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You Have Not Many Fathers: Recovering the Generational Blessing

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Dr. Hanby has been teaching the importance of coming into spiritual alignment for many years but Craig finally got him to put it into writing. Thanks Craig. Here is what I learned: God loves the local church. He has Pastors who are trying their best, but like the rest of us, are flawed.

When the local church leaders and members can learn to bless their pastoral leadership instead of sniping at them and criticizing their decisions, the church prospers. When you can get to the point of trusting your Pastor you will remove the filter from your relationship. You will stop questioning whether you should or should not do the things the Pastor asks you. Trust God that He placed a spiritual covering over your life that is there to protect you and help you grow in Christ. Your Pastor is not perfect. Pastors make mistakes, but our abililty to love and serve the person in spite of their flaws is why "the gates of hell will not prevail against the church".

This book is not a "quick read". You will need to be serious about your study time - but it's well worth it!

A must read for every minister of the Word who wants to understand the heart of God. We have had our "ten thousand instructors in Christ", but what we need is fathers. Dr. Hanby has touched on the problem of church in America. We don't have relationships blessed and ordained of God. Where are our fathers? Where is their honor? Who is passing on the generational blessings God, the Father, ordained for the sons and daughters?

Dr. Hanby deals very accurately with the all to common problem of a corporate America mindset having infected the relationships of church leaders and their disciples. He reveals solid answers to why so many christians have been sidelined in their faith and in their pursuit of God's purposes and plan for their lives. By recovering the generational blessing of spiritual father's to their sons a healing and fulfillment is again released into young believers' lives. It is powerful in content, accurate in doctrine and a must for every believer.

God has used Dr. Mark Hanby, to bring to our generation a powerful word on the order of the kingdom of God. Dr. Hanby goes where few are realling in this powerful revelaion on the inheritaince of saints through the connection and submission to spiritual fahters. Dr. Hanby is very careful and catuious and identifies how people have abused this concept and misapplication of this concept. Somehow this revelation was lost to the church through the rise of relgious organzaitons, but when we look back in history of the church we find this applicaiton, as why the church grew to magnituide it did, during an era correctly named the Apostolic Fathers. This book is not for the religious or for babies in Christ, is for mature saints, who love the word of God, and long to walk with him in deeper truths then milk

Dr. Mark Hanby is a true Prophet. For those who are tired of "churchianity" and religion as usual this is the book. Any book or tape by Dr. Hanby will transform your life because he answers through the Word what you have not been able to express but felt inside. You Have Not Many Fathers shows the true order of God and how we are supposed to impart to the next generation as well as "honor" those who have imparted the gift of God to us. My husband and I saw Dr. Hanby at a T.D. Jakes Pastor's Conference in 1998. Some of the very words that Dr. Hanby spoke about Church order and the "Now" move of God are now being talked about in the church world today. At the time we first heard his words, they sounded so revolutionary. Dr. Hanby, being a true trumpet is ahead of his time.

The spirit of Elijah is upon us! God's focus in this day is to reconnect Fathers and Sons. If you want to know what the proceeding Word of the Lord is for now and you want to find a divine connection in order to recieve your "double portion" spiritual inheritance, GET THIS BOOK!

This book will receive high ratings... but for all the wrong reasons. It will receive high rating from people IN church ministry: pastors, reverends, etc. - especially those may want to have more control over, or be able to manipulate church "members".

I am VERY concerned about the way Dr. Hanby goes about doing exegesis. He virtually uses every example in the Bible of a father/son relationship - from physical fathers and sons, to spiritual fathers and sons, to God the Father and Jesus the Son - and tries to apply that to the church-based, current-day spiritual "fathers" and "sons". The problem here is that many of his examples are TOTALLY OUT OF CONTEXT.

There is no problem with living out some of the principles in Dr. Hanby's "father" and "son" relationship within an accountable DISCIPLING scenario, but to apply it in the way Dr. Hanby proposes is downright dangerous! It ASSUMES that the "father" has a good and pure heart - and that he has only the spiritual good of the "son" in mind... but we know that is not always the case. Once a "spiritual father" starts tasting the power that this status brings, together with obedience of the "son" - the door is WIDE OPEN FOR ABUSE AND CORRUPTION.

I also feel that the exegesis fails because some of the relational aspects that should be reserved for the realtionship between us (believers) as sons of God the Father are applied to Dr. Hanby's proposed "father" and "son" relationship...

I think it is best to explain based on a real-world example. The pastor of church where I used to worship bought into this idea. Please understand that this pastor is a God-fearing, good person. He really has the spiritual best for the church fellowship on his heart. However, a few things started going skew:
* Within the church, he is known as the "father of the house" - and that put's him on a psychological "pedestal". He now "brings the word", and is the one with the "current word" for the current time. When he is out of town and other elders preach, they do not bring a "new word" (are not allowed to), but only emphasise what the "father of the house" has already said by confirming what he has brought, but merely in a slightly different way or applied differently.
* Although he does not advocate it, many people become DEPENDENT on him - to the point where they IDOLISE him. Although he does not proclaim it, many people now see him as an "intermediary" between God and Jesus. (The people will probably disagree with this when you ask them, but they sure do live it out that way!)
* I also detect a spiritual numbness: due to people not wanting to go against the "father of the house" by saying anything out of line with his "current truth". They therefore seem not to be able to read the Bible and expect God to reveal anything to them personally. They are dependent on the "father of the house" for "spiritual food".
* The spiritual growth (rate) of the people in the "house" (church) are now mostly determined by the spiritual "father". He is genuinely and actively praying for a visitation by the Holy Spirit, but I am concerned that he may be the cause of the delay - by (involuntarily) becoming the intermediary - and the bottleneck.

The mere fact that this "father and son theology" is being practised in this church has led to the above, even though the pastor does not actively TRY to set himself on a pedestal. I am not saying this will happen in every church: this pastor is good-hearted and not even the power-hungry type. However, just IMAGINE what this will do when it happens to fall into the WRONG pastor's hands!

No, this is taking us back to the Middle Ages and the Catholic Church, where you are dependent on someone else to explain and teach the Gospel to you - instead of teaching people to read and exegete the Bible properly themselves, and ensuring they have a healthy personal relationship with God, as well as each becoming PERSONALLY dependent on the Holy Spirit. This book is very bad news!

The foundation of spiritual inheritance in the Kingdom of God is the relationship of a father and son. Those in ministry today must develop the heart of a father and raise up a generation of sons and daughters in a "double portion" anointing.

You Have Not Many Fathers serves to "turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse" (Mal.4:6)

This is an awesome read. God truly used Dr. Mark Hanby, Craig Ervin, and T.D. Jakes. I was unable to put this book down. Dr. Hanby, thanks for your obedience to God, Mr. Ervin thanks for your research and input, & T.D. Jakes (as usual)thanks for a great forward. The three of you have helped so many in understanding what is needed in the Church and our personal lives today in order for us to walk into our purpose with God and have blessings in our lives as well as for generations to come. God Bless you All.

Read this book before you read any other -- except the Bible.