Sunday, January 15, 2006

THE CHARGE OF THE CHURCH

Here is the post that we sent out to our mailing list today:
Greetings in Jesus' name. At Christmas we wrote to tell you about the little cat that the Father brought to us, so we could care for it until it died. At that time, the Father spoke about being His Body, being the Church, and about caring for one another and for others. The Church is built on Jesus alone, and on our relationship with Him. We love Him. We know Him. We hear His voice and obey Him, and we teach others to know Him too. This is the charge of the church, and it is what the Father wants from each person on earth who loves Him. In light of this, we are forwarding to you a letter of encouragement that the Apostle Char Tierney sent to our brother Joseph in Ghana, and to the believers who are with him.



Dear Joseph,

I have been wanting to have the time to write to you, Brother, so I can talk to you of the matters you mentioned in your last letters. I hope you don't mind if this letter is long, because I want to take the time to really talk to you. Perhaps we could meet in Yahoo Messenger at a time that would be convenient for you. I was very glad that you were able to have some time around Christmas to spend with Jesus, talking to Him and hearing what He has to say. Lately He has told us to make a practice of going to Him every morning, each of us about ourselves. What do we think and what is in us, that will hinder the Holy Spirit as He wishes to move and act in us and around us? As we go to Him, we can trust Him to be faithful to show us our faults and sin and self, so that we can change, giving the Holy Spirit more room to bring more fruit for Jesus, in this world that is fallen away from Him. Jesus knows just what to do. He will and does bring us to the people who need Him, who need His picture, who need His help. And with the same love, Jesus helps us with our own situations each day, as we bring them to Him, just as we know He helps you.

Thank you for your concern and understanding about things being busy and tight around here. We are asking Jesus to provide for us, to make more pictures, to help you, to help others, to pay for our bills, and to keep us doing His good will. We have much going out, with not much coming in, yet we trust in Him, because we know He will help us, and He will provide everything necessary for us. How truly lovely He is, dear Brother, and how faithful and good. We have a wonderful Creator to present to the world, and may He continue to help us as we do that very thing. Please continue to pray for us.

Recently, you commented on the problems with the traditional, institutionalized church, and I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment that they are caught up in doctrines - what they think, what they believe, and what they think may or may not have anything to do with Jesus and what is true. This is why the Holy Spirit warns so firmly that we must not live by what we think. It is crucial to come to Him about all things, and not to assume that what we believe is so, not ever to assume that what we think is right. We must ask Jesus about everything and then act according to how He answers. And this is very simple to do. It is simple for Him to answer, since He speaks to those who come to Him in faith, believing that they will hear from Him. This is why it is so important to teach everyone to talk to Jesus themselves, so that they can be sure and right in what they believe, because Jesus will teach each of us only the truth. Soon He will return as our Bridegroom, and each of us who desires to must come to know Him well.

Our thoughts can be wrong. Your thoughts, Joseph, and mine, and each or any of the thoughts of those who are with us in Jesus. We have the Holy Scriptures, which are true and the word of God, but we are mistaken to think of ourselves so highly that we should believe that we need only to read them and study them, and then we will understand them and know how they apply. As we know, the Jews in the past studied the Scriptures far deeper than you or I have ever done, yet when Jesus came they did not receive Him, because they did not have a relationship with the Father in which they could simply go and ask Him if this man before them was from Him. They had the Scriptures, which they studied, but they did not understand what was happening or who Jesus is. Even though there were miracles and many, many signs from God, they still relied on what they thought and what they believed from their studies and teachings and doctrines. Because of this, Satan was able to deceive them and cause them to participate in the rejection and killing of Jesus, to their own harm, and our grief.

The Jews thought they were the people of God. Were they? Assuredly they were, and still are; they are the apple of His eye. Yet that did not stop the deception from Satan. Jews today are still separated from the Father, because as a nation they do not ask Him if Jesus is the promised Messiah, and then come to Him in Jesus' name. The Father waits to this day for them to come to Him and ask Him, and then for them to ask Him for help out of their difficulties which face Israel today. When they do, then He will help them with great power and deliverance. How much we long for that day! At this time, the Holy Spirit shows Himself standing on the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, (holding a cross) hearing their prayers and seeing their hearts and actions, willing to help them to turn to Him in Jesus' name. That day is soon approaching, but has not yet arrived. My point about the Jews is not that they killed Jesus, for we are all responsible for that, but that Satan was able to deceive them, although they study the word of God. Only God can keep us from deception, and that only if we truly know Him, by building a relationship with Him, as Abraham had.

Now it is Christians - believers in Jesus - rather than Jews alone, who stand before the Father. Do we know Him? Do we hear His voice? Do we ask Him about everything, knowing that He Himself (through Jesus) is the Head of the Church? If we do not ask Him about all things and hear Him, then we are no better, nor any different than the Jews in Jesus' day, or in today's day. Jesus is the Head of this Body, and if the Body does not talk to Him about all things, and hear His replies, then the Body is not His Body, though it believes it is. The Jews believed they were God's people, even as they rejected His only Son. Many Christians today believe that they are God's people, even as they are blind and deaf to His voice. He is alive, and either they realize this and consult Him about all things, or they do not.

But you, dear Brother Joseph and those from the Believer's Ministry with you, know a different way than they which has been passed down by the institutional church. And this way is the way we teach by the Holy Spirit, with signs from the Holy Spirit with us, the way of talking to Jesus, and hearing His replies, and letting Him lead you every day. When you are in trouble - as you were when Udeme's wife went through the difficult delivery of their baby, then Jesus is there to help you, just as He showed Himself to her by smiling at her from the picture, to reassure and comfort her, and show Himself present in the room. He is present with us, and He can be seen and heard by those who are looking and listening for Him. The Holy Spirit will be faithful to reveal Jesus to those who desire to know Him, and to do His good will.

As you said, believers in Jesus have many different doctrines and beliefs that separate us. Yet, there is one thing that unites us - one alone - and that one thing is Jesus Himself. Without Jesus there is no Christianity. Without Jesus there is no church. Without Jesus, there are no believers in Him, nor without Jesus is it possible to come to Him by faith and please the Father.

It is Jesus Himself, and knowing Him, and knowing what He says and what He wants that puts us on a firm foundation, and leads us to please the Father, who is our God, our Creator. The Father has shown, absolutely clearly, that what He seeks in this day and hour - the day and hour leading to the return of the Bridegroom - that what He wants from mankind is a relationship with them, just as He had a relationship with Abraham. He wants to return us to the relationship that He had with Adam, one where the Father came to meet with Him on a regular basis, and spoke clearly to this being that He had fashioned with His hands, and breathed into, with eternal love. No doctrine, no teaching, no belief, can supercede or take the place of this personal, one on one relationship with our God, where we speak with Him and He with us. Those among us with maturity are those who seek the Father, talk to Him, hear Him, and then grow as they do the things that He tells them to do, which will come from love and help always, because God is love, and God cares.

Ask Jesus about the things written in this letter, for they are true and good and God's will for us all. It is because of the presence of Jesus, that the anointed picture of Jesus, which was taken from the miraculous image supernaturally found on the Shroud of Turin, has such power. Jesus is present with the picture, not to honor the picture, but to bring people to Himself. As we and you and others give out the picture, and as we show the movie THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, and tell people to talk to Jesus and listen, then we open a door for them that will never shut. Instead of demanding that they learn more and more doctrines, we show people who Jesus is, and then we help them to go to Him for themselves. Jesus will do the rest. He WILL speak to them. They will know this is true by the signs and wonders and healings and helps that He gives by the Holy Spirit as people continue to ask Him for help. He wants us to know Him. His heart is full of joy over the harvest that is coming to Him through us, who follow the lead and the teaching of His Holy Spirit. Jesus wants us to be able to talk to Him, and hear from Him, first for the loving relationship that will develop, and then so that Satan is unable to deceive us, though he tries with many teachings and false doctrines and lies.

God bless you, Joseph, as you ponder these truths, and as you ask Jesus to help you to see these truth clearly, and as you teach those whom Jesus brings to you to nurture. Nurture them in Jesus Himself and He will move with power among you. He is your friend, Joseph. He loves you personally, and He loves every man, woman, and child that you meet. May He bless you and your people, in every way. GOD BLESS YOU.

With love in Jesus' name,
Char Tierney


Char Tierney
Apostle and Administrator
Silvana Lupetti
Prophet of the Father in the United States
OPERATION: JESUS PICTURES
The Table of the Remnant
January 15, 2006