Blog In Audio:
Greetings,
Our purpose as a community of Christ is to bring life to our world. It is not merely to meet our own needs. It is to be a source of life to our world. It is to fulfill the purpose of God in our lives to be as our Heavenly Father is, a giver of life to others in our world.
To transform a community of escape and refuge to a community of life-giving purpose we must create a love for the community that is manifested in the environment of the community. To do this, faith will have to overcome natural sight. Natural sight will keep us bound to the conditions of our present and our past. Only faith can give us what we have not seen, heard, or thought before. Transformation only exists in an environment of faith. This environment can only be found in a culture of hope and love.
Each member of the community needs to experience an internal revelation of faith that can change every condition of escape and refuge to a world of purpose and destiny. Leaders lead to activate an internal environment of faith that frames a new city – a new world. To do this, leaders must see the change and lead others into that change. They must hear God in their hearts for what needs to change and then inspire those they lead to hear that vision from God within their own hearts.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.
The word for world in this verse is the GSRN165, αἰών aiōn; an age. The worlds that were framed in Hebrews chapter 11 were not the worlds that God created. They were the worlds of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, and many other men and women of God. Their futures were resisted by the natural realities of their lives, but they were empowered to overcome all things by hearing and responding to God’s voice. Their present and their futures were framed by hearing God in their hearts. A vision for the future must become stronger than any fear of the past or present. For this reason, the culture of our community must value what God desires above just meeting our daily needs.
In this process of change there must be an embracing of change for the whole community. Each member is inspired to fulfill their role in the change, but the change is for everyone together. Hope can be seen in the testimonies of change. For this reason, we must celebrate accomplishments. Don’t just celebrate alone – celebrate together! As change happens let it be a testimony that inspires everyone to move from what was into what is being established by God today. In this we value the community by seeking to bring everyone to the change.
We must recognize individual strengths for the corporate value. Our individual strengths make us stronger together. Living for the well-being of one another will manifest individual strengths and those strengths will envision a greater value for community. This will reveal an unfolding testimony of life-giving and life-inspiring change.
Leaders facilitate the writing of the story. The story is revealed through a connection to the foundation with an envisioning for the future. We value the successes of the past, the present testimonies, and we inspire a desire for all that God desires for His glory. In this we will draw from our treasure things that are new and old.
Matthew 13:52 Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
We must be willing to root out and to pull down, to destroy and throw down, to build and to plant to be able to embrace what is new. We cannot pant and build if we are not willing to let go of what was in the past. To become a community of life-giving purpose we must be willing to let go of every stronghold of escape and refuge.
Jeremiah 1:10 “See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.”
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
As we conclude the year of 2023, please consider making a contribution to House of Bread Ministry. We have increased our input to many parts of the world and your contribution will help us equip, train, equip, and send many for the purpose of God’s New Covenant Life and Grace in the nations. Thank You – Ted J. Hanson
Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:
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
