Category: God Loves Us

Charles J. Rolls, God Loves Us, J3 Khai Ambassadors, J3 Khai Restoration, J3Khai Ambassadors, Jehovah, Jesus, Messiah, Yahweh, Yehovah

“The Builder of the Temple”

Michael J. Weiss, Sr.

“Behold the man whose name is The Branch … and He shall build the temple of Yahwehthe Lord (Zechariah 6:12; also Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 2:20–22).”

“The temple that was rebuilt by the remnant that returned to Jerusalem from Babylon was but a temporary structure. The five significant features that had been identified with Solomon’s temple were withheld. God did not write afresh the tables of the law, nor permit a new ark of the covenant to be made. He withheld from its precincts the divine oracle, the holy fire and also the Shekinah glory. However, He promised a greater Builder and a greater Glory, One who would far surpass in workmanship any of the structures erected by man. Living stones cut from the quarries of human nature and polished to excellence and perfection by the Spirit of God were to be built by Him into a holy temple in Yahwehthe Lord. The temple Christ builds is constructed from perfected lives, every stone bearing evidence of the character and nature of the Builder Himself. The inter-relationship of redemption is to be centered in eternal fellowship. The dedication of this temple when completed will mark the brightest and most blessed day that ever dawned; for it ushers in a reconstituted kingdom (Zechariah 6:13), a reconfirmed victory (14:4) and a regenerated world (14:9). Then we shall rightly adore the Builder for His wisdom, will and work, while angels wonder and worship (Ephesians 3:10).”

 Charles J. Rolls, The Indescribable Christ: Names and Titles of Jesus Christ: A-G (Loizeaux Brothers, 1984).

“Eternal Fellowship,” communion, relationship is the crux of the Gospel!!! Jesus says, “This is eternal life, that they might know you, the one true God, and him (Jesus himself) who you have sent. (Jn 17:3)”

God Loves Us, J3 Khai Ambassadors, J3 Khai Restoration, J3Khai Ambassadors, Jehovah, Jesus, Messiah, Recommended Events, Team Africa, Uncategorized, Yehovah

Malawi Resurrection Weekend Conference

Michael J. Weiss, Sr.
Pastor Patrick Readson Welcoming the Ambassadors to the Conference

Friends, I, Michael Weiss, will teach during the Lion Of Judah Resurrection Weekend Conference in Malawi via Zoom.

Please join us at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88371043387 (Passcode: HooYah)

There are going to be 7 sessions, the list below is in Central Standard Time.

Friday, April 7th at 1 pm

Saturday, April 8th at 2 am, 6:30 am and 12 pm

Sunday, April 9th at 2 am, 6:30 am and 12 pm

I do not know the exact time during each session when I will start teaching because there will be beautiful praise and worship first and we don’t know how long Holy Spirit will lead this time before He invites me to share.

But, please come join us for the worship time, Africians worship God with all their hearts, souls and bodies!!!

God Loves Us, J3 Khai Ambassadors, J3 Khai Restoration, J3Khai Ambassadors, Jehovah, Jesus, Messiah, Personal Reflections, Uncategorized

God’s If, Then for you in Exodus 19

Michael J. Weiss, Sr.

Exodus 19:3–6 (NASB95)

3 Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel:

4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself.

5 ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;

6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

God Loves Us, J3 Khai Ambassadors, J3 Khai Restoration, J3Khai Ambassadors, Jehovah, Jesus, Messiah, Personal Reflections

Jesus is Wisdom

Michael J. Weiss, Sr.

As you read a chapter of Proverbs each day identify that wisdom is Jesus and Jesus is wisdom.

“To those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:24, NASB95)”

“Christ is called ‘the wisdom of God.’ If we are taught in the Scripture that Christ is the same with God’s wisdom or knowledge, then it teaches us that He is the same with God’s perfect and eternal idea. They are the same … and I suppose none will deny. But Christ is said to be the wisdom of God (I Cor. 1:24, Luke 11:49, compare with Matt. 23:34); and how much doth Christ speak in Proverbs under the name of Wisdom especially in the 8th chapter. (Jonathan Edwards An Unpublished Essay on the Trinity (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1903) p. 75 ff. )”

“By His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God. (1 Cor 1:30, NASB95)”

“Jesus is all wisdom, complete in Himself, and if we desire more wisdom from the Father (James 1:5), He answers by revealing more of His Son to us.  We ask for wisdom, we get Jesus.  We look for wisdom, we see it in Jesus.  We want to know wisdom (Prov. 1:2), we must know Jesus, and none other. The wisdom from God is found in only one person— and His name is Jesus. (By Steve McCranie, accessed Dec 1st, 22: https://www.leavinglaodicea.com/jesus-is-our-wisdom/)”

Could we say the fear or reverence of God is the beginning of knowing Jesus?

When you get to know Jesus better you get to know God the Father and Holy Spirit better as well, since they are One person.

Darlene, Family News, God Loves Us, Uncategorized

We Will See You Again!

Michael J. Weiss, Sr.

It is with great joy, and a little sadness, I announce that Darlene’s Mother Bettye, affectionally know as Grandma Bettye, went to heaven Saturday afternoon, May 13, 2022. She is face to face with her heavenly Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. Jesus promised he would never leave or forsake her, which he didn’t, and would come back for her to bring her to be with him forever, which he has.

She has also joined the cloud of witnesses that has gone before us. That include Bill, her parents, brother, many other family members, those she introduced Jesus to and those who helped her walk with Jesus here on earth.

I can only imagine this being the greatest family reunion she has ever attended.  

I could not have asked for a better Mother-In-Law. She loved me this I know for she demonstrated it so.

Her and Bill loved, cherished, and help raise their four Grandchildren into wonderful men and women who love God, their country and love their neighbors as God loves them. Their nine Great Grandchildren have a great future in part because of the wonderful legacy Mom and Dad have cultivated in their children: Pat, Darlene and Billy and their Grandchildren Susie, Michael, Evan, and Erica.

Mom each time I left you during the last couple months I told you with confidence “I will see you again.” The next time I see you it will be in Heaven! I am grateful to be your son, I love you and look forward to being with you again.

Charles J. Rolls, God Loves Us, Jehovah, Jesus, Messiah, Uncategorized, Yehovah

Are you hangry for Love? Jesus is the Bread of Life!

Michael J. Weiss, Sr.

“Christ is the true legacy of life; He heartily loves, tenderly calls, sincerely welcomes and gladly receives all who come to Him. No one can have too much of His preciousness, sweetness, or loveliness; all He bestows is fresh and fragrant and satisfies forevermore.”

The Bread of God

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

The context shows that the emancipation from Egypt, which was followed by the supply of manna forty years in the wilderness under Moses, is closely associated with this new claim. During that period of national history, four outstanding experiences are recorded. These experiences relate to the Passover lamb, the Red Sea deliverance, the uplifted serpent and the fording of Jordan. The Apostle John introduces the spiritual significance of these same four features in the opening three chapters of this Gospel. These memorable links with the past, together with Jacob’s well (John 4), and the pool at the sheep gate (John 5), furnish an illuminating background in relation to the far-reaching claim Christ made of being the Bread of God from heaven.

The secret of Israel’s sustained strength was linked with the lamb in Egypt, the power at the Red Sea, the manna in the wilderness and the old corn in Canaan. These reflect Christ in His personal holiness at the crucifixion, “a Lamb without spot,” His prevailing power in resurrection (John 2:19), His perfect humility in submission, “the Bread which came down from heaven,” and His pre-eminent honor in glorification, as the One enthroned high above all principality and power.

The third of these is the subject here, where Christ declared Himself to be the Bread of God. To draw definite attention to the fact of His own manifestation and ordained mission, He refers to the source from whence He came and the sequence of that coming. Bread, in the use we make of it, is brought to nourish those who are alive; but Christ the Bread of God imparts life eternal. John is careful to mention among the essentials of this life, birth, breath and bread, and attributes these in turn to the Triune God. The physical bread we eat is from wheat grown in the ground, from whence our bodies are derived. The calcium, silicon, iodine, iron, phosphates, etc. in an organic form are packed into the wheat in order to build up our strength. In like manner, if we are to become partakers of spiritual life and immortality we must needs eat the Bread of God, which is made up of righteousness, goodness, lovingkindness, graciousness, perfectness, holiness, and such like which result in Godlikeness.

Our Lord also claimed, “All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me” (John 6:37). This is a sure anchorage for faith; for by our coming it is obvious we form part of the Father’s gift. The decision to do so leads to a great discovery. “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). An eternal mystery is unveiled to everyone that comes. Christ is the true legacy of life; He heartily loves, tenderly calls, sincerely welcomes and gladly receives all who come to Him. No one can have too much of His preciousness, sweetness, or loveliness; all He bestows is fresh and fragrant and satisfies forevermore.

 Charles J. Rolls, The Indescribable Christ: Names and Titles of Jesus Christ: A-G (Loizeaux Brothers, 1984).

Charles J. Rolls, God Loves Us, Jehovah, Jesus, Messiah, Uncategorized

Jesus “is affectionately loving, altogether lovely and always lovable.”

Michael J. Weiss, Sr.

“Christ monopolizes loveliness by His heart of lowliness, He multiplies preciousness by His spirit of meekness and He magnifies graciousness by His deeds of kindness. As Bridegroom He is affectionately loving, altogether lovely and always lovable.”

The Bridegroom of the Bride

He that hath the bride is the bridegroom (John 3:29).
In that bright and beautiful narrative of the book of Ruth, Boaz, the notable kinsman who played the part of restorer and nourisher, also became the beloved bridegroom (Ruth 4:15). When the storm of sorrow and the waves of dire distress which Ruth had encountered died down, a new dawn of radiant splendor broke upon her life, in that she made the soul-stirring discovery that Boaz, the mighty man of wealth, was actually her kinsman and her redeemer. The damsel found in this nobleman a stronger sympathy than she had known before, a sweeter society than she had previously experienced and a dearer relationship of remarkable renown; for Boaz, the mighty, became her very own bridegroom.

The greater reality of the New Testament is reflected in this record; for the Son of God became the Son of man, our near kinsman; so that by identity of life and integrity of love, He might redeem and raise up His Bride, the Church, to share the intimacy and immortality of an eternal union with Himself. The illustrious and illuminating portrayal in the record of Ruth supplies an index to infinite movements that find complete consummation in the marriage of the Lamb (Revelation 19:7).
By virtue of Christ’s identifying Himself with human history, God wrought out His great regenerative purpose of salvation. If the celestial One had not entered into the realm of the terrestrial and overcome the infernal power of darkness, mankind would not have had any title to the heritage of light with its infinite glory and incorruptibility.
The Apostle Peter presents this Bridegroom as the perfection of all preciousness, the sum-total of exquisite beauty and majesty; whose life is everlasting, whose love is everabiding and whose endowments in an unwithering inheritance are to be eternally enjoyed. Christ monopolizes loveliness by His heart of lowliness, He multiplies preciousness by His spirit of meekness and He magnifies graciousness by His deeds of kindness. As Bridegroom He is affectionately loving, altogether lovely and always lovable.

The Scriptures disclose a series of illustrious bridegrooms in whose lives are given glimpses in faintest tracery of the tenderness of this eternal Lover. Glimmers of Him are reflected in the first love of Adam for Eve, in the faithful love of Abraham for Sarah, in the fervent love of Isaac for Rebecca, in the fragrant love of Jacob for Rachel, in the fruitful love of Joseph for Asenath, in the faultless love of Boaz for Ruth, and in the fascinating love of Jonathan for David.

The majestic countenance of the heavenly Bridegroom shines as the sun in its strength, so that the mystery of beauty is manifest at its best and brightest. Through Him the divine luster of lovingkindness beams forth in all the richness of moral goodness. He discharges the highest obligations perfectly. He has always been chivalrous in conflict, valiant in victory, constant in courtesy, loyal in love, thoughtful in tenderness, kingly in kindness and gracious in gentleness. No one is able to find in Him a single trace of failure or the slightest taint of fault or forgetfulness.

How solicitous He is in His care, how steadfast in His love, how sympathetic His heart and how sensitive His Spirit in understanding! Emanuel displayed infinite affection in coming to earth to select and secure His Bride, the Church, and to present her to Himself without spot or wrinkle or any such blemish. He has designed that His Bride share with Him in joint heirship His celestial home and heritage. Little wonder that the name of this Bridegroom is adored for its unrivaled glory and that His love is admired for its unchanging fidelity.

What a thrill comes to the soul when we anticipate sharing a home with Christ beyond the hills and the horizon. A mansion beyond the mists and the mountains. A possession beyond the plains and the planets. A society beyond the stars and the sky. A dominion beyond the darkness and death. A state of bliss beyond the sun and the shadows. A titled estate beyond the trials and tribulations of time. A paradise beyond the perils and pains of the present era.

Thou glorious Bridegroom of our hearts
Thy present smile a heaven imparts,
O lift the veil, if veil there be,
Let every saint Thy beauties see.

Charles J. Rolls, The Indescribable Christ: Names and Titles of Jesus Christ: A-G (Loizeaux Brothers, 1984).

God Loves Us, Jesus, Messiah

The Gospel is about how Good God is, not how bad we are!!!

Michael J. Weiss, Sr.

The Lord Has No Equal

No, for all the nations of the world
are but a drop in the bucket.
They are nothing more
than dust on the scales.
He picks up the whole earth
as though it were a grain of sand.
All the wood in Lebanon’s forests
and all Lebanon’s animals would not be enough
to make a burnt offering worthy of our God.
The nations of the world are worth nothing to him.
In his eyes they count for less than nothing—
mere emptiness and froth.

Isaiah 40:15-17

God Loves Us, Guest Post, Recommended Reading, Uncategorized

A Way Forward by, Michael Metzger

Michael J. Weiss, Sr.

https://claphaminstitute.org/a-way-forward/ (copied Feb 14, 22)

I appreciate folks who can evolve in their thinking. So I find it fascinating that many who are evolving are recommending the same way forward.

In March of 2020 Chuck DeGroat wrote a confessional titled, It’s Always Been About Love. He felt he’d forgotten that. A great many evangelicals feel similarly, including James K. A. Smith, N. T. Wright and Dallas Willard. Here’s Wright’s evolution over the last 30 years.

In 1992 Wright wrote about a “spiral path” of knowing reality, where the only access we have to reality “lies along the spiraling path of appropriate dialogue or conversation between the knower and the thing known.”[1]Few Christians understood what he meant by that.

Maybe that’s why in 1999 Wright sounded rather pessimistic. “We live at a time of cultural crisis. At the moment I don’t hear anyone out there pointing a way forward.”[2] He felt some Christians “put up shutters” while others capitulate to the post-Christian world. “My brothers and sisters, we can do better than that.”

But Wright wondered aloud who in the faith community has a way forward?And, if believers aren’t pointing a way forward, who else might? By 2013, Wright had found a who else.

That year DeGroat joined a small group of believers meeting with Wright. They were exploring faith and formation. DeGroat asked Wright for his best recommendation for a resource that explores spiritual maturation at depth. Without hesitation, he recommended Iain McGilchrist’s The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World as a way forward. Wright called it is a “magisterial” work.

I can imagine a few reasons why. McGilchrist says findings in neuroimaging reveal how knowing reality is a spiraling path, a reciprocating flow between the right and left hemisphere of the brain. It turns out Wright’s intuitions were right on.

McGilchrist says the right hemisphere is the intuitive mind. The left is the rational mind. Since 95 percent of the western world biases the left brain, and most of Wright’s readers are western Christians, most couldn’t intuit what he was saying. Small wonder Wright was pessimistic.

But there’s more. McGilchrist notes how only the right hemisphere has direct contact with the outside world, the cultures passing through our gills. The left doesn’t. Since 95 percent of the western world biases the left brain, and most of Wright’s readers are western Christians, most do not touch, feel, taste that we live at a time of cultural crisis.

But there’s more. According to McGilchrist, it is only in the right hemisphere that we make a paradigm shift. In most cultural crises, the way forward requires shifting some paradigms. I have a hunch Wright read that and thought, That’s why there’s so little spiritual maturation at depth. The deepest part of our being is not beliefs but paradigms, unconscious assumptions shaping beliefs. Western Christians don’t go deep enough into anthropology, human nature.

James K. A. Smith, Professor of Philosophy at Calvin University, does. He notes how our anthropologies shape our theologies. He gets that from reading scripture as well as Iain McGilchrist. He cites McGilchrist’s work as a way forward for the church.

It’s no coincidence that DeGroat, Smith, and Wright are all now saying they missed the wider picture. Love. All three come from Reformed traditions formed by the Enlightenment, biasing word over image, language over metaphor. Language is the domain of the left hemisphere, which is narrowly focused. Most Reformed traditions embrace a narrow view of the cross, substitutionary atonement. Jesus died on the cross to satisfy God’s demands for justice. Law. DeGroat, Smith, and Wright are saying they missed love.

The good news has always been about love… and law. In other words, Jesus did die for our sins. But he did this for the joy set before him of “marrying” us, love, enduring the cross, despising the shame. On the cross, we were betrothed to Jesus as his bride. [Yes Love. Father so loved us he sent Jesus. Jesus so loved Father and us he came. Holy Spirit so loved Father, Jesus and us he helps us know them. Jesus is the true way to life (more than Zoe, Shalom); Becoming children of God the Father, betrothed to King Jesus and indweldt by Holy Spirit. This comment added by Michael J. Weiss]

It seems that Dallas Willard was moving in this direction in the last months of his life. Like Wright and Smith, he was despairing. Do people really change—even with all the available resources and practices and disciplines? With his good friend and neuro-theologian Jim Wilder, Willard was exploring how neuroscience is a way forward, developing a psychology of love.

I had a similar experience when I first read The Master and His Emissary. That was in 2010. It helped me see why so few Christians recognize our post-Christian age. McGilchrist helped me see why we don’t seem to have a way forward, and why so few ever make the necessary paradigm shifts. I didn’t feel quite so alone.

That same year I read Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010by Charles Murray, a religious skeptic. Yet he’s hoping for a fourth awakening in America. The first three were led by religion. But Murray rightly notes that religion no longer has cultural capital in America. It can’t lead the way. Neuroscience can, so Murray writes…

“The more we learn about how human beings work at the deepest genetic and neural levels, the more that many age-old ways of thinking about human nature will be vindicated. The institutions surrounding marriage, vocation, community, and faith will be found to be the critical resources through which human beings lead satisfying lives.”[3]

Wow. Neuroscience is a way forward. It can validate, corroborate, older Christian traditions and their understanding of human nature. They can be a resource for shalom, satisfying lives, seeking the well-being of all.

So… if you’re looking for a Valentine’s Day gift for a loved one who wants to evolve in their thinking, and seek a way forward… I highly recommend Iain McGilchrist’s work.

There’s The Master and His Emissary.

There’s a shorter rendition: Ways of Attending: How our Divided Brain Constructs the World.

And there’s McGilchrist’s new book: The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions and the Unmaking of the World. I bought the Kindle version and am currently making my way through it. I’ll report on it later, but I feel it’s reinforcing what a heckuva of lot of evangelicals smarter than me see as our way forward.

[1] N. T. Wright, The New Testament and the People of God, (Fortress Press, 1992), 35.

[2] N. T. Wright, The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was and Is(InterVarsity, 1999), 195.

[3] Charles Murray, Coming Apart: The State of White America, 1960-2010(Crown Publishing Group, 2012), 300.

I highly recommend you start receiving Michael’s blog and listen to his podcast!!!!

“The Gospel (Good News) is about how good God is and not how bad we are.” Michael Weiss