Hungry Hearts Ministries: 2017

Mindless Christian Automatons & Pied Piper Shepherds

Jesus said a house divided cannot stand, and the enemy of our souls has launched some fantastically successful schemes to divide and bring down the "House of God."

He will not succeed in the bringing down part of course, but popular doctrines have become so divisive, and the thought police have become so fearsome, that it has become just about impossible for Christians to talk about anything with other professing Christians without adding numerous qualifying statements, so others will not tune us out and end the conversation before anything of significance is really said.

I used the term, "professing" Christians, because some may only be that. That is a personal matter with each individual, but salvation is always worth making sure of, and especially so if antagonism towards Bible Study is present.

Below are a few topics that Christians are sharply divided on

Salvation? Are you Reformed Calvinist or something else?
Creation? Are you old earth or young earth?
Marriage and Culture? Are you complementarian or egalitarian (feminist!)

These are hot topics. And I mean HOT.

Many Christians cannot discuss these topics (and many others) with those who do not see eye to eye with them, without resorting to name calling, libeling and labeling, and outright demeaning and condemning the other side to hell.

This is not right. Truth has nothing to fear from study or discussion.

To prevent productive conversations from taking place, leaders have become expert at programming trusting sheep to chant mantras and slogans that suspend critical thought and signal the end of any productive conversation. Disagreement and unity are compatible, except when mantras and slogans relay the message of, "Our minds are made up. If you disagree with me, you are unworthy of my attention or respect. Speak to the hand."

Ask yourself the questions, "Does my side demonize all who take a different position? Is my position defended with thought suspending mantras and slogans, terms that cannot be found in scripture, or fear that I may not be saved if I do not completely embrace a certain doctrine? If the answer is "Yes" to any of these questions, what would be the harm in taking Bible in hand, and at least exploring other theological positions.

Professing Christians, trusting sheep, are following Pied Piper shepherds en mass, and to an alarming degree, have become automatons, with little to no ability [or desire] to "search the scriptures and see if these things are so."

Christians never learned such mindlessness and herd mentality from God or the Bible. The Word of God instructs us to study to show ourselves approved, and to test all things. Even God himself, challenged his people to test him. That's in Malachi. If the majority of Christians were doing that, the Christian community, as a whole, would look and behave very differently than it does at present.

   This is not a gentle admonition, I know. My heart is vexed and grieved with what I see going on within the professing Body of Christ. it is time to open our Bibles daily and gain a working knowledge of the Bible for ourselves--rather than parroting what we hear our pastors say.
   It is time to fall to our knees and repent from exalting favorite teachers and pet doctrines above the Word of God and above the Spirit of God.
   God's House will not fall, but if we do not prayerfully seek the Lord and receive a love of the truth, our house might.

How Could God Steal His Own Identity?

The Bible says, “…Look not everyone to themselves [only] but each also [to] the others [and] Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who existing in the [physical] form of God deemed it not ill-gotten-gain to be equal with God.”

Paul wrote that All the fullness of the Godhead (every bit of it) dwelled in Jesus in physical form. One cannot steal what one already owns. One’s own identity, cannot be considered stolen property.

The Greek word, translated as “robbery,” in Colossians chapter two, is the noun harpagmos. A noun is a person, place, or “thing.” Curiously, though, in Philippians chapter two, translators consistently render, harpagmos, as a verb—an action word: e.g., something “to be grasped at” (action), or “robbery” (action) rather than the already existing thing (noun) that it is.

Jesus, rightly, does not consider his intrinsic equality and existence as himself [Yahweh] to be ill-gotten-gain [harpagmos, a noun], because there is no hierarchy within the Eternal Godhead.

Equality as God and with God is, and always has been, intrinsically his --John 1:1, Isaiah 9:6.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This is not something Jesus acquired at some point in his existence. It is simply who he is. Paul wrote that all the fullness (the absolute entirety) of the Godhead resides in Jesus in physical form.

Jesus is God, and God never changes. The Godhead never changes. At no time, did the WORD, Jesus, ever give up his eternal existence and identity as Yahweh, the I AM of the Burning Bush—not even when he entered the kosmos as a human.

Jocelyn Andersen is founder and Pastor of Hungry Hearts Ministries since 1992

She is author of several books, including the short but powerful booklet entitled, Jesus, God of the Burning Bush:Eternal Father & BelovedSon.

The Godhead

Hear O Israel, Yahweh our Elohiym is ONE Yahweh. [God our Gods is one God]. The Eternal Godhead is a composite unity—three in ONE, and all the fullness of the Godhead resides in Christ Jesus in physical form.

Only by disregarding scriptures like Colossians 2:9, Matthew 1:23, Acts 20:28 and 1 Timothy 3:16 [as in Received Texts and translations], which explicitly state that Jesus is Yahweh, The God of the Burning Bush, can conclusions of a hierarchical godhead be reached. Once The Godhead is declared hierarchical, it is no longer The Godhead but is transformed into a triad of three gods.
All religious cults [that associate themselves with Christianity] diminish Emmanuel--God With Us--by creating hierarchal triads in which the father reigns supreme, Jesus becomes a created being, and the Holy Spirit becomes an errand boy.

Neither the Hebrew text nor Received Text Greek scriptures teach hierarchy within the Eternal Godhead. The Received Text, Greek scriptures, are witnesses to the Hebrew texts where the prophets wrote of the Messiah, who would be Immanuel—God YHWH himself with us! ^{Isaiah 7:14, 8:8}.
Isaiah wrote that Messiah would not only be Immanuel (The God with us), but also that the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, would be the Everlasting Father (the Father of Eternity) and the Mighty God ^{Isaiah 9:6}--the God of the Burning Bush.

Jesus is not “a” god, nor is he subordinate to “the” God, because he is THE God. Jesus is Yahweh…THE GOD with us.

Jocelyn Andersen, is Founder and Pastor of Hungry Hearts Ministries, HungryHeartsMinistries.faith since 1992.

She is the author of several books, including the short but powerful booklet entitled, Jesus, God of the Burning Bush: Eternal Father & Beloved Son.

More info at JocelynAndersen.com and Follow her on Twitter

How Translator Supplements Support the Lie of Hierarchy within the Godhead

Most Christians know there are translator supplements in Bible translations.

The practice is often unavoidable and necessary. But do we understand the importance of learning how to identify these and how to study the Bible for ourselves in judging the relevance and accuracy of translator supplements?

This seems more daunting than it is. God promised that His Word would be available to every generation. That means that somewhere on earth, in every era, absolutely every generation has access to the Word of God, no matter what many have done to twist it, corrupt it, and keep it from them.

God's Word says that he watches over his Word to perform it, and that He will never allow it to be stolen from us.

The Bible is more widely available today and comes with more access to Hebrew and Greek study resources than at any other time in history. So, there is no excuse for biblical illiteracy...or for blindly following leaders, denominations, or organizations, without testing their teaching against the Written Word of God (both the original languages and the English), and holding them accountable for how they choose to influence the Body of Christ.

The entirety of the scriptures [the "volume of The Book"], focus on the gospel message of redemption (gospel is Old English for "Good News"). Virtually every book of the New Testament contains reference to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ--which Paul defined as the Good News [the gospel]. The biblical writers [who wrote about Messiah] maintained a steady focus on who he was--Immanuel—The God with us.

The online Bible commentary edited by this writer, The Hungry Hearts Bible Commentary, is also focused on who Jesus is. Translator supplements that are not substantiated by the Koine Greek, that do not align with context, or with the scriptures as a whole, are removed.

In Philippians 1:2, some translations read, “Grace be to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” But when the extraneous words, “from the” are removed, Paul’s greeting can be seen as a reference to the Godhead rather than hierarchy within the Godhead.

“Grace to you and peace from God [']our Father and Lord['] Jesus Christ”

These two little words "from the" appear to be added for no other purpose, than to portray a non-existent hierarchy within the Eternal Godhead.

Teaching of hierarchy within the Godhead, contradicts the overarching message of the scriptures which portray functional equality within the Godhead from the very first verse.

In the beginning ELOHIYM ALEPH א TAV ת (FIRST LAST) created the heavens and the earth

Even spaces between letters and words are translator supplements. The original Bible texts have no spaces.

How important are spaces? One example is the Hebrew letters ALEPH א and TAV ת, which are present in Genesis 1:1 as stand-alone words, but few beyond scholars know this. The two letters remain untranslated in virtually every Bible. And in lexicons, are printed without a space between them, causing them to appear as a two-letter word. Only they are not a word. Hence, they do get translated.

But these two letters should be included in translations/Lexicons and with a space between them--separated as two words--ALEPH א and TAV ת.

Why? Because it is the presence of the first and last letters of the Hebrew alephbet, contained as they are within the first verse of every Bible, that run in an unbroken line and come full circle in identifying Jesus [the Alpha and Omega of the Greek Apokalypsis--The Revelation], as Yahweh Elohiym of Genesis 1:1.

The scriptures say, that all the fullness of the Godhead dwells within Jesus in physical form. Jesus—the Word—Is God. Jesus is The Mighty God. Jesus is The Everlasting Father. All of these clear references to Jesus as THE GOD, refute the idea of hierarchy within the Godhead. In light of this, translator supplements that under-gird theology that teaches otherwise should be discarded.

The Hebrew "ELOHIYM ALEPH א TAV ת" of Genesis 1:1, is one and the same with the Greek ALPHA and OMEGA of Revelation 1:8. It is the ALEPH א TAV of Genesis who is the One Who Was and Is and Is Coming Again!

Jesus is YHWH, and no accurate translation of either the Hebrew or Greek scriptures says otherwise.

Author and speaker, Jocelyn Andersen, is an eclectic Christian writer. She is a Bible teacher who writes about many subjects including Bible prophecy and equality of the sexes. She is best known for her advocacy in domestic violence awareness. Her book, Woman Submit! Christians & Domestic Violence, has been a staple in the library of resources on that subject.

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More info at JocelynAndersen.com and Follow her on Twitter

How to Put on the Breastplate of Righteousness

All Christians are engaged in spiritual warfare, whether we like it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not. So, the question is not, should we engage in Spiritual warfare? Rather, the question is, will we be strong in the Lord or will we capitulate to the enemies of our souls and suffer defeat in our Christian walk?
Ephesians 6:14 says: Stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness…

   We always begin by strapping on the Truth.
   What is Truth?
   Jesus said God’s Word is Truth. Therefore, Truth is whatever God has to say about any given situation.

After we strap on Truth, the enemy of our souls will seek to overthrow Believers through lies about their worthiness. The Rulers of the Darkness of this World will lie, lie, lie to us by telling us that we are not worthy enough to expect answers to our prayers, that we are not good enough to apply the promises in God’s Word to our own lives.

The Breastplate of Righteousness, guards our hearts from the darkness and devastation of this lie with the knowledge that we are the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

We do not go about seeking to establish our own righteousness—which is impossible to do anyway and leads to cruel legalism anytime we try—but rather, we submit to the righteousness Jesus purchased on the cross and freely gives to all who come to him by faith in his death, burial, and resurrection from the dead.

   What is the TRUTH here? It is true that we are all unworthy.
   But we need not fear the fact that we are unworthy recipients of God’s love and favor, because He loves us in spite of our unworthiness. He proved it by providing a remedy for our unworthiness when he sent his son to die for our sins.
   The Bible says that while we were yet sinners, yet unbelievers, yet enemies of God, and alienated from the life of God, while the whole world lay in that sad condition, God made the first move!
   It is because of Jesus, that all who believe have been made worthy, and are now safely hidden in Christ.

This means when our Creator looks at us, he sees us through the redemptive work of the Cross, through the shed blood of his Risen Son. We have been made righteous by what Jesus did, not by anything we can ever do.
Will we sin after we are saved? Of course we will. That’s why it is important that we gain a working knowledge of the Bible, so that we can know what the expressed will of God is. And when we sin, which all do, even after we are born again, it is vital that we heed our God-given conscience and the conviction of the Holy Spirit to confess and forsake all known sin.
We have a great promise that when we confess known sin in our lives, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

That is powerful.
So, allow the Breastplate of Righteousness to guard our hearts. Accept the righteousness freely given to us by our risen savior. Put it on. Walk in it…and by faith, stand in it.