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Topic: The Bond of Peace by Rick Joyner
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Author
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Tage Mathisen
Senior Member
Joined: 09/06/2013
Location: United States
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 245
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Posted: 04/23/2014 at 5:54am
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In pursuit of koinonia, we will need to extend grace and
mercy to one another. Just as we must extend grace in
coming into fellowship with those who we do not agree
with in certain doctrines or methods, we must keep in
mind that they are doing the same with us. After we have
built some trust, we may start discussing issues we
disagree on. The stronger the bridge of trust is, the
greater the weight that can be carried by it and the
deeper we may go with these issues. We have sound
biblical wisdom for how we do this in Ephesians 4:1-3:
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore
you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which
you have been called,
with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
showing tolerance for one another in love,
being diligent to preserve the unity of the
Spirit in the bond of peace.
True unity never requires that we compromise our
convictions. Neither should we require others to
compromise their convictions in order to have unity with
us. The Spirit may compel us to keep silent about certain
convictions until the proper time, but that does not mean
that we are compromising them. Preserving the “unity of
the Spirit in the bond of peace” takes diligence. That
diligence requires “all humility and gentleness, with
patience showing tolerance for one another in love.”
Of course, this is also a great opportunity for
us to grow in these Christian virtues. One thing we could
do that might help us the most in cultivating these
virtues is to seek to develop relationships with those in
other denominations and movements, especially ones with
which we most disagree. We should have a vision for
building a bridge with them, one strong enough to carry a
lot of weight. You will be amazed at how much you can
grow by this and how much you end up appreciating and
actually loving those with whom you have had
disagreements. Sometimes you will even learn that they
were right, and you were wrong in a matter.
As this relationship continues, you will likely
find that some of your understanding about what this
other group believed or practiced was not accurate. You
might even find out that it is worse than you thought,
but that does not matter. If they are Christians, then we
must preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace. Don’t let anything steal the peace that you have
with one another in the Spirit.
There was once a movement called “The Worldwide
Church of God” that was believed by much of the rest of
the church to be a cult, or at least a sect. When their
founder, Herbert W. Armstrong died, there were Christians
who befriended some of the leaders of this group and
built relationships with them. They built bridges of
trust. This led the leaders of the WWCG to start
examining their beliefs which caused so much of the rest
of the church to consider the WWCG wayward. As they
examined their doctrines, they saw many that were in
conflict with Scripture. They repented publicly, and the
entire movement was embraced and honored by much of the
body of Christ for this remarkable act on their part.
In 1987 I was given an extensive vision of the
coming harvest. One of the events I saw happening was
that the Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and other such
groups would be the first part of the harvest. Then they
were going to be used mightily in it, becoming some of
the greatest of the laborers. I also saw some of the
greatest apostles and prophets in the last days coming
out of Islam.
As stated before, one of the greatest needs we
have at this time is the vision that Ezekiel had recorded
in Chapter 37 of his prophecy—the ability to see in the
driest bones an exceedingly great army and to have words
of life for them that will cause them to become what they
are called to be. Can we see beyond what people are in
order to see what they are called to? Can we be vessels
of words of life that will help them along their way?
Rick Joyner
http://www.morningstarministries.org/
__________________
1Soul 1Nation is an Apostolic Ministry Team who advance the Kingdom of God through ministering empowerment, destiny and purpose to the Body of Christ.
https://www.facebook.com/1Soul1Nation
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