Grace for Living & Grace for Being

There are days that I'm intentionally working out who I am (my identity), and then there are days where I simply rest in the knowledge of it.
His grace is sufficient for both.

During the "shaping" years of my faith, I was surrounded with people who did a lot. They went to a lot of meetings, performed a lot of service, listened to a lot of sermons, and the list goes on and on. They were busy growing in their faith, busy trying to display their faith to the world, and busy trying to prove their love for God. Unfortunately, what I gathered from all of the busyness was insecurity. The thought was always being presented that we were not doing enough. I wasn't doing enough. And, in essence, I wasn't enough.

This is very different from the life of grace. It's quite the opposite of living loved. Rather than finding a place of comfort in my faith, it seemed as though the faith was pushing me to do more. To be more. All of the appeals to come to Christ told me that He loved me for who I was. After accepting Jesus, it seemed like I was presented with a whole other scenario. I'm not saying that this mentality is what people meant for me to live in, I'm just stating the facts about how I felt. It also left me with the question: "If I was enough to be able to come to faith in Him, why am I not enough to walk with Him?"

Think about the favorite hymn of the Billy Graham Crusades. Maybe it was the invitational hymn at your church.
"Just as I am without one plea
But that thy blood was shed for me
And that thou bidst me to come
To thee, O Lamb of God, I come
I come..."
Did this hymn not convey to us the unsearchable riches of His love? Was it not portrayed to us that Jesus would accept us no matter what? Why all of a sudden am I not good enough?
I never really had an answer for those questions. It just seemed to me that I was being led by a lot of insecure people. People who really didn't know their identity. People who were not assured of the Father's love for them.

Change is inevitable. How can one come to faith in Christ and be the same person? I get that. It makes perfect sense. But the fact that we try to take someone through a complete makeover misses the point of His grace in our lives. It seems to me that we do a lot of shaping people into our image rather than allowing them to live out being made in His.

It took me years to discover who I was in Christ. For the longest time I only knew myself as one who was forgiven. I believed I was loved but that didn't take hold in the identity area. Maybe it's because I believed I was loved, but there was still a lot of stuff that God didn't like about me. Ever felt that way? Maybe God will love me more if I did this? Maybe He would love me more if I could stop doing that? What if this type of thinking is actually born out of a religious mindset rather than the heart of God?

My identity in Christ (and yours) is spoken to us in the Scriptures. We can read in the Bible about being the beloved of God, the righteousness of God in Christ, and more than conquerors. We can read about His infinite love for us, His peace that passes all understanding, and His grace that is sufficient. But until we allow these things to shape our identity - WHO WE ARE - then we will never experience them fully.

When I began to live out of my identity (rather than trying to make it happen), life changed. Really changed. I found myself experiencing His unconditional love. I felt the peace that passes all understanding. So much so that it was weird (lol). I finally came to a place in my faith where I realized that I didn't need to strive for His attention or His blessings. I just lived. I remained aware of who I was in Him and let the rest take care of itself. Did you know that was possible?

As I said earlier: There are days that I'm intentionally working out who I am. What that means is that I'm learning how to live out of my identity. Working it out doesn't mean that I am creating the identity. I'm just letting it come to the front. I'm leaving my misguided notions about myself and trusting that He knows me better than I know myself. Then there are days when I just rest in the knowledge of it. In other words, I'm not putting anything into action. I'm just being.

Some of us need to know that His grace is sufficient for both.

Enjoy the journey!!!

More to Ponder

Yesterday I said that "the declarations of judgement against America (or any nation for that matter) due to a small minority of the population is not only unbiblical, it is Anti-Christ." Of course I'm referring to the diatribes of many preachers against homosexuality. Just recently a friend of mine visited a church in our area where the pastor seemed to bring up the issue on a continual basis. Every Sunday that he visited this particular fellowship, the pastor simply became fixated upon the subject. Unfortunately, so many others do the same.

Before I go any further into this discussion, I want to say that I do not embrace every lifestyle. While I know, and love, people who have chosen to live in homosexuality, I do not believe it is the life they were meant to live. For me, this belief simply comes from the way in which I understand our creation. Male and female. A partner who is equal but opposite. It's not so much a discussion about morality vs immorality, but a discussion about our design. I want to put that out there because some may think that I am affirming homosexuality. I am not. What I'm trying to say in this blog (much like yesterday) is that this group of people is a small minority of our population. If God were going to judge us according to lifestyles, doesn't He have much more to choose from than just our sexuality?

Some of the research that I have seen concerning American Adults who identify themselves as gay or lesbian puts the numbers below 2%. 2%! To hear some people talk about this "epidemic" in America, you would have thought that number to be much higher. That puts this number lower than the percentage of people who get divorced, lower than the number of deaths by homicide, lower than the percentage of abortions, etc. If God were so ready to judge America, it seems to me that He has much more to work with in these other areas.

"Well...the Bible says that it is an abomination unto God." So are all the things that we want to label as sin, and some of the things we don't want to label.
Dishonest scales
Lying
Cheating
A Proud Look
...
Do I need to go on?
Our fixation as believers upon this one thing reminds me of Jesus' teaching. We are so quick to point out the splinter is the eye of someone else while we disregard the beam in our own. We are so quick to judge the homosexual than the heterosexual who has multiple partners. Why this one thing? Why this one issue? Some will say it is because it tears at the fabric of family. So does lying, cheating, and divorce. But we rarely hear people rail upon these things as signs of God's judgement.

What you find when you look into the word "abomination" is that it's not necessarily something that is just detestable to God. It can also talks about practices that are against the culture, the tradition, and the societal norms. Could this be the reason for our fixation? Could it be that we have become so used to lying, cheating, a proud look, and idolatry that we pay less attention to them? What about those who are dishonest in their dealings? I mean...we make jokes about car dealers. As if that is okay. How did you feel the last time someone got more money out of you than they should have? You were angry I'm sure. But were you ready to call down the fire of God?

I also feel that it is important to understand that a lot of this waiting around for impending doom and a falling of judgement comes from a misunderstanding of the prophetic writings of the New Testament. Times where the Bible translators should have used the word "age" instead of "world." Other times when they should have used "land" instead of "earth." Of course, these minor details could have saved us all a lot of confusion. With that being said, the reality is that we have the tools to correct these mistakes in our eschatology and in our understanding of other matters.

Why don't we just stop judging less than 2% of the population and begin to love them?
I realize that this would put the Westboro Baptist Church crowd out of work, but for the rest of us it shouldn't be that difficult.
These are real people that we are talking about. Real people with real needs. Real people with real problems. What are we going to do about it? I realize that much of what I'm saying sounds like sympathy towards a particular part of our population, and maybe in some ways it is. But we have found a way to reach out to those who have had an abortion. We have discovered ways to minister to those who have divorced, remarried, etc. We have tools to reach out to those stuck in addiction. How are we going to be ministers of reconciliation to this small minority of our population?

The Good News is Good News for all people. The color of their skin, their economic status, their nationality, and event their sexual preference does not negate the Good News. I actually believe this is what Paul is trying to convey in his letter to the Romans. How could they judge certain people as "sinful" when they were all "sinful." In the same way they had all "fallen short of the glory of God", they were all "justified freely by His grace."

We lose nothing when we love people. A lesson we all need to learn. Including me.
We lose a lot by talking about the sky falling (over and over again). Like our credibility.

Think About It

What if God isn't as interested in judgement as some believe?
What if the Father made a decision in the Son to deal with us differently than what we deserve?
What if we were meant for mercy, for grace, and for love?
Would it change the way you think?

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to discover that the Bible continually reveals that GOD is different than we have imagined. In Jesus, we discover just how wrong we were. So often GOD is basically seen through the lens of so many other "deities." The anger, the thirst for blood and sacrifice, and the indifference towards humanity is found in pagan religions. The Father that Jesus reveals is amazingly different. He is the One who allows it to rain upon the just and unjust. The One who has chosen to deal with us according to His love, not according to our issues.

I say all of that because I detest all of the proclamations of doom that come out of churches. The declarations of judgement against America (or any nation for that matter) due to a small minority of the population is not only unbiblical, it is Anti-Christ. Even Abraham interceded for Sodom. He pleaded for the 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, even the 10 (more likely narrowing it down to family who lived in the land). The point being that even if there were only 10 righteous in the land, it is worth preserving. Many modern day "prophets" are operating in the spirit of Jonah rather than Abraham. They would rather see a display of God's "fiery wrath" than His benevolence. They seem to be so upset over the fact that the Father has set His love upon us.

The blog post for today will not be long, but I do hope that it stirs us to think differently. Why is America more deserving of judgement than any other nation (or vice versa)? On the other hand, why would we be more deserving of His blessing? When we talk about the Abba of Jesus we are not talking about a nationalistic deity. We discover in Him the Father of us all. We also discover in Jesus, not only the Creator of life, but the One who sustains it. The media in America often allows us to see all that is wrong in our world. But to think that things are so much worse now than in some golden era of righteousness is absurd. The reality is that many of the ills of the world have been around for centuries. The difference is that with 24 hour news coverage we know about it now. We cannot hide from these things. However, we can make a difference.

There isn't a need to pronounce judgement. What there is, is a need to declare our reconciliation through Jesus Christ. Paul did not say that the Apostles were ministers of condemnation but reconciliation. The Good News that in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself. A done deal. Something finished. All judgment against sin dealt with in Jesus. It's our joy to share this message with the world and say, "Since you have been reconciled, be reconciled."

As a nation, we are imperfect. Including those of us within the church. We should be a testimony to the fact that MERCY triumphs over judgement. The embodiment of the One who HAS NOT dealt with us according to our sins or our offenses. This does not mean I have to embrace every lifestyle choice. However, it does mean that I embrace the Father's heart for all people.

I'm not looking for a great judgement to come against the Earth.
I'm looking for the Kingdom of God to manifest on Earth.
That should be our focus, the joy of our faith, and the endeavor of every believer.
God is not fatalistic. He has chosen to partner with us to see this come to pass.
Enjoy the journey!

Life Beyond the Pews

Growing up in the South, in the Bible Belt, going to church on Sunday was as normal as going to work on Monday. It's what we did. What amazes me about this type of upbringing is that it didn't create security in me. In fact, I find more and more people raised in the same environment who lack genuine trust in the love of God. Why? What is it about life beyond the pews that keeps us from resting in Him?

Is it the idea that you are just not good enough? Is it the belief that despite your best efforts that you just don't live up to the standard? What is it that we are teaching about God that creates such unrest in people? Why aren't there more "believers" who are confident in God's love for them? I cannot answer for everyone. I can only ask the question: Is there something that we are saying (or not saying) that is breeding fear filled children of God? Is there something that we are saying (or not saying) that keeps people locked in a striving mentality? I don't know that I have the answer, but I do believe I have discovered a major problem.

There are plenty of different camps of thinking. However, it seems as though the majority of people I know fall into two as it relates to their salvation in Christ.
Camp #1 - Believe in eternal security - the belief that you cannot lose your salvation.
Camp #2 - Believe you can lose your salvation - the belief that you can somehow fall out of God's favor.
Now...before you think that camp 1 has it all figured out, let me share with you some personal experience. I grew up with this camp the majority of my life. They never questioned that salvation could be lost. What they questioned was the genuine nature of your faith. The question was/is: Are you TRULY saved. The people in this camp are always trying to "nail it down." Always going back to Jesus to ensure that it is all taken care of. They may have moments of security, but once something creeps in to their life they begin to question if they are a true believer. Camp 2 can never get settled. They may have a season of great zeal, but the question remains: Did I lose it? This approach to salvation is a bit harsher, and maybe a little more demanding than the other, but the outcome is still the same. They can never rest. They can never breathe.

Both of these camps have issues. They seem to place a lot of emphasis on what they do. Rather than trusting in what Jesus did, the issue always comes back to performance. Therefore, the faith they are exercising is not on the Lord. It is in themselves.
Did I do enough?
Did I trust enough?
Did I repent enough?
Either my performance proves that I am truly saved or it can actually disqualify me from being saved. Sound familiar? If you grew up in the environment that I did, you may have heard some of these statements. To be honest, there's a lot of people in my family who don't believe you can actually know that you are saved. You basically have to wait it out. Do what you are supposed to do and hope it is enough. I know...it's a different camp, but life beyond the pews is no different.

Do you really think that this is all Jesus has to offer us? Do you really believe that the Father would send His Son so that we would live in limbo? When will what Jesus accomplished be enough?

Several years ago, I was wrestling with these questions. I was tired of the ups and downs. I had grown weary of the insecurity. I would experience great moments of zeal and passion, only to see them replaced with the feelings of my inadequacy. Trust me. The feelings were winning. It wasn't until I grabbed onto the reality of His grace that I began to emerge from the darkness of my own thinking. It wasn't until I came to really believe in His finished work that I began to live with hope. Suddenly everything about my focus began to shift. Life beyond the pews would change forever.

Many of you are saying right now, "BUT I DO BELIEVE!" Do you?
Do you believe that everything that needed to be done has been done?
Do you believe that ONE sacrifice for ALL people is enough?
Do you believe that God was in Christ reconciling US to HIMSELF?
Do you believe that Jesus redeemed, rescued, and restored humanity?
If you cannot answer "YES!" to all of these questions, then there will still be room for doubt about your relationship with the Father. You will continue to place an incredible amount of emphasis upon what you do. As if getting and maintaining salvation is all about you. I've been down this path. There is no peace, no security, and no sense of love. Everything is performance based.

I live in the Bible Belt. So do many of you. We have churches on every corner. And in spite of the presence of these communities of faith, we are still consumed with fear. Rather than being perfected in love, we are only perfected in our own sense of lack. Only a true faith and trust in the love that the Father has for us in Christ will change any of that. Only a genuine belief in the finished work of Christ will get you off the not so merry-go-round. What do I mean by true faith and genuine belief? I mean a resounding "YES!" within your spirit to all that the Father has accomplished in Christ. This is the only path of peace. The only door to salvation from self-salvation. Rather than trying to save yourself, you will begin to rest in His salvation. That is the difference. You take your faith (or lack of it) off of yourself and put it firmly and fully in Him.

The truth is (according to Ephesians 1) that before the foundation of the world (before Adam fell...in fact, before Adam was ever created) the Father would adopt us in Jesus Christ. Adam would no longer be the head of the human race. Jesus would be. Jesus Christ, as the Last Adam, made an end to Adam's race. In His resurrection He became the Firstborn of the New Creation. A creation where He would be the firstborn among many brethren. The understanding of the Gospel in this light demonstrates that our salvation was not as individual as we have supposed, but familial in it's relationship to us. The Father had a dream for humanity that would not die. He would not allow us to slip away into nothingness. He would give everything to restore us to His original design. Jesus, fully God and fully Man, seated at the right hand of the Father, would become the head of the human race. We would be His inheritance.

Doesn't anyone find it interesting that when the Father established the New Covenant that Jesus would be the Mediator?
Not you.
Not me.
Not another group of well established people.
Not even His disciples would mediate.
Jesus alone would be the mediator of this New and Better Covenant. A Covenant that was founded upon Better Promises. A Relationship with the Father that could not be broken. Well...at least until the Father and the Son have a falling out. Then we would have some serious issues.

My point in all of this is that life beyond the pews can be so much better.
I dare you to believe that what Jesus did was/is enough.
I dare you to trust in the Father's unconditional love.
I dare you to rest in His grace (His Divine Enablement in your life).
I dare you to stop striving, to stop living in fear, and to stop thinking less of yourself.
I dare you to live as a much loved child.
This is my challenge to you. This is life beyond the pews. Enjoy the journey.

Where Do You See Yourself?

I'm often reminded of the story Jesus told that we have titled "The Prodigal Son." There is so much to it that I don't believe it can be exhausted. This morning, as I was thinking of something to post on facebook, these thoughts came to me:

The conversation you have within your head will reveal the lack of trust you have in the Fatherhood of God. Why is that we believe the Lord is more willing to take on another hired hand than to receive a son? How did we get to the place in our thinking where we believe that being remorseful and repentant means that we only get "less than status" with the Father? The story of "The Prodigal" is so compelling. We see ourselves in the two sons rather than in the heart of the Father. And that is probably the greatest tragedy of our thinking. You were created for sonship not servitude.

There are many things that I have already pointed out about this story on the blog. The fact that even the prodigal is referred to as a son should matter in our thinking. It should give us a glimpse into the heart of the Father. The youngest son, even when he was far away and wasting his inheritance, was always a son. The older brother, even though he stayed at home and became jealous of the Father's willingness to extend such mercy, was always a son. The differences between these two boys is how they viewed their relationship with the Father.

The youngest son believed that his Father would take him back...maybe...as a servant.
The older son believed that he was with his Father...somehow...through his service.
Both of them missed out on the reality of the Father's heart for them.

The Father in this story represents our Heavenly Father. We have been told that. But do we believe it?

Who has imagined GOD as a loving Father?
Who has believed that He would be so liberal in His relationship with us?
Who has ever thought that He would accept us on the basis of what is in His heart rather than what we could do for Him?
Who ever conceived of Him the way that Jesus portrays Him?

The irony, I believe, in all of our thoughts about this passage of Scripture is that we still miss the point of the story. And the point of the story is that there is never a moment that you are not in His heart.

YOU are in the heart of the Father as He looks out across the plain waiting for you to come to your senses.
YOU are in the heart of the Father as you stay and work.
YOU are in the heart of the Father regardless of what you have done or are doing.
Both of these boys received a revelation that day.
The youngest son realized that even though he walked away, the Father always carried him in His heart.
The elder son realized that it didn't require working to create a better relationship. All that the Father has was already His.

Don't miss this.
We get so caught up in our performance. We think that we are more acceptable to the Father through our service or through our groveling. The reality is that He has already made His mind up about us. Jesus is God's mind made up about humanity. Whether we have wandered away or we have stayed close, the Father sees us for who we really are. There may be some things that need to change. There may be some attitudes that need to be adjusted. There may be a mindset that needs to be broken through. But none of that affects Him. He embraces the reality of this moment. One son who needed to know he was loved for who he was. Another son who needed to know that he always had the Father's heart.

Stop trying to find yourself in the boys.
Find yourself in the heart of the Father.
You were created to be a son, not a servant.
Enjoy the difference.

*Feel free to look at the story for yourself in Luke 15:11-32. Just change the way your read it. He's ready to embrace you.*

Coming Out of the Prayer Closet

Greetings friends. I apologize for my absence this week. Just wanted to stop by and share some thoughts for the weekend. Thanks for checking in.

The trustees of the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) made a decision yesterday that calls for an end to the automatic disqualification of potential missionary candidates because they pray in tongues, or what has been termed as a private prayer language. This ban, which was enacted roughly 10 years ago, basically stated that if a candidate practiced "glossolalia" they would not be allowed to serve as an IMB Missionary. The ban wasn't popular then, but I'm sure the lifting of it will cause a stir among the strong cessasionist crowd within the SBC. While the question will still be asked, the IMB can no longer turn away candidates because of their personal practice.

First of all, allow me to celebrate the decision of the trustees. As a pastor within the SBC, someone who has served on the Executive Board of our state convention, and as an individual who has worked closely with the appointment of church planters, I never liked this question. I never understood the need to reject someone based upon what they did in their prayer closet. I hope this decision will allow us to reach out to the many gifted missionaries that were put out some 10 years ago.

Secondly, the ban that was in place would have limited me from taking on a missionary role within the SBC. Around the same time that this ban was initiated was when I began to pray in the spirit, or exercise a private prayer language. A practice that I was open about with my church family, but never shared with fellow SBC pastors. Many of these missionaries were not practiced in this type of expression until they went abroad to serve. The ban caused many of them to live in fear, hide their personal experience, or the leave the SBC altogether.

You have to understand that many SBC leaders are what is termed as cessationists. Meaning that they believed that most (if not all) of the "sign gifts" ceased with the completion of the Bible or the death of the Apostles. A belief that cannot be argued with Scripture, but I digress. The ban that was put in place so many years ago was done out of fear. Not because there were actual issues on the field, in my opinion, but because it was sort of a cardinal rule in SBC life. Even though there was never a written decree against such practice within the convention, most people just knew that Southern Baptists didn't practice certain things.

Unfortunately, this decision is seen by many in the world as a way for the SBC to become more competitive with the Charismatic churches that are growing globally. A way in which they can boost their membership, drive up baptism numbers, and create a new look for the convention. One has to wonder if the decline of growth within the SBC triggered this decision. However, I choose to believe that the current leadership of the IMB simply recognized the lunacy of the ban. That they realized there was a lot of gifted missionaries they were passing up simply because of what was going on behind closed doors.

I texted a friend of mine this morning. A fellow pastor, one who used to serve in the SBC. One of the reasons for his departure is because of his experience with the Holy Spirit. The local association basically rejected him staying in the convention when he started a new church several years ago. Here's what I said: "It's about time. IMB has finally decided that a 10 year break from the Kingdom is enough!"

While there were other decisions made yesterday: how to handle those who were baptized outside of SBC churches, and allowing divorced people to serve in various areas that were once closed, the lifting of the ban on tongues was a huge move. The reason I stated that the IMB had taken a 10 year break from the Kingdom is because they were not allowing their missionaries to practice something that is biblical, spiritual, and essential to those men and women. While the IMB has every right to determine who serves where and when, the reality is that they were draining the pool of God given talent before them. They were also limiting the work of the Holy Spirit among their members. All because someone was offended, someone had a bad experience in a charismatic church, or someone simply misunderstood the whole practice. The idea that an individual would simply place importance upon ONE gift because of their experience was a misguided notion.

I remember several years ago being at a conference and a man walked up to our group. The conference was in a charismatic Baptist church, so there was a lot of freedom in worship and expression. All the gifts of the Spirit were functioning in our meetings. This gentleman walks up to us and asks if we were Baptist. One of the guys spoke up and said, "Is it that obvious?" He said, "No. That's not what I mean. I mean that you can always tell when people who come out of a Baptist background begin to experience the Holy Spirit like this. They don't hesitate. They are strong in the Bible and they just let it go. I came out of a charismatic background and still have difficulty in some areas. Not you guys. It's awesome to see."

It's the marriage of the Word and Spirit. The Bible and Gifts. It's the expression of faith that we are all meant to enjoy. The Kingdom of God manifesting itself in and through our lives. It's not just one gift, but all that are available in the Spirit. That's what we should be teaching. That's what we should be allowing among the members of His body. We are not those who can sit back and say this no longer exists. We don't have a biblical or historical leg to stand on. People operating in the Spirit of God have always been at the forefront of what God is doing. The gifts of the Spirit have always been available because you have the Giver within you.

So...I'm celebrating today. I enjoy watching mindsets change. I love to see people embrace everything this Kingdom offers. I pray that this will be your experience as well. Enjoy!

Freedom Awaits

I came across a favorite quote this morning: Rise and rise until lambs become lions.
I cannot help but think that someone needs to be reminded that true freedom awaits.

This particular quote came from the latest Robin Hood movie. A statement that was etched in stone by Robin's father. A reminder that the fight for liberty should never be relinquished. The cause of freedom should never be put aside. There is too much at stake for use to give in now. This journey we have been on doesn't end because we feel a little bit of freedom. We can never be satisfied until the whole of who we are has done away with any and all bondage. Rise and rise again. I see a lion coming forth.

You want to read the entire poem?

Take Every Stone
The Bigots of This World
Cast Against You,
And Use Them
To Build My Church
In This World.
And when they seek
to oppress you
And when they try
to destroy you,
Rise and Rise again
and again
Like The Phoenix
from the ashes
Until the Lambs
have become Lions
and the Rule of Darkness
is no more.

What a powerful poem! I cannot say that it is "Christian" in its roots, but that shouldn't keep us from appreciating the message.

What the world throws against us can become weapons, or they can become the materials we use to build something greater. The choice is ours. What we do with the hand that we have been dealt, how we handle the wounds of our past, and the way in which we overcome the trials of life can bring defeat or can bring about an incredible victory.

Rise and rise again until lambs become lions.
A lion cannot come out of a lamb unless a lion is already on the inside. Just some food for thought. There is more in you than your realize.

It's quotes like this one that remind me of my role as a Father, a Husband, and as a Pastor. I feel as though I have a duty to bring people into the same freedom that I experience. The freedom of a son. The freedom that comes from knowing my identity. A freedom that is not bound in the chains of religion. A freedom to truly be everything that the Father created me to be.

I will rise and rise again. The lion in me is lunging forward as I speak. Freedom awaits.

National Day of Prayer '15

It's the National Day of Prayer. This annual day of observance on the first Thursday of May, designated by the United States Congress, asks people to turn to God in prayer and meditation. As you turn your heart to the Father, I ask that you remember how the Lord taught His disciples to pray.

Many of us were taught "The Lord's Prayer" at some point in life. What we may not know about this interaction between Jesus and His disciples is the significance. When a disciples would ask his master to teach them to pray, it wasn't because they didn't know how. Jewish children were taught all kinds of prayers for different things and different occasions. The disciples knew how to pray. What they wanted to know was how Jesus prayed. How He spoke to His Father. Because wrapped up in His prayers was the understanding of the Father that we needed to hear.

While Jesus' prayer is full of so many wonderful things, I want to share with you what I believe to be the most important aspects. When Jesus spoke to His Father, He would say, "Let Your Kingdom Come. Your will be done. On Earth as it is in Heaven." These are powerful words. Intentional words. He is helping His disciples understand the meaning behind all that He is doing. What He is trying to deposit in them: the Kingdom.

I believe that Jesus is also helping His followers to understand that the Kingdom doesn't just happen. While He is talking to His Father about it, He realizes that the Kingdom will be established through Him, AND through these men and women that have walked with Him. In essence, what I'm saying is that the Kingdom of God comes through us. It is the rule and reign of His grace. It is a government of love. It is a Kingdom full of righteousness, joy, and peace. A Kingdom that will have no end. And while Jesus would be the one to establish the Kingdom, the disciples would continue the expansion.

Have you ever considered that your life is an answer to Jesus' prayer?
Can you even contemplate the ushering in of the Kingdom of God through you?
Jesus told His disciples that the Kingdom of God is within. When He commissions them to go into the nations, He is telling them to release the Kingdom.

In the days of Rome, as they were conquering the world, they discovered that even though they controlled certain regions, they were not creating culture. A decision was made to send ambassadors into these regions so that the people could learn the ways of Rome. In this way, they established a way of life: "When in Rome..." The reason is quite simple. After culture was established, a dignitary from the homeland could travel to any quarter of the known world and experience Rome. The way of life, the way society would work, and the laws of the land would be carried out. It's this backdrop that provides a wonderful launching pad for the Kingdom of God. That wherever the disciples would go to carry the Good News of Jesus, they would disciple the nations in the culture of the Kingdom. Bringing Heaven to Earth. Answering the prayer of our Lord.

Think about it. What good is it to convert thousands of people to faith in Jesus, if you do not shape the culture? We should understand this better by now. Most of our Mission Organizations around the world have finally tapped into this revolutionary idea. They days of going in and seeing mass converts, only to see them fall back into the same things that held them in bondage have gone. We have recognized the need to create culture. We partner with those already on the ground. We don't need to expand Western Christianity. We need to expand the Kingdom of God. To see indigenous growth of the Kingdom.

As we take time to pray for our nation, our churches, and the world; let's consider the prayer of Jesus. Let's pray for the ushering in of the Kingdom through the Father's awakened sons. To see the love of God manifest through each and everyone of us. To walk in the grace, mercy, and compassion of our Father.

The church has taken a lot of hits over the years. Right now, in America, the church has lost its prominence. There are many factors to this decline. Scandals of all shapes and sizes, abuse of power, and the hateful rhetoric of those in the extreme camps have shaped the mindsets of many people. Did you know that a 66 year old Nebraska woman is suing EVERY gay person on EARTH and asking a federal judge to rule on the sin of homosexuality? She says she is doing it on behalf of the Father and the Son. Did you know that there is a documentary floating around the movie channels called "Kidnapped for Christ" that shows the psychological and physical abuse of "at risk teens" in order the reform them? It's leaving a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths and calling for federal regulations over these types of programs. Let's not forget the Westboro Baptist Church crowd and all of their antics. You do realize that to go to their website all you have to do is type in www.godhatesfags.com? And we wonder why people aren't flocking to the church. I haven't even mentioned some of the moral failures of our leaders. The reality is that we have a lot of work to do.

Jesus' commissioning of His disciples, and the answer to His prayers will not come through force. The ushering in of the Kingdom will not come through an apocalyptic episode either. It will come through us. It will be seen in our love for one another. It will flow through our compassion for every person. It will be demonstrated in our mercy. If the Kingdom could come through force then surely the Crusades would have been the answer the church was looking for. They were not. We must teach, preach, and represent the Kingdom that Jesus died to establish. We must make disciples. We must create this culture among our churches, and spread it throughout out communities.

There is no doubt that we need prayer. WE. NEED. PRAYER. Prayer is not a means of shaping God's will, but it is incredibly helpful in shaping ours. Jesus did not pray that His will be done, but that the Father's would be done. Prayer keeps us in tune with the Father's will and in line with the Father's Kingdom. It keeps us fully aware of what this Kingdom looks like, and how we can see the manifestation of it on the Earth. It allows us to think from a different realm. To embrace the reality of the Father in our own lives first, and then to help others come to grips with all that He has done on our behalf. We need prayer. Prayers for our faith to increase, to grow in the grace and knowledge of God, and to be consumed with His unconditional love. Then we can see the fullness of God manifest in our lives.

Let us pray that the sons will be awakened.
Let us pray for the ushering in of the Kingdom through us.
Let us pray for the hearts of people to be softened to His goodness.
Let us pray that our world will be changed.
And let us be an answer to those prayers. Let us partner with the Father to see His Kingdom Come, His will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.

AMEN!

The Confessional

Many of you know that I have been working on a book. It's been a long process, but I'm determined to complete it. As I was working through some of the chapters this morning, I had an idea about the introduction to the book. This may or may not be a part of the final product. However, I hope that it proves helpful in your own journey of grace.

An ex-Catholic once told me that confession is good for the soul. Since this book is about honest confessions, I thought this would be an appropriate introduction:

CONFESSION #1
I don’t know what I’m doing. Writing is a hobby, not a way of life. It is something that has always brought joy. I blog, but who doesn’t blog these days? I play around with poetry and have even tried to write a song or two. But by the grace of God I hope to put together some thoughts that will help you in your journey.

CONFESSION #2
My journey with Christ began as a child. At least that when was I started to learn how to jump through the hoops of religion. I prayed every night (mostly for forgiveness). I was baptized (in a creek…outside). I did all the church stuff (plays, choir, Sunday School, and communion). All for naught. When I was 17 years old, I prayed the sinner’s prayer and gave my life to Jesus. Little did I know that I would make a statement that evening that would define my Christian life for 17+ years: “I hope I don’t mess this up.”

CONFESSION #3
I messed it up!
For almost two decades I messed it up. The roller coaster of faith was exhausting. Hot one day, cold the next. Mountain tops and valleys would dominate the landscape. It was expected. It’s all everyone talked about those days. I believed that a normal Christian existence meant that I would go through seasons of strength, seasons of weakness. My calling, my vocation in ministry, didn’t help. I felt as though all my time was spent drawing from the well of forgiveness. While I believed this well was inexhaustible, who wants to spend their life begging to be clean…to be free?

CONFESSION #4
I didn’t understand grace. At all. I understood the definition of grace that was given to me, but I didn’t understand what grace was all about. For years I was told that grace was God’s unmerited favor. I believed that grace was all about being forgiven. That was my life. Just enough grace to be forgiven, but not enough grace to be victorious. It was a vicious cycle. A damning existence. A Reverend Dimmesdale existence wrought with guilt, shame, fear, and condemnation. I doubted that I would ever recover.

CONFESSION #5
Something had to change, and it did. With one word, the Father brought about an amazing change in my life. It was a word that I was accustomed to using, but it was also a word that I had previously misunderstood. A simple word study would reveal the abundant life that I was missing. An expanded definition that I had access to for all those years. Stripped away from religious exercise, this word would finally stand alone as a crowning achievement of Jesus’ finished work in me. The word was/is GRACE, and its impact upon my life was breathtaking.

CONFESSION #6
Everything I thought I knew had to be thrown out the window. All of my groveling, all of my begging, and all of my whining had to cease. I could no longer view life through the tainted lens of my inadequacies. Once this word had taken root in my heart, existing was no longer an option. I had to live.

CONFESSION #7
My study was in a finished room in the basement. I leaned back in my office chair as my head was swimming with the possibilities. The screen of my computer was filled with the Bible Study program that I often used for sermon preparation. In my hands I held a copy of Jim Richards’ book “Grace, the Power to Change.” A Bible was laid open before me on the desk. Could it be that I have missed it for so long? Richards said so. Thayer’s Greek Definitions agreed. One word would usher in a life that I did not know existed: Grace (in the English) – Charis (in the Greek) – the merciful kindness of God that turns us to Christ, keeps us, strengthens us, and enables us. A divine enablement. A grace that I could know, could grow in, and allow to work in me. It was like been born anew. I wept with the awareness of His goodness.

CONFESSION #8
This wouldn’t be easy. Two decades of religious performance would not leave quietly. While I wanted to take this truth and run with it, the reality is that I knew it had to become a foundation to build my life upon. This meant dismantling everything. It meant tearing out some old foundations before the rebuilding could begin. The key to the process would be understanding my identity in Christ. I had to see myself the way that the Father saw me or grace would become just another work.

CONFESSION #9
This newness of life would require some perseverance and practice. The difference was amazing, but the learning curve was huge. Rather than living with a constant awareness of what I was not, I was now consumed by the awareness of who I was in Him. I was forgiven, accepted, loved, more than a conqueror, the righteousness of God in Christ, etc. Even if I didn’t feel it, my faith would allow me to settle into this new identity. The awareness of who I was in Christ would allow the grace of God to flow freely.

CONFESSION #10
I stopped trying.
That means that I honestly banked it all upon the grace of God.
Performance would no longer be the measuring stick of my stature. Who I was and how I lived my life would now be defined by Him. Christ in me would be the hope of glory. I would discover that everything that I needed for life and godliness was resident within me. The Holy Spirit would ensure that there was enough love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control to go around. The Kingdom of God would no longer be a distant hope, but an abiding reality. So I stopped trying. I honestly allowed Him to do the work within me. All I had to do was believe and participate in this new way of life.

Will you join me?