It's all about the questions

I was looking at my article on a new Berean church. No responses at all. That’s not unusual. I have a history of not explaining myself well. But I’ve learned some things in 52 years with the Lord. So, I finally sat and said, “Lord, why is there no response?” He said clearly, “It’s all about the questions.” So, I’ve been pondering that. It’s obvious that this is what the Bereans did. And they didn’t even have the New Covenant writings that we have available. So they were going through the Tanakh, and mainly the Torah. Remember, they did not have home Bible studies. They had to study where the scrolls were. That was the synagogue, as far as I know. Did Paul have a set of scrolls that he carried with him? Not that I know of.

They also did not have helps like chapters, verses, cross-references, not to mention Strong’s, Vine’s, the Hebraic Study Tool, and all the rest we have.

But they were also were not afflicted with denominations, manmade doctrines, ancient prejudices, anti-semitism, and all the rest that the institutional church is afflicted with.

Above all, they were not living under the heretical assumptions of spectator-based religion, with a paid holy person holding the only microphone, and the professional musicians. That’s anathema—^{in my eyes.}

The institutional church revulsion

I would put forward that you may have never met anyone with a stronger revulsion to the institutional church than me. I have similar feelings about synagogue services, but there I realize that I can hardly sit still while the religious service goes on completely ignoring the reality of the New Covenant.

I would put it bluntly. It is likely that none of you have ever attended a spiritual gathering which was unencumbered by religion. If you remember the last article [What would a Berean Church look like, today?], I started with a brief recollection of earlier pieces written about the only description of a New Covenant worship and teaching service found in I Corinthians 14:26-33. Our attempt with the New Sabbath church, was very promising until the sheep rebelled. There aren’t any Tanakh descriptions about services either. The Temple did not supply this type of service, and there is no scriptural instruction about a synagogue service that I am aware of. If I say anything in error about synagogue religion, please call me on it. So…

It’s all about the questions.

It’s assumed, by me, that you have elders present who understand how doctrine has messed up walking in the Spirit. If you don’t ask the Lord to help you learn. For example, if you start talking about tongues as ecstatic utterances, you’ll get jumped on by me. Anything about reformed theory will be jumped by Sergio. I’m sure we all have our thing.

My thing is the Holy Spirit has to be put in charge of the service. He is our infallible guide as the very breath [ruach] of the Father, conveying the mind, wisdom, plans, and more of our incredible God. This is supposed to be available to any Berean meeting that I run—through the gifts of the Holy Spirit as listed in 1 Cor. 12. Jesus flat told us that the counselor, Paraclete, would be sent to us to teach us anything we need to know about the Lord , the scriptures, the Torah, and how to walk in the Spirit.

If the gifts are not being manifested it is because you are not asking the Lord for them. You do need some good teaching on what they really are. I’ve written several pieces in The Holy Spirit for us, which is a newsletter on my BiblicalReality Substack. They are very helpful.

But we need to ask. We always need to ask. How many times did Yeshua tell us something like, seek and you shall find, ask and it shall be given to you, knock and it shall be opened unto you? We have to make the first move. Normally Jesus doesn’t just step out in front of us and tell us the answer to what we are thinking. He has been doing that quite a bit to the Muslims and the Jews in the Middle East in these later days—but that is basically a new thing [due to the rapidly approaching end as far as I can tell]. But even there it is the normally the result of a deeply disturbed person desperately asking for help or truth.

You will soon see that my most common advice is
to get in a quiet place and ask Jesus out loud

So, when I say that asking questions is the key to a Berean study I am completely serious. Any question is fair game. The only unusual aspect is that it is assumed that you want an honest truthful answer to your question based on scripture if at all possible. Though that might startle you, it’s what you need to get things changed and fixed in your life.

Don’t let the enemy lay guilt on you

I recommend asking questions like a little boy or girl asking Mom or Dad. I’ve had my guilt spasms, but He’s made it clear that He likes my questions, and He increasingly gives me the answers I need—now that He’s finally got me taking the answers more seriously. I’ve been asking Him a lot to make me more aware of the things He’s doing in my life.

I’ve been amazed at all He does. I’ve fallen in love with Him at a whole new level. It’s a battle to get around the faith fog. I realize the need for faith, and what a powerful tool it is in His training of us. Some time soon, we’ll all know as we are known.

Don’t worry about pushing. He’s very good at keeping things in faith. But He’ll respond to questions about what He is doing. It’s all about what Paul called praying without ceasing. On my best days, I talk to Him all day about what I am doing, what I should do next. Where can I find that verse He just reminded me of, and whatever. More and more I’m just a happy toddler talking to Dad. I want to be useful when I get to be with him forever.

All of us need an intimate personal relationship

Walking here in the flesh, that’s almost impossible EXCEPT with the Lord. He can enable that, if you pursue it. He knows you better than you do. The description of this type of relationship is found in Hebrews 4. No. It is not talking about the BIBLE.

¹² For the word of God is living and active,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow,
and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
¹³ And before him no creature is hidden, but all are open
and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

Yeshua is the Word of God, and verse 13 starts, “and before Him”. This is how He makes our relationship with Him intimate and personal. The more you talk with Him, the better your questions become.

The Hebraic tool tells us that “Ekklēsia is the honest response of people, Jew and gentile, who see the rescue and say yes. It is not a ticket booth. It is not a replacement. It is a recognition.” All of us bring our personal intimacy with the Lord and share it. As we talk it out, the Lord enables us to stay on the strait and narrow.

With practice, prayer, and desire, the Ruach becomes a conscious participant in our Ekklesia gatherings.

This is how a Berean gathering is supposed to work. Everyone asking questions, getting answers, and sharing what the Lord has done in our lives. IT IS NOT AN INTELLECTUAL EXERCISE. It is the result of conversational relationships with the Father and Son.

It takes a conscious effort and focus on the relationship. I'm not very good at it yet, but He is responding beyond my wildest expectations. He’s told us how to verify what He says in 1 John 4:1-3. If you get a thought, ask the spirit who gave you the thought if He accepts that Yeshua is the son of God who came in the flesh and is my Messiah. He will tell you yes or no, with other comments as you get better with the process. The enemy answers will be nasty and abrupt. The Father has the power to keep us on the path. This is the core of the New Covenant.

This is all part of His plan.

There is a solid reason why He placed
His Ruach HaKodesh within us.