[walking on water]

sometimes i feel as though i ride an immense rollercoaster of emotions. i can be so high and then plummet so far so quickly that i easily become disorientated- am i standing on my feet or on my head?

it is times like these that i am forced to consider what it is that i actually believe to be true.

i was listening to the radio in my car a few days ago and a listener called in to comment that all people need to do to find peace, hope, identity and healing is just start helping others. while i embrace the caller’s motive to assist others, i must question the wisdom of such a broad statement.

clearly, a recovering alcoholic would be a fool to enter into his favorite watering hole to rescue some of the patrons. you would never suggest to a recovering drug addict that they should go to a crack house and attempt to rescue other addicts. so where is the wisdom in sending out wounded, tormented christians to reach wounded, tormented souls?

the foolishness of God is wiser than all the wisdom of men. that which, by all comprehension, should not work, does. God does not follow logic- He transcends it. while we cannot always comprehend the ways God chooses to work, we can come to embrace the fact that God is for us and everything He does is designed with each and every one of us in mind. His plan is both all-encompassing and intensely personal. Both broad scale and directly intimate.

the identity struggle is deeply rooted in how open we are to intimacy. if we struggle to be intimate, we will struggle to discover who we are. if we cannot open up ourselves to others and learn to trust them, the how can we expect that we will be completely honest with God who already knows everything about us?
it is a cop-out to think that because God knows everything about us that we don't need to communicate our sins and needs with Him.

we can do the impossible. we can attempt the impossible without fear because God will never belittle us for attempting the impossible. and more often than not, we will discover that what seems naturally impossible is completely within the realm of possibilty for God- in fact, it is when we refuse to attempt the impossible that we fail God.

peter walked on the water. we read that story and only focus on the part where peter began to sink. the lesson we take from the story is that we need to keep our eyes on Christ. this is true- but entirely incomplete. peter walked on the water! the lesson we need to take from this is that we can attempt the impossible with complete confidence that we will succeed so long as it is within the will of God!

was peter a perfected human? was he complete and whole? history tells us no. and so, i revisit my earlier question, "is it wise to send out imperfect and wounded christians to reach and bring healing to wounded and tormented souls?" i say yes. because what humanly and naturally impossible, when approached through God's purposeful plan, becomes completely possible and attainable.

[the battle of inheritance]

[The Battle of Inheritance]

Written by: Eric Johnson

“We are not allowed to apologize for something that has been given to us for free.” ~ Anonymous

Something that fascinates me is how families with a long line of heritage function. There is a dynamic that takes place that is sometimes missed by the naked eye. It’s the pressure that is generated when the younger generation begins to get involved in what the older generation is doing. It occurs when the new generation is recognizing the inheritance they are receiving.

A transition takes place, and this pressure gives them an incredible opportunity. This pressure will cause them to find their own identity and reveal what that identity is. If their identity is healthy, they will prosper and increase upon the inheritance they have received. If their identity is on crutches, they will perform and/or demote themselves and actually sabotage their inheritance. Interestingly, many times people do this without even knowing what they are doing. They tend to do it in the name of humility.

A culture where individualism is glorified can, in more ways than we think, lead people to reject something that was already there--inheritance. Let’s take, for example, a family business, which the father and mother have built up successfully and for which they have hired numerous employees. Let’s say one of their employees is their son or daughter. This son or daughter will probably hear directly or get the feeling from other employees that the reason he/she has a job is that his/her dad and mom own the place. What that son or daughter does at this point is important. His or her reaction will show the state of his/her identity.

If he allows this pressure to move him to a place to “perform” and “prove” to others that he deserves this job by his own merit, he is possibly operating out of a poverty mindset. A poverty mindset will lead people to a place where they will naturally destroy something that may have been building momentum for generations, thus possibly causing this generation to go back to “square one.”

If he doesn’t turn to performance mode, he instead may walk away from an inheritance because he has believed the lie that he didn’t deserve it. So he feels the need to prove himself by doing it on his own to show others and himself that he is capable. This reaction can also possibly bring a generation back to square one.

These types of decisions form a pattern that causes years of plowing and sowing to be flushed away. It dramatically interferes with something that God set into motion from the beginning of mankind: that is to build upon what has been given to us for free, not just to build upon what we have worked so hard for.

A different effect takes place when someone works really hard and receives the fruit of his labor. It’s rewarding, and most say he deserved it because he worked hard for it. Then there is someone who receives an inheritance--something that he probably had nothing to do with. In other words, it isn’t the fruit of his own but of someone else’s labor.

It is important that we work really hard to create a culture and environment where this concept of inheritance is legal and healthy not just in theory but also in practice. The key is to understand that each one of us has an inheritance and to make sure that our identity is intact and that we are more concerned with what God thinks and says than what man thinks and says. When we do this, the pressure no longer controls what we do.

I believe one big reason there is such emphasis on having a healthy identity in the body of Christ isn’t just so we can be successful today but to prepare us so that when the momentum of history catches us, we can steward it correctly.

“We are not allowed to apologize for something that has been given to us for free.” ~ Anonymous

[history makers]

[history makers]

an article by kris vallottan

every so often in the course of history there are individuals born who defy common reason and statistical explanation. these are the great ones, who break the tether of their generation’s expectations and rise to the high call that seems to echo from somewhere beyond the grave.

the prophets of old peered into the future and spoke of these violent ones who would force their way into the Kingdom, take hold of Heaven and pull it down to earth. these reigning saints refuse to have their exploits be a mere reflection of the past, but instead break the gravitational barriers of naysayers and doubters, and journey far beyond the boundaries of reason into places where no one has ever gone before. ultimately they capture the prize of the upward call of God that lies in Christ Jesus. these are God’s history makers, the Lord’s chosen people, His mighty men, His holy nation.

many of us can feel the vacuum of this vortex drawing our hearts into this divine destiny. we find our inner man longing, stirring, and burning for the great adventure. live or die, we must press through the walls of mediocrity and find the Promised Land of our souls. we live with a passion to be numbered among those who have gained fame in the halls of Heaven and are feared among the prison guards of hell. if we are going to walk as God’s ruling royalty, we have to:

➢ pray unceasingly

➢ give sacrificially

➢ dream unreasonably

➢ serve wholeheartedly

➢ love unashamedly

➢ walk innocently

➢ believe undoubtingly

➢ live powerfully

these are the qualities of the Bride of Christ in all of her glory. she is called to be the most creative force on the face of the earth. therefore, we must not allow ourselves to become known for our boxes, that is, famous for what we don’t do because of our “righteous” constrictions. abraham lincoln, george washington and benjamin franklin had certain moral values that restrained their behavior, but they were famous for what they did, not for what they didn’t do! it would be tragic if the most creative people on the face of the earth allowed themselves to be reduced to rent-a-cops guarding a box (the ark of the covenant) that God vacated 2,000 years ago.

the truth is that if we don’t take our rightful place in the earth, we will relegate sinners, void of the mind of Christ, barred from the wisdom of the ages, and wandering in utter darkness, to being the most brilliant minds of our time! if the brightest light in this world belonged to those locked in darkness, how great would the darkness be in our world? something is fundamentally wrong with this picture, but this is our brain on religion. religion is like kryptonite to Superman. religion can conform the most righteous, reigning saints into mindless zombies, puppets repeating someone else’s convictions they don’t even understand themselves.

attack of the clones

i am convinced that religion is the father of genetic cloning. religion invented cloning long before the world ever thought of it. religion has a way of sucking the most powerful people on the planet into a spiritual look-a-like contest, calling it discipleship. true discipleship is meant to empower people to be transformed into the image of their Creator, but religion redefines the terms, conforming people into replicas of their leaders. religion takes God’s mighty men and makes them artifacts in a museum.

religious people, like the pharisees of old, have the hardest time reaching out to folks who think “outside of the box” and don’t behave inside their hopeless shackles. part of the struggle comes from what they have done to the Savior of the world. they have sterilized the gospel. Jesus took water and turned it to wine, but 2,000 years later, today’s pharisees have diluted it to grape juice. religion has reduced the supernatural power of God to a history lesson about serving the dead body of a helpless Christ who, still nailed to the cross, is incapable of rocking their sacred boat. they emphasize the drowning of baptism, arguing over how people should get wet and what should be said over them during their dipping. religious people have lost touch with the fact that the bold print of baptism is not on the descent but on the ascension. the death of Christ paid for our sins, but it was His resurrection that gave life to our mortal bodies. religion embraces death sadistically and moves the risen Christ out of the garden and back to the tomb. religious people pray things like “God, kill me,” not realizing that even the One who came to give His life as a ransom for us all prayed, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup (of death) from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). Jesus did not want to die; He wanted to do His Father’s will. if religion had its way, it would rewrite mary’s proclamation to read, “He is in the tomb just where we laid Him!” we have lost sight of the fact that the cross was for the old man not the new man, and that the true christian life is not about dying for Christ, but living in the life He purchased for us to establish His Kingdom on earth! the church must shake off the shackles of religion and embrace our supernatural destiny.

our commission

the world is crying out in distress, and we must not miss this kairos moment, the opportunity of the ages. in the late sixties, the beatles took america by storm. in a few short years, four boys from liverpool altered the course of our nation’s history. soon after, the world was swept into the wake of their anointing—all while they were singing “yeah, yeah, yeah.” But it wasn’t long before the fab four started to experience a crisis in their own souls. they began to cry out in desperation, singing,

help, i need somebody

help, not just anybody

help, you know i need someone, help

when i was younger, so much younger than today,

i never needed anybody’s help in any way.

but now those days are gone, i’m not so self-assured

now i find i’ve changed my mind and opened up the doors

help me if you can, i’m feeling down

and i do appreciate you being ‘round

help me get my feet back on the ground.

won’t you please, please help me

help me, help me, ooh.

but their cry for help fell on deaf ears in the sanctuary of hope, and soon they were calling hare krishna their “sweet lord.” the vhurch can’t afford to fall asleep in the harvest today as we have done so many times in the past. we are not supposed to reflect our culture; we are commissioned to transform it.

we are called to disciple all the nations of the world. discipling nations means submerging them in God—not religion—and “teaching them all I commanded you” (Matthew 28:20). teaching nations how to think is the transformational catalyst to changing cultures. but as long as christians aren’t valued in society, they will have no influence in the world. (you only have as much influence in people’s lives as they have value for you. anytime you try to have more influence than someone has value for you, you will manipulate them.) it is imperative that we become kings who understand the ways royal people influence authority. otherwise, we will reduce ourselves to social begging, hoping that the BIG, powerful people feel compassion for us and help our cause. this poisonous poverty mindset reduces the christian message to a cry for help instead of a call for leadership. we don’t need nations to change for our sake. we have a living, abiding, unshakable Kingdom that dwells within us and prospers under all circumstances. we need the nations to change for the sake of those still lost in darkness. they need the culture around them to create a safe environment for them until they get the Kingdom within them.

this cultural begging has relegated the Kingdom of God to a subculture. God never intended christianity to be a subculture. subcultures are those cultures that are subservient to a more powerful culture. the world’s commentary on the first century church reflects the true influence we are meant to have in society. they proclaimed, “these who have turned the world upside down have come here too” (acts 17:6 nkjv). we are called to turn the world around and set it back on its feet again. we are to be counter-culture until the mindset of the nations begins to take on the attitude of the Kingdom. christians are not subservient to the world because God has assigned us the highest level of authority that exists on this planet. when christians lose their desire and courage to confront the evils of our day honorably, we begin to be influenced by the lying principalities that are also commissioned to disciple the nations, but with an antichrist agenda. these demonic forces work to dethrone the Prince of Peace, Who is the rightful prince of the principles that make societies prosper, and instead enthrone the prince of darkness. consequently, the enabling principles of a culture become demonically inspired instead of Kingdom in-Spirited. Ttis dark prince works to establish evil thinking that leads to destructive behaviors. but when Jesus rules, He enables the principles of the King to transform the culture through the mind of Christ. in other words, people in a nation governed by the Kingdom begin to think like God!

however, it is important that we learn how to carry His power and authority. if we believers become combative instead of honorably confronting we will reduce our influence to the small pond of the church and render ourselves powerless in the ocean of humanity. we are to carry God’s authority into the lives of people and nations through invitation, not through intrusion or invasion. although we are called to be combative to the powers of darkness, we are to be honorably confronting to people, demonstrating the benefits and rewards of a superior Kingdom.

[drunk people do crazy things!]

hey every one, i came across this article by kevin dedmon and i thought that it would be beneficial to post it here. it challenged me and i pray it challenges you as well.

DRUNK PEOPLE DO CRAZY THINGS!
written by Kevin Dodman

It is true, drunk people do crazy things. They will say the craziest things to anyone who will listen (even if they won’t listen). They will laugh out loud, oftentimes for no apparent reason, and without any sensitivity to their surroundings whatsoever. They will dance, fall on the ground, sway as they walk, and completely sacrifice their personal dignity. Why? Because they are drunk.

They are not concerned with what people think about them at the moment. They have lost all fear of man, not concerning themselves in the least with the aftermath of humiliation that is sure to follow their actions. They therefore express themselves freely. They will even attempt the dangerous, like driving a vehicle or jumping off cliffs into shallow water, crazy things that they would never even dream of doing if they were sober. Why? Because they are drunk. Drunk people do crazy things!

In Ephesians 5:18, the Apostle Paul gives this instruction to Christians: “Do not get drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (NIV).

This word “debauchery” means to be so influenced by the effects of alcohol that one loses all inhibition, so that they do things of negative and evil consequence that they would not do if they were sober. In other words, debauchery is doing crazy things that you are really ashamed of the next morning.

Being filled with the Spirit, on the other hand, causes one to do crazy things, but the difference is that those things are things that you are proud of the next morning. Interestingly, the phrase, “be filled”, is not a one time event. In the Greek, this is a present tense verb, which has a continual sense associated with the action. So, more accurately, Paul is instructing the Church to “be continually filled with the Spirit”; to drink everyday, the “new wine” of the Spirit. Why? Because drunk people do crazy things!

On the Day of Pentecost, in Acts chapter 2, the Church was filled with the Holy Spirit. In verse 13, the crowd made fun of them and said “they have had too much wine”. Peter’s response to this accusation is found in verse 15: “These men are not drunk as you suppose...”. Notice, he does not deny the fact that they are drunk, or at the least, acting drunk. He simply lets them know that they are not drunk in the way that they think that they are drunk. The source of their drunkenness is not due to the wine of the world, but rather the new wine of the Holy Spirit. He explains all of this in verse 17, as he outlines the fulfilled prophetic promise of Joel that God would pour out His Spirit on all people.

Notice that Peter got out of the box, crazy, as he found the courage to stand up to address the crowd of onlookers. This is the same Peter that denied the Lord three times! And now he has unabashed boldness to preach the Gospel to the same angry crowd that had earlier crucified Jesus. The only thing that can explain this uninhibited behavior is the fact that he was drunk. Drunk people do crazy things. And I’m sure he was very proud of his actions the next morning, especially when he realized that 3,000 people had been saved as a result of his boldness under the influence of the Spirit!

Jesus has commanded us to do crazy things like heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and cast out demons; to preach the message of the Kingdom (Matt. 10:7,8). He has commanded us to be His witnesses in the whole earth as his ambassadors (Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:20). He told Ananias, through a supernatural vision, to go to Saul’s house on Straight Street and lay hands on him to receive his sight, which was a crazy proposal given the fact that Saul was arresting Christians and giving approval for their executions (Acts 9).

I used to never pray for the sick. Not because I didn’t believe in healing. I taught on healing. I just didn’t believe that I had what it took to pray for people for them to be healed. I used the excuse that I just didn’t have the “gift”. Interestingly, after learning to let the Holy Spirit influence my mind, I began to live under the influence (LUI), I began to do things that I would ordinarily never try like praying for someone to be healed. Amazingly, people started getting healed. I started to drink and drive, and when I would get to my destination, I would find supernatural boldness to step out and take crazy amounts of risk to pray for the sick at supermarkets, airports, or at family gatherings. And guess what? People started getting healed.

I have found that most people have a hard time stepping out in risk in the Kingdom because they are too intimidated by what others will think. I want to suggest that you try getting absolutely drunk on the Spirit of God until you have no inhibitions left, and just see what kind of great “crazy” things God can do through your life. Remember, drunk people do crazy things!

[tried and proven: adding meaning to your bible]

life has a funny way of sneaking up on you when you're not looking. i mean, in less than a year, i met a beautiful young woman, started dating, met her family, fell in love with her family, made some mistakes, grown a lot, abruptly stopped dating, grew some more, moved out on my own, and started working in a hotel.

now i'm probably moving away from north carolina out to california for a change of schools and a change of scenery. and yet through all of the tumultuous times, God has proven faithful.

God is faithful. He has always been faithful, and He will always remain faithful.

to illustrate:

a few years ago an elderly saint passed away. she lived alone in her house and she had outlived all of her closest friends. her children came in from all over the country for the funeral. her pastor who only knew of her in passing, came to ask her children about their mother so that he might say some kind things about her at her funeral.

her children informed him that they really had no information that he might find useful, but they handed him her old, well-worn bible. he thanked them and got into his car. when he arrived at his home, he pulled out the bible and began to explore. pen marks and hand-written notes were everywhere. tithing envelopes and bulletins spilled from the covers. bookmarks seperated out the most often visited locations in the bible for easy access and one thing kept catching the pastor's eye.

on the margins of the page next to the verse numbers, two letters kept appearing. tp followed by numbers. perplexed, the pastor called the woman's eldest son and asked if he could help to sort out what these letters and numbers may have symbolized. he told the pastor that he had no clue but one of his sisters may. after asking each of the children and no answer given, the pastor committed to continuing searching through this bible.

as he flipped through the psalms, he began to see a pattern. the letters frequently appeared by promises and by descriptions of who God is. but this still gave no indication as to what the letters meant.

finally, the pastor caught a break when he saw the words tried and proven next to a particularly strong promise in isaiah. this revelation challenged the pastor. it was also then that the pastor realized that the numbers were not random, but dates. here he was looking into the life of a woman of strong faith. she had dared to take God at His word and hold Him accountable to proving He meant what He said. and God had proven every single promise to her.

at the funeral, the pastor rose to give the eulogy, and something began to happen. as he recounted how he did had not taken the opportunity to get to know this saintly sister, he suddenly realized that her greatest legacy was not something that could even be measured by man.

she had a thick bible. a bible full of meaning and proofs. a bible that was more than a collection of revered words, but precious promises.

do you have a thick bible full of meaning and proven promises or is yours thin and lifeless?

[confronting humanness]

"to err is human, to forgive is divine"

i don't know who wrote that and right now i don't really care to do the homework on it. but while it surfaces as humility, the core smacks of hubris, contempt and self-efficacy.

the root of the problem is hiding behind our ability to be human. the counter argument is that we are human beings. or, in the most literal definition, we have the very nature of all that is human. while i am not saying that we are not homo sapiens, i am arguing that as christians, we are born again and because of this, we are no longer bound to the rules of being human.

i guess the greater question is if we associate errors with our humanity and forgiveness with divinity, are we, then, both human and divine? the biblical answer is complex and is in no way easy to explain. to write off and say that we are solely natural with spiritual attributes is a start but it diminishes the depth of our inheritance as heirs of Christ. to flat out say we are divine would be paradoxical at best, heritical at worst, and it does little more than elevate our minds to a point where we believe we are divine and we answer to no one.

genesis recounts that God created man in His image out of the dust of the ground, then God breathed into man. creation and animation. but we are the more than the sum of simple creation and animation.

we have been endowed with power from on high, empowered to do the will of God through the Holy Spirit, and encouraged to follow the example set by Christ. so what are we afraid of? what are we hiding behind?

it is true that we may find ourselves afraid of what others think of us, however, the only Person we should be concerned about is God-- and He has told us what He thinks of us. He has shown us what He thinks about us. He loves us. more than that, He adores us.

if the Creator of all things adores us, then what is there to be afraid of? if God be for us, then who can stand against us? not even the gates of hell will prevail against the ever increasing kingdom of our Lord.

to err is human. it is a part of human nature. an almost unreconcilable fact in our lives. we will make errors. but will we allow those errors to define us?

to forgive is divine. we have been gifted the ability to forgive- to be unable to forgive would be a death sentence of eternal guilt. by granting forgiveness, we are not elevated to a divine status, we are partnering with the Uncreated One to release others (and even ourselves) from the guilt of condemnation and the weight of judgement.

is it a divine skill? no. it is a right of the Divine that He has allowed us to partake in. as such, the freedom one experiences in both the act of forgiveness and being forgiven certainly can certainly feel a lot like divinity.

[musings from a distant land]

alright, so let's be straight-up, i'm not in a literal distant land, and it's been way too long since i updated this thing. it's not a big deal, i suppose since any one in their right mind would have stopped visiting long ago. however, i will resurrect this blog regardless of who is or is not reading it.

the distant land of which i speak is metaphorical. it is, in short, my own mind.

there is no doubt that i am a moderately travelled human being. having spent time in seven countries on three continents (and God-willing it will not end there), and my intracontinental travels has not concluded either.

it looks as though, i may be moving again, it will be a great move indeed as it may be a cross-country move.

why move again? i will be transfering to a different school, and as has become a standard theme in my scholastic career, i will begin again from the beginning.

a comical side note: a friend of mine whom i graduated high school with is graduating from med school this year. yes, seven years have gone by and i still do not have the degree that i desire to have.

in all fairness, i can't really say that i actually desire a degree. maybe just the chance to say that i finished school. and then to go on into ministry. that would be nice.

nice. it's the american dream. to have a nice job; live in a nice house, with a nice wife and nice kids; have nice pets; drive a nice car...

i guess after thinking about it, i don't want nice. after all, aren't i a self-professed revolution clarion? how can i serve coffee and donuts when paul was accused of throwing the then known-world into a riot? but this isn't about paul is it? i mean, if the apostle paul were around today, he'd probably be stymied by the fact that we preach a gospel so devoid of power that most of the anointing on a service is in the preceeding free coffee in the front lobby.

that sugar rush or caffiene fix is more powerful and more moving than what occurs in most services every weekend. oh, the music may be good, and the preacher might be able to get out a few good words, but the full weight of the glory is felt monday through saturday. it can be measured by the heaviness of a blue monday for a pastor or by the actions of the church attenders throughout the week.

forget hurting paul's feelings for a moment. what would more modern church leaders have to say? simply running through a short list of names would be enough to make us squirm in our seats. yet, these are not the ones who are being let down by our inaction and impotence.

rather, we sell short those in the world around us when we do not live as we are called or according the purposes for which we were called. but let's go one step deeper.

what does it say about us if we focus the thoughts and opinions of men? well, for one, it makes us human. and that's part of the problem. while we are human, we are not heirs of this world. that is, we are not heirs of this world if we believe what we say we believe to the point of action...

[pause for effect]

that being said, the only One we should be concerned about hurting, humiliating or misrepresenting is the King of all kings Himself.

with this in mind, we should remain mindful of the premise that what is done in the name of Christ and what is actually commissioned by God are not always identical. it has been a great travesty that many atrocities have been committed under the guise of doing the will of God. this is nothing more than a broad scale self-justification. it is weak and does a great injustice to God Himself.

His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. But that does not mean we are not capable of having the mind of Christ. paul encourages us to have the mind of Christ; to renew our minds; to make an impact on this world, not with earthly wisdom, but with the power of the Holy Spirit. it is why paul proudly proclaims that he came to the corinthians not with strength of speech so that their faith would be in their words, but with the true power of the Holy Spirit, so that their faith would reside solely in the power of God.

make no mistake about it, the pen is mightier than the sword. when benjamin franklin wrote that he could conquer the world with 26 ready soldiers he was not referring to a company of men- he was referring to the characters in the english alphabet. words are greater than blade or bullet, but the power of God is even greater still.

and it is this power of God that we have access to as heirs of Christ through the person of the Holy Spirit. why aren't we accessing this power? what are we to do with this power?

tomorrow we'll explore the treachery of hiding behind human nature. saturday we'll explore the purpose of this power.

for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...