Circumcision of the Heart Ministry
For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit,
and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Philippians 3:3
and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.
Philippians 3:3
BROTHERS CAN YOU HEAR ME?
Bishop J. N. Hall Jr.
It is time for us to take our place and be the men God created us to be. We have been dead far too long. It is time for us, as men, to rise from a dead level to a living perpendicular. Whether, black, white, red, yellow, or brown we have a responsibility to God to please him, squaring our actions in everything we do that He (God) might be glorified in us.
Too many families, communities and even our churches are filled with women doing the jobs that men ought to be doing because we (the men) have been placed in the balance and found wanting--missing from our place appointed and ordained of God as husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers living upright, respectful and just lives as Kings, Priest, and Prophets to our families, Communities and, most importantly, churches.
My dear beloved sisters, this is not an attempt to discredit, under mind or belittle your contributions as wives, mothers, daughters and sisters, especially, in a time when you are called upon to do more than your share. You have been incredibly strong and courageous in spite of. However, I wanted to send a message to my brothers in hope of igniting the flames of responsibility, loyalty to and most importantly, their oneness, or lack thereof, with God. However, know that you my loving sisters are loved and highly appreciated.
I have not been a perfect husband, father, son or brother, by any means. But my family life on the whole has been okay for the most part, for which I give God the glory. Through it I have learned many lessons. Not all of the lessons learned have been pleasant ones. You could say, looking back over my life, especially my marriages, I missed God's plan for my marriage and subsequently, my family. Three marriages, nineteen (19) years in federal prison later God challenged me in an altogether new way that I had to succeed, first and foremost, as a husband and father before I could succeed in any other capacity. Nevertheless, my wife moved on with her life after waiting as long as she could handle, leaving me with that area of my life to be continued. But as a father, I began to analyze my own motives why did I make the choices I made? What I found turned my stomach to its core. My excuses that the things I did, I did for my family so we could have, was a lie I'd come to believe so strangely it almost sounded true. At least to me.
Drawn and driven by my own lust. Lust had conceived and brought forth sin...and sin had brought forth spiritual death--separation from God. It was just a matter of time, traveling the path I'd chosen, that physical death would occur. As a Christian I had defiled the temple of God--my body, mind and soul. I needed to be rebuilt but the one stone I needed to complete me, I was rejecting. We, men God created in his image, are rejecting the stone needed to complete us so that we can be the men God created us to be. I'm reminded of a story of Masters Builders building a temple; an ancient temple. They came across a stone (a keystone) which account of its singular form and beauty was passed on from one overseer to another; until it was finally cast into the rubbish heap.
History informs us that Egypt was at one time invaded by an Eastern nation called Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings, who compelled the people of the land to close their idolatrous temples, and enlisted them to erect the Great Pyramid. The Egyptians had, therefore, no personal interest in the work.
In the opinion of Professor Flinders Petrie, a recognized authority on Egyptian archaeology, the stone used in all important parts of the Great Pyramid were carefully cut to size at the quarried, and specially marked to fit their allotted places before being conveyed to the site of the building. During the erecting operations, which the Greek historian Herodotus says took thirty years, the workmen would find one stone laying among the others, namely, the head cornerstone. The purpose of which must have been for some time incomprehensible, for the Great Pyramid was the first example of that style of architecture, and the builders could not have known its finished design.
We can imagine these ignorant men conjecturing and puzzling over this stone, and as it did not then appear what place it would occupy, they rejected, it of no use. It doubtless became, as the Apostle indicates, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. Apparently the workmen did not understand that this peculiarly shaped stone was a little model of the monument they were erecting; it contains the angles to which the outer stones were required to be cut. When the building was nearing completion, however, they beheld with wonder that the very stone they had rejected as useless was the only one which could crown their work! Thus the stone which the builders rejected or refused or disallowed, the same became the head cornerstone.
Stone, or rock, means law, together with the fullness or completeness thereof. The Pyramid of Cheops was constructed in accordance with the law, i.e., light in the east, darkness in the west, life in the north, or above, death in the south, or below. It is this way, so it will be that way and it is above, so it will be below. The capstone, or cape stone, of the pyramid was an exact model of the pyramid itself, and was looked upon as a stone of singular form and beauty. In the course of time it became covered with the rubbish of the temple, where, after diligent search and inquiry, it was brought to light and raised to its proper position, which resulted in the celebrating of the cape stone. Thus, the stone (law) which the builders rejected, the same is become the headstone of the corner. Luke 20:17.
Today the builders of personal character are rejecting not only the capstone of the superstructure but also the foundation stone (knowledge) upon which they might build a morally structured life, and walk upright in a their relationship with the Lord. And then and only then can we be the men God has created us to be.
By Bishop Joseph Hall Jr.
Too many families, communities and even our churches are filled with women doing the jobs that men ought to be doing because we (the men) have been placed in the balance and found wanting--missing from our place appointed and ordained of God as husbands, fathers, sons, and brothers living upright, respectful and just lives as Kings, Priest, and Prophets to our families, Communities and, most importantly, churches.
My dear beloved sisters, this is not an attempt to discredit, under mind or belittle your contributions as wives, mothers, daughters and sisters, especially, in a time when you are called upon to do more than your share. You have been incredibly strong and courageous in spite of. However, I wanted to send a message to my brothers in hope of igniting the flames of responsibility, loyalty to and most importantly, their oneness, or lack thereof, with God. However, know that you my loving sisters are loved and highly appreciated.
I have not been a perfect husband, father, son or brother, by any means. But my family life on the whole has been okay for the most part, for which I give God the glory. Through it I have learned many lessons. Not all of the lessons learned have been pleasant ones. You could say, looking back over my life, especially my marriages, I missed God's plan for my marriage and subsequently, my family. Three marriages, nineteen (19) years in federal prison later God challenged me in an altogether new way that I had to succeed, first and foremost, as a husband and father before I could succeed in any other capacity. Nevertheless, my wife moved on with her life after waiting as long as she could handle, leaving me with that area of my life to be continued. But as a father, I began to analyze my own motives why did I make the choices I made? What I found turned my stomach to its core. My excuses that the things I did, I did for my family so we could have, was a lie I'd come to believe so strangely it almost sounded true. At least to me.
Drawn and driven by my own lust. Lust had conceived and brought forth sin...and sin had brought forth spiritual death--separation from God. It was just a matter of time, traveling the path I'd chosen, that physical death would occur. As a Christian I had defiled the temple of God--my body, mind and soul. I needed to be rebuilt but the one stone I needed to complete me, I was rejecting. We, men God created in his image, are rejecting the stone needed to complete us so that we can be the men God created us to be. I'm reminded of a story of Masters Builders building a temple; an ancient temple. They came across a stone (a keystone) which account of its singular form and beauty was passed on from one overseer to another; until it was finally cast into the rubbish heap.
History informs us that Egypt was at one time invaded by an Eastern nation called Hyksos, or Shepherd Kings, who compelled the people of the land to close their idolatrous temples, and enlisted them to erect the Great Pyramid. The Egyptians had, therefore, no personal interest in the work.
In the opinion of Professor Flinders Petrie, a recognized authority on Egyptian archaeology, the stone used in all important parts of the Great Pyramid were carefully cut to size at the quarried, and specially marked to fit their allotted places before being conveyed to the site of the building. During the erecting operations, which the Greek historian Herodotus says took thirty years, the workmen would find one stone laying among the others, namely, the head cornerstone. The purpose of which must have been for some time incomprehensible, for the Great Pyramid was the first example of that style of architecture, and the builders could not have known its finished design.
We can imagine these ignorant men conjecturing and puzzling over this stone, and as it did not then appear what place it would occupy, they rejected, it of no use. It doubtless became, as the Apostle indicates, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. Apparently the workmen did not understand that this peculiarly shaped stone was a little model of the monument they were erecting; it contains the angles to which the outer stones were required to be cut. When the building was nearing completion, however, they beheld with wonder that the very stone they had rejected as useless was the only one which could crown their work! Thus the stone which the builders rejected or refused or disallowed, the same became the head cornerstone.
Stone, or rock, means law, together with the fullness or completeness thereof. The Pyramid of Cheops was constructed in accordance with the law, i.e., light in the east, darkness in the west, life in the north, or above, death in the south, or below. It is this way, so it will be that way and it is above, so it will be below. The capstone, or cape stone, of the pyramid was an exact model of the pyramid itself, and was looked upon as a stone of singular form and beauty. In the course of time it became covered with the rubbish of the temple, where, after diligent search and inquiry, it was brought to light and raised to its proper position, which resulted in the celebrating of the cape stone. Thus, the stone (law) which the builders rejected, the same is become the headstone of the corner. Luke 20:17.
Today the builders of personal character are rejecting not only the capstone of the superstructure but also the foundation stone (knowledge) upon which they might build a morally structured life, and walk upright in a their relationship with the Lord. And then and only then can we be the men God has created us to be.
By Bishop Joseph Hall Jr.
