Thank you, Lord, for speaking through your children..

"The more clearly we learn to recognize that the ground and strength and promise of all our fellowship is in Jesus Christ alone, the more serenely shall we think of our fellowship and pray and hope for it." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I absolutely love this book LIFE TOGETHER by Bonhoeffer where the above is quoted.  I honestly don't know why I've never finished it.  I have gotten to that final chapter like three times, and then sort of assumed that I got the main message and set it aside.  I'm a quitter.  Seriously.  I have countless other books on my shelves that are all mostly read.  I don't know how the suspense never kills me.  But there it is, plain a simple. I start strong and lose steam.

It is because of this realization that I am able to accurately attribute any completion in my life to God Himself.  It is not without fervent prayer that I continue to follow God's path for my life.  And as of late, I am being reminded of the importance of FELLOWSHIP in our walk.  I recently shared my struggle to finish anything with my good friend Erin.  We started as acquaintances, and by the providence of God Almighty, we moved to becoming prayer partners, close friends, running buddies, and SO much more.  God doesn't make mistakes.  He knew I needed someone like Erin who is so on-point with getting stuff done, and I only hope that I am able to return the many acts of service and friendship she has given me in these last several months we've been 'friending'. 

My mind has been so clouded by my to-do lists, future plans, politics (yeah, yeah), and other miscellaneous fun-suckers lately.  And I all of a sudden became very aware of how far I felt from my Creator.  I had forgotten Him along the way, and at that moment, I was ashamed for the way I could drop my bestie so easily.  I recounted times when He and I had been so close.  When I was waking up at 4:45am to meet with Him.  Times when I had stepped out in faith, only to fall into the loving grip of the Almighty.  The complacency is more than I can stand.  How do I return to that place of light and joy and adventure and fearless obedience?  How did I get to this gray place?

And no sooner does this realization happen, and God is SO faithful to meet us right at the place we cry to Him!  In this particular instance, He did it through His people.  A friend after church, a co-worker, another friend who is really hurting right now in every possible way.  I'm awake in my bed, snoozing my alarm this morning at 5:40am, and my co-worker Jamie texts me to ask where in the Bible I'm reading this morning.  OK!  I'm up!  And then my girlfriend Bethany sends a note of encouragement to remind me of places in the day when I can be considering God - in the metro, in the SBUX line, in the bathroom (for real!).

Thank you, Lord, for sending your Holy Spirit to speak to us and through us!  Your Truth is spread through the work of your children, and I am a reaper of this harvest.  It is my joy to also serve You by speaking your truths to others.  I will continue to exclaim your goodness to those around me who need to hear from You - to those who are hurting, those who have prayed for understanding, those who need healing, those who want to share in the inexplicable peace of knowing You!

Why would you ever want to take us back?

I ponder love as You speak through song

Amid countless times I get it wrong

Saving all of myself to offer You

Learning only forgiveness, kindness, truth.

You seek the face I mean to hide

And know the features and all the lines

You recall not the shamefulness found in this life

And suffered to take away plagues of the mind.

 

All those who come to tell the great lies

Your hand in mine still coincides

No fear, as it was driven away

No sorrow for my past mistakes.

My own penned words cannot profess

My delight in my own loneliness

For You’re radiant warmth reminds me still

The promise of my all wounds to heal.

The chill of the sea will soon be gone

Safe passage then to take us home

To be new, to be free, to be lovely and whole

O, great victory to come!  You have rescued our souls!

I couldn't wait to get back to my computer to write all this down.  Here I am running on a treadmill, doing my thing, when the magnificence of God comes triumphantly through my iPhone.  Steve Jobs and the Hoover dam could not have withstood the river of excellence that reached my ears. 

I have been battling back and forth for years with the debates over the appropriate nature of church music in our worship.  Is too many bells and whistles a distraction?  Is the concert feel taking away from intimate proclamation of my love to my Savior?  All very serious questions worth the asking.

Worship takes many attitudes - humility, compassion, joy, and sorrow to name just a few.  And earthly worship is very often done out of obedience only.  The feeling of lightheartedness is not often the main emotion in my worship.  Quite rarely, in fact.  There are many more times when I come with a heavy life burden, as if there is a brick wall preventing penetration of my heart.  In those times, I worship God in song out of obedience because I still believe the words of the song.  I just don't have the physical joy.

But I believe that when we get to heaven in the End Times, and we see God, all the debates about loud or soft, instruments or acapella, co-ed or same sex - these will all vanish.  Instead, I will be surrounded with the sound of thousands of instruments all in one accord, voices unable to be silenced, all praising the Creator and Savior King.

What happens when the machine is turned off?

It's not uncommon to relate to God as He is our life-saver.  We see Him as our life support - our ventilator to keep oxygen in the bloodstream to sustain life to all our organs.  Long enough to regain consciousness to again breathe on our own.

But I would argue that God is not a life support at all.  He is the air.  Air is not a machine.  It is not confined to numbers and settings entered by a human being.

You Word even above Your Name

Genesis 11 is the first record the Bible has that discusses language.  One language was spoken, and the same words.  The people of earth had been moving around the east side of the planet, and they decided to settle down for a hot minute in Shinar.  They decided to build a tower up to the heavens.  (SIDE NOTE: sounds freezing, knowing now about the different levels of the atmosphere and what not).  They wanted to make a name for themselves.  Pay particular attention to scripture when describing names.  And to make a name for themselves. 

The Lord saw this (11:5-6) and decided to confuse the language.  What was the problem with making a name?  It worked out well for Romeo and Juliet, didn’t it?  Patriots take pride in chanting the name of their nation.  But what does the Lord think about the nature of a name?  David tells us in Psalm 138:2.  Here, King David is singing a song of praise to God for who He (God) is:

                ²I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy   truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

Even above His own name, God magnifies His Word!  If I am first magnifying His Word, and then His name, I doubt I will even find the time to start making claims about my own name.  Not that I haven’t had my own narcissistic moments in the sun..

Be a prophet

The term prophet is often reserved for OT characters like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Jonah.  But we can be prophets in our 21st Century world.  In our time, we are not called to speak with supernatural knowledge.  God desires us to know Him and His will for our lives through the Bible.  The Word of God (the Bible) has already been written and translated into thousands of languages worldwide.  Our job is to proclaim it - through our conversation and our daily living.

Prophecy is the telling of things to come.  Again, this is not hidden knowledge; it is a general revelation open to everyone to hear and repeat.  Our goal in this age is to build up the church as a whole.  By doing this, the members are ALL edified.  The letters from Paul to the many churches around the Mediterranean told them (and us) how we can do just that.  The easiest place to read to understand the mission of the church is Philippians 2.  Be like-minded - sharing any knowledge, inspiration, strength, etc that you receive.  Share it with the church for everyone to be able to grow.

In speaking to the church in Corinth, the members were in a state of discord because of their obsession with their spiritual gifts.  Paul responds by confirming the mission here as well.  We want to edify the whole church.  Yes, some of you will be teachers.  Some will be healers.  Some will even speak in tongues.

In the 21st Century Western ideology, it is unpopular to create any sort of hierarchy.  Every kid gets a trophy.  But God and Paul are not confined to our way of thinking.  And Paul really spells it out well in these letters.

I Corinthians 12:27-31 - Paul acknowledges the many members of the church body - apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle-workers, healers, helpers, governments, diversity of tongues).  And he places more value on the ones he mentions first.  Why.  Because they are more beneficial to the church as a whole.  All these gifts come from God, but Paul never deviates from his mission of building up the church first and foremost.  These passages dispel any myth from church denominations teaching that we must all speak in tongues to have the 'full gospel'.

I Corinthians 13 - Here, Paul also diffuses the argument that the gifts of tongues (along with other ornate gifts) should have such a large role in the church.  Without emphasis on prophecy and teaching, speaking in tongues is a glitter bomb without an announcement of what we are celebrating.  (the edification of the church in this case)

I Corinthians 14 - HERE HERE HERE.  In chapters 12 and 13 Paul does well to be an author of INclusion above EXclusion.  God is an intentional God.  He would not have given anyone the gift of tongues without reason.  Paul acknowledges that truth, and He even teaches here when it is appropriate to use.  And in the church setting, it is a pretty limited period.  And it should be very prayerful.  Those who speak in tongues must fervently pray for the words needed to interpret (14:13).  The bulk of time in church gathering should be dedicated to prophesying and teaching.  Why?  Because it builds up the church as a whole (14:12).

Prophecy and teaching are done only as we know the truth.  The reason we have so many church denominations is in part due to our lack of scriptural knowledge of the truth. 

The truth is that Paul wants the church to be lifted up, not the individual members. 
The truth is that all the gifts have their place, in the church and the individual experience.
The truth is that prayer and guidance from the Holy Spirit must be the root of the church's actions.

The Pastors and the congregation must pray that only that which is true will be spoken.  Peter prophesies about false doctrine that is about to infiltrate the church in II Peter 2.  And the book of Jude (v4) acknowledges when they actually have crept into the church.

Only that which the Holy Spirit leads us to say and hear for the enrichment of the whole church.

Faith cometh!

Faith in God does not come from feeling. 

Paul tells us in Romans 10 that it comes from hearing, and hearing from the Word of God.  The Word of God - spoken, written, and breathed.  And we have someone who speaks the Word of God to us and through us.  He teaches us how to pray.  We can speak these words to those who don't know about God.  Acts 2:2 talks about a SOUND of a mighty rushing wind surrounding the apostles.  And continuing down in verse 4, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. 

So quickly, our imaginations turn to the feeling of the rushing wind, but it is so important to allow our ears to hear the message and our minds to discern the truth. 

Why should we listen before we feel?  Because our hearts deceive us (Jeremiah 17:9).  By reading the Word of God, we are like the trees planted by the rivers.  The river remains our constant guarantee that we will never thirst.  Even when the heat comes (trials in our lives), the Word will continue to be life-giving.  Truth-revealing.  We cannot rely on our hearts to rightly divide the Word of truth.  We must study the Word (2 Tim 3:16). 

My Savior had no place to lay His head

Ownership and possessiveness is a crazy thing.  It is something that is conditioned in us from our beginnings.  The first time a child reaches for a toy and yells, "Mine!", he stands condemned before God. And look at what happens as the child ages.

Anything I love in life, I find myself wanting to place ownership over it.  (**Except the trees.  I more want to just dwell among them.)  I go to a theater and enjoy the movie.  I should buy the DVD.  I see a piece of art in a gallery.  How much for the painting?  I want to display it in my house for my select few friends. 

I buy into my company to own part of it.
I find that I am unknowingly trespassing in nature if that particular piece of ground is state-owned.
You can own a parking spot.
Possess a degree (or two or three)

Taking ownership is not the transgression.  It is unlawful to take without payment.  But who possesses whom?  So shameful to think of times when I have been possessed by an object or an idea.  Look at the beginning of Revelation 21.  After the time for endurance and abstinence, down in verse 7 - now we are talking about an inheritance and a much better possession.  Wow.  "I will be his God, and he shall me my son."

The OT makes mention of a few men coming from "his own place".  And I don't believe it was an accident how the authors used this same phrase in each event:
1.  Gen 31:55 with Laban - who tricked Jacob, renegotiated his wages 3 times, and kept him away from his homeland for 20 years - after a hot debate, he kissed his sons and daughters and departed to his place
2. 2 Sam 18:18 - Absalom had no son to bear his name.  So called a pillar after his own name, calling it Absalom's place.
3. Job 2:11 - Job's 3 friends came everyone from his own place.  And what did they tell Job to do?
*Common denominator in all these stories - these men were not highly esteemed by the authors of each passage.

Now look at Christ:
1. Luke 2 - Born in a dirt-nasty stable because there was no place for Him. 
2. Luke 9:58 - During His time of ministry.  Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
3.  John 19:38 - Even in death, Jesus lay in a borrowed tomb.

I've quoted this before, but I cannot get enough of this guy.  "The blessedness of possessing nothing." (AW Tozer)