When Faith Deepens...

In these recent days the subject of "Depth", "Deepening" or "Deep" has been at the center of many of the conversations I have had. Much of them have come from men that I know who have grown weary of lives that seem shallow and lifeless. This same desire and longing for more has been stirring in my heart. I have some thoughts that have risen to the top concerning the longing for more.

Q: What happens when faith deepens in a person or in a church? What results manifest? Here are a few thoughts:
1. There is an embracing and enjoyment of deep and challenging teaching.
When spiritual depth plants itself in a seeking heart, that heart wants the sharpness of God's shovel to move through the rock and clay that may be there. We welcome the pain or breaking of our heart because we know it means more of His presence being established in us. Run from a church that does not offer challenging teaching.
2. There is a brokenness over sin and a hatred of it.
Biblical holiness always results in a brokenness and hatred of those things that God himself despises. Again, this comes about from the teaching of the Word of God as it is.
3. There is a moving beyond self-focused faith to an others focused faith.
Knowing God in depth means that we are making less and less of ourselves and that naturally opens our eyes to those around us, both those in the faith family and those outside of it. Nothing is more crushing to a faith family than faith that centers on self and not the Spirit.
4. There is an outpouring of the Spirit's power.
There is no better place to be than where the Spirit is moving in the hearts of holy men and women.

Churches that do not focus on depth find themselves only finding and teaching truth that makes us feel good about things. There is no focus on shaking up our lives to holiness, but making sure our injured souls get enough comfort to make it through the day. We are called to so much more than that. We are called to live a life that is much much bigger than our selfish interests. We should abandon any church where depth of faith is not valued, where there is never any brokenness of sin or where it is taught that faith means you just focus on yourself.

May depth be the sincere cry our our heart.

My Hopes for the New Year

Now that 2011 has come, I have this prayer for my life. My prayer comes from this passage in Luke 24:13-15 - "That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all the things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them".

These are the prayers for my life as 2011 begins:
1. Movement - I want to be moving forward, going somewhere - into cities, villages, and homes.
2. Walking with Deep Spiritual Companions - I am tired of having petty conversations that have nothing to do with Jesus and His Kingdom with petty people who think only of their little kingdoms.
3. Conversations about the Spirit's Movement - (Luke 24:14ff) These two men centered their conversations about all the events of the preceding days concerning Jesus and His work.
4. Walking with Nearness of Jesus - As they talked Jesus drew near and He went with them. I don't want to do anything or go anywhere this year if it includes anything where He is not.
5. Full Understanding of the Heart of the Gospel - The two men still had some confusion and doubt about all of the events of the previous days and it kept them from fully seeing. I don't doubt the heart of the gospel, but it is not always as front and center as it needs to be. This too, keeps me from fully seeing what God is doing and wants to do.
6. A Heart that Burns within from Opening of the Scriptures - After they realized it was Jesus, this is what they said "...Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked with us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?"
7. A Life that Tells the Story to Others - (Luke 24:33-35) The world is lost and needs those with burning hearts to tell the story.

Those are the 7 prayers I have as 2011 opens. I pray that God grows a Big Life in me this year.

What Are We Waiting For?

The most pressing question in my life at the moment in regard to my walk with God is this one: What am I waiting for? This question has come from a careful analysis of Paul's conversion in Acts 9. The passage has always intrigued me, and in these last weeks, I have read the story with fresh eyes that resulted in fresh impact.

As Paul is headed to Damascus to continue his attack on the followers of Jesus, Jesus interjects himself in the life of Paul. God is always the great Initiator of life. There was a way that seemed right to Paul, but its end for him would be death as he had based his whole life in the pursuit of a man-centered righteousness. Then after meeting Jesus, he comes to the great realization that none of that was enough to get salvation. Acts 9:9 tells us that after his encounter with Christ, "And for 3 days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank". It was in these 3 days that Paul makes his decision and his life goes in a new direction. He did not wait more than 3 days until his decision was made.

Now look at what he began to do in Acts 9 after his decision was made to live for Jesus.
---Acts 9:8 - Immediately gets up and goes into the city as told by Jesus. He obeys from the begining.
---Acts 9:18 - Immediately he was baptized
---Acts 9:20 - Immediately begins to proclaim Jesus
---Acts 9:21 - His life change is immediately seen by all
---Acts 9:22 - Immediately he starts growing and moving forward in his faith
---Acts 9:23-25 - Immediately the Jews start to seek to kill him
---Acts 9:26 - He does not fit in the establishment at first.
---Acts 9:31 - His passion influences how the church walks with God

Paul did not wait long to decide if he was going to really live it. All of this happened without going to a discipleship or evangelism seminar. It was enough for him to decide to follow and then actually do it.

So, I ask us all again: What are we waiting for? Do we think something better is going to come along? Do we think something else is required? For Paul it was enough to simply walk with Jesus. The great pursuit of his life became one thing - to know the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord. Nothing mattered more than this pursuit.

What are you waiting for?

Fan or Fanatic

Over the last several weeks I have been contemplating this thought: Am I a fan of God or am I a fanatic follower of God? As I look around I wonder if we have reduced our faith to one where just like a post on Facebook, we simply in our hearts click a like or dislike to the things of God. It is as if as His followers, it is our place to interject our view on subjects that He has been clear on for thousands of years. I wonder of myself and those around me: Who do we think we are? The Bible is not like facebook where "friends" give the thumbs up or thumbs down to what is written. The Word does not need our opinion about it, it needs to be obeyed. This is where the "Fan" idea has come to me.

Fans can be fickle and fairweather. They have enthusiasm and they can be very critical with their "boos". Some fans change their lifestyle and attire to be in line with their favorite team. Some fans are devastated with a loss and elated with a win. Still others want material icons to show their love of team and have them placed in special places at home or on the car. And, others join a "fan club" and pay a monthly due to get the inside information for the upcoming weeks game or season. Fans sit in a stadium or in a living room or bar and watch from the outside those who are actually playing the game.

For far too long what I wrote in the above paragraph has become true of those who claim Christ's name as theirs. We have become just like a fan. We like God, so long as it is all going in the way we want it to. Though we may be in the "fan club" and pay some monthly dues with money, time, or enthusiasm, I wonder if we stop and wonder how crazy it is to think that God is looking for fans. He is not!! He is seeking those who will worship in "Spirit and Truth".

Followers follow. No matter how it is going, where it leads, or what may come - they follow and trust.

The original word in Latin where we get the word "fanatic" is "fanaticus". "Fanaticus" meant 'insanely but divinely inspired'. Over time in the English language, it was shortened to what we now use, "fans". The original meaning has been lost, but it carries a beautiful description of who you and I need to be as His followers.

I want to be 'insanely but divinely inspired' as I live for my King. Do you? It is time we all move from being a fan to being fanatic. Fanatics are followers who are moved by the Spirit to walk with God no matter what comes.

So, what will it be for us?

Why I Am About Mission

Over the last several weeks, I have had several conversations with other Christ-Followers about why I preach the way I do, why am I so serious about the gospel and why is mission an almost consistent theme in my communication? I like talking about my passion for God, but it is the last question that seems to bring a sadness to my heart: Why is mission a consistent theme of my whole life and ministry? The questions and tone of the conversations carried the idea that I somehow did not fully understand how to communicate the heart of God or understand the purpose of the church. The fact that a Christ-Follower would ask this question shows how confused we have made the mandate of God to other believers. So, here are a few thoughts about why the church is to be about mission and hopefully all of us will move more in line with his heart.

• Genesis 3 - After the fall of Adam and Eve, God comes to the garden approaching near to the ones who had rejected his glory and were separated from Him. In doing this, God shows his heart from the very beginning is one of "being on mission".
  
• Genesis 12 - God tells Abram to go to a land that God would show Abram and that through Abram, all the families of the earth would be blessed. Further evidence that early on God's heart was on mission.
• In Exodus God tells Moses that God would deliver Israel from the hand of Egypt. Here, God is on mission to redeem and save the Hebrews.
• Isaiah 61:1-2 - "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound." Here is a prophecy about the coming mission of Jesus.
  
• In Matthew 9 as Jesus was going along he calls a tax collector named Matthew to a life of freedom and purpose.
• Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, he said these words in Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,". This is so clear, this is what we are to be about. There should be no controversy or question about that.

I could go on and on. These are just several of so many. The church is more than a place to socialize, hang out, hide, make sure we are never offended, etc. Today's church encourages the pursuit of stuff in the name of Jesus, but sadly it also teaches us that our feelings, happiness, and self-esteem are most important. None of those things will fix the sin problem the heart is corrupt with, only Jesus blood will.

So why am I about mission? Because God is about mission. If we seek a church that is not driven by the same mission God is, then we must evaluate why we are going there. We should get away fast. The mission of God must remain at the forefront of the message to proclaim.

I will be about mission no matter what people think about me. I will side with what the scripture says about God. He is missional.

Preaching so as Not to Convert Anybody

A friend of mine sent the excerpt below to me. May all of us who preach or teach stay true to the word. The stuff below comes from The sermon is entitled "Creatures Born to be Killed, Part 2" and can be found at www.gracetoyou.com by John MacArthur.

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"Over a hundred years ago, an article by Charles Finney was entitled, "Mastering the Art of Preaching so as to Convert Nobody." In it there were some ways to be sure you could preach so as to convert nobody. I paraphrased some of them. Here's a few.

Let your supreme motive be to secure your own popularity and success. If you preach that way you're not going to say anything to offend and if you don't offend you can't convert anybody. Aim at pleasing for money and sexual favors, rather than correcting for holiness. Let your sermons be literary, flowery, ornate, flowing beautifully so your hearers never remember the lack of content. Be sparing of thought lest your sermon contain enough truth to convert someone. Avoid preaching doctrines that are offensive to the carnal mind. Deal with sin in the abstract and make no allusion to the sins of your audience. Preach salvation by grace but ignore the condemned and lost condition of the sinner, lest he should understand what you mean by grace and sense his need of it. Make no appeal to the fears of sinners, but make the impression that they have no reason to fear, God loves them. Preach the love of God and ignore the holiness of His love. Do not rebuke the worldly tendencies of the church, lest you should hurt their feelings and convert some of them. Select your themes and so present them as to attract and flatter the wealthy, aristocratic, self-indulgent, extravagant, pleasure-seeking classes and you won't convert any of them to the cross-bearing religion of Christ. Ridicule solemn earnestness in pulling sinners out of the fire and recommend by precept or example that jovial, fun-loving religion and sinners will have little respect for serious preaching. Cultivate fastidious tastes in your people by avoiding all disagreeable allusions to the last judgment and final retribution. Treat old and uncomfortable doctrines as obsolete and out of place. And so exhibit religion as to encourage the selfish pursuit of it. Make the impression upon sinners that their own safety and happiness is the supreme motive of being religious. And see to it that you say nothing to any of your hearers to demean him or her, but only what is flattering.

That's the way they preach. You have to listen carefully to be able to discern it. Words full of nothing that convicts and nothing that converts. And nothing of truth that changes lives. And they entice, people are sucked up in masses to their empty wells."

The Freedom of Being All In

This past week I had one of those moments in the scripture that is still affecting me and it came from a passage that at first I did not think was all that insightful. Isn't that the thing with God's Word? Even the places that have not been deemed so important are still "living and active" and I should have known better. As we have been walking through the letter of Philippians, we came to the place where Paul gives some detail about the deep value that Timothy had in his life. Here are the words Paul uses of Timothy - "For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ". (Philippians 2:20-21)

Paul is in Rome and he has other committed Christ-Followers around him, but as he ponders who in the entourage would willingly go to Philippi for him, only one person stands out. One person is dependable and trustworthy and that is why Paul says "For I have no one like him". No one was his equal. No one was more like minded with Paul than Timothy. Paul knew this deep in his soul. No one around him would love and minister to the Philippians like Timothy would. Timothy is the real deal.

Then Paul says the amazing thing, "They all seek their own interests, not of those of Jesus Christ". Here he is surrounded by people who love Jesus and the gospel, but he describes every one of them as those who seek their own interests compared to Timothy. Those around him were interested in the kingdom and their own interests, and that can only choke the gospel out in our lives and leads to lukewarmness. This thought begs the question, "Why was Timothy so unique?" "What had he already decided that set his life apart? So, Timothy is uniquely dependable, trustworthy, genuine, and single minded.

Though I have never played poker in my life, I have seen it in the movies. When someone has the "hand of hands", they push all of the chips to the center and say "All In". Timothy was all in with the kingdom of God, only he had not pushed poker chips into the middle, he had pushed his life into the middle and was going for broke for the kingdom.

Here's why Timothy stood out to Paul and I wonder if these things are true of us. I call them the Triad.
1. Timothy was willing to go anywhere.
2. Timothy was willing to serve anyone.
3. Timothy was willing to sacrifice any and everything.

I believe that when these 3 are settled in us, then we begin to really live in the only real freedom that can be known. Freedom is not found when we are in control of our lives, but when we are willing to go anywhere, serve anyone, and sacrifice everything. For when we live out those 3, we have surrendered control of our lives to God. The church landscape in our day is filled with those who love God and talk of the realities of gospel sacrifice, but their lives are marked by their "own interests". That is not a life that is "All In".

I am a Triader. Are you? That does not mean that we are to go overseas. It could mean that we stay right here where we are. It does mean though that we are willing to do all 3.