Dr. Terry Threadwell's Blog

Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.  4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. (1Co 14:1-4 NKJ)

Paul’s concern was that there was an excess of tongues in the fellowship. These days churches are bringing in the smoke machines, the lights, drama, and more music, all in an attempt to find God, like the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, whipping up a frenzy. It will do us good to remember Elijah’s experience in 1 Kings 19:11-12, “but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” If you want to find God, you’ll find him in prayer, in the Word and in worship that comes from the heart.  But more importantly, you’ll find him in the way you demonstrate love, not only to him but to those around you. Love is the greatest gift, remember Paul’s first exhortation—pursue love.

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.(Rom 8:26-28. MSG)

Praying in the Spirit can be with your heavenly prayer language or without.  Referred to in the Bible as the Gift of Tongues (1 Cor 12:10). Many Christians have had problems receiving the gift of tongues for a variety of reasons, one being that speaking in tongues makes no logical sense.  Our minds want to understand and analyze the whole process, and that will never work, faith and trust have to be in operation.  So when we know not how we should pray and the Spirit prays through us and for us, why would it not be in tongues?  Think about it, if I know not how or what to pray I need to go beyond my natural mind or thinking.  The Holy Spirit and tongues take me to that place

In Romans 8 Paul tells us how the Holy Spirit takes prayer deeper by interceding for us when we don’t know how to bring to birth the will of God for our lives, literally, the Holy Spirit is the midwife, helping us birth the future with groans and sighs.

Our minds can take us only as far as we have come—the Holy Spirit will take us further.

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS.  “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. “And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I do not know a man?”  And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. (Luk 1:30-35 NKJ)

Overshadowing means to envelop or surround, literally, in this case, to surround with the Spirit’s presence.  The same thought is seen in Luke 4:39 where Jesus ‘overshadowed’ Simon’s mother-in-law and again in Acts 5:14-15 with Peter’s shadow.

Luke 4:37-39  And the report about Him went out into every place in the surrounding region. Now He arose from the synagogue and entered Simon’s house. But Simon’s wife’s mother was sick with a high fever, and they made request of Him concerning her.  So He stood over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. And immediately she arose and served them.

Acts 5:14-15   14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,  so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.

This means that the Spirit not only fills the Christian internally but also envelops them on the outside with his presence. So, this morning don’t just clothe yourself physically, but put on your spiritual attire as well. Rom. 9:33; Rom. 10:11; Rom. 13:12, 14; 1 Co. 15:53-54; Gal. 3:27 and Eph. 4:24, 6:11, 14.

Genesis 41:25; 38-43   Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do:  .  .  .  .  .  38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?”  Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you. “You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”  And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”  Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he set him over all the land of Egypt.

When we think of the Sprit of God, we think of power (Acts 1:8), but the Holy Spirit has more traits than just power.  Revelation 5:6   refers to the Lamb of God has having seven Spirits.  .  .  .”in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”  Those seven Spirits are in fact seven traits or attributes of the Holy Spirit and they are listed in Isaiah 11:1-3.

NKJ Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.  The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.  His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears.

Joseph had the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. Natural knowledge comes through attending school, college, university and life’s circumstances, but divine knowledge (wisdom) originates from a face to face encounter with God. Why face to face? God knows that he needs to change us so that we can handle what he wants to share with us. Wisdom comes with a ‘handle with care’ notice, making sure God get all the glory.  What’s in you that would cause those around to stand up and take notice?

The Holy Spirit of God is personal, as much as the Father and Son are Personal, and, therefore, experiences all the sinless elements involved within a divine personality. Personality consists of intellect, emotions, and will. The Holy Spirit has all three.

Both John and Paul often use masculine pronouns for the Holy Spirit, contrary to the normal Greek usage. The Greek word pneuma translated “spirit” is neuter in gender.   ” But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, and will testify of Me.  “And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.   (John 15:26 – 16:1)

What is even more interesting is that Ruach in the Hebrew is feminine in gender, and in the Eastern Orthodox the hierarchy is ‘Father, Spirit, Son.’ This makes sense when you consider the feminine attributes of God as seen in scripture, for instance:

The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. (Gen 1:2 AMPC)

In this verse, indicating that something more happened: “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The Hebrew word for moved means brooded or hovered, as when a mother bird broods over her eggs to bring forth life. This indicates that after God’s judgment God did something to bring forth life. The situation was really waste and void, and there was darkness upon the depth of the water. Then the Spirit of God came into brood, to hover, over the situation in order to produce life.

A feminine characteristic of God can be found in Matthew 23:37 where the Lord speaks about nurturing the people of Jerusalem. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!

People cry out because of heavy oppression; shout under the power of the mighty. But no one says, “Where is God my maker; who gives songs in the night; who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth, makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?” Then they cry out; but he doesn’t answer, because of the pride of the wicked. God certainly doesn’t respond to a deceitful cry; the Almighty doesn’t pay attention to it. (Job 35:9-13. CEB)

When you think of oppression, you might think of the ethnic oppression against the Romani people in Italy or the Kurds in Turkey and Iraq. Religious oppression of a small Muslim group in Myanmar. Social oppression of the Palestinian people in Israel or the political oppression in Uzbekistan. How about the economic oppression of 99% of the population in the US? The question is, how long can you oppress a people before they turn and fight back? Les Misérables, a novel written by Victor Hugo, and later a musical, tells the story of an oppressed French working class. In the musical rendition, the people sing this song.

“Do you hear the people sing? Singing a song of angry men? It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!” The verse that follows gives the invitation to fight for liberation and ultimately freedom. “Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me? Beyond the barricade Is there a world you long to see? Then join in the fight that will give you the right to be free!”

The problem is that true freedom is never found in the fight alone. Paulo Freire said in his book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, “The oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors” The reason for this he states is because “They have no consciousness of themselves as persons or as members of an oppressed class.” And, “find in the oppressors their model of manhood.”

Second, freedom is never found in the fight alone when people cry out to God and then deny his existence. The lyrics of the Socialist Internationale state, “No savior from on high delivers, no faith have we in prince or peer. Our own right hand the chains must shiver, chains of hatred, greed, and fear.” Job tells us that God hears the cry of the oppressed but turns a deaf ear when people refuse to acknowledge him.

We become a threat to the oppressive order when we cry out and declare, “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies. (Psa 18:2-3 NKJ)…….God hears our cries.

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor 3:16)

 So what does it mean to be a temple of the Holy Spirit?  In the physical temple, there were three main areas.  The inner court contained the Altar of Sacrifice and the copper Laver. In the Holy Place, there’s the Shewbread, the seven branch candlestick and the incense.  From there the High Priest would enter the Holy of Holies—the very presence of God.

The soul of a person is the very nature and personality, the heart or mind is the seat of our will, intellect, and emotions.  Our spirit is the life that God breathed into us.

Our soul then is the place where we need to daily sacrifice our natural desires (Rom 12:1) and to take a reflection of who we are and allow the sanctifying work of the Spirit to cleanse us.  The mind then needs to be feed on the Word (His Presence), allow the Holy Spirit to guide us leading us to prayer.  Prayer and the Word are not acts or things we do; they are lifestyles.  The spirit then desires to enter into His presence and worship, and we can do this because His blood gives us access.

The temple of the Holy Spirit, your body, is not vacant or empty, it’s a process of daily starting with Praise and Thanksgiving, and you seek to achieve the goal of entering into His presence.

Genesis 41:25-43   Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has shown Pharaoh what He is about to do:  .  .  .  .  .  38 And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?”  Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Inasmuch as God has shown you all this, there is no one as discerning and wise as you.  “You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.”  And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.”  Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck.  And he had him ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried out before him, “Bow the knee!” So he set him over all the land of Egypt.

When we think of the Sprit of God, we think of power (Acts 1:8), but the Holy Spirit has more traits than just power.  Revelation 5:6   refers to the Lamb of God has having seven Spirits. “in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”  Those seven Spirits are in fact seven traits or attributes of the Holy Spirit, and they are listed in Isaiah 11:1-3 “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.  The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.  His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears.”

Joseph had the Spirit of wisdom and understanding; we would refer to these today as having spiritual gifts.  What godly traits do you have that would cause those around you to stand up and take notice? In Josephs case, the anointing wasn’t apparent until he was in prison and I Pharaoh’s house.

My basis for writing this short article is to discuss the issues we face, as Pax Pneuma, coming to a conclusion that Peace and Justice do not stand alone, but for part of a much larger equation. In 2000 the United Nations issued the Millennial Development Goal—deadline 2015.  The United Nations Millennium Development Goals were 8 goals that all 189 UN Member States had agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015. The United Nations Millennium Declaration, signed in September 2000, committed world leaders to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation, and discrimination against women. It soon became clear that these goals were far too ambitious.

This was followed by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), officially known as Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is a set of 17 “Global Goals” with 169 targets between them. Spearheaded by the United Nations through a deliberative process involving its 193 Member States, as well as global civil society, the goals are contained in paragraph 54 United Nations Resolution A/RES/70/1 of 25 September 2015.[1] The Resolution is a broader intergovernmental agreement that acts as the Post 2015 Development Agenda (successor to the Millennium Development Goals). The SDGs build on the Principles agreed upon under Resolution A/RES/66/288, popularly known as The Future We Want. (UN)

It is my opinion that in 2030 the UN will need to rethink and come up with a new set of goal. Not that they are not achievable, but that there is not the willingness to work together to achieve these goals. Also, it is unlikely that President Trump will even begin the sign on this project, let alone work towards achieving the seventeen goals.

As Christians, we are part of God’s divine Kingdom plan, and I believe that through the Kingdom, these goals are achievable. So, with that in mind, we should dialog with these seventeen goals and propose a solution. We have already looked at Goal #1 Ending Poverty. So let us look at Goal #2 Zero Hunger.

When we think of hunger, our minds usually think of Africa, and rightly so.  400,000 people in Southern Sudan and Northern Nigeria are suffering from an unprecedented famine, with Yemen and Somalia on the verge. In Somalia, it is a true drought, but in the other three countries, the famine is fueled by conflict.  Instead of countries like the US ending the conflict, the sale of weapons just fuels it.

But, let us go closer to home…

Using United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) data, Feeding America, a nonprofit that operates food banks, mapped food insecurity throughout each county and congressional district in the United States. The compiled statistics offer a sobering insight into the living standards of large sections of working class and lower-middle class Americans:

* In 2009, the year after the Wall Street crash, some 50 million US residents were food insecure. While that number fell to 42 million in 2015, the budget shortfall for food insecure individuals averaged $527 a year. This represents an increase of 13 percent, adjusted for inflation, since 2008.

* Children are more vulnerable to hunger than the general population. On average, 21 percent of children across all US counties are food insecure, compared to 14 percent of the general population. Some 41 percent of the children in Issaquena County, Mississippi are food insecure, and in 14 counties, over 100,000 children cannot expect consistent meals.

* Twenty-six percent of food insecure individuals nationwide are unlikely to qualify for government nutrition programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, better known as food stamps), Women Infants and Children (WIC) and free or reduced-price school meals. In 76 US counties, the majority of food insecure individuals are likely to be ineligible for government assistance. In Douglas County, Colorado, near Denver, about two-thirds of the county’s 28,280 food insecure individuals are unlikely to qualify for government nutrition aid.

One in four food insecure individuals report that they applied for government assistance and were denied. With the 2018 budget that number will increase.

This is no mystery given that in many states a family of four has to earn less than $31,980 a year to qualify for food stamps. In other words, the family has to be living in the direst poverty.

* Millions of people with jobs are living in hunger. Some 57 percent of food insecure people earn more than the (absurdly low) federal poverty level.

* Eighty-nine percent of the counties with the highest rates of food insecurity are located in the South.

* Rural counties make up 63 percent of all US counties but account for 76 percent of the counties facing the highest rates of food insecurity.

However, while urban counties have lower rates of food insecurity, many have huge numbers of people living with hunger. Los Angeles County has a relatively “low” rate of food insecurity at 12 percent, but it is home to 1.2 million food insecure individuals, including 480,000 children. The counties with the highest number of food insecure people are New York, Los Angeles, Harris (Houston), Cook (Chicago), Maricopa (Phoenix), Dallas, San Diego, Wayne (Detroit), Tarrant (Fort Worth) and Philadelphia. (Feeding America)

The callousness of America’s political and business leaders is shocking. A new report from UNICEF, on the well-being of children in 35 developed nations, turned up some alarming statistics about child poverty. More than one in five American children fall below a relative poverty line. The United States ranks 34th of the 35 countries surveyed, above only Romania and below virtually all of Europe plus Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. (The Washington Post)

Yes, America is a world leader in child poverty. Yet, President Trump wants to increase military spending to a staggering $639 billion.

Hunger does not stand alone.

1. Hunger comes with health issues. Food pantry supplies are often poor quality, processed, high sugar or salt content.
2. Programs are not sustainable and are likely to create codependency.
3. Quantities of available food are variable.

What can we do?

1. Lobby Congress to increase the SNAP program
2. Tax credits for restaurants, hotels, and farms that give surplus foods.
3. Encourage churches and charities to think outside the box. Community Gardens is just option or food preparation classes.

Let us work to end hunger so that everyone has food available and that no child goes to bed hungry.

The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,  until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; “for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”  Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. ⁸ “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Act 1:1-8 NKJ)

“And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.  And also on My menservants and on My maidservants, I will pour out My Spirit in those days”. (Joe 2:28-29 NKJ)

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: (Joh 1:12 NKJ)

I’ve heard the Greek word for power dunamis translated time and time again as ‘dynamite.’ Actually, the word dynamite was the name given to it by its Swedish inventor, Alfred Noble from the Swedish word dynamit—power.  Dunamis actually comes from the Greek root dunamai meaning ‘can do.’ Can do what?  Well, their question to Jesus was, “”Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”  Jesus’ indirect response was no, but as the ‘can do’ people you will establish the Kingdom of God here on earth as you bear witness to Word and deed not just here in Jerusalem but all over the world.  The power comes from the Holy Spirit, but the authority to use that power comes because you’re in a relationship with the Father and a child of God (Jn 1:12)

Remember Paul’s exhortation, “ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (with the Holy Spirit). (Phi 4:13 NKJ)