The Holy Spirit has been consistently leading Pastor Weintraub to teach on the preparation of our spirits in the Word and genuine Spirituality, which is clearly seen in the heart of Yeshua and Paul as they reveal the steadfastness of commitment to walk with the Father even unto death. Paul even writes in Philippians 3:10, "That I might know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, being made conformable to His death." How does a man (any human really) get to a place where they can pray such a thing? How does a western believer overcome the prosperity gospel of the West and the disparity that exists between our wealth and "peace" and the poverty and suffering that is being heaped upon the rest of the World?

Thank the Lord that He is faithful to His remnant in all places! Examine two scriptures:

Deuteronomy 8:2-3, "You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD."

Lamentations 3:22-26, "22 The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, therefore I have hope in Him. The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good that he waits silently for the salvation of the LORD."

It is of great purpose that God allows suffering, both on an individual and community basis. It trains us in knowing the great mercy and capacity of our God. When the prosperity gospel preaches that wealth is a sign of blessing they automatically condemn all Christians that live in poverty and suffering to a life of worry and fear. However, it might be wise to consider that our brothers and sisters who are suffering for the gospel are actually the wealthy ones, having come into the fullness of knowing the above scriptures and being able to sit with Paul and Yeshua and identify with them in the their wounds.

Please be sober minded in these difficult, but truly exciting days.

Shalom

Pastor Llave

"Ok, class, for this exercise we go back to the basics"

In John 3, Jesus and Nicodemus are talking. Jesus says, "To see the kingdom, to understand the kingdom, to move in the kingdom, you must be born again." Look out sacred cows! Nicodemus already had covenant relationship. Nicodemus already understood the hebrew word Yeshua, which means salvation, which is the Hebrew name that the Isrealite "Jesus" had. He was expecting the messiah of Israel. He was even asking Jesus if he was really the one. So, was Jesus asking Nicodemus to come down to the alter and get saved? "If you know you are a sinner, come down to the alter and ask Jesus into your heart."

This passage is about the Spirit of God. It is about the fulfillment of the words of the prophets that the Lord would pour out His spirit upon all flesh in the last days. Nicodemus asks about the man and his role in delivering Israel from the oppression of Rome, Jesus introduces the Spirit instead, which, if you can see what Jesus is really saying, is the best way to discern whether Yeshua was really the one they were waiting for and what His Kingdom was going to accomplish. The key ingredient in the effort to see the kingdom is being "born again". It really was about expectations that were built upon promises that G-d had left to the fore-fathers of Isreal and it was about the birthing of the Holy Spirit who would make these expectations come to pass.

If the Kingdom is your focus then born again takes on a somewhat different view. Look at an infant. What do we train them in first? Simple obedience coupled with self control. Jesus on numerous occasions points out children as examples of the heart and mentality that must exist in any person that wants to walk in the Kingdom of God. Why? Because their "normal" attitude is to have simple availability to obedience and, if you know what your doing, can be trained in self-control. Jesus is our example in these two qualities. John 5:30, "I never do anything of myself, but what I hear from my Father, that is what I do." Obedience and Self-Control. Now look at Paul's writings. "Be filled with the Spirit!", "Walk in the Spirit!". Many can quote the gifts of the Spirit, "Love, joy, goodness, kindness, patience, and...Self Control!"

If you are beating yourself up about whether you can walk in the Spirit and do great things for God because you compare yourself to others who have declared that they are spiritual and do all these amazing things, I point to James 3. He said that the tongue is an unruly evil and it sets fires that can not be controlled. Oh the damage caused by the total inability to control the tongue and resist and rebuke those who can't. Being filled with the Spirit does not start with your ability to do signs and wonders. It starts with your ability to be obedient like a child and control yourself. A message that even Nicodemus needed to hear, and one that, if we are humble, should shake us to our foundation.

When you then go and read Paul speaking to the Corinthian church, what do you find? A man who is speaking of the same reality. He speaks of laying a good foundation, that of Jesus and him crucified. This is introduced in 1 Corinthians 3 after revealing to the Corinth believers that they have two problems plaguing them. First they tend toward celebrity worship and second they have patterns of carnality because they have jealousy and strife. These behaviors cause this church to be entirely self-focused and not aware of the high vocation of gathering people to the gospel. Paul challenges them with their understanding of the Spirit and does not let up for almost two whole letters.

Why is this? Why does Paul so radically defend the integrity of the Spirit of G-d? Because there is nothing greater. If Jesus teaches in John 16 that the Spirit will lead you into all truth, which is really captured in the Word of God, does not this mean that man should find his fullness in listening to the Spirit of G-d. If G-d says that He loves with the balance of Mercy and Justice, would not the Spirit lead us to do the same? All G-d's people would say amen to that to be sure. However, Paul calls the Corinthians carnal! Speaking the words in eloquence but incapable of maintaining unity and gathering the wounded and shackled and defending the body of Christ from the invasion of darkness for the sake of G-d's holiness.

Are you a gatherer? How does your speech impact people? Are you a busybody? Consumed with other people's business and assessing their decisions for the sake of protecting your own view of life? Or are you holding up Luke 9:23, "If you desire to be my disciples, deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me." You can discern a true disciple because they approach the cross through Matthew 5:3, "Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for they shall inherit the Kingdom of G-d". This group has lost their life in the flow of the Kingdom and the gathering of souls. They stay close to the Spirit and the leading and power of His demonstration. They bare fruit in keeping with righteousness and never lose sight of the Crucifixion of Jesus or the new life he brought in the resurrection.

Consider your paths. Endeavor to keep the unity of the Body in the bond of peace!

Shalom. Pastor Llave.

The contrast is rather striking every time I see it. Life below; death above. The Lord grabbed a hold of my spirit and told me to look at it carefully. So, I did. As I was observing He said, "What would it take to restore this location back to a forest and river ecosystem?" I said, "Well if you do it naturally I would guess the best method would be to raise up a storm that would dump a mighty rain that would wash down the river and bash the beaver's dam to pieces and at the same time clean out all the death in the waters. Then it would have the opportunity to regenerate without the influence of the beaver's mentality."

Blessings to you all. Shalom. Pastor Llave

This doesn't take us away from what fighting really is. I speak mainly to the western version of Christianity where violence is eschewed as some kind of backwoods neanderthalic method of dealing with enemies. But in saying that, isn't the real confusion really about who the enemy is? Paul declared in the book of Ephesians that we wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness....Why do we have to argue about the voracity of this statement? Why do we have to rationalize Paul's true narrative here? What do you think it was that John saw in Revelation 12:12-15? Do you believe that God cast satan out of heaven for his rebellion? Do you see that he was cast out and into the earth?

Another clue is the description of Adam's responsibility: "Subdue!" Why would Adam, who lived in a so called "perfect" garden, need to subdue anything at all? Would it not be conceivable to believe that, as Jesus said, "he saw the devil cast down to the earth like a bolt of lightening", and therefore the deceiver was already in the garden? Would it not also be conceivable that the serpent was borrowed as a communicator and that the effort to deceive Eve took some time? Look at Jesus in Matthew 4. Three temptations. Three decisive victories using the Word of God. But also the patience of a skilled attacker who is looking for weaknesses and has contingencies in case one method does not succeed. He is a lion, a hungry lion, who walks about, seeking whom he may devour! Cats by nature are patient hunters.

We underestimate our enemy and we underestimate our own capacity. Jesus said that the Kingdom of God suffers violence, which is to say that as God is communicating to people with the Spirit, both the message and the messengers are under constant attack because to hear G-d's communication is to get free of the very prison that the devil himself built: the prison of lies. The verse ends with this phrase, "but the violent take it by force." Is this physical violence? Not in the fist fight sort of way, but Paul declared that he buffets his body and makes it his slave. Why? Because he understood, as so many Christians seemingly do not, that the body, mind, and heart are the battleground for the spiritual war. He had to be aggressive to hear and he had to be aggressive to respond accurately, consistently, and honestly to each imagination that would come against him to resurrect the first Adam that had died on the cross. For Paul, this was a serious issue. He didn't want to lose a single ounce of that kingdom vision that he had owned for himself and he protected it with tenacity. Are you a fighter? KAB!

Pastor Llave

Look for our digital E-Booklet by Pastor Richard Weintraub called, "The Face of Deception" for a more detailed look at this issue. It will be online in the next couple of weeks.]]>http://olivebranchonline.org/journal/rss-comments-entry-13519022.xmlOlive Branch OnlineTue, 11 Oct 2011 00:54:47 +0000http://olivebranchonline.org/journal/2011/10/10/obm-update.html754064:8846268:13151399I haven't ever thought to put an update for our ministry here before, but with all the recent excitement, I thought many of you might like to hear what we, or rather, our Lord, is doing in our midst.

As you might be able to tell, we are launching an online school. This endeavor has been a long-standing dream of Pastor Weintraub's. It wasn't until we got our radio studio set-up that we began to see the possibilities that were waiting for us to step into. We are at this point finalizing the text and materials and very soon will be moving into the filming stage. You can pray for us, there is great resistance to the success of this endeavor and it has slowed our progress.

Since I mentioned our radio station...Pastor Weintraub has had a long affair with Radio. He cut his teeth with a former pastor of his here in Atlanta in the 80's, got to do a program in Colorado Springs, CO for a season, and has been doing radio here again in Atlanta for a little over two years. The door opened with a Spanish station first and when that station went secular we switched to another station rented by the same Spanish church. Through a consistent relationship with the DJ there, we were introduced to world of Internet Radio and within about a month and just two big purchases, we were able to go live for the first time! Initially we were broadcasting only on our website here, but within a few months we were picked up by a station in Long Island, NY who is broadcasting to five states and Puerto Rico. What a blessing! We are now praying for more doors. The internet makes it possible to broadcast to any country in the world and we have had offers from people in Guatamala, Honduras, Jamaica, Spain, Portugal, Scotland, and one other that I can't remember because it is in Africa. Anyway, what an amazing move of G-d! Please pray for us, the one thing that is required is money to pay for the time and that is in short supply because of the size of our ministry. I believe G-d can do it, so if the saints are praying, it will only be left to see what He will do.

Two other quick notes about the goings on. We are finally getting our published booklets put into PDF form so that we can get them up here on the website for anyone to purchase. Look for them before Thanksgiving. Additionally, we are attempting our second short film! Fun. The tentative title is "The Target". Keep us in prayer for that as well.

Thanks so much for those of you who have been frequenting the site! It really helps to see that people come and visit. I would like to remind you to drop a line. We would love to hear from you.

Pastor Llave

These last few weeks, the Spirit of God has been leading Pastor Weintraub to continually speak on Genuine Spirituality. The most important lessons in this have come this weekend as the the Spirit deepens the progressive revelation of the Father's full vision. What is that vision? Well, do you believe that Paul was accurate when he spoke in Ephesians 4:1 that we should endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? How can some 30,000 Christian denominations reveal such a thing as unity? Unity is a biblical word that comes from God's very name and yet it would seem that the secular world has a somewhat better capacity to unite around a whole host of topics and events.

The sad reality is that when we read Peter's words, we as Christians only see them as concept and doctrine. Look at the person sitting next to you! They were created to house the Presence of God! Saved or unsaved, the created purpose of man was to fellowship with God. Some acknowledge this, some don't. The issue is not whether they have or have not. The issue is how do you relate to them in the process of them living their lives on the earth? Paul and Peter both are addressing the terrible truth that more often than not I am willing to look at my neighbor and revile them for behavioral problems, ineptitudes, stinky flesh, doctrinal imperfections, or any other ailment of the physical man. All this while the Living God is bent over, groaning for them with such love and concern.

What has become of true reverence for God? Praise and Worship and church are not replacements for love of the very vessel that God dwells in which is sitting right next to you. In some cases, for some people, it may be that you need to learn to love the vessel that God gave you to walk in! In any case, to do the activity of what church's define as reverence and leave off the paramount revelations of true worship, which is loving God's tabernacle is the epitome of irreverence. Before you disagree, remember that we are a "church" with 30,000 denominations or perhaps better said, divisions. Not a good reputation for those who are supposed to be reflecting the amazing gospel of God's love.

Just a thought to consider.

Pastor Llave

However, never before, has there been a more important word for those who are truly seeking to find the depth of the heart of Elohim, the Father of our Lord, Yeshua. If you could agree that Yeshua is the highest mark of righteousness, in fact, the full perfection of righteousness, we would be at a starting point. If you could further agree that John stated correctly that Yeshua was the Torah made into flesh, then we are really getting somewhere. What many miss in their effort to avoid even remotely looking like a Jew, is that Torah, as Yeshua and Paul both said, is the fullest measurement of what righteousness is because it is the very breath of God. Left to itself, Torah is holy and perfect. But then it wasn't given to just sit by itself. It was there to reveal righteousness so that man's capacity to never measure up would be revealed.

This is exactly when I smell the fresh wind of grace blowing in the breeze of the Spirit. If man can't reach this mark of righteousness on his own, as described by Torah, then man, any of them who would desire to truly know God, would need some kind of intervention from God Himself. This is what the Prophets began to speak unto to Israel. Joel 2:28, "I will pour out my Spirit..." The announcement of an intervention. Good news for all who were steadfastly pursuing the heart of God through the Torah. He was going to send the Spirit who dwell within and partner, as it were, in the effort to reach that goal of the Torah, which was the righteousness of God.

John, very quickly in his own gospel, acknowledges that Yeshua was "full of Grace and Truth". Then later in John 14 and 16, he recalls that Yeshua had declared that He would pass on the Spirit moving in Him to the disciples, much like Moses did to the Elders of Israel. It is truly in this revelation that we begin to see that Elohim established an amazing reality for all mankind. This reality could be called Genuine Spiritulity. God gives Torah to Israel to establish righteousness and they can not uphold it. He then sends His son to, not only pay the vindication price, but show us that to walk out the Torah, one must be submitted to the full revelation of the Father, which is that He would dwell within our weak "Tabernacle" frame and would bring His full character of Righteousness to bear through His Spirit and His Grace.

I think Paul communicated the most understated truth; "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". If the life of Yeshua is the full image of the Torah, and He said (and lived by the way) the greatest commandment is to Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and body, what is keeping you from walking in it? His Spirit dwells within if you truly believe that He is Messiah (Romans 8). Now the true gate into Genuine Spirituality stands before you. Will you submit to His Grace as Yeshua did in John 5:30? Something to think about.

Pastor Llave

However, there is no doubt that Elohim is very much concerned with people reverencing Him and fearing him over the politics and leadership of man. We have come to a place in human history where it is vital to know that God honors those who fear His name and it is those who do so, who also search out the scriptures to know Him who will find themselves protected from the implosion that the nations of this world have brought to our doorstep.

Solomon said, "The end of the matter is this, Love God and keep his commandments." I hope you are awake and watchful, seeking to know what the hour is and how to live appropriately upon the earth in this great hour in the history of the earth.

Pastor Llave