Culture of the Kingdom: Fellowship

Culture of the Kingdom

Today’s Topic: Fellowship

Scripture: Acts 2:42; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 Corinthians 12:12,13; Philippians 2:1; 1 Corinthians 2:10-12

Greetings Kingdom Citizens

The four imperatives of Kingdom Culture are found in Acts 2:42: “And they continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.” Fellowship is the second of the four imperatives but also one that as a general concept, has been misunderstood and because of that we do not see it in its true form and understand its function in the culture of the Kingdom of God. But what is fellowship? According to Dictionary.com fellowship is companionship. Simple definition but let’s see what the church sees fellowship as.

The modern day church sees fellowship as a group of people coming together to eat a meal, play games or some various activities geared to bring youth together. One thing in my time growing up I heard of these “fellowship events” called potlucks. Basically everyone would bring a dish to the party and share. Now that is what fellowship has become to be known in the church. Is that fellowship? Based upon the definition it can be but we must look to the scriptures because it is in the scriptures where we see this word “fellowship” as it pertains and it is a part of the spiritual culture of the Kingdom. Now when we conclude this part of fellowship, there we will be no doubt that you will not look at fellowship merely as “eating a meal together”.

Now let’s look at some scriptures pertaining to fellowship to get a spiritual understanding.

2 Corinthians 13:14:”The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen”. The word communion can be substituted for fellowship in the scripture. So fellowship has to do with something Holy Spirit does.

Philippians 2:1:”If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,”

So based on these scriptures, fellowship of Holy Spirit is further defined as the resulting relationship between the people and Holy Spirit who dwells within them. Fellowship of Holy Spirit is about how Holy Spirit arranges the Body of Christ. Let’s look at how this is done.

1 Corinthians 12:12,13:”For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews and Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” So Holy Spirit arranges us in the Body of Christ by baptizing us into the Body of Christ. We as individuals are parts of the corporate body. The fellowship of believers together is to recognize how Holy Spirit has assembled you with another. But why does Holy Spirit baptize us into the Body of Christ?

1 Corinthians 2:10-12: “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”

So it is fellowship with Holy Spirit and the spirit man that we receive revelation and instruction to our role as a part of the Body of Christ.

At the Father’s Service,

Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.

The Apostles' Doctrine: Summary

Culture of the Kingdom

Today’s Topic: The Apostles’ Doctrine: Summary

Scripture: Acts 2:42; Matthew 23:34; 1 Samuel 2:27-36; 1 Samuel 3:1-14; Romans 8:30

Greetings Kingdom Citizens

In the past few messages we have looked at the Apostle’s doctrine and now we are going to wrap this portion up and summarize what we have said. After the sermon Peter preached and the 3,000 souls were saved. It states in Acts 2:42 that they continued in the apostles’ doctrine. Now the apostles’ doctrine is not some written messages in the New Testament or some interpreted writings of church fathers, reformers or teachings from those we look to for leadership. The traditions of man and today’s church says that is what the apostles’ doctrine is. The Apostolic is more involved than that and it is has to do with relationships, order, foundation and revelation of mysteries to the Body of Christ.

The apostles are the mail men who deliver the Word of God (Bread from Heaven) for that day and their function is to establish order and the government of God upon the Earth as delegates (ambassadors) of the King. Their authority is a foundational authority meant to order, empower and release the sons of God to function in their destinies. These destinies have been appointed to them from the foundations of the earth (Romans 8:30).

As we look at the church today we see a lack of foundational order as it relates to the culture of the Kingdom. The apostles’ function in the lives of believers is to establish order to your life and order in your thinking so that you can clearly see who God has called you to be. It is amazing how much we do not understand about what God wants to do through us and how He does it. God wants us to understand how to rely on His power He has delegated to us through gifting. He wants us to receive insight, understand the creativity and uniqueness God has put in you by which He intends to function through you.

Now if you do not recognize or believe in the apostolic then church is meaningless. It is meaningless in the sense that we are now not up-to-date in the reality and thing that God is doing in the current season. So then we sink down into the ritualistic aspect of church or Christianity and then take on the mindset that if I do these ritualistic things then I will go to heaven when I die. This mindset robs you of living in your destiny. It keeps people in the post-fall mindset that Adam and Eve experienced by working by the sweat of their own brow and their own abilities. But where did it switch or go wrong for the church? The culture of the Kingdom was lost when the monarchs gave authority to bishops in the hope that the bishops would keep the people in line and support the monarchy and their claims. This made the church and state become one and now the church adopts the culture of the state. Hence all the people born into that nation is defined by the current culture that exists. So in the case of a national church, children born unto members of that church are predisposed and only know what the current church culture is and if it is the culture of the state then the culture of the Kingdom is not present. The original culture of the church, at its foundation, relied upon the doctrine of the apostles. Now remember there is always a type and shadow before the reality and let me show you this because even the gifting of the apostolic was in type and shadow.

When we look at the story of Samuel in 1 Samuel 3:1 it states: “And the child Samuel ministered unto the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious (scarce) in those days; there was no open vision”. So if you read on it is the story of how the word of the Lord came to the young Samuel as a child but the key to seeing the apostles’ doctrine is in 1 Samuel 3:11-14 where the Lord told Samuel exactly what He was going to do and then Samuel would go on to tell Eli what the Lord said. Now understand that a prophetic voice was spoken to Eli before the reality came and the prophetic voice is found in 1 Samuel 2:27-36. Now in those days no one called Samuel an apostle but He functioned among Israel in that fashion. He was the voice of the Lord for Israel in that day and reminded Israel of the word of the Lord. Samuel was “sent” to give the word of the Lord to Israel. He is “sent” to bring back in order the children of Israel with the Lord. When the New Testament comes then we come into a better understanding and reality of the function of the apostolic to restore order to the people of God and ways of God.

At the Father’s Service,

Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.

The Apostles' Doctrine: The Kingdom of God

Culture of the Kingdom

Today’s Topic: The Apostles’ Doctrine: The Kingdom of God

Scripture: Matthew 28:18; Matthew 10:7; John 15:26

Greetings Kingdom Citizens

When we look at the Kingdom of God and the structure of it we can see that there is authority given by God to the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:18). Then the Lord Jesus Christ sends Holy Spirit to us who believe on His name (John 15:26). Now Holy Spirit imparts the delegated power to the sons of God and sends them out among humans to establish the rule of Christ in the earth. These ones that are sent are the “sent-ones” or the apostles. The Apostles are given a particular grace and have a particular commission or assignment that is different from others. Their commission is foundational and bring the order of the Kingdom and demonstrate the power of the King, Jesus Christ, whose name they come in. The Apostles reveal the mysteries of God and the Kingdom to the Earth. So if you look around at all the people who claim to be apostles, how many of them are fulfilling the foundational commission and revelation of the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven? Well in the past 20 years we can say we have a problem.

See the role of the apostle to today’s church if you question the average believer they would say the role of the apostle is to plant churches and that is about all there is. If that is the mentality no wonder there is a lack of Kingdom culture and foundational Kingdom principals in the church. Now I am not coming down only on the apostles. We have prophets who have to be pastors. Teachers and evangelist who believe they qualify to be pastors. I mean do we see this? Many of these types of people cannot just operate in the gift God gave them, it is all about being seen and in power and to the carnal church-minded person the pastor is the role that has the power because they control the people. Every gift has it’s place but when you come outside of that gift, the grace of God does not flow to what you choose to do, the grace of God is only for the thing God is doing through you and His Will.

The church has become so prideful in the things that they do and what they say God is doing and in these days the veil is being taken off. I have spoken the words of the Lord in this season and many churches and even some denominations will become obsolete because they refuse to embrace the gifting of the apostolic who brings order and foundation to the church. Now do not take what is being said out of context, do apostles start churches, yes. But their gifting is more than just planting churches. It is about restoring relationships, establishing Kingdom principals, foundations and order. But what has happened is because we did not understand the eternal and the things God is doing then we go with what we feel is comfortable and scriptural and leave out the things we do not understand. Hence some denominations do not recognize the apostles and prophets. Some believe the apostles ended after the original 12. Well we already shown that is not scripturally right. Next, they believe the prophets were done after Jesus showed up on the scene and we have shown by the Lord’s own words that He was sending wise men and prophets. Was the Lord wrong in what He said? Of course not, Jesus knows what He is doing but because we lack Kingdom insight then it is hard to believe that the King ordained something and that is what He exactly meant. We try to look so deep and Jesus meant what He said.

So, the purpose of the Kingdom of God is to represent the Living God and we who are the Body of Christ is a community that defies all reason, history and society by presenting the very picture of love. It is a love that defies ethnicity and promotes, living in harmony, peace, sharing and most of all sacrificing our will and our lives for one another. See how completely different and almost unheard of this culture of the Kingdom is. The Kingdom of God is the solution to all of man’s problems. The Kingdom of God is the light (knowledge) of the world. It is the knowledge that all of mankind needs. The Kingdom of God is founded upon the authority given from God the Father to the Son, Jesus Christ, who through Holy Spirit establishes the authority in the earth on apostles and prophets and let me show you this and do not let anyone tell you that there are not or there is no need for apostles and prophets:

Ephesians 2:18-20: “For through Him (Jesus Christ) we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens (Kingdom of God) with the saints, and of the Household of God (Family); And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.”

So Jesus Christ is the cornerstone who the House of God and the Kingdom of God is built upon. Now the foundation is built upon the apostles and prophets. Why? It is the prophets who see the reality or the new season before it arrives and it is the apostles who herald and announce the reality of the new season so that no longer are we to deal in type and shadow but now we walk in the reality of what God is doing at that current time. Do not do away with the only thing that announces the reality of what God is currently doing and the foundation and order of the Kingdom.

At the Father’s Service,

Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.

The Danger in Reasoning

Culture of the Kingdom

Today’s Topic: The Apostles’ Doctrine: The Danger in Reasoning

Scripture: Romans 8:5-10; 1 Corinthians 2:9-14

Greetings Kingdom Citizens

When we reason about these things that pertain to the Kingdom of God we run into complications in understanding but I want to take these two set of scriptures to show you the dangers in reasoning amongst yourself. The ways of the world are completely different from the ways of God. Let me give you a small example. Reason will say that the same object cannot occupy two different spaces at the same time. Now in the physical world that is true, but in the eternal that is not true. Now everyone who believes in Jesus Christ knows at the same time that each of us can be possessed by Holy Spirit in all completeness at the same time on Earth. But people who are not spiritually minded or for the most part unregenerated people will question how Holy Spirit can be in millions of people at the same time. Now if you are a Kingdom citizen and son of God then your mindset and decision-making influence comes from the eternal and not time. Now let me show you these two powerful scriptures to bring this home.

1 Corinthians 2:9-14 Revelation:

1 Corinthians 2:9-14: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

So the things that pertain to God can only be revealed by His Spirit. Revelation only comes by the Spirit of God. Now before you were born again the only knowledge or remote reference to God you had was a type and shadow and primarily what you see from your parents, who should be displaying the character of the Father. Now the reason you need Holy Spirit abiding in you is so that Holy Spirit can teach you the things you need to know about God and his nature. The scripture here ends making the point that spiritual things to the carnal mind are foolish to the carnal person. They are foolish because understanding only comes through Holy Spirit because spiritual things must be spiritually discerned.

Romans 8:5-10 Revelation:

Romans 8:5-10: “For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

Now in this scripture we see that the carnal mind does not like God. Much like your soul can act independent to God. It does not really want to do the things of the Spirit , that is why you must bring it under subjection. The carnal mind does not know the laws of God because they are spiritual. Now I like how the scripture shifts. It says those who are believers are not IN THE FLESH BUT IN THE SPIRIT. So we are not governed by the flesh, we should be governed by the Spirit of God and bring our flesh and soul under the rulership of Christ. Well you may ask how do I do that? By hearing the Spirit of God and following His direction. When you make a conscious decision to be obedient and do the exact thing He is telling you to do then your soul and flesh come under the rulership of Christ. See when you think carnally and not spiritually then your thought can lead to death. Let me give you an example and allow Holy Spirit to give you direction.

I once was child whose parents took me to Disney World and Universal Studios. As a child I thought it was all fun and games and so I did not think nothing more than that. But now that I have come to have a relationship with Christ and Holy Spirit, now Holy Spirit shows me the things such as the witchcraft and the promotion of homosexuality that the Disney Company and Universal Studios does. Now to the carnal mind, I am a radical but through the Spirit I am given an eternal view to what is going on and this view shows you the spiritual side which is affecting and infecting youth. Can you imagine a children’s theme park promoting homosexuality and then your 4 year old sees this and ask you, why are two men or women kissing? Or do you ever wonder what are those chants and words they use in these movies (Harry Potter, Cinderella, Snow White, etc.) are or where they come from. Do not think that just because they are geared to children that they are innocent. The devil will not want more than to infect the children at a young age and desensitize them to the evil. But you have to choose which mind you will be lead by, your own or the mind of God.

At the Father’s Service,

Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.

Foundation of Authority

Culture of the Kingdom

Today’s Topic: Apostles’ Doctrine: Foundation of Authority

Scripture: Matthew 28:18; Matthew 10:33

Greetings Kingdom Citizens

We know that all authority and all power is given to Jesus. Now Jesus has ascended back to the Father and sits at the right hand of the Father. So the question is how does His Kingdom benefit, in the earth, from the authority with Him being on the throne in Heaven and not present as Himself in the earth? We discussed this in various messages so we will not dwell on it. However, the authority of the Kingdom and the King functions in the earth by delegation. So if you have divine authority in the Earth then you must claim some measure of delegation from Jesus whose authority it is. This is the heart of understanding Ambassadorship. Ambassadors represent the one who sends them. Their power is only as good as the one who the power originated from. In many cases it is from a head of state such as a President or Prime Minister. So it should be to no surprise that the authority given to the apostles is a foundational authority. Now why would it be foundational? The grace that is given to the apostolic is to establish order in the Kingdom of God. Without order you will have a society or culture that is uncontrolled and have no sense of direction or purpose. Funny, if we look at the church today can we see that there is a lack of foundation and order? The foundation and order I am talking about is not a Pastoral order or the doctrine of the denominations. It is the foundation that Jesus laid out for the disciples who became the apostles. Today’s church is steeped in the doctrine that the Pastor is the foundational authority and the Kingdom ordains the apostolic as the foundational authority. Now the ones who receive this authority are those who do the will of God. As a result, the power that comes with the authority comes from the Living God. So how does this power operate through us?

The power operates only on voluntary compliance. In other words can choose not to do the Will of the Father, but then do not claim to have power because if you do then your witness is false. The individual does not get to decide what he or she believes or does not believe. The only decision that you have in the Kingdom of God is whether to submit to the rule of Christ. Now if you choose to not submit to Christ then you deny Him and these are the words of Jesus:

Matthew 10:33: “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in Heaven”

So denying Christ will also result in Him denying you before the Father and I am sure we do not want that. But when you submit to the rule of Christ, He reveals the nature of God, nature of the eternal and the concepts of Heaven and the Kingdom to you. But a problem we run into is that we try to reason these concepts pertaining to the eternal through scientific methods and worldly concepts and this leads to a wisdom that is not from above (Heaven) but from beneath (Hell).

The culture of the Kingdom is what the very nature of the Kingdom actually is and it begins with the gospel of a King, The Anointed One, Jesus the Christ who has been established over all the earth by a grant of authority to the Father. In the next message we will look at the dangers of reasoning and how it counteracts in the lives of a believer to experience the culture of the Kingdom.

At the Father’s Service,

Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.

Church Culture vs. Absolute Monarch

Culture of the Kingdom

Today’s Topic: Apostles’ Doctrine: Church Culture vs. the Absolute Monarch

Scripture: Matthew 28:18

Greetings Kingdom Citizens

In our last message we talked about the Kingdom of God being an absolute monarchy. But if we look at today’s current culture we see something starkly different than what was the first century church. Because Jesus is the King of the Kingdom, He does not care about our social policies and changing of society. Moreover, He does not care about being popular so popularity is not an issue for Him. Funny, the Kingdom of God is the one thing that every man and woman on Earth is looking for. Religion is just their attempt to look for it. But the commands and decrees from Jesus do not sway with popular opinion or status.

The leadership in the church today has accommodated to the demands of the culture, society and/or nation. Now let me explain. This is only an issue when the church has to come up with these public relation positions and all of these crazy committees we make up as a means to reach out in the community. I have not read in the scripture when God appointed a public relations committee to the earth to help draw people into the church. Can we see how foolish this sounds? Now let me show you this. What this is building in the church is a culture that needs marketing by the means of the world to draw people in to the church. But this is not what the King ordained or decreed. Leadership today is looking at the money and membership as the barometer of growth. It has nothing to do with teaching Kingdom culture, government and principals. They survey the surrounding market to see what would draw them in and that is the direction the church will go in. Now when membership starts dwindling the church then has to look at itself and change based upon society to maintain membership. Forget discipleship and definitely forget the words of Christ when He said if I be lifted up I WILL DRAW all men unto me. So Christ is the one who draws not us. But when you are lead by someone or the church does not have Kingdom culture then the church will be ever changing but changing based upon the world’s ways and not Jesus Christ, the King of the Kingdom.

Now to experience and live in the Kingdom of God, you must submit yourselves to the rule of Christ. Now you cannot and better yet, you will not experience the culture of the Kingdom until you submit. Remember this is an absolute monarchy and everything hinges on obedience and righteousness (right-positioning) with the King.

Now when we obedient and are in right-positioning with the source of authority then we can receive the benefits from living in the Kingdom and being ambassadors for the King and the Kingdom. In the next message we will look at the Apostles and the type of authority they are granted.

At the Father’s Service,

Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.

Order in the Kingdom

Culture of the Kingdom

Today’s Topic: Apostles’ Doctrine: Order in the Kingdom

Scripture: Matthew 28:18

Greetings Kingdom Citizens

When we talk about the apostles we know they have a foundational gifting but also a gift to restore order in the Kingdom. Now these apostles have no power of themselves so the power and authority (grace) given to them is a delegated form of power and authority. So the grace is only as good as the source of that grace. So, who is the one that is the source of the grace to the apostles? Matthew 28:18: “All power is given unto me in Heaven and in Earth”. Who made that statement? It was the Lord, Jesus Christ. So we conclude that Jesus has plenary (complete) grace. The Lord, Jesus Christ then delegates the necessary power and authority to Holy Spirit and Holy Spirit then imparts the grace of God to us. So the order of the Kingdom is not some random sequence. It is a divine order and comes straight from the Living God. Now to understand this whole concept you have to repent from the current mindset or culture you are involved in.

If you live in the United States for example, because it is a democratic society, if you have never heard or attempted to understand the culture of the Kingdom then what you try to do is impose your culture knowledge to the Kingdom and that is incorrect. So if you have lived and breathed democracy then it is hard to believe that one person can have all of the power, know what is best for every person of that nation, then delegate that power appropriately to the right person. However, if you lived in a country that was under a monarch or kingdom style of rule then grasping this might not be as hard. In the Kingdom of God we have a King that knows what is best for every citizen. He delegates the right grace to the right person. Current church culture is so infused with democratic processes and let me say this: “Not all democratic processes are bad, democracy and freedom has allowed us in the United States to freely worship the Living God, but with such freedom comes much more responsibility and we as a nation will be judged for not following the decrees of the King. Now in earthly kingdoms, kings rule over physical land territory but in the Kingdom, Our King does not rule over land but wants to infect and rule the hearts of men on the Earth. The wonderful thing about all of that is that the earth is His already so He does not need physical land to rule. The administration of the authority the Jesus grants is to show the nature of God and we all know that God is love. So we must grasp as a concept of the culture of the Kingdom that we have a sovereign King who rules over all and His goal is to infect the Earth with the Kingdom through the hearts of men. The Kingdom of God is an absolute monarch. In other words, there is no compromise or vote, it is either what the King says or you are outside the Will of God. So when we look at our various church processes do we represent an absolute monarch?

If we truly believe Matthew 28:18 then why does the church have to vote on a Pastor if he is to be sent by God? If we believe Matthew 28:18 why do we feel the need to help God reach the youth? If we believe Matthew 28:18: why would the church vote to ordain homosexual bishops? If we believe Matthew 28:18 why do we feel we have to take secular music, change the words to it, then TRY to offer it back to God and call it a “move of God”? If something is absolute then it is complete much like the truth. Anything less than the whole truth is a lie because then the truth is not the truth because the truth is absolute in its application. The divine order of the Kingdom is built on the truth and the truth is not a thing but a person, Jesus Christ and every word of Jesus is the truth and His words are our commandments that we are to execute.

At the Father’s Service,

Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.

Patriarchal Order: Shadow and Reality

Culture of the Kingdom

Today’s Topic: The Apostles’ Doctrine: The Patriarchal Order: Shadow and Reality

Scripture: 2 Kings 2:9-15; Luke 1:17; Luke 3:23-38; Malachi 4:5; Hebrews 10:1; Hebrews 8:4-6

Greetings Kingdom Citizens

This is a perfect example of how a type and shadow becomes reality. But this thing called the Patriarchal Order is a vital concept to understanding the Kingdom culture. However, to understand the Kingdom culture you must go back to the beginning. We know Adam was the son of God (Luke 3:38). Now we also know that Adam sinned and Holy Spirit was recalled back to Heaven. As a result, mankind lost rulership and fellowship with God. Now the Garden of Eden is a type and shadow and remember God removed Adam and Eve from the Garden. Now since Holy Spirit, who teaches and guides us in the ways of God, the Father, was recalled God only spoke to mankind in type and shadow because the only way to receive revelation and truth is Spirit to spirit. So God kept Adam alive for close to 1,000 years and his purpose was to teach, or better yet father and disciple his children in the ways of God and the secrets of the earth. How do we know this? Because when you look at the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:38 it says that Seth was the son of Adam and Enos was the son of Seth. Now when we see these genealogy charts we tend to bypass them as being just useless pieces of information but this chart in Luke 3 is so vital to understand what God was about to do in that season. Now the way God established His household is Patriarchal so it is defined by the relationship between Father and son (Heb. offspring). Now God always intended to have sons so God created a type and shadow of what Adam once was. This type and shadow is called the Order of the Sons of God. This order is a physical, natural lineage of sons that the Gospel was to flow through until the reality comes. So when we look at the Old Testament and the lineage to Christ, this lineage is a natural, type and shadow of a reality to come. Now before God brings us into the New Season, God shows the prophets and the prophets speak the word of the Lord to tell the people to get ready for the change in Season. Now once the season changes, the apostolic heralds the reality in that takes the place of the natural or type and shadow. So if there is a natural lineage that is a type and shadow then there is a prophetic voice to usher in the reality. The prophetic voice for his type and shadow of the Patriarchal order comes from Malachi 4:5,6:

“Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the Earth with a curse.”

God ends the Old Testament with the prophetic voice and then the angel of the Lord comes to Zacharias and tells Him this same prophecy from Malachi in Luke 1:17. Now I am not going to spend much time on this because we talked about it in a previous message but the prophecy speaks of the spirit of Elijah coming and the Lord turning the hearts of the Fathers to the children. Now, the spirit of Elijah goes back as a type and shadow to the event between Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 2:9-15). Now Elijah is a type and shadow of John the Baptist because it was he that came in the spirit of Elijah. In turn, Elisha, who received the double portion, was a type and shadow of Jesus because Jesus was the one who received the double portion of the Spirit of God. In addition it is Jesus that shows us the Father. So when Jesus arrives on the scene and is resurrected from the dead the Patriarchal order changes from a natural lineage to a spiritual lineage. Even better it is now the original lineage that God established back in the Garden with God as the Father and mankind as His sons. So now no longer is the Patriarchal order about biological fathers but about spiritual fathers. Moreover, these spiritual fathers do not have to be biological fathers. Hence we have Paul writing to the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 4:15) telling them that he has begot them in Christ Jesus as their father because they lack fathers even though they have thousands of teachers in Christ.

So the type and shadow of the Patriarchal Order is found in Luke 3:23-38. This is made up of biological fathers discipling their sons. When the reality came, Jesus Christ, the season changed and the Patriarchal order changed from biological to spiritual. So there is no fleshly line to the Father. There is only a spiritual genealogy and God is our Father and we are His sons (offspring). In this spiritual genealogy there are earthly spiritual fathers that are here to disciple and show the ways of Christ, who also shows us the ways of the Father. So we need to understand not to live in the type and shadow but live in the reality that is heralded by the apostolic. Now let me show you these scriptures and end this part of the messages.

Hebrews 10:1: “For the Law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers perfect.”

Hebrews 8:4-6: “For if He were on Earth, He should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the Law: Who serve the example (type) and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. BUT NOW hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a BETTER COVENANT, which was established upon better promises”

Serve the reality and hear the word of God for this current season. Living in the type and shadow when God has brought the reality means you out of the Will of God because the reality has come and the apostolic has heralded it in. Hear ye the word of the Lord in this Season.

At the Father’s Service,

Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.

A Sent Message

Culture of the Kingdom

Today’s Topic: The Apostles’ Doctrine: A Sent Message

Scripture: John 4:16; Acts 2:1,2

Greetings Kingdom Citizens

We left off with some profound scriptures in our previous message and today we want to continue this look at the Apostle’s Doctrine. We left off with a challenge of whether you believe Jesus or not! Jesus in John 14:6 stated He is the (exclusive) way, truth and life and NO MAN comes to the Father except by Him. Now we talked in some previous messages about Ambassadors and delegates and we know Jesus delegates authority and power to Holy Spirit who gives it to us to execute His Will in the Earth. Now the apostles or “sent ones” are specific people who are sent by God to deliver the word of God for that season that brings the revelation of a mystery that has been in type and shadow and now is being revealed. Now if you do not accept or recognize the apostolic then you will continue in religion and living in the type and shadow and never coming into the reality and the grace of God in the New Season.

Now these apostles are not the access point to God! I need to make that clear. Jesus said no man comes to the Father but by Him. The apostles are the ones that the message of God COMES THROUGH. They are the ones that speak for God and not the ones whom you access God through. The Roman church for example states “Unless you come through this way you cannot come to the Father….” Hence you have people believing that the Catholic church is the only way to the Father. However Jesus did not set it up that way. He did not set up some means by which another may stand in His place. He is the only one and the only person that can give you access to the Father. Now if Jesus is the one who gives us access then there must be an actual relationship not religion with the Lord Jesus Christ but that is the result of an apostolic gospel. It is the gospel (good news) that comes by an apostle that brings the truth to mankind.

This message that the apostle brings, when it is heard, it restores or promotes or even re-establishes the relationship between the individual and Christ. Now remember Christ is the Head of the church which also is His body. So to belong to the Body of Christ you must be connected to the Head. Now that seems simple enough. Now the message that connects you to the Head is an apostolic message. The message through the apostle is the thing that God is saying at the time. This message represents the revealing of a mystery that was once spoken but now is about to be revealed. The type and shadow that currently stands is about to be taken away and give way to the reality. God setup forms, types and shadows in the Old Testament and even some in the New Testament that is not the reality but is meant to be like a light on a path. It is to guide you to the reality. Let me give you an example that the church struggles with and it pertains to the Kingdom.

The Kingdom has come, the Kingdom is coming and the Kingdom will come. Simply stating, that the Kingdom of God in the Earth is full but not complete. In other words there is nothing on Earth that the Kingdom needs or needs to be improved upon. So it is like a baby. A baby is completely a baby who has limbs and organs but the difference is that they need to be developed. The Kingdom of God came back to the Earth on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1,2). Now it came in all of its fullness but not completeness. Now as time goes on, more and more of the mysteries of the Kingdom are going to be revealed. The things that God once presented in type and shadow to the earth will now be revealed. This revealing will be ushered or heralded in by the apostolic. When they speak, the seasons change because they are sent in the proper season to reveal the word of the Lord for that season. As a result, with a new season comes a new dispensation of grace, or economy of God.

At the Father’s Service,

Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.

Role of the Apostolic

Culture of the Kingdom

Today’s Topic: The Apostles’ Doctrine: Understanding the Role of the Apostolic

Scripture: Acts 2:42;

Greetings Kingdom Citizens

When a church does not receive the apostolic then they do not have a connection between the mouth of God and the ear of the people. In our past message we looked at Romans 10:15 and saw that the preacher must be sent (Apostolos). The apostle is the one commissioned by God in every generation to update the revelation of the mysteries for that generation. So in a few words there are apostles today who are to be revealing the mysteries of the Kingdom to the saints and the thing that God is doing CURRENTLY in the earth. Let’s look at this: Ephesians 3:2-5 and this is Paul speaking:

“If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:”

Jesus even said in Matthew 23:34-39:

“Wherefore behold I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all righteousness blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou killest the prophets and stonest them which “are sent” (Apostolos) unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings and ye would not! Behold your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

Now this is evident to me, Jesus and Paul that there is a need for apostles AND prophets. Remember, the prophets are shown the new season before it actually hits. The apostolic heralds it in by telling you what reality has come to the earth. So now no longer the type and shadow is relevant but the reality that has come. Now Jesus stated in Matthew 23:34 that He is sending prophets, wise men and scribes. Now the problem we run into we really do not believe Jesus! Now I am not questioning you because if you do then you do. But what I am saying is we have preachers who talk about how God loves you and want you to live your best life and He wants to bless you with riches and all of this but the fundamental principal that they fail to tell you is that you must submit to the rulership of the Lord, Jesus Christ. You hear a lot of people talk about God but when it comes to Jesus, there seems to be this air of mystery. Now your life in the Kingdom is only as good as your faith. But moreover you must change your thinking from democracy to monarchy or Kingdom-thinking. Democracy is opinion driven and the Kingdom is whatever the King says. Now Jesus made some powerful declarations and if you do not believe this declaration you will find yourself in religion and not the culture of the Kingdom:

John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”

Now that statement makes Jesus exclusive and the only way to the Father. New age religion and all of these other false religions of the earth will fight that declaration. Why? Because with the rise of the Global Kingdom and the Antichrist we will see a compromise of this very declaration. Their reason for it is to promote peace and unity in religions. This is nothing but the work of Satan. Now if you compromise on John 4:16 and the declaration of Jesus, Jesus has these words for you in Matthew 10:33:

Matthew 10:33: “But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in Heaven”.

Jesus is telling us Himself and through Paul that there are “sent ones” or apostles that He will send who will speak for God. These apostles will inform the Body of Christ of what God is doing currently in the Earth. When we reject the apostles, and I want to make this clear, we reject the word of God to our ears and Jesus said our house will be left desolate (Matt. 10:38,39). It is desolate because there is no current word or fresh food for our spirits coming from God because we rejected the sent one from God.

At the Father’s Service,

Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.

Understanding the Apostolic Part 2

Culture of the Kingdom

Today’s Topic: The Apostles’ Doctrine: Understanding the Apostolic Part 2

Scripture: Romans 10:14-17

Greetings Kingdom Citizens

Why does God speak through the apostolic and what is their function in the culture of the Kingdom? Remember God is revealing mysteries. Let’s look at a familiar scripture and break this down because when you see it, your spirit will rejoice because the reality has come to you and you are not living this scripture through the doctrines of man.

Romans 10:17: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”

So faith comes not by reading or seeing but by hearing. Now remember not to pass words by. People quote this scripture all the time but it would make sense if it is explained in its entirety. When the scripture says “so faith” that is indicative that faith is a result or is the consequence of what has been previously said and that you have faith because you have heard the word of God which comes to you. Ok sounds simple but how does the word of God come to you?

Romans 10:14,15: “How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things”

Then Romans 10:17 goes on to say “So faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God”

Let’s draw this back and put the entire thing in context. In the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 8:3: “…Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live”. Now this same thing was said in the New Testament in Jesus response to Satan’s temptation: Matthew 4:4 “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” So faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God. The word of God comes to your ears. Now the word of God based upon the scriptures above is food for the spirit. So when the word of God comes to your ears, it nourishes your spirit and produces faith. But how does the word of God come from the mouth of God to your ears? Let’s bring it home! If you look at Romans 10:15 the answer is, it is the one that God sends or better yet it is the “sent one” from God. The original Greek meaning for the word “sent” in verse 15, you will see a very revealing truth. The word “sent” in Romans 10:15 in the Greek is “Apostello”. Apostello is the word derived from Apostolos which means Apostle. Is an Apostle a preacher? Absolutely because they preach (declare) the word of God. Jesus in Matthew 10:7 sent the apostles out and told them to preach (declare) “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”. So the one the God sends, brings the word of God in season and that’s the word of God that comes from God to your ear because the mouth of the preacher is the substitute mouth of God. So the person bringing the word of God in the season has to be sent. He can’t be who we voted for in a democratic meeting or setting. Better yet, He cannot be the one we favor and want because he knows “how to preach”. HE MUST BE SENT FROM GOD! Now I learned something unique about the word “Apostolos”. In Greece the mail trucks had the word Apostolos on them. The apostolos are the ones that deliver the mail. Hmm! They deliver someone else’s mail to another person! So the mailman is the “one sent” to deliver the mail. The apostles are the ones sent to deliver the word of God (mail) to the people.

Now here is a warning! If the denomination or culture you live in does not recognize or ignores the apostles: there is no CURRENT word from God. When you build religion around that mindset, you are at best receiving a type or shadow of the reality because the word of God that is to reveal the reality has been withdrawn for lack of faith. This is why many denominations seem to continue in circles and never really grow spiritually. They do the same thing over and over and it does not seem that they ever change. But God changes in the way He deals with us and He sends a word through the apostolic in the New Season or the season you are in to let you know exactly what God is doing. I will never forget December 31, 2009 the Lord spoke to me and told me to tell the people that in 2010 “I am Restoring Families”. Now when I got before my home church for youth ministry I told the people what God said word for word. The people looked back at me and stared as if I said something crazy. But it was not until around March or April 2010, I began to see exactly what God was doing. He was restoring physical families back to order by reuniting mothers and daughters, sons and fathers. He was bringing people back in fellowship with the family of God in the church but most of all where I saw it was in this very ministry. When we shift from series to series, we are led by God on what to discuss. For most of this year we have been discussing the House of God, the Family of God and the Ministry of Reconciliation. God was really bringing to the forefront restoration of His Family. God is beginning to mature the sons of God who are accepting of their place in the Kingdom and willing to do the will of God. The early church was led by the apostles, not pastors but apostles. I urge any and all denominational and non-denominational churches, do not ignore the voice of the apostolic because if you do, your church will be like a traditional revolving door, ever circling, but never excelling.

At the Father’s Service,

Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.

The Apostles' Doctrine: Introduction

Culture of the Kingdom

Today’s Topic: The Apostles’ Doctrine: Introduction to Understanding the Apostolic

Scripture: Acts 2:42; Matthew 10:40; Romans 1:28

Greetings Kingdom Citizens

Acts 2:42: They continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ Doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers.

Now the first thing I want to point out that these new believers, just baptized and newborns in the Kingdom IMMEDIATLEY continued steadfastly. That means these people were committed and devoted to whatever the Apostles’ doctrine is. Next, if the apostles’ doctrine is an imperative of the Kingdom culture then there must be apostles today! Now I am not going into proving all of this again but if you want the proof then please check out our series on the “The Kingdom of God” and you can read that message. But there are apostles today. Now, some denominations have done away or do not recognize the apostolic to avoid hierarchies and to allow the church to act more democratically. Do we notice that for the most part what is being said in many pulpits around the world is to have more of an impact on the current society? Now should the messages from the pulpit change society? Yes but it should also foster the society and culture of the Kingdom to come into mankind and bring the rulership of Jesus Christ to the Earth. But we do not really hear about rulership, let alone the Kingdom. It is all about getting saved and not going to hell. But the first cultural change centered around the apostles.

The word “Apostolos” means one sent or as I have heard it “sent one”. Now if apostolos means one sent, then that means someone is sending the one who is sent. If you are an apostle then you were sent by someone. Jesus said is best in Matthew 10:40: “He that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.” Jesus is showing the disciples the apostolic gift and the definition of it. Jesus WAS SENT by the Father and the Apostles (One Sent) were sent by Jesus. So now if we do not know what the apostles’ doctrine is then we can look and probably find that the church or that denomination did not embrace the apostolic and because the apostolic was not embraced that gift was withdrawn from that body of believers until the one who comes in the name of the Lord comes and they are ready to receive the truth. Now that may challenge you beliefs or what you think is right based upon your religious status but the truth comes from Christ and it is evident that for some of us and that included me at the time, I did not know anything about the apostles doctrine until God knew that I wanted truth and I was not going to inject my beliefs or doctrines in what He was saying. The problem we are having is we are injecting democracy in the Kingdom. See the old saying is that democracy empowers and enable the people. But what is does, especially in the Kingdom, it enslaves them to a “commonality” type of thinking without altering their understanding of the truth. In a democracy, no matter what truth is, to the people it is all about their opinion and perception. The main line to any issue with someone who lives in a democracy is “I think”. Then in some cases people have the right to vote on what they think and they vote based upon their own convictions to what the truth is. In the Kingdom of God

“I think” does not fly anywhere. In the Kingdom of God there is a King named Jesus. Whatever Jesus says is truth. In the Kingdom there is no voting on referendums or amendments. What you believe or do not believe as an individual is irrelevant. All belief structures have been already put into place. Now you have the freedom to decide whether or not you believe, but you do not have the freedom to decide what you believe. Jesus does not make truth based upon popular appeal. We can look at the life of Jesus and see He was not popular in the sense because the very ones He would heal and feed are the same ones that would crucify Him. Jesus knows the end from the beginning. See we are in time so our view from time is limited but He is eternal. One of the frightening things I have seen is preachers aligning themselves with politicians. Now why would you align yourself with someone who has already told you that they are for abortion or for homosexuality? Better yet why would you align yourself with someone who exalts the rich and degrades the poor? Now they say they are bringing the gospel to them but what is their real motive. These preachers are on camera smiling with these people and let them speak from the pulpits just because of their natural social status. Can I be honest, it just makes me shake my head and ask, what are we doing? I watched a politician come into one of our local churches and ask for people’s vote and she talks about all of the things she was going to do for the children, but the question really needed to be asked is where do you stand on this? Are you a Kingdom citizen and son of God? Do you know Jesus? See if they do not know any of that then they cannot bring the rulership of God to that nation or area. Well one year later she is in the newspaper pulling on the side of homosexuality. We need to allow Holy Spirit to discern people for us. See most of these politicians see money and many of the preachers that are with them if you take a look are the ones with the mega churches and huge platform. They want to be seen so they can say, here I took a picture with the future president. Or hey, the future President or Congressman came to ”my church” and I allowed Him to speak to my people. Never mind whether they believe in Christ or not or whether they promote homosexuality or abortions. They just want to be seen so they can get some publicity and the one thing it is all about “MONEY, MONEY MONEY!” How perverse these people have become and some of these people are pastors and bishops of congregations. Their gospel is the gospel of prosperity and money they do not know the true gospel of the Kingdom or the King.

We will continue looking at the Apostolic in the next message.

At the Father’s Service,

Elder Calvin Calhoun Jr.