"We tend to say that because a person has natural ability, he will make a good Christian. It is not a matter of our equipment, but a matter of our poverty; not of what we bring with us, but of what God puts into us; not a matter of natural virtues, of strength of character, of knowledge, or of experience—all of that is of no avail in this concern. The only thing of value is being taken into the compelling purpose of God and being made His friends."
Monday, March 31, 2008
Ozzy
I love this quote from Oswald Chambers:
Friday, March 28, 2008
How Might Homosexuality Develop?
This is a very good article that can help put the pieces together for this complex issue:
It is Excerpted from "The Complex Interaction of Genes and Environment: A Model for Homosexuality" by Jeffrey Satinover,M.D.
It may be difficult to grasp how genes, environment, and other influences interrelate to one another, how a certain factor may "influence" an outcome but not cause it, and how faith enters in. The scenario below is condensed and hypothetical, but is drawn from the lives of actual people, illustrating how many different factors influence behavior.
Note that the following is just one of the many developmental pathways that can lead to homosexuality, but a common one. In reality, every person's "road" to sexual expression is individual, however many common lengths it may share with those of others.
(1) Our scenario starts with birth. The boy (for example) who one day may go on to struggle with homosexuality is born with certain features that are somewhat more common among homosexuals than in the population at large. Some of these traits might be inherited (genetic), while others might have been caused by the "intrauterine environment" (hormones). What this means is that a youngster without these traits will be somewhat less likely to become homosexual later than someone with them.
What are these traits? If we could identify them precisely, many of them would turn out to be gifts rather than "problems," for example a "sensitive" disposition, a strong creative drive, a keen aesthetic sense. Some of these, such as greater sensitivity, could be related to - or even the same as - physiological traits that also cause trouble, such as a greater-than-average anxiety response to any given stimulus.
No one knows with certainty just what these heritable characteristics are; at present we only have hints. Were we free to study homosexuality properly (uninfluenced by political agendas) we would certainly soon clarify these factors - just as we are doing in less contentious areas. In any case, there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that the behavior "homosexuality" is itself directly inherited.
(2) From a very early age potentially heritable characteristics mark the boy as "different." He finds himself somewhat shy and uncomfortable with the typical "rough and tumble" of his peers. Perhaps he is more interested in art or in reading - simply because he's smart. But when he later thinks about his early life, he will find it difficult to separate out what in these early behavioral differences came from an inherited temperament and what from the next factor, namely:
(3) That for whatever reason, he recalls a painful "mismatch" between what he needed and longed for and what his father offered him. Perhaps most people would agree that his father was distinctly distant and ineffective; maybe it was just that his own needs were unique enough that his father, a decent man, could never quite find the right way to relate to him. Or perhaps his father really disliked and rejected his son's sensitivity. In any event, the absence of a happy, warm, and intimate closeness with his father led to the boy's pulling away in disappointment, "defensively detaching" in order to protect himself.
But sadly, this pulling away from his father, and from the "masculine" role model he needed, also left him even less able to relate to his male peers. We may contrast this to the boy whose loving father dies, for instance, but who is less vulnerable to later homosexuality. This is because the commonplace dynamic in the pre-homosexual boy is not merely the absence of a father - literally or psychologically - but the psychological defense of the boy against his repeatedly disappointing father. In fact, a youngster who does not form this defense (perhaps because of early-enough therapy, or because there is another important male figure in his life, or due to temperament) is much less likely to become homosexual.
Complementary dynamics involving the boy's mother are also likely to have played an important role. Because people tend to marry partners with "interlocking neuroses," the boy probably found himself in a problematic relationship with both parents.
For all these reasons, when as an adult he looked back on his childhood, the now-homosexual man recalls, "From the beginning I was always different. I never got along well with the boys my age and felt more comfortable around girls." This accurate memory makes his later homosexuality feel convincingly to him as though it was "preprogrammed" from the start.
(4) Although he has "defensively detached" from his father, the young boy still carries silently within him a terrible longing for the warmth, love, and encircling arms of the father he never did nor could have. Early on, he develops intense, nonsexual attachments to older boys he admires - but at a distance, repeating with them the same experience of longing and unavailability. When puberty sets in, sexual urges - which can attach themselves to any object, especially in males - rise to the surface and combine with his already intense need for masculine intimacy and warmth. He begins to develop homosexual crushes. Later he recalls, "My first sexual longings were directed not at girls but at boys. I was never interested in girls."
Psychotherapeutic intervention at this point and earlier can be successful in preventing the development of later homosexuality. Such intervention is aimed in part at helping the boy change his developing effeminate patterns (which derive from a "refusal" to identify with the rejected father), but more critically, it is aimed at teaching his father - if only he will learn - how to become appropriately involved with and related to his son.
(5) As he matures (especially in our culture where early, extramarital sexual experiences are sanctioned and even encouraged), the youngster, now a teen, begins to experiment with homosexual activity. Or alternatively his needs for same-sex closeness may already have been taken advantage of by an older boy or man, who preyed upon him sexually when he was still a child. (Recall the studies that demonstrate the high incidence of sexual abuse in the childhood histories of homosexual men.) Or oppositely, he may avoid such activities out of fear and shame in spite of his attraction to them. In any event, his now-sexualized longings cannot merely be denied, however much he may struggle against them. It would be cruel for us at this point to imply that these longings are a simple matter of "choice."
Indeed, he remembers having spent agonizing months and years trying to deny their existence altogether or pushing them away, to no avail. One can easily imagine how justifiably angry he will later be when someone casually and thoughtlessly accuses him of "choosing" to be homosexual. When he seeks help, he hears one of two messages, and both terrify him; either, "Homosexuals are bad people and you are a bad person for choosing to be homosexual. There is no place for you here and God is going to see to it that you suffer for being so bad;" or "Homosexuality is inborn and unchangeable. You were born that way. Forget about your fairytale picture of getting married and having children and living in a little house with a white picket fence. God made you who you are and he/she destined you for the gay life. Learn to enjoy it."
(6) At some point, he gives in to his deep longings for love and begins to have voluntary homosexual experiences. He finds - possibly to his horror - that these old, deep, painful longings are at least temporarily, and for the first time ever, assuaged.
Although he may also therefore feel intense conflict, he cannot help admit that the relief is immense. This temporary feeling of comfort is so profound - going well beyond the simple sexual pleasure that anyone feels in a less fraught situation - that the experience is powerfully reinforced. However much he may struggle, he finds himself powerfully driven to repeat the experience. And the more he does, the more it is reinforced and the more likely it is he will repeat it yet again, though often with a sense of diminishing returns.
(7) He also discovers that, as for anyone, sexual orgasm is a powerful reliever of distress of all sorts. By engaging in homosexual activities he has already crossed one of the most critical and strongly enforced boundaries of sexual taboo. It is now easy for him to cross other taboo boundaries as well, especially the significantly less severe taboo pertaining to promiscuity. Soon homosexual activity becomes the central organizing factor in his life as he slowly acquires the habit of turning to it regularly - not just because of his original need for fatherly warmth of love, but to relieve anxiety of any sort.
(8) In time, his life becomes even more distressing than for most. Some of this is in fact, as activists claim, because all-too-often he experiences from others a cold lack of sympathy or even open hostility. The only people who seem really to accept him are other gays, and so he forms an even stronger bond with them as a "community." But it is not true, as activists claim, that these are the only or even the major stresses. Much distress is caused simply by his way of life - for example, the medical consequences, AIDS being just one of many (if also the worst). He also lives with the guilt and shame that he inevitably feels over his compulsive, promiscuous behavior; and too over the knowledge that he cannot relate effectively to the opposite sex and is less likely to have a family (a psychological loss for which political campaigns for homosexual marriage, adoption, and inheritance rights can never adequately compensate).
However much activists try to normalize for him these patterns of behavior and the losses they cause, and however expedient it may be for political purposes to hide them from the public-at-large, unless he shuts down huge areas of his emotional life he simply cannot honestly look at himself in this situation and feel content.
And no one - not even a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool, sexually insecure "homophobe" - is nearly so hard on him as he is on himself. Furthermore, the self-condemning messages that he struggles with on a daily basis are in fact only reinforced by the bitter self-derogating wit of the very gay culture he has embraced. The activists around him keep saying that it is all caused by the "internalized homophobia" of the surrounding culture, but he knows that it is not.
The stresses of "being gay" lead to more, not less, homosexual behavior. This principle, perhaps surprising to the layman (at least to the layman who has not himself gotten caught up in some pattern, of whatever type) is typical of the compulsive or addictive cycle of self-destructive behavior; wracking guilt, shame, and self-condemnation only causes it to increase. It is not surprising that people therefore turn to denial to rid themselves of these feelings, and he does too. He tells himself, "It is not a problem, therefore there is no reason for me to feel so bad about it."
(9) After wrestling with such guilt and shame for so many years, the boy, now an adult, comes to believe, quite understandably - and because of his denial, needs to believe - "I can't change anyway because the condition is unchangeable." If even for a moment he considers otherwise, immediately arises the painful query, "Then why haven't I...?" and with it returns all the shame and guilt.
Thus, by the time the boy becomes a man, he has pieced together this point of view: "I was always different, always an outsider. I developed crushes on boys from as long as I can remember and the first time I fell in love it was with a boy, not a girl. I had no real interest in members of the opposite sex. Oh, I tried all right - desperately. But my sexual experiences with girls were nothing special. But the first time I had homosexual sex it just 'felt right.' So it makes perfect sense to me that homosexuality is genetic. I've tried to change - God knows how long I struggled - and I just can't. That's because it's not changeable. Finally, I stopped struggling and just accepted myself the way I am."
(10) Social attitudes toward homosexuality will play a role in making it more or less likely that the man will adopt an "inborn and unchangeable" perspective, and at what point in his development. It is obvious that a widely shared and propagated worldview that normalizes homosexuality will increase the likelihood of his adopting such beliefs, and at an earlier age. But it is perhaps less obvious - it follows from what we have discussed above - that ridicule, rejection, and harshly punitive condemnation of him as a person will be just as likely (if not more likely) to drive him into the same position.
(11) If he maintains his desire for a traditional family life, the man may continue to struggle against his "second nature." Depending on whom he meets, he may remain trapped between straight condemnation and gay activism, both in secular institutions and in religious ones. The most important message he needs to hear is that "healing is possible."
(12) If he enters the path to healing, he will find that the road is long and difficult - but extraordinarily fulfilling. The course to full restoration of heterosexuality typically lasts longer than the average American marriage - which should be understood as an index of how broken all relationships are today.
From the secular therapies he will come to understand what the true nature of his longings are, that they are not really about sex, and that he is not defined by his sexual appetites. In such a setting, he will very possibly learn how to turn aright to other men to gain from them a genuine, nonsexualized masculine comradeship and intimacy; and how to relate aright to woman, as friend, lover, life's companion, and, God willing, mother of his children.
Of course the old wounds will not simply disappear, and later in times of great distress the old paths of escape will beckon. But the claim that this means he is therefore "really" a homosexual and unchanged is a lie. For as he lives a new life of ever-growing honesty, and cultivates genuine intimacy with the woman of his heart, the new patterns will grow ever stronger and the old ones engraved in the synapses of his brain ever weaker.
In time, knowing that they really have little to do with sex, he will even come to respect and put to good use what faint stirrings remain of the old urges. They will be for him a kind of storm-warning, a signal that something is out of order in his house, that some old pattern of longing and rejection and defense is being activated. And he will find that no sooner does he set his house in order that indeed the old urges once again abate. In his relations to others - as friend, husband, professional - he will now have a special gift. What was once a curse will have become a blessing, to himself and to others.
It is Excerpted from "The Complex Interaction of Genes and Environment: A Model for Homosexuality" by Jeffrey Satinover,M.D.
It may be difficult to grasp how genes, environment, and other influences interrelate to one another, how a certain factor may "influence" an outcome but not cause it, and how faith enters in. The scenario below is condensed and hypothetical, but is drawn from the lives of actual people, illustrating how many different factors influence behavior.
Note that the following is just one of the many developmental pathways that can lead to homosexuality, but a common one. In reality, every person's "road" to sexual expression is individual, however many common lengths it may share with those of others.
(1) Our scenario starts with birth. The boy (for example) who one day may go on to struggle with homosexuality is born with certain features that are somewhat more common among homosexuals than in the population at large. Some of these traits might be inherited (genetic), while others might have been caused by the "intrauterine environment" (hormones). What this means is that a youngster without these traits will be somewhat less likely to become homosexual later than someone with them.
What are these traits? If we could identify them precisely, many of them would turn out to be gifts rather than "problems," for example a "sensitive" disposition, a strong creative drive, a keen aesthetic sense. Some of these, such as greater sensitivity, could be related to - or even the same as - physiological traits that also cause trouble, such as a greater-than-average anxiety response to any given stimulus.
No one knows with certainty just what these heritable characteristics are; at present we only have hints. Were we free to study homosexuality properly (uninfluenced by political agendas) we would certainly soon clarify these factors - just as we are doing in less contentious areas. In any case, there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever that the behavior "homosexuality" is itself directly inherited.
(2) From a very early age potentially heritable characteristics mark the boy as "different." He finds himself somewhat shy and uncomfortable with the typical "rough and tumble" of his peers. Perhaps he is more interested in art or in reading - simply because he's smart. But when he later thinks about his early life, he will find it difficult to separate out what in these early behavioral differences came from an inherited temperament and what from the next factor, namely:
(3) That for whatever reason, he recalls a painful "mismatch" between what he needed and longed for and what his father offered him. Perhaps most people would agree that his father was distinctly distant and ineffective; maybe it was just that his own needs were unique enough that his father, a decent man, could never quite find the right way to relate to him. Or perhaps his father really disliked and rejected his son's sensitivity. In any event, the absence of a happy, warm, and intimate closeness with his father led to the boy's pulling away in disappointment, "defensively detaching" in order to protect himself.
But sadly, this pulling away from his father, and from the "masculine" role model he needed, also left him even less able to relate to his male peers. We may contrast this to the boy whose loving father dies, for instance, but who is less vulnerable to later homosexuality. This is because the commonplace dynamic in the pre-homosexual boy is not merely the absence of a father - literally or psychologically - but the psychological defense of the boy against his repeatedly disappointing father. In fact, a youngster who does not form this defense (perhaps because of early-enough therapy, or because there is another important male figure in his life, or due to temperament) is much less likely to become homosexual.
Complementary dynamics involving the boy's mother are also likely to have played an important role. Because people tend to marry partners with "interlocking neuroses," the boy probably found himself in a problematic relationship with both parents.
For all these reasons, when as an adult he looked back on his childhood, the now-homosexual man recalls, "From the beginning I was always different. I never got along well with the boys my age and felt more comfortable around girls." This accurate memory makes his later homosexuality feel convincingly to him as though it was "preprogrammed" from the start.
(4) Although he has "defensively detached" from his father, the young boy still carries silently within him a terrible longing for the warmth, love, and encircling arms of the father he never did nor could have. Early on, he develops intense, nonsexual attachments to older boys he admires - but at a distance, repeating with them the same experience of longing and unavailability. When puberty sets in, sexual urges - which can attach themselves to any object, especially in males - rise to the surface and combine with his already intense need for masculine intimacy and warmth. He begins to develop homosexual crushes. Later he recalls, "My first sexual longings were directed not at girls but at boys. I was never interested in girls."
Psychotherapeutic intervention at this point and earlier can be successful in preventing the development of later homosexuality. Such intervention is aimed in part at helping the boy change his developing effeminate patterns (which derive from a "refusal" to identify with the rejected father), but more critically, it is aimed at teaching his father - if only he will learn - how to become appropriately involved with and related to his son.
(5) As he matures (especially in our culture where early, extramarital sexual experiences are sanctioned and even encouraged), the youngster, now a teen, begins to experiment with homosexual activity. Or alternatively his needs for same-sex closeness may already have been taken advantage of by an older boy or man, who preyed upon him sexually when he was still a child. (Recall the studies that demonstrate the high incidence of sexual abuse in the childhood histories of homosexual men.) Or oppositely, he may avoid such activities out of fear and shame in spite of his attraction to them. In any event, his now-sexualized longings cannot merely be denied, however much he may struggle against them. It would be cruel for us at this point to imply that these longings are a simple matter of "choice."
Indeed, he remembers having spent agonizing months and years trying to deny their existence altogether or pushing them away, to no avail. One can easily imagine how justifiably angry he will later be when someone casually and thoughtlessly accuses him of "choosing" to be homosexual. When he seeks help, he hears one of two messages, and both terrify him; either, "Homosexuals are bad people and you are a bad person for choosing to be homosexual. There is no place for you here and God is going to see to it that you suffer for being so bad;" or "Homosexuality is inborn and unchangeable. You were born that way. Forget about your fairytale picture of getting married and having children and living in a little house with a white picket fence. God made you who you are and he/she destined you for the gay life. Learn to enjoy it."
(6) At some point, he gives in to his deep longings for love and begins to have voluntary homosexual experiences. He finds - possibly to his horror - that these old, deep, painful longings are at least temporarily, and for the first time ever, assuaged.
Although he may also therefore feel intense conflict, he cannot help admit that the relief is immense. This temporary feeling of comfort is so profound - going well beyond the simple sexual pleasure that anyone feels in a less fraught situation - that the experience is powerfully reinforced. However much he may struggle, he finds himself powerfully driven to repeat the experience. And the more he does, the more it is reinforced and the more likely it is he will repeat it yet again, though often with a sense of diminishing returns.
(7) He also discovers that, as for anyone, sexual orgasm is a powerful reliever of distress of all sorts. By engaging in homosexual activities he has already crossed one of the most critical and strongly enforced boundaries of sexual taboo. It is now easy for him to cross other taboo boundaries as well, especially the significantly less severe taboo pertaining to promiscuity. Soon homosexual activity becomes the central organizing factor in his life as he slowly acquires the habit of turning to it regularly - not just because of his original need for fatherly warmth of love, but to relieve anxiety of any sort.
(8) In time, his life becomes even more distressing than for most. Some of this is in fact, as activists claim, because all-too-often he experiences from others a cold lack of sympathy or even open hostility. The only people who seem really to accept him are other gays, and so he forms an even stronger bond with them as a "community." But it is not true, as activists claim, that these are the only or even the major stresses. Much distress is caused simply by his way of life - for example, the medical consequences, AIDS being just one of many (if also the worst). He also lives with the guilt and shame that he inevitably feels over his compulsive, promiscuous behavior; and too over the knowledge that he cannot relate effectively to the opposite sex and is less likely to have a family (a psychological loss for which political campaigns for homosexual marriage, adoption, and inheritance rights can never adequately compensate).
However much activists try to normalize for him these patterns of behavior and the losses they cause, and however expedient it may be for political purposes to hide them from the public-at-large, unless he shuts down huge areas of his emotional life he simply cannot honestly look at himself in this situation and feel content.
And no one - not even a genuine, dyed-in-the-wool, sexually insecure "homophobe" - is nearly so hard on him as he is on himself. Furthermore, the self-condemning messages that he struggles with on a daily basis are in fact only reinforced by the bitter self-derogating wit of the very gay culture he has embraced. The activists around him keep saying that it is all caused by the "internalized homophobia" of the surrounding culture, but he knows that it is not.
The stresses of "being gay" lead to more, not less, homosexual behavior. This principle, perhaps surprising to the layman (at least to the layman who has not himself gotten caught up in some pattern, of whatever type) is typical of the compulsive or addictive cycle of self-destructive behavior; wracking guilt, shame, and self-condemnation only causes it to increase. It is not surprising that people therefore turn to denial to rid themselves of these feelings, and he does too. He tells himself, "It is not a problem, therefore there is no reason for me to feel so bad about it."
(9) After wrestling with such guilt and shame for so many years, the boy, now an adult, comes to believe, quite understandably - and because of his denial, needs to believe - "I can't change anyway because the condition is unchangeable." If even for a moment he considers otherwise, immediately arises the painful query, "Then why haven't I...?" and with it returns all the shame and guilt.
Thus, by the time the boy becomes a man, he has pieced together this point of view: "I was always different, always an outsider. I developed crushes on boys from as long as I can remember and the first time I fell in love it was with a boy, not a girl. I had no real interest in members of the opposite sex. Oh, I tried all right - desperately. But my sexual experiences with girls were nothing special. But the first time I had homosexual sex it just 'felt right.' So it makes perfect sense to me that homosexuality is genetic. I've tried to change - God knows how long I struggled - and I just can't. That's because it's not changeable. Finally, I stopped struggling and just accepted myself the way I am."
(10) Social attitudes toward homosexuality will play a role in making it more or less likely that the man will adopt an "inborn and unchangeable" perspective, and at what point in his development. It is obvious that a widely shared and propagated worldview that normalizes homosexuality will increase the likelihood of his adopting such beliefs, and at an earlier age. But it is perhaps less obvious - it follows from what we have discussed above - that ridicule, rejection, and harshly punitive condemnation of him as a person will be just as likely (if not more likely) to drive him into the same position.
(11) If he maintains his desire for a traditional family life, the man may continue to struggle against his "second nature." Depending on whom he meets, he may remain trapped between straight condemnation and gay activism, both in secular institutions and in religious ones. The most important message he needs to hear is that "healing is possible."
(12) If he enters the path to healing, he will find that the road is long and difficult - but extraordinarily fulfilling. The course to full restoration of heterosexuality typically lasts longer than the average American marriage - which should be understood as an index of how broken all relationships are today.
From the secular therapies he will come to understand what the true nature of his longings are, that they are not really about sex, and that he is not defined by his sexual appetites. In such a setting, he will very possibly learn how to turn aright to other men to gain from them a genuine, nonsexualized masculine comradeship and intimacy; and how to relate aright to woman, as friend, lover, life's companion, and, God willing, mother of his children.
Of course the old wounds will not simply disappear, and later in times of great distress the old paths of escape will beckon. But the claim that this means he is therefore "really" a homosexual and unchanged is a lie. For as he lives a new life of ever-growing honesty, and cultivates genuine intimacy with the woman of his heart, the new patterns will grow ever stronger and the old ones engraved in the synapses of his brain ever weaker.
In time, knowing that they really have little to do with sex, he will even come to respect and put to good use what faint stirrings remain of the old urges. They will be for him a kind of storm-warning, a signal that something is out of order in his house, that some old pattern of longing and rejection and defense is being activated. And he will find that no sooner does he set his house in order that indeed the old urges once again abate. In his relations to others - as friend, husband, professional - he will now have a special gift. What was once a curse will have become a blessing, to himself and to others.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
National Fast Track
At the beginning of this year the prophetic word came that some national strongholds will not be broken unless we use the double edged sword of fasting and prayer. (You can Google: I Hear Sickles by Stacey Campbell)
The National Fast Track was birthed in the heart of a young "Gadite" from Gibsons BC, and prayer leaders from all over Canada have confirmed that this is the heart of the Lord.
The Fast Track is a national mobilization of fasting & prayer for 200 focused days. Beginning on the East coast and moving from time zone to time zone until it arrives on the Pacific. Each time zone holds the fasting & prayer "baton" for 40 days, before it passed it on to their neighbouring time zone.
So, starting May 12th, the Fast Track moves across the nation until November 27th. We are calling every one to join in, fasting one day, multiple days or even for the full 40 days. It is a time to cry out for Canada, and particularly for the promised revival among the younger generation. It's a time where we can as a nation call for the sickle of harvest to reap a generation.
The website will be up this week, you can go, get more information and sign up for your fast! www.fastrack40.ca
The Cityscape Team,
Cityscape Prayer Ministries
www.cityscapeprayer.org
Monday, March 24, 2008
Consider Gideon
Israel was greatly impoverished" because of the Midianites, and cried unto God for a deliverer. In answer to their cry God raised up a man by the name of Gideon. Gideon was threshing grain by (or 'in') the winepress in order to hide it from the Midianites, when the angel of the LORD greeted him with strange words:
"The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor" (Judg. 6:12) God knew Gideon's problem. He knew that Gideon was filled with fear because of the enemy. He knew he was but a weak man in one of the poorest families of Manasseh. He knew that Gideon was the least, and not the greatest, in his father's house. Just the qualities that God was looking for! And so the angel said,
"Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel" (vs. 14) His strength was not to be in his own resources, but in his weakness. And the fact that God SENT him would be the only authority and power he needed.
We all know the story... how God had to whittle down the original army of 32,000 men to a handful of 300. Beloved, why can we not learn from the multitude of witnesses, in both the Old Testament and the New... that strength is not in numbers, that riches consist not of silver and gold, that wisdom proceeds from the way of the Cross, and not from the halls of learning?
Gideon demobilized his army at the command of the LORD, by ordering all the fearful ones to go home. He was left with only 10,000 men. These were all anxious for battle; but God said, "The people are yet too many". God took the matter in His own hands and sent another 9,700 home... discharged them from the army of the Lord! And for what reason? Perhaps many of them wondered why, when they were so anxious to fight for the LORD. Whatever the reason was for the discharge of these 9,700 soldiers, I think God would have us know that in the very ordinary things of life, in and about our daily tasks and occupations, we are being tested and tried of the Lord every day, and we are not always aware of it. They were just down at the water quenching their thirst; but God was watching from Heaven, and trying their hearts, and they did not know it! There is something else very significant. God said if He used the whole multitude, then Israel would take some of the glory. So we know that when God hand-picked these 300 men, He knew they would not take any glory for the victory He would give them. God knew He would get all the glory!
God who searcheth the hearts of men is marking His own for involvement in the battle of the Lord, according to His own requirements of faithfulness, obedience, and submission to His will. His standard of judgment is this: "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is much". Do not expect to be commissioned to a post of duty in the army of the Lord if there is indifference or slothfulness or unfaithfulness or dishonesty or disobedience in your day by day existence in the little things. Paul observed that there was one requirement of a steward... he must be found faithful. And Jesus said if a man could not be trusted in his dealings with mammon, the fading wealth of this life, God could not trust him with the true riches.
God chose the 300, not to show how mighty they were; but to demonstrate that in the weakness of man He Himself would be glorified. With a lamp, and a pitcher, and a trumpet, they went forth to battle. That was all they needed, because the battle was the LORD's. And so Paul says,
"We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (2 Cor. 4:7).
A lamp within the pitcher. But the pitcher had to be broken that the light might shine forth. And then the trumpet sound of God's Word went forth:
"Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!"
Judges 7:20 ESV
The enemy was routed in utter confusion, and actually destroyed themselves. God's battle strategy against the enemy is to throw them into confusion. "Every man's sword was against his fellow, even throughout all the host" (Judg. 7:22) Satan has effectively used this strategy by bringing division and confusion into the midst of God's people; but all this will be reversed in the Day of the LORD.
The hosts of Satan tremble, and are thrown into a confused state of self-destruction when they are confronted with a people walking in the obedience of Christ, in the way of the Cross!
"The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor" (Judg. 6:12) God knew Gideon's problem. He knew that Gideon was filled with fear because of the enemy. He knew he was but a weak man in one of the poorest families of Manasseh. He knew that Gideon was the least, and not the greatest, in his father's house. Just the qualities that God was looking for! And so the angel said,
"Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel" (vs. 14) His strength was not to be in his own resources, but in his weakness. And the fact that God SENT him would be the only authority and power he needed.
We all know the story... how God had to whittle down the original army of 32,000 men to a handful of 300. Beloved, why can we not learn from the multitude of witnesses, in both the Old Testament and the New... that strength is not in numbers, that riches consist not of silver and gold, that wisdom proceeds from the way of the Cross, and not from the halls of learning?
Gideon demobilized his army at the command of the LORD, by ordering all the fearful ones to go home. He was left with only 10,000 men. These were all anxious for battle; but God said, "The people are yet too many". God took the matter in His own hands and sent another 9,700 home... discharged them from the army of the Lord! And for what reason? Perhaps many of them wondered why, when they were so anxious to fight for the LORD. Whatever the reason was for the discharge of these 9,700 soldiers, I think God would have us know that in the very ordinary things of life, in and about our daily tasks and occupations, we are being tested and tried of the Lord every day, and we are not always aware of it. They were just down at the water quenching their thirst; but God was watching from Heaven, and trying their hearts, and they did not know it! There is something else very significant. God said if He used the whole multitude, then Israel would take some of the glory. So we know that when God hand-picked these 300 men, He knew they would not take any glory for the victory He would give them. God knew He would get all the glory!
God who searcheth the hearts of men is marking His own for involvement in the battle of the Lord, according to His own requirements of faithfulness, obedience, and submission to His will. His standard of judgment is this: "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in that which is much". Do not expect to be commissioned to a post of duty in the army of the Lord if there is indifference or slothfulness or unfaithfulness or dishonesty or disobedience in your day by day existence in the little things. Paul observed that there was one requirement of a steward... he must be found faithful. And Jesus said if a man could not be trusted in his dealings with mammon, the fading wealth of this life, God could not trust him with the true riches.
God chose the 300, not to show how mighty they were; but to demonstrate that in the weakness of man He Himself would be glorified. With a lamp, and a pitcher, and a trumpet, they went forth to battle. That was all they needed, because the battle was the LORD's. And so Paul says,
"We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us" (2 Cor. 4:7).
A lamp within the pitcher. But the pitcher had to be broken that the light might shine forth. And then the trumpet sound of God's Word went forth:
"Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, "A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!"
Judges 7:20 ESV
The enemy was routed in utter confusion, and actually destroyed themselves. God's battle strategy against the enemy is to throw them into confusion. "Every man's sword was against his fellow, even throughout all the host" (Judg. 7:22) Satan has effectively used this strategy by bringing division and confusion into the midst of God's people; but all this will be reversed in the Day of the LORD.
The hosts of Satan tremble, and are thrown into a confused state of self-destruction when they are confronted with a people walking in the obedience of Christ, in the way of the Cross!
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Prayer and Full Surrender
I was just reading a chapter this morning in E. M. Bounds book on prayer. Here are a few quotes to ponder:
..."Entire dedication to God and full surrender, which carry the whole being in a flame of holy consecration, give wings to faith and energy to prayer. Full surrender opens the door to the throne of grace. It brings strong influence to bear on Almighty God......this consecration takes hold of the entire man and dedicates the whole life to God. "
"Prayer is not mere form of words. It is not just calling upon a name. PRAYER IS OBEDIENCE. It is founded on the unbending rock of obedience to God...."
"If the will of God does not master the life, the praying will be nothing but sickly sentiment. If prayer does not inspire, sanctify, and direct our work, then self-will enters and ruins both the work and the worker."
"Obedience to God helps faith as no other attribute possibly can. ...It requries no straining to exercise it. Obedience to God makes it easy to believe and trust God. Where the spirit of obedience totally saturates the soul, and the will is perfectly surrendered to God, faith becomes a reality. It also does this wehn there is a fixed, unalterable purpose to obey God. Faith then becomes almost involuntary. After obedience it is the next natural step. It is easily and readily taken. The difficulty in prayer then, is not with faith but with obedience, which is faith's foundation."
"If we want to pray well and get the most our of our praying, we must look at our obedience. We must look at the secret springs of action and the loyalty of our heart to God. Obedience is the groundwork of effective praying. "
"Likewise, lack of obedience in our lives breaks down our praying. Quite often are lives are in rebellion. Disobedience shuts the door of the prayer closet. It bars the way into the Holy of Holies. No man can truly pray who does not obey......There can be no rich, true praying when the will is not wholly and fully surrendered to God."
I remember these sobering words of Jesus in Matthew 7:21
Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in.
or in the Message version:
Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'
..."Entire dedication to God and full surrender, which carry the whole being in a flame of holy consecration, give wings to faith and energy to prayer. Full surrender opens the door to the throne of grace. It brings strong influence to bear on Almighty God......this consecration takes hold of the entire man and dedicates the whole life to God. "
"Prayer is not mere form of words. It is not just calling upon a name. PRAYER IS OBEDIENCE. It is founded on the unbending rock of obedience to God...."
"If the will of God does not master the life, the praying will be nothing but sickly sentiment. If prayer does not inspire, sanctify, and direct our work, then self-will enters and ruins both the work and the worker."
"Obedience to God helps faith as no other attribute possibly can. ...It requries no straining to exercise it. Obedience to God makes it easy to believe and trust God. Where the spirit of obedience totally saturates the soul, and the will is perfectly surrendered to God, faith becomes a reality. It also does this wehn there is a fixed, unalterable purpose to obey God. Faith then becomes almost involuntary. After obedience it is the next natural step. It is easily and readily taken. The difficulty in prayer then, is not with faith but with obedience, which is faith's foundation."
"If we want to pray well and get the most our of our praying, we must look at our obedience. We must look at the secret springs of action and the loyalty of our heart to God. Obedience is the groundwork of effective praying. "
"Likewise, lack of obedience in our lives breaks down our praying. Quite often are lives are in rebellion. Disobedience shuts the door of the prayer closet. It bars the way into the Holy of Holies. No man can truly pray who does not obey......There can be no rich, true praying when the will is not wholly and fully surrendered to God."
I remember these sobering words of Jesus in Matthew 7:21
Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in.
or in the Message version:
Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'
Friday, March 07, 2008
Forgiveness again?
God's chastening
and discipline
get our attention.
They shake us out of
and discipline
get our attention.
They shake us out of
our passivity and stubbornness.
----------------------------------------------------------------
We Reap the Crop We Sow
It is inevitable. We will reap what we sow. Once again we see that what we dish out comes flying back in our faces. Our unforgiveness leads to our own torment, which makes for a very unhappy life for us and those around us.
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Galatians 6:7-8).
Sow mercy and it returns to you multiplied. So judgment and it will be poured into your lap. By our standard of measure it will be measured to us in return. Brrrr! It sends cold chills up and down my spine.
"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. And do not judge and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return" (Luke 6:36-38).
Those things we judge in others we turn around and do ourselves. Those things we forgive in others will not rule our lives. The next verse tells us why.
"Therefore you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things" (Romans 2:1-2).
-------------------------------------------------------
Those things we judge in others we turn around
and do ourselves.
(Romans 2:1-2)
--------------------------------------------------------
Many times I have criticized someone for doing something foolish and found myself doing the same thing moments later. This phen- omenon can occur when we judge others for serious violations as well.
I know a Bible teacher who frequently spoke harshly and con- temptuously about Christians who fell into sexual sin. Years later, this much admired Bible teacher had an affair with a married person. The affair resulted in two divorces and their relationship ended.
To teach or say that having an affair is sinful is not judgment. In fact, it is appropriate to teach others that such behavior is wrong. To be harsh and severe in our attitudes toward another for their sin, however, is wrong and will only close the door to ministry in that person's life.
God's word teaches that He Himself will condemn those who condemn us—I believe until that one repents.
"'No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me' declares the LORD" (Isaiah 54:17 NAS).
In his book, In the Grip of Grace, Max Lucado wrote, “It is our job to hate the sin. But it’s God’s job to deal with the sinner. God has called us to despise evil, but he’s never called us to despise the evildoer.
“Standing next to all the Mussolinis and Hitlers and [Jeffrey] Dahmers of the world” continues Lucado, “we boast, ‘Look, God! Compared to them, I’m not too bad.’
“But that’s the problem. God doesn’t compare us to them. They aren’t the standard. God is. And compared to him . . . ‘There is no one who does anything good’” (Romans 3:12).
We all fall short of the glory of God, and that is the standard (Romans 3:23).
"Do not judge before the right time; wait until the Lord comes" (1 Corinthians 4:5).
What a blessing of the Lord to know that He is our defender, vindicator and Redeemer!
The Unforgiveness We Hold against Another Will Block Answers to our Prayers in the Areas of our Judgment
Once I began to study forgiveness, I began to notice that those I loved and yet judged never changed in their interactions with me in spite of my prayers for them. It was as if the heavens were as brass. This is because my own unforgiveness was blocking the answers to my prayers.
"And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you Your transgressions" (Mark 11:25).
"If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering" (Matthew 5:23-24).
I've often thought about the stoning of Stephen. As he was being dying, he looked up into heaven and began to plead with the Lord not to lay the sins of his murderers to their account. Paul watched as his martyrdom took place. I wonder if Paul would have become the man of God he was had it not been for the forgiveness of Stephen. In the sovereignty of God, I'm certain he would have, but in the sovereignty of God Paul was present at the stoning of Stephen.
It is not that others cannot change without our forgiveness. They may change, but it will not be because of prayers coming from our unforgiving hearts. It will be because of God's sovereign and merciful will in their lives.
God Calls us to be Ministers of Reconciliation
The real point here is that God wants forgiveness and reconciliation in both directions, and He asks us to take the responsibility for both. When someone offends us, He asks us to go to them and reconcile. When we offend someone, He asks us again to go to them and reconcile.
-----------------------------------------------------
When someone offends us,
He asks us to go to them
and reconcile.
When we offend someone,
He asks us again to go to them
and reconcile.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not count- ing their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
Just as Christ does not count our trespasses against us, it is clear that we are not to count the trespasses of others against us. He would not ask us to do the impossible.
"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32).
There is no possibility for God's unconditional love to blossom and bloom in the desert of our souls without the mercy of forgiveness, for even He could not love us without it. And neither can we love unconditionally without it.
Steps out of Bitterness
1. The process of forgiveness begins with a decision. It may take time to grieve and wrestle with God over the decision to forgive the most serious offenses. The decision is usually easier to make when we see what unforgiveness is costing us. Whether done face-to-face or between us and the Lord, please remember that forgiveness has a powerful restorative effect in every circumstance.
--------------------------------------------------------
The decision to forgive
is usually easier to make
when we see
what unforgiveness
is costing us.
----------------------------------------------------------------
We Reap the Crop We Sow
It is inevitable. We will reap what we sow. Once again we see that what we dish out comes flying back in our faces. Our unforgiveness leads to our own torment, which makes for a very unhappy life for us and those around us.
"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life" (Galatians 6:7-8).
Sow mercy and it returns to you multiplied. So judgment and it will be poured into your lap. By our standard of measure it will be measured to us in return. Brrrr! It sends cold chills up and down my spine.
"Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. And do not judge and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return" (Luke 6:36-38).
Those things we judge in others we turn around and do ourselves. Those things we forgive in others will not rule our lives. The next verse tells us why.
"Therefore you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment, for in that you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things" (Romans 2:1-2).
-------------------------------------------------------
Those things we judge in others we turn around
and do ourselves.
(Romans 2:1-2)
--------------------------------------------------------
Many times I have criticized someone for doing something foolish and found myself doing the same thing moments later. This phen- omenon can occur when we judge others for serious violations as well.
I know a Bible teacher who frequently spoke harshly and con- temptuously about Christians who fell into sexual sin. Years later, this much admired Bible teacher had an affair with a married person. The affair resulted in two divorces and their relationship ended.
To teach or say that having an affair is sinful is not judgment. In fact, it is appropriate to teach others that such behavior is wrong. To be harsh and severe in our attitudes toward another for their sin, however, is wrong and will only close the door to ministry in that person's life.
God's word teaches that He Himself will condemn those who condemn us—I believe until that one repents.
"'No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their vindication is from Me' declares the LORD" (Isaiah 54:17 NAS).
In his book, In the Grip of Grace, Max Lucado wrote, “It is our job to hate the sin. But it’s God’s job to deal with the sinner. God has called us to despise evil, but he’s never called us to despise the evildoer.
“Standing next to all the Mussolinis and Hitlers and [Jeffrey] Dahmers of the world” continues Lucado, “we boast, ‘Look, God! Compared to them, I’m not too bad.’
“But that’s the problem. God doesn’t compare us to them. They aren’t the standard. God is. And compared to him . . . ‘There is no one who does anything good’” (Romans 3:12).
We all fall short of the glory of God, and that is the standard (Romans 3:23).
"Do not judge before the right time; wait until the Lord comes" (1 Corinthians 4:5).
What a blessing of the Lord to know that He is our defender, vindicator and Redeemer!
The Unforgiveness We Hold against Another Will Block Answers to our Prayers in the Areas of our Judgment
Once I began to study forgiveness, I began to notice that those I loved and yet judged never changed in their interactions with me in spite of my prayers for them. It was as if the heavens were as brass. This is because my own unforgiveness was blocking the answers to my prayers.
"And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you Your transgressions" (Mark 11:25).
"If therefore you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar, and go your way; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering" (Matthew 5:23-24).
I've often thought about the stoning of Stephen. As he was being dying, he looked up into heaven and began to plead with the Lord not to lay the sins of his murderers to their account. Paul watched as his martyrdom took place. I wonder if Paul would have become the man of God he was had it not been for the forgiveness of Stephen. In the sovereignty of God, I'm certain he would have, but in the sovereignty of God Paul was present at the stoning of Stephen.
It is not that others cannot change without our forgiveness. They may change, but it will not be because of prayers coming from our unforgiving hearts. It will be because of God's sovereign and merciful will in their lives.
God Calls us to be Ministers of Reconciliation
The real point here is that God wants forgiveness and reconciliation in both directions, and He asks us to take the responsibility for both. When someone offends us, He asks us to go to them and reconcile. When we offend someone, He asks us again to go to them and reconcile.
-----------------------------------------------------
When someone offends us,
He asks us to go to them
and reconcile.
When we offend someone,
He asks us again to go to them
and reconcile.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not count- ing their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
Just as Christ does not count our trespasses against us, it is clear that we are not to count the trespasses of others against us. He would not ask us to do the impossible.
"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32).
There is no possibility for God's unconditional love to blossom and bloom in the desert of our souls without the mercy of forgiveness, for even He could not love us without it. And neither can we love unconditionally without it.
Steps out of Bitterness
1. The process of forgiveness begins with a decision. It may take time to grieve and wrestle with God over the decision to forgive the most serious offenses. The decision is usually easier to make when we see what unforgiveness is costing us. Whether done face-to-face or between us and the Lord, please remember that forgiveness has a powerful restorative effect in every circumstance.
--------------------------------------------------------
The decision to forgive
is usually easier to make
when we see
what unforgiveness
is costing us.
----------------------------------------------------------
Also remember, forgiveness is not saying what someone did or said was right. Forgiveness is saying, "I'll let God straighten this out".
When we try to "set someone straight" regarding an offense, unless they themselves are humble and open, we build walls and harm the possibility of reconciliation. When God straightens us out, He builds a bridge. His rectification is always for the purpose of redemption and restoration. When you go to someone with an offence, go as a bridge-builder. Go in humility. And remember, it's a process and sometimes takes time, but love never fails! (1 Corinthians 13).
2. Proverbs 14:30 says the heart knows its own bitterness. Pray for the Lord to expose anything hidden. This is not some mystical experience. Bitterness prevents us from walking in all that God has for us. God will not keep the stumbling blocks hidden from us, because He wants us and those around us to walk in all of His blessings.
3. Repent of each judgment/unforgiveness, especially toward parents and other authority figures. Ephesians 6:2-3 says it will not go well all the days of the lives of those who do not honor their parents. Forgiveness is not saying what our parents did was right. Forgive- ness is loosing them from the prison of our unforgiveness into God's healing grace and love. To forgive them is what it means to love and honor them.
-------------------------------------------------------
We build walls.
God builds bridges.
Become like God.
Be a bridge builder.
--------------------------------------------------------
4. Ask God to meet your unmet needs. Know that only He can.
Many of us have a large hole in our souls from unmet needs during critical times of development as a child. The void of love, accept- ance, nurturing, guidance, training and valuing are just a few of the longings that leave us needy people. As adults we are always searching for someone to fill up that vast hole. The problem is it is a bottomless pit. And we are usually asking the same kind of person who hurt us in the past to fill it up.
5. Make a list of those whom you have offended and go to them to ask for their forgiveness. God does miracles in the midst of these humbling times.
One important point needs to be made here. If I have judged someone secretly in my heart and they do not know it, in such cases it is best to complete the forgiveness transaction between myself and the Lord. Think how it would sound to someone to walk up to them when they are completely ignorant of my judgments against and disappointments in them and say, "Please forgive me for judging you for being a jerk." Or "I forgive you for being a jerk." Or some other offensive statement like that. It would cause more problems than it would heal. Use wisdom.
Here are some good rules of thumb. Unless there has been open conflict between you and someone else, just take it to the Lord and deal with it there. When an offense has been committed in public, then restitution needs to be made in public. When it is a private matter, keep it that way.
6. Some personalities bug us more than others. Forgive people for their personality types.
Ever notice how certain personality types bother you? I know because every now and then I run into someone I can tell is bugged by my personality. And I've occasionally run into a personality type that bugs me. In such cases, the problem is often not the other person. It is usually me. They are probably like someone who has hurt me. So we need to forgive those who annoy us and remind us of others who have annoyed us in the past, not for just their sakes but for the Lord's sake and for our sake.
----------------------------------------------------------
We need to forgive and repent of our judgments
and prejudices against the church,
religions, governments, leaders,
races and ethnicities.
---------------------------------------------------------
7. We need to forgive and repent of our judgments and prejudices against religions, governments, leaders, ethnicities, tribes and races.
Just think how many wars in the world are prosecuted in the name of religion! We need to stop playing god in peoples lives, release them to the sovereignty of Almighty God and pray for them. We were all created equally . . . are loved equally . . . and are equally important to God. If there is any doubt about this, pay close attention to this verse.
"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters" (Revelation 14:6-7).
And there is always the most famous verse in the world.
"For God so the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
8. Forgive those who die for dying and leaving us.
Little children especially don't understand the death of a parent. They often blame themselves. Forgiving them for dying is a step into healing the pain and loss.
9. Forgive those who are dead for their sins against us.
Yes, we need to forgive people who have died for their sins against us. Why? Because their sins are still impacting our lives.
10. The one we most harshly judge and is also the most difficult to forgive is ourselves. It is important that we not skip ourselves in the forgiveness process.
I have committed many wrongs. I have failed my God, my parents, my children and my friends in so many ways. I know the Lord has forgiven me. They have forgiven me, and I have finally forgiven myself. Even so, when I see how my past sins are still impacting my loved ones, I go to the Lord with my pain and sense of loss. As I pour out my tears in His presence, He heals me a little more of the pain of my own sin.
-------------------------------------------------
Forgiveness is not saying
what someone did to us is right. It is saying,
"I'll let God straighten this out".
-----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------
11. God is perfect love. He never does anything for which He needs to be forgiven, but many of us blame Him for our problems. This misplaced blame causes us to harbor resentments and out- right anger toward Him. We need to forgive Him and loose Him from our judgments for His sake and for our sake.
12. When someone asks for your forgiveness, don't brush it off, no matter how insignificant it seems to you. Next to saying, "Will you forgive me", saying, "Yes, I forgive you" is the second most difficult thing to say. Graciously and gratefully say, "Yes. Of course I forgive you". You can be sure it is very significant for them. It is also significant for us.
13. Overlooking an offense is not the same as forgiving an offense. Biblical entreaties are to be actively responded to, not passively acknowledged.
14. If someone refuses to forgive you, do not despair. When you have done all you can do to make restitution with a right heart, then you are released and forgiven by God. He will continue to work in the one who refused to forgive you.
15. Watch for "always" and "never" words. For example, "You never remember my birthday!" "You always embarrass me in front of my friends!" They are a sure sign of unforgiveness. It is important to go back to the root of the unforgiveness (parents and authority figures who did the same things to you) and forgive them first and then forgive the present situation.
16. Watch for statements such as "You are just like your ________ (mother or father)". This is another sure sign of unforgiveness. Again, it is important to go back to the root of unforgiveness as suggested in # 15.
16. Let your tears flow. This is a very important part of the healing of unforgiveness.
--------------------------------------------------
When someone
asks for your forgiveness,
don't brush it off,
no matter how insignificant
it may seem to you.
Graciously and gratefully say, "Yes. Of course I forgive you".
You can bet it is very significant to them.
And it is very significant
for you.
--------------------------------------------------
Asking for the Forgiveness of Another
There is a right way and a wrong way to ask for forgiveness. Try saying the following words out loud and see which is the most difficult?
1) I'm sorry.
2) Will you forgive me?
The #1 hardest words in the world to say are, "Will you forgive me?".
It isn't enough to say I'm sorry. Saying "I'm sorry" allows me to remain in control. Asking the offended one for their forgiveness gives them control over the decision, something human beings hate above almost anything.
It is also important to specifically acknowledge our offense when asking for forgiveness.
The most freeing words in the world are, "I was wrong. Will you forgive me?". They are freeing to the one saying them, and they are freeing to the one hearing them.
"Will you forgive me for judging you about the way you dress? I was wrong."
"Will you forgive me for betraying your trust? I was wrong."
"Will you forgive me for lying to you? I was wrong".
"Will you forgive me for cheating you in that business deal last month? I was wrong."
In the case of cheating someone or stealing from someone, an essential piece of forgiveness it to make restitution for their loss.
---------------------------------------------------
The hardest words
in the world to say are,
"Will you forgive me?"
-------------------------------------------------------
"I was wrong. Will you forgive me?" These words humble us. They also heal us and those we have harmed. They empower where it matters . . . in heavenly places. Should the offended one refuse to forgive you, graciously accept the refusal and continue to pray and forgive.
When we go to those we have harmed and sincerely ask for forgiveness and they refuse, we are forgiven by the Lord. We are loosed. It then becomes an issue between God and the one who refused to forgive. The operative word for us who are asking for forgiveness is "sincerely".
Forgiving Others
When someone does not realize or refuses to admit they have done anything wrong, we can forgive them in prayer to the Lord. Neither is it always necessary to confront someone who is unaware they have offended us with the wrong suffered nor tell them directly that we forgive them. If, however, after we pray we are still offended and struggling, then it is best to go to them. When all else fails, don't fail to communicate. And be gracious and kind about it.
It is important to make every attempt to resolve hurts with others whenever it is possible. This is usually done face-to-face.
Can I hold someone in bondage by my unforgiveness? Can someone hold me in bondage with theirs? No. No one walking in forgiveness can be held in bondage to anyone else. If, however, I am walking in unforgiveness, it's as if I'm walking around with a bull's eye on my back. I'm fair game for all outlaws and bounty hunters.
--------------------------------------------------
To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable,
because God has forgiven
the inexcusable in you.
C. S. Lewis
(1898-1963)
---------------------------------------------------
Forgiveness is the key to the prison door, and this lock opens from the inside. Forgiveness opens the prison door for me. At the same time it opens it for the one I forgive. If someone refuses to forgive me, I still have the key to my prison door. When I forgive another for their judgment against me, the prison door swings open and I go free.
Forgiveness is redemptive. As children of God, when we forgive, His redemption flows through us. We are trophies of God's redemption, and we are agents of God's redemption in the world. Spread it around!!!
I see the power of forgiveness in my life. I see it in the lives of hundreds of people every time I teach this vital message. Once we take hold of it and witness the changes it makes in us and those around us, mercy and forgiveness become a passionate desire instead of a wearisome and painful duty.
Jesus took God's wrath for sin upon Himself as He hung on the cross. He shed His blood to pay the price for every sin (Ephesians 1:7). All we have to do is believe and forgive. Even for those who believe, forgiveness is not an easy step to take, nor is it finished when we make the choice to forgive. It has only begun.
Once I understood the price we pay for unforgiveness—my own torment—and the iniquities passed down to my children, grand- children and great-grandchildren—and once I understood the power of forgiveness—the breaking of the patterns of behavior and the strongholds in the family to a thousand generations—I could not wait to get on with it.
Our nation needs to get on with it. Certainly the body of Christ needs to get on with it.
---------------------------------------------
Forgiveness is the key
to the prison door.
---------------------------------------------
Tears Cleanse the Pain of our Heartaches, Disappointments and Broken Dreams
Repentance and godly sorrow are companions. We can't have one without the other.
"For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death" (2 Corinthians 7:10).
The word "sorrow" in the Greek means heaviness, mourning and grief. This godly heaviness, mourning and grief produces repentance.
Repentance is not a choice, it is a fruit borne out of our griefs and sorrows in the presence of the Lord. Repentance isn't merely sorrow for our sins. Repentance doesn't just indicate a change of mind or a desire to change our mind. Repentance is a turning to God, and we can never turn to God and remain the same.
God transforms our souls in the midst of repentance. This repentance leads to salvation, which means "healing, wholeness and deliverance". The tears that have been begging to brim over all of our lives are the key to our healing. This is exactly what God created tears for—to brim over—to bring healing.
When we have not fought back our tears, we have shed them with shame because we did not understand their place in God's plan. That shame has created more pain and nullified the potential for healing.
Here is an important key. We know forgiveness takes place when we make that decision. Healing of our wounds, pain and disappoint- ment takes place in the brokenness of tears and repentance (turning to God).
Lord, so many offenses, so much unforgiveness, so much judgment. Where do I begin? Help me sort all of this out. Bring to my mind those against whom I am holding judgments, especially parents and other early authority figures. Also quicken to me those I have wounded. Make me a minister of reconciliation in my family, your church, our nation and your world. In Your Name I pray. Amen.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We know we are free
when our pain is gone.
Yes, it will go!
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Touch the Sexual Sinner
by Mike Ensley
Nobody needs to be told about the startling statistics regarding youth and sexuality. A rant about how the media and entertainment industry push the envelope would just be stating the obvious to anyone with ears to listen.
What gets me ranting is the Church's response; all too often living in the definition of insanity in regards to responding to the crisis of our culture. Despite its monumental failure to accomplish anything in the way of personal transformation, too many Christians — worse, those in ministry — seem bent on responding with our most ineffective asset: religion.
Teens get involved in risky behaviors; we expand our list of don'ts. They're drawn to worldly influences; we decry them from the pulpit. The media push the envelope; we boycott. And the numbers get worse every year, the gap between Christians and the troubled next generation growing ever wider.
Having spent some time on either side of that gap, I know the common frustrations of youth and those ministering to them. I've gotten a chance to make both kinds of mistakes, and afterwards learn a thing or two about what is getting lost in translation in the sometimes forbidding world of youth ministry.
Generation Why
I'm one of those disappointing kids. I was a well-mannered, seemingly genuine on-fire-for-God young man who played guitar like every good Christian guy, but nevertheless had privately gotten mired in "the World" (cue ominous sound effect). Sorry, folks, the pastor's son isn't leading worship today. He has a boyfriend now.
It came to a head right around that transition between high school and college, when they say most Christian kids go through a crisis of faith — many of them leaving it behind. Everyone was so shocked (well not everyone) when I came out of the closet. What did shock everyone was that I was embracing it; they thought I knew better. And, well, I did.
Nobody likes to see their hopes for a promising young Believer dashed. What makes it happen? Is it a simple case of choosing one's flesh over Jesus, the world instead of the Body of Christ? There's definitely truth in that, but I don't think it's the whole truth. After all, I wasn't just seemingly on fire for God, I really loved and believed in Him. I was never unconvinced of the gospel.
Why on earth would I slip into "the gay lifestyle," then?
To be frank, the gay community offered something the Church should have, but didn't. I found something among homosexual men that, as far as I knew at the time, Christian men and their God could/would not offer.
I'm not talking about sex, but about intimacy. As wrong as I knew it supposedly was, homosexuality fed my need to be fathered and to experience brotherhood far beyond anything I experienced in the Church up to that time.
I believe most young people who get caught up in sin could say something similar. Sure there's immaturity, selfishness, sin nature and rebellion involved; there always is. But none of that is a reason, only an illegitimate means to acquire what we strive for.
And young people are absolutely striving for intimacy, for identity and for significance. Unfortunately, our post-modern culture often does a better job than we do of addressing it. They don't have the true answers, but at least they are paying attention to the question.
Underestimated
I felt disenfranchised by the Church as a teenager, and to be honest, I have often felt that way as a young adult. Everyone thought they knew me, and that there wasn't much to know. After all, what could be that deep or complicated about a teen guy? I was an insecure, selfish hormone on legs, and no one let me forget it.
One of my best friends in high school, who was of course a girl, had to tell me we couldn't hang out anymore. When I asked why, she bitterly let me know that her parents told her I was a pig who was only interested in her for her body. I thought that was cute, being stereotyped in the completely wrong direction. But isn't that what so many Christians think is all they need to know about young males?
I would say that about 95 percent of the guy-specific ministry I experienced from the teen years on up had to do with managing lust. A vital topic, to be sure, but I often wondered if anyone saw anything else in me, or if anyone could answer my deeper questions about life, relationships, real manhood — which is more than just white-knuckling our way to our wedding night.
My secret struggle with my sexual identity underscored how little was taught to me and my peers about building a godly masculine identity in the first place. I'm sure someone touched on it in a sermon somewhere along the way, but preaching never has a lasting impact on such core, complex parts of a person's being.
And if anyone was going to help me respond healthily to my feelings, they needed to at least acknowledge their reality and validate my experience, not just tell me that sin is sin and feelings don't matter. That's where the self-named "progressives" are one step ahead of Christians; they take time to listen, and they take young people seriously.
Many of those lessons I didn't learn until years later though, in college, when my young adult pastor entered into a true mentoring relationship with me. We did the typical once-a-week meeting at his office with accountability questions and Scripture memory, but he didn't leave it at that. Afterwards he took me home to his family; he let me become part of the family. I've forgotten most of what we read or talked about in our meeting time, but the impact of the intimate involvement in his home is what lasted. That's where my misconceptions about men, women, marriage and family were challenged and ultimately replaced with hope and truth.
He and other men like him who were willing to invest in me relationally showed me that God cared about my deep, long-unmet need for fatherly love and affirmation. When I saw that the cry of my heart mattered to God, and that He had a pure and right way to answer it, I got the strength to break my dependence on homosexuality. Who knows if I ever would have fallen into that sinful life in the first place if relational ministry had been offered to me sooner?
Of course I was a little more relationally open in college than I was as a teenager. The same will be true of most youth. But if teenagers are shallow and immature, I don't think it's necessarily all their doing. Consider most of them have largely been raised by godless government employees — most of them women — who split their attention between them and 40 other students. Not to mention the way our culture panders to stupidity and base desires.
That doesn't mean that real depth, emotion and relational potential aren't all waiting there beneath that thin veneer of whatever image they have adopted. We have to keep believing in it, beyond the pulpit, by intimately investing in their lives — and inviting them to invest in ours.
Reach Out and Touch Someone
I recently read an article by a youth pastor complaining about the unhealthy forms of physical affection he was seeing between guys in his group. This homoerotic intrusion motivated him to institute a new ban (which he encouraged other youth pastors to enforce) against "same-sex PDA's."
His new rule, he said, was that anything deemed inappropriate between a guy and a girl was now also inappropriate between guys. He suggested strict time-limits for hugs; said horseplay is too risky to be allowed. I can see him standing there, stop-watch in hand, totally oblivious to the relational famine that is his real problem.
I probably would not have thrived in such a youth group. Sexual identity issues are the American Church's new leprosy; and while sexual sin in general seems to be our number one enemy, many feel the need to conduct young people through their teen years as if they were running a quarantine camp for highly infectious diseases. Never mind that physical touch is a real human need, and a lot of kids have never experienced it in a healthy and soul-affirming way.
The fact that other guys who knew of my struggle were still willing to hug me, horseplay, and sit next to me without a "buffer" seat between us meant the world to me. The freedom I experienced in those friendships was actually the best defense I had against temptation.
I knew sin was sin — but being told how bad it was never going to set me free; kind of like Paul's dilemma with the Law in Romans 7. Letting go of my unhealthy patterns wasn't possible until I had the freedom to struggle and imperfectly explore the healthy ones.
But why is focusing on the negative so many Christians' default setting in responding to youth? Parents, preachers and youth ministers alike seem always to react to each new crisis with heightened restrictions.
In contrast to my experience, one of the young men I mentored through a local Exodus ministry was practically punished for his struggle. He had never acted on his desires, never wanted to embrace a homosexual identity, but when he confided in his youth pastor he was taken out of the worship band, removed from leadership and told to stay away from children. I shudder to think how they might have dealt with a gay-identified student.
Our ability to redeem the sexual generation will lie in our willingness to live and love with the same kind of daring Jesus did when he dared to speak to — and touch — the lepers, Samaritans and sexual sinners of his day. Unlike the religious folks around Him, I don't think Jesus identified people by their disease, nationality or sin; He looked beyond all that and saw the beautiful potential of what God created, and He called it out by treating them like they were worthwhile.
Working with teens is not an environment that naturally encourages transparency or genuine intimacy, but as the ministers we must bring those things to the table. What little I know of relational living comes from those who moved past my immaturity and made the sacrifice of investing their hearts in me, and believing I could do the same.
Looking back on my troubled, lonely teen years, I believe that's what I was looking for all along. I believe it's the cure that a shallow, sin-saturated new generation is crying out for.
Our youth have hearts that need pursuing. If we don't go after them, there are other people out there who will.
Nobody needs to be told about the startling statistics regarding youth and sexuality. A rant about how the media and entertainment industry push the envelope would just be stating the obvious to anyone with ears to listen.
What gets me ranting is the Church's response; all too often living in the definition of insanity in regards to responding to the crisis of our culture. Despite its monumental failure to accomplish anything in the way of personal transformation, too many Christians — worse, those in ministry — seem bent on responding with our most ineffective asset: religion.
Teens get involved in risky behaviors; we expand our list of don'ts. They're drawn to worldly influences; we decry them from the pulpit. The media push the envelope; we boycott. And the numbers get worse every year, the gap between Christians and the troubled next generation growing ever wider.
Having spent some time on either side of that gap, I know the common frustrations of youth and those ministering to them. I've gotten a chance to make both kinds of mistakes, and afterwards learn a thing or two about what is getting lost in translation in the sometimes forbidding world of youth ministry.
Generation Why
I'm one of those disappointing kids. I was a well-mannered, seemingly genuine on-fire-for-God young man who played guitar like every good Christian guy, but nevertheless had privately gotten mired in "the World" (cue ominous sound effect). Sorry, folks, the pastor's son isn't leading worship today. He has a boyfriend now.
It came to a head right around that transition between high school and college, when they say most Christian kids go through a crisis of faith — many of them leaving it behind. Everyone was so shocked (well not everyone) when I came out of the closet. What did shock everyone was that I was embracing it; they thought I knew better. And, well, I did.
Nobody likes to see their hopes for a promising young Believer dashed. What makes it happen? Is it a simple case of choosing one's flesh over Jesus, the world instead of the Body of Christ? There's definitely truth in that, but I don't think it's the whole truth. After all, I wasn't just seemingly on fire for God, I really loved and believed in Him. I was never unconvinced of the gospel.
Why on earth would I slip into "the gay lifestyle," then?
To be frank, the gay community offered something the Church should have, but didn't. I found something among homosexual men that, as far as I knew at the time, Christian men and their God could/would not offer.
I'm not talking about sex, but about intimacy. As wrong as I knew it supposedly was, homosexuality fed my need to be fathered and to experience brotherhood far beyond anything I experienced in the Church up to that time.
I believe most young people who get caught up in sin could say something similar. Sure there's immaturity, selfishness, sin nature and rebellion involved; there always is. But none of that is a reason, only an illegitimate means to acquire what we strive for.
And young people are absolutely striving for intimacy, for identity and for significance. Unfortunately, our post-modern culture often does a better job than we do of addressing it. They don't have the true answers, but at least they are paying attention to the question.
Underestimated
I felt disenfranchised by the Church as a teenager, and to be honest, I have often felt that way as a young adult. Everyone thought they knew me, and that there wasn't much to know. After all, what could be that deep or complicated about a teen guy? I was an insecure, selfish hormone on legs, and no one let me forget it.
One of my best friends in high school, who was of course a girl, had to tell me we couldn't hang out anymore. When I asked why, she bitterly let me know that her parents told her I was a pig who was only interested in her for her body. I thought that was cute, being stereotyped in the completely wrong direction. But isn't that what so many Christians think is all they need to know about young males?
I would say that about 95 percent of the guy-specific ministry I experienced from the teen years on up had to do with managing lust. A vital topic, to be sure, but I often wondered if anyone saw anything else in me, or if anyone could answer my deeper questions about life, relationships, real manhood — which is more than just white-knuckling our way to our wedding night.
My secret struggle with my sexual identity underscored how little was taught to me and my peers about building a godly masculine identity in the first place. I'm sure someone touched on it in a sermon somewhere along the way, but preaching never has a lasting impact on such core, complex parts of a person's being.
And if anyone was going to help me respond healthily to my feelings, they needed to at least acknowledge their reality and validate my experience, not just tell me that sin is sin and feelings don't matter. That's where the self-named "progressives" are one step ahead of Christians; they take time to listen, and they take young people seriously.
Many of those lessons I didn't learn until years later though, in college, when my young adult pastor entered into a true mentoring relationship with me. We did the typical once-a-week meeting at his office with accountability questions and Scripture memory, but he didn't leave it at that. Afterwards he took me home to his family; he let me become part of the family. I've forgotten most of what we read or talked about in our meeting time, but the impact of the intimate involvement in his home is what lasted. That's where my misconceptions about men, women, marriage and family were challenged and ultimately replaced with hope and truth.
He and other men like him who were willing to invest in me relationally showed me that God cared about my deep, long-unmet need for fatherly love and affirmation. When I saw that the cry of my heart mattered to God, and that He had a pure and right way to answer it, I got the strength to break my dependence on homosexuality. Who knows if I ever would have fallen into that sinful life in the first place if relational ministry had been offered to me sooner?
Of course I was a little more relationally open in college than I was as a teenager. The same will be true of most youth. But if teenagers are shallow and immature, I don't think it's necessarily all their doing. Consider most of them have largely been raised by godless government employees — most of them women — who split their attention between them and 40 other students. Not to mention the way our culture panders to stupidity and base desires.
That doesn't mean that real depth, emotion and relational potential aren't all waiting there beneath that thin veneer of whatever image they have adopted. We have to keep believing in it, beyond the pulpit, by intimately investing in their lives — and inviting them to invest in ours.
Reach Out and Touch Someone
I recently read an article by a youth pastor complaining about the unhealthy forms of physical affection he was seeing between guys in his group. This homoerotic intrusion motivated him to institute a new ban (which he encouraged other youth pastors to enforce) against "same-sex PDA's."
His new rule, he said, was that anything deemed inappropriate between a guy and a girl was now also inappropriate between guys. He suggested strict time-limits for hugs; said horseplay is too risky to be allowed. I can see him standing there, stop-watch in hand, totally oblivious to the relational famine that is his real problem.
I probably would not have thrived in such a youth group. Sexual identity issues are the American Church's new leprosy; and while sexual sin in general seems to be our number one enemy, many feel the need to conduct young people through their teen years as if they were running a quarantine camp for highly infectious diseases. Never mind that physical touch is a real human need, and a lot of kids have never experienced it in a healthy and soul-affirming way.
The fact that other guys who knew of my struggle were still willing to hug me, horseplay, and sit next to me without a "buffer" seat between us meant the world to me. The freedom I experienced in those friendships was actually the best defense I had against temptation.
I knew sin was sin — but being told how bad it was never going to set me free; kind of like Paul's dilemma with the Law in Romans 7. Letting go of my unhealthy patterns wasn't possible until I had the freedom to struggle and imperfectly explore the healthy ones.
But why is focusing on the negative so many Christians' default setting in responding to youth? Parents, preachers and youth ministers alike seem always to react to each new crisis with heightened restrictions.
In contrast to my experience, one of the young men I mentored through a local Exodus ministry was practically punished for his struggle. He had never acted on his desires, never wanted to embrace a homosexual identity, but when he confided in his youth pastor he was taken out of the worship band, removed from leadership and told to stay away from children. I shudder to think how they might have dealt with a gay-identified student.
Our ability to redeem the sexual generation will lie in our willingness to live and love with the same kind of daring Jesus did when he dared to speak to — and touch — the lepers, Samaritans and sexual sinners of his day. Unlike the religious folks around Him, I don't think Jesus identified people by their disease, nationality or sin; He looked beyond all that and saw the beautiful potential of what God created, and He called it out by treating them like they were worthwhile.
Working with teens is not an environment that naturally encourages transparency or genuine intimacy, but as the ministers we must bring those things to the table. What little I know of relational living comes from those who moved past my immaturity and made the sacrifice of investing their hearts in me, and believing I could do the same.
Looking back on my troubled, lonely teen years, I believe that's what I was looking for all along. I believe it's the cure that a shallow, sin-saturated new generation is crying out for.
Our youth have hearts that need pursuing. If we don't go after them, there are other people out there who will.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
The Church, the Body of Christ
O how this Church, that God ordained to be a wonder and glory in the earth, and in the heavens -- how weak she has become, by trusting in her strength, in her wisdom, in her riches, in her magnificence! And all of it is supposedly in an attempt to cause the nations to bow at the feet of Christ! But there is a Church in the midst of the Church, whose hearts long after God, and it is with these that He has reserved a day of Appointment. It will be a very individual Appointment with those who are "members of His body," as well as a corporate Appointment for the whole body.
God forbid that any one would think that his or her position in the Church, will somehow elevate them in the favour of God. For the body of Christ is composed of many members, and each member of that body is carefully designed by His creative power to function in union with all other members, and to partake equally with them in the Life that God has breathed into that body. For no man or devil or evil principality in the heavens will be able to hinder the mighty work that God continues to perform in the members of His body. His purpose is "that He might sanctify and cleanse it (the Church) with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph 5:26,27).
Let us not hope for Heaven to bring this about. The Last Adam, "the Lord from Heaven" came to earth to do this cleansing, healing work in His people, by the blood of His Cross, and "with the washing of water by the Word." It is not by a sudden stroke of perfection when we enter the courts of Heaven. Jesus Himself, chosen to be the Captain of His people as they war against evil, came to earth as a man that God might make the Captain of their Salvation "perfect through sufferings" (Heb 2:10). It is by testing and trial and affliction while we walk in the midst of a cruel world, that we learn obedience and come to the stature of Christ.
David said that he was fearfully and wonderfully made. But he was speaking prophetically as he described the very intricate workings of God in the body of Christ. For this Church is to be an eternal wonder and glory unto God throughout all ages. David went on to say, "My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth" (Ps 139:14,15). Paul identifies this with our Lord Jesus. "When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things)" (Eph 4:8-10). I believe David was speaking prophetically about this body of Christ that was "made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth." I understand very little about that, but we have much teaching concerning His ascension Glory, where He reigns with all power in Heaven and in Earth. And has sent forth His Spirit into our lives, imparting gifts to His people, and enduing them with power and anointing to bring forth this glorious Body of Christ. Then he declares that God's intention in setting these ministries in the body is that we "grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ" (Eph 4: 15). What marvellous grace, and what a living hope: "that we grow up into Christ!"
One Body . . and Members in Particular
Often there is a tendency to so exalt the truth of God's people being "one body" that we fail to recognize the very individual life that we are to live as a member of the family of God, or as a sheep in the flock of God. Coming into a body relationship must not interfere with that very personal relationship with Christ that He has ordained. A true body relationship among God's people, should enhance and strengthen one's personal walk with God, rather than making it to be subordinate to a corporate body relationship. Just a few scriptures to illustrate this truth:
"Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1 Cor 12:27).
A member in particular, just as my eye, my ear, my hand, my heart, is very distinct, and has a very special function, that benefits the whole body.
"Of one body." For this body is only healthy and complete when each individual member receives the care it needs from the rest of the body.
The sheep hear His voice: And He calleth His own sheep by name (see Jn 10:3-5). This is very individual and personal. The Shepherd knows each sheep by name, and each sheep knows his Shepherd, by name. Very often the sheep do not act as if they know the True Shepherd by name. How many of them have been taught and nurtured by true pastoral ministry, and really know the Shepherd, and walk with Him, and hear His voice when He calls their name? In too many cases this is not even considered necessary. The sheep hear the voice of their pastor, and they thank him for his counsel. But very often they know not the voice of the True Shepherd in their own walk with the Lord. Their pastor, their elder, their prophet, has become their mediator, instead of that One Mediator who reigns at the right hand of the Father. The sheep must individually know their Shepherd by Name, and follow Him!
The New Covenant, a Covenant of Glory
We have mentioned some of those glorious Appointments that men of old had with their God in Old Testament times; and often New Testament (Covenant) believers are inclined to feel that those visitations of God are not for us in the New Covenant. Is not the New Covenant better than the Old? And if God's people in the Old Covenant knew this very individual relationship with God, how much more should we in the New Covenant? The apostles continually remind us of the "better things" that we have in the New Covenant. And Paul goes so far as to say that the ultimate ministration of the Old Covenant was condemnation and death. "But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious?" (2 Cor 3:7,8). Then to cap it off, he makes this very conclusive statement concerning the glory that was manifested in the Old Testament: "For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth" (vs 10).
Surely God has greater things, far greater things, for His New Covenant people, than He did for the Old.
I am confident that God will in these last days perform such wondrous things through His people (who seek Him and walk with Him), that they will be known as walking signs of the Mighty God they serve. Paul quotes from the prophet Isaiah: "Behold I and the children which God hath given me" (Heb 2:13). The full quotation from Isaiah is this:
"Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion" (Isa 8:18). The people whom the Father gives to the Son, are "for signs and wonders." Their very lives, and the works they perform, will make them to become a sign and a wonder in the earth. Let us never entertain the thought: O well, I know God said He was going to have a glorious Church, without spot or blemish -- but it can't happen till we get to Heaven. Jesus came from Heaven to earth to bring this about. And the Father has given Him sons and daughters from the earth, born of the same Spirit by which Jesus was born. And they are predestinated "to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom 8:29). "Many brethren" in the Family of God, but each son and daughter a very distinct member of that Family – each son and daughter knowing the Voice of their Elder Brother, and following in His footsteps.
God's Appointments are in His Time
We must not fail to emphasize God's Timings. And we must know that God's timings are always related to eternal purposes. In union with the Father, Jesus not only did the Father's will, but He always moved in the Father's time. It wasn't a case of -- I'm the Prophet, so I'm going to prophesy. Or I'm the Teacher, so I'm going to travel far and wide and teach God's people. Jesus only did these things as He moved in the Spirit of the Father, and it was all according to God's eternal purpose and timing. He was always in God's place, doing God's will, in God's time. Therefore He could say to the people gathered in the Synagogue at Nazareth, that on that very day He was fulfilling scripture.
"And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down."
Then as they waited, perhaps for some word of exposition, "He began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Lk 4:17-21). This is God's way of "doing the will of God," doing what God tells us to do, indeed. But also moving in the Spirit of Truth. And if we move in the Spirit, it will always be in God's time. Jesus would not be pressured by others. He would say to His brethren who urged Him to go down to the Feast: "My time is not yet come: but your time is always ready" (Jn 7:6).
It was especially grievous to Mary and Martha, whom He loved -- that He refused to go and heal their brother Lazarus when his life was ebbing away. When He got the news, "He abode two days still in the same place where He was" (Jn 11:6). He could have gone and healed Lazarus, or spoken the Word from a long distance, and healed him by a spoken Word. But He moved in the mind and in the will of the Father; and He must remain where He was till Lazarus was dead. All because God had a purpose in mind, and the Son always walked in the way of God's Appointment for Him.
Does it not seem strange how men have been able to turn this all around, and ordain pastors and teachers and apostles and prophets to be in a place of lordship, rather than in a role of servitude? Paul and many others were apostles, but Paul said, writing to the Romans: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ," and the word servant here means bondslave. Many of these great ministries today do not appear to be in the category of bondslaves, but rather as lords over the flock. And God's people do them a great injustice, by exalting them to a place of reverence and esteem in the House of God, rather than as servants ministering truth to the flock of God.
God forbid that any one would think that his or her position in the Church, will somehow elevate them in the favour of God. For the body of Christ is composed of many members, and each member of that body is carefully designed by His creative power to function in union with all other members, and to partake equally with them in the Life that God has breathed into that body. For no man or devil or evil principality in the heavens will be able to hinder the mighty work that God continues to perform in the members of His body. His purpose is "that He might sanctify and cleanse it (the Church) with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph 5:26,27).
Let us not hope for Heaven to bring this about. The Last Adam, "the Lord from Heaven" came to earth to do this cleansing, healing work in His people, by the blood of His Cross, and "with the washing of water by the Word." It is not by a sudden stroke of perfection when we enter the courts of Heaven. Jesus Himself, chosen to be the Captain of His people as they war against evil, came to earth as a man that God might make the Captain of their Salvation "perfect through sufferings" (Heb 2:10). It is by testing and trial and affliction while we walk in the midst of a cruel world, that we learn obedience and come to the stature of Christ.
David said that he was fearfully and wonderfully made. But he was speaking prophetically as he described the very intricate workings of God in the body of Christ. For this Church is to be an eternal wonder and glory unto God throughout all ages. David went on to say, "My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth" (Ps 139:14,15). Paul identifies this with our Lord Jesus. "When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things)" (Eph 4:8-10). I believe David was speaking prophetically about this body of Christ that was "made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth." I understand very little about that, but we have much teaching concerning His ascension Glory, where He reigns with all power in Heaven and in Earth. And has sent forth His Spirit into our lives, imparting gifts to His people, and enduing them with power and anointing to bring forth this glorious Body of Christ. Then he declares that God's intention in setting these ministries in the body is that we "grow up into Him in all things, which is the Head, even Christ" (Eph 4: 15). What marvellous grace, and what a living hope: "that we grow up into Christ!"
One Body . . and Members in Particular
Often there is a tendency to so exalt the truth of God's people being "one body" that we fail to recognize the very individual life that we are to live as a member of the family of God, or as a sheep in the flock of God. Coming into a body relationship must not interfere with that very personal relationship with Christ that He has ordained. A true body relationship among God's people, should enhance and strengthen one's personal walk with God, rather than making it to be subordinate to a corporate body relationship. Just a few scriptures to illustrate this truth:
"Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular" (1 Cor 12:27).
A member in particular, just as my eye, my ear, my hand, my heart, is very distinct, and has a very special function, that benefits the whole body.
"Of one body." For this body is only healthy and complete when each individual member receives the care it needs from the rest of the body.
The sheep hear His voice: And He calleth His own sheep by name (see Jn 10:3-5). This is very individual and personal. The Shepherd knows each sheep by name, and each sheep knows his Shepherd, by name. Very often the sheep do not act as if they know the True Shepherd by name. How many of them have been taught and nurtured by true pastoral ministry, and really know the Shepherd, and walk with Him, and hear His voice when He calls their name? In too many cases this is not even considered necessary. The sheep hear the voice of their pastor, and they thank him for his counsel. But very often they know not the voice of the True Shepherd in their own walk with the Lord. Their pastor, their elder, their prophet, has become their mediator, instead of that One Mediator who reigns at the right hand of the Father. The sheep must individually know their Shepherd by Name, and follow Him!
The New Covenant, a Covenant of Glory
We have mentioned some of those glorious Appointments that men of old had with their God in Old Testament times; and often New Testament (Covenant) believers are inclined to feel that those visitations of God are not for us in the New Covenant. Is not the New Covenant better than the Old? And if God's people in the Old Covenant knew this very individual relationship with God, how much more should we in the New Covenant? The apostles continually remind us of the "better things" that we have in the New Covenant. And Paul goes so far as to say that the ultimate ministration of the Old Covenant was condemnation and death. "But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away: How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious?" (2 Cor 3:7,8). Then to cap it off, he makes this very conclusive statement concerning the glory that was manifested in the Old Testament: "For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth" (vs 10).
Surely God has greater things, far greater things, for His New Covenant people, than He did for the Old.
I am confident that God will in these last days perform such wondrous things through His people (who seek Him and walk with Him), that they will be known as walking signs of the Mighty God they serve. Paul quotes from the prophet Isaiah: "Behold I and the children which God hath given me" (Heb 2:13). The full quotation from Isaiah is this:
"Behold, I and the children whom the LORD hath given me are for signs and for wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth in Mount Zion" (Isa 8:18). The people whom the Father gives to the Son, are "for signs and wonders." Their very lives, and the works they perform, will make them to become a sign and a wonder in the earth. Let us never entertain the thought: O well, I know God said He was going to have a glorious Church, without spot or blemish -- but it can't happen till we get to Heaven. Jesus came from Heaven to earth to bring this about. And the Father has given Him sons and daughters from the earth, born of the same Spirit by which Jesus was born. And they are predestinated "to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom 8:29). "Many brethren" in the Family of God, but each son and daughter a very distinct member of that Family – each son and daughter knowing the Voice of their Elder Brother, and following in His footsteps.
God's Appointments are in His Time
We must not fail to emphasize God's Timings. And we must know that God's timings are always related to eternal purposes. In union with the Father, Jesus not only did the Father's will, but He always moved in the Father's time. It wasn't a case of -- I'm the Prophet, so I'm going to prophesy. Or I'm the Teacher, so I'm going to travel far and wide and teach God's people. Jesus only did these things as He moved in the Spirit of the Father, and it was all according to God's eternal purpose and timing. He was always in God's place, doing God's will, in God's time. Therefore He could say to the people gathered in the Synagogue at Nazareth, that on that very day He was fulfilling scripture.
"And there was delivered unto Him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And He closed the book, and He gave it again to the minister, and sat down."
Then as they waited, perhaps for some word of exposition, "He began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Lk 4:17-21). This is God's way of "doing the will of God," doing what God tells us to do, indeed. But also moving in the Spirit of Truth. And if we move in the Spirit, it will always be in God's time. Jesus would not be pressured by others. He would say to His brethren who urged Him to go down to the Feast: "My time is not yet come: but your time is always ready" (Jn 7:6).
It was especially grievous to Mary and Martha, whom He loved -- that He refused to go and heal their brother Lazarus when his life was ebbing away. When He got the news, "He abode two days still in the same place where He was" (Jn 11:6). He could have gone and healed Lazarus, or spoken the Word from a long distance, and healed him by a spoken Word. But He moved in the mind and in the will of the Father; and He must remain where He was till Lazarus was dead. All because God had a purpose in mind, and the Son always walked in the way of God's Appointment for Him.
Does it not seem strange how men have been able to turn this all around, and ordain pastors and teachers and apostles and prophets to be in a place of lordship, rather than in a role of servitude? Paul and many others were apostles, but Paul said, writing to the Romans: "Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ," and the word servant here means bondslave. Many of these great ministries today do not appear to be in the category of bondslaves, but rather as lords over the flock. And God's people do them a great injustice, by exalting them to a place of reverence and esteem in the House of God, rather than as servants ministering truth to the flock of God.
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