WONDER

We often say that Christmas is filled with “WONDER.”  Usually what we are talking about is how little kids are reacting to the sights & the sounds of seeing big trees lit up or when they see a present with their name on it.  I suppose they have wonder about such things because they only get them or see them occasionally. 

But we know that the Reason for the season, the only One who can provide lasting wonder in our lives is Jesus Christ.  Everything else, the decorations, the gifts and such only delight us for a moment.

But what does “wonder” really mean?  It is being so impressed with something that you wonder how it could have happened.  How did they build the pyramids?  It’s a wonder!  How did man fly to the moon?  A wonder!  More importantly, why did God send His only Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins??  That’s the greatest wonder of all!

But there are more wonders.  Wonders which are yet to come.  The Bible speaks often about Signs & Wonders being performed through believers by God and by the Holy Spirit.  Signs and wonders include miracles and supernatural deeds of all kinds.

And so I leave you with this.  If this is a season of wonder, shouldn’t it be our job to fill the lives of others with signs and wonders?  And not just by presenting those we care about with greetings and gifts, but by truly ministering to them to the point that they “wonder” how God could care about them so much as to touch them by sending you as His vessel to their life and situation for such a time as this!?

So go and prophesy, go and pray for people, go and speak the good news, go and make Christmas a miracle for somebody by walking in the power of God through the Holy Spirit!  Then it will truly be a Merry Christmas, filled with Joy and Wonder because of your faithfulness as an agent of wonder!

We don't need Leaders like "Napoleon"

I was in Melbourne, Australia a few months ago speaking for a Church camp and conducting some other Church ministry.  A friend of mine took me to a wonderful museum in which we visited an incredible exhibit about the life of Napoleon Bonaparte which featured many relics & paintings.

Since then, I have thought about his life, the glory & the tragedy of it, quite a bit.  Thinking about him has impacted me more than I ever could have imagined. 

Napoleon was a key person in the French Revolution which featured overthrowing the Absolute Monarchy, Marie Antoinette, the Bastille and more.  Many movies and the classic book "A Tale of Two Cities" feature this famous time in history.   

He helped to free the French people through his efforts as a young officer who acheived fame, only later to make himself not only Emperor of France but of much of the world.  He freed people only to put them under his own foot of control.  They got rid of a King and got an Emperor instead.  What's the difference??

This reminds me of many leaders in the world and especially in the Church today.  I often see the results of ministers and ministries who have loosened the ties of the enemy on the lives of people through the power of the Gospel only then to bring them into a new kind of bondage.  It is as if they were set free from the forces of darkness only to be be re-shackled under the influence of modern day Pharisees.

The problem is that people often will follow the most charismatic, the most dynamic visionaries and they can be blinded by it all.  No wonder Jesus said the Pharisees were like the blind leading the blind.  (Luke 6:39).  I have discovered that just because somebody can preach very well, that doesn't make them qualified to lead and it certainly doesn't mean they know how to raise up disciples, which is what it is really all about. 

If we are to follow a visionary, which we should, we must make certain that their vision is from God and for God and not from their own imagination of becoming someone great by using God.

And even more importantly, we need to make sure we don't become little Napoleon's in Christ's Church.

Once we have freed people from the enemy, we must be the vessels which connect these new branches to the Vine (Jesus) directly.  Not making branches connected to other branches.  We need to guide them from a position of not being in the way and not making them relient on us.  Not controlling or driving them.  Not owning them and not receiving glory but rather giving all glory to God by building the overall Kingdom of God rather than our own sub-kingdoms.

Galatians 5:1-3 (NIV)

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

² Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. ³ Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law."

The 787 Dreamliner Wineskin

While preaching a while ago on the far South Side of Chicago, almost to the Indiana border, I received a vision for that Church which also helped me further shape my understanding of the words of Jesus.

Matthew 9:16-18 (NIV)

¹⁶ “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. ¹⁷ Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

I saw Wineskins flying in the air.  They were Boeing Wineskins.  Not that the Boeing Airplane Manufacturer makes Wineskins, but this is a vision with some artistic license.  There were the different varieties of models of Boeing Airplanes I have flown in.  I'm not old enough to go back before the 727, which I flew allot when I was a young boy.  I also saw the 737 which is still very popular now.  There was the 747, which we are starting to see in the sky less.  Singapore Airlines is retiring it's last one soon and is having a special flight with it.  The 757 was there as was the 767 which are both still around but not too many now.  The 777 was there too and it is still very popular today.  Then I saw it.  The new 787 Dreamliner.  The airplane the world has been waiting for.  Just a few have been delivered so far.  It was the newest Wineskin in my dream.

I watched a video presentation on a United Airlines flight recently in which the CEO was excitedly talking about the fact that they have ordered 50 of these new 787 Dreamliners.  He said something along the lines of, "we will be able to fly routes that we previously have been unable to fly."  Interesting.  Because of the new technology used and the new construction materials now available never previously used, they have been able to make an airplane which can go further, more efficiently than any commercial aircraft before in history.

I remember as a kid, flying between Manila and Seattle on the first Pan Am 747's, we had to stop in Honolulu to refuel.  Airplanes haven't needed to do that in years.  Most US aircraft now fly from Tokyo to any city in America they want.  Because of newer technology in the newer aircraft.  And now it is going to even a greater level!

God is doing something new and He is raising up a new breed of Churches...  not even Churches necessarily...  A new breed of Christ followers who are bringing in the Harvest, the New Wine and are refusing to put them into Old Wine Skins.  As a matter of fact, this new generation knows that they are not a part of the Church, they realize that they are the Church!  That is so awesome because not only will this cause the Old Wine Skins to not burst (because putting New Wine in Old Wine Skins will burst them), but it will fill the New Wine Skins with people who will go further and more efficiently than they ever could have gone before!  Why would anyone want to be in an Old, Limited, Outdated Wine Skin anyway?  They can...  God allows it.  It's part of His plan, but you can't put the New Harvest in there.  Of course there are those who want the Old Wine Skins for reasons of comfort , tradition and more.  Leave em' alone.  It's OK...  For them...

Wanna hear something weird?  Jesus never said you can't put Old Wine into New Wine Skins...  Personally, I know that I'm Old Wine even though I hide it pretty well.  I'm stuck in some traditions and I struggle with legalism, religiosity and compacency deeply inbred because of my upbringing.  But I don't want to!  I want to get inside a New Wine Skin!  What about you???

I want to fly higher, farther, more efficiently and with as many folks on board as I possibly can!  My prayer continues to be that God will show me the new ways, but without falling prey to the gimmicks and games which some in the Church often wrongly believe are the New Skins.  God wants us to adapt, but not to compromise.  Just because it's new, doesn't mean it's from God..

In my thinking, part of the new thing that God is doing is He is mobilizing people to "GO", not trying to build up big groups of people who are isolated from the world, but going into the world and being the salt and light.  Not that this isn't what He has always wanted, it is!  But He is breaking down the walls of tradition and demolishing wrong mind-sets as we speak.  People are becoming true desciples.  Not just learners, but those who learn and train others to learn and train others so that multiplication occurs.  These are exciting times!

All aboard!!  Let's get onto the newest Wine Skin now, but remember, there will be an even newer one coming sooner than you expect.  Don't get too comfortable or fall in love with this one...
 

Good Karma?

In my journey, I am now being asked to do some things not only secularly within the Call Center industry here in the Philippines, but also within the publishing industry.  My hope is to be salt and light in the world, in the market place.  In order to be effective, I cannot be outwardly evangelistic.  Below is an ariticle I wrote for a journal designed for college students.  I know some people do not understand this approach, but please pray for me as I attempt to inspire this generation in creative ways, to think about and seek after God.
_______________________________________________

“Good Karma”

We live in an age where language has become more flexible, more adaptable, less specific but at the same time more impacting through creativity…  We freely and intentionally break the rules of language in order to make our point clearer and stronger.  It is actually becoming hard to determine what good sentence structure or grammar is anymore as the languages of the world continue to progress, or according to many opinions, digress.  Personally, I love it.  I love words and the power of them.  I love the fact that we can be free in our linguistics in a way that we can make a powerful impression with our words, though we would have achieved an F in class.

And languages and concepts are now blending.  In Asia, we have “Taglish”, “Singlish” and others, there is British English, Australian English American English and more…  there really is even Filipino English, Korean English, Thai English and more.  Just about every country which has embraced English now has their own version where some of the same words have differing meanings from country to country and culture to culture.  It can get confusing if you don’t pay attention, but I find it fascinating.  Because when you know the way a person speaks, you know more about the way they think.

For my subject today, I want to take the word “Karma” which traditionally comes from East Indian and Chinese roots.    www.M-W.com defines KARMA as “the force generated by a person's actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person's next existence.”

I find in the Western world that the idea of Karma has become so popular that it is literally all over television and the bookstores are filled with hundreds, if not thousands of books loosely based on the topic.  But where in Hinduism and Buddhism, Karma is more about the ramification of a persons actions affecting their “next life” as those religions believe exist, most people try to use Karma to affect a person’s near term consequences also referred to by many as blessings.  In most Christian traditions, the followers believe that they can by performing good deeds, improve their life now and increase their “chances” in the after-life.  Christians often refer to this concept as the principle of sowing and reaping, which is farming terminology.  Whatever “seed” (deed) you “sow” into the ground (work you do), care for, water, etc., then it will grow and you will eventually end up able to “reap” it (harvest it), thereby benefitting from your previous effort.

Whether the idea of Karma or of Sowing and Reaping, neither has to do with fate or luck, but they do have plenty to do with destiny.  What we need to remember about destiny is that for the most part, outside of whatever divine intervention you may believe in, you make your own destiny.  So, how’s your KARMA?  In other words, how are you doing, working on your destiny?

Many people that I know when they speak of a successful person with a hint of jealousy often refer to them as lucky or they make some kind of an excuse as to why that person is successful and the one speaking, possibly, is not.  A friend of mine who dropped out of medical school always speaks negatively of doctors.  He says, “they came from rich families, they are more favored, they are lucky,” etc.  But at the end of the day, every doctor that I know had to sacrifice and work hard to get to where they are today.  Of course they have talent, ability and opportunity, but the point is that it wasn’t fate or luck.  They are where they are today because they took the resources and opportunities that they had and made the best of them.  I was at a Doctor’s office last week and the two Doc’s who share the same office had their diploma’s on the wall in the waiting area.  One graduated from Stanford University in California.  One of the finest, most famous Medical School’s in the world.  It obviously cost his family a small fortune to send him there.  I believe that he probably was born with a golden spoon in his mouth (that means he was a high class baby).  The other graduated from a local University in the Philippines.  If you are not from the Philippines, you likely have never heard of it.  He probably had a silver spoon in his mouth growing up (middle class)…  Or maybe a wooden spoon (low class)…  But today, they earn and are respected about the same.  My point is this.  They both made the best of their situations, they both worked hard, and today in modern use of language, they both have “Good Karma.”  They achieved this by working hard.  They made their own destiny!

Once when I was in a desperate financial situation, just the right amount of money came from an anonymous source.  It really blew my mind!  But later, I found out that it came from someone who I had years earlier, helped financially while he was a young student.  Was it Karma?  Was it sowing and Reaping?  Yes!  Because I had done something good in the past, something good happened to me in the future!  And that really is how life often works!

We make the most of every opportunity to help people, to work hard, to improve others lives and to improve ourselves.  Later, there will be a reward.  Invest in the lives of others and in your future liberally and generously my friends!  Then you too, in the modern use of the word, will experience “Good KARMA!!!”

So if you see me on the street and ask me, “do you believe in Karma?”  My answer will be, “I’m not a Hindu, but if you mean that if I do something productive today, I will benefit from it later, then the answer is YES, I believe in Karma!”

Jesus is Sending a new Tribe of Prophets, Sages & Teachers

It is a stereotype that women take longer to dress than men do, though I know many men who take longer than the ladies do.  But we can all agree that a Bride takes a long time to prepare in her dressing, make-up and more, especially if you include the shopping aspect of what she she will wear on her wedding day, the process sometimes lasting more than a year.

Ephesians 5:25-28 (NIV)
²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

Paul taught husbands how to be loving to their wives and tied it into the idea that this is similar to what Jesus did when He offered himself as a sacrifice for His Bride, the Church.  We see that washing with Water of the Word of God removes the blemishes, the spots and the wrinkles in the preparation of the Bride so that she, the Church, may be presented to Him radiant at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (a description of the beginning of Eternal Life with Jesus - Revelation 19:9).

I want to challenge you today that simply pouring water on something does not wash it.  There must be scrubbing, soaking, application in order for change to come.  This is why the Bible states that we cannot just "hear the Word", but we must "do the Word."  Otherwise we will "deceive ourselves."  (James 1:22)

Jesus declared 7 "woes" recorded in Matthew 23:13-39.  A careful study will reveal that what made Jesus say "woe" more than 2,000 years ago in relation to how the Pharisees & Teachers of the Law were treating the ministry and people of God are much the same as they are today.  I believe Jesus could speak the exact same message today and many of the Church leaders would be considered by Him to be a "brood of vipers."  Sad...

In the 2nd of the woes in verse 15 (NIV), Jesus said “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are."

This is a truly amazing and surprisingly harsh statement requiring a double take.  As a matter of fact, I posted this verse on Facebook awhile back and received "concerned" inbox messages and Emails as a result.  Very few, it seems are comfortable with Jesus' terminology here.  Converts can be Children of Hell?!?

He wasn't condemning the religious leaders for slacking in their work.  They travelled land and sea to win converts.  I think of all the work of the Church today, outreaches, missions, crusades and more, all done with the purpose of winning converts.  All done with great enthusiasm, passion and with intense focus.  But Jesus didn't end His time on earth saying to go and win converts, He said to "Go and Make Disciples..."  (Matthew 28:16-20)

When all that we do is win a convert and they only hear the Word and don't do what it says...  do they then become a Bride with Spots and Wrinkles?  What Jesus called a child of hell twice as bad as a pharisee?  Yes they do.  Because it takes application of God's Word, it takes discipleship, true washing with the water of the Word in order to produce the harvest that Jesus died for.

At the end of the 7 woes sermon in Matthew 23:33-34 (NIV), Jesus said, ³³ “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? ³⁴ Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town."

Jesus said that because of the 7 Woes caused by the Pharisees and the Religious Leaders of the day, that He is sending some folks.  Some people who will do the true job of the Kingdom of God!  People who will not only fight the devil and the systems of the world, but would also fight the religious systems which mislead people supposedly in the name of God and pious righteousness.

Jesus called them Prophets, Sages and Teachers.  A new generation, a new tribe, those who would speak from the heart of God!  A prophet speaks what God tells him to.  A sage is a man of wisdom who helps people to make good decisions according to heavenly concepts and strategies (an apostle who builds things/people according to God's specifications).  A teacher is someone who expounds the word of God.  The difference of these that Jesus would send is that they would not be building their own kingdoms.  They wouldn't be winning converts to a denomination or to a single church, but they would advance God's Kingdom and make disciples not to themselves but to Jesus.  Their focus would not be on drawing people to the temple (or to the cutting edge modern day church facility) (attractional model of ministry), but they would actually "GO."  Anonymously doing all for the glory of the One who sent them.  This is not to say that we should not have nice facilities and should not do our best to have amazing services which people will actually want to attend.  We are supposed to do that.  And this new tribe will need to worship together and relate together in Churches where those of the same ideals can meet.  But not as the main point.  We should never mistake the "house work" of the Church with the "Kingdom work" of going out into the businesses, the homes, the schools, the territories, on the hi-ways and on the bi-ways to be the salt and light for this generation.  To give people what they really need.  An opportunity to become a disciple, a Bride without blemish, spot or wrinkle, living in the freedom that life led by the Spirit enables us to live!

What about you?  Do you want to be one of these that Jesus is sending?  A prophet, a sage or a teacher facing the forces of darkness and religion so that you can reach your hand out in the love &  power of Jesus and win the lost?  This is the calling I have chosen.  That many have chosen and are choosing!  Let's reach the lost before some pharisee reaches them... shall we?  :-)

This is not a Game!

Recently, the devil was talking to me in modern day language.  God does that with me too.  J

He was saying “GAME OVER!”  Over and over and over again.  he was referring to our current lack in finances and the seeming lack in response from those who have partnered with us in the past.  And I must admit that my self-talk wasn’t helping either.  I have actually been contemplating selling everything, including my car in order to get as much cash together to “make it” a few more months before having to the leave the mission field.  The famine is that severe.

But I re-gained my spiritual composure, remembering the faithfulness of the Lord and trusting that He would not open incredible doors of ministry which we have walked through just to abandon us. 
So I rebuked the devourer by telling him that this is NOT A GAME... it is a war!  And I reminded him that God’s Word is clear that God wins and because we are with Him, we win too!  I said, “satan, you lose!”  

I’m not sure which one happened, but either he shut up or I stopped listening or both.  WE WIN!  As long as we place our trust in Jesus!

If you play games, you will lose.  Because the devil plays games and God does not.  But if you fight in the army of God, you win the war!

Psalm 18:38-40 (NIV)

³⁸ I crushed them so that they could not rise;
they fell beneath my feet.
³⁹ You armed me with strength for battle;
you humbled my adversaries before me.
⁴⁰ You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,
and I destroyed my foes.

The obvious began to happen.  A trickle of resources has started to come in which is the beginning of the miracle which I know is in process!  Thank you for helping us to enforce this victory by partnering with us in prayer and with finances.

do you have a "death wish?"

When someone regularly does dangerous things, for instance, parachuting, driving too fast, eating fatty foods, etc., we jokingly say in America that they might have a "death wish."  The idea is that they don't care enough to live and so they risk their lives through their behavior.  Of course it is a figure of speech and they don't really have the wish to die.  You get the point...

But some people do seem to have something like a death wish in an even more important realm.  In their spiritual walk.  Let's check it out...

Romans 8 (NIV)

⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

 

You are likely familiar with the fact that the Bible says our words have the power of life and death in them.  But let's go further to the root of the problem.  After all, our words come from our thoughts which are generated in our minds.

 

This scripture tells us that when our minds are set on what the flesh desires, that our minds literally are Death.  Our thoughts literally are death.  Nothing good can come from a mind like that and a mind that is set on what the flesh desires generates thoughts and words which destroy us and other people.

 

But a mind that is set on what the Spirit desires literally is Life and Peace.  That means that a mind focused on what God desires can please God, can be "in the Spirit" and can generate thoughts, words and actions which accomplish life and peace for the one who has developed this kind of mind and focuses it on Kingdom desires.

 

This is why it is so important that we renew our minds (Romans 12:1-2) and develop the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). 

 

Sometimes people struggle when I encourage them in times of prayer or worship to "get into the Spirit."  Usually it is because they are waiting for something to "happen to them" like the Holy Spirit coming and jumping on them or something.  What they need to do to get into the Spirit is simply start to focus on the Spirit and on what the Spirit desires.  The Bible encourages us to "find out what pleases God" (Ephesians 5:10).  When we think to the Word and begin to repent and humble ourselves, it's amazing how quickly God's Holy Spirit will descend on us.

 

So if things are dying around you, it would be wise to ask yourself right now.  Is it because your mind is death?  If so, it's time to kill the flesh, to focus your mind on what the Spirit of God desires and therefore transform your mind to Life and Peace!

Joseph is with the Lord

Hi everyone.  Many have inquired about Joseph who I spoke of in my last blog post.  He went to be with the Lord just hours ago.  His wife and his daughter made it to Manila just in time to spend precious time with him.

He is with the Lord!  The other good news is that his wife is in remission from her cancer.  She is completely bald from the chemo therapy for which she took the last dose this month. 

Please pray for the entire Ostia family during this difficult time.  It is not easy to lose a 34 year old Dad, Husband, Son and Brother. 

These kinds of cases are hard for me.  I have seen hundreds of people come up out of their beds at the touch of my hand extending the power of God.  I have also prayed for people in their beds hundreds of times only to conduct or attend their funeral later.  God is sovereign and He knows what is ultimately best.

I know that in Joseph's life, the enemy was defeated and we experienced the power and the presence of God in his room every time we were there.  We fought for his life in prayer and in the end, Jesus still did not let go, but took Joseph to be with Him in glory where we will meet again.

Joseph has many family members who are not yet serving God.  Let us pray that this will be a season of harvest in his family.  Thank you for your continued prayers.

Jesus Never Let's Go

I visited a 34 year old man in the hospital yesterday.  He has lung cancer and is literally fighting for every breath.  He has a 6 year old daughter and a wife, in another city which he cannot get to because of his critical state.  The wife also has cancer but her case is 50/50 at this point.  Without a miracle, he will survive only days or weeks.  It very well could be that their daughter will become an orphan if God does not heal one or both of them.

 I led him to the Lord.  He had a religious background but was not born again.  He and his family had also involved themselves in the world of faith healers, those who practice witchcraft under the guise of being Christian friendly.  There was worry in the family that this husband and wife are under a curse because of a jilted half brother who had converted to Islam and had said he would curse them.  In Asia, Muslims often are involved in witchcraft.

We prayed, we dealt with all of the possible issues and the presence of God came into the room in a tremendous way!  We could barely stand in His presence.  It was awesome!  But sometimes the presence of God comes and He does not yet choose to heal or to heal completely.  God is sovereign.  And so we are continuing to pray for his healing.  A team of our intercessors will return today and I will go back again in two days with another team.  We are not going to let go of him.

Visits are limited in ICU and so the time came for us to leave.  He was looking at me with tears rolling down his cheeks.  He could say nothing because of the tube in his throat...  But he grabbed my hand and wouldn’t let go.  He didn’t want me to leave.  Every time that I tried to pull away, he would squeeze and hold, pleading me with his touch not to go.  It took me 15 minutes to leave while the nurse gave me the look.  I kept assuring him that even though I must go, Jesus never lets go.  I also assured him of our continued prayers and of our impending return.  It was heart-wrenching...  I could barely stay composed.

While in the room, I kept hearing a song in my spirit which I had heard by David Crowder from his album, “Remedy.”  This group and this album are certainly not traditional in any sense of the word, definitely a part of the new generation sound (in other words, most of you over the age of 40 won’t like the music from this group).  Frankly, the song had not appealed to me in the past as I had bought the album specifically for 2 other songs on it.  But the chorus kept repeating in my ears.  “You never let go, You never let go-oh.”

In the car before I pulled out of the parking space, I found the song on my I-pod and I played it 3 times with tears rolling down my face.  Below I have included some of the lyrics (edited where redundant).

Jesus never let’s go.  If you read this message, pray for the healing of Joseph and Jisel Ostia.  God is able!

“You Never Let Go” (David Crowder Band)

When clouds veil the sun and disaster comes
When waters rise and hope takes flight
Ever faithful, ever true
You, I know, You never let go
You never let go, You never let go
When clouds brought rain and disaster came
When waters rose and hope had flown
Ever faithful, ever true
You, I know, You never let go
Oh, my soul overflows
Oh what love, oh what love
Oh, my soul fills with hope
Perfect love that never lets go
In joy and pain, in sun and rain
You’re the same, oh, You never let go

Ignore

Hebrews 12:25a (NIV) "See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks."

We have all been ignored. I hate it! I would rather have a rousing disagreement or even a verbal battle with someone than to be ignored by them. Usually a person who will engage you in an argument will at least be open to dialogue and you can eventually come to some kind of an agreement in the end. But silence isn't productive and it speaks to me of abandonment, lack of motivation, shutting down, rejection. Now I understand that sometimes there needs to be a period of cooling down, but even that can be done with an explanation like "give me a bit of time first..."

So the author of Hebrews warns us to not refuse to hear the voice of God... not to ignore Him.

My son hurt me severely awhile back. It was right after Church at a lunch with several people and not only did he hurt me but he embarassed me... you could say humiliated me. Hurt with humiliation is a potentially lethal combination to your emotions. In the car, I exploded and he knew how what he did made me feel. We took the rest of the ride home in silence. I went to my room and locked the door, falling into the bed and staying there motionless, struggling.

I knew that God was speaking to me but I was closing my ears, purposefully wallowing in the dirt. I was refusing His voice. Then I heard something slide under my door. I was sure it was a note from my son, but I wasn't "in the mood" yet. I didn't even look. Then I heard the note being drawn back out. It was then slid under my door again a few minutes later. A couple of hours later, I finally got up to read it.

The first part said, "i am sorry" followed by a frowny face and a picture of a broken heart then with "so so sorry sorry Sorry"
The second part of it was what he wrote after I didn't respond and he took the note away and then re-submitted it. "if you don't accept my apologi thats ok Just thro me in the trash"... he is 10 years old.
Manipulation? Of course. Real feelings? Of course! Both.

I refused God's voice and I refused my sons voice. Because of my ignoring of the two, I had made a bad situation worse. I had hardened my spirit towards God and I had harmed my son.

The scripture goes on to explain that God shakes us with His voice in order to shake out of us those things that need to go; much like chaff gets shaken off of grain or rice so that only those things that cannot be shaken remain. Then comes verse 28 which I want to present in two versions:

Hebrews 12:28 (NKJV) "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear"

Hebrews 12:28 (NIV) "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe"

The big difference in the two translations is the word which in english is translated to "grace" in the NKJV and "be thankful" in the NIV.

This is a grace which does not come from God (the more common kind of grace we talk about), but it is a grace or a thankful attitude that we must develop in out own character and spirit. We must become gracious. How do we develop this grace? By serving and worshipping God in reverance and Godly fear (or awe). And so we go back to the beginning of the scripture: we graciously, reverantly and as a form of our worshipful service, refuse to refuse the voice of God. We soften our hearts to let His voice come in and shake us. And not only God's voice, but the voices of those that we struggle with in this life. Everyone has a voice and everyone needs to be heard.

If we don't allow ourselves to be shaken by the voice of God, even by the voices of other people, then our circumstances and our consequences will shake us even more. It is better to be shaken by voices than by consequences.

And then the final verse of this passage seals the deal: Heberews 12:28 (NIV) "for our “God is a consuming fire.”

The implication is this. God is going to burn the chaff. Better let go of it and allow the shaking to get it all out and off or else you are in danger of getting burned.

Father, I need your voice, I want your voice. Help me, help my brothers and my sisters, help your Church. We willingly ask you to shake us, mold us and make us into vessels pleasing to You. Amen

"Bind Up"

The term "bind up" is found in multiple locations in the Bible. God "bind's up" wounds and broken hearts. This is a way of healing which takes time. Wounds (or bones) are bound together or set in place so that they can heal through natural processes and time. Another way the term is used is that you can be bound up in the midst of battle so that you can finish the task even before healing can occur.

We all get wounded from time to time and some of the wounds are incredibly deep. The broken hearted are particularly affected... you can see it in their eyes.

Many suffer because of broken or difficult family relationships or friendships. Others from loss. But some of the most wounded, some of the most broken hearted people that I know are ministers.

I watched a Senior Pastor who I worked with for years, pour his life into one of the men who came to know the Lord in the Church. The guy had been gay for most of his life but experienced true salvation and became a leader. He also succeeded in business in such a way that it was obviously the hand of God. Today, he is married with children. My Pastor met with him virtually every Thursday evening for years and years. He invited him to accompany him for ministry locally and even internationally. But the every Thursday mentoring commitment wasn't the only price my Pastor payed for this guy. He fasted and he prayed for him regularly. I watched him lift this man's name before the Lord on a regular basis. What a price my Pastor payed... Honestly, I have not seen many receive that kind of consistent favor in that form. It was unusual to say the least.

Then came the difficult situation... the mis-understanding. You know what they say... "You don't know that you have a real friend until you survive a real fight." It's not in the Word, but I find it to be true.

This man not only quit the Church, but completely turned his back on Pastor and gave him not just a cold shoulder, but a frigid one. It was a "super snub" for sure. My Pastor never said an unkind word about it but I could see how deeply hurt he was.

To have invested in seen and un-seen ways into the life of somebody just to have them turn with a snap with no grace or understanding is simply heart wrenching. And to then withstand the rumors and lies without lashing back. Not just rumors started by "Johnnie Q. Member", but by a very "credible" person who many would believe. Wow. It's enough to make most people give up.

But God's ministers are not most people. They persevere and overcome. They get their wounds bound up and finish the race, finish the fight, running through the pain, continuing to pour into the lives of those who in the future may reject and snub them. At least the true ministers do.

You may be wondering why this is on my mind. Am I going through something like this? Yes. For about the 20th time so far in my life time. It's fresh and it hurts, and one of the worst things about it is it tries to drag up the memories of the past similar experiences, but Jesus has already visited me and He has been binding me up. He is so faithful and wonderful!

My prayer is that we all will allow the Lord to bind up our wounds and hearts so that we will be able to persevere in pain. Healing will eventually come with time, even if that time is at the end of time as we know it now. But God promises to bind us up so that we will be able to finish the race. Someday we who know Christ will all sit at the same banquet together and there will be no more tears, no more suffering and no more sorrow. As long as we finish well.

The Lost

I was walking down a narrow but busy street to drop off an item for a Church member the other day. I had to park about a half a kilometer away. All of a sudden this little girl ran out of her house screaming "mama" with tears bursting from her eyes. She couldn't have been two years old and she was wearing nothing but slippers. She ran into the street and without scarcely thinking, I grabbed her arm and pulled her back just as a vehicle almost clipped her. She freaked out even more because I'm pretty sure a big white guy had never grabbed her arm before, but I needed to hold her so that she wouldn't get killed in her confusion and emotion. She was lost... or rather, she probably woke up in her house alone and was so startled and upset, that she went out to try and find her mother. The mom did show up a few long minutes later. She was carrying a bag of groceries. It appeared to me that she had left her daughter sleeping for just a few minutes and didn't anticipate what would happen.

To me, this represented the lost of the world. Those who don't know Jesus Christ. They pass us in the street all of the time, lost, dazed and confused, but we don't have the urgency to reach them, to care for them, to comfort them or to protect them. Maybe we forget the danger that they are in, the danger of becoming eternally lost.

My prayer for my own life and I hope will be your prayer too, is that we will become more sensitive to those who are lost... who need a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

As with this little girl, I believe that we arrive at just the right place at the right time on a regular basis even though we may not know it. May the Lord open our eyes to see every opportunity to save the lives we come accross in this journey. In the end, our lifes work will be calculated by how many of the lost we saved before going to our eternal reward.