The Nervous System

If God is truly going to be the head of his church, the nervous system must be functional and the body must be responsive. We cannot replace our head with Christian leaders, apologetics, church culture, books, or even the scriptures themselves. I assert that, if Christians are not living by the Spirit of God, they are not living as Christians. They are paralyzed. The living dead. Useless to the body. Have Pentecostal scarecrows chased us out of this fertile field? It seems as if when the Holy Spirit comes up, people just want to talk about miracles and tongues. I'm talking about the normal Christian life. I'm going to be in New York for the next five days, so I wanted to leave some Biblical support for what I have been writing, and allow some time for thoughtful responses. Do you believe that the Holy Spirit can lead his people in clarity and truth? Most of you would say yes. But then, if someone has a word from the Lord there is a surge of skepticism. And for good reason. Most people want to run before they learn to walk. We have spiritual babies prophesying from their souls, soaking in the attention and money like the Pharisees. These zealous believers haven't matured enough to be trustworthy. However, we can't throw the concept out because of these people and just revert back to something more "solid," like a pastor or a book. We need to have our spiritual senses trained. It takes years. I am convinced that this is the greatest weakness of modern Christians. We want a human liaison. It feels safer. We need a pastor. The Jews wanted a king. The Roman Catholics want a pope. The body of Christ needs leaders, don't misunderstand. But these leaders are to be spiritual men, not human governments. We'll talk about church structure at length when we get there. THIS IS A KEY POINT: Spiritual things are accessed in the spirit and processed in the soul. The mind, emotions, and will are involved in this spiritual process, but we should not try to generate a connection to God in those places. Don't approach him emotionally in worship. Don't approach him intellectually in study. Don't start to act without hearing from him. Just be still. Listen. Then let your soul respond. (Jesus speaking to Pharisees) "And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life." John 5:37-40 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” And He answered and said to them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted." Matthew 13:10-11 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” Matt 16:13-17 "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." John 14:21 “These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” John 14:25-26 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth.” John 16:12-13 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. I John 2:27 (Paul writing about his credibility as a teacher) For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Galatians 1:11-12 This concept of revelation is where the Holy Spirit started with me. Until He was in complete charge of my learning, I could not take a step forward. Before 1997, my Christian life could be compared to a young boy grabbing a gun, putting on camos, and thinking he was in the army. After this, I actually had a commanding officer. For the first time, my spiritual life was active, challenging, and exciting.