The Purpose of this Course

Our primary goal is to bring a new focus on critical biblical principles that have been misunderstood, for the most part, over the past 2,000 years. Though there has always been a percentage of church leaders who taught them and lived by them, the vast majority of leaders did not.

Here is a list of the main points covered:

1. God’s Global Mission
2. Spiritual Birth
3. Spiritual Life in Christ—Following Jesus
4. Holy Sanctification (The Element of Victory)
5. Imitation Sanctification
6. Fulfilling The Great Commission
7. Jesus’ Church
8. The Family of God

“What to do”

Coordinating our Teaching Material with this Course

• We Recommend using the Healing Set Study book as your primary textbook, gradually reading it as you follow the flow of the Course Then read it through after you finish the course.
• Use the Healing Set Manual book as your secondary Then read it through after you finish the course.

• The unique layout in two books, especially Healing Set Study, was necessary to reveal the true story of the way Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and our Heavenly Father were involved daily as Peter C. was led by Jesus in a formal Study of how to fulfill the Great Commission.
• He first took single hand-written notes, then developed the habit of using notebooks. As time went on the Lord sent a succession of Christian professionals to help form an accurate journal.
• The Christian life is experienced daily. So, the layout reflects important principles that were presented to Pete and were reiterated over time through daily experiences. Following Jesus while owning the Element of Victory were the major keys to knowledge and victory!
• Most-important principles were repeated by the Holy Spirit’s teaching and Jesus’ leading many times, some were repeated over and over, day after day. This is all reflected in the layout of the two books.
• Fulfilling the Great Commission is a command by our Lord. As we serve God and people and multitudes of souls repent and become saved, they will learn to joyfully follow Jesus, our society will be blessed with our Father’s mighty hand of Love—and He will heal our land!

“If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves,
and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways,
then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin
and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV)

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise—without the prior written permission from the publisher, except brief quotations in reviews or articles.

Portions of the material in this Three-Week Course are permissible to be reproduced and are designated as: Printable

Please note: When you see words in bold in Bible passages in this Course, the bolding is emphasis added by PC Johnson.

Joining an Encouragement Team

Your Calling

Our Heavenly Father is calling you to follow Jesus and fulfill the Great Commission. Address your calling from your heart. Spend time with Jesus in His Place of Rest (Matthew 11:28) and ask Him to guide you to join a Team dedicated to helping each other get the most out of this Course.

Your Team can be made up of 3 to 300 people

• Many of us have a passion for reading and others don’t. So, if you are part of a team and have a mix of members you gain a diversity of comments.
• This stimulates group discussions and creates an environment in which it’s easier to learn, easier to retain the knowledge, and it’s easier to use this information and “put it to work.”
• Then your awareness of Holy Spirit power becomes elevated. Jesus will send you into the world to lead souls into their Spiritual Birth and they will enter the Kingdom of God! Learning as part of a Team is fun!
• Your heart-felt passion to please God is constantly reinforced by others.
• The value of belonging to a Team is irreplaceable—nothing compares to the advantages of like-minded Christians who want to carry out our Lord’s work.
• Members encourage each other to:

1. 1. Constantly advance in spiritual knowledge and learn to pray together, inspire each other, become equipped, and follow Jesus!
   2. Create opportunities in fellowships in homes that are connected to vibrant community churches and bring the Light and Peace of Jesus into every neighborhood.
   3. Learn how to recognize dark forces that are destructive.
   4. Uncover the Truth of our enemy’s greatest weapon, a false notion that he doesn’t exist. Learn how to rely on Jesus’ Light to drive away dark principalities and the evil acts of an unseen entity, Lucifer.

• Learn how to be a battle winner as we fight in this War for Souls!
• Learn how to Be Sent by Jesus and lead a seeking-from-their-heart sinner into his or her Spiritual Birth!

The Three-Week Course: Week One

God’s Global Mission, Spiritual Birth, Spiritual Life

Topic One: Start by Learning the full meaning of God’s Global Mission. Read the scripture carefully. Then discuss each principle.

God’s Global Mission

Many souls have been misled or have been given incomplete information about God’s Global Mission. It’s important to include all six verses when you refer to it. Here it is.

John 3:16-21: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name* of the only begotten Son of God. And this is condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes into the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (New King James Version)

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Psalm 111:10)

Spiritual Birth

Recommended Reading:
Healing Set Study Pages 6 through 12
Healing Set Manual Pages 9, 11-12 and 27

Other References:
Study Pages 1-6 and 7-10
Manual Pages 1-4, 7-9 

Your Spiritual Birth

The entire Bible tells a cohesive factual story of God’s love for each person He creates. It is assumed that each member of your Team has a basic understanding of the Fall of Mankind. Our calling is to follow Jesus as members of His workforce in the Redemption of Mankind.

We will be going back and forth through the scriptures to reveal how certain facts fit together. It’s important that you become familiar with each principle revealed in the specific scriptures shown. It’s all about the nature of one’s heart. The accompanying statements are often referenced to you but also refer to any soul who responds to the Holy Spirit’s urgings.

Topic Two: The Holy Spirit falls on you in a way we are unable to understand on this side of the grave. Acts 2:17-21 has been misunderstood by many. Let’s take a look at the Truth, the Word of God: “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams, yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and manifest day. And it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Revised Standard Version)

Topic Three:  Your time has come. Learning how to follow Jesus and fulfill the Great Commission begins in your heart. When you respond to the urgings of the Holy Spirit and receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you must have a holiness-seeking heart condition, a condition that trusts God to take care of you forever. This condition also includes a deep genuine feeling of repentance because you regret the nature of your sins.

You hear a testimony or a serious reference of truth about the content of John 3:16-21 from a born-again Christian, and it sounds right to you because your heart has compelled you to seek the Truth. Then, with a tiny bit of faith, the size of a mustard seed, you begin to believe that Jesus died on the Cross for you—you begin a supernatural journey into the loving hands of God.

Topic Four: Our heavenly Father constantly looks into the hearts of all mankind. When He sees your believing heart, He begins working and drawing you into more Truth.

He then shows Jesus where He is working and Jesus sends one or more of His disciples to give you their testimony of belief, explain the Power of the Cross, and invite you to accept His death on the Cross because you know that God loves you so much, He considers you worth dying for.

Our Savior suffered and died in atonement for you, the blood of Jesus paid for your sins. As you confess your sins with a repentant heart and you enter Jesus’ Rest (John 3:3-8) by the power of the Holy Spirit, you accept God’s sacrifice for you to love and receive Jesus as your Savior, and trust Him to be your Lord forever. We need to examine more Truth:

“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’ Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born anew. The wind blows where it wills, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know whence it comes or whither if goes; so it is with every one who is born of the Spirit.’ ” (Revised Standard Version)

Holy Sanctification

Recommended Reading:
Healing Set Study Pages 20, 61, 85, 119
Healing Set Manual Pages 27, 36, 62, 110

Other References (Holiness):
Study Pages 2, 29, 63, 80, 138, 163, 208
Manual Pages 5, 11, 53, 71, 91 through 93, 98 

Birthed into Life in Christ—Holy Sanctification

Topic Five: God’s drawing is having an effect on your heart and mind. You are strangely captured by God’s drawing of Love and you yearn to know Him.

Topic Six: You hear a testimony or a serious reference of truth about the content of John 3:16-21 from a born-again Christian, and it sounds right to you. Then, with a tiny bit of faith, the size of a mustard seed, you begin to believe that Jesus died on the Cross for you—read this often and right now. It is Almighty God’s Global Mission: Here’s the Truth, the Word of God, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes into the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (New King James Version)

Topic Seven: Your mind and spirit are prepared to become bold—and you will cast aside fears of what your peers will think and do what it takes to find the way to a real relationship with God. Your heart is compelling your spiritual senses to be heightened.

More about Holy Sanctification

Topic Eight: The sincerity of your intentions, your heartfelt desires, is the key to be reborn as a child of God, a true believer. At this critical point in time, being in a mindset of total surrender to God makes a difference in your future. If so, you will begin to focus on Jesus’ presence inside Holy Spirit power. You will then be compelled to tell the whole world about the Peace of Jesus and the reality of the supernatural spiritual journey you are experiencing. If you don’t have a yielded heart, religion can swallow you up and you can get stuck in “a world of almost” for a long time. Let’s make it clear: you either embrace God’s Righteousness or you reject God for who He is.

When you seek God with a desire to trust Him and adopt all His Righteous ways, you reveal your trust in Him as you confess you are a sinner and say the Sinner’s Prayer. It is then that Holy Sanctification is Birthed!

Saved by God’s Grace

Recommended Reading:
Healing Set Study Pages 1, 10, 17, 40, 43, 47, 52 through 54, 62, 67, 68, 78, 83, 84, 88, 95, 107, 113, 123, 127, 140, 144, 160, 162, 174, 191, 193
Healing Set Manual Pages 29, 32, 38.43, 50, 91 through 93, 106 through 108, 111, 114

God’s Grace

Topic Nine: God sacrificed His Son to be tortured and crucified for you. “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:1-2) This was your nature before you were saved by God’s Grace.  Then, by the mercy of God’s heart, you were saved by His Grace. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:1-10.)

Topic Ten: The foundation of The Sinner’s Prayer:

Jesus’ blood paid the price for your sins. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us.” (Ephesians 1:7-8) This is the Power of the Cross! Make no mistake about it, you are saved by God’s grace. If you seek God with a repentant heart, you can be forgiven and have eternal life. “Because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Take the path to holiness on earth and eternal life in Heaven. Our Lord is waiting for you to seek Him and confess He is Lord. Your Spiritual Life is “the Water of life, living Water, eternal life.” (Revelation 22:1 & John 4:7-26) Pray from your heart, you will receive your rescue. This will be your Spiritual Birth. God’s Kingdom will come into your heart. You will fall in love with God.

The Sinner’s Prayer—Your Birthing Experience

Topic Eleven: The Sinner’s Prayer:

The most challenging was to articulate the two-fold meaning of Matthew 11:28: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

The First meaning pertains to your heart being ready for your Spiritual Birth. The heavy burden in this case is the sin of the fall of mankind (see Romans Chapter 5). Your repentant heart shows our Father your surrendered will, your trust in Him. You are then empowered by the Holy Spirit to enter Jesus’ Rest and by His blood you are forgiven and you receive eternal life in Christ.

The Second meaning is the availability of a special privilege exclusively reserved for born again, Spiritually Birthed, souls who now live in Christ. It is a blessing of Jesus’ Peace inside His Rest. This experience of peace is of a different level than any other that exists—Matthew 11:28. It is so beautiful and life-changing—it is impossible to describe. In it you will be allowed to receive the treasures of Jesus’ mind and heart. The identifying name I originally used was: Jesus’ Portal of Rest. I now use a variety of terms: Jesus’ Rest, Jesus’ Portal of Rest, His Spiritual Rest, Jesus’ Place of Rest, and Jesus’ Intimate Rest. Once you have been blessed with Jesus’ Peace inside a spirit-soothing visit, in my opinion, you will gain a comfort in your mind and soul beyond anything you have ever experienced. If so, please come up with your own way of thinking about a name for it.

As time goes on, you will naturally rely on Jesus’ presence, inside His Rest, daily. You will learn to share all your joys and sorrows with Him. You will rely on Him for His counsel in all matters. In times of struggles you will learn to cast your fears onto Him. In times of victory, you will share your joy with Him. You will come into the realization that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus, is also present and loving each time you enter Jesus’ Rest. He will give you wisdom as you listen and pray. He will also help you prepare to enter our loving Heavenly Father’s Throne of Grace when you desire to seek His heart and praise Him.

Now that you are in Jesus’ care you are beginning your exciting adventure! This should compel you to spend more time with Jesus. You will be in for a series of blessings of love that are only available from Jesus’ loving guidance.

We need to look at a fuller description of Jesus’ Rest. Carefully read the words from your heart. Matthew 11:25-30 tells us: “At that time Jesus answered and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one whom the Son will reveal to Him. Come to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.’ ”

Never forget, we who receive Salvation through the genuine heart-surrendered New Spiritual Birth, are privileged to live an exclusive spiritual life. It is essential to our examination to focus on several points in our Lord’s words. So, what is hidden from the wise and prudent, and who are they? The Truth of the Bible (every principle and story is true) and that all its holy principles are hidden from people who reject the notion of adopting God’s Righteousness, His character—because they reject Him. What they are missing is the Kingdom of God and personal teaching by our Savior, teaching that also covers us inside the Holy Spirit’s loving care—and His teaching directly into our minds with wisdom of all of God’s ways. Let’s go over other details.

• Life in Christ brings us the Joy of His presence and care. The calming assurance that He is our King and He is leading us to victory and comfort and peace forever! This assurance places us in a constant knowledge of our future which keeps us in a steady countenance of Hope! Romans 15:13 tells us: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
• Jesus’ presence, our life inside His Rest inside His guidance, compels us to learn how to Trust God!
• Jesus teaches us how to Follow Him!
• Jesus teaches us how to see the Holy Spirit Power in our lives.
• Jesus teaches us how to Forgive! He is patient and kind as we “Live Out” Gods’ plan for our life. As we live and work in a lost world, we go through experiences that force us to learn how to adopt God’s nature of mercy and forgiveness. During particular times when someone has wronged us, if we don’t forgive, He will let us rely on our own counsel and suffer—until we learn to have mercy and forgive.
• After a while, Jesus teaches us to see the Miracles happening in our lives. Our life inside our Holy Sanctification is a true Miracle!
• Jesus said: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6)

Imitation Sanctification

Topic Thirteen: Imitation Sanctification is birthed when a soul has no intentions of adopting all of God’s ways, yet he or she will say the words of the Sinner’s Prayer. Then he or she goes through the outward motions and proclamations of following Christ—but their self-gratifying heart prevents them from receiving and living in Holy Spirit-birthed holiness. They are not privileged to see the Truth in the Words of the Holy Bible. They are not privileged to enter Jesus’ Rest. A passion to follow Jesus and become transformed and made holy, and a yearning to please God and seek His heart daily—is not in their plan for life on earth.

• We are led to believe that Jude was James’ brother and Jesus’ half-brother. He used strong words and vivid descriptions of souls who had entered the church with unholy intentions. (Read the Epistle of Jude.)
• Throughout Christian history there have been a variety of purposeful sins committed by those in control that have left a negative impression on Christianity. The stain they left on the reputation of the Christian church is evident and broad. Such anti-God’s-ways behavior continues to this day.

Imitation Sanctification Part Two

Topic Fourteen: Imitation Sanctification can happen in any church, any denomination, any college course, or any Christian organization—that is not aware of the attributes of heart-originated seeking of God’s heart that are required to obtain Holy Sanctification.

Through the centuries bizarre activities and ungodly trends have hurt the effectiveness of, and the reputation of, Jesus’ Church. The majority of the trials and troubles can be easily traced to Imitation Sanctification. Too many leaders did not seek God’s will from their hearts; and they did not understand how to hear Jesus’ voice and follow Him. We refer to this unfortunate state of operation as unintentional Imitation Sanctification.

• The book of Revelation is an important source of knowledge that explains how Jesus wants us to serve in a church that is sanctified and holy, with members who know how to follow Him. The Holy Spirit gives us details that applied to the early church and continue to be constantly flowing from Jesus—that apply to our church today. Study the first three chapters diligently and often.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 2:7)

Are You a Meeting Place with God?
Intentional Purpose of Loving God

Topic Fifteen: Is your life on a focused mission to seek and please God? If you responded to God’s drawing, went through a time of heart-motivated seeking, and were born again in your Spiritual Birth, you are now a Meeting Place with God. Do you wake each morning with thoughts of glorifying your Savior? If you own the Element of Victory this yearning will bring you into a place of peace. Your day will be accompanied by hope and a vision of victory. Ask Jesus about this state of purpose. In my opinion, it will bring a quality of life that is available to all people, if they only they would seek God’s will.

A long time ago, God’s people built and Altar, then they built a Temple; the Temple was a meeting place with God. Now we have been birthed into the Kingdom of God are blessed to live in Christ and enjoy Jesus’ Rest (Matthew 11:28). Remember, Jesus prayed for all believers—each one confessed their belief by giving their spoken word (confessing their heart-motivated belief that their sins were forgiven by His blood and He is now their Savior and Lord, read John 17: 20). He prayed that we all may be one, “as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.” Please take the time to read, take notes, and meditate on the following scriptures: 1 John 4:13-16, Romans 8:10, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, 2 Corinthians 13:5, Galatians 1:15-16, Ephesians 3:17, and Colossians 1:27.

One of the many reasons why I consider myself a Pentecostal is because I believe in miracles. Another is that when I read 1 Peter 2:9-10 I want to dance around the room, or the field, or the mountain trail!

The Element of Victory

Recommended Reading:
Healing Set Study Pages 15 through18, 68, 120, 132
Healing Set Manual Pages 1, 9, 11, 15, 19, 51, 57, 62, 72, 82, 93, 107, 112

Topic Sixteen: The Element of Victory

The following section is Printable by clicking here.

Healing our Society

Topic Seventeen: Healing our Society

Our Situation of Chaos in Society can Easily be Turned Around!

The enemy of your soul has deceived billions of people over the past 2,000 years. Satan, the Serpent, the Devil who is your enemy, is a liar and a thief who steals a souls’ curiosity about a loving relationship with God.

We must teach the principle of “Being given over.” When a soul rejects the Holy Spirit’s falling on them with a gentle urge to seek the Truth of God’s Mission, they are “given over” to their own counsel (read Romans 1:26-32 carefully).

• We are living in the final days and our hearts are drawn to love everyone and pray for lost souls who have been given over to their sin. These are multitudes of people who have been tricked into thinking they don’t need to believe God.
• They each will suffer the second death if we can’t reach them in ways that are convincing. Failure on their part to repent and confess Christ as Savior and Lord from their heart and be saved, will result in a horrible sequence of events of being judged at Jesus’ Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-14) and then they will be thrown into the lake of fire. The length of their punishment of horrible burning and being tormented will be forever!
• Let’s show all sinners that we were also in such a state until our hearts compelled us to seek the Truth. Now we live in Christ and are blessed with Holy Sanctification.

Listen! Jesus is telling all of us to spread the word; to tell everyone that in order to learn how to follow Jesus, you must seek Him from your heart. Then He will teach you Holy Sanctification and you can own the Element of Victory! The Truth will spread like wildfire and He will bring Peace and Love into our society and Heal our Land!

Week One: Review, Discussion, and Prayer

1. Talk about your new knowledge of the difference between Holy Sanctification which is the basis of the Element of Victory, and Imitation Sanctification.
2. Almighty God is Sovereign. God has Unrestricted Authority in His Supremacy, Absolute Authority over the Universe, and Absolute Authority over His Mission.

• The Fear of God begins with recognizing and believing in God’s Sovereignty. It’s important that you fully understand His Omniscience, His Omnipotence, His Omnipresence, that He is all-powerful and all-knowing, He is outside time, He created everything. God is Love.
• A most important point in the Healing Set is for you to learn how to know and love God. How much time do you spend each day in Jesus’ Rest?

3. Do you understand the misconceptions people have about Heaven and Hell? The Bible is Truth, there are no untruthful statements, principles, or stories in the Bible. In Heaven you will be in the Presence of God. In Hell souls will be eternally separated from God.
4. Here are other points of interest that many Christians need to know.

• Do you understand that before you read the Bible each day, it’s good to thank the Holy Spirit for teaching you?
• Do you understand that Spiritually Birthed souls will live forever in Paradise? (see Luke 23:43) There is no sickness or bad times in Heaven; but rather constant joy and comfort and peace and most important: the Love of God will bless you in an intimate relationship we are unable to comprehend on this side of the grave.
• Each person will be made fully whole in a new Spiritual Body. You will recognize loved ones who were in your life here on earth, were saved and went on before you. You will even recognize their voice and know them. Any physical or mental problems they had will be gone! Your exciting adventure of following Jesus here will be magnified! Thank you, Lord!
• Do you fully understand that souls who reject God will suffer eternal separation from God and be in a horrible state in a burning condition, to varying degrees, and be tormented forever? This is such a serious reality that it needs to be taught and comprehended fully by everyone.
• If you love someone, tell them about Jesus.

A most important question: Does each member of your Team agree that the Christian Church has gained a questionable reputation because too many leaders didn’t understand Sanctification?

Lost souls will suffer the second death if we can’t reach them in ways that are convincing. Failure on their part to repent and confess Christ as Savior and Lord from their heart and be saved, will result in a horrible sequence of events of being judged at Jesus’ Great White Throne (Revelation 20:11-14) and then they will be thrown into the Lake of Fire.

The length of their punishment of horrible burning and being tormented will be forever! (Lake of Fire: See Revelation 19:20, 20:10-15, 21:8—Hell: See Matthew 10:28, Mark 9:43, Luke 12:4-5—Everlasting Fire: See Matthew 25:41-43). They will be separated from God, this means: Darkness, God is Light—No Air, God is the Breath of Life—No Peace, Jesus is the Prince of Peace—No Comfort, the Holy Spirit is the great Comforter—No Love, God is Love.

The Three-Week Course: Week Two
Jesus’ Church

Part One—Identifying Problems of the Christian Church

Recommended Reading:
Healing Set Study Pages 75-78
Healing Set Manual Pages 47, 53, 86

Other References:
Study Page 160
Manual Page 77

“He will use us to Change the Image of His Church!”

The Christian Church has not consistently displayed the Love of God. We can easily change that. Let’s examine the problems first. Then we can change things from just bumping along to vibrant enormous Victories!

• We are now able to add to our knowledge of Holy Sanctification, our Element of Victory, and make necessary changes in church procedures. Imitation Sanctification has kept many churches from enjoying Jesus’ hands-on leadership because they were given over to their own counsel.
• Our first step is to identify the resulting two major problems that have hurt the image of and function of churches, and currently continue to plague the Christian Church.

1. Problem One is LOJ, Lack of Jesus. There are many reasons why church leaders have turned their backs on Jesus and have taken control—I believe they mostly stem from unintentional Imitation Sanctification.
2. Problem Two is that hurtful church experiences happen because the direction of the church has been wrong, so the activities of the church have often adopted worldly social habits. God’s Righteousness has not a number one priority, thus new converts have not been successfully added in an ongoing trend, and Christ has not been properly glorified!

Why Hurtful Church Experiences Happen

We need to uncover and accentuate reasons for mistakes that have caused hurtful experiences and have caused the impression that the Christian church is never going to get it right. This segment is paramount for following Jesus as He unites all Christians and sends us into the world to represent Him in the Father’s work, that all might believe. “He is head of the body, the church.” (Colossians 1:18) Each church belongs to Jesus!

Let’s start with the basics. Christianity is a Person. Christians follow that Person, Jesus Christ. God wants you to have a joyful active church that continually bears fruit. All the important resources in the world, Jesus’ guidance, Holy Spirit Power, God’s mighty hand of Love, and the living Word will bring you victory if you earnestly want to surrender to Him. Let’s look at common church situations that have caused hurtful experiences—and understand how to deal with them.

Number One: the harsh truth is that following Jesus as His dedicated disciple requires the humility of Holy Sanctification. During most of the, now, 45 years, Jesus sent me to work with pastors who were faltering or seeking help. About 6 of them each year, perhaps 250 in total over the years, rejected the offer. They refused to give up their plan of running their church. Out of that group, there was an obvious percentage who expressed anger at the very mention of receiving help. Sometimes you do the best you can to carefully explain that intimacy with Jesus is the answer, and yet, a person, or several people in church leadership, will conclude it’s not valid for them. Why? They don’t want to lose control.

Number Two: Jesus commands all of His disciples to fulfill the Great Commission. Too often, the elders of a church expect the minister, or lead pastor, to be leader of everything and carry out every type of ministry. Because only two to three percent of lead pastors have the gift of evangelism, a number of compound problems can arise.

One: he or she doesn’t see the need for evangelism to be a priority, gifted evangelists in the flock slowly become frustrated, and a lot of behind-the-scenes talk can grow sour.

Two: none of the people in the leadership feel that spreading the Gospel in neighborhoods is as important as their projects. When it comes time to delegate resources and committee assignments, Jesus-led outward-focused love in surrounding neighborhoods doesn’t make anyone’s list.

Three: money is dutifully raised to support far-away missions, zero is raised to support local missions of “helps and testimonies.” How do you correct all these problems? Form a prayer-support team for the pastor. Help him or her by recognizing that a lot of people need to “rise up” and take charge of many details of different ministries and give this pastor the encouragement and time to spend with Jesus. Our King will lead you to form platoons of Christian soldiers who are ready to go and love people in the area.

Number Three: Later in this book the attributes of healthy churches are listed, unhealthy churches have been hurting a lot of people. I have felt the sting of hurts while hearing about hurtful experiences in hundreds of personal interviews—these upset people repeated the same type of frustration and sorrow, in tears, over and over, which compels me to point out another most-common destructive leadership fault. Because a leader refuses to spend valuable and necessary time with Jesus each day, he or she doesn’t understand the value of His voice. During a constant flow of talks with Christians who have tried repeatedly to find a home church that doesn’t spawn hurtful experiences, it was usually revealed that leadership’s teaching of the importance of a passion to seek God’s heart was absent. Do you remember this statement that appeared earlier in this book? (Healing Set Study page 21) “Above all, saved souls can’t keep quiet about their changed lives. They are compelled to tell of what they have seen and heard! Their heart condition won’t let them be still about their burgeoning love for God and people.” Christians are all imbued with a desire to please God. It’s one of the primary jobs of a pastor to stress the nurturing and resulting growth and positive actions of a desire to please God by telling people of His mercy and love. If this teaching, and followed urgings, is lacking, hurtful experiences take its place. Jesus’ reputation is stained.

Number Four: even if a lead pastor is doing a lot of things right, if First Hour Prayer (or a time of prayer) in each home is not taught, the depth of needed spiritual strength in your flock is absent. Teaching daily prayer in every home is critical. Teaching how and why to form and maintain a little church in every home that is connected to other individuals and families and connected to the main church body, is critical. Individuals and families who don’t learn these values usually sense something is lacking in their church, but just can’t put their finger on exactly what it is. Jesus’ presence in the countenance and mindset of souls who face the world each day is critical. The absence of His presence lays open an avenue for the enemy to sway decision making. This fact alone, surprisingly, will usually cause distrust in church leadership in many unnoticed ways. Something was missing.

Number Five: teams that work diligently to provide and monitor venues need to be active and rotating in every church. The twenty-eighty rule needs to be broken. If leadership properly addresses the role of committees filled with souls who realize people need seasons of work and rest, and everyone in the church gets exposed to opportunities, projects that they are called to join by God, you will be on your way to the most fun in town: a Smiling Church. Jesus will inspire, delegate, guide, and send—the lost and least will be “helped” and will see God’s love for the first time in their lives, and many will respond (they are “That one”) and be saved. If you don’t have such venues, woe to you. My friend Mark, a seasoned pastor, attaches a warning to this developing work—here it is: your church body is a spiritual family, hurtful experiences creep in when you let your guard down and your body slips into being an organizational family. Your spiritual family will naturally adopt each one’s gifting and welcome organized spiritually led venues. Then Jesus will lead you to go and love.

Number Six: almost all members of a flock are interested in unifying with people in other churches. They hear it in their meditation and hear it from each other. Leadership is missing the point if reaching out to join other local churches in projects isn’t an ongoing habit.

Number Seven: too many leaders lack the understanding that the teaching of God’s character is critical. Apostasy can easily slip into your church if you don’t do so. Teach the Righteousness of God. Teach God’s ways in cycles and all souls in a flock will benefit, especially the flood of new converts who are attending. There are hundreds of verses in the Bible that show us His ways. When a pastor or church elder teaches inside the will of God “in Christ,” they know that God is Love. We are sanctified and are becoming Christ-like; we are becoming His outward-focused Love. So, we embrace God’s character—all of it! We love God and we do everything we can to adopt His character and display it in our speech and actions—all of it! God loves sinners so much He gave all to save them. You were one. You were a sinner! Yet He loved you so much He sent His only Son to be tortured and die for you because He felt you are worth dying for. Jesus will send you to go and love sinners regardless of the sins they have committed. You must learn to walk in God’s ways and imitate His character from your heart of love and respect for Him, without compromise. You will be sent by Jesus to love and help and testify to sinners, without compromise (this teaching is a must).

Week Two, Part One: Review, Discussion, and Prayer

1. Through the years the Lord sent Peter C. to many churches including ones in 10 Denominations and several Independent Church bodies. The problems in this section were identified and prayed about over and over. Discuss the ones you have seen and realize that we need to expose all of them, so they will cease.
2. It is our hope and our prayer that Christians will keep coming back to this teaching and earmark sections in the two books—and become alert to each problem. Every church needs ongoing participation in Team activities of ministries of Helps and Testimonies that are based from their church and homes. Correcting the problems listed and making sure they don’t happen repeatedly should be on everyone’s mind, and in everyone’s prayers.
3. Sanctification, owning the Element of Victory will place you in an intimate relationship with God that grows and grows. It takes a while to realize He is your Shield and your exceedingly great Reward—ask the Holy Spirit to show you. Pray for wisdom.

Week Two Part Two—Correcting Problems of the Church

Recommended Reading:
Healing Set Study Pages 115-121
Healing Set Manual Pages 46-51

Other References:
Study Page 131
Manual Pages 60-64, 99

Your Joyful Healthy Church

Let’s go over the primary teachings and functions of a healthy church. Though there have been fragments of such attributes in most churches in our land, few, in my opinion, have approached the resemblance of having all of them. Church attendance has been in continual decline; years of problems have turned people off. For the most part, a lot of good people didn’t know they were serving in a church, which they believed was moving forward in God’s will, but in actuality, was acting out trends that were causing a massive drop in church attendance.

Healthy churches: 1. Teach an in-depth understanding of the Spiritual Birth described by Jesus in John 3:3-8 that declares you must be born again to see the Kingdom of God. If Christians explained “life in Christ” (Spiritual Life) properly—to anyone seeking knowledge of God with his or her heart—you would see a flood of new converts in society. I can’t imagine why any rational person wouldn’t want the most valuable thing that exists on earth, the overwhelming peace of Jesus’ presence. Inside His Spiritual Rest, you can develop an intimate loving relationship with Almighty God that taps a vein of “absolute Love” (life in Christ). Inside His Rest, the other godly principle you will see is our Father’s “Righteousness.” Over time, the Holy Spirit will surface elements of your soul, which need to coincide with God’s righteousness, His holiness. As each is exposed, you will see “Truth,” the purity of Jesus. Choose to follow Jesus “inside” each element and your soul will be blessed with a closer walk with God. Each step forward will be nurtured by your Savior as He increases your “trust” in God. You will also see why Jesus teaches us the Lord’s Prayer.

Healthy churches: 2. Teach the importance of First Hour prayer—a healthy, Bible-reading, joyful church in each household. Cherished memories will sustain for a lifetime. Don’t let any member of your church miss this opportunity to bring Jesus’ love inside every heart every day. All this leads to learning that you must be identified as a person who imitates Jesus and you don’t hold grudges, you forgive.

Healthy churches: 3. Teach the Element of Victory. A searing passion to seek the Father’s heart (1 Samuel 13:14 & Acts 13:22) and “live out” His will, in Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6-7). This is abundant life on earth! Through your inability to keep quiet about your new life, others will see and hear your faith and will become interested in obtaining a personal relationship with God; they will be attracted to the Power of the Cross (Acts 4:20).

Healthy churches: 4. Teach the Power of the Cross. ☼Jesus’ blood paid the price for your sins. “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished upon us.” (Ephesians 1:7-8) This is the Power of the Cross. Once you experience Jesus’ Rest, in the location in Christ where you need to keep coming back to each time you stray, you will see the Way, the Truth, and the Life in our resurrected Savior (in the Power of the Cross, attained by the precious blood of our Beloved).

Healthy churches: 5. Teach the importance of spending time with Jesus and explain the vital need to learn to hear His voice and be blessed with His peace in Jesus’ Rest (Matthew 11:28). Each Christian will then be sent and become a powerful voice in the world echoing His love and kindness. He will bring about an integrated-ministry church body, which throws beams of His Light for all to see. Teach that victory comes when you follow our Lord’s commands: Love God, love fellow Christians, love the lost and the least, fulfill the Great Commission (make disciples). Also, you must stress the value of humility. Enjoy reading 1 Peter 5:5, “…be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (NKJV)

Healthy churches: 6. Teach Spiritual Warfare. I capitalize the name of the important war we fight: the “War for Souls.” God sacrificed all and gave His Son to be killed hanging on a Cross, naked and humiliated. His blood was shed in atonement for the sins of people, so that all who believe in Him might be forgiven, receive salvation, and live, in heaven, in Christ, forever. All one has to do to receive his or her salvation is come to Jesus with the tiniest of faith the size of a mustard seed, and desire from his or her heart that Jesus would become their Savior and Lord of their life. Rise up and be a victor! Learn how to recognize and enter each spiritual battle, and don’t be afraid to tell your story. There are exact descriptions of how to fight and win and lead people to Jesus in this Healing Set. Satan and his hosts of darkness bring evil into unsuspecting souls’ minds, the battlefield. This against-God-and-His-ways influence can creep into every phase of our lives if we don’t fight, in Christ. Teach the Ten Commandments.

Healthy churches: 7. Establish ongoing works of “Helps and Testimonies” that minister to the least and the lost. Think of going outside your church walls and helping people—ministering on the street—even if it happens in a hospital, a nursing home, a jail or prison, an apartment, in a park, through an outreach, through a working organization that might feed, or clothe, or visit hurting people anywhere. Shhhh… here’s one of the biggest secrets that has been mostly hidden for 2,000 years: there is no activity, no movie, no book, no experience more personally rewarding or lasting or more satisfying than ministering to Jesus (see Matthew 25:31-46). Humility is enriching. Our quest for intimacy with God nurtures holiness and servanthood.

Don’t forget to Form Teams in your active body of God’s Love. Sharing thoughts and encouraging participation makes everything easier and overcomes challenges in segments of satisfaction. Belonging to an Encouragement Team brings a united, unique joyful spirit into members hearts of love! Encouragement Teams are a necessary part of making things happen. They are versatile and can be instituted to plan and move forward in any project or ongoing work. Pray, plan, scheme, invite everyone’s ideas—have fun! A team can be formed for short-term or long-term projects, formed to accomplish one specific event, or can be formed to link two or more churches into one powerful workforce. It can have three members or 300 members. With Jesus at the helm, you will be victorious!

We (who serve in fruitful churches) love God, love mankind, and make disciples. We live in Christ, abide in Christ, and rely on Him to guide our lives and our work. Our mindset and words express our passion to exalt God. We move forward in each activity as one, as Jesus lived out the Word of God. This church is involved in heart-felt reciprocating love to God, a passion to exalt Him by showing the world what the Kingdom of God looks and sounds like. Each member shares a purpose-driven quest for outward-focused love. They serve God, serve mankind, and sacrifice until it brings joy. Members in this joyful, peaceful-but-shining church “live out” God’s Word, as their love flows out of the building and onto the streets of the city.

A World Filled with Laughter and Love

We must teach teens how to transition into Christian adulthood: by spending time with Jesus each day, by learning to walk in God’s Righteousness, by learning the value of servanthood, by learning how to form Encouragement Teams, by learning the value of humility, and by understanding that you must follow your Savior’s example and learn to forgive; then you will be blessed with power in your life and you will Trust God. Because the enemy has thrown so much confusion about justifying sins of disorder and sexuality into society, here are some biblical references of moral direction: (the blessed marriage bed) Hebrews 13:1-5, (behavioral and sexual sins) 1 Corinthians 6:7-11 and Colossians 3:1-5.

If the hearts of church people possess the ability to follow Jesus and trust Him, problems and obstacles will change into challenges. Each spiritual battle belongs to the Lord. We are the Bride of Christ. It’s His church. If you follow and obey His Commands, your church will flourish! Then your entire church body will show God reciprocating love. Over the past four decades, we have been blessed with a constant flow of project leaders at the Help Center. Some came for one event, many came for a specific two- or three-week project, but they all came because Jesus sent them. Each one of them encouraged us and gave us a feeling of belonging to a loving family, knit together in mind and spirit by God’s love. Roll up your sleeves and be joyful!

Week Two, Part Two: Review, Discussion, and Prayer

1. All of this seems overwhelming at first, but it’s easier than you think to make changes and enjoy a Healthy Church. When problems are solved with godly solutions and Jesus is in charge, changes flow like a river.
2. When a church body has Jesus in charge, new ministries crop up continually as new converts discover their calling and their Spiritual gifts stimulate a new group of interested people who are excited to serve.
3. Church activities suddenly drift into homes in neighborhoods and become a magnet to souls who had no idea how much fun this is.
4. Pray that you can communicate how easy this is to doubting leaders who haven’t taken this course.

The Three-Week Course: Week Three
The Family Of God

Part One—God’s Family in Individual Homes

Recommended Reading:
Healing Set Study Pages v, 5, 15, 22, 24, 26, 66, 68, 76, 78, 93, 115, 117, 138, 154, 187
Healing Set Manual Pages 1, 16, 45, 46, 48 through 51, 60, 77, 83, 86, 100, 108, 109, 113

Jesus and your Joyful Family

From Peter C.

Biblical Values and Jesus’ Presence in a Healthy Marriage

With Your Spouse

Let your Savior become centered in your marriage. He will guide you, together, into a close relationship with the Father, and offer His healing peace and joy. You will be compelled to speak of your faith and of the supernatural events you have seen. As you do so, He will lead the two of you in an adventure. When a husband and wife share the desire to love God and tell of His grace, they will be blessed in ways you cannot imagine.

There would be an enormous void in these pages if I didn’t give gratitude to the Lord for Evelyn’s help, her prayers, her encouragement, and her patience. I seriously doubt that these books and this Teaching Center would exist without her help. We have learned to pray constantly together, to plan constantly together, to assess problems shoulder to shoulder, and to love God and mankind… together. Take notice, you will see many couples who obviously live as one in Christ.

Step Children, Step Parents

There are many books on blending two families. Some of them are very helpful. Evelyn and I have experience in this area. It is important to us to let you know that you absolutely must share the mindset of loving each child equally.

Though a child might have a biological parent who is now not present because of divorce, don’t let that influence your love. You can no longer love your own kids more than your step kids. You must let each child know this as the two of you carefully explain it and live it. They have to understand this as a solid fact; leave nothing for their imagination to grab and run with. Your natural kids aren’t losing one tiny bit of your love in any way, but are gaining love from a new parent. They also have a new sibling (or siblings) to love and to travel with through life.

Each kid must feel loved beyond a shadow of doubt, feel accepted and adored, feel a rightful ownership as part of your family, feel that they are treated equally, feel secure, and feel this from both of you. Only God’s supernatural presence and Holy Spirit power can bring this into being. It is a corporate decision from both of you who are now joined together as one flesh. You must make it your top priority. Got it?

Address the future (with your spouse) shoulder to shoulder. Get a pad and a pen two or three times a week. Work at creating an environment of calm, peace, love, reverence, humility, and transparency in your family. Focus on categories: kids, special time together, money, church, family vacations, ministry, First Hour, and so on. Pray, think, scheme in righteous ways, share your life in Christ… together.

A family which is dedicated to sharing its faith is a blessing to the Lord. May you teach your children to be vessels of love. This is spiritual positivity. Teach personal responsibility too; this is a solid, godly trait.

There is a lot of pressure on all parents, not only lead spiritually, but to make money. Each day presents new spiritual battles and challenges. Meet each challenge with courage and humbly seek God’s help. If you could actually see what’s going on in the spirit world, you would be amazed at the power on your side.

The little Church in your Home

One of the primary teachings in all community churches should be directed to teaching the congregation that they must have a little church in their home. This goes for a single person living alone or with family or friends—it is also a must for married couples with and without children.

We have Learned how to Laugh

Our Precious Lord is in our midst and we have learned to trust Him. We lift everything to Him and know that whatever it is, His solution will be better than we can imagine. Though there are serious times of hardships and tragedies, overall, prayer and healthy routines, which include hugs, are a winning way to go. Remember, don’t take yourself too seriously, none of us are perfect.

Learn to recognize each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Then take advantage of the strengths and do everything as a team. This creates laughter. God is good.

First Hour Prayer

Recommended Reading:
Healing Set Study Pages 45, 46, 47, 71-74
Healing Set Manual Pages 1, 7, 16, 40, 48 through 52, 60, 63, 67

First Hour Prayer

From Peter C.

Family Prayer—Your Church at Home

Each morning after your special time alone with the Lord, join hands with your loved ones. Pray that the Lord will show you the unity that is possible in your family and your church family (both in your own community and globally). Will you pray and ask Him to overwhelm you with His shared vision of love? Are you ready to dedicate a few minutes to family prayer during the first hour of each and every day?

One of the most important ways to love your children and set a godly example is to regularly humble yourselves as a family before Almighty God in prayer. Put that ever-present smile on your face, hug them, teach them to pray, and pray with them during the first hour they are awake. When they leave your home for school or any other activity, they will carry your smile, your hug, and a prayer inside their hearts.

Praying with and for your family is righteous and holy. Praying together as a family keeps life centered solidly on God; it helps your children to feel more secure. Jesus needs to be at the helm. We all have the ability to go the extra mile and humbly show our love for God; this will expose the strength our loving Father bestows on you as parents.

Take your stand and serve as a family unit. Develop a unique family ministry. Consider becoming a host home for a small group, perhaps one that meets every other week for two months each year. Work with an outward-focused-love ministry in a church of which you are connected. One day, you and your children will realize that working in partnership with God bears fruit. Let that day be a blessing—you have arrived into a new way of looking at life on planet earth. Your children will grow up understanding how to love God. As you teach them, it is best to be consistently joyful and patient. Show them by example and they will learn a lot more.

Christ-led love can overcome the stresses and awkward moments of daily life. Christ-led love constantly encourages with hands-on examples, hugs, teaching, and words of kindness. Christ-led love starts and continues with holding hands and praying together each night and each morning. If you go to bed a half hour earlier and make time to spend a few minutes in morning prayer, you will be blessed. All members of your family will be better prepared to go through each day if you pray together during the first hour you are awake.

It’s important to address the many families where a single mother (or father) is head of the household. I was a single working parent for quite a while, and I understand much of the scope of the struggles involved. As well, after being in hundreds of small-group and prayer meetings in which one or more single mothers attended, special time was always spent listening and praying for every need. We were keenly aware of follow-up and examined when to gather a dedicated smaller team to be a reliable continuing resource of help. We care, we are on a mission to learn who and where help is needed—every Christian and every church body should become sensitive to families with a single parent—ask the Lord to lead you to “that one” who could use some help and prayer.

I believe God has appointed the father of each family to lead the family spiritually. It is his job to lead the family to church, to help the family be holy, and to organize and lead in prayer. In families without a father or when dad is away, that role falls to the mother. Many Christians believe in co-leadership. If you work out such a plan, I’m sure the Lord will bless you. As time goes on, children will gradually learn to pray out loud. A personal note to the leader of the family: whether your family is made up of a mother and child, a father and child, a family of three, or a father and mother and ten children, the most important character traits in Christian leaders are humility and commitment to purpose. Humble yourself before God and lead your family to His righteousness. The best family leader has a constant, pleasant smile. The family leader’s smile brings security as the righteousness of God is projected like rays from the sun (Son).

Morning prayer is unique because it will carry each family member spiritually for hours to come. The prayers sustain and Jesus walks with you as He helps guide positive prayer and thought. When you get back together in the evening and prepare to pray, you will be bonded in spirit, hearts will become united, and the family will grow closer. Don’t forget to form a family habit of hugging. It will make a marked difference over the years. Great leaders have the insight to take people somewhere. Lead your family to cherish God’s grace, His love, His Majesty, His will, His heart, and His plans.

God will heal our land when Christian men respond to His call and become known for their hearts of Christ-like love for people. In each nation, men must become humble and serve the God of Jacob. They must be seen visibly and vocally working as a positive force guided by Jesus Christ. They must take a stand for His values and commit to lead their families in daily prayer, to become church members, and to fulfill the Great Commission. Every man should study and meditate on Ephesians 5:23-32 often, “…that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word…” Each husband is responsible for ministering to his wife (and family) by leading spiritually.

One More Time

All churches should have continuing cycles of teaching why each family and each single member of the congregation should have a little church in their home. Focus on teaching the value of First Hour Prayer (and evening prayer). Then go over the benefits of developing a unique family, or an individual who joins with friends, ministry.

Week Three, Part One: Review, Discussion, and Prayer

1. The key to a healthy marriage is surrendering it all to Jesus while you enjoy a healthy little church in your home. Are you now part of a Team that is dedicated to Study, Discuss, and Pray? If so, are you in the process of telling all your Christian friends that the door is open to learn how to put joy in marriages? Make a list, pray for all the married people you know who are friends.
2. It takes courage to take a stand for forming a little church in your home. Remember, give it to Jesus and He will guide you. Read Joshua 1:9. Don’t forget to ask the Holy Spirit for wisdom and for help so you pray inside God’s will.
3. The statements from Peter C. come from experience. Obviously, he and Evelyn had each been married before. This time is different because Jesus is involved daily.
4. When both parents know God and are saved and sanctified and walk in holiness, they live in the presence of healing power. They need to realize that glorifying God with their marriage is a top priority. When you do so, He will bless you and become your Shield and your Great Reward. It’s too bad that some Bible translations don’t properly state one of the most important principles which is found in Genesis 15:1. Here’s the correct translation and is from the New King James Bible Version (NKJV): “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”
5. When both parents live in Christ, Almighty God is on their side. This scripture and its meaning, applies to them and provides them with blessed assurance that His mighty hand is involved in solving their problems: “You must not fear them, for the Lord your God Himself fights for you.” (Deuteronomy 3:22)

The Three-Week Course: Week Three

Part Two—God’s Family in your Church, in all Churches

Recommended Reading:
Healing Set Study Pages 21, 24, 26, 29 through 31, 49, 64, 65 through 68, 71, 77, 91, 97, 106, 110, 115 through 123, 132, 149, 155, 160, 161, 166, 167, 172 through 176
Healing Set Manual Pages 11, 45, 54, 60, 61, 82 through 84, 86, 92 through 99, 102, 105, 113

Your Church Family

When Christians follow Jesus and seek to exalt God from their hearts, a yearning to gather for daily prayer in a type of simple home church develops. Church leaders should be hungry to teach the Element of Victory and teach First Hour Prayer—the composite best way to encourage their congregation to nurture a healthy church at home, thus the entire church body will become stronger in faith, unity, and duty. Such teachings must center around the individual’s or family leader’s ability to be humble in the sight of God—humility is the key to victory in God’s leaders’ battles. Surrendered hearts are blessed by His power! Then a blanket of God’s love will begin to glow in a neighborhood, echoes of Acts 4:20 will become evident. You will be surprised at the numbers of souls who are added day by day.

All it will take to shine Jesus’ Light and change the countenance of our cities is: forming Encouragement-Teams in each church that are connected to Encouragement-Teams in several other city churches. These like-minded community church groups can be used by our Lord to change our civilization—to adopt the peace of Jesus. Our country will rapidly notice geographical pockets of healing as His mighty hand causes His righteousness, His forgiveness, His peace, His love, His mercy, and His kindness to flow through His people (Acts 4:29).

We must be non-judgmental about a soul’s personality when we show our love for mankind. All sinners need to be exposed to our faith (Matthew 13:24-43). At the same time, we are never to compromise our Lord’s ways, and we must be able to state them clearly: we embrace and walk in God’s righteousness; the Word is the Sword of the Spirit—which we obediently follow. Be intelligent in your work, and guard your heart. Pray for reverence and righteousness to come into your community by His mighty right hand.

God will curb the confusion and distress in each city if we learn to pray and speak with one voice. Yes, He will! Churches will grow and grow! You are going to be captured in amazement by some of the people who will one day stand in your church, confess their faith, and be baptized.

Concept: God’s Values inside hearts of one accord.

All Christians need to belong to a church family—this is a must. If you have had a bad experience with a church, Jesus will lead you to another if you ask. The church building is the base camp where worship, planning, fellowship, and teaching happens. The Kingdom of God is inside the hearts of the congregation. Each home should be a complementary base camp, a vibrant small church filled with prayer, daily reading of God’s Word, and worship. As God heals our land and churches grow, we won’t require building committees as much as we’ll need to establish satellite base camps in homes. Satellite bases extend from the church into small groups that meet in selected homes, which grow the congregation by multiplication. More and more of church activities need to come out of these in-home, neighborhood, centers of outreach. Eventually, in some cases, planning and strategic operations can be done in these satellite bases as coordinated by central leadership in a denominational, or multi-denominational, regional ministry dedicated to neighborhood outreach.

Each individual family home base camp is renewed the First Hour each day. Again, I believe the husband should be the spiritual leader, the shepherd in training of the family. The man, or the man and wife team (if co-leadership is your theology), administrates this little family service in Bible reading, worship, and prayer. By loving your family as Christ loves the church, by learning to hear Jesus’ guiding voice, by asking the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of the Word in daily reading, by each home leader having a close friend who is a prayer/accountability partner, by leading your family to belong to and enjoy an established church family, and by gaining counsel from godly souls, you will glorify the One God sent. His authority and guidance will bring joy that is not comparable; you won’t be able to stop talking about it!

One major reason that families fall apart is that they lack spiritual leadership. If the man isn’t leading the family, or if there isn’t co-leadership in a united in-Christ family ministry, the door is open for evil spirits to subtly come in and influence daily life.

Church bodies are unable to rise to God’s calling and carry out His plans when leaders don’t yield to Jesus’ authority. Inward-focused love quietly spawns suspicion and/or error, which decays cohesion because self-directed motives for church functions will not bear righteous fruit. If a church is faltering and not growing and not bringing Jesus’ Light into the community, you will not find a united mindset to follow Jesus in the leadership of the church. Growing darkness in a community can be traced to a lack of time dedicated to Jesus by church leaders. Jesus led me into serious research on this subject, over and over for over four decades (and in reflections of experiences over almost three decades before the formal study).

There has always been a victorious element woven through society as the Great Commission has been fulfilled, however large or small. Let’s get together to talk and pray, and see that this positive side of Christianity, Christ-led Christianity, is awakened and prevails in our civilization.

Psalm 11:4-7 is very exciting! One day we will behold God’s face!

“The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids test, the children of men. The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and his soul hates him that loves violence. On the wicked he will rain coals of fire and brimstone; a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous, he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.” (Psalm 11:4-7)

The Word of God is written in a Two-layer language system.

The First layer is an obvious translation of a human language such as Greek or English or Italian or French or German or Japanese or a Chinese dialect or Spanish, and so on. The words are understandable in the particular language, but in this primary layer, if a soul isn’t living in a state of Holy Sanctification, they won’t understand the Spiritual content and they won’t understand God’s holy principles or the stories that reveal His story of love.

The Second layer is of a Spiritual nature. You are not allowed to see it unless you have entered Jesus’ Portal of Rest and have experienced the Spiritual Birth and are eternally saved from the wrath of God and you are enjoying Spiritual Life in Christ (read Luke 10:21, 1 Corinthians 1:18-30). Then you are granted permission and the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth of the Bible. This is the key to learning the hidden, or mysterious, spiritual language that, thank God, no scientist or human intellectual researcher is allowed to discover or even realize any measurement or quantitative formula to find out that it exists.

In order to experience the new birth, a heart condition that is contained inside God’s mystery, He must look inside your heart and see a repentant-surrendered-believing condition. You must believe in your heart that Jesus shed His blood on the Cross in atonement for your sins, and you must believe in your heart that you want to turn from your sins and receive Him as Savior and Lord. Then you can see the truth of John 3:3-8 and Matthew 11:28. You will also see the truth in every story and principle in the whole Bible! Then you will embrace His value of the Family of God.

Many of our early readers also asked us to make a Printable version of the power available to you and your church when you and your fellow disciples are fully Sanctified and each person owns the Element of Victory! Your church can become a Smiling Church!

Take a look at the Printable version by clicking here. You may want to make copies and share this with your friends.

Did you know that a Smiling Church attracts the lost like no other? Smiling Churches are filled to the brim with Jesus’ joy. That’s why everyone is compelled to smile. May it please the Lord for you to understand the blessed ingredients to individual and group joy, life in Christ in purity of worship. Here’s how to be filled with inner joy and how your church can develop into a “Smiling Church.” Have the courage and steadfast committed heart to do the following:

• Observe the “Sundown Rule.” Each evening when the day is done, forgive everyone for everything.
• If you currently don’t hear Jesus’ voice each morning when you awake, read John 14:15 before you go to bed. Meditate on the first few words, “If you love Me…”
• Always keep Jesus’ commands in mind. He commands us to love God, love mankind, and to make disciples.
• When you awake each day into a new dawn, be aware that the One who gives you breath and a beating heart and the electrical signals in your brain is the One who wants you to obey Him and walk in His joy.
• As you lay there in bed each morning, enjoy His surrounding presence, take a couple of slow deep breaths, feel your heartbeat, and listen. Do you hear His gentle voice? “If you love Me…”
• As time goes on His voice will become familiar if you surrender all to Him and learn to love Him. How do you love Him? Obey His commands, lift your heart to Him all day as often as possible, read the Word each day, seek the Father’s heart in Jesus’ name, imitate Him and walk this earth as a merciful, loving, kind person.
• True joy comes from learning how to love your Savior, and knowing your identity is in Him, your heart’s desire to please the Father floods you with His joy. Even when you are having a bad day, you can stop and rest in Him.
• A Smiling Church is nurtured by Him when many in the body love Him from their hearts. When most of the people in your body understand “If you love Me…” and live it out, joy will fill your congregation. Such an occasion becomes wonderfully overwhelming, you can feel it, you can “taste” the experience of life in Christ, you can know the Father is blessing you with His mighty hand. Your service ends—joy walks out of the building in hearts filled to the brim with love for Jesus. You won’t be able to keep quiet about what you have seen and have known and have felt and have heard.

Solving the Mystery of the Smiling Church

A few years after I was saved my home church was blessed with a new pastor. He was consumed with love for God and people. His sermons were so powerful they stirred us into focusing on following Jesus, being Sanctified, and fulfilling the Great Commission. We all made it our occupation to invite everyone we talked with during the week to come and listen.

The church exploded with growth. Small groups formed in homes—people were getting saved—word continued to spread. Each week the level of joy in the church was electric! I started calling it a “Smiling Church” and I was at the point where I wanted to ask permission to have a sign made and have it installed over the entrance: “Most Fun in Town!”

Circumstances cropped up and the pastor had to leave. Over the decades I only found a handful of other Smiling Churches. For years, I was mystified as to why most church leaders wouldn’t listen to Jesus and teach how to follow Jesus, teach Sanctification, and teach fulfilling the Great Commission.

The Mystery is Solved. A supernatural awakening is underway! What is the key to a Smiling Church? Humility! You must be Sanctified and church leaders must teach being Sanctified. The Element of Victory is paramount to following Jesus and Healing our Land! Glory to the Lamb of God! Exalt and Praise our Heavenly Father, give glory to the Holy Spirit!

Our Worldwide Concert in Prayer

We invite you to join us. Our worldwide Concert in Prayer for the Great Commission started in the late 1970s. We are the Kindness of Many Christians working inside a journey of love.

Kindness of Many Christians is the action-encouragement part of the work of the Matthew 28 Help Center, a worldwide Christian teaching organization, which specializes in teaching people how to follow Jesus. (KindnessofMany.org)

Always remember, our Father spoke, “Let there be light”; and there was light (Genesis 1:3). Jesus (Light) came from heaven and overcame darkness. See John 1:1-13.

Hand in Hand—Local Churches United

• Unite: Spread the word about this Three-Week Course and ask members of other churches to join your Encouragement Team. Jesus will lead these people to urge leaders and members of those churches to join you in outreach.
• Inspire: You can use the skills and gifting of many to repeatedly form unique works of helps and testimonies.
• Equip: Each special ministry can reach into the resources of a broad variety of options when you have interested servants from several churches involved. From pickup trucks to computer experts to people skilled in all manners of occupations can make your unique missions into awesome experiences.
• Launch: Ask Jesus. He knows what, when, where, why, and who to love!

Anti-God trends: Violence, and the current wave of homeless, confused people all stem from an unnoticed heavy burden—the sin of the fall of mankind (see Romans Chapter 5). Let’s get to work and normalize the truth of the Gospel—truth that’s spread by following Jesus. It is the only way out of this mess.

Pro-God trends: Comforting words, joy, holiness, caring works of helps and testimonies, sharing the Gospel and leading lost souls to eternal life in Christ are all actions that need to be normalized in our society.

Let’s show God Gratitude from our hearts. Perhaps we can all get in the habit of turning to Psalm 107 once in a while. It starts like this: “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so!” Redeemed means emancipated, liberated from bondage. The Psalm goes on: “Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered out of the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.” Let this Psalm become one of your favorites. Read it out loud to our Lord and be filled with uplifting joy! Share your feelings with Him knowing that He is your Shield and your exceedingly great Reward!

You live “in Christ”

Recommended Reading:
Healing Set Study Pages 1. 5, 10, 12, 16, 23, 25, 26, 28 through 31, 33, 40, 41, 54, 56, 57, 60, 72, 77, 82, 85, 89, 90, 105, 107, 113, 116, 119 through 121, 123, 127, 132, 133, 135, 138, 147, 148, 152, 153, 155, 157 through 159, 161, 167, 176, 191, 193, 197, 200, 206
Healing Set Manual Pages 1 through 5, 11, 12, 21 through 24, 27, 29, 31, 32, 36 through 39, 41, 49 Theology three, 52, 60, 62 through 65, 70, 76, 77, 81, 88, 90, 92, 93, 95, 96, 100, 103, 104, 107, 109, 110, 113

The Battle Belongs to the Lord!

You live “in Christ” and rely on His guidance every day. You serve Him and you are a member of His Church. You faithfully follow Him into Battle every day. Don’t forget, the dividing line between Holy Sanctification and Imitation Sanctification is the difference between believing in God (that He exists) and believing God. Those who slide into the illusion that they can dictate doctrine based on their own will—create a false definition of biblical principles—they usurp Jesus’ authority take control of their church. Only those who believe God from their surrendered heart are blessed with the state of being “in Christ” and serve in Jesus’ Church. We are engaged in a War for Souls! Learn to rely on your Lord for every mission, for every church service, and for every decision you make—because you trust God.

Let’s focus on your church service. Praise God that Jesus is in charge of your service. He wants you to invite sinners to each service, certain sinners, one’s who are being drawn by the Father. Don’t restrict your outreach based on the nature of a person’s sin. We are not to judge such a thing (Matthew 7:1, Luke 6:37). Each time you think of evangelism when inviting people to church, think about Mark 9:23, which tells us: “Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’ ”

• Don’t mindfully categorize sins when inviting souls to learn about Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. Learn to hear Jesus’ voice (Matthew 11:28) and He will show you the ones who are ready to hear the Truth. Don’t let fear control your decisions to approach someone who you have identified with a certain sin, you will be surprised when they ask questions and are eager to listen.
• Teach Righteousness in cycles in your church. Reveal the importance of the Element of Victory and let everyone know this course is available.
• Preach God’s love from the pulpit and have a Salvation Call at the end of every service. Follow-up and make it a priority to check in with all who receive Christ as Savior and Lord during a service. Invite them to come back and join your church family.

The Word of God

The Word of God is written in a Two-layered comprehension language system.

The First layer is the obvious translation of a human language such as Greek or English or Italian or French or German or Japanese or a Chinese dialect or Spanish, and so on. Our Lord has put restrictions on understanding the Word of God, so that souls who are not heart-driven seekers will not understand the meaning of the stories or the principles—and they will declare that the Bible is not a truthful document.

The Apostle Paul addresses this issue.

• “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made no effect.” (1 Corinthians 1:17) Paul goes on in his explanation and adds specific details. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”
• Take the time to study more of Paul’s reasons of why God hides the truth from anyone who shuns Him from their heart. Continue reading in the same place in 1 Corinthians 1, to include verses 20 through 30. Please notice that 1 Corinthians 2:14 tells us: “But a natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

The Second layer is of a Spiritual nature. Let’s be clear, you are not allowed to see that each story and principle in the Bible is the absolute truth unless you have entered Jesus’ Portal of Rest and have experienced the Spiritual Birth and are eternally saved from the wrath of God and you are enjoying Spiritual Life in Christ. John 3:3-13 verifies this. Then you are granted permission and the Holy Spirit will reveal the truth of the Bible. This is the key to learning the hidden, or mysterious, spiritual language that, thank God, no scientist or human intellectual researcher is allowed to discover or even realize any measurement or quantitative formula to find out that it exists.

Week Three, Part Two: Review, Discussion, and Prayer
Sing it from your Heart!

From Peter C.

1. You are part of the Family of God. This is very exciting! Jesus is uniting Christians the world over, you are one valued Christian member. Shake hands, give everyone on your Team a hug. Plan to make a difference in the countenance of your home church.
2. Back in the early years during most weeks, Jesus led me to attend two church services on Sunday and an evening service during the week.

During midweek services in a couple of churches I attended, love would flow through the entire flock. They would have the choir or a song leader lead two or three hymns, the pastor preached a short message, then everyone formed a circle around the pews in the Sanctuary, held hands, and sang: “The Family of God” (Gloria Gaither & William J. Gaither, 1970, © 1970 by William J. Gaither. All rights reserved. Used by Permission).

Do you suppose you could convince your church leaders to do that once in a while? It creates a bonding worth more than gold.

Why Go to Church?

It’s Saturday night. You’re beaming with a smile, thinking about walking through the door tomorrow—shaking hands, hugging your mission partners, telling your side of the story of last week’s mission—laughing. This is your church Family, this is your Joy, this is your life in Christ, these are your brothers and sisters. This is the most fun in town!

Near the end of the Bible are three short Epistles, or letters, about the Family of God. They are written by John the Elder, the same man who wrote the Book of John and Revelation. He must have been around 90 years old when he wrote them. Can you imagine the relationship he had with the Holy Spirit? Can you imagine the struggles and hardships he went through? Yet here he is, writing about Joy! “… that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you may also have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.” (1 John 1:3-4) John’s words are a special gift from his heart and from our loving Heavenly Father and from Jesus and from the Holy Spirit who was guiding John’s hand—you can feel his confidence in showing us how to conquer adversity.

Make it your quest to study these three Epistles. It is imperative that you become familiar with his teachings and his urgings and his warnings. Following Jesus and fulfilling the Great Commission is the most exciting and rewarding adventure that exists on earth. You have been chosen to be coupled with your brothers and sisters by God’s love—soaring through a spiritual journey—destined for joyful victory!

“But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.”
(Isaiah 40:31 NKJV)