to all of you who come and read this blog on a daily basis, i should inform you that for the next week, i may or may not be posting due to malaria. sorry for any inconvenience it may cause.
i do ask for your prayers for a speedy recovery.
i'll try to post when i feel well enough to.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
30 July 2005
29 July 2005
a tale of three congregations
in soviet russia, believers met in secrecy. some met in basements, others met in wooded areas outside the cities. the following are stories documented by voice of the martyrs.
one day, deep into winter, a congregation was raided by the kgb and all the men were arrested. these men were shipped off together to a remote area to be "re-educated." after days of torture in effort to get these men to recant, the kgb still had not caused anyone to give up his faith. the men were then driven out to a lake where they were stripped naked and marched out to the middle of the ice. on the edge of the lake, soldiers dug fire pits and lit warming fires. the men were then informed that if they wanted to warm up, they would have to give up their faith.
the night was harsh, as most russian winter nights are, and the winds whipped about the frozen surface of the lake. the men huddled together to try to keep warm. after remaining for two complete nights, one single man stood, walked to the edge of the lake and gave up his faith.
so compelled by the belief and faith of the men on the ice, a soldier stripped off his clothes and ran to take the other man's place. within a matter of days, all the men had frozen to death out in the middle of the lake.
the second story also comes from russia and is documented by v.o.m.
one night, as a congregation met in secrecy in a wharehouse, it was raided by masked soldiers with automatic weapons. without discharging a single bullet, the soldiers began to shout their simple ultimatum, "whoever wanted to live, had better leave now." after a few minutes and several people left, the men threw down their guns, took off their masks and shouted, "brothers! now that we have weeded out those who don't believe, let us meet with Jesus!"
i have no doubt in my mind that we will see more persecution and martyrdom in the world as we move into tomorrow, and there has been a movement that has energized today's christian youths to be willing to die for their faith, but the next question begs, are they willing to live for their faith? are you? am i? do our lives bear proof of it?
i heard an interesting challenge one day, someone said live your life in such a way that if christianity ever became punishable by death there would be enough proof to convict you. where does the proof come from? from deeds? outward appearances? no. the proof is in a life of holiness.
God doesn't want lip service. we get sick and tired of people lying to us after we've been put over by them two or three times. He's had to endure thousands of years of it. we, as christians, often come to a place of lethargy after we think that we have "arrived." we struggle. as humans, we all struggle. when we as christians struggle, we reach out of the mirey clay and grasp the outstretched hand of God. in that moment, nothing can seperate us from Him. but, when things are going well, we forget to give Him the glory. We forget to seek Him when things are going well. the penalty for not seeking Him is forgetting how.
choosing to live and not just survive will cost something. there will be discomfort, there will be pain, but there will also be the incredible reward of a life well spent. i can’t afford to stroll through life. none of us can. there are too many people on this earth who do not know God. there are too many children waking up each day watching their families die because of disaster, disease, and famine. there are too many people wandering through life not knowing the answers, not knowing their purpose, not understanding what their life could be like.
this is it...we each have somewhere between one more day and 60ish years to run...to be used by God to advance His kingdom. that is not much time...can we afford to put it off one more day?
what's the story of the third congregation? i don't know, you tell me.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
one day, deep into winter, a congregation was raided by the kgb and all the men were arrested. these men were shipped off together to a remote area to be "re-educated." after days of torture in effort to get these men to recant, the kgb still had not caused anyone to give up his faith. the men were then driven out to a lake where they were stripped naked and marched out to the middle of the ice. on the edge of the lake, soldiers dug fire pits and lit warming fires. the men were then informed that if they wanted to warm up, they would have to give up their faith.
the night was harsh, as most russian winter nights are, and the winds whipped about the frozen surface of the lake. the men huddled together to try to keep warm. after remaining for two complete nights, one single man stood, walked to the edge of the lake and gave up his faith.
so compelled by the belief and faith of the men on the ice, a soldier stripped off his clothes and ran to take the other man's place. within a matter of days, all the men had frozen to death out in the middle of the lake.
the second story also comes from russia and is documented by v.o.m.
one night, as a congregation met in secrecy in a wharehouse, it was raided by masked soldiers with automatic weapons. without discharging a single bullet, the soldiers began to shout their simple ultimatum, "whoever wanted to live, had better leave now." after a few minutes and several people left, the men threw down their guns, took off their masks and shouted, "brothers! now that we have weeded out those who don't believe, let us meet with Jesus!"
i have no doubt in my mind that we will see more persecution and martyrdom in the world as we move into tomorrow, and there has been a movement that has energized today's christian youths to be willing to die for their faith, but the next question begs, are they willing to live for their faith? are you? am i? do our lives bear proof of it?
i heard an interesting challenge one day, someone said live your life in such a way that if christianity ever became punishable by death there would be enough proof to convict you. where does the proof come from? from deeds? outward appearances? no. the proof is in a life of holiness.
God doesn't want lip service. we get sick and tired of people lying to us after we've been put over by them two or three times. He's had to endure thousands of years of it. we, as christians, often come to a place of lethargy after we think that we have "arrived." we struggle. as humans, we all struggle. when we as christians struggle, we reach out of the mirey clay and grasp the outstretched hand of God. in that moment, nothing can seperate us from Him. but, when things are going well, we forget to give Him the glory. We forget to seek Him when things are going well. the penalty for not seeking Him is forgetting how.
choosing to live and not just survive will cost something. there will be discomfort, there will be pain, but there will also be the incredible reward of a life well spent. i can’t afford to stroll through life. none of us can. there are too many people on this earth who do not know God. there are too many children waking up each day watching their families die because of disaster, disease, and famine. there are too many people wandering through life not knowing the answers, not knowing their purpose, not understanding what their life could be like.
this is it...we each have somewhere between one more day and 60ish years to run...to be used by God to advance His kingdom. that is not much time...can we afford to put it off one more day?
what's the story of the third congregation? i don't know, you tell me.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
28 July 2005
the raw reality of sincerity
to those of you who read check this blog on a daily basis, i apologize. i've been dealing with issues of the heart lately. you see, what i am writing isn't something i'm reading in some book somewhere, or something i'm hearing from some evangelist. it's raw, it's real. and for me to pass on to you what God is doing in me, i have to do it.
i was talking to chris some time ago and she asked me about our little blogging community and how God is showing us all awesome things. i think it is amazing what God is doing across the country. i think our little community is a small sample of what God is actually up to all around the world today. sure, on the broad scale it's tiny, but it's sincere. iron sharpens iron, we need to challenge each other to sharpen each other. we need to push each other to deeper depths, and healthier lives.
there are times where i feel like i stand naked, exposed before my God- and i am ashamed. i am a man of unclean lips before a holy God. my soul lies bare and the roughness of its edges are showing for all who have eyes to see. "God," my spirit cries out, "take the coal, cleanse my lips! don't leave me here!"
we, as a culture, as a nation, as a church stand before the holiness of God and treat it with contempt at best. we try to walk with one hand holding the hand of God and the other holding onto the hand of the devil. "he who is not for Me, is against Me." in other words, "he who is apathetic and stands for nothing, is against Me because I stand for justice and love and purity and holiness..."
what do we stand for? freedom? from what? to what? for what? salvation? from what? to what? for what? grace? from what? to what? for what?
we were not made to find satisfaction in anything less than God and His holiness. why do we think we can settle for anything less?
the death of an organization
(this is not about anyone experience of my own. be it made known to any and all who read this, i am not refering to the organization i have recently resigned from. it is based on observations of the deaths of many well-intentioned organizations.) it all started with a conflict of interests. it was so small and miniscule that no one could even know that it happened if they were not searching for it. a compromise was reached, not between two individuals, but in the mind of one individual. the individual (consciously or subconsciously) seeks to institute their compromise (malicious or not) and because of their position or stature or financial background no one stands against them. no one dares to question if it is God's vision. soon, all sorts of things begin to happen. soon larger and more visible rifts begin to occur all because of a seemingly minor compromise in the foundation. if the leader is not careful, they will soon steer the organization into the ground and successfully destroy what had started out as a ministry to others and turned into a service to hubris. one compromise. that's all it takes to make a ministry fold up and die.
my heart echoes the cry of moses, "Lord, if You do not go with us, do not take us up from here..." (exodus 33:15)
i was talking to chris some time ago and she asked me about our little blogging community and how God is showing us all awesome things. i think it is amazing what God is doing across the country. i think our little community is a small sample of what God is actually up to all around the world today. sure, on the broad scale it's tiny, but it's sincere. iron sharpens iron, we need to challenge each other to sharpen each other. we need to push each other to deeper depths, and healthier lives.
there are times where i feel like i stand naked, exposed before my God- and i am ashamed. i am a man of unclean lips before a holy God. my soul lies bare and the roughness of its edges are showing for all who have eyes to see. "God," my spirit cries out, "take the coal, cleanse my lips! don't leave me here!"
we, as a culture, as a nation, as a church stand before the holiness of God and treat it with contempt at best. we try to walk with one hand holding the hand of God and the other holding onto the hand of the devil. "he who is not for Me, is against Me." in other words, "he who is apathetic and stands for nothing, is against Me because I stand for justice and love and purity and holiness..."
what do we stand for? freedom? from what? to what? for what? salvation? from what? to what? for what? grace? from what? to what? for what?
we were not made to find satisfaction in anything less than God and His holiness. why do we think we can settle for anything less?
the death of an organization
(this is not about anyone experience of my own. be it made known to any and all who read this, i am not refering to the organization i have recently resigned from. it is based on observations of the deaths of many well-intentioned organizations.) it all started with a conflict of interests. it was so small and miniscule that no one could even know that it happened if they were not searching for it. a compromise was reached, not between two individuals, but in the mind of one individual. the individual (consciously or subconsciously) seeks to institute their compromise (malicious or not) and because of their position or stature or financial background no one stands against them. no one dares to question if it is God's vision. soon, all sorts of things begin to happen. soon larger and more visible rifts begin to occur all because of a seemingly minor compromise in the foundation. if the leader is not careful, they will soon steer the organization into the ground and successfully destroy what had started out as a ministry to others and turned into a service to hubris. one compromise. that's all it takes to make a ministry fold up and die.
my heart echoes the cry of moses, "Lord, if You do not go with us, do not take us up from here..." (exodus 33:15)
26 July 2005
the choice to revolt
revolution is not accidental. it is not stumbled upon or discovered. the great moves of God didn't just "happen," they were intentional. they were results of choices. the choices of a few can influence a congregation. the choices of a congregation can influence a city. a city can influence a region and a region can influence a nation and the world.
will we choose to push beyond self-sufficiency? will we choose to be unsatisfied in anything less than revolution? will we choose to give up anything and everything for God? that is the key. it is in the act of sacrificing our sacred cows that we discover our hidden idols.
personal renewal is based on three choices. the first of these is the choice to volunteer to God what belongs to Him. He is a jealous Lover, He doesn't want just a part of us, He wants our whole beings. He wants us to be willing to give Him everything even if we feel we're not completely ready. in our weakness He is made perfect, or His strength is tested and discovered to be perfect.
the second choice is to give God what He requires of us, whether we are ready or not- those things that we held back from Him after we made our first choice. when He starts to require things from us, we will discover who or what is our true God. each step along the way is a choice. every step is accompanied by the question, "do you want to go on?" do we? only we can determine how far we go. only we can decide how much is too much, and how much is enough.
the question i have is how content are we with discomfort? it sounds, at first like an impossibility, but in reality, it is a paradox. personal renewal is accompanied by discomfort and discontent. when we decide that we're discontent with where we are, with whatever toys we have been playing with; with whatever other gods we have been serving; with whatever sins we like to keep hidden, then we will pursue personal renewal.
the third choice is to choose to go on with God however long it takes for a breakout. i'm not talking about breakthroughs. a breakout is when a small, tightly-woven community of people passionately pursuing personal renewal begins to see the evidences of a revival in their congregation.
a fourth choice, if i may include one, is that of refusing our own desire to go out and publicize the revival when it first starts to blossom. renewal and revival are two different events. renewal gives way to revival and revival can spark renewal, however, revival cannot occur without renewal occurring somewhere in someone first. now i say we need to not publicize it because we, as humans, have the nature to embellish the story, even though we have good intentions. God doesn't need madison avenue's strategies to draw a crowd- He's been in advertising ever since He created it. He said, "if I be lifted up from this earth, I will draw all men unto Me."
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
will we choose to push beyond self-sufficiency? will we choose to be unsatisfied in anything less than revolution? will we choose to give up anything and everything for God? that is the key. it is in the act of sacrificing our sacred cows that we discover our hidden idols.
personal renewal is based on three choices. the first of these is the choice to volunteer to God what belongs to Him. He is a jealous Lover, He doesn't want just a part of us, He wants our whole beings. He wants us to be willing to give Him everything even if we feel we're not completely ready. in our weakness He is made perfect, or His strength is tested and discovered to be perfect.
the second choice is to give God what He requires of us, whether we are ready or not- those things that we held back from Him after we made our first choice. when He starts to require things from us, we will discover who or what is our true God. each step along the way is a choice. every step is accompanied by the question, "do you want to go on?" do we? only we can determine how far we go. only we can decide how much is too much, and how much is enough.
the question i have is how content are we with discomfort? it sounds, at first like an impossibility, but in reality, it is a paradox. personal renewal is accompanied by discomfort and discontent. when we decide that we're discontent with where we are, with whatever toys we have been playing with; with whatever other gods we have been serving; with whatever sins we like to keep hidden, then we will pursue personal renewal.
the third choice is to choose to go on with God however long it takes for a breakout. i'm not talking about breakthroughs. a breakout is when a small, tightly-woven community of people passionately pursuing personal renewal begins to see the evidences of a revival in their congregation.
a fourth choice, if i may include one, is that of refusing our own desire to go out and publicize the revival when it first starts to blossom. renewal and revival are two different events. renewal gives way to revival and revival can spark renewal, however, revival cannot occur without renewal occurring somewhere in someone first. now i say we need to not publicize it because we, as humans, have the nature to embellish the story, even though we have good intentions. God doesn't need madison avenue's strategies to draw a crowd- He's been in advertising ever since He created it. He said, "if I be lifted up from this earth, I will draw all men unto Me."
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
24 July 2005
afraid? of what?
this post is a bit off from what my previous posts have been about, and i'll get back on topic on monday...
i used to be afraid. afraid that if i voiced what God was speaking to me to others that i would then be held to a higher standard. afraid that it would be a standard i couldn't live up to. afraid that the real me wouldn't match up to the perceived me. afraid of being a hypocrite.
i think that fear crippled me for a long time. i am far from perfect. and then i realized, my greatest fear stemmed from opinion. i was opinion-driven. my opinion of myself, other's opinions of me.
and that fear, coupled with the fact that i had no clue of what God has planned for me life... well, i was afraid.
my question is, how can you fail if you don't know what you're doing in the first place? sometimes i wish that someone would come walking through the door and tell me how to do this.
i have begun talking with a new friend lately and she has been challenging me, pushing me. i said it before, but i'll say it again, dennae, your salt makes me thirsty. i was on the phone with her today and discovered where my true joy and happiness stem from. in short, where my satisfaction lies.
yes, i enjoy some temporal things. a good movie now and again is good. a walk in the woods is refreshing. an early morning jog not only keeps my body in shape, but helps me to focus on God. and that's when it hit me... my satisfaction truly comes from Him. i look at movies and see if there are any redemptive analogies to share with people about who God is. i listen for God in music. i find Him in worship, in nature. i feel at home when i am sharing the gospel. my spirit feels satisfied when i am preaching.
God has put something inside us all. He has given each of us the gift of salvation and avenues through which to share it. dennis wrote about it in his current post, how now it is easy for him to transition from asking about a person's financial plan to asking about their eternal plan. if we hold inside of us what God is saying because we are afraid of someone thinking too highly of us and holding us to a higher standard, then we will lose what it is He has put inside of us.
at first, it will be as jeremiah describes, a fire shut up in our bones, and as elihu describes, like new wine in a new wine skin, we have to speak to find our release. but if we continue to hide it and justify our fear by calling it "a desire to be real," the river will begin to slow into a lazy creek. and the lazy creek will turn to stagnant pond.
that's not what i want for my life. it's not a question of asking if i can afford to be real. i am real. i am as real in my mistakes as i am in my triumphs.
am i still afraid? not like i was. i no longer fear the idea of a higher standard. i now know that living to a higher standard challenges me to live a "Godward" life. to put it in the most simple words i can think of, if what i do challenges another person to run hard after God, then i have succeeded. not i, but Christ in me.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
i used to be afraid. afraid that if i voiced what God was speaking to me to others that i would then be held to a higher standard. afraid that it would be a standard i couldn't live up to. afraid that the real me wouldn't match up to the perceived me. afraid of being a hypocrite.
i think that fear crippled me for a long time. i am far from perfect. and then i realized, my greatest fear stemmed from opinion. i was opinion-driven. my opinion of myself, other's opinions of me.
and that fear, coupled with the fact that i had no clue of what God has planned for me life... well, i was afraid.
my question is, how can you fail if you don't know what you're doing in the first place? sometimes i wish that someone would come walking through the door and tell me how to do this.
i have begun talking with a new friend lately and she has been challenging me, pushing me. i said it before, but i'll say it again, dennae, your salt makes me thirsty. i was on the phone with her today and discovered where my true joy and happiness stem from. in short, where my satisfaction lies.
yes, i enjoy some temporal things. a good movie now and again is good. a walk in the woods is refreshing. an early morning jog not only keeps my body in shape, but helps me to focus on God. and that's when it hit me... my satisfaction truly comes from Him. i look at movies and see if there are any redemptive analogies to share with people about who God is. i listen for God in music. i find Him in worship, in nature. i feel at home when i am sharing the gospel. my spirit feels satisfied when i am preaching.
God has put something inside us all. He has given each of us the gift of salvation and avenues through which to share it. dennis wrote about it in his current post, how now it is easy for him to transition from asking about a person's financial plan to asking about their eternal plan. if we hold inside of us what God is saying because we are afraid of someone thinking too highly of us and holding us to a higher standard, then we will lose what it is He has put inside of us.
at first, it will be as jeremiah describes, a fire shut up in our bones, and as elihu describes, like new wine in a new wine skin, we have to speak to find our release. but if we continue to hide it and justify our fear by calling it "a desire to be real," the river will begin to slow into a lazy creek. and the lazy creek will turn to stagnant pond.
that's not what i want for my life. it's not a question of asking if i can afford to be real. i am real. i am as real in my mistakes as i am in my triumphs.
am i still afraid? not like i was. i no longer fear the idea of a higher standard. i now know that living to a higher standard challenges me to live a "Godward" life. to put it in the most simple words i can think of, if what i do challenges another person to run hard after God, then i have succeeded. not i, but Christ in me.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
23 July 2005
the advancing revolution
what is revival? i have thought about that a lot lately. is the success of revival determined by numbers? if so what numbers? the number of souls saved? the number of people in attendance? the number of dollars that rolls in? what if what we're looking for isn't what we should be looking for?
what is our end-game? i'm not asking about our exit strategy, we are not to have one. we are called to occupy until He returns; to fill the earth and subdue it. again, i ask, what is revival?
the nature of revival is not to get the unsaved saved- that is a fruit of revival. see, the definition of the word revival is "to make vibrant again; the restoration of force, validity, or effect." in order to be revived, one must first have been vibrant. now, this looks like just semantics, but i believe it is a part of why we are not witnessing what we are expecting.
if you can schedule it, host it, hold it or contain it in any way, it is not a revival, it is a counterfeit. if we plan it, we are serving up an over-hyped, emotion-based religious activity- not a true revival.
i see, in the great moves of God that we can trace our personal spiritual heritage back through, three categories contained within those moves. the only part we actively play is making the choice to be used of God in whatever shape or form that may be. we must decide to take the first step. God will never force us to do anything against our own will.
there is, first, the imperative renewal. we must, as individuals be daily transformed by the renewing of our minds. He doesn't want us reformed or conformed, but He wants us transformed. as individuals, we must seek His will for our individual lives as a part of His body, the church. we must do this in our prayer closets alone with God. no christian is greater than his prayer life. to quote ravenhill, "the pastor who is not praying, is playing; the people who are not praying, are straying. the two prerequisites to successful christian living are vision and passion, both of which are born in and maintained by prayer."
as our visions and passions grow and we emerge from our prayer closets to fellowship with fellow believers who are themselves emerging from their prayer closets, our passions merge and begin to spread. others begin to get a taste of our salt. as they lick the salt from their lips, they are made thirsty. the fire begins to grow.
it is at this point in time that the nature of the "revival" is tested. if it stems from anything man-made, it will fail, and be exposed as a fraud. people are truly tired of the counterfeit.
next, we are faced with the impending revival. when we have been so consumed by His holy passion for our lives, He starts to move in ways that are more manifest. as the individuals create small pockets of holy desperation, a vacuum, if you will that sucks the fires of His holiness towards it. those who need pruning will be pruned so that they can grow. what has been pruned is consumed by the fire. those who are dead and have no life left, are destroyed by the fire. it is for this reason alone, i am partially grateful that we have not seen God move this way yet. there are so many people sitting in the church that stand to be exposed when this great move of God sweeps in, and it is by His grace that He has tarried this long. we are still in the springtime of this move of God, He is still pruning, but the time is soon upon us when the pruning will be done. we must check our hearts or we will find ourselves in the ashes after the fire has gone.
the fire has grown throughout the pruning process, fueled by the hunger for His holiness in our lives. and finally we discover the third part of the advancing revolution: the imminent reaching out. not reaching out to bring others into the service- that is not what the services are for. it is not the pastor's job to win your friends to Christ. it is his job to impart into you what God has given him so that you can go and win your friends to Christ. it is a refueling station, a retooling station, and an armory where we can collect the spiritual weapons by which the battle for the hearts and souls of men will be won. and our weapons are lives of holiness, integrity and, above all, love.
revival is not the end-game. it is not a place to simply linger as the end of a journey. it is where we need to come to be refreshed and refilled so we can go back and reach out. i believe it is God's desire that every time we come together as a fellowship of believers that there is a continuous revival. and when we take a step back to see what God has set in order, we will see the advancing revolution tearing the gates off of hell and rescuing lost souls. this great firestorm is the never ending increase of His kingdom and every nation, tribe and people will worship Him from coast to coast, each one in his own land.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
what is our end-game? i'm not asking about our exit strategy, we are not to have one. we are called to occupy until He returns; to fill the earth and subdue it. again, i ask, what is revival?
the nature of revival is not to get the unsaved saved- that is a fruit of revival. see, the definition of the word revival is "to make vibrant again; the restoration of force, validity, or effect." in order to be revived, one must first have been vibrant. now, this looks like just semantics, but i believe it is a part of why we are not witnessing what we are expecting.
if you can schedule it, host it, hold it or contain it in any way, it is not a revival, it is a counterfeit. if we plan it, we are serving up an over-hyped, emotion-based religious activity- not a true revival.
i see, in the great moves of God that we can trace our personal spiritual heritage back through, three categories contained within those moves. the only part we actively play is making the choice to be used of God in whatever shape or form that may be. we must decide to take the first step. God will never force us to do anything against our own will.
there is, first, the imperative renewal. we must, as individuals be daily transformed by the renewing of our minds. He doesn't want us reformed or conformed, but He wants us transformed. as individuals, we must seek His will for our individual lives as a part of His body, the church. we must do this in our prayer closets alone with God. no christian is greater than his prayer life. to quote ravenhill, "the pastor who is not praying, is playing; the people who are not praying, are straying. the two prerequisites to successful christian living are vision and passion, both of which are born in and maintained by prayer."
as our visions and passions grow and we emerge from our prayer closets to fellowship with fellow believers who are themselves emerging from their prayer closets, our passions merge and begin to spread. others begin to get a taste of our salt. as they lick the salt from their lips, they are made thirsty. the fire begins to grow.
it is at this point in time that the nature of the "revival" is tested. if it stems from anything man-made, it will fail, and be exposed as a fraud. people are truly tired of the counterfeit.
next, we are faced with the impending revival. when we have been so consumed by His holy passion for our lives, He starts to move in ways that are more manifest. as the individuals create small pockets of holy desperation, a vacuum, if you will that sucks the fires of His holiness towards it. those who need pruning will be pruned so that they can grow. what has been pruned is consumed by the fire. those who are dead and have no life left, are destroyed by the fire. it is for this reason alone, i am partially grateful that we have not seen God move this way yet. there are so many people sitting in the church that stand to be exposed when this great move of God sweeps in, and it is by His grace that He has tarried this long. we are still in the springtime of this move of God, He is still pruning, but the time is soon upon us when the pruning will be done. we must check our hearts or we will find ourselves in the ashes after the fire has gone.
the fire has grown throughout the pruning process, fueled by the hunger for His holiness in our lives. and finally we discover the third part of the advancing revolution: the imminent reaching out. not reaching out to bring others into the service- that is not what the services are for. it is not the pastor's job to win your friends to Christ. it is his job to impart into you what God has given him so that you can go and win your friends to Christ. it is a refueling station, a retooling station, and an armory where we can collect the spiritual weapons by which the battle for the hearts and souls of men will be won. and our weapons are lives of holiness, integrity and, above all, love.
revival is not the end-game. it is not a place to simply linger as the end of a journey. it is where we need to come to be refreshed and refilled so we can go back and reach out. i believe it is God's desire that every time we come together as a fellowship of believers that there is a continuous revival. and when we take a step back to see what God has set in order, we will see the advancing revolution tearing the gates off of hell and rescuing lost souls. this great firestorm is the never ending increase of His kingdom and every nation, tribe and people will worship Him from coast to coast, each one in his own land.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
22 July 2005
the apostolic anointing of love
apostle: meaning one who is sent. someone who is commissioned and sent to perform a specific task. it is generally accepted that an apostle has more gifts than a disciple or a "spectator" christian. the truth, however, is that an apostle flows in the gifts he/she has where a disciple is still learning about their gifts and learning how to use them.
anointing: meaning the manifest power of God in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit in a person or event.
love: "love is patient, love is kind it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. it always protects, always perseveres. love never fails...now these three things remain: faith, hope and love. the greatest of these is love." (1 cor. 13:4-8,13)
so what, then is the apostolic anointing of love? it is the manifest power of God in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit in the life of one who is sent to love.
but why love? the anointing of love is the super-natural power to love in any situation. regardless of the person or the situation. in spite of the person or the situation, but not to spite the person or situation. love that is objective and not subjective. apostolic love should reflect 1 cor. 13. prior to the apostolic period, Jesus taught the disciples about love. teachings that were imperative to remember when he commissioned and called them as apostles to do his work.
among those teachings are the following selections: matthew 5:43-48 "you have heard that it was said, `love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' but I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? are not even the tax collectors doing that? and if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? do not even pagans do that? be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
luke 6:27-35 "but I tell you who hear me: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. if someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. if someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. do to others as you would have them do to you. "if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' love those who love them. and if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? even `sinners' do that. and if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? even `sinners' lend to `sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. but love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."
in luke 11: 37-43, Jesus actually chastens the pharisees for not having love and compassion. in the beginning of the apostolic period (which, by the way, has never come to an end) paul writes of apostolic love in romans 12:9-13 and 13:8-10, as well as in his letters to the church at corinth. it is important to note that the "love chapter" is found between two chapters describing other spiritual gifts given to believers; apostles and disciples alike as well as to "spectators." the reason for this is stated at the beginning of chapter 13. to paraphrase, "i can have all the evidences of the gifts, but if i don't have love, i am nothing."
peter, james and the other apostles also wrote of apostolic love in their writings. 1 peter 4:7-11 addresses, specifically, the apostolic anointing of love. "the end of all things is near, therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. if anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. if anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. to Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. amen."
we are all sent to love. Jesus prayed for unity, not conformity. love has the power to unite, it does not pressure one into conformity. we will begin to see greater power, a greater outpouring of His Spirit, a greater spiritual renewal when we begin to move in the apostolic anointing of love.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
anointing: meaning the manifest power of God in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit in a person or event.
love: "love is patient, love is kind it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. it always protects, always perseveres. love never fails...now these three things remain: faith, hope and love. the greatest of these is love." (1 cor. 13:4-8,13)
so what, then is the apostolic anointing of love? it is the manifest power of God in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit in the life of one who is sent to love.
but why love? the anointing of love is the super-natural power to love in any situation. regardless of the person or the situation. in spite of the person or the situation, but not to spite the person or situation. love that is objective and not subjective. apostolic love should reflect 1 cor. 13. prior to the apostolic period, Jesus taught the disciples about love. teachings that were imperative to remember when he commissioned and called them as apostles to do his work.
among those teachings are the following selections: matthew 5:43-48 "you have heard that it was said, `love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' but I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? are not even the tax collectors doing that? and if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? do not even pagans do that? be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
luke 6:27-35 "but I tell you who hear me: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. if someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. if someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. do to others as you would have them do to you. "if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' love those who love them. and if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? even `sinners' do that. and if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? even `sinners' lend to `sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. but love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."
in luke 11: 37-43, Jesus actually chastens the pharisees for not having love and compassion. in the beginning of the apostolic period (which, by the way, has never come to an end) paul writes of apostolic love in romans 12:9-13 and 13:8-10, as well as in his letters to the church at corinth. it is important to note that the "love chapter" is found between two chapters describing other spiritual gifts given to believers; apostles and disciples alike as well as to "spectators." the reason for this is stated at the beginning of chapter 13. to paraphrase, "i can have all the evidences of the gifts, but if i don't have love, i am nothing."
peter, james and the other apostles also wrote of apostolic love in their writings. 1 peter 4:7-11 addresses, specifically, the apostolic anointing of love. "the end of all things is near, therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. if anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. if anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. to Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. amen."
we are all sent to love. Jesus prayed for unity, not conformity. love has the power to unite, it does not pressure one into conformity. we will begin to see greater power, a greater outpouring of His Spirit, a greater spiritual renewal when we begin to move in the apostolic anointing of love.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
20 July 2005
sprint or ultramarathon?
i was reflecting this morning on the tour de france and running the race that is set before us. i got to thinking about how we go about running our race.
we have grown accustomed to watching others in the race. we've seen how long they've been running and figure that our race will be long as well, so we choose to pace ourselves. how many of us really know how long our race will be?
i ask this because if we believe we are in a marathon, then we will pace ourselves as such, but if we believe we are in a 100 m sprint, we won't even bother to take the time to breathe. The difference between the world's longest race (the 3,100 mile sri chinmoy) and the world's shortest competition race (the 60 m sprint) is the approach. the sri chinmoy takes at least 51 days, the 60 m sprint takes less than 7 seconds. (for a really rediculously short race, check out the shortest race video created by nike)
all of that info is extremely useless except to show the difference in strategy. you wouldn't try to run an ultramarathon without taking a breath just like you wouldn't begin a 100 m sprint with a lazy jog.
my point in this is, we don't have a clue what we're running in, we just have to run. i would rather run at a sprint and find out i was in a marathon than run a marathon and discover that i was in a sprint.
the slower we run, the fewer people we pass by. the fewer people we pass by, the fewer opportunities we have to share the gospel message.
let me put it this way, matthew 5:4-30 recalls the parable of the talents. you know the story, a master gives his servants some money and leaves, then he returns to find out how they did with the money. the money he gave wasn't for personal use or personal benefit, it was so that they could do business for him. in essense, they could be about his business while he was away.
God has given us all a task to accomplish together: the never ending increase of His kingdom, the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory, the finishing of the great commission. regardless of our talents or the amount of different talents we have, we are to be working together- whether actively together as a group, or passively together as individuals, we are to striving for one common goal: the advance of the kingdom.
Jesus tells us to work while there is still daylight because darkness is coming and no one will be able to work. figurative or literal, we have to do what we've been given to do now. not two years from now, not two months from now, not two weeks from now, not two days from now, not even two hours from now. we have to do it now, because we're not guaranteed another breath.
paul wrote in 1 corinthians 9:24, that we need to run in such a way that we win.
we tend to like the idea of running in packs or in teams and having teammates to feed off of, because we like to have the security of knowing that even if we fall, we're on the winning side. well, here's a wake-up call: you're already on the winning side! Jesus secured the victory when he died on the cross and rose from the grave, now go run the race to win! don't settle to be in the middle of the pack.
i don't want to run like it's a marathon to discover all to late that it was a sprint. i wonder if the reason it's seems like an ultramarathon might be because we are looking at it like it is one. who's to say, that if we all sprinted the race wouldn't finish sooner.
the tour de france is built on individual stage racing. on each stage, the pace is determined by the pack leaders. those out front have to set the pace, if they don't someone else will, if no one does, the race takes forever... we are content to sit in the dugout while our team is playing; we are content to ride in the middle of the pack while our team is leading; we are content to be cheerleaders when we should simply be leaders.
we're afraid of losing our breath if we run too fast, but we don't realize that the more we pour out, the more He can pour back into us. i like what dennis said in response to my last post, "When we try to hold on to the 'river' it becomes stagnant like a pond, or a swamp."
"For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." matthew 16:25 (amplified)
there is more to life than just surviving, there is more to do than just observing. it is in our observations that we find the time to assign a religious title to a spiritual action.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
we have grown accustomed to watching others in the race. we've seen how long they've been running and figure that our race will be long as well, so we choose to pace ourselves. how many of us really know how long our race will be?
i ask this because if we believe we are in a marathon, then we will pace ourselves as such, but if we believe we are in a 100 m sprint, we won't even bother to take the time to breathe. The difference between the world's longest race (the 3,100 mile sri chinmoy) and the world's shortest competition race (the 60 m sprint) is the approach. the sri chinmoy takes at least 51 days, the 60 m sprint takes less than 7 seconds. (for a really rediculously short race, check out the shortest race video created by nike)
all of that info is extremely useless except to show the difference in strategy. you wouldn't try to run an ultramarathon without taking a breath just like you wouldn't begin a 100 m sprint with a lazy jog.
my point in this is, we don't have a clue what we're running in, we just have to run. i would rather run at a sprint and find out i was in a marathon than run a marathon and discover that i was in a sprint.
the slower we run, the fewer people we pass by. the fewer people we pass by, the fewer opportunities we have to share the gospel message.
let me put it this way, matthew 5:4-30 recalls the parable of the talents. you know the story, a master gives his servants some money and leaves, then he returns to find out how they did with the money. the money he gave wasn't for personal use or personal benefit, it was so that they could do business for him. in essense, they could be about his business while he was away.
God has given us all a task to accomplish together: the never ending increase of His kingdom, the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory, the finishing of the great commission. regardless of our talents or the amount of different talents we have, we are to be working together- whether actively together as a group, or passively together as individuals, we are to striving for one common goal: the advance of the kingdom.
Jesus tells us to work while there is still daylight because darkness is coming and no one will be able to work. figurative or literal, we have to do what we've been given to do now. not two years from now, not two months from now, not two weeks from now, not two days from now, not even two hours from now. we have to do it now, because we're not guaranteed another breath.
paul wrote in 1 corinthians 9:24, that we need to run in such a way that we win.
we tend to like the idea of running in packs or in teams and having teammates to feed off of, because we like to have the security of knowing that even if we fall, we're on the winning side. well, here's a wake-up call: you're already on the winning side! Jesus secured the victory when he died on the cross and rose from the grave, now go run the race to win! don't settle to be in the middle of the pack.
i don't want to run like it's a marathon to discover all to late that it was a sprint. i wonder if the reason it's seems like an ultramarathon might be because we are looking at it like it is one. who's to say, that if we all sprinted the race wouldn't finish sooner.
the tour de france is built on individual stage racing. on each stage, the pace is determined by the pack leaders. those out front have to set the pace, if they don't someone else will, if no one does, the race takes forever... we are content to sit in the dugout while our team is playing; we are content to ride in the middle of the pack while our team is leading; we are content to be cheerleaders when we should simply be leaders.
we're afraid of losing our breath if we run too fast, but we don't realize that the more we pour out, the more He can pour back into us. i like what dennis said in response to my last post, "When we try to hold on to the 'river' it becomes stagnant like a pond, or a swamp."
"For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." matthew 16:25 (amplified)
there is more to life than just surviving, there is more to do than just observing. it is in our observations that we find the time to assign a religious title to a spiritual action.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
19 July 2005
the spirituality of sprite™
remember when sprite use to run the "image is nothing, thirst is everything" commercials? i always found it humerous that the coca cola company was repackaging their product (in other words, making over its image) as a "who cares what it looks like, just obey your thirst and drink up" product. yet, in their quest to throw off an image label, they simply traded one image and took on another.
.oO(that'll preach)
in the garden, adam and eve traded a pure image for a tainted one. they gave up His Glory in search of their own glory, and what did they find? they discovered they were naked.
we get to wake up every morning with the opportunity to choose whose glory we're going to live for.
here's another tie in: the answer to our daily decision comes in the form of this next question (are ya ready?): "what are we thristy for?" well, ok, that's only part of the question and the only part that ties in. the other part of the question is "what are we hungry for?"
matthew 5:6 says that if we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we are blessed because we will be filled.
the opposite of that, i would assume, is if our hunger and thirst is for anything less than righteousness and the holiness of God, then we will be unsatisfied.
i guess this all goes back to what our treasure is. in one post, i made the comment that a man dying of thirst in a desert will gladly give up diamonds for a glass of water. i once saw the previews for a movie that i have no desire to actually see, but writing about treasures spurred a memory. at one point in the preview, a woman looks across a desk and says, "so, you're treasure hunters..." and one of the men says, "i like to think we're treasure protectors..."
i want to be more than just a treasure hunter, because they are little more than glorified grave robbers (this is not a poke at archeology, which is an important mating of history and science); i don't care to be a treasure protector. the late evangelist, c.h. spurgeon once called the bible "a roaring lion; you don't have to protect it, you just have to set it loose." no, i want to be a treasure giver.
because if my treasure is the glory of God, and i find pleasure in my Treasure, then i want to share my pleasure with as many people as possible- not keep it locked inside the vault of my heart.
.oO(wow, this thread didn't go where i thought it was going to go...)
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
.oO(that'll preach)
in the garden, adam and eve traded a pure image for a tainted one. they gave up His Glory in search of their own glory, and what did they find? they discovered they were naked.
we get to wake up every morning with the opportunity to choose whose glory we're going to live for.
here's another tie in: the answer to our daily decision comes in the form of this next question (are ya ready?): "what are we thristy for?" well, ok, that's only part of the question and the only part that ties in. the other part of the question is "what are we hungry for?"
matthew 5:6 says that if we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we are blessed because we will be filled.
the opposite of that, i would assume, is if our hunger and thirst is for anything less than righteousness and the holiness of God, then we will be unsatisfied.
i guess this all goes back to what our treasure is. in one post, i made the comment that a man dying of thirst in a desert will gladly give up diamonds for a glass of water. i once saw the previews for a movie that i have no desire to actually see, but writing about treasures spurred a memory. at one point in the preview, a woman looks across a desk and says, "so, you're treasure hunters..." and one of the men says, "i like to think we're treasure protectors..."
i want to be more than just a treasure hunter, because they are little more than glorified grave robbers (this is not a poke at archeology, which is an important mating of history and science); i don't care to be a treasure protector. the late evangelist, c.h. spurgeon once called the bible "a roaring lion; you don't have to protect it, you just have to set it loose." no, i want to be a treasure giver.
because if my treasure is the glory of God, and i find pleasure in my Treasure, then i want to share my pleasure with as many people as possible- not keep it locked inside the vault of my heart.
.oO(wow, this thread didn't go where i thought it was going to go...)
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
18 July 2005
a prayer revolution?
prayer. it's something we all do as christians. or, at least, say we do. sometimes we pray as much as we want (maybe i should rephrase that and say as little as we want...), but most the time we end up praying less than we tried.
how do we structure our prayers? sometimes we follow the pattern of the Lord's prayer. sometimes we actually repeat the Lord's prayer. do we ever mean it the way Christ did? sometimes we make things up as we go along, offering our laundry list or our shopping list or sometimes even our christmas wish list. i'm not here to say that there is one model that will guarantee an answer- in fact, i believe all prayers are answered, it's just that sometimes we never hear what we want to hear so we pretend we don't hear.
i do believe that there is a scriptural pattern to prayer.
before i go any further, let me first say this. every great revival, every revolution is not preceded by someone uncovering something new that no one ever noticed before; they have come when someone radically takes what has always been there as the truth.
i'll repeat myself so you don't have to remember what i said before, 'i do believe that there is a scriptural pattern to prayer.' the most prevailing and powerful of which can be found in the life of Christ.
i have recently discovered for myself how Jesus alludes to His own prayer life. there are only a few recorded prayers of Christ in the entire Bible, yet the four gospel writers spent three years with Him. the powerful personal discovery came in john 5:19-24.
the passage has nothing to do with prayer, or does it? the context of this passage is that Jesus had just healed a lame man on the sabbath. the passage is a window into Jesus' actual prayer life.
i believe that we maybe missing something in our prayer lives.
we pray. 'Lord, please save [heal, set free, come near to, bless, etc.]and i'll do anything [say anything, go anywhere, give up anything, etc.] '.
the only prayers i see Jesus actually praying (and if i'm wrong, feel free to leave a comment) is "Father, I thank You that You've heard me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe You sent Me." (john 11:41-42)
where is the "Father, please heal this man..."? this is where the other passage comes into play. john 5:19-24 is Jesus admission that He can do nothing except that which He saw the Father do. when did He see the Father doing it? probably in a vision as He was doing it. why don't we see those visions? probably has something to do with our prayer lives.
we gather together in large groups and pray and lay hands and believe that all of us together have enough faith, but we aren't believing in the faith that God has in us. that's right, God believes in us, in our ability to have faith in Him.
faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. funny, that passage just came into a new light. when God tells us something directly to say, or shows us something directly to do, what is our usual response? i know my first response isn't always saying or doing it. there are many times when i think, "God, you must think i'm crazy to do that [say that], because if i do that, people will think i'm crazy..." i wonder if that's why we don't see or hear about more things happening today.
yeah, there's the occasional report coming in from overseas or in third-world areas, but why doesn't it happen in the "civilized, western world"? maybe because we're too image orientated. let me rephrase that, we're too selfish and self-conscious when we need to be selfless and God-conscious. after all, we here for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory, right?
for Jesus, prayer was where He saw the thing acted out and then He went out and did it. we're looking at prayer wrong. we look at it like we're saying, "ok God, here's the issue, now go ahead and do it." when we should be saying, "ok God, here's the issue, show me what to do [say...] and I'll do [say...] it." then go out and do it.
sometimes i think God doesn't respond to us because He knows we haven't responded to Him in the past. sometimes He requires us to do a simple thing (something that may seem silly or foolish- remember naaman and the jordan river?) and we feel too self-conscious over it.
in further preperation for this posting, i even checked out numerous old testament prayers where the power of God was manifest so strongly, and they all revealed the same thing, (solomon praying a blessing over the temple and elijah on mt. carmel, among others) that they did these things at the Lord's command.
what is our motivation? what should our motivation be? i think Jesus said it best in john 11 when He says, "for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe... (v. 15), and "this sickness will not end in death. no, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it (v. 4).
the greatest reward for praying is the prayer itself, the act of spending time with God. often, the time spent praying is a greater joy than the answer we were seeking.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
how do we structure our prayers? sometimes we follow the pattern of the Lord's prayer. sometimes we actually repeat the Lord's prayer. do we ever mean it the way Christ did? sometimes we make things up as we go along, offering our laundry list or our shopping list or sometimes even our christmas wish list. i'm not here to say that there is one model that will guarantee an answer- in fact, i believe all prayers are answered, it's just that sometimes we never hear what we want to hear so we pretend we don't hear.
i do believe that there is a scriptural pattern to prayer.
before i go any further, let me first say this. every great revival, every revolution is not preceded by someone uncovering something new that no one ever noticed before; they have come when someone radically takes what has always been there as the truth.
i'll repeat myself so you don't have to remember what i said before, 'i do believe that there is a scriptural pattern to prayer.' the most prevailing and powerful of which can be found in the life of Christ.
i have recently discovered for myself how Jesus alludes to His own prayer life. there are only a few recorded prayers of Christ in the entire Bible, yet the four gospel writers spent three years with Him. the powerful personal discovery came in john 5:19-24.
the passage has nothing to do with prayer, or does it? the context of this passage is that Jesus had just healed a lame man on the sabbath. the passage is a window into Jesus' actual prayer life.
i believe that we maybe missing something in our prayer lives.
we pray. 'Lord, please save [heal, set free, come near to, bless, etc.]
the only prayers i see Jesus actually praying (and if i'm wrong, feel free to leave a comment) is "Father, I thank You that You've heard me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe You sent Me." (john 11:41-42)
where is the "Father, please heal this man..."? this is where the other passage comes into play. john 5:19-24 is Jesus admission that He can do nothing except that which He saw the Father do. when did He see the Father doing it? probably in a vision as He was doing it. why don't we see those visions? probably has something to do with our prayer lives.
we gather together in large groups and pray and lay hands and believe that all of us together have enough faith, but we aren't believing in the faith that God has in us. that's right, God believes in us, in our ability to have faith in Him.
faith comes by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. funny, that passage just came into a new light. when God tells us something directly to say, or shows us something directly to do, what is our usual response? i know my first response isn't always saying or doing it. there are many times when i think, "God, you must think i'm crazy to do that [say that], because if i do that, people will think i'm crazy..." i wonder if that's why we don't see or hear about more things happening today.
yeah, there's the occasional report coming in from overseas or in third-world areas, but why doesn't it happen in the "civilized, western world"? maybe because we're too image orientated. let me rephrase that, we're too selfish and self-conscious when we need to be selfless and God-conscious. after all, we here for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory, right?
for Jesus, prayer was where He saw the thing acted out and then He went out and did it. we're looking at prayer wrong. we look at it like we're saying, "ok God, here's the issue, now go ahead and do it." when we should be saying, "ok God, here's the issue, show me what to do [say...] and I'll do [say...] it." then go out and do it.
sometimes i think God doesn't respond to us because He knows we haven't responded to Him in the past. sometimes He requires us to do a simple thing (something that may seem silly or foolish- remember naaman and the jordan river?) and we feel too self-conscious over it.
in further preperation for this posting, i even checked out numerous old testament prayers where the power of God was manifest so strongly, and they all revealed the same thing, (solomon praying a blessing over the temple and elijah on mt. carmel, among others) that they did these things at the Lord's command.
what is our motivation? what should our motivation be? i think Jesus said it best in john 11 when He says, "for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe... (v. 15), and "this sickness will not end in death. no, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it (v. 4).
the greatest reward for praying is the prayer itself, the act of spending time with God. often, the time spent praying is a greater joy than the answer we were seeking.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
17 July 2005
a revolutionary generation
i am convinced that, historically, nearly one in every three generations is a revolutionary generation. to spare time and space, i will only go back as far as the american revolution in there was a generation that believed that america should be a free nation if britain wasn't going to be fair to it. just prior to the revolution was a spiritual awakening that drew the colonies together- something that nothing else in the history of the colonies had been done. however, in the years following the revolution, there was a noted moral decline in america.
benjamin rush, a signer of the declaration of independence, wrote a letter to president john adams in 1808 complaining of the deterioration of american society 'since the revolution.' he quoted the words of an 81-year-old who 'knew america in her youthful and innocent days' but who now felt 'they had all but become idolaters; they worshipped but one god it is true, but that god was God Dollars.' with disgust, rush noted, 'st. paul places coveteousness and uncleaness together as improper subjects of our conversation. but not only are our streets, but our parlors are constantly vocal with the language of a broker's office, and even at our convival dinners 'dollars' are a standing dish upon which all feed with rapidity and gluttony.'
a generation followed that one before a third rose up with a spiritual revolution that we now know as the second great awakening.
today we have a level of carnality that is so far gone that we are compelled to rise against it. jeff bernstein wrote, 'by the world's standards we americans face the greatest temptation in being lured away from God's true riches by temporal treasures. our refrigerators are filled with food as we relax in our climate-controlled homes, firing our remote controls at color tvs and cd stereos, leaving only to drive our air-conditioned cars to the nearest blockbusters, later to load the latest movies into our vcrs as we laugh and lounge on our comfortable couches. the rest of the world, in the meantime, struggles to survive another day.'
at the beginning of the 1900s there was a generation that saw a world in need twice and twice rose to the challenge. between both wars, they faced a nation in financial ruin, but it didn't stop them.
after the second world war, a generation grew up known as the baby-boomers. they were the flower children of the seventies. they wanted a revolution of their own, but their revolution was a decadent one. it wasn't that they were raised right, it's that the generation had nothing good to stand for. they raised up a generation so lost they didn't know what to call them. so they named them x.
as x gets married and raises families of their own, the focus is turned to the generation follwing. those who are 24 and under have been labled many things. we have been called gen y. primarily for following x. however, it is, i believe, prophetic. this generation is asking this vital question of itself, its society and its gods.
'why do i have to like everyone else?' 'why do i have to want to live the american dream?' 'why do i have to let things rule my life?'
we have also been labled the thumbs generation for all the video games we play.
in 2000, the usa today/gallup poll indicated that nearly 98 percent of those polled believed the end of the world would come before this generation died off. thus, we were newly labled the 'terminal generation.'
as we finish college we enter the workforce with the idea that we deserve more than people who entered the workforce before us. we think we deserve more money for less work. and now have been labeled 'the expectation generation.'
now, i understand the reasons behind some of these names, but i also see there is something prophetic behind it. i look at the world today and at this time, there is more access to the world than at any point in history- the internet, airlines, print media, audio/visual media, etc.
with these tools at our disposal, we can literally 'expect' to see the 'termination' of the great commission in one generation. every summer, airports are FILLED with youth groups going on missions trips. don't misunderstand me- the youth are not doing this on their own. they are catching the vision of their parents to make a change, and they're asking their question- 'why'. 'why can't we just do it?' and so they are doing it.
david shibley, in his book, the missions addiction, writes, 'todays youth are going out and accomplishing the impossible, only to discover after it's finished that it was supposed to be impossible.'
what other generation has faced 30 deadly school shootings spanning 8 states in a decade? 9 others occured internationally in that same span of time. what other generation has grown up with terrorist attacks such as the world trade center bombing in 1993, the oklahoma city bombing in 1995 and the tragedy of september 11, 2001?
what will this generation do? only time will tell and only God knows, but with the help of the generations before us, we can see, and be a vital part of, a revolution.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
benjamin rush, a signer of the declaration of independence, wrote a letter to president john adams in 1808 complaining of the deterioration of american society 'since the revolution.' he quoted the words of an 81-year-old who 'knew america in her youthful and innocent days' but who now felt 'they had all but become idolaters; they worshipped but one god it is true, but that god was God Dollars.' with disgust, rush noted, 'st. paul places coveteousness and uncleaness together as improper subjects of our conversation. but not only are our streets, but our parlors are constantly vocal with the language of a broker's office, and even at our convival dinners 'dollars' are a standing dish upon which all feed with rapidity and gluttony.'
a generation followed that one before a third rose up with a spiritual revolution that we now know as the second great awakening.
today we have a level of carnality that is so far gone that we are compelled to rise against it. jeff bernstein wrote, 'by the world's standards we americans face the greatest temptation in being lured away from God's true riches by temporal treasures. our refrigerators are filled with food as we relax in our climate-controlled homes, firing our remote controls at color tvs and cd stereos, leaving only to drive our air-conditioned cars to the nearest blockbusters, later to load the latest movies into our vcrs as we laugh and lounge on our comfortable couches. the rest of the world, in the meantime, struggles to survive another day.'
at the beginning of the 1900s there was a generation that saw a world in need twice and twice rose to the challenge. between both wars, they faced a nation in financial ruin, but it didn't stop them.
after the second world war, a generation grew up known as the baby-boomers. they were the flower children of the seventies. they wanted a revolution of their own, but their revolution was a decadent one. it wasn't that they were raised right, it's that the generation had nothing good to stand for. they raised up a generation so lost they didn't know what to call them. so they named them x.
as x gets married and raises families of their own, the focus is turned to the generation follwing. those who are 24 and under have been labled many things. we have been called gen y. primarily for following x. however, it is, i believe, prophetic. this generation is asking this vital question of itself, its society and its gods.
'why do i have to like everyone else?' 'why do i have to want to live the american dream?' 'why do i have to let things rule my life?'
we have also been labled the thumbs generation for all the video games we play.
in 2000, the usa today/gallup poll indicated that nearly 98 percent of those polled believed the end of the world would come before this generation died off. thus, we were newly labled the 'terminal generation.'
as we finish college we enter the workforce with the idea that we deserve more than people who entered the workforce before us. we think we deserve more money for less work. and now have been labeled 'the expectation generation.'
now, i understand the reasons behind some of these names, but i also see there is something prophetic behind it. i look at the world today and at this time, there is more access to the world than at any point in history- the internet, airlines, print media, audio/visual media, etc.
with these tools at our disposal, we can literally 'expect' to see the 'termination' of the great commission in one generation. every summer, airports are FILLED with youth groups going on missions trips. don't misunderstand me- the youth are not doing this on their own. they are catching the vision of their parents to make a change, and they're asking their question- 'why'. 'why can't we just do it?' and so they are doing it.
david shibley, in his book, the missions addiction, writes, 'todays youth are going out and accomplishing the impossible, only to discover after it's finished that it was supposed to be impossible.'
what other generation has faced 30 deadly school shootings spanning 8 states in a decade? 9 others occured internationally in that same span of time. what other generation has grown up with terrorist attacks such as the world trade center bombing in 1993, the oklahoma city bombing in 1995 and the tragedy of september 11, 2001?
what will this generation do? only time will tell and only God knows, but with the help of the generations before us, we can see, and be a vital part of, a revolution.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
16 July 2005
a viewpoint in an illusionary world
we live in an illusion. our viewpoint is exactly that- a view from a point. everything we see is not actually as we see it. take, for instance, air. we know it's there, but it's clear, we can feel it, we can see the effects of it- but our eyes cannot distinguish it. the movement of air has the potential of being a calm breeze or a devestating hurricane. yet our primary methods of testing the movement of air resides in wind guages to tell us the direction and anemometers to tell us the wind speed. for decades, scientist have known the gaseous makeup of our atmosphere. meteorologists have predictive technology based on scales and numbers from previous storms, but no one can tell you what will actually happen next. hurricanes are a prime example. dennis was supposed to devestate the florida keys and rip up the tear up the midwest; but by landfall it was barely a category 2 storm. emily is heading towards the yucatan peninsula as a category 4, but will it stay that way? well, only God knows. (just so everyone knows, my heart goes out to those whose property was damaged by dennis and i am praying for those who are staring at emily).
in a previous post, i said that our perspective is skewed- that we don't see what God sees. but in this post, i want to take the concept a step further...
if you eat an apple and save a seed, what do you have in front of you? go ahead, look at the seeds in the photo, what do you see?
to the physical eye, you will see apple seeds... now look deeper... open up the eyes of your heart and you will see a tree. on that tree are more apples. inside of those apples are more seeds which contain the beginnings of more trees, which in turn have more fruit. that one seed that you started looking at contains an orchard.
in a previous post, i said that our perspective is skewed- that we don't see what God sees. but in this post, i want to take the concept a step further...
if you eat an apple and save a seed, what do you have in front of you? go ahead, look at the seeds in the photo, what do you see?
to the physical eye, you will see apple seeds... now look deeper... open up the eyes of your heart and you will see a tree. on that tree are more apples. inside of those apples are more seeds which contain the beginnings of more trees, which in turn have more fruit. that one seed that you started looking at contains an orchard.we see ourselves through our eyes. we think we're only one person and that we cannot have an impact on the world because of our imaginary solitude. habakkuk 2:3 says, "for still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end- it will no lie. it it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay."
dr. michael brown wrote it this way in his book revolution!: the call to holy war, "we are accustomed to seeing revolts in the church (in a holy sanctified sense). we say 'enough is enough!' we become restive, getting more and more hungry and thirsty for a fresh visitation from heaven, fed up with business as usual in the house of God. we begin to despise the way we have been living, disgusted with fleshly addictions and entrapments, sickened by our lack of effectiveness in reaching the lost and in seeing them set free. and for a short time we have a breakthrough. we cast off our bondage of sin through the power of the blood of Jesus and we begin to bear fruit for Him. even some lost sinners are saved.""but then it ends. why? because it was a revolt, not a revolution, a momentary expression of dissatisfaction, not a determined revolution. it lacked long-term vision and was devoid of a strategy that would say, 'whatever it takes, whatever the cost or consequences, we are going to see the purposes of God fulfilled in our lives and through our lives. we are going to follow the Master's battle plan and make disciples of the nations, proclaiming liberty for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind. we are going to set the captive generation free!"
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
15 July 2005
in spirit and in truth
as i was preparing to put my grill on my profile, i was listening to the song "spirit and truth" by aaron crider while scanning through hundreds of photos for one with my face. but the words of the song made me think about the photo at the right. how the people of the third world don't have much, but when they grab a hold of God, they hold on because He is their all-consuming Treasure. they don't have much in the way of possessions, and there aren't many preachers there preaching to them a prosperity gospel. they hold on to Jesus for the sake of being with Jesus.that's where i want to find myself. that's the whole purpose of my last few posts. i want to find my home in Him. i want the place to lay my head to be His breast. i want people to see that my all-consuming Treasure, the only "Thing" worth holding onto, is Him and only Him.
thank you dennae for "pushing" me deeper. your salt makes me thirsty.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
14 July 2005
why settle for copper?
i have often wondered about where we would be if keith green hadn't have died at an early age or if some of the other people God had used mightily would have lived longer. God responded to me last time and told me to "shut up. don't think about that. I took them when it was time for them to go." He went on to say: "I took them so that people would refocus on me. These were My servants and they were pointing to Me, but many people were only coming to see what I would do through them. They weren't coming to Me for Me." "Besides," He told me, "they were miserable down there with y'all anyway, because I was their all-consuming Treasure."
it is in the human nature to have or desire to have a place to be able to lay their heads, a place to call their own, and a place to store their valuables- their treasures. i don't believe that it is possible to feel fully at home while on earth. while we were created for this earth, our home is found with God. when He walked this earth with adam and eve, they felt at home. because their Treasure walked with them and they knew nothing else. not because of ignorance, but because He was their all-consuming treasure. He was all they needed. but now, because of the fall of man, and the seperation of man from God, we do not feel at home. it is that desire to have a home to be with our Treasure that we need to find our home in Him. it is the ignorant who settle for copper when they could have gold.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
it is in the human nature to have or desire to have a place to be able to lay their heads, a place to call their own, and a place to store their valuables- their treasures. i don't believe that it is possible to feel fully at home while on earth. while we were created for this earth, our home is found with God. when He walked this earth with adam and eve, they felt at home. because their Treasure walked with them and they knew nothing else. not because of ignorance, but because He was their all-consuming treasure. He was all they needed. but now, because of the fall of man, and the seperation of man from God, we do not feel at home. it is that desire to have a home to be with our Treasure that we need to find our home in Him. it is the ignorant who settle for copper when they could have gold.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
13 July 2005
a million miles away, give or take
if home is where the heart is, then i'm not sure where home is at the moment. on the one hand, my heart is in tanzania, east africa- a place i love very much and have a vision for. on the other hand, my heart is already down at my next destination- concord, north carolina where i'll be going to school, but i've never actually been there.
borrowing someone else's hand, my heart has gone out to my eldest sister in korea because doctor's discovered a mass on her uterus yesterday, while at the same time, my heart is in mozambique, east africa with one of my best friends.
then, i got to thinking, "where is home?" "how do i define 'home'?" is home specifically in a place, such as the place you hang your hat, or the place you come back to when you're done doing what you do for the day? or is home an idea, such as the location where something or someone you love is at any given moment?
is home a place where all our valuables are stored and kept hidden from the rest of the world so only those we trust and love can come and share it with us, or is home a place where we can invite anyone, or want to invite anyone to show off what we have? in such a case as the latter, our 'home' could be our vehicles or our computers or our buildings. our 'home' could be our church building, our workplace (though few people could actually honestly admit to it), etc.
if 'home' is a showplace, what are we showing? is it a testament to what we can amass or is it a testament to something else? if 'home' is a vault, what treasures are we hiding there?
maybe that's the wisdom of Christ's teaching in matthew 6:19-21:
where's your home?
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
borrowing someone else's hand, my heart has gone out to my eldest sister in korea because doctor's discovered a mass on her uterus yesterday, while at the same time, my heart is in mozambique, east africa with one of my best friends.
then, i got to thinking, "where is home?" "how do i define 'home'?" is home specifically in a place, such as the place you hang your hat, or the place you come back to when you're done doing what you do for the day? or is home an idea, such as the location where something or someone you love is at any given moment?
is home a place where all our valuables are stored and kept hidden from the rest of the world so only those we trust and love can come and share it with us, or is home a place where we can invite anyone, or want to invite anyone to show off what we have? in such a case as the latter, our 'home' could be our vehicles or our computers or our buildings. our 'home' could be our church building, our workplace (though few people could actually honestly admit to it), etc.
if 'home' is a showplace, what are we showing? is it a testament to what we can amass or is it a testament to something else? if 'home' is a vault, what treasures are we hiding there?
maybe that's the wisdom of Christ's teaching in matthew 6:19-21:
if 'home' is where my treasures are, then, i have to discover what are my treasures to find where is my home. do i want to bring people 'home'? could i bring people 'home'? what's at 'home' to show people? what is my greatest treasure?"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
where's your home?
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
11 July 2005
they will know we are christians by our... competition?!?
the day i returned from a long ministry trip that took me from walking into and over a mountain to bicycling out back over the mountain from village to village to long hours on busses and being crammed with 20 others in the back of a truck to overnight boat rides to Zanzibar and back to swimming through the streets of Dar es Salaam in the heaviest rainfall ever recorded, i found myself rushing back to our ministry’s home base so i could fellowship with other missionaries from other organizations in the same town as our headquarters. not the fellowship that is rampant in the western church, an opportunity to chat about our work week and our plans for the week ahead 15 minutes before the church service starts or the other idea, of eating together with other christians. no, when i say we fellowshipped, i mean we gathered to pray and to actively join together to worship our God.
the following morning, when, by all means, i should have been getting a little extra rest, i found myself volunteering to assist two other missionaries prepare a place for some guests from america. The night before i left on my trip, i had helped them to paint; this time, i was helping to re-wire the room.
the point is not that i did all of this, or to put myself in a place of exaltation. it was one of those missionaries who made a comment to me that had never had cross my mind. it wasn’t my goal, but it made perfect sense.
she looked at me and remarked, “david, you are an amazing example of what the Lord intended the Church to be.” as i said, it took me completely off-guard.
it was a peculiar idea- tireless servitude, or, rather, the fact that compassion fatigue does not appear anywhere in the four Gospels or the Epistles.
everywhere Jesus went, Jesus had compassion for people. He helped those who needed helping, healed those who needed healing and saved those who wanted to be saved, all the while revealing who He was on an individual level to all who sought after Him.
that’s what we are called to… we have been anointed to set free the captives, open blind eyes, preach the acceptable year of the Lord and His terrible judgments[i], all while revealing who is He is to those who seek Him. what an incredible concept!
where do we get the idea of growing bigger and stronger faster? it certainly isn’t supported in the Scriptures. our sectarianism (denominationalism for those who are afraid to call it what it truly is) is even warned against in the Bible!
paul warned the corinthian church about it in his first epistle to them.[ii] the reason we have different sects is because people cling to an individual’s specific teaching and not necessarily to the Scriptures.
while paul likens the christian faith to a race, the current races we are witnessing would be incomprehensible to paul. we determine our successes by size and numbers. i believe that the Lord looks at the underground church in china and says: “well, at least someone has the right idea.” We need to forget size and get substance.
pastors in the western church act more like CEOs in a corporation than people who are entrusted by God to care for the spiritual needs of the congregation. they look to numbers and cash flow, adopt the advertising strategies and bring in charismatic figures to help them grow their “business.” they also adapt their “product” to reflect the desires of their “customers.” sounds like the way God intended, right?
let’s look and see what He has to say about it.
2 Peter 2:1-2 (ESV)
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
perhaps it’s not the way God intended. what’s even worse is that this mentality has worked its way through the western church and is now rampant in the third world church as carried by the “sales executives” commissioned and re-titled “missionaries.” But they sell a gospel of growing a corporate denomination-based church. don't believe me? there is a rift in a mainline church here in moshi, tanzania that mimics a rift in that same denomination in america. leaders on both sides of the issue maintain that they are the only "right" way. as it stands, there will be no reconciliation unless hearts are changed.
john piper said, “we’re still delivering the wrong books and preaching the wrong message, we’re giving a cheap gospel that makes you the central figure of the Gospel message instead of glorifying Christ as the central figure of the Gospel.”[iii]
there is much animosity between denominations in the third world and every congregational leader has given himself a title. not addressing them by their self-given title, incurs their wrath.
such practices have sprung as what is known as “back-benching.” it appears, at first glance, to be a Biblical and compassionate approach to the question of what to do with believers who have sinned. a deeper exploration reveals the evil in the hearts of those who practice such a method.
back-benching is simply the idea that instead of excommunicating the sinner, they are relegated to the back bench in the church, where they are refused the opportunity to participate in the service until the church leader determines that they have suffered enough away from the congregation.
the congregants, then, fear the pastor and his power to back-bench anyone who crosses him and they remain silent even when the pastor preaches an errant doctrine.
back-benching is to the third world church what excommunication is to the catholic church. it is to the third world church what the suppression of members out of a congregation is to the western evangelical church.
but that doesn’t happen in the western church! it most certainly does, more often than anyone can imagine. some people do it loudly and suppress themselves and turn themselves into false martyrs splitting a body of believers.
others attempt to remain in the congregation and are asked to leave, or are told not to return, or are simply preached against from the pulpit. how do i know this to be true? i have been subjected this treatment. not once. no, i’ve experienced it twice, and before you think i might have been alluding to the previous paragraph, let me interject that i was 8 years old the first time and 13 years old the second time.
why is it any surprise that the church in the far east and in the southern hemisphere, what philip jenkins calls “the new christendom” is bearing the role of the Biblical church and seeing mass movements toward Christ?
clearly, the persecuted church is a desperate people. desperate people are willing to give up anything to have what they value most. a man dying of thirst in the desert will give up diamonds for a glass of water.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
[i] Isaiah 61:1-3. Paraphrased for space and emphasis.
[ii] 1 Cor. 1:10-13.
[iii] Sermon preached at OneDay 03, April 30, 2003. Sherman Oaks, Texas.
the following morning, when, by all means, i should have been getting a little extra rest, i found myself volunteering to assist two other missionaries prepare a place for some guests from america. The night before i left on my trip, i had helped them to paint; this time, i was helping to re-wire the room.
the point is not that i did all of this, or to put myself in a place of exaltation. it was one of those missionaries who made a comment to me that had never had cross my mind. it wasn’t my goal, but it made perfect sense.
she looked at me and remarked, “david, you are an amazing example of what the Lord intended the Church to be.” as i said, it took me completely off-guard.
it was a peculiar idea- tireless servitude, or, rather, the fact that compassion fatigue does not appear anywhere in the four Gospels or the Epistles.
everywhere Jesus went, Jesus had compassion for people. He helped those who needed helping, healed those who needed healing and saved those who wanted to be saved, all the while revealing who He was on an individual level to all who sought after Him.
that’s what we are called to… we have been anointed to set free the captives, open blind eyes, preach the acceptable year of the Lord and His terrible judgments[i], all while revealing who is He is to those who seek Him. what an incredible concept!
where do we get the idea of growing bigger and stronger faster? it certainly isn’t supported in the Scriptures. our sectarianism (denominationalism for those who are afraid to call it what it truly is) is even warned against in the Bible!
paul warned the corinthian church about it in his first epistle to them.[ii] the reason we have different sects is because people cling to an individual’s specific teaching and not necessarily to the Scriptures.
while paul likens the christian faith to a race, the current races we are witnessing would be incomprehensible to paul. we determine our successes by size and numbers. i believe that the Lord looks at the underground church in china and says: “well, at least someone has the right idea.” We need to forget size and get substance.
pastors in the western church act more like CEOs in a corporation than people who are entrusted by God to care for the spiritual needs of the congregation. they look to numbers and cash flow, adopt the advertising strategies and bring in charismatic figures to help them grow their “business.” they also adapt their “product” to reflect the desires of their “customers.” sounds like the way God intended, right?
let’s look and see what He has to say about it.
2 Peter 2:1-2 (ESV)
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
perhaps it’s not the way God intended. what’s even worse is that this mentality has worked its way through the western church and is now rampant in the third world church as carried by the “sales executives” commissioned and re-titled “missionaries.” But they sell a gospel of growing a corporate denomination-based church. don't believe me? there is a rift in a mainline church here in moshi, tanzania that mimics a rift in that same denomination in america. leaders on both sides of the issue maintain that they are the only "right" way. as it stands, there will be no reconciliation unless hearts are changed.
john piper said, “we’re still delivering the wrong books and preaching the wrong message, we’re giving a cheap gospel that makes you the central figure of the Gospel message instead of glorifying Christ as the central figure of the Gospel.”[iii]
there is much animosity between denominations in the third world and every congregational leader has given himself a title. not addressing them by their self-given title, incurs their wrath.
such practices have sprung as what is known as “back-benching.” it appears, at first glance, to be a Biblical and compassionate approach to the question of what to do with believers who have sinned. a deeper exploration reveals the evil in the hearts of those who practice such a method.
back-benching is simply the idea that instead of excommunicating the sinner, they are relegated to the back bench in the church, where they are refused the opportunity to participate in the service until the church leader determines that they have suffered enough away from the congregation.
the congregants, then, fear the pastor and his power to back-bench anyone who crosses him and they remain silent even when the pastor preaches an errant doctrine.
back-benching is to the third world church what excommunication is to the catholic church. it is to the third world church what the suppression of members out of a congregation is to the western evangelical church.
but that doesn’t happen in the western church! it most certainly does, more often than anyone can imagine. some people do it loudly and suppress themselves and turn themselves into false martyrs splitting a body of believers.
others attempt to remain in the congregation and are asked to leave, or are told not to return, or are simply preached against from the pulpit. how do i know this to be true? i have been subjected this treatment. not once. no, i’ve experienced it twice, and before you think i might have been alluding to the previous paragraph, let me interject that i was 8 years old the first time and 13 years old the second time.
why is it any surprise that the church in the far east and in the southern hemisphere, what philip jenkins calls “the new christendom” is bearing the role of the Biblical church and seeing mass movements toward Christ?
clearly, the persecuted church is a desperate people. desperate people are willing to give up anything to have what they value most. a man dying of thirst in the desert will give up diamonds for a glass of water.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
[i] Isaiah 61:1-3. Paraphrased for space and emphasis.
[ii] 1 Cor. 1:10-13.
[iii] Sermon preached at OneDay 03, April 30, 2003. Sherman Oaks, Texas.
08 July 2005
satisfaction- guaranteed?
not everyone is called to vocational ministry but everyone has a vocation and, therefore, a vocational ministry.
taking an in-depth look at your vocational “ministry” you must first begin with yourself. are you satisfied with your vocation? are you content with your tasks? or do you have contempt for your employer? do they pay you enough? how are your benefits? are these the things that are constantly on your mind?
what is a typical conversation like with your fellow employees? does it revolve around benefits and financial planning? is it about social events or television programs? for the younger generations, does it revolve around computer or console games?
is it ever about God? is it ever very often? do people come to you for advice on personal issues? do they ever ask you why you’re different? do they even notice that you are different? we are to always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us. do you ever get asked?
the financial outcomes of your business dealings should never determine your contentedness. your portfolio or 401k is not the reason you are alive.
john piper wrote in his book don't waste your life that“aimless unproductive christians contradict the creative, purposeful, powerful, merciful God we love. they waste their lives.”
the question still remains, what do people see when they see you? what do they see when they see me? i pray that when they see me, they see Jesus. but, i know there are things that i still must change in my own life so that i can more perfectly reflect who He is.
if we should fail to properly reflect Jesus to those closest to us, how can we possibly even consider the idea that we can reflect who He is to someone we have never met, much less another culture? sure, we can suppress and hide who we are for a short while, but who we are will always emerge until we fully surrender every aspect of our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ.
anything withheld is to tell the Lord that He is not needed and to assume a place higher than that of Christ Jesus. the very sin of satan. if satan was not spared, then why should we? is it harsh? absolutely. but God requires nothing less than holiness and purity, not to mention perfection.
so what hope, then, do we have to offer ourselves and the world?
the apostle paul offers us hope when he says that he dies daily. our hope for a meaningful christian life lies in the prospect of death! what a paradox!
“for to me to live is Christ, to die is gain…Yet it is not I who lives, but Christ lives in me…”
see? paul talks about dying to himself on a daily basis then he goes on to say that because he dies to himself, he still lives, but it what people encounter is the power of the risen Christ glorified in paul’s life and actions. so to him, to live is Christ, to die is infinite gain because it would put him face to face with Jesus.
our hope is death! our lives, as john piper suggests, are to be lived so that even in or dying, Christ is glorified. aren’t we considered strange? isn’t that something that would make our friends, families, and co-workers stand up and take notice that our hope is in Christ instead living without problems or embarrassment?
i want to live my life so that when i die, people won’t say “he died too soon” or “what a waste.” i want to live and so die so people will say, “he was sold out to Christ.”
this leads to the next logical question, "how?" how do you live your life so that when you die people only talk about Jesus?
i’m not going to answer that because paul, james, john and luke give us a pretty good layout. the writer of Hebrews tells us to live by faith. james says that to be truly christian, our faith must be put into action. john tells us to be prepared, luke shows us how others have walked down the road we are looking down and paul invites us to follow his example if we find Christ’s too difficult.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
taking an in-depth look at your vocational “ministry” you must first begin with yourself. are you satisfied with your vocation? are you content with your tasks? or do you have contempt for your employer? do they pay you enough? how are your benefits? are these the things that are constantly on your mind?
what is a typical conversation like with your fellow employees? does it revolve around benefits and financial planning? is it about social events or television programs? for the younger generations, does it revolve around computer or console games?
is it ever about God? is it ever very often? do people come to you for advice on personal issues? do they ever ask you why you’re different? do they even notice that you are different? we are to always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within us. do you ever get asked?
the financial outcomes of your business dealings should never determine your contentedness. your portfolio or 401k is not the reason you are alive.
john piper wrote in his book don't waste your life that“aimless unproductive christians contradict the creative, purposeful, powerful, merciful God we love. they waste their lives.”
the question still remains, what do people see when they see you? what do they see when they see me? i pray that when they see me, they see Jesus. but, i know there are things that i still must change in my own life so that i can more perfectly reflect who He is.
if we should fail to properly reflect Jesus to those closest to us, how can we possibly even consider the idea that we can reflect who He is to someone we have never met, much less another culture? sure, we can suppress and hide who we are for a short while, but who we are will always emerge until we fully surrender every aspect of our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ.
anything withheld is to tell the Lord that He is not needed and to assume a place higher than that of Christ Jesus. the very sin of satan. if satan was not spared, then why should we? is it harsh? absolutely. but God requires nothing less than holiness and purity, not to mention perfection.
so what hope, then, do we have to offer ourselves and the world?
the apostle paul offers us hope when he says that he dies daily. our hope for a meaningful christian life lies in the prospect of death! what a paradox!
“for to me to live is Christ, to die is gain…Yet it is not I who lives, but Christ lives in me…”
see? paul talks about dying to himself on a daily basis then he goes on to say that because he dies to himself, he still lives, but it what people encounter is the power of the risen Christ glorified in paul’s life and actions. so to him, to live is Christ, to die is infinite gain because it would put him face to face with Jesus.
our hope is death! our lives, as john piper suggests, are to be lived so that even in or dying, Christ is glorified. aren’t we considered strange? isn’t that something that would make our friends, families, and co-workers stand up and take notice that our hope is in Christ instead living without problems or embarrassment?
i want to live my life so that when i die, people won’t say “he died too soon” or “what a waste.” i want to live and so die so people will say, “he was sold out to Christ.”
this leads to the next logical question, "how?" how do you live your life so that when you die people only talk about Jesus?
i’m not going to answer that because paul, james, john and luke give us a pretty good layout. the writer of Hebrews tells us to live by faith. james says that to be truly christian, our faith must be put into action. john tells us to be prepared, luke shows us how others have walked down the road we are looking down and paul invites us to follow his example if we find Christ’s too difficult.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
06 July 2005
re:discovering God
God is sovereign. that is indisputable. there is no changing that fact. if He begins something, He will complete it and woe to the hand that attempts to stay His plan. the time is coming when we will see the church return to its former stature. a time when grieving the Holy Spirit will be met with sicknesses and even death. a time when we will have a holy fear of the Lord who is awesome in His might because we will be able to see Him for Who He is. Who is a Terror to those who dare to oppose Him. no, we are not to be His force; we are to be His hands of peace. we need to follow the pattern we see in moses. we are to be leaders. we are to remind Him of His promises. james and john wanted to call fire from heaven to consume the jews. God wanted to do that too. moses reminded the Father of His purposes. not that He needed to be reminded. if He had destroyed them, He would have done no wrong. He is sovereign (remember?). He can do no wrong. He can do nothing that is against His very nature. it is scary to think of the consequences that we could face and could be facing right now if He were to remove His hands of grace and mercy from our lives.
there is, therefore, no more time to live as we once did. we must discover who we truly are in Christ and once that discovery is made, we can never again return to our former ways. once we have crossed the plains of peace, we can never again return to the valleys of war, at least not the way we once approached it. who are we to think that we can deter what He is doing?
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
there is, therefore, no more time to live as we once did. we must discover who we truly are in Christ and once that discovery is made, we can never again return to our former ways. once we have crossed the plains of peace, we can never again return to the valleys of war, at least not the way we once approached it. who are we to think that we can deter what He is doing?
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
01 July 2005
ots: in transit
i may not be able to update my blog for a short while as i am transitioning from the east coast of the continent of africa to the midwest of the continent of north america.
i will be looking for opportunities and chances to update this site at any and, possibly, every chance the Lord grants me.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
i will be looking for opportunities and chances to update this site at any and, possibly, every chance the Lord grants me.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
a confrontational gospel
many of today’s church leaders are engaged in the popularity contest and there is a lie masquerading as the truth that is circulating in congregations all over the western world and many church leaders are adopting it as Biblical without holding it to Biblical standards. it whispers that time is short and we must do whatever it takes to save as many as possible. it goes so far as to adopt a “seeker-sensitive” platform, this nothing more than diluting the power of the Gospel and compromising its message.
this reprehensible ideology renders the Gospel impotent. the Gospel of Jesus is offensive. it more than suggests to the unsaved that they are wrong and unless they change the way that they live, they are damned to hell. to seek to make the Gospel inoffensive is to compromise the very message we are trying to advance. the leader who adopts this “possibility” is more concerned about his own image than the message of Christ Jesus. they seek to be esteemed in the eyes of the world by tolerating the sins of the world. did not Jesus say that the student is not above his master? did not the world hate Jesus? indeed, they crucified Him. who then, is the teacher of today’s leaders who are embracing “seeker-sensitivity”?
surely this is offensive to Christ. as I mentioned in a previous post, “these are neither hot nor cold, and will be cast away” from the Lord.[i]
the Gospel of Christ is not peaceful. Jesus said “i have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Matthew chapter ten goes on in verse 35 and says that it will turn fathers against sons and mothers against daughters. families will be at odds with each other over the Gospel. “a person’s enemies will be those of his own household” (10:36), and “whosoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (10:38). the cross is forever a symbol of violence.
tradition has beautified the cross and has lost the sense of the violence of it. most of the “christian” movies that depict the crucifixion make it seem bearable even though Christ died the most cruel and inhumane of all forms of capital punishment.
the message that goes against the popular grain of society and culture meets with much backlash and violence. and most of the backlash and violence comes from within the four walls. joseph parker wrote, “the man whose little sermon is ‘repent’ acts himself against his age, and will for the time being be battered mercilessly by the age whose moral tone he challenges. there is but one end for such a man- off with his head!”
it is alarming to see how we miss the point so often. we focus too much of our attention on the miniscule non-essentials. we stress wholeness psychology over souls, we seek to save our christian society instead of the lost, we preach tithes and offering while we neglect the needy and dying. we cripple ourselves. we want all the money before we step out the door and do something for God, but we purchase cars, houses and clothes on credit and never think twice about it. we spend more on beautifying our property than on evangelizing a city.
what, then, can change this? being a true disciple can change this. what is a disciple? a disciple is a disciplined follower. Jesus had many thousands of followers, but after He had died, only a hundred and twenty stuck around. many people claim to follow Christ, many congregations claim to be following Jesus, and they may be on the outside, but they have no discipline.
no! We don’t want discipline. discipline is too much like a pattern. a pattern too closely resembles a tradition. a tradition is too close to bondage. and that is guilt by association, not by due process.
we may consider ourselves disciples, after all, we’ve been following Christ for years- even decades, but in most cases, we are just onlookers.
we scream out legalism at anything that suggests discipline. we have decided that christianity is not a religion. because the word for religion in greek resembles the same word that we get the word bondage from. and because we know the truth and “the truth shall set you free,” christianity is not bondage but freedom. so christianity cannot be a religion, but a relationship.
forgive me for stepping on some toes for a short while, but christianity is both a religion and a relationship. if we are not bound in our relationship to God by that relationship, then what is to keep us from wavering from our faith? prayer? prayer is a religious activity. talking is a relationship activity. but praying is our way of talking to God. my point is simply this: we are in a religious relationship. we must pursue our relationship with God with a religious fervor. we must seek to be bound to Christ in our relationship with Him.
too often, we overstress the importance of our healing and don’t focus enough on glorifying God through our sicknesses or infirmities.
it’s not that He doesn’t want to heal us, He does! it’s that He knows the status of our hearts and He knows whether we are capable or incapable of giving Him the glory for it and to really mean what we’re saying and not merely going through the motions because we saw other people doing it.
what you do in private is infinitely more telling about who you are than what you do in public. it also is infinitely more telling about what you believe in God and who you believe He actually is. because if you truly believe that God is who He says He is and what His word says about Him, then what you do in private will speak louder than any public action ever could.
as people of the christian faith, we obligate God to bless us by invoking His name and His blessings. yet, we point to this blessing as proof that we can live with common sense as our guide, completely devoid of leaning on the Lord to guide our daily lives. the blessing God wants to give us, however, is not out of his loving obligation or duty, but one that is given from a beloved to his lover. the Lord is our Lover and we are His beloved, are we truly lovers, in return, and He our beloved? it is not enough to simply be loved by God- countless millions have been loved by God, and yet have entered an eternity completely separated from Him- we must also be pro-active and truly love Him in return.
we appear to have a conditional love for an unconditional God. we base our affections solely on the focal point of the cross and what was accomplished there. that is not enough. abraham, joseph, job, enoch, david and others could not base their love on the crucifixion; they loved in faith, not knowing what we know, or understanding the things we can see.
if we live our lives out through common sense, then we live little more than common lives. in point of fact, one becomes a practical atheist when, saying they believe in God, they live as though there were none. if we, however, live passionately affectionate lives that honor our God, then we will live revolutionary christian lives. and through those lives, we would be given the holy privilege of finishing the task of taking the name of Jesus to every person on this planet so the King, the Son of God, can return to the earth and take us to our rightful place. our lives must be commended to Him until every person who lives, worships God.
we must seek to know Jesus so intimately, so intensely, that we know his very emotions. our hearts must burst into joy when His springs into joy. when we become conscious of His heart, we become a conduit through which signs, wonders and miracles flow freely.
the more frequently we pursue that knowledge, the greater the frequency of the presence of those signs, wonders and miracles.
it’s not about whether or not we can, it’s whether or not we choose to know Him that intimately.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
[i] Revelation 3:16. For further study on the idea of those who are in danger of being cast away, I suggest the following texts: 1 Peter 4:17,18
this reprehensible ideology renders the Gospel impotent. the Gospel of Jesus is offensive. it more than suggests to the unsaved that they are wrong and unless they change the way that they live, they are damned to hell. to seek to make the Gospel inoffensive is to compromise the very message we are trying to advance. the leader who adopts this “possibility” is more concerned about his own image than the message of Christ Jesus. they seek to be esteemed in the eyes of the world by tolerating the sins of the world. did not Jesus say that the student is not above his master? did not the world hate Jesus? indeed, they crucified Him. who then, is the teacher of today’s leaders who are embracing “seeker-sensitivity”?
surely this is offensive to Christ. as I mentioned in a previous post, “these are neither hot nor cold, and will be cast away” from the Lord.[i]
the Gospel of Christ is not peaceful. Jesus said “i have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Matthew chapter ten goes on in verse 35 and says that it will turn fathers against sons and mothers against daughters. families will be at odds with each other over the Gospel. “a person’s enemies will be those of his own household” (10:36), and “whosoever does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (10:38). the cross is forever a symbol of violence.
tradition has beautified the cross and has lost the sense of the violence of it. most of the “christian” movies that depict the crucifixion make it seem bearable even though Christ died the most cruel and inhumane of all forms of capital punishment.
the message that goes against the popular grain of society and culture meets with much backlash and violence. and most of the backlash and violence comes from within the four walls. joseph parker wrote, “the man whose little sermon is ‘repent’ acts himself against his age, and will for the time being be battered mercilessly by the age whose moral tone he challenges. there is but one end for such a man- off with his head!”
it is alarming to see how we miss the point so often. we focus too much of our attention on the miniscule non-essentials. we stress wholeness psychology over souls, we seek to save our christian society instead of the lost, we preach tithes and offering while we neglect the needy and dying. we cripple ourselves. we want all the money before we step out the door and do something for God, but we purchase cars, houses and clothes on credit and never think twice about it. we spend more on beautifying our property than on evangelizing a city.
what, then, can change this? being a true disciple can change this. what is a disciple? a disciple is a disciplined follower. Jesus had many thousands of followers, but after He had died, only a hundred and twenty stuck around. many people claim to follow Christ, many congregations claim to be following Jesus, and they may be on the outside, but they have no discipline.
no! We don’t want discipline. discipline is too much like a pattern. a pattern too closely resembles a tradition. a tradition is too close to bondage. and that is guilt by association, not by due process.
we may consider ourselves disciples, after all, we’ve been following Christ for years- even decades, but in most cases, we are just onlookers.
we scream out legalism at anything that suggests discipline. we have decided that christianity is not a religion. because the word for religion in greek resembles the same word that we get the word bondage from. and because we know the truth and “the truth shall set you free,” christianity is not bondage but freedom. so christianity cannot be a religion, but a relationship.
forgive me for stepping on some toes for a short while, but christianity is both a religion and a relationship. if we are not bound in our relationship to God by that relationship, then what is to keep us from wavering from our faith? prayer? prayer is a religious activity. talking is a relationship activity. but praying is our way of talking to God. my point is simply this: we are in a religious relationship. we must pursue our relationship with God with a religious fervor. we must seek to be bound to Christ in our relationship with Him.
too often, we overstress the importance of our healing and don’t focus enough on glorifying God through our sicknesses or infirmities.
it’s not that He doesn’t want to heal us, He does! it’s that He knows the status of our hearts and He knows whether we are capable or incapable of giving Him the glory for it and to really mean what we’re saying and not merely going through the motions because we saw other people doing it.
what you do in private is infinitely more telling about who you are than what you do in public. it also is infinitely more telling about what you believe in God and who you believe He actually is. because if you truly believe that God is who He says He is and what His word says about Him, then what you do in private will speak louder than any public action ever could.
as people of the christian faith, we obligate God to bless us by invoking His name and His blessings. yet, we point to this blessing as proof that we can live with common sense as our guide, completely devoid of leaning on the Lord to guide our daily lives. the blessing God wants to give us, however, is not out of his loving obligation or duty, but one that is given from a beloved to his lover. the Lord is our Lover and we are His beloved, are we truly lovers, in return, and He our beloved? it is not enough to simply be loved by God- countless millions have been loved by God, and yet have entered an eternity completely separated from Him- we must also be pro-active and truly love Him in return.
we appear to have a conditional love for an unconditional God. we base our affections solely on the focal point of the cross and what was accomplished there. that is not enough. abraham, joseph, job, enoch, david and others could not base their love on the crucifixion; they loved in faith, not knowing what we know, or understanding the things we can see.
if we live our lives out through common sense, then we live little more than common lives. in point of fact, one becomes a practical atheist when, saying they believe in God, they live as though there were none. if we, however, live passionately affectionate lives that honor our God, then we will live revolutionary christian lives. and through those lives, we would be given the holy privilege of finishing the task of taking the name of Jesus to every person on this planet so the King, the Son of God, can return to the earth and take us to our rightful place. our lives must be commended to Him until every person who lives, worships God.
we must seek to know Jesus so intimately, so intensely, that we know his very emotions. our hearts must burst into joy when His springs into joy. when we become conscious of His heart, we become a conduit through which signs, wonders and miracles flow freely.
the more frequently we pursue that knowledge, the greater the frequency of the presence of those signs, wonders and miracles.
it’s not about whether or not we can, it’s whether or not we choose to know Him that intimately.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
[i] Revelation 3:16. For further study on the idea of those who are in danger of being cast away, I suggest the following texts: 1 Peter 4:17,18
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