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The TRUTH BEARER Vision:

Our place in history requires
our testimonies of FAITH!

Amen!
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Greetings in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dear FRIENDS AND FELLOWHELPERS,

As I said a couple days ago, I am trying to be on a "sort of" vacation this week [ July 10 - 17, 1999 ].

However, because of some of the very awesome things being discussed here at FAF, I felt completely led to make one contribution to this discussion until I have more time next week.

Please permit me to share a vision unique to TRUTH BEARER. (I pray that this will be a bleassing for all who read it.)

I know that this will be lengthy, but I pray that you all will read this particular post, as it details the very matter of history here in Christian Polygamy, as well as addressing the issue of first wives, and helping them, and helping the dear brothers who have followed other self-destructive examples but now are suffering as a consequence.

In my last "large" post, when I referred to the men who are now suffering, I was not actually referring to any one person in particular here at FAF.

Rather, I was referring to how I am hearing now increasingly from men who are now painfully suffering in such situations because of their trying to follow an example, which they have seen elsewhere, but which can not be duplicated in practicality, of "forcing" a first wife to accept Christian Polygamy way before she is ready to receive such a profoundly meaty truth.

Let me say this, dear friends, what we are doing here in bringing Christian Polygamy to the Churches is no less than that which Martin Luther and Jan Hus were doing in bringing reformation to the wholly apostate self-identified "catholic" institution whereby we now have what is called "Protestantism".

I "know" my own unique place in history (as it were) and I would ask us all here to know ours! :-)

Dear Friends and Fellowhelpers, Christian Polygamy being brought to the Churches is THAT "big"!

In the event that Christ's return does not come first, perhaps you can see this vision of 50-100 years from now:

Namely, decades from now, the churches in Christ have begun to acknowledge what we have done at this time now, and the concept of polygyny in the churches is no longer viewed as some kind of outright "evil". It will be "easier" to be polygynous in the Christian churches then, as it were.

But those dear future brothers and sisters in the Lord will be looking back at us, at our testimonies of FAITH in these times now when it is NOT so easy to be polygynous!

Now, I ask you: Which testimonies will give the greater glory to Christ and give the greater inspiration of faith to those future brothers and sisters in Christ?

• Those testimonies where the men "hurried" their first wives with all kinds of pain thereby leaving the beginning of Christian Polygamy history littered with the carnage of mass divorces of first wives leaving the "forcing" husbands?
  
  Or
  
  
• The testimonies of other compassionate men who were patient in realizing that THEY had to grow so that their own growth and patient and profound love itself assisted their wife's understanding, acceptance, and embracing of polygyny?

As you consider these questions, do you see this vision?

Which brings the better testimony of FAITH?

Which brings the better glory of Christ in Christian Polygamy?

Obviously, the answer for us is that of those who have demonstrated their own growth and faith.

Please understand, what I am saying here is not to HURT any one, man or woman. Rather, I am simply preaching that there is a holier way, and preaching about HOW to get there.

I am most certainly NOT talking about "giving" a first wife a sort of "veto" (and God forbid, as that would be wholly unScriptural). Rather, I am saying that, if any man really wants to be the holier example in Christian Polygamy, he would be better to perceive his first wife's "hesitation" to it more as a reflection of his own walk before her, and thus he himself should accept the "call" from God to grow in Christ whereby that "hesitation" is overcome as she is then "blown away" by the profound amount of love and growth she would then see in her husband.

I am not trying to be "hard" on anyone, but rather I am trying to give a reason to be hopeful and faithful!

Rather than be angry "AT" her for her present distress, let such men instead view it simply as the present "reaping" of what the husband has previously "sown", and that by FAITH and growth in Christ, he can NOW start "sowing" that kind of necessary love whereby he will later "reap" the ability of her being able to joyfully and willingly come to the Truth of Christian Polygamy --even to where she might one day testify before others how amazed she was that her husband was willing to be so patient with her through "all those years" in which it took for her to get to that point! And what a glory to Christ that THAT kind of testimony will be!

[Instead of the "cup being half-empty" as the saying goes, instead view it in faith as being "half-full"!]

For, you see, I have faith in God to work where a man is totally committed to Christ, that he is willing to humble HIMSELF before God rather than choose to despise and cast off his wife whom he should be loving and teaching not rejecting. I have faith. And with that, I do truly believe with all faith that any woman, yes, ANY WOMAN, has the possibility to one day accept Christian Polygamy.

God can work a miracle anywhere! Hallelujah!

That is FAITH, you see. I know that it might take some time, even years, before some women would be able to accept Christian Polygamy, but surely we all know that FAITH knows no time limits.

When it comes to such a matter of "time-length" and faith, I often preach about the faith of Abraham. (Please do read the TRUTH Tracts at TRUTH BEARER for details on these particular matters at the URL: http://TruthBearer.org/truth-tracts/ )

As I have often preached, God promised Abraham a son when Abraham was 75. But that promised son was not born until 25 years later. The faith of Abraham endured, waiting on God, for 25 years! Now, THAT is FAITH.

But along the way, Abraham made the impatient mistake of trying to "force" that which was promised to him. [ This teaches us something important! ]

Indeed, what happened, when Abraham tried to "force" the receipt of a son? Ishmael was born of Hagar, per Genesis 16:1-4,15 ----which was 11 years after the promise from God. But that was NOT what God had promised to Abraham. And we later see that Abraham's body became "dead" and he could no longer "have children" after Ishmael (Romans 4:19, Hebrews 11:12), until God then once again revitalized Abraham, and Sarah bore Isaac. And that was when Abraham was 100 years old (Genesis 17:17) --- which was 14 years AFTER Ishmael had been born, and being 25 years after the first promise of a son to Abraham. And to prove the point that it was God who was "in control" of Abraham's "vitality" in giving the promised son, we then see that Abraham was then able to have 6 more named sons born of Keturah in Genesis 25:1-3! We see, GOD IS FAITHFUL, but we are to TRUST IN HIM, IN ALL FAITH.

So, I said all that to ask men this,

With regard to Christian Polygamy, are you willing to have THAT kind of FAITH, the faith of Abraham? Are you willing to wait on God to work His work, even 25 years if that is what God calls you to?

Instead of telling me how you don't know how you could possibly stay with your first wife, please instead SHOW ME YOUR FAITH! The harder your situation, the greater the glory to Christ your testimony could one day be if you will now act in FAITH!

God is faithful and able. If we trust in Him, He is able to work the work.

So, we see from this that we must not try to "force our Ishmael" but instead trust in and wait for God to "give us our Isaac".

Yes, we as men might occasionally want to seemingly "force" the receipt of "getting" another wife without requiring the first wife's "approval" [ or making the immature mistake of thinking that that's what this preaching is supposedly suggesting, when it is not her "approval" being sought anyway ]. But there is a better way. As I said, it is that of FAITH.

Again, please understand that I do not support the notion that a wife has any "veto" as it were, as that is unscriptural. Let it never be said that I somehow would ever give place to Jezebel!

As well, let it ever be known that I fully teach and preach:
* 1_Corinthians 11:3,8-9,12
* 1_Corinthians 14:34-37
* 1_Timothy 2:12,9-15.

Truly, the Scriptures instruct us, as Paul writes, "I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence". (1_Timothy 2:12.)

But while a woman must not teach in terms of usurping authority over the man, surely we can listen to what women know about themselves. And we can listen when a sister in the Lord shares her experience of what God has done with her, how her husband blessed her in following Christ, how she was able to come to embrace the truth of Christian Polygamy. (And besides, this is especially so when brothers and sisters in the Lord are together while not necessarily being in congregated fellowship for teaching of the Word, what we call "being in church", whereby 1_Corinthians 14:34-37 is otherwise rather clear.) As such, such testimony of sisters in Christ, in general conversation, as they share how they were able to accept Christian Polygamy can surely be of great value to those men who are trying to learn and understand how to help their own wives come to the same understanding.

Still, as the model of Christian marriage is that of wives as the churches and a husband as that of Christ, per Ephesians 5:22-25, surely the churches do NOT "tell" Christ what He is going to do, and do NOT usurp His authority and headship. Hence, neither are wives to do to their husband in Christ.

HOWEVER, that does not mean that Christ would ever be unhearing of the needs and requests of His beloved churches! The Lord's ears are not closed to us!

Indeed, do we not pray daily with requests of our Lord? Of course. And so, we know that our Lord cares for us. Indeed, we see it specifically said, as Peter wrote us to, "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." (1_Peter 5:7.)

And so, in understanding this, and in the model of marriage as per Ephesians 5:22-25, it truly behooves the husband to seek out the feelings and needs and input from his wife(s). This is not in giving them some supposed "authority" over him, mind you, but in knowing how he might then best minister unto their needs.

Moreover, the feedback and input of wives can be of great value. For example, just as a corporation may have different "vice presidents" (one for marketing, one for accounting, one for computers, etc.) they all can bring their special unique understandings to then provide the PRESIDENT with more complete information with which the PRESIDENT can then make the better decisions. Following this metaphor, one could say that wives can be of great help in this kind of regard. Again, this is not about usurping the husband's final authority, but rather about wives being his HELP MEET for him, HELPING him, just as why God had created Eve for Adam in the first place. Hence, there is great value in seeking the input from wives. (When I refer to wives' "counsel", then, I am referring to their input/recommendations/thoughts --- not referring to wives supposedly having the ability to usurp a man's authority or headship, which is unscriptural.)

So, having said all this, I therefore would say that I most assuredly do not want us to "beat up" on the men who are presently in such profound difficulty in having brought Christian Polygamy to their first wives too quickly. NOT AT ALL. More than ever, such dear brothers and their wives need our love! Let their testimonies of suffering be an example for the edification of the churches, that we see the value in trying to lay a solid foundation in the home first. So, let us thank God for such dear ones who have mistakenly followed such unpractical examples, as their present suffering indeed HELPS us in that it teaches us, that we might grow more in Christ! And let us ever pray for such dear ones, and reach out to love and help in all ways possible.

And with all that, let us truly begin to create the testimonies in this "movement" (as it were) whereby our future brothers and sisters in Christ (if Christ has not yet returned by that point in time) would be able to look back at us at this point in time, in the very beginning of Christian Polygamy history, and thus see our testimonies as being truly great testimonies of FAITH and growth in love in Christ.

Let us NOW build testimonies which prevent history from recording the beginning of Christian Polygamy as being littered with the carnage of mass divorces of first wives who suffered from husbands "forcing" them before God had worked His work!

Let us build testimonies of FAITH and glorify Jesus Christ!

As I wait for Christ, this is the Vision of TRUTH BEARER.

Do you see this Vision?

Do you see our place in history?

If so, then let us get the word out, and fast! Let us get out the message of the "TRUTH BEARER Vision of Love-not-Force"!

Let us glorify the Lord Jesus Christ!

Alleluia! Hallelujah!

May the love of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

YHWH bless...

---Mark
   Founder
TRUTH BEARER
  Acts 24:14
http://truthbearer.org
   Continuing the Reformation...
      Bringing Christian Polygamy to the Churches

© July 13, 1999, TruthBearer.org
P.O. Box 765, O.O.B., ME 04064

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