12. February 2010 by Annette Colon-Alvarenga.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

It has been a while since I’ve written anything. One and a half months. My last article focused on my resolution for the New Year to reach a new level of intimacy with God and focused around Psalm 46:10, learning to “be still.” While I started well, some things have happened and I’ve lost focus. The result has been an inconsistency in spending time seeking the Lord and spending time in His word. And the last couple of weeks have resulted in me distancing myself even further from the Lord. I can blame it on being busy. I get up early every day and go to sleep late and there still never seems to be enough hours in the day to get everything done lately. But today, as I was speaking to someone about God’s infinite love for her and her need to draw nearer to the throne of grace, I might as well have been talking to myself.

Nothing can separate us from the love of God. This, to me, is one of the most incredible promises contained in God’s Word. His love is a giving love; He gave himself completely to us through His son, Jesus. God’s love is unconditional, inexhaustible, infinite and eternal. Therefore nothing can stop or separate us from His love for us. But there is something that keeps us distanced from God, from drawing near to Him: Sin. It almost seems ironic that at the time that we most need to run to God, to seek His face, to receive His mercy and grace, we turn away from Him. You see, the enemy, Satan, is so very astute. It is not nearly enough for him to provoke us to sin, for he knows that our God is a loving god who is quick to forgive us when we come to Him with a repentant heart. So Satan condemns us day and night because of our sin. He continuously reminds us of how we were so quick to offend our Lord, yes ,our Lord who we profess to love with all of our heart, strength and mind. He brings us to a point of feeling completely unworthy of God’s love and forgiveness. He fills us with shame and it is that shame that keeps us from coming before God in our most desperate time of need. Very astute, indeed.

Today, as I quoted the scripture, “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” I urged this person to draw near to the throne of grace and seek and accept God’s forgiveness; and while she prayed, unbeknownst to her, I also prayed for forgiveness. And while I stressed the importance of her embracing that forgiveness and in turn forgiving herself, I did the same. Now we can both stand with confidence in that place of privilege before the throne of grace. I thank God for this woman’s bravery in speaking up today about her struggle. Had it not been for that, I might have spent another who knows how many days on the outside looking in.

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

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31. December 2009 by Annette Colon-Alvarenga.

Hard to believe that this year is over. It seems that just a short while ago we were signing, “We’ll drink a cup of kindness yet for auld lang syne.” 2009 has been a difficult year for many. The economy has failed terribly and the unemployment rate has hit an all time high. Many have lost their jobs, their homes and families have been destroyed in the process.  But a new year always brings an air of new hope, new promise, new vision and a fresh start.

In years past, I had always put together a list of New Year’s resolutions. However, it seemed that by the end of January of each year, I had already failed miserably in keeping with those resolutions. Then, after surrendering my life to Christ (and “surrender” is a daily process) I began looking for just one resolution to begin each year with; one thing that would help me grow spiritually. Yes, just one thing.  A laundry list of resolutions, as we have all experienced, only guarantees failure. There is an old Chinese proverb that says, “If you chase two rabbits, they will both get away.” And so I stick to one thing at a time.

For 2009, dependence on God was the theme. I was put to the test early on in the year after I began to experience health problems with some debilitating symptoms. The symptoms resulted in my inability to work and thereby devastated me financially. A continued dependence on my own knowledge and my own abilities rather than a total dependence on God I believe brought on the trial I had to endure for most of the year. Did I learn my lesson? Partially. I made a decision one day to depend on God for healing and finally asked for prayer regarding my health problems from a group of godly women I met toward the end of the year. In less than two weeks, I was miraculously symptom free. With that also came a new opportunity to regain my financial strength. But even then, total dependence has been difficult.

For 2010, my resolution is a continuation of last years’ theme, my dependence on God, but focuses more on a reaching a new level of intimacy with God. Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God” has been resonating in my mind especially these last two weeks. As I have been waiting for an answer to a business matter, I have become extremely frustrated and even angry at the continuous delays in resolving what should be a very simple matter, to the point that I have wanted to completely give up. While I know in my head that God is in complete control of the situation, that fact seems to have been diverted and not reached my heart as I struggle with the idea of having to patiently wait on God. This I know is a result of not having reached that level of intimacy with God that will allow me to just completely trust Him and surrender all of my life to Him.

And so my prayer for 2010 is this: that I can finally surrender all in order to truly know and understand that God really is in control; that I can once and for all let go of whatever it is that hinders me in order to objectively know the saving power of God in my life; that I can finally give up trusting in myself in order that I may experience the glory of God’s all-sufficiency, so that at the end of 2010, I should not have to revisit this resolution, not even to remember for auld lang syne.

The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14

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28. December 2009 by Annette Colon-Alvarenga.

Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” – Hebrews 12:12-13

If there is one thing I really need to work on changing about my character, it’s my stubbornness. Those who know me know that I can be a little obstinate. Okay, maybe a lot more obstinate than I would like to admit. As a result, God tends to have to go the extra mile when He needs to get to my attention.

The last few days I have been feeling discouraged. You know how it is when you are looking forward to something, getting something you have set your sights on, and it just doesn’t come when you want it, or maybe even not at all. Well, I have been spending quite a bit of energy and focus this last month building up to something that just hasn’t come and, quite frankly, there is no assurance that it will come to pass. And the continuous delays have only added stress upon stress which I allowed to turn into discouragement. Yeah, I let my thoughts go to a very bad place to the point that I contemplated taking a few steps backwards (e.g., medicate myself and forget about everything if just for a little while).

In this morning’s service the pastor talked about celebration in coming to Christ and deliverance from our sin/vices and I started to get that knot in my throat, you know, that thing called “conviction.” I’ve been so caught up in my own pity party the last few days that I had equated the delays and potential let down in not getting what I want as God’s judgment. The actual phrase I termed to someone was “God’s forgiveness only goes so far.” (I still haven’t figured out how to recall an email once I press that “Send” button.) Talk about letting in some bad thoughts. The fact of the matter is that I was blinded to what has really been going on the last few weeks: God needing me to step back, open my eyes to some things I needed to see, “listening” to things I needed to hear and understanding what it is I may be stepping into. This is where my obstinacy comes in: I have been so focused on getting what I want when I want that I lost sight of going to God and asking Him to be a part of this decision or asking if this is even something He wills for my life. The result has been that I had failed to balance some of the pros and cons, to see some of the “negatives” and I failed to properly evaluate the things that may compromise my character, the person I am, should I decide to “follow the crowd.”

Having spent the day meditating on God’s promises and really accepting what He wanted me to see, I now have my second wind. Whether God grants my request or I need to go to “Plan B,” I will continue and finish the race. In tuning in to God’s voice, my arms and knees have been strengthened and I now have a clear understanding and I can see the level path I need to run in order to assure myself that there will be no compromise between being the person I am, achieving the success I want to achieve and helping others achieve their success. So today I simply submit to God’s will and commit whatever work He has planned for me to Him.

Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. – Proverbs 16:3

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9. December 2009 by Annette Colon-Alvarenga.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— Ephesians 1:3-5.

The last couple of weeks I have been somewhat dwelling on the issue of acceptance, so much so that I lost focus of the things I needed to be doing to get to where I need to be. And it has become clear to me that this is one area in a Christian’s life where the enemy always wants to engage us.

It can be a subtle thing at times. For example, I was speaking with a friend just last week and I told her that I noticed that she seemed to have difficulty accepting a compliment; that she would not allow herself any credit when someone told her how they were blessed by her. Quite frankly, she is a pretty amazing person and people let her know it. But for whatever reason, she seems to have difficulty accepting it.

At other times it can be a little more paralyzing. I have always thought of myself as having very high self esteem and I can safely say that most people who know me perceive that I am a person who is sure of herself. And in most areas of my life I can say that I am in fact sure of myself. But I’m going to be honest here, in the area of acceptance, when the enemy strikes me there, it paralyzes me. And he did just that to me during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Satan has a way of placing doubt in our minds while reminding us of past rejection in order to move us away from the purpose God has for our lives. The idea that we are for whatever reason not who someone wanted or wants or who someone accepts can blind us, at least temporarily, to the truth of who we are in Christ Jesus. But God is so clear in showing His acceptance of us in His word. He tells us of how He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us just so that He can forgive us and restore a broken relationship with us. He tells us that we are in fact accepted by Him just as we are when we come to Christ. There are no hoops to jump through. We don’t have to prove ourselves worthy to Him. No need for perfectionism. You don’t have to have any level of education, the right job/career, live in the right neighborhood or drive the right car. He accepts us just as we are because it is His “pleasure and will.”

This morning I was awaken at 4:00 a.m. While my first instinct was to simply turn over and go right back to sleep, I felt the need to go to my “quiet place.” God has wanted to deal with me as it relates to this issue during the last week and, I have to admit, I have been avoiding Him. But not this morning. As I sat in the dark and waited on Him, He said to me, “dejate llevar por Mi amor,” “lose yourself in My love.” That’s it. I have His acceptance and His love. What more could I possibly need?

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1.

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17. November 2009 by Annette Colon-Alvarenga.

After much consideration, I have made the decision to publish this article. The internet seems to be inundated with websites and blogs regarding the G12 movement, some containing truth while others contain myths and a whole lot of speculation. I personally have been involved with two churches with ties to G12. One church attempted to implement the concepts and, while it maintains some of the programs, it never became part of the G12 Network. The other church follows the strategies and has been quite successful in achieving growth. I believe that I can clear up some misconceptions and bring a balanced view of what G12 is and is not. Disclaimer: I am not presently attending a G12 church. However, that does not mean that I cannot be objective.

To begin, we really need to come to terms with the fact that G12 is nothing more than a strategy for church growth. I will not get into whether I believe Pastor Cesar Castellanos did or did not receive a vision from God as he has related which gave birth to the G12 movement. That really has no bearing on what goes on in the individual churches which have implemented the strategy. So, what is the strategy?: winning souls for Christ, consolidating them (caring for and nurturing them after their confession of faith), discipleship (getting new converts into God’s Word and teaching them basic Christian doctrine) and sending them out (based on the Great Commission, Matthew 28:18-20). Sounds great so far, right? The truth is that this is the role of the church. G12 groups are kept to a maximum of 12 people which meet once per week, generally in homes, and of course, there is a corporate worship service on the weekend.

Encounters

In my opinion what really sets the strategy apart from others is the Encounter weekends that are part of the consolidation process. These weekends are what bring much controversy to the strategy.  I personally attended an Encounter weekend in 2003 and it changed my life. I consider that 3 day event in my life the most important event in my life; the event that most impacted my life and transformed my faith. I truly encountered God and it changed everything about me.

The controversy comes in how the different churches implement the encounters. I have read the horror stories. Clearly that was not my experience. However, I will say that I have seen a change in how encounters were done when I first went and began serving in the encounters and how they are done presently. Quite frankly, the change caused me to walk away from serving in the encounters at the church I previously attended. Originally it was about encountering God in a very personal way. Each of us, because of our different life experiences and our different stages in our walk will have a different experience. We each react very differently and have different ways of showing what we experience emotionally. Personally, I did not show any emotion when I attended my encounter. Anyone there would have thought I was not receiving any benefit from the weekend. However, God did an amazing work in my life.

So what changed? What I have personally witnessed from serving in the encounters is that if the women are not reacting emotionally (crying and screaming for the most part), that person is not allowing the Holy Spirit to work in them. Seriously, I have been there and heard the comments. Those running the encounters will go to any lengths to create emotionalism. The most disturbing thing I experienced is an extremely graphic abortion video that is shown that cause some women to experience a traumatic breakdown. When I questioned the need for showing this video, I was told that it assisted the women who have had an abortion to experience “healing and forgiveness.” I have witnessed some women become completely hysterical and was told this is how they receive “deliverance.”  Really? Imagine, after being told you have been forgiven of your sins, you are confronted with horrifying video of the very sin you committed. I will not pretend to be an expert in mental health, but I believe this type of experience causes regression rather than regeneration.

Another matter which caused me great concern is the apparent “excitement” that certain persons serving in the encounters expressed when there was a demonic manifestation. We are there to experience God’s presence through His Spirit, not demons. I have a question that no one seems to want to answer: Why is it that demons feel free to manifest themselves to such an extreme at these events? And when they do manifest themselves, should “excitement” be our first response?  I don’t have the answer to my first question, but if someone does, I would welcome your response.

Some of the doctrine taught, such as “generational curses,” coupled with the above was more than enough for me to walk away, actually run away from this ministry. Now, let’s be clear, this does not happen in every church. Again, I have served in encounter weekends in two different churches. This was only experienced in one church and I am sure it is an exception.

Leadership

Leadership training, as we all know, is important in any organization, especially in the church.  G12 purports to provide leadership training through its School of Leadership. And while many truly become ready through the process to lead a small group, many others do not. So, you send someone to an encounter, get them through the post-encounter classes, push them through the school of leadership, send them to a re-encounter and off they go to open their own small group. You would think this was enough, but it is not. The truth is that while all have the potential to become leaders/mentors, not all do. Herein lays the problem: the object is multiplication and the requirement is that you simply go through the process. The outcome is that those who do not have a heart for leadership, cannot get people to follow them and therefore use manipulation and control to get things done.

Look, this is not a matter of being critical. This is intended to hopefully open up some eyes, get people to dialogue because, I’ll tell you, anytime I’ve tried to bring this to anyone’s attention, I have been labeled “conflictive” and “rebellious.” The fact is that a true leader will never have to demand that people “submit” to them. People will want to follow and will be eager to help a true leader in fulfilling the leader’s vision. Manipulation and control have no place in leadership and especially in the church. I have seen two devastating things happen as a result of this: First, people who have experienced healing and restoration through the encounter process have been left worse off than they came in after being under the “leadership” of a manipulative and controlling person. Second, I have seen true leaders, persons with an incredible capacity and anointing sat down or placed out-of-service for failure to submit to the manipulation and control of others. I am telling you, if you even once question what goes on, you are labeled and you can forget about serving in ministry until you are deemed “submissive.”

My Experience at the 2009 West Coast G12 Conference

Everything is usually pretty good when it is done the first time, isn’t it? I attended the very first G12 conference in Los Angeles in June 2004 and it was amazing. Later that year I would be in Miami attending the Annual Conference. And again, that was an amazing experience. I was truly blessed by the conferences, the conference speakers and the messages they brought. I’m not sure when all of that changed.

What I can tell you is that I attended this year’s conference in Anaheim and was blown away. Not by how “amazing” it was but rather by how much the focus has changed. I will say from the get go that there were a few very good conference speakers. But I was very disappointed especially by Pastor Cesar Castellanos, the founder of the G12 movement. Apparently, according to Pastor Castellanos, it is a sin to not accept his G12 Vision. I don’t make this stuff up. He specifically called people at the conference to repentance for not accepting his G12 Vision as God’s revelation of how things should be done in the church today. On Thursday evening, Pastor Castellanos provided us with a new version of the story of Abraham taking Isaac up to be sacrificed as God had instructed. According to Castellanos, Abraham was given the “revelation of the Cross.” I have to admit, the way Pastor Castellanos tells the story, there is no doubt he has a gift for fictional writing (which if you have read his books, you would agree.) On Friday evening of the conference, Pastor Rich Witmer of Tucson (who has created his own brand of controversy in his town) called for an offering: 300 people were to step to the front of the conference hall and pledge $300 each (the first pledge taken that day was a minimum of 24 people pledging $1000 each.) Pastor Cesar Castellanos was to bring us God’s Word after that second offering.  However, when Pastor Castellanos came up after the offering was taken he stated that he had noticed that only about 100 people had pledged the $300 and, as a result, unless the other 200 people came forward to make the $300 pledge, he would not be able to preach that night. To make a long story short, Pastor Castellanos did not preach because the $90,000 in pledges were not made ($300 x 300 people = $90,000).

Okay, before anyone starts telling me about the cost of putting on an event like this, I understand it is costly and the problem is not about taking up an offering. The problem stems from a man of God refusing to teach God’s Word because the offering did not please him. Am I really the only one that perceives “wrong motives” here?

I did come back the third day. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t being close minded, conflictive and argumentative. I was willing to give it one more shot. I had already been praying for months for God to open up my understanding if in fact it was me who was wrongly perceiving the G12 movement.

So Saturday, the last day of the conference, during a break I stepped over to Starbucks for a “wake-up” shot of java. Behind me poured in the whole bunch of youth from our church. I sat down with them and asked the question, “What have you learned these last few days?” One young man said very matter-of-factly, “If you don’t have your 12 [disciples], you don’t count!” Well, that is in fact what one of the pastors stated in his conference. If you are discipling/mentoring anything less than 12 people, “you don’t count.” I heard him say it and so did everyone else in the conference hall. I don’t count! I could volunteer 4-6 hours per week of my time to the work of the ministry using the talents God has given me, but I don’t count. I could minister to people and the Holy Spirit will bring them to confessing their faith in Jesus, but as far as G12 is concerned, I don’t count. Okay, am I the only one concerned about the message here?

Conclusion

I thank God for one thing especially: that when I met Christ, I was taught the pure Word of God. I may not have been very productive in the beginning, but I received the Truth which I have carried in my heart and which gave me the strength to eventually walk away from a church full of people I truly cared about, and especially a Pastor who has an incredible heart and love for the Lord. G12 is supposed to be a strategy for church growth and discipleship and I honestly believe it is a good strategy. So the problem is not in the strategy but rather some of the people behind it. No doubt I will lose some “friends” over this article. And those of you who read my articles on Facebook may notice my “friends” count go down considerably, but I’m okay with that. That would mean that the article was being read. I leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit.

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2. November 2009 by Annette Colon-Alvarenga.

1 Kings 13 is an incredible story about a prophet of God (The Man of God). The story tells us about a prophet - we are not told his name - who is given some very specific instructions by God about a message he is to deliver to Jeroboam, King of Israel. God was very specific with His instruction to the prophet that he was “not to eat bread or drink water or return by the way [he] came” to meet the King.

After the fulfillment of the prophesy, King Jeroboam invites the prophet to go with him to eat and receive a gift. But the man of God was obedient to God’s instruction and did not go with him.

On his return, the man of God took another way home as God had instructed. When he stopped in Bethel, an old prophet who had heard what had happened with King Jeroboam, went out to meet him. He went out to the man of God and invited him to go home with him to eat. The man of God told him what God had instructed him. At that, the old prophet tells the man of God that he too is a prophet and that an angel had appeared to him and told him “by the word of the LORD: `Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.” (v. 18)  Of course he was lying but the man of  God, instead of heeding the direct instructions he personally received from God, believed the old prophet. The irony is that while they are eating and drinking,  the old prophet delivers to the man of God a prophesy about his impending death for defying God’s specific instruction.

There is a lesson here that we cannot ignore. God continues to speak to us through His Word and  through persons He places in and around our lives. And many times we are happy to follow His instruction. But every now and again, the competing voices of our culture want to send us in another direction. Whether it’s at school, in the workplace, or through friendships we maintain with those who do not yet know or understand God’s ways (and even with those who supposedly know His ways), the temptation can cause us to wonder whether maybe, just maybe there is another way. But as we can see with what happened in this story of the Man of God, failure to follow God’s specific direction for our lives can bring about a devastating end.  Perhaps the end result in this story seems a bit harsh, but there is simply no justification for heeding the word of men if it is in contradiction to God’s Word or instruction.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Proverbs 14:12; 16:25.

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24. October 2009 by Annette Colon-Alvarenga.

I just got back from my son’s soccer game. Unfortunately, they experienced their first loss and they are devastated. Their team has, like all sports teams, an MVP; a player who is completely committed to the goal of winning and does all he has to do to reach the goal.  All of the other teams have come to recognize this key player. So today, that other team was all over our MVP. They did not hold back. They played a dirty game fouling our boy every chance they had. After this happened a few times, the other boys (especially mine) began to hold back in their game. Their fear of getting hit or being thrown down absolutely paralyzed them. The end result was that they lost the game.

My husband told our son, “that’s just the way the game is; you gotta stay in the game; you have to stay alert; you have to be ready because the only thing guaranteed is that you will get fouled, especially when you’re a good player.”  This, of course, is no consolation for Ricky who is only 9 years old. The only thing he knows today is that as long as he keeps his distance from the ball, they won’t come after him.

As Christians we run the same risk of getting fouled by the enemy. Satan’s goal is, after all, to destroy us completely. Peter tells us that we need to be aware of his workings: “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8.)  Satan is real and he works diligently to attempt to separate us from God especially those who serve the Lord with all of their hearts and all of their strength. That’s why Peter warns us, “Be . . . alert.”

From personal experience I can tell you that when I have committed to serving in ministry, when I have given all that I have in terms of my heart and strength to the work of the Lord, that is when I have found myself in the most difficult and distressful situations. I’m am barely feeling relief from one problem and here comes the next one.  In the past, in my immaturity, this has led me to isolate myself from the ministry and friends until I find relief. When I have done this, the enemy has fulfilled his purpose because he has completely paralyzed me and stopped me in my tracks. I became apathetic and ineffective.

Now, when this has happened, unfortunately, I have been asked about whether there was any unforgiveness I had to take care of, whether there was any unconfessed sin in my life, whether I have been praying enough, etc.  And isn’t that the way many Christians see things when a brother or sister in Christ is really struggling? They don’t believe in oppression, that this could be the enemy’s doing. They confidently say, “I’m a Christian. I don’t have any struggles. My finances are in order, my marriage is strong, I have my health and my kids are doing well.” I’ll tell you, if this is you, if you have no opposition from the enemy, I don’t question your salvation but wonder if perhaps your lack of struggle is because you are not a threat to Satan. See it’s like the boys in the soccer game, the opposition oppressed and fouled only the MVP; the other players (my son included) where already paralyzed.

One thing I have learned is that Satan doesn’t care if your in church every single Sunday dressed in your Sunday best. He doesn’t care that you sing the songs and clap your hands. He doesn’t care that you carry your Bible wherever you go and drop some money in the offering plate. He doesn’t even care if you volunteer to serve here and there. But if you are truly committed to the Lord; if you serve Him with all of your soul and strength; if you truly love Him and praise Him and recognize the potential that God has placed in you and that He has an incredible plan for your life; if you are this person, you are a sure target of the enemy and you need to be alert because he will try to paralyze you.

Where do you find yourself today? Are you an MVP on God’s team keeping alert so that the enemy doesn’t foul you or are you not a cause for concern to the enemy?

“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore my dear brothers, stand firm. let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”  1 Corinthians 15:57-58.

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24. October 2009 by Annette Colon-Alvarenga.

Koinōnia is the Greek word for fellowship. It is based on the Greek noun koinos which means “common.” It has reference to the things one shares with others.  When we talk about fellowship or koinōnia of the church we are referring to what we hold in common with each other.  And so, even though Christian fellowship includes many things, at its heart is a common experience of God’s grace through Christ Jesus.

Throughout God’s word we find many verses of scripture that use the words “one another” to teach us what our Christian fellowship, what our relationship to others should be like.

We are called to love one another. In John 13:34-35, Jesus gave His new commandment: “³⁴A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” This is repeated two more times, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (15:12);   “This I command you, to love one another” (15:17).  Paul reminds us of this commandment in Romans 13:8: “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.” In 1 Thessalonians 3:12, Paul prays, “. . . abound in love to one another and to all men. . .” He wrote, “You yourselves have been taught by God to love one another” (1 Thessalonians 4:9). The “love one another” command appears 5 times in 1 John (verses 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11-12) and it appears again in 2 John 5.  The ability to love one another as Jesus commanded can only come through being born of the Spirit and an understanding of God’s love for us all.

We are called to serve one another. Jesus is our example in this area. He demonstrated the true nature of the servant character of love when he washed the feet of his disciples. He said in John 13:15, “I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.”  The Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Galatia, “You my brothers were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another in love.”  We are called to be servants in all ways.

We are called to bear one another’s burdens. “Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2.) We show our love for one another and serve each other by helping shoulder the burdens that are wearing down our brothers and sisters in Christ. Of course, this can only happen when we engage with one another; when we build relationships of trust and confidence with each other to a point where we are not afraid to share with one another honestly.

We are called to forgive one another. The early church did have difficult times and this caused on many occasions bitterness and anger within the church. Paul wrote to the churches in Ephesus and Colosse about the absolute need of forgiveness within the body of Christ. “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32.) “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” (Colossians 3:12-13.)

We are called to confess our sins to one another. “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous man is powerful and effective.” (James 5:16.) While this may not be something we as Christians do as a matter of practice or even want to do, James tells us that such confessions are linked to prayer and promised power to overcome the sin in our lives.

We are called to instruct one another. Paul said to the Christians at Rome: “I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.” (Romans 15:14.) “Complete in knowledge and competent” requires that we have a close relationship with God and we know the scriptures. Our specific life experiences, coupled with God’s word and how He has impacted our lives make incredible tools for instruction.

Finally, we are called to comfort one another. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:3-4 that in the same we have been comforted by God in our times of trial and tribulation, we are to comfort one another. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”

I have recently joined a women’s Bible study group. From my first day in the group, I could see there was a special something between the women in the group. In the last four weeks attending the weekly study, that “something special” has become even more apparent. As a group, they exhibit each of the “one another” principles listed here. There is definitely something intense about how they relate to one another. Now, for me, this is something new and will take some getting used to. I do have a natural reluctance to allowing others to get too close. And each of these principles requires an incredible degree of trust in others, something I do not easily do. But I understand that if I want to experience true koinōnia as a member of the body of Christ, if I truly desire to grow into spiritual maturity, instead of following my first instinct which was to turn and run fast and far, the barriers have to come down.

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Ephesians 4:15-16.

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23. September 2009 by Annette Colon-Alvarenga.

Recently I was taken back to a defining time in my youth. I was 17 and beginning my last year of high school. I needed to take an elective class and since I never liked art classes, I opted for a class titled The Bible as Literature.  Believe it or not, this was a secular high school.  I was not a Christian and had never read the Bible. While I had always believed in God and believed that Jesus was the son of God, born of a virgin, I had no understanding of anything else. Anyway, in the first few weeks of class we studied the creation and I was stumped from the get go. I couldn’t get past the idea that Adam and Eve were the only humans God had created and that they were the basis for the population of the earth at that time. To me, it was absolutely inconceivable. Because I simply could not believe the truth in the Scriptures, I dropped out of the class.  I got an “F” for my incredulity.

Many, many years later when I finally came to know Christ there was one thing that God placed in my heart, one thing I could never deviate from – an absolute belief in His Word as it is written. I have become a literalist, understanding that there are portions of God’s Word which are symbolic and others that are metaphoric, but mostly, the Word to me is what it is. And I take very seriously the warnings in the Book of Revelation 22:18-19:
 

¹⁸I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. ¹⁹And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

So what brought me back to that high school class? Recently I was visited by a young man who had left the congregation I attended. While he did some handy-man work for me, I asked him if he was still attending church to which he responded “yes.” Then he started explaining to me all of the things he is learning at this new church and I was flabbergasted by what he is being taught.  I think the expression on my face let him know exactly what I was thinking. Of all the heresy he shared with me, there was one thing that took me back to high school: he stated that it was explained to him why Adam and Eve could not have been God’s only created humans “in the beginning.” He gave me some scripture verses and was absolutely convinced that what he was being taught was truth. Wow!  I couldn’t think of doing anything else except to pray for him, that God would give him wisdom and discernment to separate truth from fiction.

In all my years in attending a Christian church, I had never heard such a theory of the creation. I thought it was clear from Scripture:

²⁷ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  ²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”  (Genesis 1:27-28)

My understanding of these verses of scripture is that Adam and Eve did just that; they got busy. And the many, many years they lived, they definitely increased in numbers. Of course, this means that there were things in the beginning which are totally unacceptable now (i.e., incest) but that was the only way the earth could be filled. After my conversion, I never doubted the creation story again and had I never heard any other version of the creation, until recently.

I thought that the teachings this young man was receiving were simply an isolated incident in that specific church, but apparently it is not. A few Sundays ago I heard another young man, a visiting pastor, suggested the same thing: that God created other men and women aside from Adam and Eve “in the beginning.” He even said he had scripture verses that could back up this belief, but unfortunately (fortunately for me), he did not have time to get into the whole theory. He made a quick mention of Genesis 4:13 as a basis for his theory.

Now, I do believe that there are things that are absolute mysteries and for which we will not receive an answer. But God’s Word is clear on this issue. There is nothing in the Word that could possibly lead you to a conclusion of an additional creation except adding what was never intended in violation of God’s own commandment (Rev. 22:18-19).  And I am not concerned about sitting and having to listen to what I consider an aberration of the God’s written word. My concern is, and always has been, for those who don’t know any better; those who are just coming to faith in Christ; those who struggle just in reading God’s Word. What type of confusion does this step away from established doctrine cause these people?

Years ago in that Bible as Literature class, the teacher was very clear that Adam and Eve were in fact the method God used to fill the earth.  God called me on my incredulity and I vowed never to doubt the truth of His written word again.  While my zeal has been confused for “focusing on the negative” when I call something or someone out for what they have said or insinuated, I will not stop defending God’s revelation to us through His word.  Each and every one of us is responsible for recognizing false doctrine and rejecting it when we hear it. Distortion of doctrine causes confusion and changes the character of God. And that is simply not acceptable.

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10. September 2009 by Annette Colon-Alvarenga.

In the last year it seems that people inside and from outside of my church come to me and confide in me regarding issues they are having within the church. I don’t know what it is, but at least one person told me it was because they could see that I am not involved in any specific group or clicks and that gave this specific person the confidence to confide in me regarding challenges they were facing. Another reason has been that they believed I would not see them as a “complainer.” And each time I hear what they are dealing with or have had to deal with, it really breaks my heart.

I have come to believe that the difficult time I personally went through in my prior church and the hurt I experienced was allowed by God himself so that I could better counsel these people. My concern however is that, while I can counsel them and convince them not to leave their present church and remind them that they must keep their eyes fixed on Jesus, the people causing the harm continue on with business as usual.

One of the best books on the subject of leadership I have read to date is titled Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders. It is a timeless classic which should be read at least once per year by all whether you  are in church leadership or a bench warmer.  The focus of the book is the privilege of the position as a servant leader and the responsibilities that follow such a position. That is, of course, the only type of leadership Jesus demonstrated to his disciples and followers and He expects no less from us.

I understand that we as Christians are all in a process of growth and maturity and that we will make mistakes. (I’ve made some pretty hefty ones myself.) However, the people I talk to seem to all have run into the same problem: a leader who in the beginning shows compassion and then later turns from servant leadership to authoritative leadership. I don’t understand exactly at what point the change in treatment towards the disciple happens but what I have been told breaks my heart: they don’t see any difference between how they are treated in the church from how they have been treated in the world. If this was one or two or even three incidents within one church I wouldn’t take the time to write about this (although even one incident, in my opinion, is one too many). The problem is that it seems to be widespread.

I’m not writing this to condemn anyone. I simply want to exhort the church in general to take extreme care of how we treat each other and how we treat those in the world. Servant leadership or spiritual leadership is not just for the leaders of the church. It’s for all of us.  Think about it for a minute: if we are doing a disservice to those within the church, what message are we sending to an unsaved and unforgiving world?

I do not hold any leadership position within my church and so I won’t pretend to understand the type of pressure and/or responsibility a leader within any congregation surely faces. I have no doubt it is a difficult task. But even under the most difficult pressure we cannot lose sight of our absolute duty (whether in a leadership position or not) to serve others in love and unity. The eyes of the world are on the church of Christ. Let them always see Christ in us.

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