a horse. Riding a horse is prophetically symbolic of moving in the strength of the flesh. Perhaps riding the Holy Spirit like a horse is moving in the power of God’s Spirit and not the power of the flesh. Holy Spirit is the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel, the Spirit of Might, the Spirit of Knowing, and the Spirit of Fear of the Lord. Like the many little pillows in Zaria’s illustration, Holy Spirit knows exactly what aspect of the Spirit is needed in every situation of our lives. Zaria also told her parents that the pillow in the middle was Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes in the name of Jesus but does not replace Jesus in the center of the room. For us to be able to move in the Spirit, we must see Jesus in the center of our lives. We must see Jesus in the center of the room. In the back of the room was a very large pillow. Zaria said that the large pillow behind all the pillows was God. The apostle Paul wrote that all things will be summed up in Christ and that when this happens, Jesus will present all things to the Father. The Father is God. He is behind everything and the object of the summing up of all things in heaven. In the very front of the room on the other side of the pillow representing Jesus was another large pillow. Zaria said that this pillow was the Holy Wife. Perhaps the Holy Wife is the Body of Christ upon the earth. Zaria said that she keeps her songs in the Holy Wife.  The Body of Christ must always be filled with song of life, the song of the Lord, to carry the testimony of the Holy Wife. I believe that Zaria’s concept with the pillows is good theology. To be the living room of Christ we must be in the place where God in His trinity can be found. Jesus is in the center of the room, God the Father is behind everything, Holy Spirit is means by which we move forward, and the Holy Wife is what we become with the testimony of the new songs of God for every new season of His will. Good job Zaria! Gopa (grandpa) still thinks you have great theology. I think we should all embrace this theology in our lives.

Psalms 133:1-3 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, running down on the edge of his garments. It is like the dew of Hermon, descending upon the mountains of Zion; for there the Lord commanded the blessing — Life forevermore.

God doesn’t bless unity; He blesses Zion. Zion is the place of the manifest presence of heaven on earth. It is the place where the anointing oil on the head of our eternal High Priest runs down His face, down His garment, and touches the earth. It is the place where the dew of heaven touches that little hill of Zion. That is where God commands the blessing, and that blessing is – Life forevermore! The result is a testimony of unity. Unity is not the starting point; it is the finished testimony. It comes when everyone finds heaven’s grace in the same place. If God simply blessed unity, we could all agree to be religious, we could agree to lie, or we could all agree to hate and expect some form of blessing from God. God doesn’t bless our agreement. Our agreement comes from the place of God’s blessing. The place of His blessing is the place of His kingdom invasion in our hearts. That kingdom invasion is one of knowing God and becoming a testimony of Him in the earth. We must become a house of God’s presence before we can be a community of His testimony. We must be a community of His testimony before we can be a people of His purpose. Our Heavenly Father, Holy Spirit, and the Lord Jesus Christ are the source of true unity that comes by diverse individual experiences that express the testimony of the Holy Wife among the nations of the world. We must be filled with the song of the Lord, the song of life and love in Christ. Leaders must lead for this testimony and purpose in all things.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

Leaders lead others in walking in the light of God’s love. Knowing God’s love inspires and empowers our love for Him and for others. The light is not some measure of right verses wrong. The light is what turns our night into day. The light is what turns our death into life. The light is what turns our world into a testimony of the kingdom of God. The glory of God is to be like Him in our character, nature, and way.

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

The blood of Jesus is a testimony of God’s mercy for us all. It’s a testimony of His great love for mankind. No greater love has anyone than one who lays His life down for a friend (Jn. 15:13). Jesus gave His life for us upon our cross because He saw us as His friends. He saw us through the eyes of our heavenly Father.

God saw us as His friends when we were acting like His enemies. He could do this because He has always looked through eyes of love. Jesus saw things through the eyes of His Father. He always did what He saw the Father doing. Loving his children is what a father does. God is love and His actions are actions of love on our behalf.

As leaders we grow in being loved by God. With each new day comes another opportunity to know God. In this, we grow in knowing His love in our lives. When we know His love for us, we can’t help but love Him. When we love Him, we trust His words to us, and we obey what He asks of us in our lives.

1 John 2:3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. 6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

How did Jesus walk as a man in our world? He walked this world as a man demonstrating the Father’s will. That will was one of love for all men. He destroyed the works of darkness by being a testimony of the Father’s light. He didn’t condemn men but loved them in the midst of their darkness. His love in their life destroyed the darkness that held them in bondage. His light was God’s love for us in our world. We should walk in this same way. It’s not about ministry. It’s about God’s love. This is why we minister.

1 John 2:9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

The older we become in Christ, the more loving we should become. The testimony of knowing God is seen in the way we walk in our world. Knowing God’s law will make us judgmental of others in our world, but knowing our heavenly Father will empower us to be loving towards others in our world. This is not weak love. It’s love that understands weakness but also love that empowers others to receive God’s presence to overcome every weakness in their lives.

We should walk as Jesus walked. Everything that He did was done in love because He knew the love of the Father in His life. Everything that we do in life should be done in and for love. This is the testimony of Christ in us, and this is the hope of God’s glory!

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

As leaders we lead others to grow in knowing God’s love and to grow in loving others. Knowing God is not about knowing His power. It is about knowing His powerful love. He is our Father who happens to do God stuff! It’s not about His miracles; it’s about His miraculous love. The more we know our Father and the more we know Jesus His Son, the more we should become like Him in our character, nature, way, power, and authority. The more we know God’s love, the more we love one another. God is the one who teaches us by changing our hearts and minds from within. Holy Spirit in us reveals the testimony of God in and through us enabling us to shine as light in the darkness of our world.

1 Thessalonians 4:9 But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; 10 and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more…

Paul charged the church of Thessalonica to grow in love. God teaches us to love one another through an increasing revelation of His love for us in our hearts and minds. As a leader Paul knew that knowing God’s love was the foundation for us to be His sons and daughters in our world.

John was a disciple of Jesus and his testimony to the church was one of knowing God’s love. He had known God’s love in the days of Jesus as a man. He ate with Him, walked with Him, talked with Him, and experienced His friendship in his own life. As an older man he had grown in knowing the love of God in His life and he understood that the fruit of that was evident in his life and in the lives of others who embrace a fellowship with God in their lives.

1 John 1:2 …the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Our fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ is a matter of growing in knowing God’s love. The true light of Christ is the testimony of God’s mercy and grace. His mercy justifies us all to live. This is a testimony of His love for all people. His grace empowers us to live.  This is a testimony revealing the empowerment of His love working in and through our lives when we willingly and passionately seek to know Him in our lives. Our obedience is not to commands of the letter of His word to us. Our obedience is an empowerment that comes from within us through a growing intimate knowledge of His love.

1 John 2:9 He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

If we are going lead people in loving one another we must first lead them into knowing God’s love for them. Our rule of faith is not the Bible. The Bible is a testimony to our rule of faith, but it is not our teacher. Our rule of faith is a knowing of God in our hearts. This is knowing His love. This is knowing His voice. The evidence of this truth will be seen in our love for others. Faith is towards a person, not a promise. We trust God’s promises because we trust God. We are growing in knowing that He loves us and His love is a light in our hearts and unto our feet.

As leaders, we must grow in knowing God’s love. By this we can set an example for others to follow. Each one must grow in knowing God who loves them. The more we get to know Him the more we know His amazing love. The fruit will be love from our own hearts to others in our world.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:

www.ted4leaders.com

www.ted4you.com or

www.houseofbreadministry.org.

Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:

House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225

To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.

Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

As leaders, we set an example as those who allow God to visit the weaknesses of our lives to transform our hearts and minds by the power of His grace. By embracing the internal change that comes by God’s grace we become a message of hope that can then lead others into embracing the same. God heals our iniquities and thus He eradicates our transgressions and demonstrates our freedom from sin. This is our freedom from a disconnection with God. We become a testimony of Christ’s light because we walk in the light.

Ephesians 5:13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

Leaders lead others into finding their true identity in Christ. When we find our true identity, we live with our true testimony, and we walk in the purpose that God intends for our lives. When we allow a characteristic of a crook or a bent of weakness to become the character of our lives, we move beyond merely a potential characteristic, and we become someone we were not destined to be. We become a testimony of twisted truth of who we are intended to be as a man or a woman of God.  When we do this, we think we are being real to who we are, but it is a distortion of who we were meant to be. Each of us are responsible to turn to the Lord in our hearts and see God transform our iniquities to testimonies of His healing grace.

Our identity comes from our connection to God in our hearts. When we discover our identity, we make ourselves available to God for His heavenly testimony in our lives. That testimony empowers us to walk in a partnership with God for His purpose beyond our own. As leaders we must lead others into embracing the presence of God in their hearts with a willingness to be transformed by God. We do not lead into legalistic law, nor do we run to the ways of our own hearts. We live and lead others to partner with God to become who He declares each of us to be for the glory of His name.

Each of us are accountable for what we become in life. We are not limited by our past nor bound to the past. If we choose to find love in things other than God, we will be responsible for what we become (Ezek. 18:10-13).

Ezekiel 18:21-23 “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?”

God’s desire is that each man and each woman find’s the goodness of His love and the testimony of His character, nature, way, power, and authority in their lives. He wants to meet us in our weaknesses and transform our lives by the power of His grace. He wants our characteristics of iniquity to become subdued by the power of His life-changing grace. His justice system is based upon our embracing Him in our lives so we become a testimony of who He is, not who we used to be or could have become had we not encountered Him in our lives.

Leaders lead others into their true identity, testimony, and purpose in Christ. This is the testimony of our redemption in Christ. When we know who we are we sing the song of the redeemed to bring about the testimony of the purpose of the family of God in our world.

Food For Thought, 

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of: www.ted4leaders.com www.ted4you.com or www.houseofbreadministry.org. Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to: House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225 To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year. Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728

Blog In Audio:

Greetings,

In September of 2004 I released a prophetic word in regard to a grassroots revolution that was going to sweep the nations. Since 2004 the term ‘grassroots’ and the evidence of ‘grassroots revolutions’ has been evident in the world and in the church. God is shaking things up and transforming things in the earth at a ‘grassroots’ level. I believe that the present grassroots actions of humanity are both testimonies of what God is doing and counterfeits to what He is doing in the earth.

At the releasing of the prophecy in 2004, the clock on the wall stopped at 7:45 p.m. as well as my watch and two other watches in the congregation. The clock battery was replaced and the following morning the anointing came during the morning worship session and the clock stopped again at 9:45 a.m. as well as my watch and the same two watches in the congregation that stopped the night before, all on the exact same minute. I believe the stopping of the time was an act of God and very significant to this word. It was also a sign as to eternal expectations and the eternal abilities of God that are not bound to the realm of time.

God is moving by His grace in the nations, and He is calling for a grace to heal the iniquities of the human heart. This is a segment of the prophecy given in 2004:

And the Lord says, I’m exercising My righteous decree to declare to you that the opposition of bondage and promiscuity – that those oppositions shall bow the knee before Me. For I am bringing forth My true Spirit of Liberty, but My true Spirit of Liberty will be a spirit of passion, it will be a spirit of compassion, it will be a spirit without compromise. And there will be a releasing of those who have been held captive to the bondage of legalism, and to the bondage of liberality that goes beyond the boundaries of life. And the Lord says, I’m exercising My righteous decree even now to declare “Will you be My people? For My anointing oil is here for you. Will you be My people? Will My anointing oil flood your soul? Will you rise up and touch the nations and make them whole? For I am God, and I decree My righteous decree in the land this day.”

I heard God’s Spirit say that promiscuity and legalism come from the same root. Both of these come from the knowledge of good and evil and are mindsets based upon bitterness that is rooted in the realm of time. I believe that the stopping of the time pieces was a prophetic witness to the fact that God intends to deal with the iniquities of our hearts that come from experiences in our past that have now become issues in our lives today and hinder us in moving into all that God has for us tomorrow. Neither legalism nor promiscuity is a testimony of being the people of God. It is the anointing within us, Christ in us, that is the true testimony of life that brings about a witness of being the people of God. This involves the redemption of our character, nature, way, power, and authority in life.

Iniquity in the human heart is the weakness that leads to transgression and sin. It is the vulnerable place within us that needs a visitation of God. It is the place of weakness within us that must discover God’s manifest presence and healing. God is releasing a grace for a grassroots revolution in the midst of humanity that heals the weaknesses of our hearts and causes us to become a testimony of being the people of God. The inherited characteristics of weakness are going to be transformed by the characteristics of Christ within us. Our potential character as sinners is going to be overcome by our ability to embrace Christ within and be transformed to the character of God in our lives.

Food For Thought,

Ted J. Hanson

Donations can be made at the link on the home site of: www.ted4leaders.com www.ted4you.com or www.houseofbreadministry.org. Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to: House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225 To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year. Our Ministry Information Is: House of Bread Ministry 3210 Meridian St. Bellingham, WA 98225-1728