Walking in a Different Spirit

Walking in a Different Spirit

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Numbers 14:30: “My servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit in him and has followed Me fully, I will bring into the land where he went, and his descendants shall inherit it.”

Caleb was one of the 12 spies Moses had sent to search the Promised Land. He was one of the family chiefs of the tribe of Judah. He and Joshua were the only two of the spies who encouraged the people to take the land.

Because they lacked faith to enter the Promised Land at that time, all the people that had been counted, from twenty years old and older, died in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb.

After the death of Moses, Joshua became the leader of the Israelites.  When God’s people had battled the inhabitants of the land for five years, Caleb came to Joshua with a request:

Joshua 14: 6-14: “Then the children of Judah came to Joshua in Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him: "You know the word which the Lord said to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh Barnea. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the Lord my God. So Moses swore on that day, saying, `Surely the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children's forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.'

“And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in. Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.

 “And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.”

The Anakim lived in the land that was to become Caleb’s.  They were giants.  Their warlike appearance and fortified cities filled most of the Israelites with terror.  But not Caleb.  He was a man of a different spirit.  Most people are willing to retire from active Christian duty long before the age of 85.  But not Caleb.  He was a man of a different spirit. 

We all face giants in our land.  In Jesus Christ, we have the power to be like Caleb, to be a people of a different spirit.  “We are blessed in every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).

In other words, we are blessed with every provision for our spiritual welfare. Our spiritual needs, including victory over sin and fear and failure, have already been met in Christ Jesus.

We are a people of a different spirit.  We need only to walk in that spirit. Like Caleb, we must choose to follow wholly the word of our God.


Our prayer: “Lord, I choose to live in the power of the Holy Spirit, to have a different spirit within me, to follow You fully, to receive the promises You have given me in Your Word.” 

Redeeming Eve

Redeeming Eve

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” - Galatians 3:26-28 (NKJV)

In spite of Paul’s teaching that we are all one in Christ, there were still a considerable number of misogynistic writings from the early church fathers that have continued to influence believers today. A few examples include:

For it is improper for a woman to speak in an assembly, no matter what she says, even if she says admirable things, or even saintly things, that is of little consequence, since they come from the mouth of a woman. - Origen (d. 258): Fragments on First Corinthians, 74

It was you who coaxed your way around him whom the devil had not the force to attack. With what ease you shattered that image of God: Man! Because of the death you merited, even the Son of God had to die . . . Woman, you are the gate to hell. - Tertullian, “The Father of Latin Christianity” (c160-225): On the Apparel of Women, Ch. 1

As regards the individual nature, woman is defective and misbegotten, for the active force in the male seed tends to the production of a perfect likeness in the masculine sex. - Thomas Aquina, Doctor of the Church, 13th century: Summa Theologica I q. 92 a.1

How do we account for these teachings and such harsh perspective?

It is important to recognize that this mindset does not come from careful Biblical exegesis, but rather reflects another strong philosophical influence that still impacts us today.

From at least the time of the great Greek philosophers in the 5th century BC until today, the liberally well-educated have been schooled in classic Greco-Roman mindsets and thought patterns. A proper understanding of Scripture requires a transforming of our minds, so we will understand the Word of God in its proper context, rather than through the lens of this European, or Western, way of thinking.

Mythological Confusion

Because of the Greek mindset, biblical Eve is often confused or associated with Pandora.

According to classical mythology, the titan Prometheus created men and gave them many gifts—one of which was fire, stolen from the gods on Mt. Olympus. Zeus was angry and determined to punish Prometheus by creating a wife for him. He commissioned the blacksmith of the gods, Hephaestus, to forge a woman in his smithy. She was lovely, and all the gods gave her gifts. One goddess gave Pandora the gift of curiosity. Zeus gave Pandora a lovely box filled with all the evils of the world as a dowry.  The one good thing in the box was hope. Zeus then sent Pandora to Prometheus.

Prometheus means “forethought”—he thought before he acted. He saw the lovely woman and reasoned, “Zeus is angry with me. If he has given me a gift, it must not be a good one.” Therefore, he refused Pandora and her dowry.

However, Prometheus had a twin brother, Epimetheus, whose name means “afterthought”—he acted without thinking. He saw that Pandora was lovely, gifted, and had a dowry, so he married her.

After her marriage, the gift of curiosity stirred within Pandora, and she begged Epimetheus to open the box. As the couple lifted the lid to the box, all the evils of the world poured out. They quickly closed it before the last object escaped, inadvertently shutting hope in the box.

In the Greek philosophical mindset, man will always be attracted to woman, woman will always bring trouble into his life, and his troubled life will be without hope.

Renewing Our Minds

Contrary to both classical mythology and faulty Biblical exegesis, woman is not the conduit by which sin and the consequences of sin entered the Creation. Actually, God places much of the onus on Adam, as we see in passages like 1 Timothy 2 and Romans 5.

Eve is not Pandora. She was created as the perfect companion for Adam because God said that it was not good for the man to be alone. Woman is his complement. Further, because the woman was created from the man, they manifest the image of God in the earth together.

In stark contrast to the Greek perception of woman, God chose her as the conduit of redemption. In Genesis 3, Eve recognizes that the serpent is a deceiver, and God hands down His verdict for the serpent’s fate—the seed of the woman will ultimately crush the enemy. It is the seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, the last Adam, who restores us to the relationship the first Adam had with God in the garden.

1 Peter 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”  When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, hope is restored. Rather than woman being seen as the cause of trouble and hopelessness, her rightful dignity is restored in Christ. We all, male and female, have equality and redemption through our covenant in Christ Jesus.

Called for Such a Time as This

Called for Such a Time as This

By Lonnie C. Crowe

Like Esther, we have been called for such a time as this.  Esther, a Jewish woman named Hadassah, divinely became the wife of the King of Persia, the most powerful man of his time.  His deceitful henchman, Haman, plotted to annihilate all the Jews living in Persia. 

Mordechai, Esther’s relative and guardian, reminded her that with privilege comes responsibility.

Esther 4:14:  “For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Women in the Old Testament are most often pictures of the Church, the Bride of Christ. Through the story of Esther, God is saying to the Church, “if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise from another place, but you and your generation will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the Kingdom for such a time as this?”

What did Esther do at that decisive moment?  Though she was queen and held a privileged position, she also knew she risked her life in approaching her husband on behalf of her peoples  She was willing to take that risk.   She knew both her privileged position and her responsibility to her people.

In preparation, she called the people to fast—in other words, she turned to God for wisdom and protection. 

As we prepare for our Purim we must identify our privileges:

• We have the privilege of knowing God personally.

• We have the privilege of living in a country that still has the greatest wealth and the greatest freedom in the world.

We must also understand our circumstances.

• We are not safe just because we are Christians.

• If my nation suffers, I suffer.

• Being Christian doesn't mean we are safe from external factors.

Then let us intercede and ask the Lord to touch our nation and our world.

• God has called the Church for such a time as this.

• God knows what Satan is planning for each country and nation of the world. He appointed each of us to intercede for our nation. He wants us to change the destiny of this world and make history.

• God is faithful to those who are sincere.  Our hope is in the Lord not in earthly governments.

• We are, like all generations, a generation that God has called into destiny. Esther changed the history of the Jews through courage and sacrifice and the grace of God. We can do the same thing if we obey the calling.

In intercession, we must follow the admonitions of our Lord to His people.

•2 Chronicles 7:14—“if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”  God has called His people, believers, to turn from our wicked ways and pray.

•1 Timothy 2:1-2—“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”

1. Pray that leaders, if they are not already believers, will become believers.

2. Pray that the leaders will come to a knowledge of the Truth.

3. Pray that they will acknowledge, honor, and praise God who is the sovereign ruler of heaven and earth.

With great privilege comes great responsibility. With great responsibility comes great opportunity.  We have a divine opportunity to be God’s instruments in leading our nation into God’s destiny for us.