The Lack of the Spiritual Father: A Practical Guide for Believers Wanting to Be Spiritual Mentors to Others

By Pastor Edgar Baez JD.

As a criminal defense attorney and as a pastor, the author has noticed that for the most part, not every man that he represents or counsels has had a father figure in his life (let alone a spiritual one) nor every man has had a good father involved in his life; however, every man deserves to be all that our Creator intended us to be""a man after God's own heart. Just like King David. This book was born out of fact that "the Body of Christ" is the salt of the Earth. As such, we must recognize that although not every man has had a spiritual father, every man is commanded to be the spiritual leader of his household. This requires a process by which these men who were not afforded the opportunity of a spiritual father, and that would otherwise not know this, would be able to learn and subsequently help other men achieve the same spiritual maturity required in our Christian walk.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781645697770

Book preview

The Lack of the Spiritual Father

A Practical Guide for Believers Wanting to Be Spiritual Mentors to Others

Pastor Edgar Baez, JD.

Copyright © 2019 by Pastor Edgar Baez, JD.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

gRace

Power

Choice

Oracles for Spiritual Leaders

Acknowledgments

This book is dedicated to the strongest men known to humanity—even though these mighty men may have not been the physical fathers to many. These people gave more than they know: they shared spiritual truths, wisdom, knowledge, and lessons in other people’s lives, thus, they became The Spiritual Fathers to others!

Some of these people commissioned me to be a pastor.

Thank you for your service to the kingdom of God!

Introduction

Part One

This book was written using both the Logos (λόγος) and the Rhema (ῥῆμα) of God! For the word of God is living and active; sharper than any two-edged sword piercing to the division of soul, of spirit, of joints, and of marrow; and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12, ESV).

Let us be clear that when we talk in this book about churches, Christians, followers, disciples, or any other form of names given to believers, we are attempting to convey to you, the reader, not about a multitude of people or congregations, just about a specific person. We are not generalizing but being specific. Furthermore, this book was not written in an effort to point out faults but in order to edify the saints into a more mature walk with Christ.

A mature believer that feels grieved and humbled over his/her own former sin can help others overcome the same sin. This is done not by judging them but by empathizing with them. This concept is used in twelve-step programs, and this is how mature believers help others with their walks with Christ. We are not promoting these programs but using them as similes.

That being said, let us remember that God regards not the words that are spoken but the heart that offers them. Therefore, with humble heart, we present this book, the sales of the book, and the people that will be touched by this book onto you King Jesus!

Part Two

From the beginning of our existence as humans, God created us with a spirit, soul, and body. The Bible says that then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7, KJV). This is the tripartite way that the above scripture applies to us. The word of God divides what God created.

Here is an example of someone who knew this concept very well. We know her all over the world as Virgin Mary. Yes, the earthly mother of Jesus. The story is found in the Bible, Luke 1:46–55. This passage in scriptures talks about Mary’s song of praise to her Lord and Savior. In it, she did not present herself as an idol but a humble servant! This Bible passage was not written so that people may worship her, but so that people may worship her King.

She mentioned—inter alia—that the Lord has looked on the humble estate of His servant (her) and that He (Jesus) brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. Did you catch that? Humble! I ask you, is she not remembered by so many all over the world? She was teaching us a lesson, so we must pay attention!

Spiritually speaking, here is where it gets really good: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. Why, you say? I am glad you asked! But first, notice that she humbled herself first, and because of it, the Lord revealed one of His most mysterious oracles. How men are created in the image of God in a tripartite way.

Mary, without any schools, titles, or positions knew that there was a division between her soul and her spirit! She had not read Hebrews 4:12 yet, but somehow knew that between the soul and sprit was where Jesus was going to save so many. She definitely had Genesis 2:7 perhaps explained to her, but she was not a Theologian. Have I lost you yet? Good; that is the intention.

What a unique combination that no other created being has. Humans possess a spirit, a soul, and a body. Satan does not have it; animals don’t have it; only humans have it. No wonder why demons and other spirit try to possess humans—and many times they succeed!

As you read this book, we ask that you do not hold the author’s personal experiences as bias for this have been lived by him, so he uses them to try to explain his points, not as a tool to ridicule anyone but as a point of reference. We will not use real names nor places in order to protect the identities of the involved characters. Any resemblance with any characters is purely coincidence.

Conversely, the Lord is the only one who can judge the hearts of men. The author is merely showing you, the reader, some of his experiences in his journey to becoming a spiritual man! So the doctrines explained on this book have been given to him by God’s Rhema and by his own time analyzing his walk with Jesus. With that in mind…

Part Three

Inevitably, many of you reading this book visit a mega church on a weekly basis. For me, this happened because it was comfortable, it was known, and it does not require much work. I am not criticizing the churches nor the people who visit them for in many of these churches, there were spiritual men indeed. But this was the exemption and not the norm.

In fact, after thirty-five years in Christianity, I saw that for many, these and other similar characteristics is what makes nonbelievers see in us Christians by consumerism. We simply call ourselves Christians, but we do not live the transformed lives that we should see. Here is an example from a church with over forty thousand members.

As the men were assembled and introduced into their new groups, many of them were not talkative while others would talk a whole bunch. The event was a church retreat, and there were over six hundred men that gathered once a year for some fellowship while others attended just for the fun.

For some reason, you could hear that some of these men were talking about something that had occurred at the previous year’s events. You see, one of them had died a year ago—at the same retreat—yet, these men came back for more, along with about another one hundred new inductees.

The attendees came from all different backgrounds for a weekend at a camp, where eight miles of treacherous roads brought them to a place of solitude. A place with no phone connections, no internet, no malls