The Most Important Things

This is an excerpt from A.W. Tozer, he passed away in 1963. This makes this insight that much more valuable. It’s at least 40 years old and yet speaks to us today. (emphasis mine)

“Unannounced and largely detected, there has come in modern times a new cross into popular evangelical circles. It is like the old cross; but while likenesses are superficial, the differences are fundamental.

From this new cross has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique – a new type of meeting and new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content and emphasis differ.

The old cross would have not truck with the world. For Adam’s proud flesh, it meant the end of the journey and carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai.

The new cross, in contrast, is not opposed to our flesh. It is a friendly pal, the source of oceans of good, clean and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged – he still lives for his own pleasure. But now he takes delight in singing worship choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a high plane morally, if not intellectually.

The new cross encourages a new and entirely different evangelical approach. The evangelist does not demand a surrendering of the old life before the new life can be received. He preaches similarities rather than contrasts. He seeks to create more interest in the gospel by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands. His brand of Christianity offers the same things the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospels offers – only the religious version is better.

The new cross does not slay the sinner; it redirects him. It steers him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, ‘Come and assert yourself for Christ.’ To the egotist it says, ‘Come and do your boasting in the Lord.’ To the thrill seeker it says, ‘Come and enjoy the thrills of success through Christ.’”

A.W. Tozer

We must die to ourselves and cling to the old, rugged cross. It is only then that new life can be granted.

In John 4:34, Jesus says that “His nourishment comes from doing the will of God and from finishing His work.” Later on, on the cross, He shouts “it is finished.” The writer of Hebrews refers to Jesus as “the author and finisher of our faith.” Paul, in his last epistle, says “I have fought the fight, I have finished the race.” Catching the theme here? It’s finishing the work of God. In our modern day of “next level” theology, have we missed a major concept in the bible? The concept of finishing what God began in us.

Allow me to elaborate. Many people claim to ascend to the next level, when they haven’t even finished the previous “level.” Jesus had one goal in mind, going to the cross. After He got to the cross, He didn’t proclaim I am going to the next level. Nor did He ever proclaim to be at the “next level” (or that He had accomplished His work) before He was on the cross. Think about this for a moment. Imagine if Jesus, while being beaten and scourged, proclaimed “I am going to the next level!” How weird (for starters) and how ludicrous that would’ve been. He was in the middle of His work, it wasn’t done yet. The accomplishment of Jesus culminated on the cross, not before or after. Once He “finished” His work (all 3 days of work including resurrection), He sat down at the right hand of the Father. His “sitting down at the right hand of the Father” was evidence of completion.

That’s a major contrast to our next-level, “ever-expanding vision” theology. We seemingly will never finish our “grandiose work.” Even though God, in His infinite wisdom, has given each of us a task to complete. Take the example found in the parable of the talents, the faithful workers who completed the first job are then rewarded with another job…and that’s it. There was no endless level climbing. The way I see it, is that we rarely finish our first job and we would rather move on to the “next level” because we are bored with the unfinished one. That’s immaturity. Ed Cole said this, “maturity is accepting responsibility for your self. Jesus was the most mature person on earth, ever. He accepted maturity for Himself and for the sins of the world.” Or, He finished the work He was assigned and the work we were assigned. He accepted the responsibility of His work and saw it to completion. A mark of maturity (similar to having a child clean their room and do nothing else until it’s clean.)

So, what is your God-given task? How do you intend to finish it? Do you intend to finish it, or has another “level” drawn your attention away from it? Let your nourishment, your sufficiency or strength, come from doing the will of God AND from finishing that work.

Your presence among us sets your people and me apart from all other people on the Earth. Exodus 33:16

That’s the best way to put that. I don’t think there is a better way to describe “us.” Ussus (southern colloquialism) is Christians. We are supposed to be defined and set apart as people who have the presence of God. In the book of Acts, the Apostles were described as “those who had been [in the presence of] Jesus.” We are not defined by anything other than the presence. And from that presence, flows culture, language, standards and purpose; among many other things.

Some people have placed the culture, language, et al above His presence when “presenting” the Kingdom of God. This only leads to lifeless religion and works-based theology. We must continue to distinguish ourselves as people of His presence. This is the bottom line. When we walk in His presence, all day long, we are able to properly relate to people. How? We are in tune with the Spirit of God. He leads us and He guides us. We enter into situations aware that the holy Spirit wants to do something and we are prepared for it. Instead of our current state of encountering people in need and walking away saying “I should’ve prayed for (or witnessed to or …) that person.” When we don’t live in His presence, we are surprised and interrupted by humanity rather than prepared and led to make contact with humanity.

When the Holy Spirit descended and remained upon Jesus, it was signifying an unbroken, intimate communion with the presence of the Father. Jesus was showing us the way to be led by the Spirit and to walk in the Spirit all day. He was showing us how to be prepared and led to reach humanity with divinity.

Are you in the Spirit right now? What about tomorrow afternoon? What about [insert time and place here]? You can be, and God is desiring to be with you. Acknowledge the presence of the Holy Spirit right now and let Him lead you today.

In the title (right above) I am not talking about the book of revelation, so much as I am referring to revelation that helps us mature in our faith. Paul says in Philippians 3:16: “Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.” Or in the NLT, “but we must hold on to the progress we have already made.” In other words, we are responsible for the revelation that has been given to us. At the same time that verse was rolling around in my spirit, I came across this quote: “the trouble with many of us (christians) is that we have hard hearts and soft feet.*”

I wonder if one of the real problems we have with spiritual maturity is the inability to deal with spiritual pressure. It’s not that we don’t want to mature in Christ, in theory. Perhaps it’s that we don’t want to be responsible for that next level of revelation. Paul says in Romans, that he would not have known sin if it were not for the law. (I imagine it sort of like the road runner and Wile E. Coyote. Wile E. Coyote runs off the cliff and hangs there, suspended in mid-air, for a moment. Then road runner hands him the book “laws of gravity”, Wile E. Coyote reads it, gets a revelation and then plummets to the ground below.) Perhaps, ignorance is bliss. I don’t think so, especially when ignorance takes the place of true spiritual maturity I strongly disagree.

Back to that quote about hard hearts and soft feet. We really should  have hard feet, to assist us on our lengthy christian walk. And we should have soft hearts, also to assist us on our lengthy christian walk. Yet we have it backwards. We have tender feet which causes us to moan, whine and question God as to why we are walking. And we have hard hearts that make us insensitive to the voice of the Spirit and filled with selfishness. Let it not be so! Let’s take the road Paul took. Though it was filled with many struggles and triumphs, he was able to say this: I have fought the fight, finished the race and I have remained faithful.

Those three elements are all equal to this: a soft heart and hardened feet. My prayer today is that my heart would be sensitive to the still, small voice of God and that my weary, hardened feet would carry me on to my finish line. What’s your prayer?

*Quote by Jackie Pullinger, a missionary who spent more than 20 years in Hong Kong working with prostitutes, heroin addicts and gang members.

With the World Cup just around the corner…I thought I would share some spiritual analogies in regards to the world cup. (Note: for those of you who do not know what the World Cup is, shame. It’s the largest sporting event in the world for the world’s largest sport – football aka soccer aka calcio aka futbol) So, on we go. Oh alright I might as well put it in a list format…

1) The only way to play for your national (Kingdom) team is to play really well for your local (church) team. If you want to be on the global stage of the kingdom of God you have to be a part of the local church first.

2) Playing for your local team is great and it’s a privilege, but playing for the national team is an honor few really have. It’s all about the Kingdom of God! What an honor to be a part of the church and the Kingdom!

3) Ultimately, the best players are the best for a couple of reasons: they have the fundamentals down, they know how to adapt to the other team (“enemy”), they are in shape and they are prepared. Hopefully, you have the fundamentals down (reading your bible daily, praying, tithing, witnessing, discipling, etc). Are you ignorant of satan’s devices? Are you ready to preach in season and out of season? Are you prepared for the 2nd Coming?

4) 11 players on a team plus the coach = 12. #12 is the number of authority/ divine gov’t. 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles; very interesting…

5) It’s not always the most skilled team that wins. It’s the most determined team that wins. How determined are we to the great commission? Is every creature on earth getting the gospel?

6) All the world is enthralled by who the winner is…except America which is generally apathetic towards soccer. The global church is on fire. And the world is in turmoil by Christians who are turning the world upside down…except for America. We just want to know, whether or not, we can bring our coffee into the worship center. And, “where’s the visitor parking because I am a visitor.” Wake up America. This game is not one we can stand to lose! (I am talking about the “game” of church and not soccer)

7) The ball is a sphere, like the Earth. All of mankind is kicking the Earth around. Ok that wasn’t really spiritual but more of a jab at BP for poking a gaping hole in the Earth and letting it bleed oil for months. And for having no real solution to fix it other than, “can we put a cork in it, like they did on the LOST finale?” or “let’s burn it!” Or, “as long as we can keep it corralled with giant, inflatable water weenies, we’re gold!”
Coca-cola is the official soft drink of the World Cup, Emirates the official airline, Sony the official TV or something, Adidas the official ball, Hyundai-Kia the official car sponsor (?!) and Visa the official credit card. There’s nothing spiritual there I was just wondering how Hyundai-Kia got official car sponsor? Why not the Ford Fiesta? That seems more fitting and festive. Just say it, “FEEEE-EEESSSSTTAAH!” Wasn’t that fun? And global.

9) There are no paid cheerleaders in soccer. Either you are on the team or you are supporting the team. Same thing in the Kingdom of God, there are no paid cheerleaders. Get in the game or stay in the crowd.

10) I heart soccer. Go Italy! (Only because the USA will not make it past the quarters, sorry guys!)

FIN.

If you follow me on twitter (if you’re a fan of witty, biblical, awesome observations I highly recommend it) you might have seen my last tweet. It was Ezek. 43:12, which says: “and this is the basic law of the Temple: absolute holiness!” So, the basic law or the most essential foundation/ starting point or that which is common to or required by everyone; according to God is: absolute holiness.

Any time you have a thought, or verse, in the Old Testament and you want to apply it into the New Testament (or more appropriately the New Covenant) you filter it through the cross. (Did Jesus endorse it while on Earth? Also, was it acted out in the New Testament epistles?) In this case, which is absolute holiness, the answer is a resounding: YES! God still desires that His people remain holy. It is still the basic law of the Temple. In the New Testament, the temple is our body. (1 Cor. 6:19) So, God still requires holiness in our natural and spiritual bodies.

In fact, God doesn’t just require holiness. He requires absolute holiness. This absolute holiness is not achieved through rules and regulations. It is achieved through the precious blood of Jesus shed for us on the cross. He, who know no sin, became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. It is STILL required of us today. In the midst of many other aspects of the word being overemphasized in the body of Christ today, we must remember that God is first and foremost HOLY. It is His primary moral attribute. It is the very name of His Spirit, the Holy Spirit. He has named His word the Holy Bible. And without holiness no man will see the Lord.

The basic law is holy because God is holy. What things are you doing in your life that is robbing you of holiness? What media is defiling your spirit of being absolutely holy? Change that and be holy today.

Well, we just got back from Brasil last week. What an amazing time that was! We saw hundreds get saved, healed and touched by the power of God. Paige and I (plus interns from 220) left on Sunday and were in the Brasilian state of Paraibo. We were preparing the city for a crusade that was to happen last Friday and Saturday night. Our job during the day was to go house to house and invite people to the crusade. Also, we took the opportunity to pray for people and lead them to Jesus. Many people were hungry to receive prayer!

In the evenings, we went to a number of churches to ignite some fires within them for revival and holiness. Every meeting was dripping with the anointing. A number of people were healed and saved. The altar was full every time we asked for people to come forward. It was a great move of God. The interesting thing about this whole trip, to me, was that in 50 years no new missionary had been to that village!

This led me to think about receiving revelation and rhema from God. Imagine if we had not received any new thing from God for 50 years?! Or, to really go deep, for 400 years (between Malachi and when John the Baptist came on the scene) there was no hearing from God! It’s known as the intertestamental period, it’s also the period when the King James Apocrypha was written. (Which is why those 14 books are not included in the Bible, among many other reasons.) During the time of Samuel, the bible states there was no widespread revelation from God. Revelation/ hearing the voice of God is so important! (It’s also important to make sure what we are hearing is actually FROM God and not other sources. Be advised that much of the “revelation” being spouted today is the result of the natural mind’s thoughts and not from the mind of Christ. If it cannot be easily backed up by scripture feel free to ignore it.)

How often do we take hearing the voice of God for granted? I am not saying that village hadn’t heard from God in 50 yrs. but that there was very little (if any) outside contact to the entire body of Christ. Thank God for His church! Thank God that we have the ability to receive from various ministries and ministers. But thank God most of all that we have the ability to talk directly to Him! Let us make a fresh commitment to not take for granted hearing the voice of God!

Psalm 116:1, 2 “I love the Lord because He hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because He bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!”

I have had these scriptures rumbling about in my spirit for the last month or so. I figured I would share them. They are good ones (as different from “non-good scriptures”

Is. 59:14, 15 – Our courts oppose the righteous, and justice is nowhere to be found. Truth stumbles in the streets, and HONESTY has been OUTLAWED. Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked.

WOW! Sound familiar? Yes. Sounds like the current state of affairs in the world today. In the non-christian world we should always expect this type of “law.” The scary scenario is when this sort of thinking creeps into the Kingdom of God on Earth.

The part that really provoked my spirit is where it says, “honesty has been outlawed.” That’s a dangerous statement. Especially when placed into the context of our ultra-politically correct society. Even more dangerous when you consider that it has creeped into our church language through decades of secular barraging. Ever heard this statement? “We don’t want to hear what you’re against, but what you’re for.” Harmless, right? Makes sense even. But in all honesty. Jesus, God, the Bible, et al talk a lot about what they are against. (And what they are for.)

This kind of honesty is getting very close to being outlawed. In some church circles you can no longer even refer to people as sinners, heathens, gentiles etc. Even though that’s what the bible describes US as. Bible language will never sit well with people living in sin.

Imagine if Paul, in his numerous lists of sins in his epistles, lived today? Would he have watered his list of sins down? I doubt it. Holiness brings authority. Paul simply states what kind of people do not inherit the Kingdom of God. If Paul lived today, he would most assuredly be on the list of “preachers who preach hellfire messages.” Why? Because he spoke honestly.

Now, somewhere out there, someone is thinking how judgmental?! That person is wrong for thinking that way. That person is the same person who wants to outlaw honesty and let truth continue to stumble through our streets getting mugged and beaten by hypocrisy and lies.

Anyone who renounces evil is attacked! A healthy reminder that the world must come up to the standard set by God, through His divine enablement of the HOLY Spirit. Speak the truth in love. And the truth is: we are all sinners. We all need Jesus to save us. And we all need to live holy lives.

p.s. Jamie is awesome.

From a biblical standpoint the use of words is extremely important. God created the world, animals and mankind through His words. Jesus used words to stop storms, cast out devils, heal the sick and raise the dead. However, as a christian community I think we have overlooked the use of words and specifically words of praise. Here’s a great example of words of praise, it’s a video from the iPad announcement. It’s 3 minutes long and has been spliced to include all the adjectives Steve Jobs and Co. heaped upon their new product.

Are you done watching the video? Good. Notice how Steve Jobs got his staff, and every presenter in the announcement, to be as equally enraptured as he was? That would make a great church service if all those adjectives were used about God. Imagine if, after our services, people came out heaping praises on God like that. He is phenomenal, amazing, beautiful, super-responsive, extraordinary, unbelievably great, way better than a laptop! If that was our confession, I can assure you that churches would be as full and filled with expectancy as the media was for a technology announcement. (Full disclosure: I would like an iPad. I think it’s a great 3rd device.) How are you using your words today? Are you more expressive and adjective-laden about technology and possessions? Or are you more expressive about God?

My God is awesome, incredible, phenomenal, wonderful, huge, amazing, terrific, etc. And I am more excited about Him than any ol’ piece of technology.