The Most Important Things

For the record, I have three kids. That’s why I know lots of Disney movie quotes. So…ever seen the movie Tangled? There’s a part in the movie (which is a re-make of the Rapunzel story) where Rapunzel just wants to live out her dream. To do that she needs a thief to make that happen. This thief has a dream to retire on a private island with lots of money. Rapunzel’s dream is to get out and see the world. At one point, they go into a pub filled with thugs and all these tough guys start singing about the dreams they have. It’s really funny. At the end of the scene, one of the thugs says to Rapunzel, “go, live your dream!” The thief answers, “Thanks. I will.” To which the thug responds, “Your dream stinks. I was talking to her.”

I said all of that to ask this, does your dream stink? Is your dream a selfish, isolated dream? Or is it a dream that is from God’s heart? How do you know if your dream comes from God’s heart? Here’s a great quote from John Piper that makes reference to our topic:

“The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—
is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the
friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and
all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties
you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no
human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with
heaven, if Christ were not there?”

What does that have to do with your dream, you ask? The above quote can easily define most American’s dream. And it stinks. If your dream is void of Jesus Christ it’s not from God. If you can accomplish your dream without Jesus Christ, it’s not from God. If your dream is all about you and what you can get for yourself, it’s not from God. Your dream stinks, because it reeks of the flesh. We must begin to dream like God does. We must see how God sees the world. He does not see the world in profit and loss, or possessions gained. He sees the world as family to be born, brothers and sisters to be reconciled, lives to be healed, heaven to be received.

Reinhard Bonnke is known for this quote, “a blood-washed Africa.” He’s been known to stare off into space in the middle of a conversation and when asked what’s the matter? He will respond, “a blood-washed Africa.” He has a dream from God that is so entrenched into his life that it consumes his thoughts. And note that it is not for himself, it’s what God wants. That’s a dream that will come to pass! (To date, he has seen over 50 million souls in Africa come to salvation in the last 10 years.) It’s time to change our dream. I used to dream about being wealthy and having this or that. Not anymore. I have a dream that makes me cry, pray and laugh because it’s for God and there’s no way I can “make it happen.” Can your dream be fulfilled with more money? Can your dream be fulfilled without God’s help? (I am not talking about “God helping you” win the lotto either.)

I will end with this verse, John 4:35, “But I say wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest…and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life.” This is God’s dream: people brought to Eternal Life! Let’s allow His dream to sink deep into our spirits and begin to lift our eyes! What’s your dream?

Ever hear somebody say, “it’s not the end of the world?!” Well, in the case of Harold Camping, it literally was not the end of the world. However, it is the end of his “prophetic words.” No one should take him seriously again, until he actually prophecies something that happens. That may sound harsh but it’s true. Here’s what the bible says in 1 Thess. 5:20-21, ”Do not scoff at prophecies, BUT test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good.”

In this verse we see a great and easy-to-follow guideline from God. We shouldn’t scoff or despise prophecies. But we should test them, to see if they come to pass. When you spend $100 million on a global campaign and it turns out to be dead wrong (not to mention unscriptural) then you don’t get the right to be take seriously on prophecy. I have nothing against Harold Camping. He just missed out on an obvious mistake, namely, no one knows the day or hour of Christ’s return. As a result, he failed the test; and miserably I might add. But there is hope!

The best thing about scripture is that applies to every area of life. In this instance, we see how shouldn’t scoff or despise prophecy. Just because one guy was terribly off, doesn’t mean every prophecy is wrong for the rest of time. Instead, we are told to test them and see if they come to pass. In addition, look at the final piece of that verse again, “…hold on to what is good.” Can anything good come from this? I say, emphatically, yes! Scores of people were alerted to the fact that there will be a 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ. Many Christians were actually on-guard, in the event it was the end of the world. And it brought up some great conversations that centered on Jesus’ return. Hopefully, this will continue to assist in motivating Christians (in the USA) of something that was extremely prevalent in the New Testament, the return of Christ.

This topic of the 2nd Coming is not mentioned very much in our modern context and it is a sad state of affairs. It is mentioned numerous times in the New Testament, it was the motivation for fulfilling the Great Commission. It should be ours today as well. There will be a 2nd Coming. And only Christians will go with Jesus. So, who are you sharing the gospel with and discipling? Now is the perfect time!

Yep. It’s that time of year again. The annual top 10 list. This year I have decided to line out my top 10 books of the year. For the record, these will all be non-fiction books. I can’t remember the last time I read a fiction book (probably college and probably the “left behind” series until it got weird). I am currently reading “Decision Points” by George W. Bush, it will take until the new year to finish it. I have also included some light commentary, not an in-depth review. So, without further ado…

10) For God’s Sake Grow up!  David Ravenhill (Son of Leonard Ravenhill) – The title is pretty self-explanatory. A very direct book on Christian maturity.

9) Successful Leadership through the Government of 12, Caesar Castellanos – A really good book on leadership, not necessarily a vision all should follow.
7 Levels of Intimacy, Matthew Kelly – A well written book about relationships. Relationships (along with biblical principles and finances) are things that should be read over and over again. The mind needs to be renewed continuously.

7) Boundaries, Townsend and Cloud – I finally read it. And it’s good. A book all should read.

6) Shadow Boxing, Henry Malone – A new classic on deliverance, freedom and fasting.

5) The Fires of His Holiness, Sergio Scataglini – God is Holy and wants His people to be Holy. A really great perspective and revelation on being holy.

4) Kenneth Hagin – A Fresh Anointing, How to turn your faith loose, Healing belongs to us – 3 mini-books by Dad Hagin. If you have never read one of his books, you should. They are essentials to understanding faith.

3) Paul, the Spirit and the people of God, Gordon Fee – This book is an amazing exegesis on the use of the word s/Spirit in the New Testament.. Brilliant writing about true community in the body of Christ. It’s actually a slimmed down version of 7000 page work I may peruse that in 2011.

2) The Cross, Cathy Ciaramitaro – 300+ pages on everything that took place before, leading up to, during and after the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This radically transformed my perspective on so many things this year.

And finally….

1) Alan Hirsch. He’s not a book but, an author of two of the best books I have read in a long time. They are, The Forgotten Ways and Untamed, respectively. “The Forgotten Ways” is a great book on the body of Christ and surrounding revival movements. “Untamed” is a book on discipleship. But not in the way we typically think about it. He tackles some of the greatest hindrances and battles the American/ Western church faces today. For example, consumerism, sexuality and our view of Jesus. Both of these are must reads.

And the real number 1 is the bible. Read it everyday, for the rest of your life.

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.

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!”

Seriously. I heart top 10 lists!

10) They are easy to read.

9) They take very little time to read.
They are written at a 4th grade reading level. (Which seems to be the average American’s reading level)

7) They can be written very quickly. (I am almost done writing this list.)

6) Even my 3 year old can count to 10!

5) 10 is a good looking number. There’s a thin 1 and a fat 0. Put them together and you have a binary composition or a number! HA! A match made in heaven.

4) Everybody likes top 10 lists. From celebrities to preachers to motivational speakers to coders to endangered species lists. When you put something into a list of 10 it immediately becomes likeable.

3) Everybody is doing it. See the list above of everyone who is doing “it.” (Note: “it” is making top 10 lists, not doing “it” it.)

2) They translate into other languages well, look: Lista del Top Ten (spanish), Lista da parte superior dez (portugese),  and Top Ten-Liste (German). See how easy that was?!

And the number one reason for writing top ten lists….

1) There is nothing else to say right at this instant, but blogs must be written to fill the empty voids of the internet!

Bam! Got another reason? Lay it on me!

(Hey wanna be a part of a forthcoming newsletter? Put your email in the blank over there>>)

(*Note this post is intended for humor. Do not get offended.)

I still have this love/hate relationship with twitter. I just can’t seem to break out one way or t’other (t’other = hymnal for “the other”, kind of like o’er = hymnal for “over”). Some days I really enjoy reading nuggets of truth or anecdotal factoids about the people I follow. Then there are those other days. The days that are filled with people begging to be re-tweeted, lists of all the church services they are having and off-doctrine, deep, spiritual sayings (my favorite).

The problem with twitter really isn’t 140 characters. It’s the millions of characters who twitter. I have had to unfollow a number of well-known people due to the fact that what they were saying was just wrong. Either it was just a constant feed of service info (which I could get from their website) or it was really bad “revelation.” I don’t think that every spiritual tweet a person sends out needs to contain something like this: I don’t want to eat my lunch, I want to eat HIS lunch! (That’s not an actual tweet but it’s pretty close to some I have read. Also, I understand english grammar. When you capitalize “His,” in mid-sentence, you are referring to God. There’s no need to make it ALL CAPS.)

I found a great top 10 list that summarizes what I think about twitter: this guy www.leadingsmart.com says it better than I can.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes from his top 10 list:

“Don’t tweet a message to one individual. That’s called email or text message. Tweets should be for the majority of those who follow you.”

Thank you for saying that!

The events of this past week in Haiti have been horrific and unbelievable. The numbers are staggering as to the assumed death toll (100,000 to 500,000) and to the amount effected (3 million people). Just about everyone on Earth is joining in to help out. Roughly $10 million has been texted to Red Cross in support. And hundreds of millions more pledged from countries all over. ($100 million from US alone, not sure I totally agree with that specific number considering we owe China BILLIONS, but there is great need nonetheless.)

In the midst of it all there have been some great misunderstandings. Specifically, this one: Pat Robertson’s now famous quote. However, if you listen to it, you will hear one thing that he didn’t say. He did NOT say, that this earthquake was a judgement from God. He did say that historically, Haiti made a pact with the devil. Which, if they did, would definitely lead to bad things. The problem I have with all of this is, that 1) the news media jumped all over it and misrepresented what he said, and 2) Christians jumped all over it and began to disown the man as if HE made a pact with the devil.

As far as the news media is concerned, who cares. When have they ever reported anything without bias? And, as long as Jesus hasn’t returned they never will. It’s an uncontrollable situation, so I am over it. As far as Christians disowning Pat Robertson… that annoys me to no end. I wonder how many people watched the video, before re-tweeting what somebody who watched CNN or The Daily Show said, and took what they said as the truth. I read numerous tweets from people I respect and admire who either directly or indirectly JUDGED Pat Robertson for “judging” Haiti. (I remember Paul saying something about that in Romans 2.)

What bothers me about this situation is that many Christians were trying to distance themselves from Pat Robertson and trying to look presentable to the world. Even the democratic party, in the midst of racial slurs within their party, did not do so much washing of their hands! (Here for more info) My question is when will we bother to get down to the truth and either choose to make no comment or make an educated comment. Regardless of whether Haiti made a pact or not is beside the fact. The real issue is whether or not we have made a pact to be a family, a church and a Kingdom. If this is how we treat family… well you get the point.

I think this whole situation can be summed up best by this quote: “They (Haiti) need to have and we need to pray for them a great turning to God and out of this tragedy I’m optimistic something good may come. But right now we are helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable.” Pat Robertson. By the way, Operation Blessing, Pat Robertson’s “social justice” arm, has been in Haiti for the last year. More info about that here.

Bottom line, we all need more of Jesus!

In the last post I brought up the question of who is church for? I asked the question is church for believers or unbelievers. In this blog, I would like to re-ask that question from a different view point. Who is church for, Jesus or the world?

According to a number of scriptures in the bible (OT and NT), God refers to His people as…well HIS! In the Old Testament we find numerous occasions where God calls His chosen people back to Him. He pleads with them to repent and stop mixing themselves with the world’s religions and systems. His heart for them is unending. And His desire for them is to be holy as He is holy. This theme continues in the New Testament. Jesus comes on the scene preaching about a bride and a bridegroom. He consistently uses this type of imagery over and over again in the Gospels. He talks about the bridegroom being taken away, the bridegroom celebrating and the bridegroom returning . You cannot have a bridegroom without a bride. Who is the bride that Jesus desires to return to? The church, His people.

Who is church for? It’s for Jesus. It is the pure, spotless bride of Christ as Paul reveals in Eph. 5. She, the church, is supposed to be undefiled and without wrinkle. She is supposed to be a radiant, beautiful bride. The desire of all nations. She is supposed to be holy and pure saving herself for the bridegroom.

Problem. She is not. She is being presented to other bridegrooms. She is being prostituted out to the world system. Any time we present the church, the bride of Christ, to the world we dishonor the bridegroom. It seems in many of our churches we are more content to look good in the eyes of the world, than in the eyes of God. Every time we present our bride (which is really ourselves) to the false bridegrooms of fame, cultural relevance, compromise, tolerance, etc. we slap Jesus in the face and say, “you’re not the perfect bridegroom”.

How do we know when Jesus is pleased with His bride? I believe He shows His great pleasure in to His bride through miracles, His glorious presence and supernatural, unstoppable growth. Does that typify our modern, western-style churches? Not really, as in, no. In fact, most of our services have all but eliminated any room for the Holy Spirit to move and are now catered to other bridegrooms, namely the unsaved. Many churches now play secular music, show movies that aren’t godly and “give talks” that don’t go anywhere near Golgotha (aka the Cross). Any wonder why Jesus doesn’t want to show up?

Imagine, for a second, you are a groom on your way to your own wedding. When you get there, all the music, all the colors, all the decor that you and your bride had picked out; was changed by the bridal party in an effort to “draw more people in”. Would you stay for your own ceremony? All that investment you made into your own wedding was changed by the people you chose to help maintain your wedding celebration. That would be horrific.

Who is church for? Who are we presenting the bride to? If it’s the world, then no wonder God has decided not to come to the party. But if we are truly presenting the church to God, then we must begin to iron out the wrinkles, spot-clean the stains and sanctify ourselves. Make no mistake, Jesus is coming back. And He is coming back for a spotless, unblemished bride. Can that be said of you and your church? Could you be accused of turning the bride of Christ’s interest onto false bridegrooms?

If so, repent there’s still time. And there’s still time to prepare the Glorious Bride of Christ for the arrival of the Bridegroom! Let us trim our wicks, fill our lanterns with oil and arise a Glorious, wise virgin. Arise Church!

“Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet Him!” Mt. 25:6

I have been wrestling with modern ideas of the church as of late. Questions have been circling in my spirit about all the things taking place on a national level, or more specifically, a western church level. While I can see and recognize a great deal of good coming about. There are also many things that just aren’t sitting right. I won’t tackle all of them in this particular blog, but I do want to convey a revelation on the church.

For me, one of the biggest questions hitting me week in and week out is this: who is church for? This seems like a dumb question on the surface. But this will be one of the premier definitions of our era. Is church for the unsaved? (or whatever your term for them is) Or is church for the believer? This is the question that gets me. Let me first define what I mean by church, I should say I am specifically talking about “Sunday Morning”. Is Sunday morning for the unsaved, the saved, or both? The reason this is such a big question to me is that shapes the way we craft messages, view the work of the Holy Spirit, relate to others etc. It opens up a huge can of worms. It will define what we call church to an entire generation.

For example, if Sunday is for the unsaved, why do I the believer go? Do I go to tithe? I can do that online any day of the week. Do I go for fellowship? I can go to one of the numerous groups that meet throughout the week. Do I go to hear the preaching of the word? I can go online to watch a streaming service live; even better I can watch some of the nation’s best preachers. So, if Sunday is exclusively for the unbeliever why should a believer go? Especially when I can get all of my “fellowship” via these other sources? There are countless churches taking this approach to Sunday. Sunday becomes a drawing tool and the main source of outreach.

Well, maybe Sunday is for the believer. Paul tells us that the 5-fold ministers are for the equipping of the saints. So, Sunday is the day for equipping believers to reach people all week long. Besides, will unbelievers really understand worship? (Ezek. 44 talks about not allowing “foreigners” into the temple to worship because they have not surrendered to the Lord) Will an unbeliever fully understand tithing or offering? They also may not be prepared to hear the word of the Lord. This all makes sense to me. Sunday is for believers it allows us to minister freely by the power of the Spirit and not be constrained by time, because we’re here to worship and connect with God. There are countless churches who minister this way and, simply out of principle, throw in a salvation altar call at the end of the sermon just to cover all the bases.

The question then arises, where do people get saved? (If not Sunday morning) Or where do I bring my friends to meet Jesus? Or the question can also be raised, why does there have to be a distinction? Can’t we have both and all of us get along? No. Anytime there are multiple visions for anything it creates division. Anytime there is division or “double-mindedness” it creates instability, confusion and a lack of God’s blessing. (Read James 1) So, there must be an answer.

My conclusion, “church” (or the Sunday service) was originally intended for the believer. It was meant to equip, impart and prepare the NT believers to reach out during the rest of the week. When you couple this with daily ministering to the unsaved through home groups and public preaching by the apostolic team; it made for a dynamic explosion of growth. I think this model is fairly well outlined in the book of Acts and in the Pauline Epistles. Salvation and discipleship should take place in smaller more definitive settings. Settings, where true relationships are formed. If someone gets saved in a home group they are more likely to stick around and grow vs. someone who said a prayer at an altar. Why? Relationship. They are in a setting that is all about relationship. They are with people they trust and who will keep them accountable to their new decision. This is why babies aren’t handed off by anonymous storks, but are born into families. The mother and father are to take responsibility to raise and nurture the child to full maturity.

So, what do you think?