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Biblical
Directive Two:
Sharing the grace we've been given - unconditionally.
"But
when He heard this He said, 'It
is not those who
are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.
But go and learn what this means, "I desire compassion,
and not sacrifice," for I did not come to call the righteous,
but sinners." Matthew
9:12-13.
"And
He called the twelve together, and gave
them power
and authority over all demons, and to heal
diseases. And
He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom
of God,
and to perform healing... the multitudes
were aware of this
and followed Him; and welcoming them, He
began speaking
to them about the kingdom of God and curing
those
who had need of healing." Luke
9:1-2, 11.
"The
God who made the world and all things
in it, since
He is Lord of heaven and earth, does
not dwell in temples
made with hands; neither is He served
by human hands,
as though He needed anything, since He
Himself gives to
all life and breath and all things; and
He made from one,
every nation of mankind to live on all
the faces of the earth,
having determined their appointed times,
and the boundaries
of their habitation, that they should
seek God, if perhaps they
might grope for Him and find Him, though
He is not far
from each of us; for in Him we live and
move and exist..."
Acts
17:24-28
The early Christian Church thrived
and spread the Gospel of Jesus
Christ from its birthplace in
Jerusalem to the outer reaches of the Roman Empire and
beyond in less than three centuries. This was possible because
the Church
is a living organism made up of people living out their
faith in spirit and truth, within the context of everyday life
around
them. Christians are called out into the world, not only
to be different, but to make a difference for Christ. The early
church
modeled this with unity and
purpose, while suffering persecution
at all levels of society.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit,
the church grew because it was real in
sharing the love of Christ
in the community around them, working out
of their own homes
and spreading into the homes of new believers. All
of Paul's
letters are written to help instruct groups of people trying
to live together as one body of faith. Sharing all things in
common, from the
lowest to
the wealthiest in society, they ate together,
prayed for one
another, studied the words of the Apostles, performed
miracles of healing
and caring, by providing for those in need
around them ; the elderly, poor, sick, hungry, naked and imprisoned.
They grew... house to house.
Jesus
Christ provided everything we need to be the 'Living body
of
Christ' in our world. His example was to love unconditionally
one person
at a time, wherever He met them and brought the truth of God's
love and power to heal spiritually, and sometimes physically.
No where did He ask
anything of them before He healed them, other than to acknowledge
the
truth of their present circumstances in life. He sought out
the weakest of us
- the blind, the lame, the hungry, those under the dominion
of evil, children
and often women (in a culture that saw women as property),
in order to
reveal His power for salvation to those already aware of their
need of God.
Jesus
went into the homes of people recognized as sinners, by
those
who thought that they were not, to reveal this truth about
us:
"For all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God." Romans
3:23.
The church today has given up on its priviledge and purpose
of accepting invitations into the homes of those most in
need of a relationship with Jesus,
by closing their community of faith off behind church walls,
and asking those in need of healing to come into their 'safe
world' to meet their standards,
before offering to them what God has freely given to all
who seek Him.
Directive
Two is the most important aspect of the ministries which
we offer to our broken world. Here, we want to live out the
Gospel of Jesus Christ in our homes and in our global community,
as a church without walls.
This is a comprehensive approach for us individually, and
corporately as an association, committed to the belief that:
"For where two or three have
gathered together in My name, there I am in their midst." -
Matt. 18:20.
Though we are small in numbers for our staff
and Board of Trustees,
we have all experienced what Jesus can accomplish through
His weakest
servants ready to serve Him.
We
offer in our homes, over the Internet and wherever the Lord
leads
us, the presence of Jesus Christ through our Pastoral Counseling
ministry.
Just as Jesus came to seek and save the lost, we too have focused
most of our time toward ministering to people who have been
broken by severe,
ritual abuses such as; Satanic Ritual Abuse, Clergy Abuse,
Sexual Abuse,
and are suffering the oppression of evil controlling their
lives. Many suffer from Post Traumatic Stress, Dissociative
Identity Disorder (MPD) and
sometimes from demonic influences and/or possession. We will
offer this ministry free for as long as we are able to with
the Lord's blessings.
In
conjunction with this ministry we have started Shepherds
Care
Publishing to produce books (like our Shattered
People series) and
literature to assist survivors in their quest for healing.
Our books offer
the truth about God's unconditional love and power to heal,
through the
telling of true life stories from people broken by evil and
separated from
the truth about God; and how God comes to them in Jesus Christ
in their
real life situations to bring hope and healing. These books
are offered to
care-givers and professionals who treat these loved ones in
our midst, as
an extension of our Pastoral Counseling ministry, and are free
to survivors and care-givers who cannot otherwise afford them.
The
following is a partial list of opportunities we offer:
1.
Provide opportunities for individuals to join us in worship,
prayer and teaching from the Scriptures at appointed times
in our homes or theirs, or wherever the Lord leads us. This
also can occur through our website's virtual church in our
community chat rooms, as group counseling that is safe and
provides individual privacy. - Acts 2:42-47.
2. Respond to the needs of individuals who don't know the
truth about Jesus Christ, or the unconditional love of God,
or had it withheld from them by their abusers - many of
whom came to them in the name of God; through any
methods available to us like over the Internet, by email or
phone, personal visits or in-house care at our facility, to
provide Christian counseling and encouragement for hope
and healing from God. - Ezekiel 34:7-22; Matthew 10:7-14;
Luke 10:29-37; Acts 16:32-34.
3. Offer our services
of teaching, preaching, counseling, prayer,
care-giving and educational literature to assist anyone
publicly or
privately, who are seeking to help others toward a healing
relationship
with Jesus Christ. We also provide training and mentoring in
the areas
of Spiritual Warfare, Spiritual Healing, Use of Spiritual Gifts and
in Deliverance Ministries. - Acts 4:12; Ephesians 4:12-16.
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