Ahh, glorious mutilation. Today we look at the verses that deal with hacking, slashing, chopping, and cutting off of the flesh for religious glory. If you have fasted yourself into a health crisis, you probably weren't listening to God. Nice effort, but your kids would probably rather have a live dad rather than a dead disciple. If you've put a porn filter on your computer, good job. Doesn't help your imagination (or your cell phone) though, does it? The law of freedom from the sin of separation is the new covenant which is the Spirit of life in Christ, so here we go again with part 6. You're a three second scroller you say? You don't do series you say? You don't have time you say? I say, slow down. Spend some time soaking in this series.......more than once. It could change your life, refresh your union with Christ, and put a smile of genuine joy back on your face, to stay.

This incredible conversation about the new covenant, with Jim Baker and Charlie Coker, was one for the books. The river of revelation gems was flowing faster than many of us could keep up with. This one is worth more than one listen.

Remember when Joshua had a whole family stoned in the Old Testament? "What do you do with that, mister grace guy?" A Pastor asked me this question on a Sunday morning in front of a live audience. It wasn't a hostile question. I had agreed to a live team teaching format with my dear friend, Charlie Coker, at Identity Church in Deltona, Florida. This was the question of the day. What happens when the word of the Lord and the letter of the law clash? God brought Peter to that very moment of decision and taught him a priceless lesson that we're still learning two thousand years later. You can also find the video of this conversation at https://www.identitychurch.net. 

The New Covenant is not about a transaction between you and God, but a transformation where who you were before is not who you are now. If there is no conversion then we will continue to live with an old identity that, in Christ, has passed away. The New Covenant is the rest of reconciled union with God in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit where all things are made new. Have you experienced the new birth? This episode will invite you into that transformation.

This podcast was recorded before the events in Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, TX unfolded. But it explains a little about the nature of freedom that God has given us under the new covenant. Living in freedom is great, but learning to manage that freedom is glorious. Where freedom management fails, we apply controls. It seems that controlling others, society, culture, and surroundings are far easier than controlling self. So we go the easier route. To teach us how to govern the self, God has given us the Holy Spirit. And without the Holy Spirit, the bride of Christ loses her ever loving mind. God has made an investment in us, and he expects a return.

Just because God gave man the law, don't think that defines him as a lawyer. When there's a barrier between people, any connection needs to be spelled out in rules of engagement. Yet in the new covenant we have life, liberty, and love as the pulsing heartbeat that is the uniting rhythm of this temple. There's a mystery to be embraced about the rules of engagement that's every bit as magnificent as the majesty of his word. To lean in to understand this will enroll you in a school that will empower you in the....let's say it like this...new rules of engagement. The blood and violence that defined the old temple is now replaced by the glorious inheritance that all of that blood and violence paid for. So why do we love the blood and violence so much more than the grace it paid for? Step into part 2 of this study into the new covenant with Bill Vanderbush.

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Featured music Michael Giffone: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/michael-giffone/1410403490