"Do this, knowing the time, that now is high time for you to awaken out of sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed."-(Romans 13:11)
Why do we arbitrarily call out to Him when it is either convenient or when we are wounded? Why do we seek Him only to find His hands, rather than His Face? In a fallen world that is crying out every day as one who is dying and losing their hold on life, clutching at straws to survive, we see, hear, and experience for ourselves the signs of the times. They are imminent warnings of what will inevitably, prophetically, and scripturally come to pass. Disease, Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Tornados, Hurricanes, natural signs and devastations wiping out entire villages, cities and civilizations... Wars, conflicts, abuses, cruelty, murder, slavery, human trafficking, genocide and man's gross inhumanity toward man rack our conscience and hearts with the clanging alarm of a species destined and somehow determined to undermine and destroy itself. The news media blares the authenticity of the havoc and magnifies these significant omens to the point of cacophony, as if the enemy would have us desensitized to the imminence of our calamity. Numbing us with the inundation of tragedy, we crawl back into our safe, quiet, insulated bed-chambers and try to block it out.
But while Satan attempts to lull us back to impotent slumber with the lullaby of lust, self-importance, dissension, greed, complacency, comfort and worst of all, doubt and fear, he sets the stage for the deceived to operate on his behalf. He uses extremists who bear the banner and the Black Flag of the spirit of Anti-Christ to march toward the fulfillment of his designs. We sit idly by, asleep in the midst of chaos and catastrophe as the evil one mounts his assaults. I do not speak of the slumber that Jesus rebukes the disciples for waking Him out of due to a lack of faith in Mark 4:35-40. I cite the type of spirit of stupor that Paul mentions in Romans 11:18 that keeps our eyes from truly seeing and our ears from hearing what is TRUTH. If you are awake right now, you will have had revelation that the adversary has used individuals enclosed inside the body of Christ to cause division from within since the inception of the church. Denominationalism, sectarianism, doctrinal disputes and hatred from one arm to the other in the Corpus Christi here on Earth have been his means to decay the infrastructure of our Kingdom. Division is the cancer destroying the anatomy of Christendom in its interior. We are called to occupy in dominion until Messiah returns, but while we hold fast, we have been, for centuries, more trouble to one another through our self-righteousness and schisms than his minions ever needed be. For millennia, the fallen worship leader of heaven has allowed the church in her own vanity to subversively engage in civil war. But the plot is thickening...
Right now, as you read this in the security of your own personal sanctuary, I would kindly ask you to consider two things. First, ARE YOU AWAKE? "Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep."-(Psalm 121:4) And second, ARE YOU AWARE? "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind."-(Romans 12:2) As my bride and I traverse the globe to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and dedicate our lives to discipling the Saints, we do not take lightly the clarion call to quicken the Bride of Christ. We know without the shadow of any doubt that the Holy Spirit has shown us that we are commissioned and equipped, for such a time as this, to AWAKEN and make AWARE. If you are awake, we encourage you to rouse others. If you are aware of the urgency of the times, we would rally you to share the critical nature of the precipice we all stand upon. The end is relatively... well, NIGH.
I remember as a child observing the obscure corner-dwelling, billboard-wearing presumably insane people on the streets of New York City. They were pensive, intensely urgent and purposefully selfless in their efforts to sound the alarm to any and everyone who would harken the almost maniacal cry "THE END IS NIGH!!!", or "Repent! for the End is at hand". When asking one of my teachers on a school field trip to the Museum of Natural History what precisely these seemingly insane people were prognosticating, I received a very secular "Crazies" as an answer. But more than 25 years later, and wiser, I am quite sure that a good percentage of these "Crazies" were more prophetic than deranged. When looking at the grand scheme and juncture in relation to our minuscule lifetimes, and compounding the prophetic timelines it is perfectly feasible to discern that, YES, the end is upon us. Like them or not, in lieu of their unorthodox approach, the placard-wearing "crazies" on the corners are not too far off base. (That is with the exception, of course, of anyone spewing hatred and judgement toward others while using the medium of picketing and rallying to actually aid the forces of evil.)
A dear friend recently contended with me "Well, the news media is magnifying all of the madness and disaster. They thought the world was ending 2000 years ago, and they had no T.V.; there was as much devastation and war then as there is right now". Yes, people have been declaring the end of days for centuries. Each civilization, culture and cluster of mankind has proposed a potential cataclysmic date or season. Christian, Pagan, Atheist, Scientist and Philosopher alike have all identified a looming apocalypse within their own lifetimes. Dating back to the dawn of the Church, we know that there was significant presumption about the end of all things even as the first disciples were being martyred. Each generation has its own potential end waiting in the proverbial wings. However, when denying the reality or truth of the progression and escalation of the inevitable end of all things, it is imperative that we swallow the jagged pill of perspective, particularly when dealing with relative timelines. Considering the age and scale of time that we have been traveling on as a race from the creation until now, it is more than feasible to imagine that we are nearing the inevitable and ultimate renewal of creation. The frequency of destruction is increasing on a level that is historic. The atrocities of human hatred and self-decay have reached a fever pitch the likes of which the world has NEVER seen. "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains."-(Mark 13:8) Anyone who is awake and truly sees their surroundings can acknowledge that there is more devastation, more evil and darkness filling the earth to date than ever before. Without mutating this article into a thesis, or following the rabbit down the hole to side-tracked confusion, I reflect back to the real purpose of writing this. We must not treat our lives as fodder. We must not ingest the lie that we should live as though we will never die, but rather live as though we might die ANY MINUTE... Because WE MIGHT. We must be committed to declare the Gospel and whole-heartedly tell the truth about Jesus the Messiah to the entire world. Without fear of rejection, retribution, loss or martyrdom, we are commissioned to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."-(Mark 16:15) We cannot let the sedative of doubt fill us with paralyzing inactivity. This IS really happening. And there are others, who work for the opposing forces who believe that it is, whether you do or not.
I proclaimed earlier how we preach to the Body of Christ to awaken. Recently, while watching a broadcast of the recent revolution in Egypt, we witnessed something disturbing. As one of the leaders of The Muslim Brotherhood began to speak over the noise of elated "free" Egyptians, he uttered "This is the beginning of the great Muslim Awakening! Muslims around the world will rise up to claim what is theirs!". My jaw dropped. We were immediately aware that this was a direct counterfeit of the same directive that the Holy Spirit has given to us and many others in the Body as a charge to prepare for the coming season of turbulence.
When listening to another man of God recently as he revealed the prophetic and actual timelines that are being fulfilled, he interviewed a former bodyguard who defected from within the hierarchy of Iranian rule who unveiled the consistent and constant dialogue from within the counsels of Iranian and Muslim Extremist Leadership. They believe that the Thirteenth Imam, the Imam Mahdi or "Guided One" has already arrived. If you are unfamiliar with the Mohammedan Prophecy of this "being of light", I suggest that you invest some time into the research. I will tell you that according to Muslim Prophecy and in comparison with Christian Eschatology the comparisons are unsettlingly congruent. They believe that the Mahdi's reign and appearance will be coupled by the return of Hadhrat Isa, better known to you and me as Jesus. Although He is denied by Mohammed as being the Son of God, in spite of being esteemed as one of the highest "prophets" in the Koran. Which leads me to a sidebar of substantial significance: CAN A TRUE PROPHET LIE? If the answer is "NO", then the Koran is false. Ironically, they identify Jesus as "the only one who will have the power to kill the Anti-Christ". I should also mention that the length of the reign of the Mahdi is SEVEN YEARS. He will also purportedly LEAD WORSHIP from Mecca. The counterfeit here is transparent. However, due to its importance and the depth of detail, I will spend more time disclosing my dissertation on this subject at a later date. Regardless of the Mahdi's arrival, the behavior and lifestyles of the majority of everyday people who worship as Muslims and the conduct of the general (rapidly growing) world population of Muslims, there are many in positions of authority at the ready. They hold high the sword of Jihad, Holy War. They are poised for the great cleansing of the infidels. Who, pray tell are the "infidels"? According to Islamic Extremists- anyone who does not believe in and worship Allah and his Prophet Mohammed. Specifically Christians and Jews. With the confirmed death of long-hunted terrorist and Al Qaeda Leader, Osama Bin Laden, comes the imminent rumble of retaliatory plans and a successor who I believe prophetically will fit the bill for the aforementioned "Guided One".
But we stand under the covering of the one true living God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. We worship the God who sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins on a cross at Calvary. We believe on Him. He is called I AM. Is He God or is He not? If He is, then everyone reading this should and must repent of their fleshly ways, receive the shed blood of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, be baptized in His name, discipled through His precepts and examples, and made full with the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. "John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire."-(Luke 3:16) If He is God and His Word is TRUE, then every soul reading this who calls themselves "Christian", "Believer" or "His", should be a liberal soul who sows bountifully out of the increase of their first-fruits by way of tithing to their storehouses (the local church) and offering unto the Kingdom of God above their tithe. "You then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?"-(Romans 2:21) If He is the Lord of Lords, Alpha and Omega and Father of all Lights to you, then you must love your enemies and pray for all who spitefully use you, curse you and mean to harm you. "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."-(Luke 6:27-28) If God the Father is TRULY the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, and Jesus, His Son, the Messiah who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and His precious Holy Spirit the paraclete who guides our every step, the we MUST be committed to His cause. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."-(Luke 9:23) We must be totally, unwaveringly engaged in His call upon us. We must be utterly dutiful, diligent and fervently passionate about His Great Commission. If He IS God. And, dear precious ones, I know indubitably, HE IS GOD.
It is most certainly not a time to celebrate, revel in short-termed, human victory or woefully become complacent in our faith. It is high time that we arise and lift the veil off of our eyes and spirits and stand unwinking and staid in the coming hour. "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."-(1Peter 5:8) It is also not a moment to become so heavenly-minded that we are no earthly-good. Neither is it a season to hide away in a cavern or bomb shelter far into reclusive solitude in an attempt to avoid the oncoming storm. No. We must work with more vigor, more passion and more critical persistence than ever before. "We must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."-(John 9:4) We must stand fast. We must stand firm. "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:28-31) We are called to be AWAKE. We are commissioned by the Master Himself, Jesus Christ to be AWARE, and moreover, galvanize others into this same awareness. Join in true unity with other believers in spite of your doctrinal disputes or human differences. Overcome your fears, doubts and opinionated selfishness and pick up your cross. It is coming... HE IS COMING BACK. We implore you right now- WAKE UP AND GET READY.
Pastors Brian and Jeni Stivale travel the globe spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ and ministering with signs and wonders following through the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Their ministry of preaching, teaching, prophetic, and worship reaches millions throughout the world via Churches, Conferences, Internet and Television. www.StivaleMinistries.org
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
EAT THE WHOLE THING
"Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God."-(Acts 20:26-27)
Movements are dangerous. They are not inherently good or evil, but volatile nonetheless. And perhaps that is their innate potential to be used as a positive power; to be explosive enough to be noticeable and implant permanent or lasting change. But in the negative potential of any "movement" lies their finite nature. The DNA of a movement allows that, without commitment and absolute, implanted change, all it will do is make a noisy appearance and inevitably, fade away, leaving in its wake collateral damage and a potentially scarring effect on those who witness its failure to root or create a better life. There are obvious examples in history that will stir some with litigious bents to revel in proving me wrong. However, I would cite that "movements" such as the Civil Rights Movement, Women's Rights and many others only mark their inception with a movement. These platforms are basic human rights that needed a powder-keg to open the door to become revealed truth and necessary societal and cultural changes. We need a kick in the pants (if you will) sometimes as a species in order to develop into better stewards of one another. But in contrast, there have been other "movements" in the history of mankind that have not created necessary, or for that matter, positive change. Take for instance the German "National Socialist" Movement, or Marxism. There is no doubt, (if you have the freedom to read this) that the Nazis and the purveyors of Communism had their own devastating effects on mankind. The only lasting change there was hurt and pain, and a cathartic reminder of what NOT to become or repeat.
But those examples, both positive and negative are only to initiate your involvement in the relative conundrum at hand. Are mere "movements" good for the Body of Christ or the Kingdom of God? I say NO. Why? Because we need more than a brief encounter with change. We need TOTAL change. Movements without permanence are impotent. Or I should say "movements" for their own sake are impotent. When we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, it is not a temporary means to an end. It is a complete repentant redemption and thereby "re-creation" of our lives. It is not a moment of mercy, but a new beginning for a lifetime of mercy and grace. "Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."-(Lamentations 3:22-23)
When we were recently ministering in Jerusalem to the beautiful body of Messianic Believers there, a very wise Pastor and dear friend of mine asked me quite candidly "What do you think of the prosperity movement?". I paused to reflect on his intentions, and recognized immediately in the Spirit what he was digging toward. I answered rather tersely "I do not put my faith in 'movements'. I believe that we must receive and preach the whole counsel of God. The only movements that we should seek in the body of Christ are found in the currency and flow of the Holy Spirit." I continued on to cite that Jesus believed very strongly in prosperity as one-quarter of the parables alone speak about money and stewardship, let alone our joy, spirits and lives PROSPERING. I found myself involuntarily impassioned by this query due to the devastating impact that some "movements" have had on the faith of many individuals and countless bodies of believers when they are taken out of balance. Prosperity, Word of Faith and other movements are not meant to be consumed, practiced, developed or taught as singular, free-standing entities. They are all of them incredibly important to the furthering of the Gospel and the building of the Kingdom, but none should be exalted into uniqueness. They are all organs that must work in synchronicity with one another in order to be effective.
When we take a single verse, or a concept from the Word of God and focus entirely on it for the sake of teaching or imparting a life-changing maturation into the lives of our fellow believers, it is imperative that we build with balance. When we teach or preach a specific area without focusing on building the Kingdom of God and glorifying Jesus in the Earth, and instead glorify a concept or "movement" above the King, we have missed the point. "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"-(2 Corinthians 10:5) In fact, when a concept becomes a denominational identity that ALWAYS leads to unbalanced incompletion.
Before you find offense here, allow me to demonstrate this issue with an imaginary control for our hypothetical edification. Allow me to use something that is NOT a tenet of our faith to exhibit BALANCE. Say that culinary excellence (cooking and dining) is demonstrated throughout the Word of God as a benefit or active necessity to the abundant life of a follower of Jesus the Messiah. Imagine that without understanding the details of fine cuisine, the preparation of all manner of food and the accoutrements that complete a gastronomic experience with excellence, we would be incomplete as believers. Now entertain the idea that due to its complexity, the study of this facet of our faith demands precise attention. Picture if you can a cadre of scriptural and oration experts preaching, teaching and developing believers into becoming expert chefs themselves. But instead of the importance of that glimmer of the entire picture being directed back to the throne, the blood, the kingdom and righteousness of God, it becomes a separate ideal. People spend more and more time, perhaps ALL of their energy concentrating on this area of concern and it consumes them. The food is incredible, the experience is incomparable, and the intense point of convergence in what was intended to supplement becomes a doctrine-based denomination. People are now exalting the experts of this ideal into a position of Apostolic hierarchy and then creating entire branches and umbrella classifications of faith that in truth are partial glimpses at the King and His true Kingdom. Now, through this fairly absurd example (once again I repeat it is NOT SCRIPTURAL) it is poignant to cite "It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”-(Matthew 4:4) For after all, the Word in its entirety is our fullness and FOOD.
The metaphor of food here was not a random choice. One of the most widespread and constant thoughts in many of your minds right now is your DIET. Thanks to a multi-BILLION dollar industry, the word "diet" has been manipulated into an action or verb rather than a noun. Most people define the word as "a torturous time of starvation and deprivation of food to reach a desired weight or physical appearance". It was never intended to be so. Your "diet" should simply mean "what you eat". But that is not the contemporary definition. People are literally consumed with diet fads each with their own claim to victory. But as one of my greatest mentors, the late Brian Klemmer wrote about diets in his book "If How-To's Were Enough We'd All Be Skinny, Rich and Happy", they DON'T WORK. That is right. Diets do not work. They are a temporary means to an end. LIFESTYLE CHANGES WORK. You cannot simply diet for several weeks or months and after losing a determined amount of weight return to your old eating habits and expect to keep the weight off. You must change your mindset entirely. You must change your lifestyle ENTIRELY. Believe me, I know this from personal, fat-losing, self-loathing dieting experience.
Movements without implanted change are diets. Salvation is NOT a temporary way out. It is eternal. The reason true salvation is accompanied with the old man dying and our becoming a new creation is our need to put away the old. The new life that we gain through the blood of Jesus Christ is not a momentary excursion. It is a total lifestyle change. The intentional purpose of our being "born again" in our reception of His lordship is to clear out the old. The old mindset, the old belief system, the old sin, the old lack, the old doubt, the old wineskin. "And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."-(Mark 2:22) If we do not experience a paradigm shift through our experience with Jesus Christ and His saving blood, we will simply remain the same. That is why we need TOTAL salvation, TOTAL change.
Jesus the Messiah did not suffer the passion and die on the cross at calvary taking upon Himself our debts so that we would live the "partial life". No. He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets so that we would live the "Abundant Life". And that life is one without lack. The perfection we gain in Him is our completion. We cannot live full, complete lives in Him if we do not receive the fullness of the whole counsel of God. That is what we are to consume, become and live out. The entirety, not just a "movement". I want to be effective in building His Kingdom here on Earth with full authority to do so. I do not believe that we can operate in the fullness of His strength, power and Spirit if we only focus on or teach the Word in partiality. We must preach the total Gospel. There are many anointed men and women of God currently teaching Grace without teaching Holiness. There is a new imbalance shifting in the Body of Christ. It is imperative that we share the Grace by which we are all saved, but it is equally imperative to impart the necessity to live transformed lives that are Holy as HE is Holy. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."-(Hebrews 13:8) He was holy yesterday, He is holy today and forever. He was a healer yesterday, He is our healer today and forever. He was the fullness of God's Love yesterday, today and forever. There is no shadow of turning with Him. The movement of the Holy Spirit is not partial. It is with His entire being, the perfect wholeness and manifold witness that He moves. God is multifaceted. The Word describes Him as variegated, many-colored. There is in Him the complexity of ALL creation and existence. The wholeness of His being MUST be exalted.
This may seem to be overwhelming. How do we embrace His fullness? How is it possible to ingest and understand the infinite depth of the most high God? How do you eat an Elephant? One bite at a time. The difference here is that when taking small bites, we never lose sight of the whole picture. God is bigger than the portions that we are currently focusing on. We must never allow a part to be the entire focus. We encourage you to learn, study, investigate and master the endless levels of complexity in the Word of God. But whatever you do, never allow yourself to exalt an idea or "movement" into a denominational pillar. Seek out the whole counsel. Live the the lifestyle not the diet, and embrace the whole thing, or rather EAT the whole thing.
Movements are dangerous. They are not inherently good or evil, but volatile nonetheless. And perhaps that is their innate potential to be used as a positive power; to be explosive enough to be noticeable and implant permanent or lasting change. But in the negative potential of any "movement" lies their finite nature. The DNA of a movement allows that, without commitment and absolute, implanted change, all it will do is make a noisy appearance and inevitably, fade away, leaving in its wake collateral damage and a potentially scarring effect on those who witness its failure to root or create a better life. There are obvious examples in history that will stir some with litigious bents to revel in proving me wrong. However, I would cite that "movements" such as the Civil Rights Movement, Women's Rights and many others only mark their inception with a movement. These platforms are basic human rights that needed a powder-keg to open the door to become revealed truth and necessary societal and cultural changes. We need a kick in the pants (if you will) sometimes as a species in order to develop into better stewards of one another. But in contrast, there have been other "movements" in the history of mankind that have not created necessary, or for that matter, positive change. Take for instance the German "National Socialist" Movement, or Marxism. There is no doubt, (if you have the freedom to read this) that the Nazis and the purveyors of Communism had their own devastating effects on mankind. The only lasting change there was hurt and pain, and a cathartic reminder of what NOT to become or repeat.
But those examples, both positive and negative are only to initiate your involvement in the relative conundrum at hand. Are mere "movements" good for the Body of Christ or the Kingdom of God? I say NO. Why? Because we need more than a brief encounter with change. We need TOTAL change. Movements without permanence are impotent. Or I should say "movements" for their own sake are impotent. When we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, it is not a temporary means to an end. It is a complete repentant redemption and thereby "re-creation" of our lives. It is not a moment of mercy, but a new beginning for a lifetime of mercy and grace. "Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."-(Lamentations 3:22-23)
When we were recently ministering in Jerusalem to the beautiful body of Messianic Believers there, a very wise Pastor and dear friend of mine asked me quite candidly "What do you think of the prosperity movement?". I paused to reflect on his intentions, and recognized immediately in the Spirit what he was digging toward. I answered rather tersely "I do not put my faith in 'movements'. I believe that we must receive and preach the whole counsel of God. The only movements that we should seek in the body of Christ are found in the currency and flow of the Holy Spirit." I continued on to cite that Jesus believed very strongly in prosperity as one-quarter of the parables alone speak about money and stewardship, let alone our joy, spirits and lives PROSPERING. I found myself involuntarily impassioned by this query due to the devastating impact that some "movements" have had on the faith of many individuals and countless bodies of believers when they are taken out of balance. Prosperity, Word of Faith and other movements are not meant to be consumed, practiced, developed or taught as singular, free-standing entities. They are all of them incredibly important to the furthering of the Gospel and the building of the Kingdom, but none should be exalted into uniqueness. They are all organs that must work in synchronicity with one another in order to be effective.
When we take a single verse, or a concept from the Word of God and focus entirely on it for the sake of teaching or imparting a life-changing maturation into the lives of our fellow believers, it is imperative that we build with balance. When we teach or preach a specific area without focusing on building the Kingdom of God and glorifying Jesus in the Earth, and instead glorify a concept or "movement" above the King, we have missed the point. "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"-(2 Corinthians 10:5) In fact, when a concept becomes a denominational identity that ALWAYS leads to unbalanced incompletion.
Before you find offense here, allow me to demonstrate this issue with an imaginary control for our hypothetical edification. Allow me to use something that is NOT a tenet of our faith to exhibit BALANCE. Say that culinary excellence (cooking and dining) is demonstrated throughout the Word of God as a benefit or active necessity to the abundant life of a follower of Jesus the Messiah. Imagine that without understanding the details of fine cuisine, the preparation of all manner of food and the accoutrements that complete a gastronomic experience with excellence, we would be incomplete as believers. Now entertain the idea that due to its complexity, the study of this facet of our faith demands precise attention. Picture if you can a cadre of scriptural and oration experts preaching, teaching and developing believers into becoming expert chefs themselves. But instead of the importance of that glimmer of the entire picture being directed back to the throne, the blood, the kingdom and righteousness of God, it becomes a separate ideal. People spend more and more time, perhaps ALL of their energy concentrating on this area of concern and it consumes them. The food is incredible, the experience is incomparable, and the intense point of convergence in what was intended to supplement becomes a doctrine-based denomination. People are now exalting the experts of this ideal into a position of Apostolic hierarchy and then creating entire branches and umbrella classifications of faith that in truth are partial glimpses at the King and His true Kingdom. Now, through this fairly absurd example (once again I repeat it is NOT SCRIPTURAL) it is poignant to cite "It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”-(Matthew 4:4) For after all, the Word in its entirety is our fullness and FOOD.
The metaphor of food here was not a random choice. One of the most widespread and constant thoughts in many of your minds right now is your DIET. Thanks to a multi-BILLION dollar industry, the word "diet" has been manipulated into an action or verb rather than a noun. Most people define the word as "a torturous time of starvation and deprivation of food to reach a desired weight or physical appearance". It was never intended to be so. Your "diet" should simply mean "what you eat". But that is not the contemporary definition. People are literally consumed with diet fads each with their own claim to victory. But as one of my greatest mentors, the late Brian Klemmer wrote about diets in his book "If How-To's Were Enough We'd All Be Skinny, Rich and Happy", they DON'T WORK. That is right. Diets do not work. They are a temporary means to an end. LIFESTYLE CHANGES WORK. You cannot simply diet for several weeks or months and after losing a determined amount of weight return to your old eating habits and expect to keep the weight off. You must change your mindset entirely. You must change your lifestyle ENTIRELY. Believe me, I know this from personal, fat-losing, self-loathing dieting experience.
Movements without implanted change are diets. Salvation is NOT a temporary way out. It is eternal. The reason true salvation is accompanied with the old man dying and our becoming a new creation is our need to put away the old. The new life that we gain through the blood of Jesus Christ is not a momentary excursion. It is a total lifestyle change. The intentional purpose of our being "born again" in our reception of His lordship is to clear out the old. The old mindset, the old belief system, the old sin, the old lack, the old doubt, the old wineskin. "And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."-(Mark 2:22) If we do not experience a paradigm shift through our experience with Jesus Christ and His saving blood, we will simply remain the same. That is why we need TOTAL salvation, TOTAL change.
Jesus the Messiah did not suffer the passion and die on the cross at calvary taking upon Himself our debts so that we would live the "partial life". No. He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets so that we would live the "Abundant Life". And that life is one without lack. The perfection we gain in Him is our completion. We cannot live full, complete lives in Him if we do not receive the fullness of the whole counsel of God. That is what we are to consume, become and live out. The entirety, not just a "movement". I want to be effective in building His Kingdom here on Earth with full authority to do so. I do not believe that we can operate in the fullness of His strength, power and Spirit if we only focus on or teach the Word in partiality. We must preach the total Gospel. There are many anointed men and women of God currently teaching Grace without teaching Holiness. There is a new imbalance shifting in the Body of Christ. It is imperative that we share the Grace by which we are all saved, but it is equally imperative to impart the necessity to live transformed lives that are Holy as HE is Holy. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."-(Hebrews 13:8) He was holy yesterday, He is holy today and forever. He was a healer yesterday, He is our healer today and forever. He was the fullness of God's Love yesterday, today and forever. There is no shadow of turning with Him. The movement of the Holy Spirit is not partial. It is with His entire being, the perfect wholeness and manifold witness that He moves. God is multifaceted. The Word describes Him as variegated, many-colored. There is in Him the complexity of ALL creation and existence. The wholeness of His being MUST be exalted.
This may seem to be overwhelming. How do we embrace His fullness? How is it possible to ingest and understand the infinite depth of the most high God? How do you eat an Elephant? One bite at a time. The difference here is that when taking small bites, we never lose sight of the whole picture. God is bigger than the portions that we are currently focusing on. We must never allow a part to be the entire focus. We encourage you to learn, study, investigate and master the endless levels of complexity in the Word of God. But whatever you do, never allow yourself to exalt an idea or "movement" into a denominational pillar. Seek out the whole counsel. Live the the lifestyle not the diet, and embrace the whole thing, or rather EAT the whole thing.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
WE NEVER SHUT UP
"Be silent before the sovereign Lord, for the day of the Lord is near."-(Zephaniah 1:7)
When my bride and I launched into full-time ministry, laying down our success, focus and accomplishments in the entertainment industry, we moved at the prompting of the Holy Spirit from New York City to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I believe that God gives us information on a "need to know" basis, and upon our arrival from our exodus out of Manhattan, I had not yet received my mission briefing for our occupation of the "buckle" of the Bible Belt. Although I personally had not yet heard from the Lord regarding the next steps, I did hear from many other humans. There were quite a few, trusted and loved, family and friends alike, who urged me that it was in God's plan for me to attend a well known Bible Training Institute. These beloved, wise and well-meaning souls all agreed on the same program, citing individually, that it is what they believed I had arrived in green country for.
In light of my infancy in the faith, the dichotomy of our geographical and cultural transplantation and my then, inability to separate good ideas from God-ideas, I agreed. I actually decided that it was God speaking through others into my life to reveal His plans. I believed this so strongly that I filed my application, met the initial criteria and was en route to the facility for my final entrance interview. As I drove to what I believed to be my destiny, I felt an nagging sense of uneasiness. Then, while making the final turn into the entry road of the school's campus, I AUDIBLY heard "Where are you going?" I answered with the name of the school. "I NEVER TOLD YOU TO GO THERE." the Lord replied in a voice that sounded with pure power and thunder in my Spirit. It stopped my heart. I was so utterly shaken that I literally came to a screeching halt and turned around. I went back home to my wife who was expecting me to return much later in the day. "What did you forget?" she asked. "I forgot to listen to God" I answered. I then shared my experience with her and found great support from her in the decision to wait upon the Lord. About a week later I began working as a personal assistant and jack-of-all trades for the man who would become one of my greatest mentors and my personal "Bible Training Academy", Bob Harrison. Over the next two years (and to this date) I have had incredible, irreplaceable, personal training from this great man of God. If I had listened to others' advice and followed through on what man said, I would most definitively have been out of step with the plan of God for my life.
"Where are you going?" is a question that lends validity to all of us at some point in our walk. I do not believe that God randomly chose for us to leave the noise and distraction of the "City that never sleeps" to enter the quiet peace of Tulsa. It was to get quiet before Him. We oftentimes put so much weight on what we want to do, or what others tell us to do, that we do not HEAR from the Lord. We talk about what we want, our desires, dreams and plans more than we listen. Most of us have been miseducated by Christian "inculturation" and we tell God what we want before listening to Him for direction. We create grand blueprints that suit our intellect and flesh and ask God to bless what we are doing, rather than do what HE wants us to do. With that much being said, we wonder why our plans fall apart, or why the Lord does not bless them, when in truth, he cannot bless that which He does not will. "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain."-(Psalm 127:1) I do believe that God grants us the desires of our heart, but I know that we, in our fallible carnal forms miss the precursor for that promise. "Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart."-(Psalm 37:4) We must first seek HIM. Taking delight in Him means focusing on His ways, His paths and most importantly, His PLANS. When we are looking to God to see His face, we do not first seek His hands. When we look up to Him, He does not need to ask "Where are you going?". “Many are the plans of a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.” -(Proverbs 19:21) To know His purpose, we must seek His face.
In Exodus, chapter 33, Moses asks God to show him His Glory. A mistake that I have made, many times in my life, is asking to see God's glory manifested in a situation before I knew His plans. We cannot expect Him to move through or reveal anything for us until we first seek His ways. Before Moses issues the tremendous request to see God's Glory, he first asks that God shows him HIS WAYS. Likewise, when teaching us about the material needs and desires of this life, Jesus the Messiah tells us "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."-(Matthew 6:33) We must seek the order and will of God and His Kingdom in all we do or desire, before He will bless or provide. No man can expect God to move on their behalf without they first seek His FACE. Anyone who thinks that they can have their way without seeking His authority is double-minded. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."-(James 1:8) His hands will not move for those who do not seek His face.
This brings us to a very important point; We first seek God's wisdom, then ask in faith without doubt for His blessing. He has given us free-will to operate and develop here on this Earth. But that does not mean to merely work out our own salvation by our own wisdom. The Word says in Philippians 2:12 to work out our own salvation with FEAR & TREMBLING. That fear is not the spirit of fear that comes from the wiles of the adversary, but the reverential fear and awe of the Lord God Almighty. We need to consult the manufacturer for the directions of the creation, then we can ask anything in faith. When we know the heart of the Father, we can ask anything in faith without doubt because we know that He is invested in it.
Hearing God for direction and looking to wise counsel for confirmation is the scriptural order of the Kingdom. When those beloved friends and family advised me regarding that school, it was well-intended, and perhaps wishful thinking that I would hear them as confirmation of God's direction. But with regard to hearing the will of the Father, how often do we talk AT God and not WITH Him? I believe that this is a valuable observation that we must all keep in check. When we pray, do we pray AT Him? Think about it. How many times have you or someone you know prayed a WALL of sound AT the Lord instead of communicating with Him? Communication means that we listen more than, or at least as much as we speak. A healthy conversation with another human being depends on a balance. Now that is just another mortal likened unto our own stature. How much more should we be silent before the Lord God, Creator of all existence? I know that it is in my personal nature to speak (sometimes incessantly) out of design, but being quiet lends the most effective results when genuinely seeking God's agenda for my life. "For our conversation is in heaven; from where also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ:"-(Philippians 3:20) Our conversation with Him demands our attentive ear. God does not speak over us, like people do in a Woody Allen movie. He is a gentleman. He waits for us to stop talking. "And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice."-(1 Kings 19:12)
In this tremulous and dangerous hour, as we approach the precipice of the end-times, we need God's genuine direction more than any other time in history. We need His divine plans to be revealed. We must be in the will of the Lord. If we truly desire to be in the will of the Lord and follow His direction, walking out His plans, we must listen for His voice. We must approach Him with open ears. "But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all be silent before Him."-(Habakkuk 2:20) I encourage you to implement this today. Seek the Lord with thanksgiving and praise, enter into His presence. Then ask Him to speak to you. Wait upon Him. And listen rather than talk. Pray TO the Lord of Creation, not AT Him and you will hear His voice, know His will and draw nearer to Him in your walk. We must be still and hear HIM.
When my bride and I launched into full-time ministry, laying down our success, focus and accomplishments in the entertainment industry, we moved at the prompting of the Holy Spirit from New York City to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I believe that God gives us information on a "need to know" basis, and upon our arrival from our exodus out of Manhattan, I had not yet received my mission briefing for our occupation of the "buckle" of the Bible Belt. Although I personally had not yet heard from the Lord regarding the next steps, I did hear from many other humans. There were quite a few, trusted and loved, family and friends alike, who urged me that it was in God's plan for me to attend a well known Bible Training Institute. These beloved, wise and well-meaning souls all agreed on the same program, citing individually, that it is what they believed I had arrived in green country for.
In light of my infancy in the faith, the dichotomy of our geographical and cultural transplantation and my then, inability to separate good ideas from God-ideas, I agreed. I actually decided that it was God speaking through others into my life to reveal His plans. I believed this so strongly that I filed my application, met the initial criteria and was en route to the facility for my final entrance interview. As I drove to what I believed to be my destiny, I felt an nagging sense of uneasiness. Then, while making the final turn into the entry road of the school's campus, I AUDIBLY heard "Where are you going?" I answered with the name of the school. "I NEVER TOLD YOU TO GO THERE." the Lord replied in a voice that sounded with pure power and thunder in my Spirit. It stopped my heart. I was so utterly shaken that I literally came to a screeching halt and turned around. I went back home to my wife who was expecting me to return much later in the day. "What did you forget?" she asked. "I forgot to listen to God" I answered. I then shared my experience with her and found great support from her in the decision to wait upon the Lord. About a week later I began working as a personal assistant and jack-of-all trades for the man who would become one of my greatest mentors and my personal "Bible Training Academy", Bob Harrison. Over the next two years (and to this date) I have had incredible, irreplaceable, personal training from this great man of God. If I had listened to others' advice and followed through on what man said, I would most definitively have been out of step with the plan of God for my life.
"Where are you going?" is a question that lends validity to all of us at some point in our walk. I do not believe that God randomly chose for us to leave the noise and distraction of the "City that never sleeps" to enter the quiet peace of Tulsa. It was to get quiet before Him. We oftentimes put so much weight on what we want to do, or what others tell us to do, that we do not HEAR from the Lord. We talk about what we want, our desires, dreams and plans more than we listen. Most of us have been miseducated by Christian "inculturation" and we tell God what we want before listening to Him for direction. We create grand blueprints that suit our intellect and flesh and ask God to bless what we are doing, rather than do what HE wants us to do. With that much being said, we wonder why our plans fall apart, or why the Lord does not bless them, when in truth, he cannot bless that which He does not will. "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain."-(Psalm 127:1) I do believe that God grants us the desires of our heart, but I know that we, in our fallible carnal forms miss the precursor for that promise. "Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart."-(Psalm 37:4) We must first seek HIM. Taking delight in Him means focusing on His ways, His paths and most importantly, His PLANS. When we are looking to God to see His face, we do not first seek His hands. When we look up to Him, He does not need to ask "Where are you going?". “Many are the plans of a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.” -(Proverbs 19:21) To know His purpose, we must seek His face.
In Exodus, chapter 33, Moses asks God to show him His Glory. A mistake that I have made, many times in my life, is asking to see God's glory manifested in a situation before I knew His plans. We cannot expect Him to move through or reveal anything for us until we first seek His ways. Before Moses issues the tremendous request to see God's Glory, he first asks that God shows him HIS WAYS. Likewise, when teaching us about the material needs and desires of this life, Jesus the Messiah tells us "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."-(Matthew 6:33) We must seek the order and will of God and His Kingdom in all we do or desire, before He will bless or provide. No man can expect God to move on their behalf without they first seek His FACE. Anyone who thinks that they can have their way without seeking His authority is double-minded. "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."-(James 1:8) His hands will not move for those who do not seek His face.
This brings us to a very important point; We first seek God's wisdom, then ask in faith without doubt for His blessing. He has given us free-will to operate and develop here on this Earth. But that does not mean to merely work out our own salvation by our own wisdom. The Word says in Philippians 2:12 to work out our own salvation with FEAR & TREMBLING. That fear is not the spirit of fear that comes from the wiles of the adversary, but the reverential fear and awe of the Lord God Almighty. We need to consult the manufacturer for the directions of the creation, then we can ask anything in faith. When we know the heart of the Father, we can ask anything in faith without doubt because we know that He is invested in it.
Hearing God for direction and looking to wise counsel for confirmation is the scriptural order of the Kingdom. When those beloved friends and family advised me regarding that school, it was well-intended, and perhaps wishful thinking that I would hear them as confirmation of God's direction. But with regard to hearing the will of the Father, how often do we talk AT God and not WITH Him? I believe that this is a valuable observation that we must all keep in check. When we pray, do we pray AT Him? Think about it. How many times have you or someone you know prayed a WALL of sound AT the Lord instead of communicating with Him? Communication means that we listen more than, or at least as much as we speak. A healthy conversation with another human being depends on a balance. Now that is just another mortal likened unto our own stature. How much more should we be silent before the Lord God, Creator of all existence? I know that it is in my personal nature to speak (sometimes incessantly) out of design, but being quiet lends the most effective results when genuinely seeking God's agenda for my life. "For our conversation is in heaven; from where also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ:"-(Philippians 3:20) Our conversation with Him demands our attentive ear. God does not speak over us, like people do in a Woody Allen movie. He is a gentleman. He waits for us to stop talking. "And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice."-(1 Kings 19:12)
In this tremulous and dangerous hour, as we approach the precipice of the end-times, we need God's genuine direction more than any other time in history. We need His divine plans to be revealed. We must be in the will of the Lord. If we truly desire to be in the will of the Lord and follow His direction, walking out His plans, we must listen for His voice. We must approach Him with open ears. "But the Lord is in His holy temple; let all be silent before Him."-(Habakkuk 2:20) I encourage you to implement this today. Seek the Lord with thanksgiving and praise, enter into His presence. Then ask Him to speak to you. Wait upon Him. And listen rather than talk. Pray TO the Lord of Creation, not AT Him and you will hear His voice, know His will and draw nearer to Him in your walk. We must be still and hear HIM.
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