While working on the second edition of Final Piece of the Puzzle I proofed a section of the book that I had forgotten that I’d written.  It talks about   maturity in the Kingdom of Jesus and the importance of spiritual fathers.   I thought it would make a great blog post.

Tribute to Mr. Jay Ferris

 

When I first met Jay Ferris I was attending a SEARCHING TOGETHER conference. Compelling in voice and bold by presence, he was a fantastic presenter.  My first thought was C.E.O. Chief Executive Officer.  Jay was very gifted and my guess was that whether in business or politics he was a natural.  I read later that he did have political experience.  I cannot remember the title of the presentation he shared that day, but I remember a phrase from Jay’s teaching: “a drop dead gorgeous women walks into the room.” Topically it would have fit into the category love in the Kingdom of God.

 

Jay also wrote about other topics including money, and whatever he wrote about was good material, but I found his teachings about love in the kingdom of God breathtaking.  Like a fine musician may guide you on a vicarious roller coaster ride of emotions, Jay had a gift for writing and speaking about the Kingdom in a way that tugged your heart strings.  Jay was also able to speak the truth about the Kingdom in a unique manner that caught your ears, so that it easily rose above the chatter of other voices, which were merely tossing around old manna like grains of stale salt.   During that talk about the “drop dead gorgeous women” there were listeners whose hearts were closed.  Like offended Pharisees they made dramatic exits.  Jay spoke kingdom truth in a very distinctive and memorable fashion.  It was their loss.

 

While many gifted writers write about the Kingdom, few do so after sitting at the feet of Jesus first.  I don’t know much about Jay Ferris.  Being as gifted as he was, my first mentor in Christ Jesus would have called him a self-made man.  That was my mentor’s way of saying that a person was so naturally gifted in one or more ways that they didn’t need God and that if God wanted to use them, the Lord needed to slowly, softly, transform them into a fit vessel. Like a good horse trainer breaks an exceptional, but untrained horse.  So I am sure that Jay had times in his life where things should have gone smoothly, but instead hurt and disappointment were the result.

 

Children of the Kingdom who are broken in this way have one of two ends.  They become hard and bitter.  Or the fleshly strongholds in their lives that keep them from growing more abundantly in the fruit of the spirit dissolve.  Children of the Kingdom who allow God to train them, so they become more and more Christ-like, exhibit a divinely sweet heavenly fragrance.  That sweet fragrance is reminiscent of the salty tears or costly perfume of the women who anointed Jesus Feet.  Jay Ferris was one of the children of God who stayed the course and matured into a spiritual father.

 

• For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. 1 Corinthians 4:15 King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
• I write to you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning.  I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one.  I write to you, little children, because you have known the father.  1 John 2:13 American King James Version.

 

While some groups teach that calling someone a father, or spiritual father, is a sin and that only Jesus’ Father can be called a father, it appears that Paul and John both write about the necessity for matured spiritual fathers.  Jay Ferris was one of the body of Christ.  Of course we have to keep in mind that we don’t need more title designations assigned by men to leaders who have not matured spiritually to the point that they are able to walk as seasoned male or female mentors.  We need more Christians who mature to the point that they function in the role that the Lord wants for His Kingdom.  I did not have the privilege to know Jay Ferris as personally as many of you have had, but I feel that he would have agreed with my statement about titles and functions.

 

Most men so gifted, as Jay Ferris was, when being transformed from a diamond in the rough to a scintillating gemstone, often shatter (become hard and bitter) before the final product appears.  Thankfully that was not the case for Jay.  He became a great vessel of wisdom for the Kingdom.  We will miss Jay Ferris, who functioned as a spiritual father in the Kingdom of Jesus.  We will also miss the Wisdom of Jesus that he so freely shared.

Not too far from the tribute to Jay Ferris were some short lessons on love and walking in the Kingdom of Jesus.  I thought it would be good to post these as well.

Lesson on Love in the Kingdom

Years ago the Lord showed me that Saul and David’s contrast is a very illuminating teaching.  While David was not perfect, he had a heart for God.

Saul had a heart for himself and was more concerned with saving face than obeying the Lord.  David had more unconditional love, while Saul’s love was very conditional.

Christians with conditional love tend to love God and other Christians for what they can get, while Christians with stronger Davidic love tend to love Jesus for who he is and are less likely to exhibit selfish love to the brethren.

Christians with Saulish love are prone to “sacrificing,” that is they tend to find many great works to do, while rationalizing away the one thing God is really asking them to do.  Or they put their utmost, most of the time, into being a good Christian example at fellowship, but during the rest of the week, their prominent examples are marked by great carnality and selfishness.  That is, they tend to exhibit more fruit if the flesh that fruit of the Spirit.

A Davidic Christian “will not offer up to God that which costs me nothing.”  Their love for Jesus is strong enough that, even if they don’t like ehat Jesus is asking then to do, they react like Jesus at Gethsemane and say, “Take this cup from me, if it is possible, but nit my will be done, but Your will be done.”  [Excerpted from The Baby Echolalia of Christendom and a post that I placed in Hope Martin’s blog, Outlaw for Christ, about leadership.]

Lesson on Walking in the Kingdom

Free Verse Prose

Our Kingdom Comes

 

It is written in Matthew 6:10,

Thy Kingdom come.

Thy will be done.

On Earth as it is in Heaven.”

 

Eleven verses later it says,

“For where your treasure is,

There will your heart be also.”

 

We need to take time to assess

What is our treasure?

Who is our King?

Time will tell

And actions speak louder than words

Are two axioms that come to mind.

 

Jesus is coming for His Bride

And for the children of God.

Judgment begins in the House of God.

He is coming with his rewards in His hand.

 

He will be just and fair

And what is forgiven is forgiven.

But the reward will be based

On how we’ve used our talents

And how we’ve walked with Him.

We think of rewards as gifts.

 

While that is true,

That is only half of the equation!

Reward can also mean just recompense.

 

We need to take stock now

And prepare for his coming.

Now we have the time

To make better choices

And learn how to balance

Our priorities with Godly wisdom.

 

When He comes

It will be too late

To make things right.

 

Too late to make amends

For following our sensual desires

Rather than Him.

 

Too late to trade

Our foolish stubborn independence

For dependence on Him.

 

Too late to submit

To his character training

And maturity building.

 

Too late to admit

That we “talked the talk”

But never truly “walked the walk”

To the foot of His throne

And sincerely made Him King.

 

Too late to undo a lifetime

Of saying He was our King,

But by our daily decisions denying Him

And His Kingship.

Or we may deny Him with words

As Peter did thrice.

 

It is written,

“I will have mercy

Where I will have mercy.

I will have compassion

Where I will have compassion.”

 

He is a King

More sovereign

Than any earthly king.

Our Kingdom Comes was excerpted from

(From Waysides 4: Caravansary) WTO 11.29.11

 

 

 

 

Both the tribute material and the love/walking pieces were also

excerpted from Final Piece of the Puzzle