Bullies Must Die - A Violent Christianity

“It is easier to cry against one-thousand sins of others than to kill one of your own.” John Flavel

Psalm 120:7
I am a man of peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

There is a certain violence in Christianity - and it is the death of self and all that goes with it. Christ speaks of it when He says that He came not to bring peace, but a sword. (Matt. 10:34) He is saying that there will be a violent, spiritual separation of the true believer from his sinful ways (and the means to those ways.) When Nadab and Abihu tried to compromise the initial sacrificial system, they were violently taken out. When Ananias and Sapphira tried to bring compromise into the church, they were violently 'separated' from the flock. When Simon tried to bring the purchase of spirituality into the church, he was violently rebuked by Peter. When Christ Himself found the moneychangers in the Temple, He fashioned a whip and violently put an end to it. And when God tells us to get into His Word, He tells us that it will be like a sword, violently cutting to the core of our being. (Hebrews 4:12)

I think we need to define 'violence' in a way that makes sense. Because spiritual violence is all through the teachings of Christ. So where do we stand with that? All I know is what I experience in my own walk: that unless something or SOMEONE violently enters in and rips out my pagan heart that is hell-bent on spiritual adultery and the things of the world, then I simply am not changing. I am so grateful that Christ did this - brutally - when I was crucified with Him. (Romans 6). I would not have done this on my own. Bullies never leave on their own.

Where this applies in the physical world, I don't know. I suggest you read Dave Capozzi's blog on this matter and some of the responses. It's a great discussion. For me, it's a spiritual battle and I have spiritual bullies constantly attacking me and my experience with bullies is that they must be taken down, they are never talked down. How does this relate to the 'bullies' of the world in Hitler/Stalin/Hussein, etc and what is the appropriate Christian response to that? That's another blog for another day.

I'm directing this posting to the spiritual battle. I have to tell you - if you want victory, you must allow Christ to violently enter the Temple of your soul and crack the whip and clear out all of the compromises, all of the buying and selling that you enter into on a daily basis. Your sinful nature will never leave your heart on its own accord. Again - bullies must die. I cry, as David did, that I am a man of peace. That is the way I want to live. However - as he continues to say: But when I speak - they are for war. And just as he had to physically removed them from his kingdom, so we have to remove our spiritual enemies.

Random Thoughts

Just a sampling of some things working through my brain:

• The Cutting Edge

Books. Videos. Methods. "30- Days." "Everything Must Change." Global. Local. Relevance.

I think the desire to be on the "cutting edge" is a trap for Christians. The cutting edge is wherever a lost person resides. Spend enough time praying for someone and interceding for them and you are in the most radical place on earth. You don't need a book or a method or a video series to get there.

• "But God Has Shown Me" (Acts 10:28)

Note: This is the passage in which God tells Peter to go to the house of Cornelius.

Wait a minute . . . . Peter had already been filled with the Spirit at Pentecost, and had subsequent 'fillings' as the Spirit moved through the world. Why then, did he need to be shown anything, let alone something as basic as human rights? The Gentiles were part of the PLAN, they weren't outsiders. You mean to tell me that a Spirit-filled man didn't automatically know that?

How is this relevant? Well, one of the slams against our American Christian culture is the ignorance of issues such as slavery, racism, poverty, homelessness, etc. They wonder how these problems continue while " great awakenings" occur. But listen - - - Spirit-filled Christians still need to be led outside of their understanding to see truths that in retrospect appear to be self-evident. It may take a vision of God that rocks you to the core (like Peter). While I'm not excusing this ignorance, be careful about making claims against Christians who don't understand every cultural inequality that exists while Christianity rambles on.

Peter, a man filled with the Spirit, who walked with Christ - still needed to be led outside to see a major truth of Scripture and a basic human need.

• Come To Your Senses

One of the things about the Levitical sacrificial system that I envy is their engagement of all of their senses in worship. The sights, the sounds, the smells - even the taste of these sacrifices brought them to a greater understanding of all that was going on. They could literally rip apart the sacrifice, smell the aroma (and the stench), taste the meal, hear the noises of the animals.

How can we engage in that now? As physical creatures, it's important to retain the physical aspect of worship. Many look for this re-engagement through experiential Christianity and tongues and healings and slayings of the Spirit. This is their entire focus - which is understandable considering our basic need for sensory experience.

But we are now called to a spiritual sacrifice. I think we can still have the full-body Christian experience - but it happens when we follow Romans 12:1,2 and sacrifice our entire beings to His will. It's a different kind of sacrifice. It puts us back into the world with all of its sights/sounds/smells/tastes. Interacting with the beauty and filth and all that goes along with both. With people. That's about as sensory as it gets.

• Movable Ramps

We are building a ramp at CBC that will be movable in case of expansion. We don't want to be locked in because we need to be ready to move if God moves.

I hope that in our spiritual walk we have the same mindset. Certain things are foundational, but others should be movable ramps. They should help lead us into worship, but ready to be cast off as He moves. Music styles, traditions, and the like are great as they lead us into worship. But they must be movable. The problem is that our church culture is quick to break down the foundations (Christ alone, inerrancy of Scripture, depravity of man) and hold fast to their movable ramps.

• The End of the Relationship

What if you were one week away from the end of your life - and you found your one true love? How would you feel about that? Would you be incredibly happy or would you feel a deep sense of loss - or a combination of both? I think that there would be deep regret over the loss of the years that you had missed.

Then why do we think that people 'have it all' when they live their entire lives apart from Jesus and then find Him at the very end? They have missed everything! I don't envy them. They've missed years with the love of their life.

Also, the more you love someone, the more you want to know everything about them. Imagine finding the journal of your one true love - wouldn't you devour it from cover to cover, to soak in all their thoughts, their dreams, their plans? It would be your treasured possession, gaining intimate glimpses into their heart. Why is it any different with His Word?

I think that we simply are not in love enough with Christ if we imagine that people who get saved at the end of their life "have it all" or when we don't see the absolute joy of digging into His thoughts. Honestly - I just love Him so much that I couldn't fathom waiting to the end of my life to find Him and His Word.

Humble Stoop

I Corinthians 8:11 "So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge."

I read an interesting article about Sandra Day O'Connor. It seems her husband of 54 years is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease and is in a nursing home. . . where he has found himself a girlfriend! He can't remember his marriage, so he has responded to this woman that he has just met. Now here's the kicker: Every day she goes to visit - and sits with the two of them. She knows that his level of understanding doesn't allow him to remember their relationship. But for his peace - she sacrifices her deeper knowledge.

This is an incredible act of submission - when you forfeit your "higher knowledge" and stoop to the level of understanding of a fellow Christian so that they may be at peace. Instead of spending our time proving our greater understanding, instead of reveling in our freedom in Christ, imagine if we looked at our weaker brother and humbly put aside everything and allowed him to sit in the peace of his limited knowledge. Without bitterness, without regret, without even the motivation of thinking how great we are for doing this.

Christ did exactly that for us. While we were dead in our sins, sitting in the darkness of our limited understand of Him, He came and died for us. He broke into our ignorance, and stooped to our level of understanding, and opened our eyes to the Truth. That is such an amazing act of love that I can't believe we would ever turn around and harm a brother for whom He also died.

We really aren't that smart in the first place, and any knowledge that is worth anything comes from Him, so what is the source of our pride in the first place?

A Broken Vessel - Poured Out

One night, after reading John 4 (the story of the Samaritan) and allowing this wonderful story to work through me, the following "poem" came to me. I immediately turned on the light and wrote it down. Then, after lying back down, it dawned on me that this could be read from either perspective. Christ or the woman. Read it as if it were Christ - then as if it were the woman.

I’m thirsty

So I come here

Alone

Tired

I feel so . . .

Human

You are here

Your very presence

Stirs my soul

I cannot

Ignore you

We speak

And my heart is touched

I am broken

And poured out

By you

For you

It is a divine emptying

Of everything that I am

Finally

Someone who sees beyond

What the others see

You see who I really am

And there is salvation

Even my closest friends

Don’t always see

Who I am

There is more to me

So much more

Than they know

Because of you

Living water flows through me

Bringing healing

Freedom

Release

The others

My friends

They come

They see you

They see me

In a different way

The walls break down

They begin to understand

The harvest

Of the lost

Begins with me

The Eternal Security Blanket Statement

I believe in eternal security. I believe once saved, always saved. I believe that you can't undo a true 'born-again' experience just as a child can't be unborn from his family.

That being said, it really bothers me when people use this as a security blanket for someone who claims to have the experience but evidences no fruit - not even a desire for fruit - yet feels that they still fall under that decision. I think that this mocks what it means to be truly born-again, to have an encounter with Jesus that rips your insides right out of you and you are never the same again.

It's not just some eternal security blanket statement that you make that covers you forever.

I don't mean that there are no stumbles and falls. The Bible never teaches that - as a matter of fact most of Scripture is directed to the stumbling child of God, not to the unbeliever. But when you are truly 'saved' I believe that His Spirit is sealed within you (Ephesians 1:13) and that even through the stumbles you are constantly pricked in your heart by Him. You can't really 'get away' with these things, He doesn't allow it.

But there are many who don't have this inner grief over their failures. These are the ones that I wonder about. In our desperation to get everyone on the salvation bus, we cut way too much slack for those who make a claim but never have an ounce of desire for Christ and holiness after that.

In my humanness, I want everyone safe and settled, but it's not called "The Narrow Gate" for no reason.

On another note: this is a follow-up from last night's Bible Study - the more I read Romans 9,10, the more I realize what Paul is saying. He's saying that though he is desperate for his countrymen to be saved, unless they can acknowledge that "Jesus is Lord," they have missed and are out of the hand of God. No amount of zeal or good intentions will allow them to cross that border. They must be funneled through Christ and Christ alone. One moment of simple faith of a Gentile is worth more than 75 years of good intentions from a pious Jew. This basically puts to rest the struggle I have with the "Good people" vs. "Bad Christian" argument. It's not a question of goodness - it's a question of being in Christ or out of Him.

This is a hard pill to swallow from the outside. That's why it's called foolishness to the Gentiles and a stumbling block to the Jews. (I Cor. 1) But again, it isn't called "The Narrow Gate" for no reason.

Just Men

There is a mistaken ‘face’ to Christianity today. It is a screaming face. It is a political face. It is an in-your face. It is the face that the public sees in the newspapers and on television. It’s the preacher who rants against sins that he himself is living. It’s the holy crusader who fights battles against machines while his very human neighbors die in their sins. It's the face of the sign-holding warrior hell-bent on his cause. That’s the face that ‘they’ see. It's the "issue" face, not a "personal" face.

But this is not the face that I see. I see men and women who live quiet, humble, holy lives before the Lord. Men and women who love God and love their neighbor, who seek the good of their God, not of their own agenda. I see ‘just men’ who live righteous lives without demanding this same righteousness from their government or their media. (It's a face that doesn't feel the need to blog so that everyone can know what they're thinking!)

Why don't we get that face out into the world? For two reasons: One, the world is not interested in the normal Christian life - it's not glamorous or controversial. Two, that face goes out one person at a time. To their neighbor. To their co-worker. To a friend or relative. It's a face that seeps into the world bringing Christ to individuals, not into the mass-media.

It's the face of Christ being worn out on His people. It's a beautiful face.

The Almighty Duller

I was reading a wonderful story last night on the life of Oswald Chambers. He struggled from years 23 - 27 with an inner turmoil that was hindering his walk. Everything on the outside looked great, and people were constantly praising him for his spirituality, but he was struggling with spiritual pride and an inner sinfulness (like Romans 7) that was killing him from the inside out.

As I was reading this, a flash of spiritual enlightenment and desire gripped me. I understood! I knew his struggle, I felt his pain, I desired the deeper/fuller walk with Christ that Chambers ultimately found while walking the hills of Scotland. In spite of the praise that pastors often receive, I know my own tendencies. My entire being was awakened and I fell into prayer and it was wonderful. I could feel God ripping apart things and drawing me into a deeper understanding of Himself.

And then . . . TV. I could hear a show on in the other room, my mind drifted to it and I ended up going in and watching it. I could feel the stupor coming over my entire body as my senses became dulled to His Voice. The light was gone. The edge had been smoothed down. I was sunk - and I knew it.

Satan, you will not "dull" me to sleep!

I write this as a reminder to all (3) of you who read this. Do not let Satan use his dulling techniques and cause you to lose those 'flash moments of light" that God gives us once in awhile. You know the ones - where you're reading, or praying, or just meditating and all of a sudden you 'get it.' You shake, you stand up, you pray, you write - you want to do something that keeps the moment alive.

But Satan will fight this with everything he's got. And TV is one of the best weapons in his arsenal. I've written in the past about the "Faint Blue Glow" that emanates from houses up and down my street at night. The glow of the television as people are steadily and often irreversibly dulled to sleep each night, isolated and alone, thinking about nothing.

This is no deep-thought blog - just a warning. I think if you're honest you know exactly what I'm talking about. Keep your senses sharp - stay in His Word - and stay away from the Almighty Duller.

Christian Robots

I'm reading the story of Saul's conversion in Acts 9 and I'm struck at how God takes the intense personality of Saul and uses it for His own purpose and glory. He doesn't change Saul, or soften him, or mold him into the "good Christian man." He picks him up, cleans him off, repurposes him, and lets him loose. The same zeal that brought him into Christian homes to kill them brought him into non-Christian homes to save them.

I think about this a lot as a parent. I have four kids with four very different personalities - personalities that simultaneously drive me crazy and bring great joy to my heart. I don't want them changed - I love who they are - I want their minds transformed so that these wonderful personalities can be infused with the Spirit and used for God's good and perfect will. (Romans 12)

I see too many parents / churches / schools spend all their time quenching the spirit out of kids and trying to create a race of Christian robots, where all thoughts, mannerisms and personalities are the same. Look this way. Think this way. Act this way. And heaven forbid if anyone steps out of the church box - panic ensues among parents and church leadership. They love the safety of the conformity.

I love the personalities of my kids - and I hope the Christian world doesn't snuff out their uniqueness. What a boring Christian world we have when we do this.

A True Conversion Chart

As I was preparing the eulogy for my Aunt Kay, I began thinking about different funerals I had seen. I once attended the funeral of a young person who I was not sure was ever truly saved. Their parents were clinging to the hope of a claim their child made when they were in elementary school. But the fruit . . . well, I’ll let God judge. I hope that this person was saved, and certainly believe that they could have been. But the uncertainty weighed very heavy upon me during the entire process.

What causes anxiety and depression in your life? What causes a lack of peace? It is uncertainty, when we just don’t know the answer to something or how something is going to work out.

Certainty = Peace

I came to realize that in all the grief over Kay’s funeral, there was a peace that hung as a covering over it. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” I knew that she was a Christian. How? Because of her life that followed her conversion. There was a clear, marked change. She was living proof of a true conversion. All uncertainty was removed.

It started me thinking about conversions. You are not expected to walk in uncertainty – you need to know that you are saved. So I developed the following conversion chart. Where do you ‘lie’?

Grade 3 Conversion: Emotional and Empty

This is some quick decision (usually made in about the 3^rd grade, thus the title) and is followed by the signing of a card, a walk to the altar, a 3-step prayer – maybe even a baptism. But there is no fruit that has ever followed, no hungering for more of Christ, no change in life. It was an emotional response that had no real substance to it. I do not believe this person is truly saved.

Why? Because Jesus said so. “A good tree will bear good fruit.” (Matthew 7:17)

Grade 2 Conversion: Anger and Agendas

These people display all the ‘gifts’ but have no ‘life’ to match it. They move mountains, they clang the cymbal, but there is no love, just anger.

I Corinthians 13 is not a reality in their lives. They spend their church lives pushing agendas, not Christ. Are they saved? That’s between them and God – but again, the fruit is not there.

Grade 1 Conversion: “I’ll take it from here.”

This person is one who may be truly saved by the grace of God. They have a real ‘moment’ of conversion, but that moment is followed by a lifetime of ‘effort’ to prove that they are saved. This person begins in the Spirit, but spends their entire lifetime in the flesh. (Galatians 3:3) To be truly victorious, you must submit your life to His Spirit – after you’re saved.

True Conversion: A Clear Point of Change

With this person, there is a definitive point of change. The ‘moment’ is followed by a life-time of hungering after God and a Spirit-filled walk. Not a perfect walk, but one that is sensitive to His Spirit at all times. All of their thoughts are of God, all of their conversation will naturally center around Christ. You can see Him in them.

Why do I bother with this chart? Because I’m worried. The older I get, the more I walk with God, the more I realize that nothing else matters until you know that a person is truly saved. You need to know – you are expected to know. God does not want us living in uncertainty. Please-examine your life. Are you simply relying on a ‘moment’ - a Grade 3 conversion? Or have you really, truly had a life-changing moment with Jesus Christ. It’s too important not to know for sure.

I John 5:13 “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

The Next Play

Philippians 3:13 "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus."

Running up the score is a big issue in this current Patriot's season. They've been winning by such large margins that opponents and commentators have accused them of piling on the points even when they're comfortably ahead. Anyone who has played sports long enough has been on both the receiving and giving end of lop-sided scores. Once in awhile, it feels as if the team you're playing is unnecessarily running up the score. It's not a fun place to be, because while you hate it, you don't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing that they're so much better than you that they need to stop trying.

I know that's the way I felt when I was playing. If they were beating me 50-0, I would think to myself: "But you're not going to win the NEXT play." I learned that playing with my older brothers. No matter how many times they beat me, and by how much, I wanted one more chance. I saw this in my son Luke recently. He was in the backyard playing against an older cousin and lost 50-1. I overheard him say, "Let's play again."

That's the mentality I want him to have. No matter how many times he gets knocked down, I want him to stand back up and say to himself, "I'll win the next play."

It's the Christian mentality. Paul says that he doesn't care what happened in the past, good or bad, he's looking ahead and he's going to win the prize. The knockdowns don't matter - it's the rising again. Proverbs 24:16 says " for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again."

I don't know where Christians get the idea that we'll never get knocked down. We will, and sometimes when it happens it will feel as if the enemy is piling on, or running up the score. The promise is not that we won't get knocked down - the promise is that we will rise again. Every time.

God Nation

II Timothy 4:3 "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. "

Red Sox Nation - what a victory last night. But the way it was approached by Sox fans is similar to our approach to Christianity in America. Sox Nation has many parallels with God Nation.

Before they won the Series in 2004 - we were desperate. We didn't care how they won, as long as they won. A sweep, a 7-game series, the other team getting abducted by aliens - who cares. Desperation just pleads for the result - everything else is superfluous. Now, however, it's not enough to simply win the Series - we want it done in a particular manner. Winning it in Denver? That won't do - lose a few games so we can win it at home!! Can you imagine thinking that way back in 2004?

This is exactly the problem with Americanized Christianity. There's not enough desperation. We have everything handed to us, so we dictate the terms. The right sound system, the right temperature, the songs we want, comfortable chairs, the best audio/visual system, preaching that tickles our ears. If not - I'm somewhere else, a place that will suit my desires. We've lost the desperation for the Truth.

As a pastor, this is hard for me to figure out. Just because we live in a comfortable society doesn't mean I should make myself purposefully uncomfortable just to prove a point. If we have good technology available, or comfortable seats - we'd be foolish not to take advantage of that. But as the demand for these luxuries increase, it makes it harder and harder to get to the Truth. Just as Sox Nation is not satisfied with the victory in the Series, God Nation is not satisfied with the victory in Jesus. The luxuries take the place of the Necessity.


One more parallel between Sox Nation and God Nation - and it pains me to say this but it's true: We are both obnoxious. We're everywhere, beating the drum for our cause, suffocating any other thoughts. We think we have everything just right and everyone else is just wrong. (Please note: I'm not saying there are other ways besides Christ - I'm saying the obnoxious approach does nothing but make us hated.)

The true fact is that this really isn't or ever was a true Christian Nation and any attempt to espouse that idea just drives us further away from being an effective witness for Christ. We better be careful, because a nation that thinks it's a God Nation - when it really isn't - is just a step away from Damn Nation.

So Where Were We?

Exodus 31:15 "For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord."
Exodus 35:2 "For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the Lord."

What happened between these two verses? Not much - only total rebellion, the golden calf, the threat of destruction, the smashing of the tablets, the intercession of Moses, the plan of God to restart through Moses, the killing of 3,000, the Tent of Meeting, Moses on the mountain (again), the rechiseling of the Law, the radiant face, the veil . . . . in other words, a total mess that had to be fixed.

But what's interesting about this is that after all of this mess - God basically picks up right where He left off. He was talking about the Sabbath, and that's right where He started again. I love this. It tells me volumes about the mercy of God. Sin has consequences - but when all is atoned for, when the dust has settled, God wants us to get right back into the game. Right where we left off.

In other words – after all the wrestling, pleading, waiting . . . when God forgives, He forgives completely. There are consequences – but the position is restored. Think of the Prodigal Son story, or the story of Peter. The position is immediately re-established and God wants to continue to move forward. He doesn’t want to linger on the past anymore. That's the point of forgiveness. It's as if God were saying, "Okay, now that we got through that, where were we?" I mean, come on! Who does that? When someone hurts us, we NEVER pick up where we left off. We may forgive - but with incredibly complex strings attached. God never attaches these strings.

The mess of Exodus 32 - 34 is a pretty good description of my life. But to know that the story can be picked up where it left off? Wow. That's one of the best definitions of grace that is found anywhere in Scripture.

Truth Too Soon?

II Corinthians 10:5 "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

Where have all the children gone? You know, the ones who were 'saved' when they were in Sunday School or Youth Group or at camp or whenever. They seemed to have faded back into the canvass of the world.

Was it a case of Truth Too Soon?

The Simple Truth: We are sinners, Jesus died for us, and by entering into an abiding relationship with Him we have eternal life in heaven and purpose on earth.

There are generally two paths that one can take when one finds the Simple Truth at an early age - questioning whether it is really the truth and looking into all other possible thoughts, or accepting that it is true and building upon that premise by going deeper into that truth. Both are valid responses to your initial acceptance of this truth.

I, for one, am glad that I chose to accept the simple truth and have spent my time digging deeper into the intricacies of it. As I have ripped apart every doctrine, searched into every corner of the Word, meditated on the implications of swallowing it whole - I have found it to be not only simply true - but deeply true as well. No matter how much you rip it apart, every strand holds. Old Testament stories and New Testament passages are perfectly meshed in every detail. The complexity supports the simplicity. II Corinthians 10:5 is very real to me - the arugments and pretensions of the world have been demolished by Christ as I dig deeper into Him and into His world.

But I do not deny the fact that these "pretensions" have an appeal. We have lost too many people to them. Others of my generation have received the Simple Truth but questioned all the side issues and thus got sidetracked. You almost wish that they had found the Truth when they were older and could appreciate the simplicity of what it offers to them right now, as they experience the real questions of eternity and purpose and hope within their current circumstances. A child isn't able to take the Simple Truth to these levels of real living, and when they have turned aside it is so hard to get them to come back.

But this is not going to stop me from praying for my own children to 'get it' at the earliest age possible. I just pray that after they get it, they will tunnel deeper into it and not spend their time circling it and ultimately getting lost in the emptiness of the world's arguments, which have temporay appeal but no eternal value.

I say this as sincerely (and hopefully as humbly) as I can: I have dug deep and have found the Truth to be secure. It's a nice place to rest.

So You Say You Want a Revival?

Acts 19:17 "They were all seized with fear and the name of Jesus was held in high honor."

There's been a lot of talk about revival lately. Especially in New England churches, as we have been involved in the greatest revivals of America. People are holding prayer meetings asking God for a revival to pour out upon this area.

I would think long and hard before you prayed this prayer. Are you sure you want a revival? Really? I don't think many of us understand what a true revival will bring. Hearts will be torn open. Sins will be revealed. It won't simply be hands raised and praises sung. That will happen, of course - but only in due time. First, the dues must be paid. The breaking must come.

Are you sure you want a breaking of your heart - with all of its contents pouring out? Especially one that may turn public? That's what a true revival is. The heart is opened and the fear of God breaks down every wall, penetrating every corner, revealing every hidden sin. Read Acts 19 for what happened when revival broke out in Ephesus. Sin was revealed and hearts were broken - devasted in Godly sorrow. They came forward with their sins and painfully put them out there. It wasn't all fun and praise.

Also, a true revival will not bring any glory to a church or a pastor. (I think we often pray for revivals so that we can 'show' other churches how spiritual our church is.) A true revival will cause the name of Jesus to be held in high honor- no other name. Not a church. Not a pastor. Not a person. Self-seeking has no part in a revival.

Here's a challenge - deal with these things NOW in your life. Pray the prayer of Psalm 19:12,13 "Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep Your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless and innocent of great transgression." Then when a revival hits, you can be a useful vessel for God, helping with the mess that's been created by all those lives being spilled out - not simply another in a long line of broken ones.

Break now.

I Want To Want To . . . .

Philippians 2:13 "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose."

It is my heart's desire to please God. I want nothing more than to know Him and live a life that is worthy of His love for me. That's it. Like Moses - face to face with Him. That's all I want.

At least I think I do. I mean . . . I really want to want to.

There's the problem. I want to want to love Him more than I do. I want to want to live a life that is holy and pure before Him, more than I do. I have a desire to desire Him more deeply. I have a longing to long for Him more passionately.

I came across a passage from a book by Charles Spurgeon that really touched my heart regarding this. In it he said,

“When I was seeking the Lord, I not only believed that I could not pray without divine help, but I felt that in my very soul that I could not. I could not feel as acutely, or even mourn or groan as I would have. I longed to long more after Christ, but I could not even feel that I needed Him as I ought to have felt it. This heart was then as hard, as adamant, and as dead as those that rot in their graves. Oh, what I would, at times have given for a tear. I wanted to repent, but I could not. I longed to believe, but I could not. I felt bound, hampered, and paralyzed.”

I know exactly what he's talking about - and I’m sure that many of you do as well. You see your sin, you hate it, but you don’t hate it to the point of tears. You don't hate it to death. You long to have a deeper sense of your own unworthiness and a greater sense of the love of Christ. You would love to love Him more.

This is an extremely important desire to have, as it is the necessary first step to a true conversion. God is not interested in taking what you have and building upon it – for the simple reason that what you have is not worth building upon. We bring nothing to the table of salvation and healing. And the sooner we truly understand that, the sooner we will be healed. God is in the ‘new creation’ business. He is not interested in cleaning your filthy rags. He wants to give you new clothing – to robe you in the righteousness of Christ. Jesus is in the garment industry, not the tailoring industry.

And just as we cannot bring healing upon ourselves, we also cannot even bring the desire to be healed. It is God who draws men to Himself. In Philippians 2:13 we read that “It is God who works in you to will and to act according to His purpose.”

We cannot even bring the will to be healed into our hearts. God must bring the will and the healing. The ramifications of understanding this are huge:it totally affects how I pray. I put myself before God, and in tears, I cry for tears. In my heart of hearts, I plead for a greater will to have a greater desire to pursue Him above all things. I also pray for my unsaved friends differently. I pray for the will to be placed in their hearts to seek Him. If you think about it, that's a huge difference from how we normally pray for them.

My longing for Him comes from Him. That blows my mind - so I'll just accept it and rest in it and pray for Him to increase that longing, the longing that I can't conjure up in my mind. The will that is not naturally within me to seek Him.

Mobile Holy Ground

John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacled) among us."

Note: Hellenistic Jews were those that did not necessarily live in Jerusalem, they had been cast to different parts of the world, adopting some of the Greek (Hellenistic) culture in the process. They were looked down upon by the Hebraic Jews - those who had remained in Jerusalem and stayed true to the Temple - which they considered the center of all worship.

I find it interesting that the Hellenistic Jews of Jesus' day looked upon the Temple as a concession. They thought that the Tabernacle of the desert time of their history was the greater way, the better part of the original plan. It was mobile holy ground. The Temple was a settling - and in their minds settling always leads to stuck. They thought of the Hebraic Jews as being stuck to this Temple, with a limited view of how God can move in this world. (For a better understanding, read Stephen's sermon in Acts 8.)

I must say that I agree. It's what has played out. The Temple was meant to be a beacon, but it became a barrier and was summarily dismissed by Jesus. We are now tabernacles on earth - moveable holy grounds.

The implications are enormous. We now can move out into the world. They don't come to us - we go to them, under His sanctification - His Name (John 17:13-19). You don't advance the kingdom by sitting in your 'temple' and saying, 'Here we are! Come to us!" You take the Temple to them. That's what God did. He tabernacled in our midst. He had to - we weren't coming to Him on our own. While we were dead in our sins, enemies of God, He died for us. That same thought must now take place in our own lives. In our work, our neighborhood, our families. We have to go to them. They aren't beating our door down to hear the Good News.

I think that the Hellenistic Jews had it right. In Jeremiah 31 God says that the real plan is to put His Law into our hearts - that we may be moveable holy ground. It's an awesome thought.

Too Many Buffaloes

I need a "buffalo stampede."

What is a buffalo in a church? It's a person who has no desire to grow in Christ, who never 'breaks down,' who pushes their own agenda (because all they do is 'play church') and who simply gets in the way. It's not that they're not nice people, it's just that they appear immovable. They are sucking the life out of churches across the region.

How do I get past the buffaloes and find the lost sheep? I don't know. I can't think of a way that won't involve hurting these huge, slow-moving creatures that are meandering about in our churches, grazing without consuming. Chewing without swallowing. Clearing out pastures without ever producing any meat. (Hey, I'd even accept some milk from them once in awhile!)

So I need a 'buffalo stampede.' That's when they finally start moving - - - out. I don't care if all I'm left with is a few sheep - all I want is to be with a group of people that have a consuming passion for Christ. "Give me Christ or I die!" Men and women who want Christ and not ministry.

Another thing about 'buffaloes.' It's not that they don't do anything. On the contrary, they are usually the busiest people in the church. They run programs, ministries, meetings, committees, etc. But the problem is that they don't simply run them, they run over them. They take them over. They enter into one of the deadliest places a church-worker can go: the ministry becomes their ministry and heaven forbid anyone who a) doesn't recognize them for that or b) tries to take it away from them. They have ownership issues which can stop ministries in their over-sized tracks.

The kitchen is their kitchen. The building is their building. The music is their music. And yes . . the pulpit is their pulpit. (A pastor can often be the biggest buffalo in the church.)

But I don't want to manipulate them into a stampede. I do love them. I need the words to preach that will cause them to change - or move on. They take so much of the resources of the church. Not just money and space. But our most precious resource: TIME. The clock is ticking and we need to be counting our days wisely. So I need to be able to distinguish the buffaloes from the sheep - and to breath a fire that even they can't extinguish.

So - back to my prayer. Help me, Lord. They make me want to quit. Either change them or move them along.

Just a Moment

The 'Moment' comes from the Mundane.

There are so many of us looking for that 'moment' from God - that blast of energy that envelopes us and pulsates through our bodies, changing us forever from head to toe. That's why we have people that travel from church to church - or go on pilgrimages to the 'places' of excitement. If the place has it, then maybe they can catch part of it.

As misguided as these people are in their chase for the experience, I must admit that I do understand what motivates them. I desperately desire to have that supernatural experience that blows the doors off of my life forever. The third heaven of II Corinthians 12:2. Something so spontaneous and out-of-this-world that nothing will ever be the same. I want to hear 'inexpressible things that man is not permitted to tell."

It's important to remember, however, that spontaneity flows out of discipline, and a lot of what we call discipline is really the simple act of showing up. Be there. I want to thank my parents for instilling this trait into me. If you say you are going to do something - do it. If you say you are going to be somewhere - be there. Even if you don't feel like it.

This carries over into everything - even prayer. Sometimes it matters just to show up at the hour you've appointed for prayer. Set a time aside, and be there.

Again, spontaneity flows out of discipline. Michael Jordan 'flew' because he practiced for hours. A great musician 'goes off' because he put in years of disciplined work. DaVinci spent ten years drawing ears, elbows and hands in different aspects - then he painted. This is a novel thought in today's age of immediate results without any work.

You want a 'moment' with God? You need to make a deliberate, disciplined effort in this day of distractions to be with Him, to meet Him in your prayer closet, to be there even when you don't feel like it, on a regular basis. The 'moments' will come from these 'mundane' appointments. When you least expect it He will grab you and take you to places you've never been before. But before He can do that - you need to show up. The extraordinary will come from the ordinary.

The Blurred Line: Traditional vs. Relevance

Acts 4:23 “On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people.”

I Corinthians 5:13 “God will judge those outside. Expel the wicked man from among you.”

I Corinthians 9:22 “I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.”

There is a problem in our present church culture today about what our focus should be on. The argument between the traditionalists and those who are pushing relevance tends to revolve around the whole concept of ‘church.’ What is church to be in this day and age?

Should it be a place for Christians to gather and worship and study the Word together? Or is it to be a place where we open the doors, let everyone in, in the hopes of bringing some to Christ? Obviously – I’m breaking no new ground here – the answer is that church is to be both of these things.

When Peter and John were told to stop witnessing by the Sanhedrin, they went back to their 'own.' They needed to be with men and women of a like-mind. They needed their 'church.' That is why in I Corinthians 5 Paul is so adamant about expelling the man living in sin - the church needed to maintain its purity in the pagan Corinthian culture.

The church needs to be a rallying point for people who have the same mind and heart. It needs to be a place of holiness. It needs to be separate and different, for a variety of reasons: 1) so that it is a light to the outside world, 2) so that people may find rest from the fight, 3) so that true worship of one heart and mind may be offered up to God. This could not happen in a congregation that consists of believers and unbelievers. That is why in their time of trial, Peter and John were able to find strength to continue to preach with boldness.

This is where the 'traditionalists' have the right idea. But those in the current age who are crying out for relevance also need to have their voice heard, because it's the same cry that Paul had in I Corinthians 9 when he spoke of doing whatever he could to reach the lost. It's why, when all was said and done in Acts 4, their prayer was to be able to have boldness to get out and bring the lost to Christ. Evangelism is the heartbeat of any church. Without it, the church will rot from within.

A tension exists because there is a tension between maintaining a pure church and a church that has a heart for evangelism. Both elements must exist in our church culture - but we seem unable to find the balance that the early church found. They were able to have their 'own people' that they could gather together with, while still being a tremendous force in the world. They weren't confused by this concept. They didn't think that they had to somehow blend in to be effective. They didn't think that they had to make their message relevant, or their church compromised by the culture. And they were the most relevant entity to ever exist in the history of the church.

I'm not advocating simply copying the early church - they were a special movement at a certain time in history, and when you try to repeat a movement of the Spirit, you always end up a few steps behind. We are to be in step with the Spirit at all times. I'm just wondering why we can't have the same relevance without compromise that they had. Why our churches can't be places of holiness (which is by definition "separation"), while at the same time being a strong, loving arm extended to the lost.

Get the Hell Out of My Life

Revelation 2:4,5 "You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first."

II Chronicles 25:7,8 "These troops from Israel must not march with you, for the Lord is not with Israel . . . even if you go and fight courageously in battle, God will overthrow you before the enemy, for God has the power to help or to overthrow."

Hell = "the absence of God"

I really didn't intend to sound profane with the title of this posting, but my heart's desire for this year is very clear: I want to get the 'hell' out of my life. My definition of hell is the absence of God - so what I'm aiming for sounds somewhat awkward, but I want to focus on the removal of an absence, if that makes any sense.

I have "God-things" in abundance: church, school, Bible studies, devotional times, Christian songs on my computer, etc. But I lack Him. I lack intimacy with Him. My life is a living absence of Him - a living 'hell,' and I'm tired. God's presence and purpose energize me, and it's that spiritual energy that is lacking right now, in me and in the church.

In II Chronicles 25, King Amaziah sets out to conquer the Edomites. In his zeal, he hires out soldiers from the Northern Kingdom of Israel to help him. He is told, however, to get rid of these men, because God is not with them. He doesn't want to - he's already paid a huge sum of money to secure their services. But he must - anything that is not of God must go. He had too much 'hell' in his camp. Even if he makes the best plans and expends all of his energy, he will lose, because it's God who determines the victory. He had an abundance of resources, but He was lacking God. This incredible void must be removed before he could move forward.

How do you remove an absence? This is an important question, because with this absence comes another presence. It is apathy and cynicism. It is hesitation and delay. It is discontent and covetousness. It is compromise and inaction. It is mediocrity and defeat. It is one enormous waste of time. It is hell on earth.

Back to II Chronicles: Amaziah argued that he had already spent too much time and money on these men. If he let them go, he would lose all of that! But the prophet had a great response, simply stating: "The Lord can give you much more than that!" (v.9) Do we really trust Him like that? Can we cast off all of our old thoughts and methods and traditions - the things that we've spent so much time and money on - and trust that the Lord will more than supply in their absence? It takes a great step of faith to do this - but it's the only way to victory.

It's time to get back to our first love - to commune with God and get rid of all the stuff that gets in the way, the stuff that sucks the life right out of you. There is too much "hell" in my life right now and it's time to get rid of it and move forward. And, as profane as this may sound, there is too much 'hell' in our church camp right now. Too many things that are not of God and are killing us, diluting the power of the church in the process. His absence is killing us. Are we brave enough to do what Amaziah did? Will we send the things that represent His absence out of the camp? Out of our own life? Out of our church?

I wish that we had someone like the prophet who came to Amaziah - someone who could pinpoint the things that don't have God, and say, "Get rid of this, and this, and this. . . . " But we really can't make excuses. We have His Word and His Holy Spirit, who as Christ told us, will have the power to convict us of sin. If we truly want to know - honestly - He will reveal these things to us.

What are some of the possibilities? Traditions. Relationships. Music collections. Mindsets. Movies. Denominations. Authors. Small compromises. These are things that we've invested a lot of time and money into - and they all must go if they are not of God. It doesn't matter how far down the road we've traveled with them, unloading them is the first step to victory. I say this of each one of us personally, and of our churches. There is an absence of God in the things that we do - there is a certain hell that exists in our lives and in our churches. It's time to get the hell out of our life and be consumed by the Consuming Fire.

Lord, please do one thing for me right now - reveal to me what is irrelevant, what does not have YOU, and give me the courage to cast it off without hesitation or regret. Give me a holy reverence for You and for Your Name - so that I may be of actual use to these people around me. Cause me to lift up Christ and nothing else, so that He may draw all men unto Himself, with me on the sideline cheering. Give me the eyesight that allows me to be willing to be the best man - not the groom - as Christ draws His bride in. May You increase as I decrease.

May Your Holy presence be so strong in our church that It consumes all the things that don't matter. Amen.

The Separation Imperative

Jeremiah 10:2 "Do not learn the ways of the nations."
Exodus 23:13 "Do not invoke the names of other gods; do not let them be heard on your lips."

I think we are heading in the wrong direction. It's taken me awhile to figure this out, but God has been patiently relentless, pounding it into my heart as He allows me to work through it. He is getting me to a place of holy separation.

Our church culture is, in the name of evangelism, embracing and assimilating into the culture of the world. I have piggy-backed onto this movement for many years - hey, who doesn't want to save the lost - and I think I'm wrong. I can feel in my own walk that I'm wrong, as I struggle with the effects of this working through my own spiritual life. Simply put - I am not of this world anymore, and when I get into it, it gets into me, and I feel completely out of sorts as a Christian. No good to anyone, including myself. Jeremiah 10:2 states, we are not to be learning their 'ways.' Their way of life - their 'gods' - should not even be on our lips. Ephesians 5:12 says that it is 'shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret' - so why would we ever tolerate it, never mind enter into it?

When you learn their ways, you quickly enter into their means, their intentions - and ultimately into their true heart. This is an ugly place where we really should not be dwelling. We think separation causes us to lose our ability to testify in this world. Wrong. Assimilation causes us to lose our ability to testify.

I know that this is an unpopular thought in the new church movements. Believe me, I've bought into the impact by assimilation mindset in the past and the fruit has tasted awful. I've seen two negative consequences:

1. My mind, being saturated with these worldly things under the guise of more effective evangelism, has become a stagnant pool. I know, emerging proponents will say that this is my fault and they may be correct - but it is what it is.

2. The 'salvations' have been very shallow and program/people-dependent. As long as you're being like them, they'll listen - but they leave upon the first sign of anything that's intolerant or goes against their own feelings or core beliefs. This is because they haven't abandoned anything to reach for holiness, they've had their way of life catered to.

I do not say this lightly, because I am desperate for the lost to be saved. I say this after years of study and personal experience - but mostly I say this after feeling the pressure from God to allow Him to fully separate me from this world - so that I can be a better witness of the Truth. Please don't get me wrong - I'm not saying separate from the world and focus solely on your own personal holiness. I'm saying that if we strive for personal holiness, we will have a true picture of God to offer to the world - not simply a neutered version of Him.

Separation Power - Fleshing Out the Surrendered Life

I have noticed that there are Christians out there who are tired of the mediocre, tired of the average Christian life that interlocks with the world and has no separation power. So my answer, over and over, to these people is to jump in with reckless abandon. To surrender all to Christ and not look back. To walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

Well, they need more than that. I've come to realize that I've fallen into the pastor's lazy way out of a real question. Not that reckless abandon and surrender are not what's required, but it avoids the issue of how to do it, what it looks like. They become catch-phrases that leave the seeker wondering what to do next. It's almost like saying "I'll pray for you" when someone comes to you with a problem. It sounds nice and pious, but it leaves them with the still-empty feeling that they came in with.

That's why I'm glad that this is a blog - with the opportunity for give and take. So I'm throwing the question out there. How does one practically experience or even begin the surrendered life? I know that Elisha burned his plow and slaughtered his oxen - he was making sure that he was never going back. James and John left their boats - their means of business. The men of Ephesus in Acts 19 burned their pagan scrolls in the public square. They put very real stakes in the ground and left all to follow God. Josiah knocked down the idols, burned them, and ground their ashes to dust. Then he literally scattered Israel's old, powerless, compromised way of life to the wind.

But what about us? How do I scatter my putrid stagnancy to the wind? For anyone who reads this, help me out here. Throw out some of your thoughts and experiences as to how we get the flesh out and walk only in the Spirit - tell me how you think that this is fleshed out in the day and age that we now live.

Is it as simple as making a statement that you are now fully surrendered? As methodical as getting up every morning and reading your Bible? As potentially legalistic as cutting out the things (and people) that you feel are hindering your walk and living what you think the lifestyle should look like?

Although these may eventually be aspects of the surrendered life, it has to be more than that. Give me some help. I need to know, and it is wonderfully obvious that I am not alone. There are many out there looking for this separation power.

Nehushtan - Only a Vessel

Numbers 21:8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live."

II Kings 18:4 He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan. )

John 3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up.

As stated in my last posting, when Jacob finally came full circle in Genesis 35, he returns to Bethel, renaming it El Bethel. He is no longer going to worship the place. He is going to worship the God of the place.

This is much more important than it sounds at first. The place is not going to be honored. The experience is not going to be placed above the God who gave him the experience. It's an easy trap to fall into. We worship - or at least overly acknowledge - the place of our encounter with God, not the God of our encounter.

Think about it - how many places become idols? How quickly something or someone that should be honored becomes something or someone that is worshiped. The Nehushtan, or bronze snake, was used by God to bring healing to the Israelites in Numbers 21. It did not bring the healing - it was a tool, a vessel used by God. But over time, of course, it became an object of worship. We are so tangible and finite that we simply can't help but cling to the vessels that God uses.

Mary - a vessel used by God to bring healing (Jesus) into the world - becomes an object of worship. In Acts 14 the people of Lystra want to worship Paul when he brings healing to the crippled man. Paul immediately does what I believe Mary would do if she were around today - he deflects all attention to God. "Men," Paul says, "Why are you doing this? We too are only men . . . bringing you good news." And if the Nehushtan could talk - he would have said the same thing. "Look to God - I'm only a vessel!"

But we are so locked in to experiences and places that we flock to Toronto, Kansas City, Rome, Willow Creek, Mars Hill, Times Square, etc - looking for a repeat. The US is having the same problem in that churches are flocking to Purpose Driven principles, new philosphies, new methods - all with the hope that these will bring the healing. Churches and denominations are being lifted high, being worshiped instead of being places of worship. All we end up doing is stealing their staleness.

I have an idea - let's do what Jesus said. Let's lift Him up and allow Him to draw people to Him. Hezekiah eventually had to smash the Nehushtan into pieces so that God could be lifted up. If these other places or people become objects of worship, then God will ultimately do the same to them.

Honestly, I need a spiritual healing, and I'm tired of turning to books or churches or ministries or denominations or men. God is clearly telling me to seek Him and put all the other things aside for awhile. They have their place, and they may be used in the process, but they have become the object instead of a vessel to reach the object. In the terminology of Ezekiel 47, He is telling me to cast everything off, allow it to be washed in the River, and if it is useful it will be brought back to me cleansed. If it is not - let it drift away.

At the Mercy of the Current

Ezekiel 47 "I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the Temple . . . ankle-deep . . . knee-deep . . . up to the waist . . . a river that no one could cross."

It's time for men and churches to start unloading their baggage. It's time for purity and holiness - and victory. We have been running on fumes for far too long - thinking that it's the normal Christian life, when it's not. The normal Christian life is to be Spirit-fueled, and we're settling for far less than is available. The only way that this can happen is if we move on down the river and find the deepest point and jump in.

The water of the Spirit is flowing from the Temple, from our Savior, and we have a choice where to stand, and our choice determines our walk. If we stay upstream, standing in ankle-deep "water" - our walk is not affected at all. We still can move under our own power and do what we like. Our lives and the life of the church is unchanged.

If we move downstream a little, the water becomes knee-deep. Now it begins to affect our walk - but only a little. We can get where we want to go on our own and our baggage is still manageable. Though I'm a little uncomfortable, I can still do my own thing. Our church can still move at the pace of its own agendas and methods.

Further downstream it's up to our waist. Now I have to make some decisions. Do I plow ahead on my own strength or do I go with the flow? If I've reached this point, my life is being altered by the flow - but I can lift my bundle of agendas and methods over my head and I can make it on my own. If I try enough, under my own strength, I can still manage to get this done.

But wait - all the way downstream, it's over my head!! If I enter here, there is no turning back. I'm at the mercy of the current. When you are in the 'current' you have to abandon the past. I have to jettison my baggage, all those things that I think are necessary for my survival - and let the current take me where it may. There's no way that I can hold onto anything here! This action requires reckless abandon. For a person - or for a church. Are we truly willing to let everything go - jump into His Spirit - and let Him take us where He will?

That's the decision every church faces. Too many, sad to say, stay ankle-deep, so that they can manage their own walk and keep their own methods. They are at the mercy of the current - the current trends and mega-church ideas and books. But if you read on into Ezekiel 47, you see that it's at the end of the River - where it empties into the Sea - that is where the salt water becomes fresh. That's where the real changes take place. When you're in over your head.

How many Christians though, how many churches, are willing to get in over their head? To surrender to the current moving of the Spirit? The past is so comfortable! Pray for me - I'm jumping in - and I want to take my church with me.

El Bethel - Worship the God of the Place

Genesis 35:7 "There he built an altar, and he called that place El Bethel"

It's time for church revolution. It's time we start renaming our places of worship. I'll start: From now on, Community Baptist Church will be El Community Baptist Church. Why? Because it's time we started worshiping the God of our churches, and not the institutions and denominations themselves.

In Genesis we read of Jacob's journey to truly becoming Israel. It's a long process and I believe that chapter 35 is where he finally becomes that man. He buries the household gods, sanctifies his family, and makes a stand. He renames Bethel (House of God) to El Bethel (the God of the House of God). This is a key step. No longer will he worship the place or the experience, he will worship the God who made that experience possible. That is the key stage for any ministry.

Our churches today are still caught up in worshiping experiences, methods, buildings, ministries and personalities. We are caught up in a Cult of Christian Personality. We follow trends and programs, books and methods, and worst of all - we follow men. These have become our means of measuring success and attaining worldly recognition. We need a radical overhaul - a fire sale. Everything must go. Every treasure we've built up on earth needs to be burned and the ashes scattered to the wind.

The key for Jacob was that he didn't try to recreate his first experience at Bethel - He came and offered himself up completely new and expectant of new experiences. Our churches need to stop trying to recreate experiences and programs and pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This can only start when we totally let go of all our baggage, all of our preconceived ideas of 'church' and simply let God go to work through us.

Read Ezekiel 47 - it's the perfect illustration of the step of total abandonment to God. I'll explain further in my next posting. For now - pray for an open mind to be willing to do what God wants to do. Look directly at Him. Don't be like the beggar in Acts 3 who had to be told to focus. Look clearly into the face of Jesus and let Him be the God of our churches.

The Man and The Mission

Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

I read an interesting letter to the editor in my local newspaper tonight. In it, the writer was denouncing the musicians who pen these anti-war songs yet then claim that they are for the troops. The writer, an ex-Marine who served in Viet Nam, states that ultimately it is not possible to be ‘for the man but against the mission.’ They are inseparable, because a military person must be sold out on the mission or he will not be effective. You cannot honestly do the man justice when you denounce his mission - because it is who he is. It's a weak attempt at trying to have it both ways.

I agree. And you can't separate Jesus Christ from His mission. You can't claim that you love His teachings, His compassion, His radical upheaval of the established religions, His confrontation with the political authorities, yet then say that you don't support His mission to save sinners who are going to a very real hell. The salvation of the lost is who He is - it was His stated purpose for coming to earth in human form.

He did not come to be compassionate, He is compassionate by nature. He did not come to establish a new religious thought or system, that's something we've done. He did not come to make a kind and loving people, because that was not the problem. He came because people are by nature deeply rooted in sin and are dying in it. If you try to wrap other missions around Christ but deny the inherent sinfulness of man and the reality of judgment and hell, you miss who He is and why He came. You can't have it both ways - a Savior for people who don't need saving.

Is There A Doctrine In The House?

We have two interesting viewpoints emerging in our current church culture. On the one hand, we have the men and women who are preaching about the promise of prosperity for the church. They are giving sermon after sermon on attaining everything you need right here and right now, and it is your right (as a Christian only) to have it. Our destiny is to have the world! I find this interesting, because in Psalm 73:25, the psalmist writes that "the earth has nothing I desire besides You."

On the other hand, we have the Emerging Church, which has as one of its main goals the 'social' gospel. The message here is that our purpose is to get into the world and address the problems of poverty and disease. I must admit, while personally I like the 'prosperity' movement, spiritually I can't help but be more drawn to the 'social' movement. It appeals to the Christ in me.

Brian McLaren, the leading voice in the emergent movement, has a new book out called: “Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crisis and a Revolution of Hope.” In it, he cautions “against a spiritual need-centered belief that neglects imminent physical and social concerns.” In his earlier book, he argues that “faith is more about a way of life than a system of belief, and being authentically good is more desired than being doctrinally right.” So while he had me with his opening hook, he loses me when he loses doctrine. Why? Because doctrine simply is truth expounded, and it is the truth that sets me free. And I want to be free.

I find this conflict interesting in light of the passage in Acts 3, which addresses all of these issues. Right off the bat, Peter and John confront and meet the physical needs of the beggar. They have to, or he (and the crowd) may never listen to the message. This is a principle clearly seen in I Kings 19, as we see the way God dealt with the depression of Elijah. Before confronting the spiritual problem, you may have to deal with the physical situation. Without rebuking him for his spiritual demise, God simply fed Elijah and told him to get some rest. Meeting the physical need of a person is obviously extremely important. So, of course, I do see this point. It's nothing new or emerging. It's been God's way since Adam.

But if that's all it is, a 'felt-need' being met, then it's just as wrong as the prosperity gospel, maybe even more so. Its danger lies in that it gives a false sense of spirituality - when all it is is a physical need met. Ultimately, we are to point to the only thing that matters, a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ – His only expressed means of salvation (doctrinally-speaking).

The end of Acts 3 reveals the point of the story – Peter tells them that “When God raised up His servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways." The blessing is in the spiritual need being met. Not silver or gold, and not the physical healing. The spiritual need is the epicenter of everything else. Any focus on the material that eliminates this as the focal point, whether it’s the greedy preacher accumulating wealth on earth or the emerging man with the heart of gold reaching into the deserts of the Sudan, is missing the mark.

Why? Because Christ came into the world to redeem lost souls. Feeding the hungry, healing the sick, clothing the naked, visiting the poor – are all wonderful ‘new creation’ offshoots of this spiritual healing. At least they should be (and this is where I think the Emerging Church has an edge over the traditional churches.) But again, the point is that we are in a spiritually sick world that manifests itself in physical sickness - and if that spiritual need is not the primary need, then everything else is like a band-aid on a cancerous tumor.

In Luke 5:20 - 24, Christ forgives the paralytic that is lying before Him on a mat. The man's four dirty, sweaty friends must be wondering why they spent all that time digging through a roof to get him there. But Christ knows what matters. The man's spiritual state far outweighs his physical problems. It's almost as if He has no intention of healing the man. But to show that He can forgive, He heals. Not vice versa. Spiritual forgiveness clearly outweighs physical need. It's the only true answer to any problem in the world.

It was the answer to these people in Acts 3. It was the answer to the thief on the cross - who never did find his physical need met. It’s the answer to the starving African mother and the political prisoner in China. It's the answer to the Christian who wants his best life and he wants it now.

Spiritual healing is the only thing that matters. Why? Because, as David experienced in Psalm 32, being in sin sucks the everlasting life right out of you. And being in Christ sucks the everlasting sin out of you - and in the end, that is what matters. As Christ told His disciples when they returned from their first missionary trip: "Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20) When all is said and done, there's heaven and there's hell (again, doctrinally-speaking).

The Responsibility of the Saved

Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching . . fellowship . . .breaking of bread . . . prayer.”

Christ came to save the lost, this is very clear from His stated mission in Luke 19:10. He also commanded us to make disciples in His Great Commision - disciples, not simply converts. This is hard work – it requires follow-up to conversions, and it’s where many churches drop the ball. Many of the new believers fall away quickly because they don’t get grounded in God’s Word or get involved in fellowship. This weighs heavy on the heart and mind of the people witnessing, as it should. But . . .

Not all of the responsibility lies on the church. There is a responsibility of the saved. The people in Acts 2 that responded to Peter’s message, believed and were saved – and then they devoted themselves to learning the Word and to fellowshipping with other believers. They didn’t just lie there with their mouths open and say, “Feed me!” They didn't wait around for the Apostles to make church entertaining and comfortable for them. They actively responded to the new life within them and pursued God. They felt the hungering and took steps to find the food.

A saved person, one who truly responds to their own sin and to the love of Christ, will want to move forward, will have an in-born desire to press into God. They will have some ‘devotion’ to the cause. This doesn’t release the church from our responsibility of discipling, I’m just saying that we shouldn’t have to feel like we’re pulling teeth trying to get the ‘saved’ to read their Bible or come to a Bible Study or get involved in church. Sometimes I get frustrated with the level of energy that seems to be required to get those who are supposedly professing Christ as their Savior to have any personal urgency to get to know Him better. Again - it really shouldn't be that hard.

Am I questioning whether they have truly had a conversion experience? Honestly – yes. Yes I am. I used to pass it off as simply as a weak or immature Christian. But I think it's time we wake up to what it truly means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.