A Powerful Witness

In our generation, there are many variables and agents that attest to the peculiarity of our time. The radix (Latin word meaning root) of this peculiarity is not rooted in political demagoguery of the highest order, it is not rooted in hyperbolic media sensationalism, it is not rooted in economic global downturn, it is not rooted in deathly manifestations of pestilences, it is not rooted in major and minor religions of spiritual concern, it is not rooted in the pragmatic ordering of daily life, it is not rooted in human ingenuity or intellectual prowess, it is not rooted in technical capability and formulation, it is not rooted in the vast oceans of public opinion nor in the rivers of impotent conspiracy theories, it is not rooted in the halls of criminal injustice nor in the public square of racial hatred and intolerance, it is not rooted in the satanic forces of darkness nor in the blinded human agents they seek to manipulatively prostitute, it is not rooted in the Eternal Godhead nor in the divine truth promulgated through the gospel of Jesus Christ; no, these elements cannot be the radix of the peculiarity of our time because mankind has transitioned through all of these experiences in times past, bringing to fruition the word of the Lord when it presents: “That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past” and also, “I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts”. Critically, the radix of the peculiarity of our time can only be procured in the singular revelation of how we will speak of our time to future generations. What will be the nature and condition of the testimonies that we bequeath to the succeeding generations? Will they be testimonies of moxy and spiritual fortitude or will they be testimonies of trepidation and spiritual apathy? Will we share testimonies laced with unquenchable spiritual fervor born out of the cauldron of life’s afflictions and the lessons they’ve communicated to us or will we render testimonies spun from the venomous mandibles of vain imaginations and the hypodermic asps of erroneous deceptions? Will we leave future generations rich legacies of lives lived as “Powerful Witnesses” to what can be attained when there is a collision between time and eternity, the finite and the infinite, the Eternal Godhead and the human existential condition; that results in a summorphon (Greek word meaning a metamorphosis) of removing us from the larvae state of essential estrangement to the beautiful crystallization of relational harmony? From this metamorphosis of relational harmony we must make the conscientious decision to be “Light Bearers” and “Powerful Witnesses” to the restorative power of the Lord Jesus Christ bringing to pass the word of the Lord when it admonishes: “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you”. Our failure to leave such rich legacies will be tantamount to an amalgamation of gross negligence and high treason. As our progeny continue to be born into this world, they must be met with a “Powerful Witness” that speaks of love, joy, hope, restoration, spiritual power, racial harmony, divine justice, faith as absolute concern, and peace that stabilizes in the midst of tumultuous times. We must administer to their burgeoning spirits a “Powerful Witness” that issues forth a testimony of unquenchable light in the midst of the vicissitudes of chaotic confusion and demoniacal darkness. This formulative process begins in the nascent moment when we receive the revelation that the value of our progeny’s hearts is priceless, soliciting a response from us of unwavering commitment to their wholeness and prosperity. This is what the Apostle John meant when he stated: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth”. In the final analysis concerning this work of divine love, we must not be careless or frugal in our preparation of these legacies of redemption, for many of us are also recipients of these “Powerful Witnesses” handed forth to us by those who preceded us in this divine work. (Another Oil Point from Theology Nation)

Bishop Dr. Guy A. Cox

Add Comment

Where Is Your Fire?

One of the most profound symbols (messengers that point and participate) for the Holy Spirit is the symbol of fire. This symbol of fire is not a messenger of mechanized humanism where human merit and ingenuity are required; rather it is a holy messenger of divine power that enters the human spirit and ignites a spiritual fervor (what it means to have a burning passion> fiery drive/libido) which expresses itself as a fervent heat in the context to which the Holy Spirit is leading the believer to live and to minister from. One of the qualifying examples of this principle in holy sacred writ (the Bible) is when the Apostle James postulates: “the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much”. Applying this principle of spiritual fervor to prayer, the righteous man is communicating with the Lord from the context of burning passion and fiery heat within his spirit concerning the matters of his heart. Thus, this passage of scripture could read, “the effectual fiery hot communication of a righteous man’s spirit produces Holy Spirit intended results”. Essentially, the Holy Spirit encapsulates the believer’s spirit in an intensified spiritual fervor (what John the Baptist’s “baptize you with fire” suggests) as the Lord creatively directs (what the term divine providence means) the believer into the divine calling and destiny prepared specifically for them beforehand. An initial question asked of most new believers in Christ is, “How do I know what I’m called to do for the Lord?” and the answer must be revealed to the inquirers in two expressions in order for them to have the whole counsel of the Lord.The first expression is of a general nature in that all believers are called to fulfill the great commission of Matthew 28 in spreading the gospel throughout the nations. The second expression is of a specific nature in which the Lord directs the new believer into the specific area of calling and then signifies the specificity of His authorization to that area of ministry by intensifying the spiritual fervor in the heart of the new believer so that they are able to make clear identification. In other words, the new believer is able to clearly identify their specific area of calling in the ministry by the intensified spiritual fervor/burning passion/fiery heat they experience in their spirit when they engage the authorized area of ministry prepared for them beforehand. Another critically profound insight that must be entertained is that because the Holy Spirit is the eternal source of this messenger of fire within the heart of all born again believers, it cannot be thwarted or extinguished by any other power of human or satanic origin (all other species outside of these two are not endowed with cognitive ability to the degree of even posing a threat) bringing to pass the word of the Lord when it purports: “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world”. Interesting to note is the realization that even though this messenger of fire cannot be thwarted or extinguished by humanistic or satanic power, it can, through the neglect of the believer, be dampened down to the point of not fully assisting the neglectful believer in their life and ministry. At this point of neglect, the believer can become vulnerable to humanistic and satanic measures that normally wouldn’t pose a threat to life and ministry. In a way, one could say that the believer has lost their fire; not in the sense that it has been extinguished permanently, but in the sense that the effectual fiery hot nature that produces Holy Spirit intended results is diminished. One of the greatest ways that humanistic and satanic powers try to induce this diminished capacity within the believer is through what we could term as “Traumatic Disruptions”. They appear to us in a myriad of forms and yet their disruptive nature can be denigrating to the fiery essence within the believer causing us to respond well below the concomitant power that rests within us. The key to managing these traumatic disruptions in the life of the believer is to turn within our hearts (psychological state>will/desire.>decision making processes) to the eternal source of the fiery essence in us and ask the Holy Spirit to increase the intensity of the conflagration in our spirits (what it means to be Spirit filled) until no existential force has power over us to cause us to fear. This is what the scripture concludes when it states, “When the enemy shall come in like a flood the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him”. So, where is your fire believer? Right where it’s been all along; in the presence of the Holy Spirit! (Another Oil Point from Theology Nation)

Bishop Dr. Guy A. Cox

Add Comment

Remembering The Old Paths

The Prophet Jeremiah would counsel us to “ask for the old paths” in modern times. This is a symbolic way of expressing the need to remember what systemic orderings must be in place that a nation might rise to greatness; which certainly begins with the need to order the personal welfare of the individual life of every citizen of that great nation.Critical to understand is that in order for a nation to be great, it must be indivisible. For that to occur, its people must first be indivisible (what the term individual implies). Digressing for a moment, it must be understood that a nation can be successful and not necessarily be great. The determining principle of greatness is that a nation order its national spiritual tapestry to comply with the Divine Laws established by the word of God. Failure to do so may allow a nation to be successful in many of its systemic orderings (for a time) and yet fail to be truly great. In time, violation of these Divine Laws will eventually lead to a catastrophic breakdown of even the nation’s most successful systems bringing to pass the word of the Lord when it states, “when sin is finished it brings forth death”. Profoundly, a nation doesn’t determine its own greatness, the Lord does, through principles He established before the first nation was formed. Nationalism outside of this paradigm of thinking is bound for destruction. Continuing with the main line of thought, indivisibility is established in an individual manner when a person decides to order the systems of their lives (eg. decision making, finances, spirituality, parenting, etc.) based upon the principles found in the word of God. When every individual person makes a decision to order their lives in a communal manner, community is birthed; and continuity in this path brings forth the greatness of the community. When communities have continuity in the path of indivisibility a nation is born. The greatness of a nation is born (what the term nationalism implies) when its leaders have the spiritual fortitude and moxy to order the systems of government to first of all, comply with Divine Laws based upon the word of God (eg. taking care of orphans, widows, and the poor) and second of all, issue forth from this divine substratum for the beneficial personal welfare of every individual subject to its ambit of influence without discrimination or prejudice (what the phrase “a preempting guiltiness” implies). As a caveat, a great nation must not destroy the power of its greatness by convicting, sentencing, and executing the divine principles upon which its indivisibility stands. Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany were foolish to think that they could terminate the principles of indivisibility, terminate (literally) an entire caste of their own people, and then expect that their nation would not only live but stand in greatness. The seed of national destruction is in the first step its leaders take toward terminating the principles of indivisibility. If America is to return to greatness, every individual American must begin remembering the old paths and for the younger generation, even learning them. This process begins with asking, receiving, and understanding the divine principles found in the word of God. From this spiritual power of understanding, every American must essentially and then existentially order the systems of their lives based upon the two “Absolute” principles of loving the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and then loving our neighbor as ourselves. This will rebuild the spiritual as well as the communal tapestry upon which this great nation was founded. We must not complain about the younger generation disrespecting the older, not complain about gun violence, not complain about ghettos and trailer parks, not complain about school shootings, not complain about racism, discrimination, and prejudice, not complain about abortion, not complain about the criminal justice system, about teen pregnancy, about the homicide rate, about the suicide rate, about sexually perversive lifestyles, about financial inequality, about domestic abuse, about abuse of power or leadership, etc. We must not complain and then do absolutely nothing to order our lives in a manner consistent with ridding our nation of these evils bringing to pass the word of the Lord when it unequivocally pronounces: “Their lips are with me, but their hearts are far from me”. We must ask the Lord to renew within us the old paths that created the indivisibility upon which this great nation once stood. This is how America becomes great again and remains that way. (Another Oil Point from Theology Nation)

– Bishop Dr. Guy A. Cox

Add Comment

Sabotaging Our Own Deliverance

“The light of the body is the eye: if therefore the eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.> But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23

These parabolic words of the Lord Jesus Christ stand as a caveat (teaching/warning) to us, against sabotaging our own deliverance.The symbol of the “eye” here represents the spiritual power of understanding within the psychological parameters of the human mind. The symbol of the “whole body” here represents the spiritual essential state (what the term ontological/spirit being implies) in which the human mind lives. Our understanding,( which is a spiritual power of our minds) can be essentially affected by two external spiritual powers which are completely antithetical of each other. One of these spiritual powers is the spirit of Christ (light) and the other, is the spirit of antichrist (darkness) (cf. 1 John 4:1-6). Both of these spiritual powers have the ability to influence (suggestion unto holiness/ temptation unto unholiness) and also to possess (to be “Spirit filled” over and against to be “demonically possessed”) and are always in dialectical tension to one another. When the human mind (through human freedom and choice) wavers between these two dialectical powers for a short period of time, a partial break (what the term neurosis suggests) occurs in the spiritual essential state in which the human mind lives. When the mind wavers for a long period of time a full break (what the term psychosis suggests) occurs (cf. James 1: 5-8). It is this wavering (or what could be termed as a “self eclipsing of the light”) that becomes the centric topic of Jesus’ words in this text. Mankind, globally as a whole, must receive in the spiritual power of our understanding that the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ (Divine Light) has set out to deliver us from the spirit of antichrist (spiritual forces of darkness). We must freely receive this “Divine Deliverance of Light” (what the term salvation implies) into the spiritual power of our minds (what the term believing implies) or risk self eclipsing this Divine Deliverance into the “Light of Christ” and plunging our souls (spiritual essential state) into the depths of eternal darkness. We must stop self eclipsing the Light of Christ in our lives and sabotaging our own deliverance. Jesus stated in the final analysis of this text, “how great is that darkness!” because He wanted us to understand that self eclipsing of His “Light” will plunge our souls into a darkness so great, that it will be eternal; and there will be no exiting from it. The choice is clearly ours. We must repent of our sins (what it means to turn to a new way of living) and receive the Light of the Lord Jesus Christ in the spirit of our minds/hearts (salvation) and be baptized (immersed) in the Holy Spirit in order to obtain “True Deliverance”! (Another Oil Point from Theology Nation)

-Bishop Dr. Guy A. Cox

Add Comment

A Life Of Faith

A life of faith is critical to the human spirit because it re-establishes the questions of absolute concern. Who are and what is ultimately important to us? The word of the Lord asserts that, “The just shall live by his faith” which would allow us to understand that apart from a life of faith, the valuation of what is important to us may be severely compromised.This becomes increasingly detrimental because if our faith is misplaced, it will lead us into living lifestyles of misplaced faith which ultimately results in us living outside of the will of the Lord. This is what makes the word of the Lord true when King Jesus states, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart (life of faith) be also”. Our faith must be placed in Christ alone; for it is Christ only, who issues the apodictic command to love the Lord our God with all of our being and to love our neighbor as ourselves. This apodictic substratum (base of command) creates the model of lifestyle from which the human heart must live and thrive or risk plunging into a deathly spiral. This is what brings the word of the Lord to past when it sets forth, “The wages of sin is death” and “when sin is finished it brings forth death”. The principle of death here issues forth as a separation from the original design. The human heart was not originally designed to live outside of a loving relationship with the Lord. When it does, based upon human freedom and choice, (what the term “humanism” implies) a principle of death issues forth bringing the human heart into a place of (what continental theology would call) “Estrangement”. Upon entering this place, the human heart suffers the deathly experiences of “loneliness” and “separation” which drastically impairs its resolve to choose life. A life of faith in Christ is the absolute initiative in the human heart exiting and remaining free of the deathly place of estrangement. Isaiah 61:1-4 is the crystallization of this revelation and must be embraced by every “Born Again” believer if we are to carry out the “Great Commission” of our King and gather in the harvest! (Another Oil Point from Theology Nation)

– Bishop Dr. Guy A. Cox

Add Comment