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[[Image:Fract10s-100s.jpg|200px|right|thumb|link=The Living Network|Families congregating in groups of [[Tens|10s, 100s, 1000s]] as [[commanded]] by [[Christ]] formed a [[Living Network]] that prospered nations and the [[early Christians]]. But it is always up to the individual to [[seek]] the truth about themselves first, their relation with each other and then the [[world]] around them. Like seeking the [[righteousness]] and the [[kingdom of God]] it is an endless journey of self realization that is best done in the company of others in [[love]] according to the [[perfect law of liberty]]. To begin such a journey requires [[humble|humility]] and to [[persevere]] requires [[forgiveness]] the.<Br>"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."<Br>In the right to your "pursuit of Happiness" the "right" is in the "pursuit", not in the "Happiness". Anyone promising to give, grant, or guarantee your "Happiness" is sabotaging your right to the pursuit and will degenerate all your other rights in the process.<Br>[[Polybius]] and [[Plutarch]] knew this. The [[prophets]], [[Moses]], and the [[Apostles]] [[warnings|warned]] us. This is also why [[John the Baptist]] and [[Jesus]] both begin with the instruction for us to "[[seek|SEEK]]" ye first the [[Kingdom of God]] and His [[righteousness]].]]



{{Template:Seeking the Kingdom of God}}

== Understanding the appointment of Christ == 

Understanding the role of a minister in the [[Church]] established by Jesus Christ may require not only study but deep soul searching within the hearts of [[Elders]] and [[Ministers]]. It has been 2000 years since Jesus called his first Ministers and appointed to them a Kingdom.<Ref>Luke 22:29 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;</Ref> 
 
[[Jesus]] and [[Baptism|John the Baptist]] were preaching a different way to govern and be governed. The "little flock"<Ref>Luke 12:32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.</Ref> were understood to be [[Church legally defined|one form of government]] which was not like the governments of the other nations who had [[Benefactors]] who exercised authority but they were to benefit the people and provide spiritual guidance and a [[Daily ministration]] for their [[Welfare|welfare]] with [[Pure Religion]] by way of the [[Faith]], [[Hope]] and [[Charity]] of the people in [[Free Assemblies]] through something James called the [[Perfect law of liberty]].
 
This was not a ''new system'' of self government but was very old. The pattern of [[Tens]] had been used by Abraham and also  Moses along with many other nations. 
 
Voluntary governments have been the rule in man’s history and not the central or even democratic authorities so common world-wide in modern administrations. It is commonly understood by historians that, “our modern reliance on government to make law and establish order is not the historical norm.”<Ref>The Enterprise of Law: Justice without the State. Bruce L. Benson Publisher: Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy (San Francisco), 1991</Ref> 
 
Jesus came to bring the [[Kingdom of God]]’s liberty into every aspect of our lives. God’s precepts and character should govern us and the nations of the [[World|world]]. Liberty is conducive to growth and maturity. [[Social Virtues|Virtue]] is the avenue of God’s [[Grace|grace]] through an international [[Daily ministration]] for Christians near and far and even the strangers in their midst. [[Faith]] is [[The Way]] and the [[Sacrifice]] of our hearts is a gift that brings us into a fuller knowledge of God. 
 
: “The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 4:18
 
If we are going to seek the [[Kingdom of God]] and His righteousness it is important to understand what form and structure was employed by the early Church.
 
The [[Pharisees]] were in conflict with Christ and according to Christ were also in conflict with Moses while the [[Essenes]] had many things in common with the teachings of the early Church.
 
There were congregations that were so united during the early days of Christianity that In Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, he praised “the union and discipline of the Christian republic”. He also pointed out that “it gradually formed an independent and increasing state in the heart of the Roman Empire”.<Ref>Rousseau and Revolution, Will et Ariel Durant p.801. fn 83 Heiseler, 85.</Ref> The early Christian [[Ekklesia|ekklesia]] was a [[Republic|republic]] in form and was recognized by Rome through the proclamation nailed to the cross by order of the Proconsul of Rome, Pontius Pilate. When Jesus rose from the dead to stand again upon the earth, so did His Kingdom. His kingdom now lives in the hearts of those who follow His way.
 
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Everyone is encouraged to study the materials linked above before continuing.
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== Build a foundation ==


[[CORE]] is an acronym which stands for a ''Congregation of Recorded Elders''. A [[CORE]] is already defined as a group of families in [[Free Assemblies|free assembly]] represented by their natural head of the family called an [[Elder]]. Those [[Elders]] in the practice of [[Pure Religion]] are bound by love and honor for one another alone.
 
But a '''Congregation of Ministers''' ([[COM]]) is not merely a congregation of [[Elders]]. It has the mutual purpose of a [[CORE]] which is not an entity but a [[Free Assemblies|free assembly]] but it also has some ''official duties'' granted it within the adjudication power of Christ [[appoint]]ed to the [[Church]]. 

The Church ministers working in one accord are to rightly divide the bread from house to house to feed His sheep but it may only give what is freely given by the people and for the people who gather in the [[commanded]] pattern of [[tens]]. The people do not give into a central [[treasury]] but to each minister according to their service. This giving and redistribution of wealth through individual choices is the [[Eucharist]] of Christ. The redistribution of wealth through the [[force|corporate power]] of the civil state is the antithesis of [[The Way]] of [[Christ]] and [[John the Baptist]]. It is the way of the [[polis|cities]] of [[Cain]], [[Nimrod]], [[Pharaoh]], and [[Caesar]].
 
A Minister's membership with the Church is or may be a limited capacity either by appointment or anointing, ''ex officio'' or ''[[Ordain|ordination]]''. Since an Ordained Minister of the Church must be separate from the [[World|world]] he may have no part of a personal estate within the [[World|world]].
 
This is sometimes hard to understand but it is not what most [[Modern Christians|Modern Christian]] ministers do. But it was essential in the [[early Church]] and even back in the days of the [[Levites]] and [[Essenes]].
 
There is a reason Moses and Christ used these forms and relationships to build the institutions of God which are based on individual choice and liberty but remains institutions based on one form of government for the purposes of God.

== Congregationalists ==
 

While  each local religious congregation or [[CORE]] is independent and self-governing, in the kingdom those congregations are merely [[Free Assemblies]] of families.... 
 
Each minister has a [[CORE]] he serves but he is not a member of that [[CORE]].
 
The ''kingdom factor'' comes in because the minister of a [[CORE]] is not a '''member''' of the [[CORE]] he serves but as a part of the Church he is a member, whether ordained or ex officio, of the '''Congregation of Ministers''' he is bound to by his commitment to serve His Church in a particular capacity. It is that official or recognized '''Congregation of  Ministers''' [COM]  where he will find and fulfill his duties of [[Religion]].
 
His first duty is of course to Christ/God but his second is to his '''Congregation of Ministers''' (COM). That congregation or  CORE is not the ones he serves, but consists of those ministers with whom he is in congregation with by the recognition of a common ordained Overseer of his '''Congregation of Ministers''' (COM).
 
Without that understanding and religious duty there is no kingdom and the pattern is not sacred nor separate.
 
In fact a great danger arises if he does not attend to his fellow ministers first. His CORE congregation may become more his personal Church rather than "HIS Church" meaning Christ's Church.
 
His congregation may isolate itself with the cares of the [[World|world]] and start looking to each other only and let go of the broader kingdom thinking. His congregation becomes an ''altar of clay'' that he stands upon and serves in the [[hope]] they will mutually support him. His service becomes for his own purposes. 
 
While a minister is supported while he works serving the [[Elders]], when he is retired or ill or in great need it is his fellow ministers in his COM that he will depend upon. Those ministers and many more in a network of ministers shall become his support and assurance.
 
The [[early Church]] had a great deal of resources, including land and buildings as well as funds to provide for the [[Daily ministration]].
 
We know this is why the [[Diocletianic Persecution]] confiscated the property of the Church's ministers in hope of destroying it. They owned that property in common and reclaimed it from [[Rome]] eventually. The Christian system of social welfare or what could be called [[Private welfare]] function much better than the  [[Public religion]] which exercised authority. Many nations had become dependent upon those systems of welfare which weakened the people and made them more dependent upon governments. This dependence of the people empowers governments and leads to despotism. The whole [[Christian conflict]] with Rome was centered in the distinction between these forms of [[Welfare|welfare]] and they echoed the jealousy and envy within society.


== Charity around the world ==
 
The [[early Christians]] did not need the free [[Bread and circuses]] of [[Rome]]. They had a better system that did not require [[force]]. But they were accused of robbing the system of [[welfare]] run through the public [[Temples]] of [[Imperial Cult of Rome]].
 
But the [[charity]] of the [[early Church]] reached far and wide. We see Barnabas and Paul carrying funds to distant parts of the [[kingdom of God]]. During persecutions, people were able to relocate far from trouble because they had a network and the common bond of Christ because they all were living the whole Gospel of the Kingdom and not dependent upon the [[corporation]] of [[Rome]], the city of Rome, which had blended their [[religion]] into the [[civil law]] through that [[Imperial Cult of Rome]].
 
Rome was originally a [[Republic]] but became a City or [[Polis]] as the people look to the city to provide more and more at whatever cost. The ''[[polis]]'' or "city of Rome" is something more than a collection of individuals [[seek|seeking safety]] in life and gain in the exercise of trade. The people turned to the corporate powers of Rome to provide [[elements]] of their [[world]] which had depended upon charity in the [[Republic]]. They blended the power of the [[State]] to [[force]] cooperation with the [[fervent charity|charitable love]] of [[Religion]] which had always provided a safety net for society by choice through [[freewill offerings]].

The Roman cult failed as all [[Not so Secure Socialism|such systems of force]] eventually fail. They not only follow the ways of the [[Nicolaitan]] and [[Nimrod]] they create systems and [[Snare]] the people in a [[Bondage]] called [[Corvee]] under the authority of their [[Benefactors]] who are the [[Fathers]] of the earth. Roman historians like [[Polybius]] and [[Plutarch]] warned the people long before Jesus Christ and  [[Baptism|John the Baptist]].
 
Because of [[The Way]] followed by the [[early Church]] the people and the Church prospered as [[Rome]] declined and fell under corruption, debt and endless wars for power. For a thousand years much of Europe would remain free and people of the true Christian faith lived in relative peace and safety.
 
But the people in their prosperity began to lose sight of the kingdom. The bonds of the kingdom that reached to more distant communities faltered as people became centered on their own comforts. Each valley or village and community or country became more isolated where it did not think to come to the aid of others. Those ministers who focus on their congregation rather than the whole kingdom are undermining the righteous bonds of the "kingdom".

== Dividing love ==
 

This loving of one group more than another, especially your own congregations and those closest to you, spreads seeds of division. It is the seedbed of [[Denominations|denominationalism]].
 
This is why Christianity was overrun back at the turn of the first millennium as one valley after another was invaded by that militant coercive church.
 
They had lost sight of the kingdom and they did not cast their bread upon the waters or come to the aid of the next valley or village.
 
Each minister serves different people and those people are important to other ministers not because they know them but because they know their minister.
 
When a minister is sick or ill or needs help he may get that help or aid or moral support from tents of his congregation, the flock he tends (his CORE). But he should first look to his fellow ministers in his own Congregation of official recognized Ministers, (COM) just as the elders of a [[CORE]] of the Church should serve one another.

== Kingdom Institutions ==

Men create institutions all the time by agreement. Their agreements are real and we should make our yes's Yes!

The institutions are sometimes called '''[[Fiction of law|Fictions of Law]]''' or ''Legal fictions''. 

Man was made in the image of God and has some creative powers granted by God. Those endowed powers are called rights. What he creates and how it functions depends on the spirit that he breathes into those institutions.

Is the spirit we see living in the institutions of men in agreement with the Holy Spirit or has another spirit taken over either at its beginning or has come to control the institution?

: "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Mark 16:15

The word we see here for ''creature'' is the Greek  word ''ktisis''<Ref>2937 ~κτίσις~ ktisis \@ktis’-is\@ from 2936;  n f AV-creature 11, creation 6, building 1, ordinance 1; 19 
: 1) the act of founding, establishing, building etc
::    1a) the act of creating, creation
::    1b) creation i.e. thing created
:::          1b1) of individual things, beings, a creature, a creation
::::             1b1a) anything created
::::             1b1b) after a rabbinical usage (by which a man converted               from idolatry to Judaism was called)
::::             1b1c) the sum or aggregate of things created
::    1c) institution, ordinance</Ref> which means "something the act of founding, establishing, building."
 
These institutions are the result of agreements and contracts. They are sometimes called ''legal fictions''. One definition of a ''legal fiction'' is "an assertion accepted as true, though probably fictitious, to achieve a particular goal in a legal matter."

But in another place a ''legal fiction'' "is a fact assumed or created by courts".

Because they are created by courts does not mean they are not true or void of fact. One example of a legal fiction occurs in ''adoption''. An adoption is saying "this is my son". He is not actually your son so in that sense it is not true; a fiction. But it is true that you are adopting him as your son and he will have all the rights that your natural son has.

So a legal fiction can be a good thing that should be treated as a fact in order to do justice.

A corporation treated as a legal person<Ref>The concept of the law treating corporate entities as if they were persons dates back to Ancient Rome. The 14 Amendment did the same thing. The corporation is itself incapable of loyalty or enmity but the spirit of those within in provide the spirit.</Ref> is a fiction also because in fact, it is not a living individual or person. But corporations are created by people, owned by people, run by people who collectively bring in their spirit to give life to the corporation. The spirit of the people breaths life into a Corporation.

That can be good or that can be bad. What spirit is entering the corporate world?

: A corporation has a nationality and most governments have a corporate nature to them.

There are six factors in determining the nationality of a corporation:
* the state of incorporation
* the principal seat of business<Ref>Related to a corporation's nationality is its residence. This can be juristically difficult as a typical "multinational" has domiciles in several countries.
There are at least two questions in this realm. Where does a company reside? Usually, it resides in the place of incorporation or place of its registered office.</Ref>
* nationality of the shareholders
* the nationality of overall investment
* the nationality of the management
* the persons controlling the business of corporation

Knowing this, what is the nationality of the Corpus of Christ?

Jesus' kingdom is not of this [[World|world]] but it is at hand and he keeps his Apostles and ordained ministers out of the [[World|world]] so that they can be separate. Most of the early Christians were in the [[World|world]]. They were to bring the Spirit of the kingdom into the world so that it might be saved.

That means people who are bound in the world can bring the Spirit of Christ to the institutions they form while they are in the [[World|world]]. There are many ways to do this which should be taught in every congregation.

The [[Freewill offerings]] upon the [[Altars]] of the Church are freely given and given up entirely. They are given to Christ but since he is not here they are given to whom you believe to be the servants of Christ in trust. That trustee and the congregations of trustees who belong to Christ, who are in the world but not of it, who have met the requirements of Christ hold what is given for his purposes in a legal fiction call the Church.

It is an irrevocable trust but its legality is within the Church which is foreign to the world. This is why the ministers need to not be a part of the [[World]] Christ and his [[Apostles]] were not a part of.

Once things have entered upon the altars of God the ministers may eat it or give it back to the people in a [[Daily ministration]] of charity.

They may also sow some of it back into the world but must only do so for Christ's purposes. The Church is a welfare system for Christians that is not like the world and its [[Benefactors]]. It does not operate like the [[Fathers]] of the earth who use force.

What they receive is not given to make [[Elders]] rich and independent. If the elders work together in loving communion they may achieve that on their own. The Church wants to see the elders prosper as their soul prospers with the Character or [[Name]] of Christ and this is also true when it comes to their personal and emotional and even mental health.<Ref>3 John 1:2 Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.</Ref>

Walking in the ways of service may require many tools like the apostles used a fishing boat and net to catch fish which added to the wealth of their families. Jesus did not do the fishing for them but told them when and where to put down their nets.

The Church may show people how to create trusts, LLCs and Benefit Companies in the [[World|sea of the world]] so that they may help plant the ways of the Christ in those fields. These systems may begin to help the [[Elders]] become an active part of the charitable work of the Christ and His Church in more personal ways than just giving money. They may do this in areas of the world where His Holy Church is already excluded.

Often the Church may do this by sowing their service in the lives of the Elders and even by sowing funds to them. Because those funds or the power and blood they represent belongs to Christ they may only sow into charitable projects. They may not finance enterprises to generate personal wealth for the [[Elders]]. 

They may feed, cloth, help heal the hungry, naked and sick but they should not enrich anyone simply so that they may not have to work especially if there are others in the whole body who are in greater need. 

As examples, they may help replace a home that is lost through disaster but they cannot build the personal estate of the [[Elders]] with funds given to Christ. That might look like favoritism or cronyism - the common good ol' boy approach to charity.

By the same token, we see Jesus doing something not far removed from this. The story of the talents [[Matthew 25]] relates how those who did well were given more and those who did little or nothing could actually lose what they had. This parable is not meant to turn the Church into a system that gives to the rich and takes from the poor. This story is showing how doers of the word will be rewarded and the slothful shall lose what they were given. The same is true of the ones who say they see may have sight taken from them just as the kingdom was taken from the Pharisees because they did not bear fruit.

The Church is to preach the gospel to the poor who become rich by the doing of the word which will give deliverance to the captives and sight to the blind.<Ref>Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,</Ref>


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