I Hate When That Happens

Saturday mornings are supposed to be a little more laid back than the previous five days. That usually works pretty well, when I am able to decide what to do--if anything. Well, as you might imagine from those opening sentences, one recent Saturday did not start out to be one of those.


Those who know me, know I am simply not musical. I always wanted to be, but it seems the Lord left out the artistic bone, or organ, or allele on whichever chromosome it is supposed to be that controls such things. Often, however, the Holy Spirit has caught my attention with a song. Saturday morning a couple weeks ago, music was playing in my head. Mind you, this was not a song I had heard recently that stuck in my mind. Most of you are not even old enough to remember Joni Mitchell, whose most famous song was "Both Sides Now." Here is a hint on the time frame of the song. She sang it live on "The Johnny Cash Show" in 1970. I cannot remember the last time I heard it. I know I had heard it sometime because I recognized it when I heard it this time. I suppose it has been over thirty years ago since the last time I heard it. Bing Crosby is singing the song on YouTube as these words are typed. I have no idea who was singing it that Saturday morning. It was not Joni, Bing, or any of the other half dozen or so people who have sung it for me on YouTube in the past week. It was, however, being sung with full orchestration as though I were hearing it live or at least in surround sound, except that I was alone in the room and there was not any music playing anywhere except in my head.

My hope is that by typing that account into the computer, the Holy Spirit might help me understand what the lesson is here. If this does not work, perhaps one of those of you who have greater, spiritual insight than I do can assist me.

If I have learned anything from Leroy Jethro Gibbs on "NCIS," it is that coincidences are few and far between. We have previously quoted Harold Hill's definition of coincidence from his book "How To Live Like a King's Kid." He writes that "Coincidence is when God performs a miracle and chooses to remain anonymous." I know the Holy Spirit is trying to give me some direction, some guidance, or possibly even some correction, but I am at a loss as to what that might be. Normally, I would just sit on this until I could tell you the finished story, but somehow this seems too important to do that. Perhaps this is even a lesson in community as in the group working together to understand the mind of God? That kind of sounds like something we might have learned in the previous post. I know I could use a little help here.

It has been a couple weeks now since I heard the song. I have listened to it and sung it and meditated on the words, literally day and night. I still have no idea what the significance is for me. If you read back a few posts, you may remember the description of a vision of Jesus putting a seed into my hand. I am still wondering about that as well. Somewhere, somehow, sometime, this is all going to come together. The sooner the better. Post your comments here, call me, or see me in person. God has something great in store. I just cannot put my finger on exactly what it is right now. Can anyone out there help?

How It Should Be--Lessons From "Remeniscences"

1 Corinthians 14:26 reads, "How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification."  Apparently, there was no shortage of ministry going on when the Corinthian church met together. In fact, they were encouraged to be orderly in their services, but not discouraged from participating.

There are lots of verses of scripture that are overlooked, disregarded, or simply ignored throughout the Bible. Perhaps none has been more so in the North American church than this one. We have a class of professional clergy and those whom they have approved, that carry the public ministry during any kind of meeting. The stronger the influence of the religious spirit in a congregation, the more control will be exercised by the fewer people. (That hurt.) Trust me when I tell you, I know all the rationalizations for not letting the Holy Spirit direct church meetings. (That really hurt.) By the way, that also includes church-sponsored, small, group meetings where the powers that be in the church, assemble, approve, and assign the curriculum and the teachers. (That probably hurt too.)

Surely there is a place for the kind of meetings we call "church" that we have come to expect on any given Sunday morning or evening, Wednesday evening, perhaps Thursday or Saturday evening, or whenever. That particular model does facilitate a number of people hearing a sermon simultaneously, but does little to facilitate fellowship or individual ministry. We actually heard a local pastor state recently that fellowship does not occur during their "church" services. He was correct, of course. We applaud him for that understanding.

We attended a church for years that set aside time in virtually every service for people to meet and pray with those around them. As one might imagine, there were many criticisms of that practice over the years. Most of those criticisms came from people who wanted to hear the teaching of a world-renowned minister of the gospel, but did not want to interact with other people. I might have been one of them at one time, but I got over it around the time another couple prayed with us about a financial need and then handed us $150.00 in cash to meet that need as we were leaving the building at the end of the service.

Acts chapter 13 begins with these words, "Now in the church that was at Antioch there were certain prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, "Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away." (verses 1-3)

These verses seem to indicate some kind of small-group, men's, gathering that had a specific purpose. We realize many people do not recognize the office of the prophet in the church today. Too bad. You are missing out on an important ministry. Nonetheless, this explanation is probably not for you anyway. Their purpose for meeting seems to be to hear what God had to say to the group gathered there. Is that not what "church" is supposed to be about anyway? My recent experience is that "church" usually does little to foster fellowship and perhaps less to help us hear what God has to say. We really should be able do better with our corporate experiences in facilitating fellowship and hearing from God. Otherwise we are spending way to much money on facilities, creature comforts, and paid staff for the return we receive. Feeling good is really not what church is supposed to be about, but how many people consider that the primary reason for attending?

Folks, we are simply putting our emphasis on the wrong things in The Church today. We mistake our soulical pursuits of getting together, singing a few songs, and listening to a sermon, for true, spiritual worship and fellowship. Those last two, by the way, are the essence of our vertical and horizontal, spiritual relationships. Let this be an encouragement to you to find a group where you can be a part of those vital elements of the Christian life. Your life will change and so will the lives of the others who join with you. God bless you and guide you as you do.

Remeniscences

The late Dr. Howard P. Courtney was one of the unforgettable characters in the Foursquare organization. The last time we saw him, he was well into his eighties. According to my best information, he lived to be 98 years old. At that last, chance meeting, Dr. Courtney told my wife and me that, at his age, most of his ministry was being carried on by the hundreds of men and women he had taught and trained in his earlier years. This writer is now old enough to perhaps understand a part of what Dr. Courtney was talking about.

Last week, I was sort of invited--sort of invited myself--to join a couple men with whom we had some ministry experiences over twenty years ago. One was a member of a group we led; the other our assistant leader in another group. I found out they had been meeting on a regular basis for fellowship. It was delightful to join them. We had a great time for almost two hours as we all caught up on each others lives and ministries. The meeting was a divine appointment, but for different reasons than I might have thought.

Our meeting broke up when a father and daughter sat down across the room. One of men recognized the daughter as a student at the school where he teaches. He wanted to go and greet her. I recognized the father as a man I had met a couple other times so I went over to re-introduce myself. I remembered that he was a musician, but could not even remember his name. As it happens, the members of the therapeutic community have been praying that someone would come along who would be willing, and able, to lead some worship at our Saturday evening gatherings. I would like to tell you that I immediately asked this man if he would consider being that person. I often have to do things the most difficult way possible. This was no exception.

I left the restaurant and was about halfway home before it occurred to me the man I had happened across might be the answer to our prayers. Of course, I did not have a way to contact him nor did I even know his last name. A quick call to our common friend did not help, although he did say he would try and find a telephone number--and he gave me a last name. Facebook to the rescue. I looked him up on Facebook and sent a message, asking him to call me. He did. I invited him over for a conversation, presented my idea, and he seemed eager to accept the challenge. He starts Saturday, June 18, 2011 as the Lord allows. He actually committed, on a trial basis, for a few weeks to be sure it is the right thing for him.

I spent way too much of my time, in my earlier years, waiting for someone to recognize my talents and offer me a ministry position. I actually thought I needed someone other than Jesus to do that. To be just a little charitable with myself, my only real misunderstanding there was thinking the "ministry" entailed a title, like pastor or director of Christian education, and a salary. I love teaching. I love the look on student's faces when they get it. Were it not for the organizational powers that be wanting me to give up part of my teaching ministry to serve tables (Acts 6:2), I would probably still have a title and a salary.

Teaching at the rescue mission was a delight, but there is much more real ministry going on around me now, and there is more to come in the near future. (Do not ask me what I am talking about here. I really have no idea. I had to admit to our new worship leader that we are really not sure what we are doing. Should I be concerned that he understood what I meant?)

We sometimes have grandiose ideas of what "ministry" means. God has a ministry for each one of us to fulfill. In fact, we are the only person who can fill that particular ministry. God did not build a lot of redundancy into The Church. We are not interchangeable parts. As my good friend, James Baxter says, "We are all individuals. We are not just parts of a group."

When we look back on our lives, we probably have done nothing the world will remember. There are, however, perhaps even hundreds of people who believe their lives are better for having walked this sod with us for some season in their lives. The number of those who have received eternal life as a result of our ministry is probably into three figures anyway. I just realized that could sound like we are done, or at least winding down. Not a chance. In fact, I believe I heard the Holy Spirit say this morning that my best days are still ahead. Bring them on Lord!

It has taken so long to finish this post that Ray (the worship leader mentioned above) has already debuted. It was great! He made a difference in the meeting with his voice, his guitar, his sense of worship, and his very presence. Something great is beginning to happen here. Something great can happen where you are too. The only advice we can give is the same advice Christians have been giving to new Christians down through the ages. Read your Bible to get to know God. Pray to find out what He is saying to you, and fellowship with like-minded believers so we can all grow together in the love and life of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. God bless.

Something is Making Me Sick

It appears to be allergy season all over the country. I hear from my Facebook friends that people everywhere are dealing with the effects of allergies. I have been kind of "blah" all week for the same reason. In pondering the situation, and looking over the recent posts on my Facebook wall, something else came to mind.

Every time I think about denominations, exclusivity, or haughtiness in the church, my stomach feels a little queasy. That seems especially interesting in view of the fact that one of my fiercest supporters recently sent a link to a 33 page document on the python spirit. If you are not familiar with that spirit, you can see its manifestation in Acts 16 beginning in verse 16. The word translated "divination" in that verse is literally "python" in Greek. One of the interesting things about the python spirit, the author alleges, is that it is almost always found in connection with a spirit of haughtiness. Without going into a lot of detail, the python spirit hides in the darkness of our deceitfulness, dishonesty, and unrepented sin. We are all subject to its wiles.

Words mean things. If you are not familiar with the true definition of "haughtiness" use this one. Disdainfully proud, snobbish. That is from Dictionary.com. Or maybe you prefer to simply think of a haughty attitude as one that says, "I know better than you do." Of course for that to display haughtiness it would have to not be true. In other words, the person who says they know better (or more) than you do, would have to be wrong. There is always someone who knows better or knows more than we do. A large part of humility is acceptance of that fact.

A practice of mine over the past several years, when confronted with a statement or doctrine that does not sound quite right, is to assume the other person simply knows something I do not. That statement mostly refers to things theological, although one might suppose it could be applied to most anything. A good guess would be that, on average, half those things that sound odd probably are. That still leaves plenty of room to learn from people who might also seem a little odd.

In reading the 33 page document referenced above, it was obvious that the writer was either, a) being shown a revelation by the Holy Spirit, or b) completely out of his mind. Please keep in your mind that quoting scripture to support false doctrine is a favorite ploy of anyone who seeks to deceive. 2 Corinthians 11:14 reminds us that Satan himself will come as an angel of light. Of course then we also have to remind ourselves our warfare is not against flesh and blood beings. It is against spiritual forces. (Ephesians 6:12)

In case you are not putting all this together, if we see haughtiness in someone, we are really seeing a manifestation of the python spirit. This is deception in the most basic sense of the word. The person manifesting this spirit has no idea what the cause of his or her haughty attitude might be. A quick note here. It is much easier to see attitudinal problems in other people than in ourselves. In fact, attributing attitudes to other people is exactly what Jesus was speaking against when He said, "Judge not, that you be not judged, 'For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.'" (Matthew 7:1-2)

As with all spirits, the python spirit dwells in darkness. Yes, this blog is dedicated to demolishing the strongholds a religious spirit has erected in this valley. However, while the religious spirit is controlling the territory, we have to suspect the python spirit is affecting individuals who are unwittingly in league with the religious spirit. Perhaps that aids in understanding what must be done to break the power of the religious spirit, if not exactly how to go about it. Hey, keep in mind we see in part as does everyone else. As more information and a distinct strategy for our warfare is revealed we will certainly pass it along. In the meantime, we need to take some personal responsibility to get ourselves right rather than worrying about what is going on with our friends, neighbors, and other people with whom we associate. We do not want to make it all about us, but we are not going to be able to work change in anyone else anyway, so inside our skin is the place to concentrate our efforts. We must resist the urge to fix anyone else as long as there are things we need to fix in ourselves. "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:12-13) There is a lot more to that passage than is usually taught. Maybe one day we can get into that. God bless!