: "The Kingdom of God is like a basketball game" p

[Blood Stained Soul]

Dear Saints of God,

Greetings in the name above all names, the King of Glory, our only hope of Salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ! I pray in HIS mighty name that your week is going well and that Christ is having HIS way with your lives. My time off has been good and my battery is recharged to full. How many of you know that from time to time this is needed. We need to step back from things and let the Lord take inventory of our lives. Some of my stock was found to be on the wrong shelves, so the Lord reprioritised my life for the Glory of God, AMEN! It was during this time that my wife and I, and the baby listening from the womb, started a Bible study on the Five Fold Ministry and the gifts of the Spirit. It was during the course of this that the Lord began to remind me of a revelation of sorts that HE taught me concerning the Five Fold Ministry and the Kingdom of God. HE compared it to a basketball game. During the course of this series I shall share with you all of this information. This shall be a lengthly study, so much so that it should carry us through the rest of the year. Let us pray now shall we....

Our Father in Heaven...we thank you oh Lord for our very lives...sanctify us with the blood of Jesus and purge us with your Holy Spirit...move in our loves Lord...change us for the Glory of God...deliver us from the snares of the devil...cover us in your anointing I pray...glorify your name in our lives God...help us to be Holy as you are Holy as the Bible commands us to do....keep our feet on the paths of righteousness...forgive us of our sins Lord and have mercy upon us Father..help us to be pleasing in your sight God...let the Words that I type be YOUR WORDS and not mine...let me be but a mouthpiece...and may these people recieve from God want you desire for them to...IN JESUS NAME AMEN!

Hallelujah...if you have your Bibles handy...we have a few scriptures for our text this week that will serve as the foundation for this teaching. Take notes at your leisure as always. As well if this Ministry blesses you in ANY way then I encourage you to share it with others..let them check out the website, etc. I encourage you from time to time to do so because I have had a person one time say she had not cause she coveted this as something for "just her"..her own private thing...we are not about that...we are about our Fathers business. So if you feel the Lord prodding at you to share this Ministry then do so. This is by no means a subsitute for Church, but it is a means for some to recieve an extra meal of manna and some on our list are not saved and some think they are but are not...so they are getting Words from God they may otherwise not get, until God deals with them and they get saved and get their hides into church. We are an Evangalistic Outreach Ministry in case some were wanting to know how we are classified. Okay with that off my chest let me get to the Word.

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Glory to God...thank you Jesus for the Bible..AMEN..come on now...how many times have you had one of those days where you felt like God was a million miles away from you and your situations...but then you felt drawn to the Word of God and the Lord directs you to just the Scripture to speak to you on your situations and God reminds you that HE is always faithful and a very present help...HALLELUJAH! God did not allow us to become apart of this thing we call the Kingdom of God so that we could have a picnic, oh no..this is neither ClubMed nor a beach house...it is a war and if you're not equipped for battle you will get your head handed to you by the devil.

There are times indeed that you will have to spiritually bleed. There are times when you get ambushed or you're bold enough to charge into the enemies camp and you have to take a hit...thats alright though...GOD HAS CALLED US TO FIGHT FOR THE GOD WHO HEALS! Hallelujah...thats all extra bonus preaching, that was the appitizer now here comes the meal...

The above Scripture texts will be the texts for the various sections or parts of the series we are about to embark on. This week I am giving the overview of everything...the overall vision if you will and next week I shall start going into detail on each individual part. See the whole Kingdom of God is important. Not one part of Gods Glorious Kingdom is unimportant. You see, my goodness I could preach right here, the devils schemes and the worlds trash may have taken hold in alot of parts of the Kingdom, but the Church is still the Bride of Christ. Even though MANY act like weekend girlfriends, the Church as a WHOLE is still the Bride of Christ. Those of you who are trying your hardest to live right and be what Christ desires HIS Bride to be, In the name of Jesus listen to me....like God said to Elijah so HE says today...HE still has 7000 who have not bowed to bail, they have not prostitued themselves to the idols of this age. God still has a people, a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD OF JESUS FREAKS...HALLELUJAH...praise be unto the Lamb of God...whooooo...

So how is the Kingdom of God like a basketball game? Glad you asked now those who have ears to hear let them hear what the Spirit has to say...

In the game of Basketball you have a team of around 12-15 players on the team...were there not in the Bible between 12 and 15 documented Apostles...my Bible says so...a team also has an owner...who has control and authority to do with the team as he pleases legally..he can move the team...sell it...build a new place for it to play, etc. Now the Kingdom of God has an owner..HIS name is God the Father..HE created the Universe and all of Heaven...HE has authority to do as HE pleases...in due time HE will move all of us into Heaven...where the Bible says HE is constructing a place for us there..HE won't ever sell you...thats the only difference in this comparison...Hallelujah unto HIS NAME...cause we have been bought with a price too heavy for Him to ever sell...the Blood of Jesus Christ.

In the game of Basketball you also have a General Manager...he runs the team for the owner...he runs all the daily operations of the basketball team....he makes decisions on players, decides which players, if they are no longer up to par, get traded or released from the team. He works up contracts for the players. Now there is more detail to all of what I am saying but we are just going to do a basic comparison...I would be here for a life time if I had to go into every tiny detail. In the Kingdom of God there is a General Manager and his name is Jesus Christ or God the Son in relation to the Trinity. Jesus has been handed all authority and Power from God to be the Judge of this world, Christian and non-Christian alike. As Christians we are to put our lives into his hands, and allow him to make all decisions concerning us...now back to his role as Judge...at the end of the age...at Judgement...those who are not up to par..who have not the Blood and have not lived for him...these shall be cast into Hell and shall in no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven...that is talking of some who "call" themselves Christians as well...not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord...remember?...who can say Lord but by the Spirit? He worked up the ulimate contract for you as the General Manager by going and dying on a Cross on a hill named Calvary...your payment, of sorts, for beliving in him and repenting of your sins, turning from your wicked ways, and living for him is eternal life.

In the game of basketball there is also a coaching staff, I group it together for a reason...which you shall see in a moment..the coaching staff works as one unit..if they fail..most times the whole staff gets the boot...so they succeed and fail as one...thats the angle I will come from...though others could break this down further..the job of the coaching staff is to train the players..to teach them..to show them the things in which they are erroring...you know what I will go with the assistant coaches route...just not in the way as they operate seperate of each other..now you have a Head Coach and assistant coaches..who help the Head coach accomplish the goal of teaching his "system" to the players...system being offensive and defensive styles. Now in the Kingdom of God there is a Head coach and he is the Holy Ghost or God the Holy Spirit. He has some assistants..of which he uses to reach people to expose their errors or sins...The Bible...Prayer...and Vessels..Halleluajah...this is good stuff this week...and I do not just say that cause I am a huge basketball fan..but I say that cause I am a huge Jesus fan..lastly before I get to the players...you have scouts in the game of basketball, they search for players for their team...the Kingdom of God has scouts...we call them witnesses...witness for Jesus for there is a Harvest for GODS TEAM THAT YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE! Also in the game of basketball you have viewers..either on television or at the game...looking to see an outcome...cheering for one side or the other...in the Kingdom of God you have an audience called the unsaved world...some are cheering you on to win and some to lose, what kind of game will you play? Just like the game of basketball you have an opposing team called the kingdom of darkness....when I describe the player positions in comparison to the Kingdom of God...these attributes are not being given to team loser devil...I am speaking of only one team and thats the one that matters..TEAM JESUS...I only made the comment about opponents to show you that you have opposition trying to counter act your every move for God.

Now unto the players themselves...and this is where the Five Fold Ministry my wife spoke to you about me preaching on begins. Smiles real big..I love this man...Alright...quick overview Jason...details later..people you have no idea how bad I want to jam your boxes up with like the biggest email ever made so I can preach this all now...In the game of basketball you have the Point Guard...he runs the offense on the floor...he sets the offense in motion...dishes the ball out...or takes the option of taking the offensive shots...usually one of the better defenders...in the Kingdom of God you have a Point Guard...we call them Apostles..and I shall prove through Scripture that the office of Apostle is still in operation today...I shall wait to speak on the comparisons in detail till I get to them in the series cause I am so into this topic I would take forever.

In the game of basketball you also have the shooting guard, he is your first offensive weopon after the point guard...also dishes out the ball to others...at times will also help the point guard by setting up the offense..both he and the point guard have good ball handling skills..also should have good defensive skills as he and the point guard are the first ones to the ball on defense...In the Kingdom of God we have a shooting guard...we call him the Pastor...In the game of basketball we have the small forward...he is the man who does some of everything...he passes, shoots, rebounds, blocks shots, he can set the offense up at times...some of the games best defenders have come from this position...In the Kingdom of God we have a small forward...we call them Evangalists....they do a little of everything in the Kingdom of God.

In the game of basketball you have the Power Forward...on most teams they are the grunts...mostly known for defense and rebounding...with the exception of a few superstars...over all they are not chosen for their offense...it is their defense that is mainly needed...though they can be an offensive weapon if needed...In the Kingdom of God we have Power Forwards...we call them teachers...known for defending the Gospel by teaching correctly the Truth of Gods Word. Lastly in the game of basketball we have the Center...most teams try to build their teams around their center...he is the absolute defensive presence...he guards the heart of the court...what is called "the paint"..the area between the free throw line and the basket...he is or can be an offensive weopon...many of the best players in the game have been centers..and cause I am one who moves in the gift of this Office..I may take forever if I get started...the Kingdom of God has its center as well...he is called the Prophet.

Now that we have the overview out of the way, beginning next week we can go into some detail about what we discussed here today. I enjoyed sharing this with you this week and shall close with my wife praying...I know I do that alot, and it is not my avoiding praying a blessing over you...it is just what gets laid on my heart alot..this woman has a prayer life that challenges me a whole lot...she has been praying while I have been preaching this and I feel she has something for you....

I thank you, Lord, for this message. I haven't got to read it yet, but I know it's a powerful one and I praise your name for working through Jason in this way. Thank you for all these people on this list, Lord. Thank you for the purging you've done and continue to do. I pray, Lord, that the people on this list would not only read and understand, but listen to what you have to say to them through this message. I pray you would bless these people and meet their needs...not their wants, but their needs, Lord. I pray you would save souls, Lord of those that don't know you yet. In Jesus Name, AMEN.

[Blood Stained Soul]

Just bringing this to top of list.

[Andrew007]

That was cool!

and for future reference, if you want something to go up, its called a bump... so next time you can *BUMP* a thread

[Blood Stained Soul]

Andrew007,

Blessings in the Lord! Glad you enjoyed the message. Praise be unto the King of Glory! Yeah, I knew what it was called, just don't like saying that word....but thanks for the tip.