*NEHEMIAH, EZRA & CORPORATE FATHERING* Consider the leadership structure in the Books of Nehemiah and Ezra, respectively, when Israel was restored as a nation after the captivity. It was not just Zerubbabel the king or Ezra the prophet and Nehemiah the apostolic foresight. It was a corporate council where they consulted one with another to reconstruct the city of Jerusalem. Ezra supervised the corporate eldership; he was the father of hermeneutics. Nehemiah became the father of reconstruction and apostolic order. These fathers came together in a corporate fatherhood anointing and all the people received the glory for a massive transformation in a short space of time. They had Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the junior prophet that ministered in that same era. The fathers then birthed the ministry of Haggai who said, ‘You guys don’t do well, the house of God is in ruins.’ There are times when the need requires that corporate fatherhood be a designated form of leadership within a particular region, or sometimes over specific ministries and churches. It is more serious than we realize, especially for some that are from a more stringent format that depends on a district elder, superintendent, presbyter, or someone appointed or voted in over you that may not have a vested interest in the ministry. The ministry may need somebody or a corporate group of fathers that have a vested interest in your well-being. Not all the time, but some of the time, there may be a district elder or a presbyter who does not care whether your wife and you live or die. They do not care whether you eat or don’t eat. Their major concern is if you paid assessments and subscriptions, renewed your license, or sent in your percentage. That is their focus. Then when it is time for voting they start campaigning to get your vote. ‘Give me your vote, and we will make sure that the district gives you money for your missions center’ or something. Amidst this tremendous anointing there is no mention of these prophets in their own books because the spirit of fathering absorbs the individual effort and gives birth to a stronger force for the benefit of the people and the nation for generations to come. The reason significant, strong prophetic and five-fold ministry gifts do not prevail is because they lack the spirit of corporate fathering. A council that is higher than leaders produces the following process. Fathers will bring this process to a living order and demonstrate for the rest of us how the spirit of fathering submits to steps beyond an individual’s contribution. *“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘you good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘you fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.”* Matthew 5:23–24 If a man has ought against his brother, then where must he leave his gift? He must leave it at the altar and go reconcile with his brother. Here is the principle: If a man has ought against his brother, he has to come to the next level of greater anointing which is the altar. So, the gift is greater than the individual, but the altar is greater than the gift. The altar does not exist because it is an altar; it exists because of the temple. So, the temple then, is greater than the altar, but the temple is there because it represents the heavens. He said, ‘Make everything according to the pattern you see in the heavens’ Acts 7:44, Hebrews 8:5. So the temple exists because of the heavens, but the heavens exist at the pleasure of God’s throne. The throne is there because of God, so that eventually, the bigger purpose is revealed in corporate fathering. When people have ought against each other, and they use their gift, they invalidate the rest of the process. The altar is the place of access, and cannot be activated because the gift cannot be used because of ought against a brother. Do you see how this works against the goal of consistent results through corporate fathering? As a result, the temple, which is the place of Presence, suffers restriction and cannot be released. The heavens then, as the place of authority, cannot be breached. Finally the throne cannot be given and you cannot receive an authentic anointing to release you, and God cannot hear your prayer because of this process. The spirit of fathering helps us align the process. A father will say, ‘No son, you are not going to go in ministry because you have ought against your brother. Fix that.’ Let’s use a local setting for an example. You heard your mother say, ‘Put your toys over there. Put your clothes over here. Make sure you clean this out. Take out the trash.’ Your father says, ‘John, you will not eat until you clean your room.’ As a father you bring that kind of order. Unfortunately, order is lacking in significant places around the world. It is as if people have their house in a mess and they still minister everywhere. What is wrong with us? We lack fathers that know the anointing of a gift. The Bible says your gift will make room for you Proverbs 18:16. Where does your gift make room for you? Your gift makes room for you at the altar. The altar, then, has to be kept holy and sanctified because the temple is the place the Lord goes in with a whip and says, “My house shall be called a house of prayer” (Luke 19:46). He cleaned out the temple, but the temple there represents the heavens. If the temple is messed up, then it means that we do not understand the pattern of the heavens. And you do not have authority if you do not have the throne of God established. So we say, ‘Lord, take me to the throne.’ It is via the altar and the temple. Corporate fathering makes sure that this process is in place. https://chat.whatsapp.com/ElKaNjH1oHz6UF5yulS7b2 https://chat.whatsapp.com/ExCD9jKcKnR8wQUJqC1mSj