Last Post Before South Africa...

In preparation for my upcoming trip to South Africa, I'm going to be taking the next few days off from blogging. I do ask that you pray for our team members, the people with whom we will be sharing, our family members back home, and that we will be joining God in what He is doing in country.

We have had several mission teams work in South Africa over the last few years. The stories they have shared have been remarkable: healing, deliverance, salvation, etc. This will be my first trip to the country. What excitements me the most is that I'm not taking Jesus to South Africa. He's already there!!!

Here are some of the things that I'm doing in preparation. I'm telling you because I'd like for you to join me.

Reading Scripture - But I'm not reading it the way you may think. I'm reading God's Word in such a way that I encounter Him in the process. I want to hear the heart of the Father. I want to understand the way Jesus operated in the Earth. What did He feel? How did He perceive? I'm not reading the Word to become more knowledgeable. I'm reading to become more sensitive to the Spirit of His Word.

Prayer/Soaking - I'm sure this sounds simple but if you have never soaked in the presence of God then it will be hard to grasp the idea. It's a simple process of putting on worship music, allowing the music to worship for me, and me listening for the voice of the Father. Yes...I will pray in the normal practice but, just as I'm reading Scripture to encounter the person of Christ, I'm going after the heart of God in prayer to encounter Him. Part of this process means that I am constantly saturating myself in the love of God so that I will carry His love in a greater way.

Spending Time With Family - Too often, before I leave for a trip, I get so consumed with preparation that it becomes easy to neglect time with the kids. Not this week. I'm going to enjoy every moment with them. I want them to enjoy their time with me so that while I'm away they can reflect on those moments.

Remaining Sensitive to the Spirit While I'm Home - While I'm looking forward to encountering God overseas in a way that causes me to come back with those expectations, I will be "practicing" my sensitivity to the Spirit of God here. I'm going to be asking for direction, words of knowledge, prophetic words, etc. Here's what I've discovered in the past. Being on a mission trip causes you to live with a great awareness of God's Spirit. However, not practicing His presence at home will hinder me there. I'm sharpening the tools that He has given me. I'm looking forward to what He does here before I go there. WHOA...I'm getting excited!!!

Staying Active & Resting - I've got to do both. I cannot allow myself to be confined to a desk this week. The schedule I have before me it going to be pretty intense. I'm preparing myself physically. At the same time, I'm taking time to rest. I don't want to leave tired. I want to be sharp. I'm realizing that during this process that it should be the norm for life. Looking forward to incorporating this into my schedule more after the trip.

These are just a few of the things that I'm doing before we leave. They aren't new to me but I am trying to be very intentional in the practice of them. In other words, I'm taking what is a normal course for a week and focusing in on the heart of God. I look forward to sharing with you the encounters that we have, the testimonies of His goodness, and bringing you face to face with the reality of His Kingdom. I appreciate your prayers and I appreciate you walking through this with me.

May this be a week where you encounter the Lord in amazing ways. Blessings to you all. I hope to be blogging again the week of November 12th. Talk to you soon.

Understanding the Ekklesia (aka Church)

Most of us have grown up understanding the Church in a particular context. Primarily that context involved a building, a service, certain leaders, etc. However, to truly understand God's intent for the church, we must come to grips with His definition.

The word found in Scripture that has been translated as "church" comes from the Greek word "ekklesia". Ekklesia is a compound word meaning "called out". One of the interesting things about this word is that when it's found in classical Greek it usually denotes an assembly of citizens summoned by the crier. Why is this important? It's important because we need to be able to view the Body of Christ as an assembly of the citizens of God's Kingdom that have been called out. Jesus Christ called us out so that we could be gathered together to form one Body under His reign and His headship.

What I love about the ekklesia that we see in Scripture is that there are many different expressions. You could travel to Philipi, Ephesus, Corinth, etc. and discover a variety of ekklesias. Different cultures, different personalities, and different "styles" of worship. The "church" was not a one-size fits all demonstration but rather a community that was allowed to be their own expression of Christ. Paul's letters to the believers were meant to help guide them in understanding this new community. They learned how to function together, minister to one another, tap into the life giving power of the Spirit, and be their expression of Christ.

One of the greatest dangers we face is that we tend to view Scripture from our own experience. In other words, when we read instructions to the church, it's far to easy to see them at face value rather than understand the historical and cultural context. If we do that then we will simply have a copy of an ekklesia rather than a true expression of the Body of Christ where we live today. Am I saying that Scripture doesn't guide us in our understanding? NO...what I am saying is that we learn the principles, seek the Spirit's guidance, and try to have a biblical expression where we live.

The diversity in God's Kingdom is amazing. When I travel abroad it's wonderful to see the different expressions. It's wonderful to see the communities of Christ followers as they learn to meet with one another, minister to one another, and express their heart for God. A religious mindset will never allow us to see anything outside of our own understanding/expression. We will constantly judge their actions, their worship, and the authenticity of their faith. I would encourage each of you to go back and read the book of Acts. Their was only two stipulations they placed upon the Gentile churches and they had nothing to do with being legalistic but rather they were things established for their own protection.

This understanding of the ekklesia is also important as we try to figure out who we are as a community. One of the challenges I saw when I came to PBC for instance was that we were a relatively young community of believers that had taken on a structure that was handed down to them. I often said that you could have taken that particular worship service, packaged it, and sent it to a thousand other churches and it would be acceptable. I just felt like we needed the worship service, the church structure, and the ministries that we offered to reflect who we were as a community of believers. This approach I believe is consistent with the book of Acts. It also celebrates the diversity of the Body of Christ.

When you read the book of Revelation you will discover people from every tribe, every tongue, and every nation gathered around the throne of God in worship. We need to hold that image in our hearts and recognize the validity of different churches around us. The Body of Christ is made up of many members. Those members have different expressions of Christ. They perform different functions. And the only way that we are going to be able to see Christ manifest among us is when we come together in the Unity of the Spirit.

Every follower of Christ has been called out of this world into a greater Kingdom. Jesus, as the Author & Finisher of our faith, has led us into a greater understanding of community. He has shown us the value He has placed upon His brothers and sisters. We were taught to live in community through the Apostles and early church. The ekklesia is the most beautiful expression that we can have of the diversity of God. The struggle that we must overcome is the struggle to make everyone just like us, every expression just like ours, and every function of the body just like our function. The Kingdom of God is greater than any denomination, any sect of Christianity, any worship "style", and any expression. May we learn to live as a community of believers that have been called out together.

The Kingdom Within...

I had a thought this morning that I want to share with you but before we get into it, I need to remind you of a couple of things:
1) You have the Kingdom of God within you.
2) That Kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever heard the stories that came out of the time when boats filled with immigrants would come to the United States? They viewed this country as a place filled with hope, promise, and prosperity. It seems as though there were so many people who thought "If I could just get to America..." The fact of the matter is that you carry a much greater Kingdom within you. Can you imagine the people who would be willing to establish the Lord's reign over their heart if they heard about the hope, promise, and prosperity of the Kingdom of God?

Much of the evangelism that has been modeled for us is, quite simply, learning how to bring people into our faith. If we can get them to believe what we believe then everything else will be o.k. But what if we carried more of a kingdom mindset? What if what we shared had more to do with establishing God's reign over a person's life rather than just bringing them into a faith or seeing them escape hell. I realize that this could be a very hot topic for people but Jesus was all about the Kingdom of God. We, as His followers, are to continue what He started. His is a Kingdom that is already established in Heaven but then becomes established in the earth through us. The Kingdom (King's Domain) needs to be firmly established in our hearts so that we can see it established in the hearts of others.

A Kingdom of God mindset will help us get out of a denominational mindset, rid ourselves of a religious mindset, and create a culture where the Lord truly reigns in the hearts of His people. When the people of God become Kingdom-minded, it will also allow us to see one another as a part of the Kingdom rather than a particular sect of Christianity.

Establishing our hearts in the Kingdom of God isn't an easy task. As I said yesterday, it's really easy for us to be so focused on the natural that we neglect the spiritual. From the conversations that I have with many pastors, it's easy to see where we have allowed ourselves to get "off track." Talks of business meetings, budgets, ministries, denominations, etc. seem to rule our time together. If we aren't careful our focus becomes about our church, our position, our ministry, and our denomination. What if every believer was focused solely on the Kingdom of God? Can you imagine the changes that would take place?

Allow me to encourage you with those two thoughts once again. According to Jesus the Kingdom of God is within you. It's not out there somewhere waiting for you to show up. It is found within the very fiber of your being. His Kingdom within you is one that is filled with righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Therefore, to become Kingdom focused means that we must be Holy Spirit focused. We must encounter the Kingdom of God. We must allow Him to establish His righteousness, His peace, and His joy within us. THEN...when we see these things become manifest in our lives...we can begin to express the wonder of what it means to have the King's Domain established in our hearts.

I guess...depending upon your background, this could sound too simple or too complex. What I'm trying to help each of us understand is that the Gospel has always been about establishing a Kingdom and in this Kingdom we get to partake of His righteousness, His peace, and His joy. We get to share in the inheritance of the saints. We get to carry the same quality of life that our King possesses. Do you think there are people around you that would want that kind of life? Do you think there are people that have been drug down by religion, beating up by self-hatred, and sinking beneath the weight of their own choices that would love to hear there is something better available? You have the answer within you. Unlock the greatness of this Kingdom and learn to release what God has given. Enjoy the wonder of seeing His domain established in the hearts and lives of those around you. You will never be the same.

Do You Know What You Carry?

I truly believe that one of the most difficult aspects of the Christian life is understanding how to live from the spiritual to the natural. We tend to do the opposite. Coming to grips with the spiritual realities of life may seem difficult, but it's necessary if we are to follow the leadership of the Spirit of Christ.

Over the years I have seen a lot of believers stop short of experiencing all that God wanted them to experience because they could never get past what they saw in the natural. I remember in my first pastorate when God was doing some amazing things in our midst. We were finishing up a week of revival meetings, the preaching was finished, a young lady was accepting Christ, and worship broke out among the people. When I say that worship broke out among the people, I mean there was shouting, singing, dancing, crying, laughter, etc. However, this "uprising" of worship did not sit well with some in the congregation. To be quite honest with you, they totally quenched the movement of the Holy Spirit because they failed to recognize what God was doing. The next evening it was apparent that the people did not want to move any further. We finished the meetings. I soon resigned from that church. And ultimately the church faltered as they continued to do what they always did. That particular congregation no longer exists, the doors of the building were closed, and many of the people have moved on.

Why did I tell you that story? The reason is simple. If we fail to recognize what we carry in the Lord, and if we fail to discern through the spirit rather than the soul what God is doing around us, we will limit His ability in our lives. God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. The only way to enter into the reality of what God wants to do in our lives is to accept spiritual reality over the natural reality. What often looks like chaos around us in a worship service can actually be warfare in the Spirit. What seems to be bringing confusion to our natural mind can actually be bringing peace. The only way we will know the difference is by tapping into the Spirit of God.

Let me ask you some questions:
Do you believe that the Kingdom of God is within you?
Do you believe that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you?
Do you believe that the Spirit of God makes intercession for you?
Do you believe that you have access to heavenly places?
Do you believe that with God all things are possible?

I could go on with the questions but I think you get the point. What we believe determines the reality in which we live. It determines how we worship, how we walk with the Lord in relationship, and how we interact with the people around us. Our identity in Christ is vital to seeing ourselves through a spiritual reality. Our inheritance with the saints is critical to bringing the spiritual into the natural. Knowing who we are and Whose we are will keep us from bowing down to the natural realities of life and press into the spiritual reality that is available.

The spiritual reality that I'm speaking of is available when we stop looking through our natural eyes, stop viewing things through a religious or denominational lens, and being to discern in the Spirit of God what is taking place around us. This requires training yourself, building yourself up in the faith, and learning how to distinguish the differences between your soul and your spirit. I'm not saying that your spirit and soul are at odds with one another. I'm simply saying that you cannot allow your soul to override the spiritual reality.

Personally...I have determined to live in the spiritual reality 1st. That doesn't mean that I live in denial to the natural world. It just means that I believe in a superior reality. Living from Heaven to Earth will do that to you. It will cause you to ask the questions that need to be asked, declare the things that need to be declared, and bring God's reality into the natural reality. You have got to know what you carry. You have the light of life available to you every second of every day. Enjoy the journey!!!

Loved by God...

1 John 4:18 holds a truth that each of us need to embrace: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love." If we allow ourselves to be controlled by fear it means that we must exercise more faith in the enemy rather than God.

God has made it a point to allow you to know this incredible truth: YOU ARE LOVED!!!

God has demonstrated once and for all His unconditional and unending love for you at the Cross. He put on display - for the entire world to see - His affection for His creation. I have heard people say that "God loves me in spite of my sin"...well...I say that God loved you enough to get rid of your sin.

Why is it so important that we understand we are loved by God? It's important because our Heavenly Father wants us to learn how to live without fear. Fear dominates, controls, confuses, manipulates, and destroys. Fear will keep us from embracing God. Fear will keep us from experiencing genuine love. Fear keeps us tied to the lies of the enemy. God doesn't want that for you. He wants you to be made perfect in love. He wants His love for you to bring you into His fullness of life.

The question you need to ask yourself is whether or not you can live as someone who is outrageously loved? Can you honestly and openly believe that the God who created everything truly loves you. I believe that God's love is given to all of mankind but I also believe that God's love for us is individualistic. In other words, He displays His affection for us in such a way that we can receive it.

To quote Graham Cooke: "He loves you because He loves you because He loves you because He loves you because He loves you...."

Depending upon your church background, it may be difficult for you to embrace this fact.
Depending upon your upbringing, it may be difficult for you to receive unconditional love.
Depending upon your relationships, it may be hard for you to understand this kind of love.
Just do me a favor...don't bring God's love down to your experience. Instead learn to establish your heart is this wonderful truth. Live as one who is loved by God.

As you begin to open yourself up to the love of God, all things become possible.
You will be able to see yourself the way God sees you.
You will be able to come before Him boldly and confidently.
You will be able to walk in His power rather than shame and timidity.
You will be able to resist the temptation that allows fear to control you.
You will be able to rejoice regardless of circumstances because you are loved.

Just a reminder...
My prayer for you is that you will KNOW the LOVE of Christ practically by experience.
That you will grow in that LOVE.
That you will enter into the FULLNESS of GOD!!!

Encountering God's Love

After reading Ephesians 3:19 out of the Amplified Bible, I want to share with you a portion of Paul's prayer for the church: I pray..."[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]". That is my heart for you.

Whenever I minister to anyone - believer or unbeliever - I want them to go away with an experience with the Lord. I want them to know practically, through experience for themselves, the love of Christ. I want to do more than just fill their mind with knowledge. I want to do more than just simply win an argument. I want them to come into an encounter.

Depending on where you are with the Lord that may sound like a strange statement. However, accepting Christ always brings people into an encounter. Discovering the love of God for yourself will bring you into an encounter. And realizing who you are in Christ will continue to deepen your encounters with the Lord. What does that mean for me? It means that I must be willing to enter into encounters with the Lord myself because it's hard to bring people to a place where I haven't walked.

There is something quite different about taking a trip to a place where you have already been versus going somewhere for the first time. My first time traveling to the beach (for instance) meant that I had to follow directions. I had to pay attention to all the details of the route. I had to make sure that I knew the direction I was heading every mile of the journey. Once I got used to the route it made traveling a lot easier and a lot more fun. I was able to enjoy the journey. I was able to pick up on things that I had never seen before. I was also able to handle the different things that come with traveling because I had been there before. When you and I learn to encounter the Lord for ourselves then it means we don't have to focus so much on the map but get to listen to the Guide (Holy Spirit). Directions are good when you don't know where you are going. But once you've been there then you get to handle any situation that comes up in the journey.

I'm always amazed at the conversation that come up with different believers. Some people are encounter oriented while others are Scripture oriented. Both groups tend to view these two thought processes in conflict with one another. In some ways that may be true. I do want to have a scriptural basis for what I encounter, but at the same time I also want to trust the Holy Spirit. How many times have we heard someone ask "where is that in the Bible?" when referring to someone's encounter with God? Can you imagine if Mary would have took that same approach: "Where's the chapter and verse that says virgins become pregnant when the Holy Spirit comes upon them?"

The point I'm trying to make is very simple - you can actually enter into a place with the Lord where you experience Him practically for yourself. You can move past the place of mere knowledge (without experience) and into a place of knowledge and experience. Which would you rather have? There are plenty of schools designed to help people increase in their knowledge of God. There are plenty of places you can go to increase in your knowledge of the Bible. Where can you go to come into an experience with the Lord? I mean...at some point all of this knowledge should lead us to an encounter. At some point, what we believe should be what we are seeing.

If you have confessed Jesus as Lord then you have entered into a relationship that you can feel, you can touch, you can see, smell, hear, and taste. You have entered into a relationship that can be just as tangible as any other relationship. I'm not saying that you will always see the Lord nor that you will always hear Him. What I am saying is that you can. There may be seasons where it seems the Lord is distant and there may be seasons where everywhere you turn you sense the presence of the Lord in one fashion or another. The key for us is that whatever season we find ourselves in is that we never stop pressing in to encounter Him.

In this journey with the Lord, I want you to know the love of Christ. I want you to move past the mere knowledge of it. I want you to move into an experience with it and with Him. You can have this. It's a part of your fellowship with the Beloved.

The Joy of Hearing from God

Saw this quote earlier today: "Stop waiting for a voice and start looking for a verse. God has already spoken." While I believe I understand the heart of the person who said it, I don't exactly agree with the statement because I think it casts a negative view upon hearing the voice of God.

Maybe it's the way I read things. Who knows...maybe I have predetermined that a lot of people simply don't embrace the reality of God's voice. I know that I was always taught to question people when they say that they heard from God. I remember hearing people say "The Lord spoke to me..." and then they would give the disclaimer "...it wasn't an audible voice." How did we get to this point? Why is it that we put so much emphasis upon the recorded Word of God but cast so much negativity upon the spoken Word of God? If the same Author is at work, shouldn't we be giving both equal importance?

I realize that there has been a lot of shameful things done by people who say they heard from God. However, responding in fear doesn't fix the problem. Responding in discernment does. The place where you and I need to get to is a place where we are sensitive enough to the Holy Spirit that we know the difference.

Now...I understand that some people will read this and think that I'm not honoring the Bible. That's not in my heart. I love the recorded Word of God. I believe it to be inerrant and infallible. I believe that it is Divinely inspired. I believe it is the truth without any mixture of error. What I do not believe is that God stopped speaking to His people because a book was put together. And I don't believe that God stopped giving us revelation about Himself because we own a Bible.

Look at it this way: We know that communication is vital to any relationship. It's important for parents to speak to children, spouses to speak to one another, etc. If this is true in every other relationship then how is it possible that we have created a belief system that doesn't embrace God speaking into our lives? Some would argue that God does speak to us - He speaks to us through the Bible. I agree. God does speak to us through the Bible. But...what if all you had from your earthly father was a series of letters? Would that be enough? Wouldn't you want to hear His voice?

The Bible is foundational to our lives. It's what we build our lives upon. I'm a firm believer that it's hard to know how God will speak to us if we don't know what He has already said. God has spoken and it's imperative that we get His Word into our lives. Jesus told the story about the foolish man who built his house upon the sand and the wise man who built his house upon the rock. The point He was making is that when we take His Word and build our lives upon it then we are like the wise man whose house endured because of the strong foundation. So...I'm not arguing the necessity of the Bible. I'm simply saying that reading His Word is not the same as hearing His voice. And hearing His voice will always trump my understanding of what He has spoken.

With all that being said, there are people who are so addicted to revelation outside of the Bible that they really don't have a foundation. I mean some people are simply moving from revelation to revelation rather than moving from glory to glory. What's the difference? The difference is what we do with what has been revealed. God wants to speak into our lives. What we have to understand is that everything God speaks has a purpose - everything that God speaks has life in it. If God is speaking to you it's because He wants to create something in you. What you and I have to discern is whether or not what we are hearing is consistent with His nature. And His nature has been revealed to us in Christ.

Here's some tips for you (because I like to be practical):
1) Read the Bible, Meditate upon it, Hide it in your heart, Build your life on it.
2) Ask God to speak to you specifically through it. Let it be alive and active.
3) Train yourself to hear the voice of God. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice."
4) Trust the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. He will always lead you in truth.
5) Allow God to confront any mindset that keeps you from hearing His voice.

Above all else...Enjoy the journey. God wants to speak into your life. It's one of the greatest joys of relationship.

The Funny Thing About Debates...

After watching last nights debates I started thinking about how many people already have their minds made up. You can tell by the political spin that neither side will concede victory or defeat. I rarely see debates as an answer. I understand why they happen in the political arena but in every day life you don't need to win a debate. You need an experience with TRUTH.

Debates are designed to be "a formal discussion on a particular topic in a public meeting or legislative assembly, in which opposing arguments are put forward." That's the way it works in politics. The sad part is that too much of life is handled through debate. We debate football teams, politics, peanut butter, and toilet paper. Why? Because we typically have our minds made up. It seems to me that too many people don't want to enter into an experience, they simply want to win an argument. Oh how we love to be right.

Listen to the words of Jesus: "So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, 'If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.'" {John 8:31-32}

Think about those words. Think about the impact they had upon the Jews who had believed in Him. This wasn't an issue to be debated. This wasn't an argument to be won. It's an invitation to enter into an experience. Jesus offers the same invitation to each one of us. We have been invited into an experiential relationship. The tragedy of modern Christianity is that we debate what is valid and what is not. We debate over what is available. We have taken "the truth" and turned it into an argument. Even if you win the argument...you don't step into greater freedom.

You might be wondering how I can make that statement. I'll tell you why. I was one of those people who loved to argue. I loved debating issues and topics. It really didn't matter what we were discussing because I could push my way through. However, in all of my arguing and debating of "spiritual truths" - I wasn't walking in freedom. The reason that I wasn't walking in freedom because I limited God to the box I had placed Him in. I limited God to my belief system. The more confident I became in my belief system the less I needed God to show up. It brings us to the question: "Isn't truth supposed to set us free?"

This question brings me to my conclusion. Truth is more than a certain set of principles. It is more than correct theology/doctrine. Truth is more than facts. The truth of God is truth in reality, in fact, and in any matter under consideration. What does Jesus say about truth? He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." And what you and I have to understand is that Jesus isn't up for debate. He is THE way. He is THE truth. He is THE life. The truth that sets us free is Jesus. The truth that will forever alter our reality is Jesus. The experience of life that we need to enter into is Jesus.

What you and I need is the experiential truth that is found in Jesus Christ. God is bringing into a place where it's not about memorizing verses, fulfilling commandments, or going through rituals. He's bringing you into a relationship where you get to encounter the truth of God daily. To quote Bill Johnson, "Any revelation that does not bring us into greater encounter only trains us to be more religious." We can have a belief system that is true and still miss out on the truth. I hope that makes sense.

Ask God to allow you to encounter the truth of who He is, the truth of His Word, and the truth of His Spirit dwelling inside you. This is the only truth that will set you free. AND...this truth is not up for debate.

Thoughts from a Ragamuffin...

I'm limited in time so I have decided to share with you an excerpt from The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning. In particular I'm posting what is #3 of 19 Mercies: A Spiritual Journey. I pray that you are blessed and encouraged in your walk with the Lord.


Jesus want to enter into deep friendship with you.

If you grew up in Sunday School, you remember the story of Jesus calling a runt of a man named Zacchaeus down from a tree with the news, "Zacchaeus, I want to have dinner in your house today." In the Jewish tradition, to say, "I want to have dinner with you" means "I want to enter into friendship with you." Even today an Orthodox Jew will not invite you to his home to dinner, unless he wants to enter into friendship or deepen an already existing friendship. It's a very sacred encounter. (That's good to recall, by the way, every time you receive communion. Jesus Christ is the Host and when He invites you to come to His table, He is declaring, "I want to enter into a deeper friendship with you.")

Zacchaeus, as you also might remember, was a greedy, disrespected lowlife. He collected taxes for Rome from his own people and kept a kickback for himself. By his enthusiastic response to Jesus, we can guess he didn't get invited to "deeper friendship" very often! When Peter wrings his hands over Jesus' unfortunate social choice, Jesus reminds him - and us too - of His mission. He says, "I did not come to call the just. I came to call sinners" (see Luke 19:10).

The gospel is not for the good guys with the white hats. It's for poor, weak, sinful men and women with hereditary faoults and limited talents - people like you, people like me. And on Judgement Day, our lives will be measured soleley in terms of our personal relationship with the risen Jesus. The Lord is going to ask each of us a question that will encompass all other questions: "Did you believe that I loved you? That I desired you? That I watied for you day after day?"

Reading: Luke 19:1-10

May you alone enlighten me, You alone speak to me.
May all that I know apart from You be nothing more
than a change traveling companion
on the journey toward You. ~ Karl Rahner

Receiving the Things of the Spirit

1 Corinthians 2:14, "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." Pressing into the presence of God requires that we stop trying to experience Him analytically and choose to experience Him spiritually. If you have to think through, explain, and define what God is doing then you will miss out.

This truth is difficult for many people to grasp. The fact of the matter is that in many areas we have passed on a natural faith to a natural mindset. We have been taught to express our faith in a way that "makes sense." We learn how to rationalize the Scriptures, defend our faith through arguments, and to be careful about how we experience the things of God. It's especially difficult for people who see doctrine and theology as the only basis for walking in unity.

Why is that a problem? Well...it's a problem because it necessitates that we clearly understand and define what God is doing. It's a problem because it doesn't allow God room to move. In much of our theology and in many of our doctrines we have limited God. Anything outside of our paradigm causes us to question what is of God and what is not. In case you aren't sure, the definition of a paradigm is:
1) A typical example or pattern of something; a model.
2) A worldview underlying the theories and methodology of a particular scientific subject.
For the typical church-goer, the paradigm they have been exposed to is through a particular denomination. The way in which a certain group defines God and His activity in our lives. What this setting creates is a culture that says "this is the way God does things."

It's important that you understand where I'm coming from:
We need doctrine
We need theology
We need structure
However, we need to make sure that within those things God is allowed to be God.

The essence of our worship and experiences in God need to be spiritually discerned. This isn't done through the natural mind. In fact, if it is your practice to try to understand (logically) what is going on around you then it will always be difficult to see past the natural person. I'll give you an example: Let's say you have someone dancing around in a worship service. The first thing you see is the individual, you see the way they are dressed, and you see the way they move. If you are unable to spiritually discern the situation then you may just write it off as emotionalism or attention seeking. However, if you will allow God to speak to you through this type of activity then you can actually "feel" what the Spirit of God is doing in those situations, you can "hear" what He is trying to say, and you can "see" what is really going on.

A couple of weeks ago I was knelt down in worship. I was singing out, crying, praying, and just simply taking in the love of God in the moment. All of a sudden I started feeling these incredible waves of His glory crashing into me. In my mind I heard "What is that?" so I opened my eyes to see a little girl dancing around me. What I was feeling was the ministry that she was bringing through her dance. It was the actual glory of God radiating through her. There were others that I talked to after that service and they experienced the same things. Was this true of everyone that was present? Not necessarily. While they may have been moved to emotion by watching such a young one express her love for God, they could have totally missed out on what the Spirit of God was doing in the moment. Some could have been in total disagreement about the whole thing (depending upon their background). The point I'm trying to make is that we have to learn how to spiritually discern every moment in God.

I'm going to give you a little exercise that can help open you up in this area.
* Take some time to get alone with the Lord.
* Think about experiences that you know were genuine experiences in the Lord.
* Express your thankfulness to God about these experiences.
* Typically this type of exercise will bring with it the emotions of that moment, or at least a definite feeling of His presence. What you must do is linger (remain) in that place. Feel those feelings. Ask God if there is more that He was doing in that moment. Enjoy His presence.
* This is a small part of it but then you can take those same "feelings" and use them as a "check-point" in other conversations and experiences. The reason I used the term "waves" earlier is because that is how I experience the Lord. Now there are times when I'm talking to someone and I can sense His presence in thoughts and statements because that same "feeling" comes back. I can also use that feeling to prophecy into the life of the other person.

You might be wondering if I have a chapter and verse for this and my answer would be "yes" and "no". What I can tell you is that this is how I have experienced the Lord and I have seen Him confirm it time and time again. How can I be sure that this is of the Lord? I'm sure it's of Him because I am learning how to spiritually discern His activity. It may not make sense in my natural mind but when I obey the Lord in those moments then His presence becomes very real. This is how we receive the things of the Spirit. It's a part of the journey. Enjoy it!!!