Looking into 2014

So here are a couple of thoughts I've had that have followed me into 2014 and what I feel will mark most of my thoughts and discussions this year. I have more thoughts but these are the first ones on my mind and I wanted to go ahead and put them out there. 

   “Discernment” ministries.

I’ll be honest and say that there are plenty of ministries and preachers that I don’t agree with. I use to like finding different ministries that said this person was wrong and was a “false” prophet. But it doesn't take much these days to be a “wolf” apparently. Most of what I've read lately is disagreement over secondary issues. I've heard my Pastor say it doesn't matter if you are post-tribulation or pre-tribulation what matters if we know the Grace of God and are we making that grace known. Even though I believe we must contend for the faith there are people who are out there making shots at many well-meaning ministers who love Jesus and desire for people to come to the truth. I just wonder if those people are actually out doing the work of the Lord (making disciples) or do they just invest their time in shooting people down?

   The Spirit doesn't have to be weird to be Powerful.

I’m reading a book right now about discipleship. I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy the book, so I just flipped through it looking to see how I felt about it. My eye happened to catch a portion about the Holy Spirit and here is the quote that made me smile, “I’m discovering that most of the time the power of the Spirit is subtle, not showy.” (Gospel Centered Discipleship, Jonathan Dodson).  At times I seem conflicted because I consider myself a charismatic Christian, but many times feel very disheartened by what happens among many charismatic groups. I always leave saying “Why is that not the Holy Spirit I know?” The scriptures tell us that that Holy Spirit will testify about Christ and will always point to Christ. Instead a man or manifestation is made the focus, they won’t admit it but it’s true. If you don’t understand what I’m talking about then you’re probably better off that way.

   The Gospel

I've discovered that so many people have had bad experiences with the Church because they really have never heard the Gospel. I mean they've heard of Jesus but what they heard was if you can do all the right things then God will take you to heaven. That is not true, while God’s heart is for us to live holy and righteous lives; He does it in us by His power via His Spirit. Many people are stuck in this idea that they need to conform themselves to God’s standards where what is closer to the truth is that God wants to TRANSFORM us into the image of Jesus. One emphasizes your ability, the latter emphasizes God’s ability AND responsibility. I've come to realize this year that the Gospel needs to be preached to those not just outside but INSIDE the Church. That those sitting in your pews and in your small groups need the gospel preached to them.  

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One Day.....

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4, ESV)”

I’ve been working on several posts the last couple of days, but tonight as I sit at my desk working on several different projects I can’t help but think of that coming day when death will be extinguished forever, never to be seen again. In that day sorrow will never be felt again. The scriptures say that death no longer has power over us, but in Revelations 20 we see where death itself is destroyed, “Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire...” (Revelation 20:14, ESV).

“But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:13, ESV)

While I understand that these scriptures communicate a heartbreaking message of judgment and destruction it also communicates a hope that we all hold to as followers of Christ. That the work of Christ on the cross and in the resurrection not only went to redeem man, but to redeem creation itself. The scriptures say that the streams will flow in the desert, and that the lion and the lamb will lie together.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. ” (Romans 8:18-19, ESV)

Do you see what Paul says there? That the pain we feel and trouble we experience now is not even worth comparing with what we will experience in the age to come. I know that is not easy to say but we don’t understand the glory we will live in.

“For behold, I create new heavens

and a new earth,

and the former things shall not be remembered

or come into mind.” (Isaiah 65:17, ESV)

My consolation to hurting hearts in Christ is this. Look ahead of you and to the promise of Christ, to the day of salvation in its fullness. It’s ok to cry, grieve, hurt, but not as those who do not have hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13), because in Christ we have a hope of a better day. A day absent of hurt, sorrow, and pain, friends what a day that will be when righteousness reigns and evil is never to be remembered. Until then His Spirit is here comforting us and encouraging us to press on. So press on my brothers and sisters with that day in mind.

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Holy Spirit

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“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-5, ESV)

This passage of scripture came to me the other night as I visited a family. I was asked to come speak and pray with a lady who was on her death bed. Upon arriving I found a very weak woman in an impossible situation, naturally speaking. It was very heartbreaking to see this lady. I had a dear friend go along with me to pray for this lady, as we were praying I felt the feebleness of my own words, I knew that there was nothing in and of myself that could save this lady. I couldn’t say a good enough prayer to save her or heal her. It was truly going to have to be the power of God that saved this precious lady.

I mean I can do a lot of things in my own strength. I can encourage people, lead people, I could even preach a half decent sermon apart from Holy Spirit. But as I stood above this lady I knew that there was nothing I could muster up to save her. I could craft a really nice sounding prayer and it would not save her.

Paul tries to relate some of the same ideas in the passage above. He says that when he came to the Corinthians he didn’t even attempt to persuade them with eloquent words but rather he trusted only the power of the Spirit.

This experience here left me in a place of desperation for the Spirit’s power. I need to be utterly dependent on the Spirit everyday for his power because it is only through him that we will see people truly set free and healed.

I can’t preach a good enough sermon to save anyone; I truly need the power of the Spirit to change hearts and minds.

Think about these things the next time you are praying. The temptation is to craft a really good spiritual prayer but what matters most is what you are trusting in. Your elaborate prayer does not move God, the volume of your prayer does not move God. Rather what moves Him is faith. Faith in the Spirit's power, not your words. 

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Puzzled?

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This morning my Pastor spoke about finding your place and used puzzle pieces as an analogy to explain the Body of Christ. It reminded me of a similar analogy I used in something I wrote five years ago this week. I found it amazing that the Lord would use it again as he spoke to my Pastor about it this last week. So on that subject I hope this blesses you.

August 19, 2008 

The Body of Christ is like a puzzle and when put together looks like Christ. Now every puzzle piece looks different. Some are big and some are small. Some are bright and some are dark. Then some are just a mixture of everything. Now the thing about almost every puzzle piece is that they have two distinct characteristics, the connectors. One part sticks out and one part caves in. The only way for the picture to be seen in its fullness and with clarity is to assemble the whole puzzle into one picture so the only thing that is seen is the picture and not the pieces.

Now in regards to Christ and his believers is just that. Each believer is a different piece of the puzzle meaning that they have connectors which are strengths and weaknesses. In order for Christ to be seen in his fullness, just like the puzzle we too must come together and unite. We must allow someone else's strengths to overlap and fill in our weakness. Allow our vision to contribute to someone else's. We must really see ourselves as pieces to something bigger. That each of us has been given something to contribute to the bigger picture. That even though some pieces may look bigger, they still need the smaller ones to complete the job.

The problem though arises when we believe that we have the whole picture and that there is nothing to add to it. That one puzzle piece believes he's the picture. He becomes a one man show; In essence becoming God.

Our goal and ultimate destiny is to reveal Jesus. In order to do that, we must unite every piece into one picture to show the fullness of Jesus. God made each of us distinctively different not so we would stand out, but so we could each come together in humility to share our differences in order to reveal our similarity which is Christ.

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The Forbidden Fruit and Adam's Response

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:8-13

At the moment I am attending Liberty University, a Christian college, and I’m working on my degree online. Very often our course work requires us to incorporate scripture into our assignments as we work to integrate faith and the world of psychology.

Last night I was working on an assignment and I chose to use the above text depicting the Fall of Man in the garden. As I was working on my assignment and looking closely at the text I found it interesting that when Adam and Eve hid, they hid because of their nakedness, not because they had broken a command. Adam said “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, BECAUSE I WAS NAKED, and I hid myself". He did not even mention eating the fruit. Now maybe it is implied that is why he hid, I don’t know. I just found it interesting the reason Adam gave was that he hid because of his nakedness.

I have my own ideas, I was wondering what some other thinkers might think.

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