Nourishment in the Kingdom of God

Covenant of Sonship

Ark of the Covenant and the House of God
Today’s Focus: Tablets of the Covenant and the Covenant of Sonship
Scripture: Hebrews 1; 7:17

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Just as natural Israel would be lead by the Law of Moses in the ark of the Covenant, we as the Spiritual Israel of God are to carry the Covenant of Sonship. What is the covenant of sonship? Well just as the Law of Moses made Israel a nation and protected it, the covenant of Sonship does the exact same thing. It is the laws and principals that makes us the Holy Nation and protects us from the constant barrage from the enemy, Satan. Here are the ten laws of the Covenant of Sonship:

1. Election by Adoption
Hebrews 1:5: “Thou are my son, this day have I begotten thee?”
2. Totalitarian Oneness
Hebrews 1:3:”Who being the brightness of his glory, the express image of his person”
3. Mutual Love of Heritage
Hebrews 1:5: “I will be to him a Father and he shall be to me a Son?”
4. Dominion
Hebrews 1:6:”And let all the angels of God worship him”
5. Power and Authority
Hebrews 1:8: Thy throne, O God is for ever and ever
6. Everlasting Kingdom in Righteous Rule
Hebrews 1:8: A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy Kingdom
7. Righteousness Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost
Hebrews 1:9: Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows
8. Ambassadorial Grace
Hebrews 1:10: And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
9. Peace and Rest
Hebrews 1:13: Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
10. Priestly Order
Hebrews 7:17: For he testifieth, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek

When we keep these 10 spiritual laws and principals at the forefront of our households then we understand who we are and we understand how we are to function in the earth as the sons of God. A lack of understanding this leads to spiritual attack of identity and the perfect example of how the enemy will attempt to attack your identity is the temptations of Jesus in Matthew 4. Jesus drew from His knowledge of the Covenant of Sonship and by being lead by that principal He was able to fight the devil with the Word. Remember the devil even tried to get Jesus to worship him but Jesus knew that the angels were created to serve the sons of God, not to be worshipped by the sons of God. It is so vital that we really began to bring the Ark of the Covenant into our households and be lead by the three principals that allows us to obtain mercy from God.

1. Golden Pot of Manna – The Grace of God
2. Aaron’s Rod – Theocratic Leadership
3. Tablets of the Covenant – Covenant of Sonship

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Tablets of the Covenant

Ark of the Covenant and the House of God
Today’s Focus: Tablets of the Covenant
Scripture: Deuteronomy 10:4,5; Galatians 3:23-25

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
The tablets of the covenant is the last item in the ark that we want to unfold. Now we know or we should know that the tablets of the covenant contained the Ten Commandments. These were put on two stone tablets and placed in the ark. Let me show you:

Deuteronomy 10:4,5: And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me. And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me.

Now we know that the giving of the Law of Moses is what made Israel a nation. The laws given from God to Moses to give to the children of Israel was to set boundaries and give them order in their lives of how they were to conduct themselves according to this agreement between God and the children of Israel. Now let me say that the giving of the Law of Moses shows the love of God because this Law protected Israel. As long as you kept the law, you were in favor with God. Now we know that the Tablets of the Covenant represent a spiritual reality in which the sons of God are to live by and we will discuss this in the next message.

Here are some important points to remember about the Law of Moses because there are people and sects of religion that believe you must keep the Law of Moses and this is not true. Let me show you.

Galatians 3:23-25: But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law WAS OUR SCHOOLMASTER to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith, But after that faith is come, WE ARE NO LONGER UNDER A SCHOOLMASTER

So the scriptures clearly speak that we are not under a schoolmaster which is the Law but it is the Law that brings us to Christ that we might be justified. Now we said already that the Tablets of the Covenant was the Law of Moses that the children of Israel was to follow so that they stayed in favor with God. As the Ark lead the children of Israel, one of the principals they were to be lead by was the Law of Moses. But since we are not under the Law of Moses, what principal or covenant are we to live by? See you next message!

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Representation of the Rod Part 2

Ark of the Covenant and the House of God
Today’s Focus: Aaron’s Rod: Representation of the Rod Part 2
Scripture: Jeremiah 5:9-12; Psalm 23:4

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Let's get right into it.

Jeremiah 5:9-12: Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold I have put my words in thy mouth. See I have this day SET THEE over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seeth thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me,Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

The prophet Jeremiah is speaking and listening to the Lord and notice at the beginning that the Lord put His word in Jeremiah's mouth. Now by doing this, He has set Jeremiah over the nations and kingdoms. So we see that the Lord sets or selects the leaders over His people and He confers His favor on the leader or messenger to His people by placing His word in their mouth. When they speak, they speak and lead not as themselves but as the mouthpiece and representative of God.

Now God shows Jeremiah a rod of an almond tree. Now where have we seen this? In Genesis 30:32-41 when God was conferring His favor and selecting the set man over the house of Israel. The children of Israel understood that the one carrying the rod was the father or elder. So when Jeremiah sees the rod this was to let Him know that God has selected Him and by His word it will perform it. What will it perform? Go back to Jeremiah 1:10: To root out, and to pull down and to destroy, and to throw down, to buiild and to plant. We as the Body of Christ have been called to do these exact things and allow the Word of God to live and operate through us to bring these things to the Earth.

The only thing a leader can do is speak and do what he sees the Father do. By living from this capacity, the Father’s rulership for mankind can flow through the sons of God into the Earth. When we are under true theocratic leadership, comfort is brought to the sons of God. What do I mean:

Psalm 23:4: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou are WITH ME, THY ROD and thy staff they comfort me.

So when we are under theocratic leadership, as we walk through this life and the trials and troubles that will come Godly leadership will be with us and through them the Lord comforts us until the threat or trouble is done. To understand theocratic leadership requires the church to really shift in their current situation and really trust God to set men over households as fathers and bring the sons to maturity. We as the people and the sheep do not get to choose the shepherd. Nor did we get a vote on who our biological father would be so why would we think that we get a choice of who our pastor or spiritual father should be. The spirit of democracy must be removed from the church but it requires repentance from tradition and pride and true submission to the ways of the Father.

In the next message we will look at the last item in the Ark, the Tablets of the Testimony.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Representation of the Rod

Ark of the Covenant and the House of God
Today’s Focus: Aaron’s Rod: Representation of the Rod
Scripture: Numbers 17:1-10

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Now we know that the rod is symbolic of theocratic leadership or leadership that is ordained by God. Now let me show you what the rod represents in scripture. The rod is a symbolic representation of a tribe. Remember in Numbers 17:2 the Lord spoke to Moses and told them to take a rod according to the house of their fathers and there were twelve rods taken up. Now one of the key principals I want to bring to your attention before I go any further is that the children of Israel were complaining against the one carrying the rod. What they did not understand was then when you grumble or murmur against the God-chosen leader this brings upon death per Numbers 17:10. So we need to be conscious of what we say and who we grumble against. Now if the rod is representative of the tribe itself then the one carrying the rod is the God-ordained leader and because he is carrying the rod which represents the tribe, he himself is a reflection of his house.

Remember from our series on Servanthood, leaders are servants themselves and through their service to the household they show the children how they are to serve as a son in their father’s or Father’s house. Now one of the unique things God did in Numbers 17 was that He caused one of the rods to blossom and it blossomed and sprouted almonds. So what is that about? The sprouting of the rod is symbolic of the favor of God conferred upon the leader. Leadership is not conferred by vote or committee in the Kingdom of God. It is conferred by the King unto the man and this called the favor of God. Now the sign of favor was the almond blossoming from the rod. Now let’s look at some powerful scriptures to bring this concept home.

Now for the sake of time I will give you the scripture where you can find this information but I want to draw these two pictures rather quickly. Here in Genesis 30:25-43 we see the interaction between Laban and Jacob about the cattle but there was a very important principal presented here that the Lord wants to bring out.
Genesis 30:32 – The speckled and spotted cattle represented a picture of deficient believers.
Jacob made rods out of the green poplar, hazel and chestnut tree and them white and put them before the flocks in the gutters in the watering troughs (Genesis 30:37,38). Now when the cattle would come before the rods they would conceive and become stronger (Genesis 30:41). So if we can get the sheep to look at the rod they will become stronger. In other words when we can get the sons of God to recognize the God-ordained leader or set-man over the household then the sons of God will mature and become stronger.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Aaron's Rod

Ark of the Covenant and the House of God
Today’s Focus: Aaron’s Rod
Scripture: Number 17:1-13

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Aaron’s Rod was the second item within the Ark of the Covenant. Now I want to show you how it got there, why it was there and what it means to the Body of Christ in receiving the mercy of God.

Numbers 17:1-5: And the Lord spake to Moses, saying Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man’s name upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. And it shall come to pass, that the man’s rod whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you.

Now this passage is so loaded so let’s start with this statement.

The rod represents theocratic leadership

Now let’s back up and explain. The children of Israel were murmuring against Moses but what they did not realize was, because they were murmuring against Moses they were murmuring against God. So God asks Moses to take a rod from each of the tribes of Israel and write the name of their father’s on the rod and for Levi, write Aaron’s name. God instructs them to take every rod and lay them in the tabernacle of the congregation. Now here is the kicker, the Lord will choose which rod He desires to blossom (verse 5). In God selecting the rod or family he desires to lead, it was to cease the murmurings to the Lord that they were making to Moses. Now let’s back up because we have a huge principal being exposed here and it is the selection of leadership. I might not finish this message because of this topic but we must get this out and expose it.

If the rod represents theocratic leadership and that leadership is selected by God then the spirit of democracy is not of God as it pertains to the Body of Christ. With the spirit of democracy comes voting, opinions and elective process and last I check God did not require a vote from the people for anything that He commanded us to do. No one voted for Abraham to be the father of many nations. No one voted for David to be king of Israel. No one voted for Jesus to be the King of the Kingdom. No one voted for Paul to carry the grace of God to the Gentiles and no one voted for the original 12 apostles to be the original 12 spiritual fathers of Israel. No voting at all but God anointed and ordained. In other words all of these democratic processes that we do in the Body of Christ is not of God. God sets a man or father over a household and ordains him. No one voted for him to be father. Because if they can vote you in, they can vote you out and that is the voice of the people and this was a major issue with the church of Laodicea which means “rulership by the people”.

Theocratic leadership is leadership ordained by God. I know this may be hard to wrap our heads around but yes, God selects leadership, not an executive board, or executive council, or search committee, but God. We are to fast and pray and whomever God sends we are to receive them and follow them. This is the biblical model and the way the Father ordained the church to handle such matters. We have allowed democracy to creep in and when that happens the people’s voice matters more than the Father’s.

In the next message we will look at the symbolic representation of the rod used in scripture.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Impartation of Grace

Ark of the Covenant and the House of God
Today’s Focus: Golden Pot of Manna Part 3: Impartation of Grace
Scripture: Ephesians 3:2-7; John 6:27; Romans 10:14-17;

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Let me start off with this scripture, Ephesians 3:2-7 and we will back track for understanding:

Ephesians 3:2-7: 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; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ by the gospel: Whereof I was made a minister, ACCORDING TO THE GIFT OF THE GRACE OF GOD GIVEN UNTO ME BY THE EFFECTUAL WORKING OF HIS POWER.

Now we came to the conclusion that the Word of God is full of grace. We also concluded it is by the Word of God that grace is imparted to us and it is the subsistence needed for our existence. Now notice in this letter to the church at Ephesus. Paul asks them have they not heard of the dispensation of grace given to him to give to them. Now many people throw the word dispensation around but let’s keep it simple. Dispensing is simply pouring out of giving to. A pharmacist dispenses medicine. So let’s not make this bigger than what it is. Paul was sent to the church at Ephesus to dispense the grace of God to them. But how does he do this? In the same scripture he tells them by REVELATION of God made known to him whereby he will make the mystery known to them. Do we see this! It is by the Spirit of God imparting the Word of God to the spirit of man. Man then speaks the same word to the ears and spirits of others so that they may receive the same grace imparted to the original receiver. Now the key here is one in order to receive the grace, one must be in the position to receive and it comes from the mouth of God’s preacher! Now I know somebody’s head is spinning but God imparts the Word to man and man then imparts it to others. Watch this!

Romans 10:14-17: 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! But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias said, Lord who hath believed our report? SO THEN, faith comes by HEARING AND HEARING BY THE WORD OF GOD.

Even to receive salvation, the Word of God must be brought to you and spoken by the mouth of the preacher whom is sent by God. So to build our faith we must hear the Word of God and receive grace to strengthen our faith. This is why Jesus can say these exact words.

John 6:27: Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

The meat or bread the Lord gives us that endures unto everlasting life is His Word full of grace. In this season we must know the God-sent preachers because they are carriers of the grace to the Body of Christ. We must hear the Word of the Lord to receive grace and most of all we must obey the Word of the Lord. When repentance is called for, repent so that your faith can be strengthened and your maturity can continue.

So if we are to obtain mercy then the first principal we must live by is the Divine Grace of God which is represented by the Golden Pot of Manna. Grace comes by the Word of God.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Golden Pot of Manna Part 2

Ark of the Covenant and the House of God
Today’s Focus: Golden Pot of Manna Part 2: The Reality
Scripture: Matthew 6:9-11; John 1:1,14; 6;33

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Ok, we know that manna was bread that fell from heaven in Exodus. We know that manna is a type and shadow of the real bread that came from Heaven.

John 6:33: For the bread of God is He which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

So now we know that Jesus is the bread that comes from Heaven. But let me show you this because the Golden Pot of Manna represents something about the Lord Jesus Christ. We know that gold is a symbol of divinity and so the bread is contained within something that is divine. Let me show you this scripture and this scripture will tell you what the Golden Pot of Manna represents.

John 1:14: And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.

Now we know this scripture refers to Jesus and we know that Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1) but look what it says. It says the Word was full of grace and truth. In other words the Bread from heaven is full of grace and truth. The Golden Pot of Manna represents the Divine Grace that we are to partake of. Now there is no way I believe we can do a complete series that would encompass all that grace is, but we will do a teaching series on grace later. Now let’s make the link between bread and grace. Let’s look at the model prayer

Matthew 6:11: Give us this day our daily bread

Sound like a simple request but did we understand what we were asking for? The key word in this scripture is “daily”. The word daily in the Greek is “epiousios” which means subsistence. So in the prayer we are asking the Father to give us “this day”, not tomorrow, but this day our subsistence or the thing we need to live by. Now many take bread to be many things such as money, gas, car or daily provision but that is not what the prayer is about. We should be praying for our daily allotment of grace. Now I want to show you this analogy and we will continue to look at how we live by grace in the next message:

Question: Why do we eat an orange?
Do we eat it taste the juice and sweetness? Of course not. That is not why you eat and orange. You eat an orange to consume and get vitamin C that is necessary for the body. But in order to get the Vitamin C, you must eat the orange.

Hence in order to receive grace we must eat the bread that comes from heaven which is the Word of God. But how do we do that? We will look at this process in the next message. So the Golden Pot of Manna represents the Divine Grace that we live by.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Golden Pot of Manna Part 1

Ark of the Covenant and the House of God
Today’s Focus: Contents of the Ark of the Covenant: Golden Pot of Manna Part 1
Scripture: Hebrews 9:4; Exodus 16

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Hebrews 9:4: Which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the GOLDEN POT THAT HAD MANNA, and Aaron’s rod that budded and the tables of the covenant.

The first item that we will look at is the golden pot of manna. This was a commandment from the Lord to keep this in the ark for all generations:

Exodus 16:33,34: And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord to be kept for your generations. As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

Now we know that manna was bread that fell from Heaven.

Exodus 16:4: Then said the Lord unto Moses, behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law or no.

Now what is unique is that the Lord instructed them that they should go out each day and collect. Now in Exodus 16:5 the Lord instructs them on the sixth day to collect enough for two days. There was even a process and order for the collection of bread.

Exodus 16:16: This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF YOUR PERSONS TAKE YE EVERY MAN FOR THEM WHICH ARE IN HIS TENTS.

Now it says that a man should go out and collect enough bread for every member of his household that is enough to fill them for that day. Now God strictly forbid the hoarding of the bread because if they collected more than they should, it would have worms and stink the next morning and some of the people did that and God was upset. Remember God was testing them to see if they would walk in His instruction (Exodus 16:4).

So now we have a historical look at manna and the instruction from the Lord to put in a pot and keep it in the Ark of the Covenant. Now we know that this is the type and shadow. In the next message we will collapse the manna that fell from the heaven to the eternal reality.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

The Mercy Seat and Divine Order of the Ark of the Covenant

Ark of the Covenant and the House of God
Today’s Focus: The Mercy Seat and the Divine Order with the Ark of the Covenant
Scripture: Numbers 3:29-31; Isaiah 9:6; Hebrews 9:1-3

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Now as we stated before we know that the mercy seat was placed on top of the Ark of the Covenant and two cherubims were placed on either side with their wings outstretched towards the mercy seat. Now the first thing we must take away is the myth about the mercy seat. The mercy seat is NOT the Throne of God. The mercy seat is the place God sits to extend mercy. Now the question is, to who and how? Mercy is extended to those who abide and live by the principals within the Ark of the Covenant. We know based in Hebrews 9:1-3 that inside of the ark was the Golden Pot of Manna, Aaron’s Rod and the Tablets of the Covenant. Now notice I said principals. So the objects within the ark carry an eternal principal that we are to abide by and if we abide by those principals then mercy will be extended towards us.

These three principals were essential for a variety of reasons and I would like to point out three important ones and I will give scriptures and for the sake of time:
1. Worship (Leviticus 16:1-14; Numbers 7:8,9; 1 Chronicles 15:1,2)
2. Must be Lead by the Ark (Numbers 10:30-36; Joshua 3:1-3; Joshua 4:1-7)
3. Spiritual Warfare (Joshua 6:1-8)

Now God is the God of Order and even when it came to carrying the Ark of the Covenant, there were specific people who could do that. Many would say, yes it was the Levites and that is true, but it was a particular family of the Levities that could and that was the family of Kohathites. Kohath was the second son of Levi.

Numbers 3:29-31: The families of the sons of Kohath shall pitch on the side of the tabernacle southward. And the chief of the house of the father of the families of the Kohathites shall be Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. And their charge shall be the Ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister and the hanging, and all the service thereof.

The family of Kohath was responsible for carrying the vessels and treasures of the temple which included the Ark of the Covenant. Now understand, they were only charged to carry it, not touch it.

Numbers 4:15: And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it; but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.

This is why the ark of the covenant has 4 staves coming out of it for transport on the shoulders of the family of Kohath. Now this is not a coincidence that they were selected instead of Gershon or Merari (Numbers 3:17). Watch this:

The name Kohath means in Hebrew “Assembly or Congregation”. So we have the “Congregation” that is charged to carry the ark of the covenant. Now they did not just carry it any particular way. They carried the ark on their shoulders. This is representing a governmental responsibility when one carries something on their shoulders. Isaiah 9:6a: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder:” Now to carry the ark of the covenant on your shoulders was not a burdensome task but one of privilege. So who do you think is the congregation or assembly that is called to carry the ark? How about the ekklesia? The church, the sons of God are called to carry the ark and in carrying the ark we carry and abide by the very principals contained within the ark.

In the next message we will begin to look at the various items within the ark and see the eternal principals they represent.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Examining the Ark

Ark of the Covenant and the House of God
Today’s Focus: Examining the Ark
Scripture: Exodus 25:10-22

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Now let’s look at the ark itself. We know that God gives us natural things and infuses then with eternal reality to be revealed. Now let’s look at this:

Exodus 25:10,11: And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.

Now why would God just not make the Ark gold but overlay the wood with gold? Because the wood represents humanity and the gold represents divinity. In other words it is humanity covered in divinity. Does that sound like any body we know? Of course! It represents the sons of God. Humanity covered in divinity.

Exodus 25:13: And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood and overlay them with gold.

The staves are the four posts that come out of the ark to allow the Levitical tribe to carry the ark. Notice the staves are made with wood but covered in gold. Same concept.

Exodus 25:16: And thou shalt put into the ark, the testimony which I shall give thee.

What is the testimony the Lord will give them? It is the tablets of the covenant.

Exodus 25:17: And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof and thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.

So we see the mercy seat and the two cherubims are made of pure gold representing the heavenly. The mercy seat and the cherubims would be placed on top of the ark. Now let me lay this misconception to rest. The mercy seat is not the throne of God. If it was the throne of God then the angels would be equal to God and we know that is not true. But we will explain the concept of the mercy seat shortly.

The Ark of the Covenant is the only piece of furniture located in the Holiest of all. Hence this piece of furniture means a lot and has significant placement within the Body of Christ.

In the next message we will continue to look at the Ark and the concept of the Mercy Seat.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Two New Teaching Series available for Download

Households of Faith - Scriptural Pictures of the House
Households of Faith - Governmental Structure of the House of God

New Teaching Series: Ark of the Covenant and House of God

Ark of the Covenant and the House of God
Today’s Focus: Introduction
Scripture: Hebrews 9:1-4

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
When we think about the Ark of the Covenant, what goes through our mind? We think about a big wood box with gold and two angels on top bowing down. Many say it represents the presence of God or the Holy Spirit. However many do not know nor understand and that is ok. In this series we will examine the Ark of the Covenant, what it is, what it represents and the contents within it. Not many people know about the contents within the Ark nor what they mean. There are some churches that have a replica of the ark of the covenant but do we know what it means or is it there just for show to appear religious and important? So let’s get started because I can promise you, if we desire to see the glory of God come back to the households of faith we must carry the ark. Now am I talking about everyone going out and building or buying a ark? Of course not! The ark of the covenant was lost about 580 years before Jesus came to earth. Well if it was lost that far before Jesus, why is it important for us to carry it let alone find it? To answer this question is to have an understanding of what the ark of the covenant is and it meaning and purpose.

The Ark of the Covenant represents the principals and ancient rules that guarantees the presence of God in the areas in which we live. Now we know that the Ark of the Covenant would exist in tents and when the temple was built it will come to rest in the Holiest of All. Let me show you this:

Hebrews 9:1-4: The verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there was a tabernacle made: the first, wherein was the CANDLESTICK, AND THE TABLE AND THE SHEWBREAD WHICH IS CALLED THE SANCTUARY. And after the second veil, the tabernacle which was called the Holiest of all; which had THE GOLDEN CENSER, AND THE ARK OF THE COVENANT OVERLAID ROUND ABOUT WITH GOLD, WHEREIN WAS THE GOLDEN POT THAT HAD MANNA, AND AARON’S ROD THAT BUDDED, AND THE TABLES OF THE COVENANT;

So here we see the treasures of the temple of Jerusalem laid out and notice that the Ark of the Covenant was in the Holiest of All. Moreover notice in the scripture it tells us what was in the Ark. It had a Golden Pot of Manna, Aaron’s rod and Tables of the Covenant. We will examine each piece because it is vital in understanding why we need to bring the ark of the covenant back into the House of God.

In the next message we will examine the ark itself and the representation of it.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

New Homepage for the Household

Excited to announce the launch of our new homepage for the Household of Calhoun (Kingdom Citizens Ministries International). Huge thanks and love to Lavena Harris of Unique Graphix for her hardwork in taking a vision and making it a wonderful reality. Here we grow! http://householdofcalhoun.org/

New Website Homepage

This is our new home and website: http://householdofcalhoun.org/

Thanks to our beloved sister in Christ, Lavena Harris (Unique Graphix) for her dedication to assisting us in building this wonderful website.

3 Aspects of Tabernacles

Households of Faith – Principals of the Governmental Structure of the Households
Today’s Focus: 3 Aspects of Tabernacles
Scripture: Leviticus 23:23-44; Isaiah 58:13

Greetings Kingdom Citizens:
The Feasts of Tabernacles starts in the seventh month. We know the number seven means completion, perfection, maturity or fullness. Also it is the season when oil and wine are harvested. Tabernacles have three feasts associated with it. They are The Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and Feast of Tabernacles. Let’s start dissecting this!

The first aspect of Tabernacles is the Feast of Trumpets or Rosh Hashanah.
Leviticus 23:24,25: Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, in the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation. Ye shall do no servile work therein: but ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord.
The blowing of the trumpet is synonymous with the introduction of a new day or season, the entrance of a king. Now we know when we talk about royalty and blowing trumpets it is also synonymous with the assembly of people. The Feast of Trumpets is a day to assemble the body or nation to prepare for national cleansing and the Day of Atonement which will happen on the tenth day.

The second aspect of Tabernacles is the Day of Atonement.
The day of atonement is on the 10th day of the seventh month and it is the one day in the year where the High Priest goes to the mercy seat and sprinkles the blood of the special sacrifice on the mercy seat. It is also a Sabbath day where no servile work is to be done. Hence for the sons of God we are to cease from our own works.
Isaiah 58:13: If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour Him, NOT DOING THINE OWN WAYS, NOR FINDING THINE OWN PLEASURE, NOR SPEAKING THINE OWN WORDS.
So there is a ceasing in the sons of God from doing our own works to doing the works of the Lord. The day of Atonement is a day of fasting where we afflict or humble our souls and live a fasted life. We must allow God to point out the issues that will prevent us from walking in our divine purpose. These issues prevent us from humbling ourselves before the Lord so when He points them out we need to humble ourselves.

The third aspect of Tabernacles is Tabernacles.
Leviticus 23:34-44 describes this last aspect of tabernacles where fathers and sons build booths (houses) and dwell within them for seven days. In addition there will be a re-reading of the Scriptures and the children of Israel are do burn lamps within their booths continually through this feast. What does all of this mean. Upon the Patriarchal Order of the House of God, spiritual fathers and sons will build the Temple of God so that God may tabernacle or dwell among His children and be all of who He is in all of them. Christ is the light of the world. The lamps are symbolic of Christ being within the sons of God and that light being ever present and burning eternally.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Feast of Tabernacles: The Dry Season of the Saints

Households of Faith – Principals of the Governmental Structure of the Households
Today’s Focus: Feast of Tabernacles: The Dry Seasons of the Saints
Scripture: Leviticus 23:23-44

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Now I know many people believe that they will not have dry seasons in their walk with Christ and that is not true. There will be times where it seems He is not near when He is actually right there with you or He may not talk to you as frequently as He did before but all of this is a part of the maturing process. In the next set of messages we will look at the third feast which is Tabernacles. Now we covered Pentecost and the three feasts within it. We covered Pentecost and the aspects of it. We know that Passover is celebrated in the first month. Pentecost is celebrated in the third month. However, Tabernacles is celebrated in the seventh month. So there are no feasts celebrated in months four, five and six. These three months between Pentecost and Tabernacles is what I call the wilderness months.

Now the feast of tabernacles is also called the Season of our Joy, Feast of Booths, Feast of Ingathering, Feast of the Nations and Festival of Lights. Now you cannot enter into the feast of tabernacles until Passover and Pentecost are complete in your life. Now please keep in mind that the church still has leaven in it during these 3 wilderness months to Tabernacles. In this dry season you must go through trials to perfect what God has started within you. So let’s look at some things we must do to come into Tabernacles.

You must first learn to die to self. Self-denial is crucial because if you are to do the Will of the Father nothing about you can say self. You are to be a phantom, invisible so that the glory of God may been seen clearly in you and through you through the works that the Father has you to do. So self-denial is a absolute must in these dry months. Second, we must endure trials and tribulations you see the learn obedience and see the anointing and grace of God working on your behalf. During the feast of Tabernacles there is the Harvest of Oil and Grapes. In order to get the oil, olives are squeezed and pressed. In order to get wine, grapes are squeezed and pressed. The squeezing and pressing represent the trials that you will endure so that you may see the anointing (oil) and the grace (wine) of God working for you.

Dry Seasons are important because they teach you to manage what the Lord has already given you as well as allowing Him to purge more of the world out of you and mature you to the fullness of the stature of Christ.

In the next message, I want to immediately get into the three aspects of Tabernacles.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Celebration of Pentecost

Households of Faith – Principals of the Governmental Structure of the Households
Today’s Focus: The Celebration of Pentecost
Scripture: Leviticus 23:15-21

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
How do we as the sons of God celebrate Pentecost? First we must remember in Leviticus 23:15-21 to wave loaves with leaven are waved unto the Lord. This is symbolic of the Jew and Gentile who both have sin. Listen, when you are born again the blood of Jesus does wash us clean from sin but our flesh is still sinful and this is still a part of us. This is why the two wave loaves have leaven in them. This sin still must be purged out and it eventually will. The celebration of Pentecost is also associated with:.

1. Liberty
Pentecost is mostly associated with liberty. What are we supposed to be free from? Here are a few things: Systems and Ways of the World, Spirit of Jezebel, Religious Spirits, False Brothers and Sisters, Babylonian Operating Systems, External Emphasis, Needs-Driven Church, Preoccupation with the Past and Past Moves of God, Membership, Inflexibility, Titlearity and Legalism. Now these are just a tip of the iceberg of the various things that God desires for us to be free from.

2. Six Offerings (Leviticus 23:16-20)
There was six particular offerings associated with Pentecost. These six are meat offering, wave offering, burnt offering, drink offering, sin offering, peace offering. Understand that six is the number symbolic of the flesh. Jesus was on the cross for 6 hours. The purpose of these offerings was to point to the principal of self denial or death to self. Keep in mind you can never move to seven without killing six. Seven is the number of completion and rest.

3. Rain
Rain is symbolic of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit righteousness can be restored to man. When righteousness is restored to man we have the manifestation of blessings. Now, there are three things that come to test the House of God.
a. Rain which is synonymous with the Favor of God
b. Flood which is synonymous with the Will of God
c. Wind which is synonymous with the Holy Spirit

4. Sabbatical Experience
Leviticus 23:21: And ye shall proclaim on the selfsame day, that it may be an holy convocation unto you: ye shall do no servile work therein: it shall be a statue for ever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.
So in this celebration of Pentecost there is a sabbatical experience of rest that comes with the understanding of Pentecost.

So just to associate Pentecost with speaking of tongues is elementary. Pentecost is crucial and necessary if we are to experience the feast of feasts which is Tabernacles.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Process of Coming to True Pentecost

Households of Faith
Today’s Focus: Process of Coming to True Pentecost
Scripture: Exodus 13:21-22; 14:21-31; Romans 8:14; Deuteronomy 1:2

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
How do we come to experience true Pentecost within the House of God? Well we can look at physical Israel's journey and see the very things that we must do in order to come to experience what God says Pentecost is.

1. Follow the Lead of the Lord
Exodus 13:21-22: And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night: He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.

It will be God that will lead the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land. Now let's take the type and shadow and show the reality. It will be by the lead of the Lord that he will guide you out from the ways and oppression of the world, into the House of God and the Kingdom of God

Romands 8:14: For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God

2. Bury your Enemies
In Exodus 14:21-31 we see the Lord, saving the children of Israel by drowing the Egyptians in the Red Sea. This is the type and shadow, so let's see the reality for the sons of God. Sons of God must bury the enemies of their past in order to advance to true Pentecost. This means leaving the world and its systems and ways that are oppressive to the will of God. whether those enemies are sensual such as sexual perversion, or idolatry or even a simply flawed character that does not reflect the nature and character of Christ. These little enemies must be stamped out and buried in order to truly reach Pentecost.

These two things must happen or you will be just like physical Israel when they were delivered and let me explain. Even though Israel was delivered from Egypt by the hand of the Lord, certain characteristics and traits continued to show amongst the children of Israel as a sign of the Egyptian captivity such as false god worship. Israel was one day from entering into the promised land but their faith and obedience failed them. They came to a land named Kadesh-Barnea (Deuteronomy 1:2) which means "holy but inconstant son". The children of Israel were following God physically but were continually flirting with false god worship and the ways of Egypt. Much like many of us, we are called out of the world but still flirt with the world, its ways and it’s culture that oppose the Father.

It took God hours to take Israel out of Egypt but it took 40 years for God to take Egypt out of Israel.

In the next message we will look at the celebration of Pentecost.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Feast of Pentecost

Households of Faith – Principals of the Governmental Structure of the Households
Today’s Focus: Feast of Pentecost
Scripture: Exodus 10:9,10; Leviticus 23:15-21

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
The feast of Pentecost is the second feast of the three feasts that will show the governmental structure of the households of faith. The very word Pentecost means 50. The feast of Pentecost happens in the third month and it happens 50 days after firstfruits. Now there is a lot of information that we need to examine to get a clear understanding of Pentecost. Pentecost within the church is mostly associated with the coming of the Holy Spirit and the church speaking in tongues. That is the dominant mindset to Pentecost but let me say that is a very limited view and if that is the only view then there is something we are going to miss in understanding the reality of Pentecost. Do not get me wrong, yes on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit endowed the apostles with power and the birth of the church, but there is so much more than that to celebrate and over the next few messages we will examine. The first time people hear about Pentecost they think of Acts 2 but the first mention of Pentecost really is in the Old Testament before Sinai.

Exodus 10:9,10: And Moses said, We will go with our young and with our old, with our sons and with our daughters, with our flocks and with our herds will we go; for we must hold a feast unto the Lord. And he said unto them, Let the Lord be so with you, as I will let you go, and your little ones: look to it; for evil is before you.

The feast spoken here is the feast of Pentecost. Pentecost is associated with unity and liberation. But of course we know Pharaoh would not let them go because had he did it, Pharaoh would have got the glory from Israel and not the God of Israel. For the sake of time Pentecost in the Law of Moses is found in Leviticus 23:15-21. I will explain all the details to it in the subsequent messages but let me show you some parallels to Pentecost that we should know:

The Meaning of Pentecost (Shavout or Feast of Weeks) to the Jews
• It was 50 days from the crossing of the Red Sea to Mt. Sinai
• The Commandments were given
• The Law of God (Yahweh) was written in stone
• 3,000 people were slain for false god worship of Apis (Golden Calf)

The Meaning of Pentecost (Shavout) to the Saints
• It was 50 days from the resurrection of Christ before the disciples received the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem (Acts 2:1-4)
• The Holy Spirit was given
• The Law of God (Yahweh) was written in our hearts
• 3,000 people were baptized and saved (Acts 2:41)

In the next message we will examine principals of Pentecost that are necessary for us to understand so we can experience true Pentecost.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Feast of Fruitfruits

Households of Faith – Principals of the Governmental Structure of the Households
Today’s Focus: Feast of Firstfruits
Scripture: Leviticus 23:10-12; Joshua 5:10-12; 1 Corinthians 15:20,21

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Leviticus 23:10-12: Speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them, when ye be come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest unto the priest. And he shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted for you: on the morrow after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf a he lamb without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the Lord.

This is the law of Moses as pertaining to the feast of firstfruits. Firstfruits began on the 18th day of the first month. So the firstfruits of the harvest is to be waved before the Lord. Now watch this because here is a powerful concept.

Joshua 5:10-12: And the children of Israel encamped at Gilgal and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month at even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover, unleavened cakes, and parched corn in the selfsame day. And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna anymore; but they did eat of the fruit of the land Canaan that year.

Manna was the bread from heaven. According to the scripture the manna ceased falling from Heaven and now they are to eat the fruit of the land of Caanan. Now what does all of this mean for us?

1 Corinthians 15:20-21: But now is Christ risen from the dead and become THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THEM THAT SLEPT. FOR SINCE BY MAN CAME DEATH, BY MAN CAME ALSO THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

So Christ is the firstfruits of the harvest and what is the harvest? The sons of God. He is the firstfruit raised from the dead and hence back in Leviticus 23, He is represented as that lamb of one year that is unblemished. In addition, it is the season to eat to enjoy the benefits of the planet. Noticed the children of Israel stopped eating the manna that fell from heaven and the old corn of the land now are eating the fruit of the land of Caanan. God gave us dominion in the Earth and we are to benefit from the land pending our obedience, submission and stewardship. None of this happens without the sacrifice (Passover), purging ourselves of the doctrine and ways of the world (Unleavened Bread).

In the next message we will look at the second feast or the three which is Pentecost.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

The Old Leaven of the World

Households of Faith – Principals of the Governmental Structure of the Households
Today’s Focus: Feast of Unleavened Bread: The Old Leaven of the World
Scripture:

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Let’s get right into it! Leaven represents evil false doctrine and practices. What is the leaven that we must purge ourselves from?

Leaven of Herod
This is represented as the spirit of worldliness. This leaven presents itself as people who appear to be spiritual but are worldly at heart. These people speak all the things you want to hear and not what you need to hear. They speak for their benefit.

Leaven of the Sadducee
This is seen in people who do not believe in the spiritual or supernatural. Many people within the Body of Christ struggle with this leaven because they fail to understand the impact of the spiritual world on the natural world and hence they deny the existence of that world through rejection and some through ignorance. The Sadducees did not believe in the bodily resurrection but we know that the resurrection is the bedrock of our very faith and one of the principal doctrines of Christ (Hebrews 6:1-3).

Leaven of the Pharisees
This is represented as the spirit of hypocrisy. These people are people who expect you to follow them and do as they say but yet they do not do as they say themselves. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees many times for this because they would expect the people to follow their instructions but they would not follow their own. In the Kingdom of God, the message and the messenger must be one. There has to be integrity and the words that the messenger speaks must line up with the life the messenger lives. When these do not match, hypocrisy is evident and proper witnessing is not possible.

Leaven of Corinth (Corinthians)
The leaven of Corinth is the leaven of sensuality or the weakness in the area of one’s feelings. This refers to the things that appeal to the flesh. Some of those things are fornication, sexuality, adultery just to name a few. 1 Corinthians 6 and 7 speak about keeping sin from out of the body which we know is also a temple for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 7 speaks specifically on marriage and please understand that we should not allow the ways of the world into our marriage and especially the marriage bed. What I mean is, husbands and wives are not sex toys. Marriage in the bed is ministry between man and woman and it should be done properly as the Lord instructs. We should never allow the world (pornography and lust) into that sanctuary to satisfy the lust of the flesh.

Leaven of Galatia (Galatians)
This is the spirit of legalism. It is people who mix the Law with Grace. Now what these people tend to do is interpret the Old Testament and New Testament in their own way to fit their desires. One minute they say you should obey the Law of Moses and the next minute they say you are under Grace. Which one? Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the Law. It is in Christ where the Law and Grace meet and now the Law is not written on stone tablets but in the hearts of men. Paul spoke explicitly to the church at Galatia about these very issues because they were trying to live under the Law and Grace and that cannot be. This is why we must be careful venturing through the Old Testament and understand the reality of the type and shadow God put forth with the children of Israel. We are under grace and God is revealing the truth behind those types and shadows.

These are just a few but the point is we must purge ourselves from these doctrines and ways of the world because you cannot enter the promise land with old leaven and still living in the ways of the world.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Feast of Unleavened Bread

Households of Faith – Principals of the Governmental Structure of the Households
Today’s Focus: Feast of Unleavened Bread
Scripture: Leviticus 23:6-8; 1 Corinthians 5:7,8

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
The feast of unleavened bread is the second aspect of Passover. The first aspect is the Passover itself with the sacrifice. Let me show you:

Leviticus 23:6-8: And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the Lord: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread. In the first day ye shall have a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work therein. But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord seven days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do not servile work therein.

I would like to call the feast of unleavened bread the detoxification program of the Lord. We know the majority of times we see the use of leaven in scripture it refers to sin. Well the eating of unleavened bread is symbolic of the purging out of sin. This purging is a separation and consecration from Egypt which represents the world. Now when we talk about separation and consecration I am not speaking about being a nun or a monk. We are talking about living a sanctified life, a fasted life unto the Lord.

1 Corinthians 5:7-8: Purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may become a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sanctified for us: Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

So when we celebrate the feast of unleavened bread and I am not talking about by law, I am talking about celebrating through grace we should be free from malice and wickedness. Now if that is the standard then why does it seem that the biggest fights happen within the 4-walled church. To be completely honest, we must understand that Satan has infiltrated the church and is causing confusion and separation. We tend to find ourselves arguing over our denominational doctrine and arguing who is right and who is wrong and all this does is further subdivide the church. Now, if someone is biblically wrong then correction should come and repentance should happen immediately. Moreover, God tells us to purge out the old leaven. This is the detoxification part of this feast. We must purge ourselves from the leaven of this world and separate ourselves for the divine purposes of the One whom created us.

In the next message we will look at the leaven we need to purge ourselves from in order to prepare ourselves for complete freedom.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Passover: The Eternal REality

Households of Faith – Principals of the Governmental Structure of the Households
Today’s Focus: Passover: The Eternal Reality
Scripture: Exodus 12:1-8; John 6:53,54; 1 Peter 1:18-21; 1 Corinthians 5:7

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
We as the sons of God, who believe that Christ came and fulfilled the law should not be taking a little lamb and sacrificing it in that manner after the law. We are covered and under grace. So either we will live by the law or by grace. The law was a shadow of things to come. Christ came and fulfilled the law. If this is the case how does Spiritual Israel celebrate Passover and what is the principal behind it and how does it pertain to the households of faith.

In Exodus 12 we have the head of the household, the father, administrating the lamb through sacrifice, applying the blood of the Lamb to the doorposts of the house and feeding the family the cooked meat of the lamb. Now we know that the lamb is representing the Lamb who is Jesus Christ. So what do we have? We have in reality for the church, the father of a household who by faith in Jesus Christ, has applied the blood of the Lamb over his household. Apply the blood over any household, provides spiritual immunity over that household. In addition the father is feeding his family the meat of the Lamb which is the Word of God. Watch this word by the Lamb of God.

John 6:53-54: Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, Verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Jesus was not talking about being a cannibal but His flesh represents His Word because it is the bread that nourishes us and the blood is symbolic of the grace of God. So the eating of the lamb in Exodus is symbolic of eating the Word of God and His doctrine. The blood being applied to the doorpost is the grace of God given to the households to give them spiritual immunity from the wrath of God. Now watch the correlation of the Passover celebrated in Egypt and Jesus the Passover lamb.

In Egypt the lamb was brought into the households and was examine for 4 days. The Father kept the Lamb for 4,000 years (4 days). Jesus was examined by various people including Pilate and Herod for 4 days before He was crucified. And remember, they found no fault with Him symbolizing He was without spot or blemish. Jesus was crucified in the evening on the fourteenth day of the first month.

Jesus is our Passover lamb:

1 Peter 1:18-21: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers. But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

1 Corinthians 5:7: Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us:

So how do we keep the Passover eternally as the sons of God? When we have fathers heading households administrating the Lamb. This is the first principal. Remember Passover happens in Egypt or in the world and it is the celebration of the season of freedom for the anticipation of your deliverance from the world.

In the next messages we will look at the 3 feasts contained within Passover.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Foundation of Passover

Households of Faith – Principals of the Governmental Structure of the Households
Today’s Focus: Foundation of Passover
Scripture: Exodus 12:1-8; Deuteronomy 16:1

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
The very first Passover was celebrated in Egypt. In Exodus 12:1, God sets a date, in time for the children of Israel to celebrate this feast. Let’s see what this is:

Exodus 12:1: And the Lord spake to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

So we know that Passover is celebrate in the first month of the year. Now let me say, God is not speaking about January because that calendar would not come for some time. Deuteronomy 16:1 calls the month Abib which means barley or spring. In Hebrew it is called Aviv and in Babylonian the month is called Nisan. You will see all of these names throughout the Bible so just be aware. This calendar God is setting for Israel is called the Ecclesiastical or Religious Calendar for the nation because later there will be a Civil Calendar that will be made. Now not to hang on this for long, Passover means “Skipping over or to Hover over someone”. Passover, since it is the first month, it is the beginning of the Season of Freedom, understanding that the children of Israel will be brought out of the land of Egypt symbolizing the sons of God coming out of the world. This feast is celebrated in Egypt in anticipation of deliverance. Now watch this because this is vital to understanding the true principals of Passover!

Exodus 12:3: Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, in the tenth day of this month they shall take to them EVERY MAN A LAMB, ACCORDING TO THE HOUSE OF THEIR FATHERS, A LAMB FOR AN HOUSE: And if the HOUSEHOLD be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.

Now we first see that on the tenth day of the first month we see a man take a lamb according to their fathers for the household. The lamb by the specifications that the Lord gave had to be a male and without spot or blemish, sounds familiar. They would examine this lamb for four days and on the fourth day which would be the 14th day of the month in the evening the lamb would be sacrificed. Now the lamb should be cut up and roasted with fire and the household would eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. But moreover and the most important part of this, the blood of the lamb would be applied to the door posts of the house.

We know that the death angel would come and anyone not having the blood applied over their households, the firstborn would be killed. Now all of this is a type and shadow but a beautiful picture. Now remember the keeping of the Passover feast is a priestly administration. In the next message we will look at the reality of Passover because when the reality comes, we do away with the type and shadow.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

New Series: Principals of the Governmental Structure of the Households

Households of Faith – Principals of the Governmental Structure of the Households
Today’s Focus: Introduction
Scripture:

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
In this mini-series on the Households of Faith we will look at the principals that are necessary to provide and build the proper governmental structure of the households of faith. Now we know God always gives governmental structure to anything that He does. So as we look at the House of God we want to examine the principals that MUST be evident in the household of faith. If there is to be the restoration of the governmental structure of the households of faith, then we will see the restoration of all the principals contained in the three feasts of the Lord in the Old Testament. What are the three feasts? They are Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. In this series we will go in depth to examine these principals of these three feasts but for today we will draw a outline of how we will explain this so that it provides a clear understanding of what God expects from us.

In the Feast of Passover there are three feasts that are celebrated. They are: Passover, Unleavened Bread and Firstfruits. Understanding the Passover feasts and their principals will manifest the priestly order because of the administration of the lamb within the household.

In the Feast of Pentecost there is only one feast celebrated and expressed and that is Pentecost itself.

In the Feast of Tabernacles there are three feasts that are celebrated. They are: Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. Understanding the Tabernacle feasts and their principals will manifest the kingly order and restoration of rule (lion) within the household. When we culminate at the feast of Tabernacles you have the priestly coming together with the kingly producing the royal priesthood of the Order of Melchizedek.

So there are a total of seven feasts that God ordained Israel to observe and seeing that we are the Spiritual Israel of God we are to observe this but not in the carnal nor the law’s way! We do not live by type and shadow when the reality has come and done away with the type and shadow. So what we will examine is the eternal meanings of these feasts.

So we have 3 feasts and within those three feasts seven feasts are observed and here they are:

Passover
1. Passover
2. Unleavened Bread
3. Firstfruits

Pentecost
1. Pentecost

Tabernacles
1. Trumpets
2. Atonement
3. Tabernacles

Now if we can understand when these feasts happen then when the scriptures give us dates and time we can apply the appropriate principal to the time. In the next message we will begin with Passover.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

The Pictures and Principals of Households through Scripture Part 3: New Testament

Households of Faith
Today’s Focus: The Pictures and Principals of Households through Scripture Part 3: New Testament
Scripture: Throughout the Message

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Ok we have seen Old Testament examples and examples through our Lord Jesus Christ ministry while He was on earth. Now let me show you that the church is built by households and not institutions. Now remember Israel is the prototype or type and shadow. The Gentiles knew nothing about households of faith but let’s see how the Lord builds the church through the Gentiles. Let me start off with this statement:
When God greets the church, He will greet them by households.

Let’s start:

Church at Rome
Romans 16:10,11: Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them which are of Aristobulus HOUSEHOLD. Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that be of the HOUSEHOLD of Narcissus, which are in the Lord

Church at Corinth
1 Corinthians 1:16: And I baptized also the HOUSEHOLD of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.
1 Corinthians 16:19: The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their HOUSE.

Church at Galatia
Galatians 6:10: As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the HOUSEHOLD of faith.

Church at Philippi
Philippians 4:22: All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar’s HOUSEHOLD.


Church at Colosse
Colossians 4:15: Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea and Nymphas, and the church which is in HIS HOUSE.

2 Timothy 1:16: The Lord give mercy unto the HOUSE OF ONESIPHORUS; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain
2 Timothy 4:19: Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the HOUSEHOLD of Onesiphorus

Titus 1:10,11: For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole HOUSES (HOUSEHOLDS), teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.

Philemon 1:2: And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy HOUSE.

2 John 1:10: If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into you HOUSE, neither bid him God speed:

Now we have all these scriptures showing that the Gentiles were organized as households within the particular cities. The Israelites who received Christ already understand this concept because the physical nation is setup this very way. Notice throughout scripture God, nor his apostles set up any type of institution. So what is the model that we need to be representing? Households.

In the next series we will look at the Governmental Structure of the Households of Faith.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Pictures and Principals of Households through Scripture Part 2

Households of Faith
Today’s Focus: The Pictures and Principals of Households through Scripture Part 2
Scripture: 2 Samuel 2:3,4; Matthew 10:5-15, 25; Mark 3:27; Matthew 24:43-45

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Let us continue to look at the picture of households throughout scripture:

2 Samuel 2:3,4: And his men that were with him did David bring up, every man with HIS HOUSEHOLD: and they dwelt in the cities of Hebron. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the HOUSE of Judah, and they told David saying, That the men of Jabeshgilead were they that buried Saul
We talked about Hebron in Part 1 of the this series and we know Hebron means “Place of Alliance”. Hence it is a place where people come together. David had to bring the entire household to Hebron. No one could be left behind. We must learn how to rule in our natural relationships because if we do not know how, how can we rule over entire households of God.

Matthew 10:5-15: The Apostles Sent Out
Because of the length of scripture I will point out the important points. Jesus tells the disciples to enter into a city and in verse 11 it says to inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. Who is the Lord telling them to inquire about? He is telling them to enquire of the head of the household. So first the head of the household must receive you in order to enter within the household. Who is the head of the household? The father. This is why the scripture says this:
Mark 3:27; No man can enter into a strong man’s house (household), and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
So in order for evil or the demonic to spoil the goods or the sons of the household, that spirit must bind the strong man, the watchman or the father of the household first.

Matthew 10:25: It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master (father) of the house (household) Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them (sons) of his HOUSEHOLD.

Matthew 24:43-45: But know this, that if the goodman (father) of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have suffered his house (household) to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. Who then is faithful and wise servant, whom HIS LORD HATH MADE RULER OVER HIS HOUSEHOLD, TO GIVE THEM MEAT IN DUE SEASON.
Hence it is the goodman or father of the household responsibility to feed the people and be watchful. He feeds the people the Word of God so that they may grow thereby.

Now it is evident by the scriptures and the words of the Lord that households of faith is a fundamental principal and the principal that the House of God is being built upon. Jesus mentions households throughout His ministry and refers to the disciples as His children, brothers, sisters and mothers.

In the next message we will look at pictures of households through the New Testament. You do not want to miss this!

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

The Pictures and Principals of Households through Scripture

Households of Faith
Today’s Focus: The Pictures and Principals of Households through Scripture
Scripture: Genesis 7:1; Exodus 12:13; Joshua 7:14; Acts 2:46; James 1:1;

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
One of the things that the Lord is sealing within me is the foundation that the House of God is not based on an institutional model but a family model of fathers and sons. Sons of course refer to male and female. However I do not want to merely speak about it, I want to show you some pictures through the Scriptures to show you the necessity and need to migrate from the institution to the household of faith model.

Acts 2:46: And the continued daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
Back in verse 42 we see the 4 imperatives of Kingdom culture (apostolic doctrine, fellowship, breaking bread and prayers). So the people continued in this culture and breaking bread (imparting grace through the Word of God) from house to house. Now in the Greek the word for house is oikos meaning household or family. So from household to household they broke bread. The scripture was not referring to residential units.

Genesis 7:1: And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
God tells Noah to bring all his house into the ark. The word house in Hebrew is bayith and it means family. God saves the household of Noah.

Exodus 12:13: And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the HOUSES (BAYITH) where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
Now the same word for house is bayith. We know that the children of Israel took the blood of the lamb and put it over the physical doorposts of their dwelling places. We know that this is a type and shadow of the blood of the Lamb, Jesus is over the doorposts of our hearts that cover and protect our various households and families.

Joshua 7:14: In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes and it shall be that tribe which the Lord taketh shall come according to the families thereof: and the family which the Lord shall take shall come by households; and the household which the Lord shall take shall come man by man

Right here is a perfect scripture describing the structure of the nation of Israel. Nothing about this says institution but everything says family. In the scripture we see the nation is broken down into 12 tribes. The tribes are broken down into families (clans). The families are broken down into households and the households consist of individual people. Now let me say this:

The eternal reality of anything is never less than type and shadow of the thing.

The reality we live in today is that we, the church, the House of God is the Spiritual Israel of God. Now what is the type and shadow? Physical Israel. Ok we are good so far! Now however physical Israel is structured so shall Spiritual Israel be also because physical Israel is the representation of the reality. How is Physical Israel structured? Joshua 7:14 tells us so Spiritual Israel is structured the exact same way. Question? Does spiritual Israel have 12 tribes? Let’s prove it!

Please keep in mind that James is writing to the church!

James 1:1: James a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, TO THE TWELVE TRIBES WHICH ARE SCATTERED ABROAD, GREETING!
Case closed! So if the church has twelve tribes then these tribes consist of families and households. What do we have today? Denominations, sects and division and what is it that we need, family!

We will continue look at pictures of the household through Scripture.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Purpose of Reconciliation

Households of Faith
Today’s Focus: Purpose of Reconciliation
Scripture: John 14:17,18; 8:40-56; James 1:27

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Now if we do not know, one of the purposes of reconciliation is to restore the lost sons of promise back to the House of God. However today I want to show you another purpose and one that is kind-of covered in our minds that needs to be unveiled. The unveiling of this purpose will help us to understand the state that we are in and why we need to be reconciled back to God. Jesus as He was teaching His disciples in John 14 He reassures them of something very important. In John 14:16 Jesus said He will pray the Father that He shall send another Comforter that He will abide with us forever. Now we know the Comforter is the Holy Spirit. But I would like for us to pay attention to verse 17 and 18:

John 14:17,18: Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you.

Now let’s break this down. First, Jesus tells the disciples that they know Him for He dwelleth with them. How is the Holy Spirit dwelling with the disciples? Because the Holy Spirit was in Jesus. Jesus was dwelling amongst the disciples. This is why He told them, the disciples, that you know Him because He has dwelt amongst them. But look at the next sentence, “And shall be in you”. So the Holy Spirit will not just dwell amongst them but a time is coming that the Holy Spirit will dwell IN YOU!. Ok, let’s tackle this last verse now that we know this.

The scripture says that He will not leave us comfortless. Now we have heard and read this a thousand times and we understand it to be in the context of not leaving us lonely which on the surface has some merit. But what does the word comfortless mean and when you know that, then you have the context for the scripture.

The word comfortless in the Greek is “orphanos”. The word orphanos means: orphan, bereaved parentless, fatherless

Do we see this! Jesus is telling us clearly before the abiding of the Holy Spirit, you were an orphan. But the coming of the Holy Spirit and you being reconciled back to the House of God solves all of that. No longer are you parentless or fatherless but you have a Father, in Heaven who abides in your spirit and makes His dwelling place within you.

With that said, the apostle James defines for us true religion and sums up all of this in one scripture:

James 1:27: “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

Case closed! So religion is for us to visit or provide relief to the widows and the fatherless. James is NOT talking about a ministry of compassion where we visit orphanages and widows even though that is good in intent. He is speaking of the spiritual widows who are uncovered and the spiritual orphans and by dwelling amongst them JUST LIKE JESUS DID WITH THE DISCIPLES, they will come to know the Father and see Him in us and be drawn by His Spirit into the House of God and relief their condition of being a widow and orphan. Now let me show you a picture of two churches:

In Luke 8:40-56 we see two widows, The woman with the issue of blood and Jairus’ daughter at 12 years of age. Now the woman with the issue of blood represents a church that is bleeding to death. She could not recognize the ruler of the synagogue, who is Jairus, as her spiritual covering or the one whom her soul has been given to watch over. Without proper oversight and covering the church is hemorrhaging and bleeding to death. Through faith, the woman believes in Jesus Christ and by her faith she is made whole. It is only by faith and trust in Jesus Christ that the church will stop hemorrhaging because He is the lifeline of the church and the Great Physician. The second girl represents the emerging church. It represents a church at puberty and being mentored. The church is family structured with fathers and mothers caring for children. Now the significance of Jesus coming in when He did represents that fact that the natural must die before the spiritual comes in and all who do not believe are cast out (John 8:53,54) from receive the spiritual.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

New Teaching Series: Households of Faith: Scriptural Pictures of the House

Households of Faith Part 2
Today’s Focus: Understanding John 14 and the House of God
Scripture: John 14; Isaiah 66:1; Acts 7:46-49

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
John 14:1,2: Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Now when we here this scripture we have been told of the many mansions that are in heaven for us. All of these houses that we could not have down here, God has them up there. But remember this is written in Greek so to get a better understanding, you have to see what the words are and how they are being used in the language it is written in so, let’s some words here:
1. House (Greek – oikia): residence, by implication a FAMILY
2. Mansions (Greek - mone): a staying, residence or abode
Now with that out the way, nothing in this scripture says physical buildings in heaven. How can I be so sure? Watch this:

Isaiah 66:1: Thus says the Lord, THE HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest?

Acts 7:46-49: Who found favor before God, and desired to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built Him an house. Howbeit the MOST HIGH DWELETH NOT IN TEMPLES MADE WITH HANDS; as saith the prophet (Isaiah) THE HEAVEN IS MY THRONE, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? And where is the place of my rest?

Now it is clear to God and clear through the Scriptures that HEAVEN IS THE THRONE OF GOD. In addition in Acts it says that the Most High does not dwell in temples made with hands. So God desires to dwell with His children. Now Jesus said that He is going to prepare a place for us. Now we know He is not talking about a building. What is He talking about then:

Ephesians 2:15,16: Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain ONE NEW MAN, so making peace; And that he might be reconciled both unto God IN ONE BODY BY THE CROSS, having slain the enmity thereby:

Jesus Christ, through the cross prepared a place for us where we can be reconciled back to God. That place is called The Body of Christ. Remember in Colossians the scripture says in Christ is the fullness of the Godhead. Hence if we are in Christ then we dwell with God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now in as much as we are in Christ, He is in us, the sons of God, in the Earth. Watch this:

John 14:23: Jesus answered and said unto him, If any man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Now the word that stands out to me in this scripture is the word “abode”. The word abode is the word in Greek “mone” which means “a staying or residence”. So here we see God coming and dwelling amongst them that love Him and keep His commandments.

In the next message we will look at the purpose of this reconciliation.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Defining the Family of the Household of Faith

Households of Faith
Today’s Focus: Defining the Family of the Household of Faith
Scripture: Ephesians 6:1; Matthew 12:47-50

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
The true family in the Earth is the House of God. It is the original family and the one that will exist at the end of time. Now what has happened is we have put too much stock in biological family and barely any in our spiritual family. For some, they extend themselves to clubs and organizations and within those clubs and organizations they call themselves family. The extending of oneself to these means and methods is simply searching for the true family which is the House of God. Listen…every endeavor of man through religion is to search for God, family and power (Kingdom of God). The out-sourcing of oneself to an organization (fraternity, sorority, secret society..etc), club and then within them there are these terms such as brother, sister, family is simply a cry out for the real thing, the House of God.

Another mistake and this happens all the time in the church is what I call the family succession of pastors. In other words, the position of pastor stays within a particular family. For example, grandpa starts the church, then daddy takes over then son takes over. Now let me explain so we are perfectly clear. I have no problem with a son succeeding his father because it happened in the Bible. For example, David and Solomon. But what I am saying is to just pass it down to keep the church under a particular family is WRONG!! If the son is not mature and called by God, He has no business succeeding his father. This has lead to generations of orphan pastors leading people. So the model we are presenting in the earth is broken and corrupt. But how can we as the Body of Christ show this concept of family living and acting through a religious prism. Let’s look at Jesus and how He defines the House of God!

Matthew 12:47-50: Then one said unto Him, Behold thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But He answered and said WHO IS MY MOTHER? AND WHO ARE MY BRETHERN? And He stretched forth His hand TOWARD HIS DISCIPLES, and said BEHOLD MY MOTHER AND BRETHERN! FOR WHOSOEVER SHALL DO THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN, THE SAME IS MY BROTHER AND SISTER AND MOTHER.

Jesus defines the family, not as a fleshly lineage but as a spiritual family and they are the ones who do the Will of the Father. Hence the family that is most important is the spiritual family ACCORDING TO JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND SAVIOR!! I say that with emphasis because people get upset when truth is spoken and if you believe in Jesus Christ then you should also believe every word that He says and He said the family is those who do the Will of the Father!! Now watch this scripture because I have read it many times and the Lord really opened this up.

Ephesians 6:1: Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right!

Now Paul is speaking to the church at Ephesus. Earlier we see Jesus define the family as the sons of God who do the Will of the Father. So when Paul is speaking of children obeying your parents in the Lord, who is he speaking about? The first thing that caught my eye was the fact that Paul said “IN THE LORD” making a specific reference to spiritual parents!! Jesus already told us who the family is and Paul is now expounding on this in Ephesians 6. Now let me say this because somebody will take it to the extreme..

This does not mean that you can disrespect and completely disobey you natural biological family. God gave them to you to bring honor and grow through them bringing you up and teaching you about the Lord. However, when you come into the Body of Christ, you enter a higher order of family where it is not based on natural but spiritual. Can your natural parents be your spiritual parents when you come of age in the Body of Christ? Absolutely if the Lord desires! Keep in mind, no earthly relationship should supersede the relationship between yourself and God. You should allow HIM to order the spiritual relationships needed for growth.

For the sake of time and information we will continue this in part 2 of the series. This is such a vast subject and when you are able to download we do not want you to be overwhelmed with information. Please continue to study with us “Households of Faith”.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

The Hebron Concept

Households of Faith
Today’s Focus: The Hebron Concept
Scripture: 2 Samuel 2:1-4; 5:1-3; Ezekiel 37:16,17

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
You may ask what is the Hebron concept and what does that have to do with the House of God. Well let’s define the word Hebron. We know Hebron is a place but like many places in the Bible, the place’s name carries a meaning. The word Hebron means “Place of Alliance”. Now I want to give you this scripture and show you the importance of alliances within the House of God.

2 Samuel 2:1-4: And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said unto him, Go up and David said whither shall I go up? And he said, UNTO HEBRON. So David went up thither and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail Nabal’s wife the Carmelite. And his men that were with him did David bring up, EVERY MAN WITH HIS HOUSEHOLD: AND THEY DWELT IN THE CITIES OF HEBRON. And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house Judah. And they told David saying, That the men of Jabeshgilead were they that buried Saul.

Now there is a difference between alliance and networking. What we have a lot of is networking. When you network, you network in the position of benefiting oneself. However with alliances, alliance create relationships for mutual benefits. They are not created to gain something or partnership to advance a common cause. Alliances are necessary because they are the relationships that unite the households to clans, and the clans to the 12 tribes and then to the Holy Nation. Now watch this because I want to show you how important Hebron was and why it is the called the “Place of Alliance”. Remember the Lord told David to go to Hebron.

2 Samuel 5:1-3: THEN CAME ALL THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL TO DAVID UNTO HEBRON, AND SPAKE, SAYING BEHOLD, WE ARE THY BONE AND THY FLESH. Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leadest out and broughtest in Israel: and the Lord said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel. SO ALL THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL CAME TO THE KING TO HEBRON; KING DAVID MADE A LEAGUE WITH THEM IN HEBRON BEFORE THE LORD: AND THEY ANOINTED DAVID KING OVER ISRAEL.

So at Hebron all of the tribes of Israel came together. It was also at Hebron that the ELDERS (FATHERS) OF ISRAEL would come together and anoint David King of Israel. So here we have the heads of households coming to David at Hebron, uniting Israel. Are we not Spiritual Israel and it will be through alliances that the Lord will unite us and bring us together as a Holy Nation. Let me show you this last scripture:

Ezekiel 37:16,17: Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another in one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

The kingdom of Israel had been taken out of Solomon’s hands and divided into the northern kingdom consisting of 10 tribes and the southern kingdom consisting of two tribes. Each stick consisted of one of the kingdom. Judah represented the southern kingdom and Ephraim represented the northern kingdom. But look what God is going to do. He is going to unite the kingdom and make it one again, symbolically the coming together and being one stick. In as much as we maybe divided today, slowly but surely God is uniting the House of God in the Earth and He starts it from the foundation of households. The alliance between households brings them into an intimate relationship. This is really no different than a family coming together for a family reunion. You bring multiple households together to form the corporate family, united in one place. We will do an entire series on alliances because it is vital to the bringing together of the Holy Nation.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Understanding the Great Confession Part 2

Households of Faith
Today’s Focus: Understanding the Great Confession Part 2
Scripture: Psalm 118:22; Matthew 16:15-18; 1 Peter 2:6; Ephesians 2:20

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Matthew 16:18: And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Let’s start dissecting. Jesus says that he is Peter and upon this rock, I will build my church. Upon what rock? That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Let me show you these scriptures:
1 Peter 2:6: Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious and he that believeth on Him shall not be confounded.
Ephesians 2:20: And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone.

Jesus is the rock of offense, the chief corner stone of the House of God. Now the next portion of this scripture says upon the rock, Christ, I (Jesus) will build my church. Let’s examine the word build because unless we understand what the Lord is building, any and everything else will be judged and burned as useless.

The word build in the Greek is “oikodomeo” and it means to be a house builder or to construct or confirm. Now we know that God DOES NOT dwell in physical houses made by the hands of man but he desires to dwell amongst His children. So if the word build in the Greek means house builder, then what is Jesus going to build? He is going to build the Household of God. What is the Household of God? The Sons of God. Who are the sons of God? They are called the ekklesia, the called-out, the saints or the church! Now we have a clear understanding of what the LORD, not man, is building in the earth. If we are not assisting the Lord in building the House of God in the Earth, and that is what He said He is doing, then what are we doing?

Hence, Jesus is building a household that will have the image of Christ (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) and will manifest in the earth as sons of God. This household will reflect the glory of God in the Earth.

In the next message we will look at the concept of alliance in the households of faith.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.

Understanding the Great Confession Part 1

Households of Faith
Today’s Focus: Understanding the Great Confession Part 1
Scripture: Matthew 16:15-18; Hebrews 1:1,2; Colossians 2:6-9

Greetings Kingdom Citizens
We have read this powerful set of scriptures in Matthew 16 but when we examine it we see that Christ is building his church. Now that is what we see but what is the understanding to what Jesus is building. We know the church is the called-out, the saints, or sons of God. Now if He is building sons, what are sons a part of? HOUSEHOLDS! Now that seems simple but let’s let the scripture expound and show us this.

Matthew 16:15,16: He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven.

Now let’s take our time because this is so loaded. Jesus asks the disciples as a unit who do you say that I am? This is what I call a revelation question because Christ will ultimately be revealed. Simon Peter says first, you are the Christ. Now why doesn’t Peter just say you are God in the flesh? Well it goes to understanding Christ. Watch this!

Colossians 2:6-9: As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord. So walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in Him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the rudiments of the world, and not after CHRIST. FOR IN HIM DWELLETH ALL THE FULLNESS OF THE GODHEAD BODILY.

So now we established that in Christ is the fullness of the Godhead. Who is the Godhead? The Godhead is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Now the next person Peter acknowledges is the Son. Watch this:

Hebrews 1:1,2: God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.

So God is speaking now through the Son where in past times He spoke to the fathers through the prophetic but now He speaks through His Son. So Peter is being shown Christ and now the venue by which the Father is communicating through the Son. Finally, Peter states that that He is the living God. Now all of this was revealed to Peter by the Father. That is the most important part of this scripture because IT IS ONLY BY GOD can man be drawn. Moreover, Christ can only be revealed by the Father. This is why Jesus tells Peter that it was revealed by the Father in heaven. Notice Jesus did not say that He, Himself revealed it but the Father.

In the next message we will look at Matthew 16:18 and further get an understanding of the great confession.

Peace, Love and Grace from the Father,
Calvin Calhoun, Jr.