7 Ancient Disciplines

Hello Tab Family,

This week, I have been meditating on the re-ordering of our lives according to God’s design. Our world is groaning, it’s brewing in chaos. The evidence of spiraling to the “point of no return” seems to be pervading us from all angles. How do we respond? What can we possibly do?

Jeremiah 6:16

“Thus says the Lord:

Stand at the crossroads, and look,

and ask for the ancient paths,

where the good way lies; and walk in it,

and find rest for your souls.”

There are several points in this brief scripture that are quite profound. The word of the Lord comes to the prophet in the midst of a similar cultural context, a horrible invasion. The Lord says to “Stand at the crossroads, and look.” Our lives are at a crossroads, the church is at a crossroads. We must look and be aware, much like the sons of Issachar (1 Chr. 12:32) who were wise in the discernment of the times.

Secondly, the Lord instructs the prophet to “ask for the ancient paths.” This seems odd to us, considering this was spoken in ancient times. Jeremiah would have practiced much the same ancient ways as Jews have maintained throughout the millennia.

Consider with me what many call the “7 Ancient Disciplines,” and what the integration of these may order in our lives. These 7 disciplines can be divided into two categories that govern the major aspects of our lives, our body and time:

Govern The Work & Pleasures Of Our Body:

1 - Tithing (the seed of 10%)

2 - Fasting (Prayer and fasting seasons)

3 - Sacred Meal (Communion, Shabbat)

Govern, Monitor & Sacramentalize Time:

4 - Fixed-Hour Prayer (daily time with the Lord)

5 - Keep The Sabbath (day of rest and devotion)

6 - Observe The Liturgical Year (Biblical Calendar)

7 – Pilgrimage (spiritual journey, growth and pursuit)

I challenge you today to investigate and incorporate these Biblical practices, these Ancient Disciplines, into your lifestyle and life flow of your family. The Lord identifies ancient paths as “where the good way lies” and commands the prophet to walk in these. These 7 ancient disciplines are a significant part of this picture. The result of following this ancient path is to “find rest for your souls.”

In the midst of this utter chaos and seemingly hopeless cultural backdrop, God is raising up a Biblically rooted people with Jerusalem as our home. This is a life of devotion to Christ’s ways and heart, which is rooted in the same ancient pathways that Jeremiah was commanded to find. May we be a remnant people whose lives are ordered according to the kingdom of God, and governing force of Christ as our head.

In His Name,

Pastor Aimee Reid-Sych

A Father's Day Honor and Challenge

“For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers...”

1 Cor. 4:15 ESV

Today, our nation honors fathers. For some, it's a wonderful time of celebration as children and grandchildren visit or call to express their love and appreciation. However, not all fathers and children are able to enjoy Father's Day as many have conflicted or difficult relationships with their loved ones.

Allow me to talk about my father who went to be with the Lord 32 years ago this month. I’m so grateful for him and that he was present in my life for 50 years; living the last 2 years in our home. Even though he was very ill and in a great deal of pain, the opportunity to have casual conversations, recall events from the past, and witness his hope and faith for the future was rich.

Dad was not dynamic, sophisticated, nor ever made big money, but that never prevented our family from enjoying life. Vacations, or any aspect of our life, were not extravagant, but created memories that I recall today. As I grew older, I realized the sacrifices he made for the family, specifically providing baseball equipment for me. He was an anchor in my early life. He always seemed to have a way to solve problems and tasks. Going to work, tithing, faithfulness in church attendance, and serving were learned by watching him go about daily life.

He had great authority in my life. I was selfish enough to want things immediately, but I had confidence that I would have what I needed, and usually more. I didn’t “act out." Not because I was afraid of punishment, but rather because I didn’t want to disappoint him. Our relationship was instrumental in my ability to grasp the idea that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us without measure.

Your Father’s Day may not provide pleasant memories, but rather adverse emotions. The tape of life cannot be rewound to undo the mistakes that were made, but we can choose to live our lives differently going forward.

Any change will likely begin by forgiving him and choose to honor him, not because he is honorable by deed, but because God’s Word instructs us to do so.

THE CHALLENGE

Our culture has attempted to marginalize men and fathers. I believe our culture is reaping the harvest of fathers not being present in their children’s lives. It is witnessed in low self esteem, poor scholastic performance, as well as other measurements. Despite cultures efforts, the challenge is to withstand that and lead and instruct from a position of strength.

Don’t allow our insecurities to hinder our relationship with sons and daughters. We have something they need regardless of age. It takes a real man to be a father. It is not our physical strength or net worth that fulfills that need in their life. It requires being present in their life; walking out life before God and them.

May you have a wonderful day with your father and/or children.

Blessings,

Pastor Allen Baun

Miracles Ahead

I am not a woman of Great Faith. . . I am a woman of little faith in a Great God! A God of Miracles. Miracles; What they are; How they happen, How they change lives.

Webster’s dictionary defines a miracle as an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs. The definition I like is this: a Miracle is a supernatural intervention by God into a situation/circumstance that would not otherwise change.

Those who believe in miracles accept them because they believe they have evidence for them. Something that has happened in their own life or something witnessed in the life of someone else. Those who disbelieve in miracles, deny them because they have been taught a doctrine against them.

Is it not true that the God we believe in, who created us and loves us, found a way to break into our world? Could each of us believe in miracles just enough to believe that it was a miracle that brought us to salvation?

When Jesus began his public ministry, it was a ministry of miracles. His conception, birth, life, wisdom and teachings, ministry, death, resurrection, appearances, and ascension were astounding and undeniable miracles. When the church began her ministry, it was a ministry of miracles. A stream of miracles flowed from the hands of the apostles, upsetting the religious system of that day to the extent that even the Roman government was shaken.

The church had made a discovery: Christ, who God had raised from the dead, left them with the same power to work the same miracles in response to their command when they used His name. They had the same power as he did before he was condemned and killed. He was alive again! He lived in them! He had not changed! In Jesus name, the sick were healed, the dead were raised, and demons were cast out!

Those first years of early church history, as recorded in the “Acts of the Apostles,” were example years for the “Acts of the Church” until the return of our Lord. It was original Christianity and it is unchanged today. If we do not have the supernatural in Christianity, we have nothing to offer the unbeliever accept a religion. True Christianity is not a religion. Christianity is the heart and nature of Jesus Christ manifested or demonstrated and expressed in and through human persons. Christianity is a miracle life. It began as a miracle; it is based on a succession of miracles; it is transmitted by miracles. It is the only way of life that can satisfy the spiritual longing of men and women.

God’s purpose and plan for humanity was that people would have supernatural ability. That has not changed. Wherever there arises a man or woman whose prayers are heard and answered (Aimee Semple McPhearson, Kathryn Kuhlman, Oral Roberts, TL Osborn, Benny Hinn, Marilyn Hickey, Bill Johnson), greater crowds will gather to hear them. But we must remember that our prayers are just as powerful and “the greater works ministry” is available to all who believe.

Every spiritual awakening in history has honored Christ and His word. All have been attested to by signs, wonders and dynamic miracles. It is almost impossible to proclaim God’s word with biblical faith and not see miracles. This desire for the miraculous is deep-seated in humanity regardless of background because every human person is another offspring of the miracle of God.

John 2:23 - "Many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did." Jesus Christ is as much a miracle worker now as he ever was, and humanity needs his miracle touch now more than ever. When the gospel in its simplicity is communicated, the sick will be healed, and non-Christians will be converted and will turn to Christ. When actions correspond with teaching, it opens the way for Christ in His power to confirm His Word. Psalm 107:20 - "God sent his word, and it healed them." Proverbs 4:22 - "God’s promises are life to those that find them, and health to all their flesh."

What does it mean to go beyond? “Beyond what we can ask, think, or imagine" (Eph. 3:20)? Miracles take us beyond. Remember that “the prayers that are most unanswered are the prayers that are not never prayed.” Sometimes we do a lot of thinking, we do a lot of visualizing, we do a lot of hoping and a lot of wondering, but do we do a lot of actual praying? When we pray to the God who is outside time and space, and that God reaches into time and space with the answer we have miracles.

Believing for Miracles,

Pastor Jo Ann Angelo