Preparing the Bride of Christ For His Return By Janet Van Hierdan
A Tale of Two Brides is now available on Amazon.com:
Saturday, June 6, 2015
Another
Coffee Break:
Supernatural Maturity, Part 12
June 5, 2015
And another TGIF day to you!
If my calculations are correct, we have passed the 1,000 mark in these
Coffee Break articles during the past few weeks -- and that spans a period
which began in December of 2004 on a sporadic basis. Beginning in January of 2005 and spanning
several months, I actually tried to publish these posts on a daily basis. That schedule caught up with me and I had to
back it off in stages.
Another Coffee Break currently reaches somewhere between 1 and 2
million readers on a weekly basis in more than 80 countries, and it is a
blessing to me that we are able to encourage many thousands of individuals who
are leaders in the body of Christ and engaged in active ministry around the
globe. Readers are being added every
week to our subscriber database to the point where Rich Hoffman, our webmaster,
has had to increase his server capacity.
That said, in the transition from one server to another, some readers
have notified me that they are not receiving their Coffee Breaks like they used
to -- and if you are among that number, and just haven't said so, please let us
know so we can correct the situation.
Time to move on. Thus far
in this series, we have dealt only with the first dozen verses of Matthew 5
which are commonly referred to as "the Beatitudes." Now we're going to make a significant shift
as we talk about an entirely different aspect of supernatural maturity -- that
maturity represented in the character, nature and makeup of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We’re going to shift gears going forward to describe the character and nature of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and how His nature in us influences the world around.
Matthew 5:13-16: Ye
are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith
shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and
to be trodden under foot of men.
Ye are the light of the world. A city
that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it
under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in
the house. Let your light so
shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father
which is in heaven.
The
standard KJV translation isn’t bad, but let’s see what we can do with it by
retranslating and amplifying it.
"In the same way that salt
personifies the need for seasoning, restraint and protection from spoilage or
rotting, and preparation for soil to produce; in the same way that salt
represents wisdom and grace in one’s speech and behavior, you are that grace
and wisdom, that seasoning and protection for the world. You are that which restrains and holds back
the execution of my judgment upon a world corrupted, spoiling and decaying in
sin. If you lose the ability to season
and influence the world around, you lose your usefulness [to the Kingdom] and,
like salt that has lost its ability to make things palatable, and winds up
being thrown out, you become worthless [to the Kingdom] and cease to have
(spiritual) value, requiring that you be cast aside." (Matthew 5:13, RAC Translation and
Amplification)
"[When I said, “Light be,” that
was the light that brought this world into being. I AM that light.] (Because you are in me, and I AM in you, you
are — likewise — the light of this world.
That is a light one cannot hide.
"[As representatives of the New
Jerusalem] you are like that City which is elevated on a high hill or mountain
and cannot be hidden from view. (You
have been made and destined to be visible to this world.)" (Matthew 5:14, RAC Translation &
Amplification)
"No one lights a candle, and then
hides it under some kind of covering or utensil. Rather, they put the candle on some kind of
lampstand or decorative piece in order to elevate it so as to give light to the
whole room.
"Let that light (My light) which
is in you, therefore, radiate brilliantly in front of all men and women so that
the value of your relationship with and in Me — manifested in the works, the
signs and wonders — is demonstrated.
That, in turn, will cause Father in Heaven to receive glory and honor
and praise!" (Matthew 5:15-16, RAC Translation and
Amplification)
OK! That was a bit windy and long, but I’m sure
you see it. Everything that Jesus said
and did was designed to bring Glory to Father.
Everything that He said and did was nothing more than a duplication of
what He had heard and seen in and from Father.
We
have two metaphors here which essentially mirror each other in terms of our
character and essence, being in Christ.
In order to better understand why Jesus used these two metaphors, follow
me back to the Law of Moses for a moment.
Leviticus 2:13, NASB: Every
grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the covenant of your God shall
not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall
offer salt.
Numbers 18:19, NASB: All
the offerings of the holy gifts, which the
sons of Israel offer to the LORD, I have given to you and your sons and your
daughters with you, as a perpetual allotment. It is an everlasting covenant of
salt before the LORD to you and your descendants with you.
The
importance of salt as a spiritual picture cannot be over-stated! If we are to reflect the character and nature
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we MUST be that essence which flavors and adds savor
to the land around.
When
God commanded the priests and Levites to add salt to their sacrifices He was
making it abundantly clear that everything they offered to Him had to have His
savor.
The
earth had been corrupted by sin, along with everything in it. The plants, the animals, the birds of the
air, the fish of the sea, the air we breathe — the environment in its
totality. Any offering that would come
out of this environment had to be seasoned with salt. We’ll come back to this picture as we get
farther along in this specific discussion.
We
refer to these pictures a metaphors because they represent influence on their
surroundings. Israel was a Covenanted
people with God. Covenants were created
between parties for the express purpose of making them as ONE unified being.
Consider
the ancient pictures of farmers creating covenants with soldiers. Soldiers’ lives were spent in the defense and
protection of their lands. Soldiers
rarely had time to care for their own lands, and had no time to spend tilling
the ground, sowing seed and harvesting grains, vegetables and fruits for their
own food and preservation.
Farmers,
on the other hand, were not skilled warriors and had little or no ability to
engage in the art of war or be concerned with the defense of their lands or
families. Covenants were often,
therefore, created between farmers and warriors. The farmers and the warriors became as One!
The
farmers covenanted with the warriors to become their source of food and sustenance. The warriors covenanted with the farmers to
provide their defense, to ensure their safety, personally, as well as that of
their families and their crops. With
this covenant, each functioned not only for themselves, but for each other.
The
Covenant of Salt that God made with Israel was a covenant in which Israel
promised to serve God and be His representative in the earth. Israel became God’s unique people — a people
who would demonstrate to the rest of the world just exactly what kind of life
and what kind of provision God could and would make with those who would enter
into a covenant relationship with Him.
God’s
Covenant with Israel ensured that they would stand out in the earth above every
other people. They would have the
Blessing that God promised in Deuteronomy 28.
Before we take a look at the very first part of God’s Covenant with
Israel, consider the truth upon which He based His choosing of Israel in the
first place:
Deuteronomy 7:7-11: The
LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in
number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and
because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath
the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house
of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Know therefore that the LORD thy God,
he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them
that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; And repayeth
them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him
that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.
Thou shalt therefore keep the
commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this
day, to do them.
Israel
wasn’t chosen because of their greatness, nor because of their numbers. They were chosen because of the oath — the
Covenant — that God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob exhibited a faith and total trust in the Lord during a time and
an era in which faith in God — YHWH — was absolutely non-existent. That faith was manifested when Abraham
pleaded and bargained with God to spare Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of not
less than ten righteous people.
Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob WERE God’s salt in the land!
They were the manifestation of His presence. They salted the earth in a time and place
where thousands of idols and false gods permeated the nations and cultures, and
where the practices we see and abhor with ISIS were the norm as a part of those
nations’ cultures. That said, take a
look at the benefits and blessings of Israel’s (and ours) Covenant of Salt.
Deuteronomy 28:1-2: And
it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the
LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command
thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations
of the earth:
And all these blessings shall come on
thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy
God.
From
this point forward, we see a sequence of the blessings which came of the
Covenant. But look, now, at the
consequences of walking away from the Covenant.
Consider this small part of those consequences:
Deuteronomy 28:15, 29: But
it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy
God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command
thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:
And thou shalt grope at noonday, as
the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou
shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
Even
if Israel failed to serve God, the judgment that came upon them and the bondage
they fell into would also show to the world what happens to folks who live
outside of a relationship with Him.
There
is a key phrase in verse 29, however, that needs to be paid attention to: “and no man shall save thee.”
Get
it? “No man…!” What God is saying to Israel is that His
Covenant with them stands no matter what!
No amount of human flesh or its endeavors will intervene to save them
from the bondage they are in, BUT, if they will turn back to Him, He will save
them and deliver them from the oppression of their enemies.
THAT
is a Covenant which stands the test of time!
That is a Covenant which says to the world, Israel has a Covenant
relationship that ensures their deliverance whenever they turn to Him, whenever
they repent of their wayward ways, whenever they once again acknowledge Him!
THAT,
Folks, is the Covenant of Salt! It
ensures that Israel would continually be a representative of the nature and
character of God, that they would perpetually be a people in whom the presence
of God will provide the savor and preservation of those who are around them.
And
that brings us back to Jesus’ statement, “In
the same way that salt personifies the need for seasoning, protection from
spoilage or rotting, and preparation for soil to produce; in the same way that
salt represents wisdom and grace in one’s speech and behavior, you are that
grace and wisdom, that seasoning and protection for the world.”
WE are the new
Covenant of Salt in the earth! As
representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are in Him, and He is in us.
We, therefore, become
His presence in the earth.
We become His
presence in our communities, among our families, among our friends and business
associates.
We
become
His presence in the business world.
We become His
presence in government.
On
and on it goes! By the same token, just
as there were consequences for the nation of Israel when it abandoned its
covenant with the Lord, Jesus makes it clear — without threatening us — that if
we fail in our responsibility to be His Salt — His life-changing Presence — that
we can be cast aside.
That’s
a statement that needs clarification.
This is not some threat that we lose out on our eternal Salvation, but
it DOES mean that we will miss our intended destiny and the Plan of God in our
lives. Everyone of us have a Plan laid
out before us by the Lord.
Holy
Spirit leads, He nudges us, He pricks us, He quickens us, but He does NOT force
us; and if we fail to follow His plan and design in such a way that God’s Glory
is seen in us, we can be passed over and our assignment given to someone who
will respond to His leading.
We'll
continue this discussion next week.
I remind those of you in need of ministry that our Healing Prayer Call
takes place on Mondays at 7:00 PM Eastern (4:00 PM Pacific). Once again, the number to call for healing is
(805) 399-1000. Then enter the access
code: 124763#.
At the same time, in case you are missing out on real fellowship in an
environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday
worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM
Pacific. That conference number is (559)
726-1300, and the access code is 308640#.
We hope to make these gatherings available by Skype or Talk Fusion
before long.
Blessings
on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
Our book, A
Tale of Two Brides, published by Destiny Image, is available on
Amazon.com as an E-book: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_
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Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this
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or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Another
Coffee Break:
Supernatural Maturity, Part 11
May 28, 2015
We begin again today with the amplified version of Jesus'
declaration of blessing for those who are persecuted:
Matthew 5:10-12: “Blessed
and highly favored by the King [of Kings] are those who are harassed, molested,
mistreated, or pursued after with hostile intent simply because they have been
justified [by faith (in Jesus Christ and His anointing)]; royalty, and Kingdom
rule shall be theirs.
Blessed and highly favored by the King
[of Kings] whenever men or women will seek to defame you, to rail at you or
taunt you, harassing and pursuing you with malice, saying in public or writing
false and hurtful accusations about you to others, seeking to ruin your
reputation because of your relationship with me [on account of Who I AM — and
who you are in me].
Rejoice — exult, sing, dance, enjoy
yourself — because each time you are mistreated for my sake, your reward and
place at the Seat of Order in things eternal is enhanced and magnified.
Consider yourself in the same company
of the prophets before you who likewise were harassed, molested, mistreated,
defamed, and falsely accused because of My Word in and through them.” (RAC Translation and Amplification)
We've
talked thus far about the division that the Enemy wants to bring among
families, and I've shared with you a bit of history in our family
heritage. I'd like to wrap up this area
of sharing with a few more examples taken from personal experience within what
we would normally refer to as "the Family of God." Because of the threat the Family of God represents
to Satan, nowhere is the attempt to divide and conquer and persecute more
evident, and nowhere is the blessing and favor of the Lord more evident for
those who suffer persecution. At the
same time, the fruit that comes from standing in the midst of the persecution
is some of the best seen in the Kingdom of God.
During
a transition period in 1978 while getting ready for a return to Barrow, Alaska,
I fellowshipped with a Charismatic church group in Anchorage and came to know
all of the people involved in its ministry locally as well as throughout the
state, and even some in missions in other countries. Because of our family legacy in missions and
ministry throughout Alaska, I was given ready access to the pulpit from time to
time as well as the ministry of praise and worship with their musicians.
1978
was still very much at the height of ministry activity for me in the realm of
deliverance from evil spirits. [That's
not to suggest that it has stopped, but rather that the focus has shifted in
the way we minister deliverance.] Many
of the fellow-ministers I shared with were from traditional Pentecostal
backgrounds where the concept of a believer being afflicted by evil spirits was
totally contrary to their doctrines.
I
was invited to come and minister in one of the satellite churches on the Kenai
Peninsula one weekend, and -- wouldn't you know it -- Holy Spirit sets things
up to minister to folks who were being afflicted by evil spirits! Following both the morning and evening
services, the time of personal ministry -- along with quite visible
manifestations as the spirits departed -- easily lasted for a couple of hours
AFTER the time of teaching.
Returning
to Anchorage the following day I was met by a very grim delegation from the
Charismatic church who had heard what had taken place. They made it clear that I was to meet with
their entire ministerial board later that week at a luncheon to explain why I
would minister that way knowing that they were opposed to such ministry.
There
were perhaps 12 senior leaders, pastors, evangelists, prophets and teachers who
sat around the lunch table to grill me on "my doctrine." That luncheon turned into an inquisition of
sorts as they tried to refute the scriptural basis for the ministry of
deliverance among Christians. There came
a point in the discussion when they -- to a man -- conceded that I was on sound
scriptural grounds for the ministry; and then their senior prophet said
directly to me, "we cannot afford for you to continue this ministry in our
fellowship. It contradicts everything we
have taught, and we will not have division among the people over this. People will think that we're just lying to
them, and they'll leave!"
The
Holy Spirit rose up in me at that and I stood to my feet at the end of the
table as the following prophetic message from Jeremiah 8 literally poured from
my mouth: "How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD
is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made He it; the pen of the
scribes is in vain. The
wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have
rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them? Therefore will I give their wives unto
others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for
everyone from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from
the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. For they have healed the hurt of the
daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no
peace. Were they ashamed
when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither
could they blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall: in the time
of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the LORD." (Jeremiah 8:8-12)
I
continued on: "How can you tell these people that they are free when they
are suffering, in torment from evil spirits, and fighting with sicknesses and
diseases? How dare you tell people that
they cannot be suffering with evil spirits, and you say to them that once
they're saved, they are automatically set free?
As a practical matter, they have no power to fight against evil spirits
until they've been baptized in the Holy Spirit!
Mark 16:17 makes clear that one of the very first evidences of being
filled with the Spirit is the ability to cast out demons! You have the gall to say to folks,
"Peace, Peace," when they have no peace!"
Guess
I was a bit astonished at my spontaneous reaction to them. I shook my head and sat back down. The group quickly got to their feet, made it
clear that I was no longer welcome to be in any of their churches, and that was
that! The following Sunday evening, one
of their senior pastors stood behind the pulpit and said to the church, "I
wouldn't touch Regner Capener with a ten-foot pole!"
Once
again, you can see the picture of Jesus' statement, "Men and women in a covenant relationship with
Me will find [even] their non-covenanting [spiritual] family members to be
their hostile adversaries (who will fight and oppose them)."
Doesn't
look like much of a blessing at the moment, does it? Ahhh, but there's more to this story!
In
the months that followed, Jeremiah's prophecy came to fulfillment among them as
several of their families broke up in divorce, at least three of the wives
wound up marrying other men, one of their prophets went to prison on a sex
charge, the other prophet died a year or so later from a painful disease and
the church split down the middle. Sounds
even less like a blessing, doesn't it?
Over
the decade that followed, the same pastor who had made the statement that he
wouldn't touch me with a ten-foot pole reversed his stance and began
encouraging the ministry of deliverance in his church. He was leading the breakaway church which, by
this time, was larger than the original church fellowship he had left. The new church was flourishing, the Kingdom
of God was growing by leaps and bounds and serious repairs and reconciliation
were underway where breaches had taken place.
By this time I had returned to Anchorage after a decade of ministry in
Barrow and Fairbanks.
It
soon became apparent that two other evangelist/pastors who had been at the
table with that group of 12 had reversed their stance on the ministry of
deliverance. On at least one occasion
that I can remember, one of them even called me for counsel in dealing with a
specific issue.
One
day I received a call from the son of the original senior leader of the old
Charismatic fellowship. His dad had
retired and he had become the new senior pastor. He had, however, been a part of that group of
ministers on that fateful luncheon day.
"Would you meet me for lunch today?" he said. "Absolutely!" I looked forward to it.
Sitting
down at the lunch table he broke the silence by saying softly, "I marvel
that you can be sitting across a table from me, after all the water that has
gone under the bridge." Reaching
across the table to take his hand, I said, "Brother, I hold you no ill
will whatever! Whatever God has done out
of all that transpired has worked for the good of the whole Body. When we parted that day, I knew that it
wasn't up to me to bring the kind of revelation needed. Holy Spirit was going to have to do that. I've never felt badly towards you or anyone
else in the church."
There
was real fellowship together at the table that day. God had done a rather spectacular thing in
healing the perceived breach. As we got
up to leave, this pastor said to me, "From me to you, you are always
welcome in our church!"
One
of the issues that we face in the Body of Christ today is that we have a bad
habit of viewing events from a "now" perspective. If we see division take place, our immediate
reaction is that it is bad. We don't see
the long-term picture. If we don't see
instant vindication of either the individual or the truth that was spoken or
represented, we tend to believe the negative about the individual who is under
attack, or at the very least, that which he or she represents. Consider what Paul wrote to the Ekklesia in
Corinth when he was talking about the Table of the Lord.
I
Corinthians 11:18-19: For
first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be
divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among
you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
The word
used in the KJV -- heresies -- comes from the Greek word, hairesis, which literally means: disunion
(from choices). Thayer defines it like this: dissensions
arising from diversity of opinions and aims, choosing, choice, that which is
chosen.
Paul's
point is that these dissensions and disunity arises so that (and they) which
God specifically approves can be made known -- and here is the crux of it -- so
that the truth can be manifested for all to see, and people can then correct
their wrong choices. Persecution and opposition
produces this kind of dynamic!
Jesus
wasn't kidding when He said, “Blessed and
highly favored by the King [of Kings] whenever men or women will seek to defame
you, to rail at you or taunt you, harassing and pursuing you with malice,
saying in public or writing false and hurtful accusations about you to others,
seeking to ruin your reputation because of your relationship with me [on
account of Who I AM — and who you are in me].
Not only
are we the recipients of that blessing, the Body as a whole is blessed. The Body of Christ grows, it multiplies, it
expands, understanding and maturity take place, there is a Kingdom prosperity
that comes (and I point out -- in the long term!) of the show that God puts on
as a result of the harassment, the false accusations and the malicious
defamation that comes by standing in His Truth!
One more
personal story for the sake of illustration, and I'll quit.
When I
returned to Barrow in 1978, it was not my intention to begin another church
fellowship. I was focused on Christian
television and bringing the ministry of CBN to the arctic. A young pastor (late twenties or early
thirties) had been assigned by the denomination to the church I had helped my
Dad build. My hope was to be an
encouragement and a help to this young pastor and support him. That, obviously, was not going to
happen. As soon as he heard my name and
realized who I was, he perceived me as an instant threat to his leadership and
authority.
He made it
abundantly clear that I was not welcome and that I could forget about any
ministry in Barrow. You couldn't help
but feel sorry for him because of his ignorance and fear, and I did my best to
try to allay those fears. Holy Spirit
obviously had other things in mind. An
old friend who had helped Dad to get the property on which to build the church
and provide the vehicle to haul gravel with in order to create a good
foundation was now the presiding elder at the Presbyterian church. He asked if I would serve in an interim
capacity as their pastor until the missions board could assign a permanent
pastor. That's another story with
implications I can't take time to get into today, but the four months I did
serve as their interim pastor saw a move of Holy Spirit in their midst that was
absolutely wonderful!
In the
weeks and months that followed, a number of folks approached me about my
continuing to pastor and forming a new fellowship. Although that new fellowship never became
very large (it was more of an overgrown home fellowship that expanded beyond
the walls of our home) it was perceived by the young pastor as a threat to his
domain, and he began to actively speak out against us as heretics, or -- using
the picture of the native culture -- someone who dishonored his father and
abandoned his father's faith.
Because
Christian television was my primary objective, and I needed a way to fund the
development of television outlets in the arctic, a door of opportunity opened
for me to purchase ASA Television from the Arctic Slope Regional
Corporation. ASA became Arctic Slope
Audio and North Slope Communications -- two distinctly separate businesses with
different focuses in retail consumer entertainment and business
communications. The profits from these
businesses went to purchase equipment and fund the building of tiny little TV
stations in remote villages throughout the northland.
I had my
hands full, operating two businesses, pastoring a small fellowship, building
small TV stations and promoting the growth of Christian television throughout
Alaska. Without realizing what was
taking place, a target was painted directly on my backside for people with a
religious agenda, and they quickly took advantage of it.
It started
with threatening phone calls. "We
know that God didn't send you here, and we're going to drive you
out!" Try this one. "The next time you step out the door,
you're going to get a bullet through the face." (That call was repeated more times than I can
count.) Then there was the somewhat
humorous hate mail in the form of post cards.
"Go directly to hell. Do not
pass go. Do not collect $200. Go straight to hell."
Then
things began to spiral upward. I've
already noted in previous Coffee Breaks the two times a sniper tried to take me
out. My oldest daughter was shot at six
times. My oldest son and second daughter
were repeatedly attacked in the dark as they were on their way home from school
(we were in the midst of the 66-day perpetual darkness cycle) by men who would
pick them up and throw them against the side of a building, and they would come
home bruised and bloody. I wound up
sending them away from Barrow to be with my parents at Saint Paul Island for
their own protection.
These
events are only a drop in the bucket of the persecution that unfolded but in
the midst of it all, the Lord spoke to me and told me that the day would come
when many of these same people would spontaneously fall on their knees in the middle
of the streets and cry out in repentance.
By late in 1980 it became clear that we were going to have to move our
operations center to Fairbanks for CBN's ministry to expand, and we made that
move in 1981.
Seven
years later, Dwain McKenzie -- my lifetime friend and brother in the Lord --
was back in Barrow pastoring the church Dad had founded. He called me one day to report that people
were literally falling on their knees in the streets of Barrow, calling on the
Lord.
Was the
persecution fun? Not even! Was it necessary to stand in the midst of it
and not give up? Absolutely. Was it worth it? The lives that have been changed and
transformed by the power of God as a result are clear testimony and proof that
persecution yields the blessing of the Lord.
The Kingdom of God has expanded!
I remind those of you in need of ministry that our Healing Prayer Call
takes place on Mondays at 7:00 PM Eastern (4:00 PM Pacific). Once again, the number to call for healing is
(805) 399-1000. Then enter the access
code: 124763#.
At the same time, in case you are missing out on real fellowship in an
environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday
worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM
Pacific. That conference number is (559)
726-1300, and the access code is 308640#.
We hope to make these gatherings available by Skype or Talk Fusion
before long.
Blessings
on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
Our book, A
Tale of Two Brides, published by Destiny Image, is available on
Amazon.com as an E-book: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_
All Coffee Break articles are
copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting,
copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution
and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available
at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com. Coffee Break
articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry.
Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this
ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses,
or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.
Monday, May 25, 2015
Another
Coffee Break:
Supernatural Maturity, Part 10
May 21, 2015
Let's begin again today with the amplified version of Jesus'
declaration of blessing for those who are persecuted:
Matthew 5:10-12: “Blessed
and highly favored by the King [of Kings] are those who are harassed, molested,
mistreated, or pursued after with hostile intent simply because they have been
justified [by faith (in Jesus Christ and His anointing)]; royalty, and Kingdom
rule shall be theirs.
Blessed and highly favored by the King
[of Kings] whenever men or women will seek to defame you, to rail at you or
taunt you, harassing and pursuing you with malice, saying in public or writing
false and hurtful accusations about you to others, seeking to ruin your
reputation because of your relationship with me [on account of Who I AM — and
who you are in me.
Rejoice — exult, sing, dance, enjoy
yourself — because each time you are mistreated for my sake, your reward and
place at the Seat of Order in things eternal is enhanced and magnified.
Consider yourself in the same company
of the prophets before you who likewise were harassed, molested, mistreated,
defamed, and falsely accused because of My Word in and through them.” (RAC Translation and Amplification)
“Divide
and conquer” has always been a strategy in the arsenal of the Enemy, and it is
no more evident than his use of it in families where he makes every effort to
turn parents against children, children against parents, and — whenever
possible — spouse against spouse.
The
picture of internecine warfare that Jesus draws becomes even more evident when
we see it within the family of God. It
is how denominations have been created.
It is one of the most-used tools of Satan to bring persecution against
people who seek to respond to the continual draw of Holy Spirit towards greater
and greater intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ.
During
the Charismatic Renewal, I saw this demonstrated again and again. As I recall, it was Bob Mumford who made the
statement, “The reformers of the new generation will always be persecuted by
the former generation. Those who become
a part of the new move of God will always be persecuted by those of the former
move of God.”
Once
again, as we continue to draw the picture, I remind you that Men and women in a covenant relationship with Me
will find [even] their non-covenanting [spiritual] family members to be their
hostile adversaries (who will fight and oppose them).
When
Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the Wittenberg Chapel, he
wasn't trying to make a break with the Roman Catholic church, of which he was a
part. He simply was seeking to share
with those who would hear and respond a message of freedom in Christ Jesus —
namely, that “the Just shall live by faith.”
Because of the traditions and the politics which ruled the Catholic
church, he was ostracized, criticized, eventually ex-communicated, and numerous
attempts were made on his life in order to silence him.
When
John Wycliffe sought to make the Word of God available to the common people by
first translating it from Greek and Hebrew (or Latin) into the language of the
day, every effort was made to shut down the effort and stop the presses; and
repeated attempts were made on his life.
That
same pattern has followed, even to this modern day. But consider the blessing!
Every
effort to silence the Word, every effort to silence those who moved beyond
their religious traditions and religious doctrines because of Holy Spirit’s
leading and ongoing revelation, has only resulted in a greater spread of the
Gospel of the Kingdom.
In
the majority of instances where people have moved on in God, even in the midst
of persecution, they have experienced the Blessing of the King of Kings on
their own lives, many who sought to persecute them have, themselves, come under
the conviction of the Spirit and have repented of their opposition and
persecution and, in a twist of irony, have been persecuted themselves because
of their response to the Lord.
My
great-great grandfather, John Capener, left England in 1836 and the Anglican
church where he had been a vicar to emigrate to the United States. His brother, William, joined him in the move. Sometime after arriving in this country, he
began ministering in a Presbyterian church in Columbus, Ohio. I have no details of the specific breach or
religious argument that William had with John over his departure from the
Church of England, but whatever prompted John to become a Presbyterian pastor
so angered William that he cut off all relationship and connection.
Some
time thereafter, William joined Brigham Young and assisted in the organization
and westward move of the Mormons from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City. The
family breach lasted for a full century until the early 1950’s when my uncle,
Everett Capener (who was with the Strategic Air Command at the time) stopped
over in Salt Lake City and discovered literal pages in the phone book of
Capeners.
That
led to a major family reunion that year between the two branches of the Capener
family, and another the following year in 1954.
A little over a decade later when I resigned at Bethel Union Church in
Duarte, California rather than compromise teaching and sharing on the baptism
of the Holy Spirit, a Mormon cousin, Dr. Jex Capener, invited me to move to
Salt Lake City — a move which ultimately led to the Eskdale Miracle and the
salvation and deliverance of an entire community.
Although
my grandparents had not been exposed to the Azusa Street Revival during the
first decade of the 20th century, as they began to seek after greater
revelation and pursue the presence of the Lord, they were baptized in the Holy
Spirit, along with a number of people who were gathered together in their home. It all took place in the midst of the sound
of a rushing mighty wind (a tornado) and a flame of fire which broke apart and
settled on the heads of all the people gathered for prayer.
My
grandfather was a Methodist preacher who was shortly thereafter removed from
his pulpit because the denominational leaders did not believe that the baptism
of the Holy Spirit was a legitimate experience for this modern time, and
considered that Grandpa had wandered off into error and heresy.
His
removal from the pulpit did not stop his preaching. He simply followed the New Testament pattern
in ministering from his home, and it resulted in a new generation of people
who, themselves, became the leaders and ministers of the Kingdom in the years
following.
As
noted in our previous session on being peacemakers, when my father announced to
his denominational leaders that the time had come for our family to move to
Alaska, they argued against it because of the expense involved and tried to
convince him that he would do better by going to Africa or China. When he made it clear that God had called him
to Alaska, and not Africa or China, they forbid him to go and told him that if
he tried, they would cut off his financial backing.
You’ve
already heard the story of how God provided the finances for the ministry in
Alaska through the stupendous fishing miracle, and what a blessing it produced
— not only for the tens of thousands of natives scattered across the arctic in
Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and even Siberia — but for our family as well. It was some five years or more before the
denominational leaders realized that they had really missed it and chose to
back our family’s ministry in Alaska.
When
Dad went home to be with the Lord, people came from all over the world to his
funeral and memorial service. Despite
the fact that his denominational leaders rejected the concept of the five-fold
ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, I was able
to share with the assembled folks the apostolic impact that my father had made
in the roughly 50 years of his labors throughout Washington and Alaska. When I finished sharing, one of his
fellow-ministers stood and recited an incredible poem he wrote about Dad which
he titled, My Friend, the Apostle.
None
of Dad’s detractors in those early years, who sought to block him from going to
Alaska, could possibly have foreseen the fact that God would use the isolation
of native villages to bring in visitors from all over the globe as tourists
whom he would lead to the Lord, including the Muslim bodyguards of Jordan’s
(then) King Hussein.
I’ve
yet to attend another memorial service for anyone who has been so honored by
people from all over the globe, and honored by God on account of their
faithfulness in the midst of opposition and persecution.
Following
this same theme to show you both the persecution that often follows
generationally, along with the Blessing of God, let me wrap up today's
discussion with a final story.
Judson
Cornwall was one of the Charismatic Renewal’s more prominent leaders, and a
pastor whom I had met and gotten to know in the early 1960’s. In 1976, while trying to reconcile the
counsel of brethren to remain in southern California and go to work to pay off
some serious indebtedness BEFORE responding to the quickening of the Lord to
return to Alaska, I sent out a resume to perhaps 30 or more major organizations
seeking employment either as an engineer or an instructor at a University. That resulted in three very prompt job offers
— one of which would take me back to NASA to run one of their satellite
tracking stations.
Judson
happened to be in Costa Mesa for a World Map Conference that summer of 1976, so
I went to him for counsel. My quandary
was that the pull of Holy Spirit to Alaska was immediate — NOT after the bills
were paid. Judson’s counsel was that
“God has a way of making provision for everything He requires of us, and I
suspect that He will more than provide for you if you will respond to His
specific Word.”
Several
of my friends and brethren at the time did their best to convince me to stay
and take one of the offers presented, but I began making preparations for the
move to Alaska right away. In the
meantime, my father suggested that I join him on Saint Paul Island to do some
fox trapping. That would turn out to be
an effort that would result in generating some start-up capital for the
Christian Broadcasting Network in Alaska — and that was one of my purposes in
returning.
Arriving
in Anchorage, I ran into a pastor I had known for many years whom we will
simply refer to as “Paul.” He saw me in
a church on my first Sunday in Anchorage (I had to wait for the weather to
clear in order to fly to Saint Paul Island) and caught my attention.
Paul
came up to greet me and tears began running down his face as he said, “I need
to ask you to forgive me.” That took me
totally by surprise and I responded, “Brother!
What in the world do I need to forgive you for?” His response astonished me.
“You
remember some ten years ago or more when you made application for the mission
station at Nenana?” I nodded my head and
said, “I never could figure out why I got the negative response I did from the
Home Missions Department.”
“That
was my doing,” he answered. “I wrote
letters to them accusing you of leaving Nome with a lot of debt hanging over
your head and a bad testimony in the city.”
Since I had taken pains to ensure that my debts were paid before
leaving, his answer made no sense. The
puzzlement on my face spoke volumes.
“I
knew that if they accepted you and appointed you to that station, it would be
one more vote for your father to become the District Superintendent, and I
wanted that position. I knew that if you
were blocked from taking it, I would have a much better chance when the voting
came.”
“Brother
Paul,” I responded. “Dad wouldn’t have
taken the position even if he had been voted in. He detested the organizational politics and
wanted none of it. He felt that it would
prevent him from fulfilling God’s specific call to the villages, and that call
was far more important to him than the recognition and titles of the
denomination.”
Paul
answered and said, “I realize that now, and God has made it very clear to me
that I am to put my house in order.
Because I have touched God’s anointed, judgment has fallen on me and I
have less than two years to live. I now
have ALS.”
It
shook me. I wept as I put my arms around
him and said, “My brother, whatever you meant for my evil, God intended and
used for my good! The Lord has delivered
me from the need to be associated with denominations and organizations, and
that deliverance has permitted me to work across denominational and
organizational lines to minister wherever and whenever He so orders.”
Paul
B. died some 19 or 20 months later. It
was sobering to me to realize just how seriously God treats the persecution and
opposition of those who stand against His anointed.
Over
the next six months, Dad and I trapped 208 arctic blue foxes. It generated some startup capital for the CBN
ministry in Alaska. More than that,
people who’d never met me and didn’t know me began sending checks and money
orders saying that God instructed them to do so because I “had a need that had
to be met.” My $17,000 indebtedness
vanished in less than a year!
The
opposition and persecution only increased when I went to Barrow, but the
blessing that followed that opposition was the gift of my counterpart, Della
Denise!
Next
week let's wrap this up and talk about some personal experiences, and the
ultimate long-term blessing that came from that persecution.
I remind those of you in need of ministry that our Healing Prayer Call
takes place on Mondays at 7:00 PM Eastern (4:00 PM Pacific). Once again, the number to call for healing is
(805) 399-1000. Then enter the access
code: 124763#.
At the same time, in case you are missing out on real fellowship in an
environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday
worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM
Pacific. That conference number is (559)
726-1300, and the access code is 308640#.
We hope to make these gatherings available by Skype or Talk Fusion
before long.
Blessings
on you!
Regner
Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Sunnyside, Washington 98944
Email Contact: Admin@RiverWorshipCenter.org
Our book, A
Tale of Two Brides, published by Destiny Image, is available on
Amazon.com as an E-book: http://www.amazon.com/Tale-Two-Brides-Relationship-ebook/dp/B00BSV6HZC/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1363139096&sr=8-8&keywords=A+Tale+of+Two+Brides#_
All Coffee Break articles are
copyright by Regner A. Capener, but authorization for reprinting, reposting,
copying or re-use, in whole or in part, is granted –provided proper attribution
and this notice are included intact. Older Coffee Break archives are available
at http://www.RegnersMorningCoffee.com. Coffee Break
articles are normally published weekly.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
If you would like to have these articles arrive each morning in your email, please send a blank email to: Subscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.To remove yourself from the mailing list, please send a blank email to Unsubscribe@AnotherCoffeeBreak.com.
CAPENER MINISTRIES is a tax-exempt church ministry.
Should you desire to participate and covenant with us as partners in this
ministry, please contact us at either of the above email or physical addresses,
or visit: http://www.RiverWorshipCenter.org.
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