The Words of the Byrne Family
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The Words of the Byrne Family |
ACLC-Seattle hosted the first Pastors' Forum in the Northwest, welcoming ACLC Chairman Rev. Michael Jenkins, Bishop Jesse Edwards and Pastor Mark Abernathy as facilitators of a process of scripture reading, dialogue and deep inspiration. Forty-five pastors and people of faith gathered to hear new insights and an exposition of the principles by which God created and works in history.
Rev. Jenkins began by quoting Book of John 16:25: "These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father" and John 16:12: "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now, howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth comes he will guide you into all truth." saying that this is such a time for deeper Bible truths to be revealed.
Bishop Edwards emphasized that the Bible is full of mysteries that we haven't searched for yet. God wants to show them to us to liberate us so that we can do greater things as Jesus commissioned us to do.
However those truths and revelations can only be given to those who hunger, so we need to become as "new wineskins", ready to receive the "new wine" (Matt.9:17), ready to diligently study, inviting the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
There followed an exposition of certain principles that can be seen in God's creation such as male/female characteristics throughout the whole creation, give-and-take action and the 3-objective-purpose.
This led into a deeper study of the 3 great Blessings and the meaning and ramifications of the Fall of Man, which led to the history of sin and the need for the sinless Messiah to come as the Redeemer.
Using key Bible verses, Rev. Jenkins enabled all present to understand that our Creator had a plan, but due to shortsightedness and disobedience mankind failed to follow the primary path desired by God and instead established a history of rebellion against God. This led to the debasement of our original human nature through the act and process of the Fall. We came to see that God has attempted to remedy the situation throughout history but it has been difficult as God needs man's cooperation (through fulfilling "man's portion of responsibility"), as that is part of His Principle.
In the second part of the Forum, we proceeded with the study of salvation and restoration through the scripture.
As we know, Jesus had to be born sinless in order to save sinful humanity, but how was it possible? We looked deeply into Jesus' genealogy and found a pattern in the lives of 5 women listed in the lineage of Jesus that allowed Jesus to be born without Satan's accusation (sinless).
We looked again at the motivation of the Fall and discussed deeply the identity of the serpent and the sins of the angels (Jude 1:6-7). It was interesting to see why God created the power of love stronger than the power of the Principle / Law.
We ended the study by looking at the situation of Cain and Abel and their respective roles and responsibilities and the final victory of Jacob over Esau, as well as the principles that led to this victory. Loving God first establishes the Foundation of Faith (vertical condition) and then loving your neighbor (and even your enemy) establishes the Foundation of Substance (horizontal condition) and thus the Foundation to receive the Messiah.
There were many good examples on how to take care of your congregation by understanding the consequences of the Fall of Man and Jacob's secrets in winning over Esau's heart.
Pastors representing 12 different denominations posed very deep questions during the whole session and showed very sincere interest in the presented principles. We used mostly the King James Version of the Bible but also the New Living Bible, which is becoming more popular among the younger pastors.
Rev. Donald Ward's comment afterward was representative: "I would like to share this content in my church, and with other pastors as I introduce them to ACLC." We have received many positive reflections and comments with the desire to study further.
Pastor Clay from Zion Outreach Ministry shared, "I couldn't wait to share the new insights with other pastors. I received deeper insights into Jesus through the presentation on Hebrews 5:8".