Which Came First

We sometimes hear the old question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" If you belive the Bible, the answer is easy and the question is silly. God created chickens and gave them the ability to reproduce through eggs.

I woke up today thinking about "which came first for a Christian," baptism in water or Holy Spirit? Actually, there is a process, but many who think they are born again Chrisitans were either "still born" or lack the fullness of the Spirit that produces overcoming strength, maturity to "be fruitful and multiply," and a Christian life-style described as "the fruit of the Spirit" in Galatians 5.

Still born "christians" have attempted to become Christians (or be produced) without the work of the Creator. Jesus says we cannot even come to Him unless the Father draws us (John 6:44), which is the work of the Holy Spirit. He does it through conviction of sin (John 16:8). Unfortunately, many have "accepted Christ as their personal Savior" because someone scared them enough or simply told them it was the right thing to do. Both of these are example of "works" (of men) and not the gift of God by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) [conviction of Holy Spirit].

When Peter preached in Acts 2, the people were convicted and asked what to do. He said, "Repent, .... be baptized .... and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." This gift is the Helper who will teach us, remind us, guide us into truth (that will set us free), speak to us and glorify Christ (John 14:16-17, 26; 16:7-14). Without this Gift one remains immature (weak), impotent (fruitless) and deformed (lacking the "fruit of the Spirit").

Many people are told that the Holy Spirit is only part of the birth process, not the process that matures one into being able to walk in the "fruit of the Spirit" and be prolific producers of more disciples. These people have experienced the cleansing water of baptism, but not the maturing gift of Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit came first to convict and last to mature. He is part of the whole process and works until we go home to be with the Lord.

An Ineffective Witness

Yesterday I preached a sermon that stirred a lot of things in me. It was titled "An Ineffective Witness" and was based on Acts 9 after Saul/Paul had been filled with Holy Spirit and begun preaching Jesus as the Christ. In other places in Acts when Jesus was preached, signs and wonders happened and it was recored that the Lord added to the Church. But not so with Paul at this time in his walk with the Lord. He simply confounded the Jews. When he made it to Jerusalem, the Apostles didn't even think he was a disciple. Ah....therein lies the problem.

Becoming a disciple is a process that takes time and daily effort. In fact, until Barnabas stepped in and took the role of a disciple maker, Paul probably would have remained pretty immature in his discipleship a lot longer. In Galatians he tells us it was more than a decade anyway.

How seriously do we take Jesus commission to "make disciples.....teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you?"

While I think I take disciple making pretty seriously, I don't have a plan to follow. It is not a rigid plan with check marks that we need, but we certainly need to define process and know when we are making progress. I'm meeting today to talk with our Eldership about our lack of a process for disciple making. It could be a revolutionary change in the church and turn us from being pretty ineffective to a powerful force for the Lord in our territory.

Give 'em a hand

"Give em' a hand" is what I declared to the congregation last Sunday morning. My text was in Acts 3 where Peter and John encountered the lame man on the way to daily prayer in the Temple. He was healed when they extended a hand to him, not just when they spoke the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. They had done much more than giving healing to a man lame from birth. They gave him the Name, they gave him a hand, and they gave him the Gospel.

They were doing evangelism. On Monday I had the opportunity to practice what I preached, when I encountered a young man to whom I had ministered in the past. He had a question for me about truly letting go of the past. After talking a while I asked him if I could pray, and then took him by the hand. Something took place, as we stood in the entrance to WalMart, hand-in-hand, praying. He asked if he could come back to church and get back on track with his Christian walk. Of course, I encouraged him to worship with us and truly walk with the Lord. It was part of the process of evangelism.

I believe we are in a day when the Lord is reaching a hand out through His people. It is not a hand out, just a hand. Too often we are quick to give a "hand out" of money, advise, opinion, even "preaching," when God may be wanting to touch people without a word. As hard as it is, I try to listen to Him before I act or speak.

90 to Nothin'

I just read a post on Facebook in which a young man was bemoaning the coming a new year. Hopelessly he declared, "Each year is worse than the one before." Then he said defiantly, "Come on 2010."

Wow, what an empty sounding attitude. That was contrasted for me the other day when a friend told me about his father being diagnosed with cancer at age 64, but living into his nineties without treatments or surgery. The key was an attitude that said he was going to make the most of every day and live as healthy as possible. He chose to be happy and healthy and depend on God to sustain him.

Unfortunately, the young man said he had made a new friend in Jack Daniels and that would get him into the new year. This is a Christian young man who has forgotten that his hope is in Christ, not anything of this world. That is why Scripture exhorts us to "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author AND finisher of our faith." With that Scripture I have great hope to be like the 90 year old father and not the young man headed for an early grave.

Gift Giving

One of the reasons we celebrate Christmas is to be reminded of the great Gift the Father gave us in His Son. As I prepare for Christmas this year, I'm focusing on another Gift given to us.

Jesus prepares us for this gift in John 16:7 and Luke records the delivery in Acts 2:1-4. Take a minute and read these verses of Scripture for yourself. What an incredible gift they received that day. It was truly "Christmas" in Jerusalem.

The truth is that the same Gift is given to us. How sad, when we refuse delivery of the Gift or simply tuck it away in a dark corner.

Prosperity of the Wicked

Psalm 73 is one of many Psalms in which the apparent prosperity of the "wicked" is addressed. In verse 3 the author even confesses that he was envious of the wicked who are boastful and prosperous. It is not the prosperity that makes one wicked. It is the lack of character.

Verse 6 speaks of their pride and violence. Their arrogance causes them to speak wickedly and even set their mouth against heaven and earth in verses 8 & 9. Most highly successful people are cold hearted and focused only on their own goals. Jeremiah saw this when he said to God, "You are in their mouth, but far from their mind" [literally, secret place of the heart - their soul] (Jer. 12:2).

This was a mystery to Asaph, author of Psalm 73, until he entered the sanctuary of God, His intimate presence. Then it was like the blinders fell off and he saw that instead of being at peace and ease the wicked are on a slippery slope to destruction and filled with terrors (vv. 18-19). By contrast he says in verse 26, "My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." He grieved over the wicked and his own ignorance, but quickly turned to the joy and peace of worshipping God.

When the Church is THE Church

I always turn to the end of the 2nd chapter of Acts to get a picture of what the Biblical Church ought to be doing. As Peter testified and encouraged people to be saved from the perverse generation in which they lived, thousands believed in Christ, were baptized and were added to the body of believers (verses 40-41).

The Holy Spirit was given for us to be empowered to be witnesses of Him [testify] (Acts 1:8). If we used this power correctly, thousands would turn to Him as "both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36). This resulted in "signs and wonders" through the gifts of the Spirit (v. 43), but the purpose of the spirit was empowerment to be a witness. It was not to bring people to church, but to bring them to Jesus. Then the Church went to work.

As the Church gathered, they learned the Apostles teaching [discipleship], had fellowship [true sharing/"bonding"], ate together, prayed, met each others financial needs, and praised God [worship] (verses 42-47). I find the hardest part being in the financial area. It is hard to give away something that is so hard to get and so necessary for ourselves and family - especially in difficult economic times. I heard about it happening at Church of LIFE this last Sunday, as people gave after the offering to meet the needs of a young family.

It was "the Church of LIFE being THE Church."

Whom do you SEEK and SEE?

This week I've had conversations, thoughts, dreams and confirming Scripture about a real concern of mine. The concern is about the fact that very few Christians look beyond people (family, friends, pastors, Christian teachers, etc.) for help with their problems. In a dream I was directed to Psalm 9 and focused on verses 9&10: The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed. A refuge in times of trouble. And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for you, Lord, have not forsaken those WHO SEEK YOU.

Then I saw it again in a study of Deuteronomy (31:6) in which Moses addresses Israel, God's people: "Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. he will not leave you nor forsake you." Moses did not say he, Joshua, or anyone else would be with them. In fact, people will disappoint, leave and otherwise forsake you, but not the Lord God. In verse 3 he had said that the Lord would also go before them, then Joshua. People are very important and God's instruments and ministers to point us to Him, but we must not put them in God's place.

Let's be sure we are looking beyond people, even Godly people, to seek and see God Himself!!

Individuals in the Body of Christ

Recently, I've set in meetings about accomplishing expansion of the Kingdom of God through planting new churches. There is always interesting discussion about defining when you have a church. We've come up with some pretty good lists, but there is still an element that may be unanswerable.

It has to do with individual commitment. I realize this is always a problem because we are dealing with people, and each one is an individual that expresses himself/herself differently. Yet, there is one thing that keeps coming up - a "hunger," "deep desire," "need," "desperation," or someting that says one wants ongoing, sincere, 24/7 relationship with the Lord and is commited to it.

This cannot be measured by attendance at meetings, money given, or amount of activity. It truly is something of the heart that is found in the depth of true "friends" that are willing to lay down their lives for one another (John 15).

Proverbs 3:31-35, God's Secret Counsel

When I read these last verses of Prov. 3, it would be easy to judge others, but they make me judge myself. I could easily proclaim judgment on the wicked, but I find myself looking at the wickedness in my flesh.

I am driven to the second part of verse 32 that says, "His (God's) secret counsel is with the upright." My only hope for "uprightness" is in the secret counsel of God, which can only be found through intimate relationship with Him. It is what Adam had walking in the Garden with Him before the rebellion. It is what Paul calls for in Romans 12:2, to know the "perfect will of God."

God's "perfect will" is shown in verse 1 of Romans 12. It is that we have intimate relationship with Him through the sacrifice of our body and "service" to Him, which is worship, not religious activity directed toward men.

My hope is to seek His secret counsel through intimate relationship. I must go now and be with Him!

Proverbs 3:27-30, It's really about us

When asked about the greatest commandment, Jesus gave two. He said the first is loving God with our whole being and the second is loving our neighbor, "as we love ourselves." This proverb directly address the 2nd, which cannot be accomplished without the first.

Withholding good, delaying payment, devising evil against our neighbor and "striving without a cause" are all actions that are taken when we do not love our neighbor. Doing any (or all) of these things puts us at odds with the Father, with peole and even with ourselves. When Jesus added "as we love ourselves," He indicated a very deep truth. We can only do for others what we already have within ourselves.

Doing evil against another is rooted in the evil we really feel we deserve for ourselves. For me, the best one word definition of love is acceptance. For a Christian, loving ourselves is not accepting who we have always been but accepting who we are in Christ - a new creation, recreated in the image of Christ Himself. So, fulfilling this proverb and Jesus statement is really about us and how we accept ourselves, not about others.

Proverbs 3:21-26, Sweet Dreams

This section of Proverbs 3 is a key to peace that will allow restful sleep.

As I read v. 21, I realized why the Lord had directed me to Matt. 6:22-23 just minutes before. This is such a key to peace and rest - watching what you watch. Jesus warns that the eye is the lamp of the body. When we focus on, or even watch, disturbing things, our body is disturbed and even becomes sick. The disturbing focus may even be on something like the news, not something "immoral and indecent." I remember on 911 watching the same scenes over and over as planes crashed into the World Trade Center and people ran for their lives. The images didn't change, but the sickening feeling just got deeper and deeper.

This passage parallels Ps. 91 in speaking of the safety of our walk so that we do not stumble or get caught in the snare of the enemy. When we know our steps are ordered (Ps. 37:23-24) and protected we can lie down and have "sweet dreams" and restful sleep.

Of course, we must remember that Ps. 91 begins with dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. We must get into His presence and stay there.

Proverbs 3:13-18, Wisdom

A key word throughout Proverbs is wisdom. Wisdom is more than an abstraction or even the wisdom of God made available to us. Rather than being referred to as "it" wisdom usually has a personal pronoun, "she." Wisdom is alive and comes with relationship with the Lord.

In these verses wisdom produces happiness, understanding, length of days, riches, honor, pleasantness, and peace. These are the kinds of things that are also seen in the fruit of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22. They certainly are more precious than silver, gold or rubies.

Recently, I've been made aware of people who are trying to produce these things through a machine, which they say will actually give you love, peace and joy. Jesus said there would be those who proclaimed to be "Christ," the deliverer who give love, peace and joy. We are seeing that done boldly and with great deception. These are only found in a permanent way through relationship with God through Jesus, the only true Christ.

Proverbs 3:18 says that wisdom is a "tree of life" and we are happy when we hold on to her. Jesus said He is the vine and we are the branches (John 15) and we can only maintain life and produce fruit by abiding in Him. Centuries before Jesus walked the earth the same thing was said in this proverb.

Proverbs 3:11-12

This proverb is quoted several times in the Scripture because of its importance for understanding the nature of God's love. In Hebrews (12:6) we are told that we have forgotten this exhortation that we must accept in order for God to deal with us as legitimate sons. Jesus says in Rev. 3:19 that He chastens and rebukes and we are to be zealous and repent. To me that says we are to be excited about His rebuke and chastening because it leads to repentance and freedom.

Several weeks ago Joseph began praise and worship with Psalm 92:7 and made a great application of what the Lord had said to him, as he meditated on this verse. It is not just about the wicked prospering and God then destroying them forever. It is also about Him bringing up the iniquity in us so that He can destroy it. WOW, what a beautiful perspective on the Love of God. He will bring up what we despise about ourselves in order to get rid of it. That is uncomfortable and even embarrassing. It will feel like chastening and rebuke, but it will produce the freedom that Jesus came to give.

Thank You for Your awesome love, Lord!!

Proverbs 3:9-10, Giving

The greatest way to "honor the Lord with your possessions" is to acknowledge that all of your possessions are His. When I became a "slave of Christ," I gave up all of my possessions. Actually, it put me in the position that God intended from the beginning that I would be a steward of His creation and take dominion on His behalf.

I get to enjoy the benefits of His possessions AND must seek Him for proper management of His creation. It causes me to seek Him more. It produces great joy to give away the firstfruits and allows for fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham in which we are blessed in order to be a blessing. Moreover, giving is at the core of God's nature. He gave His Spirit in creating man. He gave His Son in redeeming man. Not only does the Bible say, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" but also Jesus said we should give before we should expect to receive (Luke 6:38).

In keeping with the theme of Proverbs 3, the right heart is essential. If I give only to receive, I have the wrong heart. Giving is God's heart and I give because it is my heart, too.

Proverbs 3:5-8, Learning to Trust

It is so hard to learn to trust in the Lord with "all your heart." As circumstances arise in life, my flesh wants to take over and resolve conflicts, solve problems, or give my own answers to questions. As I practice, I pray I am gaining ground and "acknowledging the Lord in all my ways."

This is the third segment of Prov. 3 that calls on us to get things right in our heart. After all, it is the heart that the Lord searches (Jeremiah 17:10). The heart really is more important than the thoughts or the acts. Thoughts can be cast down and submitted to the Lord (2 Corinthians 10:5). If we act with the wrong heart, we are hypocritical (Jesus to the Pharisees). If we act with the right heart, I believe we will "receive our reward" from the Lord (Matthew 6:1-6).

Again, the promises/rewards are clear -"It will be health to your flesh and sttrength to your bones"- something I certainly need.

Proverbs 3:3-4

As Betty and I continue to meditate on and discuss Proverbs 3, we find a richness of God's love in verses 3 & 4.

To think of mercy and truth is to think of God's goodness toward us. He shows so much mercy that we don't even realize or think about. Betty says, "You cannot give what you do not have" (or realize that you have). So many of us fail to give mercy because we do not stop to think on how much of God's mercy we have. It "forsakes" us because we do not write it on our heart and keep it alive in our thoughts. Instead of being judgmental and harsh toward people, we should give mercy to them, but "we can only give what we have."

Truth always make me think of freedom, which Jesus said He came to give (Luke 4:18) and tells us that abiding in His word will give us the truth that will set us free (John 8:31-32). Not only does God give us mercy by not giving us what we deserve, but He also gives us freedom. What a God we serve!!!

The proverb says, "bind them around your neck," which reminds me of Jesus saying, "Take my yoke upon you" in Matthew 11:29. This proverb promises that we will find favor and high esteem with God and Man, and Jesus adds that we will find rest for our weary souls.

So many of us are weary trying to please God and man, when realizing the mercy and truth we already have will set us free from trying to earn what God has given us!!!

Proverbs 3:1-2

Betty and I have been meditating on Proverbs 3 together this week. This is such a rich passage for our times.

Verse 1 is a reminder that we can get the "law" of God in our minds, but His commands are kept in our heart. Jesus commanded us to love as He loved (John 13:34). Without this command in our heart, we will become legalistic, judgmental, inflexible, Pharisees quoting "the word" and being without the love of God. I could even say, "Being without God," since He is love. We could become like those who do great things in the name of the Lord, but are not even known by Him (Matt. 7:21-23).

The promise of peace for keeping His commands in our heart is so essential for times filled with turmoil, uncertainty, ungodliness, lawlessness, and disasters. Times like those in which we live. Times Jesus said must come.

"Little Foxes Destroy the Vine"

For more than a week the Lord has had on my mind the fact that is mentioned in the "Song of Solomon" - "Little foxes destroy the vine" (3:15).
This morning I awoke with a start because of a dream in which I had observed children being abducted. I had been able to follow the abductors, but was seen and went home to change cars in order to continue following them. They were going to be in the same location, and I had enough time to accomplish the exchange. At the right moment I would have the ability to set them free.
While at home, I saw a fire beginning in a house that was literally falling down. I called 911 for the fire department and noticed that the fire was already spreading to more houses on the block, but it was only on the exterior of the other houses. I waited for the firemen so I could help them identify which houses were on fire. They began putting out fires quickly. My window of opportunity to help the abducted children was closing rapidly and I was standing around helping firemen that didn't need my help.
I sensed there was a spiritual nature to this dream that related to the truth about "Little Foxes." As I thought it through, I saw the theme that had been on my heart about the verse from "Song of Solomon." We let little things get our attention, become the focus of our limited time resources, and draw us away from more important things. In Church we allow the 75% of people who are not going to bear fruit (Jesus' parable of the sower in Matt. 13) take our time so that we do not fulfill the call to "make disciples" (Matt. 28) and help people find life and freedom in Christ. There are so many "fires" that are just distractions and smoke screens the Body of Christ, as well as regular life. In life, this is like fictional TV shows or other meaningless activities we allow to take our time.
Jesus said that He is the vine and we are the banches (John 15). When the vine is destroyed , we are cut off from our life sources and cannot bear fruit ourselves. Furthermore, in Matt. 8:22 He said to a disciple who wanted to stop following Him until he could bury a dead person, "Let the dead bury the dead." Again, a situation we cannont change or help can take us away from following the Lord. Little foxes truly will destroy the vine.

Disciples of the Lord

Having just returned from a trip to Mexico, there is a lot stirring inside of me. While I was part of a team with the assignment of teaching about Five-Fold and Team Ministry, I think I'm the one that got the most out of it. Not that I learned a lot of new things, but having to dwell on the subject made me evaluate some of the things we ARE NOT doing well at the Church of LIFE.
For instance, we are not "making disciples" very well, which was the "Great Commission" of the Lord. Rather than focusing on discipling people in living by the word of God, we are hung up on solving petty problems that would be solved by a proper focus on the word and perhaps a little bit of specialty teaching/treaining. So..... back to the basics on making disciples, which involves being a disciple, discipling others, and releasing them to make disciples (of the Lord, not ourselves). A historical danger is that people begin to make disciples of themselves or a doctrine and become unbalanced, downright heretical, focused on a person other than Christ, or judgmental. We must keep the danger in mind and press forward with making disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.