Strategic Discipleship

April 13, 2026
Overcoming Sovereign Self
Chapter 5: Seven Events that Changed Everything

Event #2: The Foundation of the World and Creation (Part 1 of 2)

We have discussed the inappropriate practice of lumping together or mixing up two separate concepts in Scripture, which practice displays our lack of deep understanding of “What’s really going on here?” We gave the example of this common practice as it manifests in the ministries of the LORD Jesus, “Justification by His Blood” and “Salvation by His Life” (Romans 5:9-10—see Chapter 2, Justification or Salvation). The practice manifests, for example, when most believers witness to unbelievers, an early question in the encounter often is, “Have you been saved?” when our real intent is to ascertain if they have been “justified.”* Another example, less frequent—but just as inappropriate—we also tend to mix together the separate events/concepts of “Foundation of the World” and “Creation.” That is, we focus on the act of Creation and depreciate the Plan and preparatory work performed by the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in/as One). They are distinguished in this manner: Creation was an event—detailed in Genesis Chapters 1 and 2—that formed the world, including its “things” and its inhabitants as we know it. But the Creation followed the basis and supporting reason(s) contained within the Foundation, the establishing authority, philosophy, theology, underpinning, theoretical construct, principle-base, elemental rationale—all these terms taken together most likely fall short of describing the complete Agreement and Plan of the Godhead in declaring and establishing the Foundation of the World, but they provide a framework for understanding. What does it matter if we fail to fully appreciate the Foundation on which God built the creation? It matters because, like any other rationale or basis, the Purpose and intent cannot be effectively understood in the absence of the “Why.” And if we fail to accurately understand why Papa created what He created, for the reasons and Purpose He created it, we are unlikely to maximize our potential in discipleship by making intentional choices that coincide and cooperate with His Plan.

A foundation is a base or basis on which something is built. If the building object is a physical structure, the foundation usually refers to the slab, piers, or prepared ground underneath the vertical members called walls. But other types of preparation also constitute a foundation. Technically, any preceding or preparatory work to support or sustain the superstructure is foundational, including the architectural plans, statement of purpose, and even the originating concept. When the object of establishment is an organization, the elements of the foundation include the vision, values, bylaws, legal documents, and the envisioned purpose for organization. One frame of reference for us would be the way the U.S. Constitution forms the foundation and framework of our government, or how bylaws establish the authority for an organization. Psalm 89:11,14 gives us context clues about what Scripture means when it refers to a “foundation,” and specifically in this case in particular, the “foundation of [God’s] throne”: “11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all its fullness, You have founded them…14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.” Psalm 89 reveals some of the elements of the Foundation of God’s Throne (i.e., His Rulership and Kingdom) to be Righteousness, Justice, Mercy, and Truth. But other Scripture also reveal by context other foundational elements, and we may also assume that other features of His magnificent Nature also form the metaphysical, foundational Authority of His governance.** His Values, Ways, Precepts, Supremacy, Sovereignty, Majesty, Eternality, and others all contribute to His Grand Purpose and Plan that constitutes the Foundation on which His work is both built and successfully accomplished. Between initiation and accomplishment, the elements and in-habitants of His Creation follow His prescribed Program. And these features constitute the basis for what Jesus referred to as the practice of “worship[ping] in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24), as opposed to our modern worship practice of shifting the emphasis of our worship from His magnificent Nature to “me, my, mine” of the litany of things He has done “for me.” One stream of worship focuses on Who He is; the second focuses on “my life” and “me” as the central reason for His existence.

But, even considering the foregoing, and even more basic—more astounding, really—is the fact that the Foundation of the World is more than the “philosophy” and intent of God’s Purpose (e.g., establishing authority, underpinning, theoretical construct, principle-base, elemental rationale, etc.) it is a Person! How do we know that? The Foundation is the Word, and John 1:1-5 establishes that God’s Word and God’s Son to be One and the same! Jesus us the LIVING WORD! That is very difficult for us to wrap our minds around, but it is confirmed by Paul’s declaration in 1 Corinthians 3:10-11 where He identifies Jesus as the Foundation laid in a believer’s life. The astounding association in the Spirit is that the Foundation of the World and the “Foundation that was laid” (1 Corinthians 3:11) are One! How do we know that? We know because that is what Paul meant when he said in Colossians 1:16-17, “16 For by Him [in the Person of the embodied Word of God] all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth…All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” “By Him,” “through Him,” “for Him,” “He is before all things,” “in Him all things consist”—these phrases mean (among other things) it is not about you!
Strategic Planning is a necessary exercise in preparation for any complex activity such as founding an entire Creation, and particularly when a cooperative effort (as is our discipleship) is undertaken. It is necessary for us as His people to be both intimately knowledgeable and integrally involved in bringing about His Mission of Redemption. Jesus told us in John 15:15 that His friends know what He is doing, and that particularly includes understanding His founding Purposes and Program in the creation. Another way to describe God’s overarching and establishing authority and founding principle of His Creation is/was “Executing the Mission of Redemption in a T/S/M world,” and we know well the role that the Son of God had in that Mission. That Mission necessarily connects all that He has done in redemptive response to the egregious Rebellion of Lucifer as cause and effect. But Redemption itself has a Divine Purpose, and that Purpose is for God to re-establish and gift a Kingdom to His Son.

The foregoing being true, we are obliged to pursue and understand what specific elements and features He designed into the Foundation of the World that guide His intentions and Purposes, and how those elements interact to execute His Plan. Papa did not just wake up one day, roll out of bed, and say to Himself on a whim, “I think I’ll create a universe.” Of course, we are being facetious, but with a point: The Creation is Purpose-based, not fiat-based; and, that Purpose is related and a response to conditions in the Eternal Realm before the Creation, namely the existence of Lucifer’s chaotic Rebellion; and, the Creation supports and results in His intention to return the Kingdom to His Son as He makes the correction and deals with The Rebellion once and for all (Revelation 19:20, 20:10-15). God's intentions and His Plan were in place as the Foundation before He spoke the first "Let there be…" declaration (Genesis 1:3)! That statement has HUGE implications, some of which may prank with your "the way church is done" theology! It seems the previous sentence should be obvious, but many believers have no idea of the totality what God is accomplishing and correcting with His ongoing creative work and His overarching Plan—they still think, “It’s all about me!” What is not so obvious are the undergirding reasons that established His Purpose for the T/S/M created dimension, because they are shrouded in mystery for us to uncover and/or conveyed to us in a storybook “parable” format for us to de-code—the “foundation of the Foundation,” if you will.

So, if we wish to understand the mysteries so that we can more fully cooperate with His Purposes and take part in His Program of Operation with knowledge and not superstitious religion, we need to examine conditions before and after the world’s Foundation. He gave us a point of beginning and a clue to what followed with the account of Lucifer’s Fall. He expanded our information base with the account of Creation and the world’s Foundation. Now, we contextualize the rest of the information to uncover and de-mystify His mysterious Plan of Operation. More specifically, we need to observe what changed and how it changed. Why would any believer who purports to love God with all their being not care deeply or lazily accept shallow answers like, “Just because," or "It’s unknowable” when clearly His Purposes are extremely important to Him, so important in fact that they cost Him a price as incredibly invaluable as the suffering death of His Son? He intends for us to know, and He intends for us to work at uncovering the mysteries as part of “seek Me…with your whole heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). We do not believe it is cheating the process of “working to acquire” to help one another in gaining understanding, so we have included an overview in Appendix C of what Papa has revealed to us as the “Elements of God’s Strategic Plan of Operation in Redemption.” By understanding the “50,000-foot overview” of His Plan, we can much more readily adapt the confluence and cooperation of our efforts. The high-level perspective serves to get our eyes off “me, my, mine” and onto “Thy Kingdom come…on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

*We understand what most believers call “getting saved” to be what we call our “justification moment.” That is, it is the moment in this time/space/ matter world when the believer awakens to the True Reality of who they are and are made to be in the Eternal Realm. It is the moment when our spirit is “quickened” to know who we are and what is our destiny in the Eternal.
**Other aspects of His Nature that contribute to the makeup of His Mystical Kingdom’s attributes are known as “fruits” that mark His authorship: Love, Faithfulness, Patience, Peace, Glory, Forbearance, Kindness, and Justice.

March 4, 2026
Overcoming Sovereign Self
Chapter 2, Discipleship Basics

How Shall We Escape?

There is a particularly insidious form of evil to which we are all subject that Jesus addressed in Matthew 21:28-32:
28 “A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go, work today in my vineyard.’ 29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said to Him, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God be-fore you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.”

Jesus’ words reveal to us a demanding and convicting axiom that we will call “The Obedience Principle”: Your actions do not count as obedience unless you actually obey! Words are cheap and easy. And words alone do not constitute doing the Father’s will.

Obedience is hard, and it is designed to be that way! Why? Because the striving and internal conflict associated with any act of obedience always pits my will against His, my control against His, and my usurped sovereignty against His Sovereign Nature.

Submitting our stubborn will to His reorients our relationship to the appropriate relationship configuration of Creator/creature, Father/son, Shepherd/sheep, and God/Self-as-god. The Obedience Principle seems obvious—even redundant—on first blush until we factor in our incredible skill at justifying and rationalizing our actions or lack thereof. Ultimately, the act of learning from obedience is the exercise of repudiating The Rebellion in my flesh so that transformation may take place in my heart and soul. That is discipleship. It is not complicated to know and understand that there are acts/errors of performance. However, these usually begin as errors of intent or neglect. And then, there are acts of intentional neglect. Intentional neglect cannot be ascribed to “accident,” “fluke,” “misfortune,” or “happenstance” because the results of intentional neglect have foreseeable consequences about which we have been warned. That is what The Obedience Principle is designed to address. When behavioral inertia becomes our habit, it takes on a certain momentum that continues uninterrupted until we directly intervene as an act of will. Very often continuing in a pattern of intentional neglect develops into a life strategy of passive resistance that is the opposite of the type of intentionality which chooses obedience as a course of action and a pattern of discipleship.

The writer of Hebrews gives us the warning associated with neglecting our salvation process; and, by inference, gives us a solid clue about just how imperative and urgent our embrace of the process is during our experience in this T/S/M world:

2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the LORD, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? (Hebrews 2:2-4)

Blending the lessons of Matthew 21:29-32 and Hebrews 2:2-4, we expose the perilous practice of talking a good game followed by failure to perform. Papa is not impressed by our declarations, rationalizations, justifications, and excuses for non-performance. Samuel declared that obedience is better than sacrifice—and that includes the sacrifice of our lips (1 Samuel 15:22). And Jesus gave us the litmus test for the privilege of considering Him our friend: “14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you” (John 15:14). The totality of the message is unmistakable: Words, without actions that conform to God’s commands, count for nothing. Intentions in the absence of intentional action not only do not qualify as discipleship, but they also actually put us in greater peril in the “You were cautioned/warned and should have known better” category of culpability. Our purpose in this chapter is practical discipleship, and there is no practical component without practice and intent.