Tripartite Axioms

from Doug Perry - 8/8/2006 - (www.FellowshipoftheMartyrs.com) - download printable PDF file here
 

God is tripartite – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
IF we were made in God's image, 
THEN we are tripartite – Soul, Body and Spirit.

When God heals us, it affects all three.
When God asks for obedience, it means from all three.
When God asks for worship, it means from all three.

When we sin, it affects all three – Soul, Body and Spirit.
When we disobey, it affects all three – Soul, Body and Spirit.
When we set ourselves above God, it affects all three – Soul, Body and Spirit.

When we are commanded to bear each other's burdens, it means all three.
When we are commanded to lift the yokes of oppression, it means all three.
When we are commanded to feed the hungry, it means all three.

When we give food to the hungry we are feeding their Body.
When we give Godly instruction to the hungry we are feeding their mind and Soul.
When we give blessings and prayers to the hungry we are feeding their Spirit.

When we give drink to the thirsty we are satiating their Body.
When we give pure truth to the thirsty, we are feeding their mind and Soul.
When we pour out on them the Living Water in us, we are feeding their Spirit.

We are vessels of honor, committed to the service of God.
We contain all kinds of things that can be used for His purposes.
We hold strength, money, time, knowledge, experience, wisdom, faith, love, joy, peace, patience.
Some are physical, some are mental, some are spiritual. All are to be shared.

The easiest to understand and do is the Body. 
Even the world is good at disaster relief and feeding the hungry. 
Even the wicked love their children and feed them good things.

The sneaky one is the Soul and the Mind. 
Satan always wants us to spend all our energies on that one. 
Teach them, train them, argue about philosophies, speculate about hypotheticals.
That is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. 
The world is really good at writing books and speaking many words. Of that there is no end.

The rarest one, the realest one, the most impactful one is the Spirit.
Our battle is NOT against flesh and blood – or the mind – it's against spiritual rulers.
Spiritual rulers that try to steal, kill and destroy. 
You can starve the Spirit by overfeeding the Body and Soul.
All you have to do is take all the emphasis away from the Spirit and put it on the Mind.

God instituted the Five Fold Ministry for a reason. Each has their unique role.
Pastors are for feeding the Body. Caring for widows and orphans. 
Teachers are for feeding the Mind. Train them up in the way they should go.
Evangelists are for igniting the Spirit in man and turning it over to God.
Prophets identify the failings in the process individually or corporately and point them out loudly. 
Apostles train them all up and set them into place and send them out - and are themselves sent out.
All should be fully pouring themselves out on behalf of those in need – Body, Soul and Spirit.

Do we know how to pour out our Spirit on someone in need?
Do we know how to make sure our own cup is full? Is anybody teaching that anymore?

Isn't it obvious that the Church in America's Body is well fed? 
How many thousands of tons of potato salad do we serve at fellowship suppers every year?
How much do we weigh per capita? We have plenty of food. Who could argue? 
In fact, too much in some places and not enough in others, but that's just a distribution problem.

Isn't it obvious that the Church in America's Mind is well fed?
Could we have any more books and tapes and conferences and satelite training meetings?
Could our soulish nature be any more gratified? Do we not have enough input?
We are more obese and overfed in the Mind than we are in the Body.

“Repent of your sins, accept Jesus into you heart.
There now. We're done with your Spirit.
We'll focus on your Body and your Mind from now on.”

Is that really working?

Isn't it obvious that the Church in America is poor in Spirit and starving to death?We don't look like Jesus, because we don't have nearly enough of Him living in us.
Our spiritual cups are too small.We don't love like Jesus, because we don't know how to share what we do have.
Our spiritual cups are stagnant and lukewarm.
We don't act like Jesus, because we're leaving out the most important part of the battle.
We're fighting on the wrong fronts. 

We are raising up very large people with very large brains.
We are not raising up people with faith like a child that will stride out with five stones against Goliath.
We are not raising up people that know how to walk in the Spirit and in the Power of God.
We are not fulfilling the Great Commission holistically – Body, Soul and Spirit.
We are not fulfilling Isaiah 58 holistically – Body, Soul and Spirit.

We don't know how to fight in the spirit.
We don't know how to pray anymore. 
Not really. Not all night with travailing and crying out for God. Not pulling down strongholds and lifting yokes of oppression over our town, our church or our sheep.
We are spiritual warfare pygmies.
Whose idea could that have been? 
Who is glorified most by overweight, brainy, spiritually week Christians?

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