Healing and the Fear of the Lord VI - Living Grace Fellowship

Wednesday 08/07/13

Topic: The Fear of the Lord & Healing

Series – And He Healed them all:

The Fear of the Lord and Health VI.mp3

Key Text:

Prov. 3:7-8

Prov. 16:1-3

The Fear of the Lord and Healing…

Okay on the onset let me correct myself, one of my opening statement was that healing does NOT negate the aging of our bodies and that the scriptures are clear on the fact that even now in the New Covenant, death is still residing in our bodies -Rom. 8:10 and that our bodies are in a constant state of present decay – 2 Cor. 4:16. To illustrate this I used the example of Moses and perhaps I could not have found a worse example to illustrate my point. In fact, what it does is illustrate that for every rule there is an exception. For in Deut. 34:7 it says, “Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished.”

So let me just say here…ooops!

What I was thinking of was Isaac and Jacob, who where both full of days and their eyes were dim before they died.

Gen. 27:1 “Now it came to pass, when Isaac was old and his eyes were so dim that he could not see, that he called Esau his older son and said to him, “My son.” And he answered him, “Here I am.””

Gen. 48:10 “Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.”

So one might ask, why would God preserve the sight of Moses and not of Abraham and Isaac? Is that not showing a respect of persons? Good question, and I will address it on Sunday 18, 2013 in the context of the fear of the Lord.

As for the rest of this message, I had been out of town for several days and so did not update my notes which resulted in re-teaching some things I already covered, but I think parts of this were actually better the second time around!

We spent most of this time examining what it looks like to fear the Lord in terms of His ownership over everything in our lives and our stewardship before Him regarding all of it. I mentioned that all people everywhere have a need for entering into and being caught up into a story line larger than their own lives. Something that offers them a sense of transcendence. It is why we get caught up in movies and TV series showing other people’s lives which are larger than life. It is why we are transfixed by heroism and its triumph over injustice while facing insurmountable odds. It is why sports and holidays attract so much attention and significance. This need is core to our humanity and its roots are in our basic need for the Divine. He IS our larger story to live in and He is our need for the transcendent. Recognizing this – not for our own benefit or to meet this basic need – but out of a clear understanding of WHO we are dealing with – springs forth a healthy beginning towards the fear of the Lord.

A great illustration of this which I mentioned as being found within Fyodor Dostoevsky’s brilliant series-novel, The Brothers Karamazov. His work is broken down into 12 smaller works (books) and in book 5 entitled, “Pro and Contra” Dostoevsky introduces the Grand Inquisitor.

It is actually a parable told by one of the characters “Ivan” to his brother “Alyosha” a young novice monk. In the parable, Jesus returns to earth during the time of the Inquisition and performs miracles mirroring those in His earthly ministry in Palestine. He is immediately arrested and sentenced to death by the Catholic church and told that they have no need for the miraculous and that His miracles will only lead to a loss of faith in converts. Though the thoughts about this segment in the book is wide and varied, I believe it to be a terrific example of man’s inborn NEED for the miraculous.

For more concerning this teaching please listen to the recording.

Pastor Mark

View posts by Pastor Mark

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!