THE MEANING OF LIFE

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."-(1 John 4:8)

This is not a test. What you are experiencing is the genuine event. This is neither an elaborate rehearsal for a future experience, nor is it a cruel joke. This is life. This is REAL. You are not in some alternate level of meditation, imagining that this is all unfolding before your imaginary eyes... You are not skimming some surrogate plane of actuality. YOU ARE INDEED HERE. Your spirit-man is inhabiting the molecular manifestation of what is, at its basest level, a divinely-designed spacesuit. The suit, when properly operated, maintained and stewarded over will produce excellent movement and effective results. However, when the protective shell and its fine elements are either abused or is used to project negative output, the gesticulation will be rated as destructive and the fruit will represent manifested impairment. The latter is a direct contradiction to the value and purpose established by the Manufacturer. For further explicit instruction and details, please consult the manufacturer or the instruction manual. I repeat- THIS IS NOT A TEST. Note- The mission objective of this operation is very simple: LOVE.

Why are we here? The Buddhist would say "Because". The Atheist would say "Accidental". The canine would say "squirrel". But the living God who is responsible for every neutron in existence tells us why very clearly in the only valid operational manual. The "Manufacturer" Himself, who created the earth and all that dwell therein (including Buddhists, Atheists and dogs) told us nearly two millennia ago: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”-(Matthew 22:36-40) LOVE. God IS Love. To love, therefore, is to be in God's perfect will. In actuality, the Creator of the heavens and the Earth fashioned us with the specific purpose of communion with Him, in love. He made us in His own image, the mirror of Love itself. We are, in essence therefore, built to yield the produce of God or love. Wow. In its absolute simplicity, that is unfathomably deep. That should end this article. The acknowledgement that "Love is everything" should be the finale of this exhortation of the obvious... Sadly, it is not.

With the fall of man came the viral infection of evil, fear, disease, doubt and the curse of sin and sting of death. With the first and most devastating act of disobedience, and thereby lack of love, came pain and heartbreak. The tears shed on that day were monumental. The entirety of mankind was placed onto a dark path to self-destruction. But we are still here. A planet-wide flood, several acts of extermination and devastation later... We are still here. How is that possible? The Architect of all life, loved us so much that He could not simply wipe the slate clean and start again. He made us from His own substance. Borne of the very heart of God Himself, He could not bear to part with us. It is not a matter of need. It is quite literally, a matter of the heart. Proverbs 4:23 tells us "Above all else, guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.” If our heart is the wellspring of life, and we are made in the image of God, then He crafted us and granted us life, from His heart. He created us out of LOVE. When love is truly at the center of a matter, giving up is no longer an option. He did not discard us, He restored us back to Himself, out of His love.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."-(John 3:16) It was love that created us, and love that reconciled us back to the source of life. Without love, we are incomplete and thereby, unredeemed. As followers of the Way, the Truth and the Life, we are commanded to love one another. Jesus did not come to do away with the law or the prophets, but rather FULFILL them. He came to complete them, to restore that which was missing. His Love completed the process of redemption. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."-(John 15;13) Before laying down His life to free us from the curse of the fall, He added to the commandments. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”-(John 13:34-35) So we must love one another. Why bother sharing such a basic principle? What is the necessity in repeating an age-old tenet of our faith to the multitudes? Because, even now, after 2000 years of truth-revealed and gospel-preached admonitions we still lack love. We still harbor resentment and hatred.

We proclaim the goodness and mercy of the God who freely offers His grace, and yet we despise one another. Not you? Consider your heart. Do you hate the sin or the sinner? Be honest. I know that it is painful, but the truth must surface for progress to be established. The honesty of our walk will determine what we refine and glean from this incredible journey. "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."-(John 8:32) The antithesis of that scriptural revelation is "You shall live in the lie and the fiction will imprison you". When interacting with other "spacesuits" do you love unconditionally the spirit within? What about the homosexual? What about the heterosexual with promiscuity issues? Or perhaps the drug-addicted miscreant? What about the Muslim misguided by the deception of a subverted culture? What about the Gossip, the Glutton, the Unbeliever or the invariably hate-filled evil-doers of the world? Do you look at them through the eyes of the one whose love set us apart? Or do you equate the depth of the sin with the sinner bearing it? Do not be deceived here. “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."-(Matthew 7:1-2) IT IS NOT IN OUR AUTHORITY OR MISSION PLAN TO JUDGE ANYONE. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"-(Romans 3:23) That means you and me. Still, we repeat the pattern of abhorrence within the walls of the church. We replicate the culture of enmity amongst the living stones of the Kingdom itself. Followers judge other followers. Believers curse other believers. "Christians" hate other "Christians". That is not love. That is conditional love, which is in truth JUDGEMENT.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’"-(Matthew 7:21-23) We can call ourselves by the name of the Creator all day long, but if we do not do the most basic, most important of all He commands us, we are not in undisputed relationship with Him. Jesus tells us that it is entirely possible to prophesy, exercise the demonic and even perform the miraculous in His name and yet be unknown to Him. It is our LOVE that gains us true entry. It is our LOVE that creates consanguinity with the Master, not merely our declaration. To proclaim your faith with your tongue and remain untransformed in your heart is double-minded. "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 1:7-8) Let me tender this example- Let's suppose that you are a book. You may be a lovely, leather-bound edition with gold-leaf lettering that states without a doubt that you are "The Holy Bible" on the cover and the spine. Are you truly the word of God within? Or perhaps inside that gorgeous, classic outer sheathing you are filled with a conglomerate of literary stews... Your exterior states that you are the Word of God, but inside one would find "Mein Kaumpf", "Thus Spoke Zarathustra", a few issues of "The Enquirer" and "Hustler"? When getting checked back into the Divine Library, the Chief Librarian would discard you as false. I know, I am a strange bird and that metaphor rides the edge of absurdity... But think about it; How often do we profess that we are His children, but act like we are total strangers?

"If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing."-(1 Corinthians 13:2) We are incomplete without the Love of God at the center of all of our activity and purpose. That is the veritable meaning of life itself. To Love, to be LOVE, because we are loved. We are to imitate our Heavenly Father and do what He does, just as Jesus the Messiah did in His ministry here on Earth, in His spacesuit. "We love because he first loved us."-(1 John 4:19)

Do you truly love? I am not speaking of liking what everyone is fond of, or approving the stylistic or cultural natures of others. I am certainly not professing that tolerating sin is equivalent to loving the sinner. I am simply asking you to examine your heart. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."-(Matthew 6:21) If you are in genuine relationship with God the Father, Jesus the Advocate Messiah and His Holy Spirit, then you will find your treasure trove in His courts. If you are in true relationship with the God who so loved the world that He gave, you will give. You will trust Him with your life, your love and your heart and you will GIVE it to Him. That is where to store up your treasure and your LOVE. When we give our lives to Jesus Christ, He can become one with us. When we enter into the most powerful relationship, the greatest love, we give our total trust to Him. We cannot say that we honestly trust Him if we cannot let go and love as he loved. Remember, even as the precious Lamb of God was being nailed to a tree with 9 inch spikes piercing His hands and feet, He cried out "Father, forgive them. They know not what they are doing."-(Luke 23:34) He proclaimed at that moment the nature of our love. To forgive, to minister to in spite of our outward circumstances; to never judge another's motives... To give our very lives to make this adventure and world a better place to learn and care for each other. The greatest love of all creation is to share that treasure with others. Remember the old adage that "people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care". Tell others that the love you have for them comes from the source of love itself. Show them the love that sets the world free and offer them what He offers to all of His children- HIS HEART. That is the meaning of life... TO LOVE.

The Wind of the Spirit- Part II

"Only the Eagle knows the way the wind is blowing!" Pastor Benny Hinn passionately admonished his new music minister. Moments prior to his rebuke, the young man had decided to alter the music in the midst of the move of the Holy Spirit. Under the anointing, the somewhat reserved man of God is a fiery instrument of the Lord's power. When he gave that rebuff, it had been momentarily uncomfortable for all, but as the Spirit acknowledged the validity of the correction, it became a valid learning experience for us. It is for God to choose and appoint a specific timing and vessel for His anointing to flow through. In the midst of the presence of the Holy Ghost at work in many different meetings, we experienced the wind of the Spirit in multiple capacities. But I can personally attest that for the appointed times of our leadership in the ministering of the Gifts, it is a weighty responsibility to properly obey the prompting of the Comforter. It cannot be manufactured, manipulated or put into a formulaic equation. The Wind or Breath of the Spirit is as the natural wind itself. One cannot instruct the Wind to blow westerly or southerly, but rather must allow the rudder and the marriage of wind and sail to propel his vessel. However, with reference to this point, it is only for the Captain to steer his ship, not the boatswain.

Obedience is key to flowing with Him. It may be intellectually uncomfortable or pragmatically odd to be moved to and fro in the midst of the current, yet, when we allow our intellects or flesh to dictate the atmosphere of the anointing, it dissipates. Church bodies and gatherings where the Spirit is not flowing are almost inevitably lacking in the atmosphere of faith and therefore, allowance of the flow itself. Although we may be certain that God will move, that does not mean He is WILLING to move in the particular way we are desiring. Our ways are not His, and His thoughts and motives are higher than ours. It is not for us to place boundaries or theorems on Him. There is an entirely different teaching buried here, dealing with distinguishing God's LAW from man's FORMULAS, but let us uncover that treasure at another time. Just as Wind does not respond to the calendars, clocks or impatience of man, so neither will the Spirit of God be bound to our defined borders. A service where there is a time-limit for reasons of popularity rarely sees the type and degree of power that is wrought from open hearts and schedules. Please, understand that I do not attest universal truth to the idea that if a service is 6 hours as opposed to 1 it will rend more anointing. That is not necessarily the case. Some of the shorter services we have ministered in have seen greater moves than some of the marathon services we have experienced. Some of the longer services where the intent is to "tarry" can also lead to a fruitless time of, well, "tarrying" when the waiting is without faith, expectation or anointing. Waiting on the Lord in not passive. When our faith is stirred and the agreement of all is a level above the natural, then the supernatural comes to our revelation. God is always working, and our reception or acknowledgement of His work is dependent more on our openness to bear witness in SPIRIT AND TRUTH, rather than our "show me Lord" spectatorship. It takes a genuine HUNGER for His presence and a thirst for His Spirit to be truly obedient. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled."-(Matthew 5:6) When we thirst for Him in obedience, spirit and truth, we witness and receive His POWER.

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."-(Acts 1:8) We are given the POWER of the gifts of the Spirit, as well as the evidence of the FRUIT of the Spirit, for the express main purpose of being Christ's witnesses to and throughout the ends of the Earth. We are given wisdom and providentially provided with exactly what to say in the operation of testifying to the Gospel when we flow with the Spirit. When Stephen was seized by Jewish authorities, they witnessed that power firsthand. "These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke"-(Acts 6:9-10) Even before Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets, and before the Great Commission, the Spirit of the Living God bore witness to Himself and His Power in multiple instances through this same medium of potency. And when Moses fearfully complained of his lack of eloquence and his speech impediment... "The LORD said to him, "Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD ? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."-(Exodus 4:11-12) God imparts different gifts for specific needs and missions in the process of building His Kingdom through the working power of the Holy Spirit. "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men."-(1 Corinthians 12:4-6)

"The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life."-(Job 33:8) "The Spirit of God" or "Ruach Elohim" is transliterated from Hebrew as "Breath or Wind of God". The Breath of Life itself, comes from and IS the Holy Spirit. The WIND of the Spirit, IS the Spirit, the Holy Spirit of the Living Lord. How marvelous. How truly magnificent. The Person of the Holy Ghost is God's very breath, He is GOD. When we experience the Wind of the Spirit, the breath of God, WE EXPERIENCE GOD. We cannot, in our mortal bodies experience the Father, the Godhead directly. We would disintegrate in His presence. But our Spirit-Man is blessed to commune and receive from the awesome, loving presence of HIS SPIRIT. We are blessed to be given CREATION- the Spirit of the Lord is the likeness in which we were created , "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness."-(Genesis 1:26) We are blessed to be given REVELATION- God reveals Himself and His Plans through the prompting of the Holy Ghost. We are blessed to be given REDEMPTION- The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, then the Holy Spirit leads us to the repentance of our sins. We are blessed to be given the INDWELLING- We are Born Again by His Spirit, and become vessels for His inhabitation. "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? "-(1 Corinthians 3:16) We are blessed to be TRANSFORMED- "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."-(2 Corinthians 3:18) We are blessed to be FILLED, to be given OVERCOMING POWER and thereby testify to His GLORY. The Ruach Ha-Kodesh or "Breath or WIND of the Holy One" is the most amazing, active and POWERFUL GIFT we as believers receive from God following the vicarious atonement that we have been given through the Savior's sacrifice and blood.

The Wind of the Holy Spirit is blowing. In it is the very power of God made manifest here and now on Earth in the land of the living. Miracles did not cease with the death of the Apostles. On the contrary, through the currency and power of the Holy Ghost, the greatest miracles are still yet to come. "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."-(John 14:12) If you have never experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in other tongues, you have not yet experienced the Spirit-Filled Life. Jesus came so that we would have Life and have it more abundantly. If you seek to have this "abundant life", you must receive the miraculous gift of the Holy Spirit. Ask God to direct you to a strong and pure Spirit-Filled Church and speak with one of the servants of Christ there about receiving the Comforter yourself. I promise you- your life will be forever changed and altered to the most incredible level of faith and growth when you do this. If you are already a blood-bought, Spirit-Filled Believer, then let us join in absolute and total agreement together right now, that God is still doing great things! Where there is agreement and the atmosphere of Faith, the Wind of the Spirit is FLOWING- And then let us all proclaim as Kathryn Kuhlman so often declared- "I believe in MIRACLES, because I believe in GOD."

The Wind of the Spirit- Part I

"And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."-(Acts 2:2-4)

Almost 10 years ago, I stood alone under a crystal-clear starlit sky in the middle of the desert in Palm Springs, waiting on the Lord. The air was still and absolutely silent. The man-made lagoon was as glass, placid and undisturbed- a perfect mirror of the cosmos above. This was no ordinary time in the presence of the Lord. I had sought Him in the privacy of my prayer closet and had experienced powerfully intimate encounters before, but this night was singularly different. Weeks prior to this very night, my bride had heard from God as to the future He desired, and had appointed to us in ministry. She had heard very clearly that the first step was to leave both our careers in the entertainment industry and New York City itself and move to Tulsa, Oklahoma to launch out. He would then order our steps and direct our future. Upon receiving this directive, she said "I am willing and obedient Lord. But you are going to have to confirm this by telling him yourself." She knew that in order for God to be obeyed, we would both need to have individual recognition and confirmation of this incredibly weighty directive. Without prior knowledge of her experience involving God's direction, I began in the days before this starlit night, to hear very clearly in my spirit- "Tulsa". When praying about my flourishing career in the Theatre, I heard, very simply- "Go". It had rung as clear as the peal of a chapel bell to my Spirit-Man, but the ears of my flesh and my intellect were not so certain. My career was active and full of choices. While others were starving, I was having my pick of the Lion's Share in roles. My Agent was positive that this was my time for immense breakthrough into the higher echelon of both finance and future. It made no sense in the natural; but I have found that when stretching our faith, God's directives very rarely do make any intellectual sense. "Please forgive me Lord, but I need you to show me this is your will". Looking skyward into the depth of His majestic creation I heard a second time, "Go". I pressed again for more clarification- "Please Father, be clear with me." Again I heard "Go". I was stirred, my flesh became anxious at the immensely challenging idea of leaving all that I had worked toward and what I considered at that point to be my dreams and aspirations. Suddenly, it became so silent, that it seemed as if there was not only the absence of sound, but a deficit thereof. I felt as if I were in the vacuum of Space itself. As my intellect and my flesh squirmed in the challenging discomfort of the admonition of the Lord, I dared once more to press Him. "Lord, if it is your will that we should uproot and move to Tulsa to launch into full-time ministry, show me..." Before the words were finished, and before I was through annunciating the request, a torrential wind crashed down onto me and my surroundings. What had been so still had become in the blink of an eye, as a Hurricane rushing the environment. The force of the winds blew the waters of the lagoon to overlap and splash the shoreline. The rush of gusting power toppled over chairs and lounges. It knocked down potted palms and flowers throughout the yard where I stood. Frightened at the power of God, I cried out- "Yes! We will GO!" and as immediately as I uttered the words, the wind fell silent. I had been in the very presence of the Holy Spirit Himself as confirmation of God's hand on our lives, and I was in an instance, forever changed.

The impact of the Wind of the Spirit was, in that case, literal and tangible. But it awakened in me a knowledge of His currency, His flow and POWER. That experience was impressive and inspiring, but I knew within that it was nothing in comparison with the unseen move of His Spirit. Jesus describes the presence and indwelling of the Holy Spirit as such: "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”-(John 3:8) I am constantly in awe of the powerful, multi-layered plans of God. Not only had He brought a life-altering witness of confirmation to our entry into ministry, He had demonstrated something in the natural that Jeni and I are now blessed beyond measure to experience in the supernatural every day. The flow of the Holy Spirit IS AS WIND. It is for the Holy Spirit to decide which direction, which measure of pressure, or force to demonstrate and act through to touch or direct God's people. "Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left. "-(Isaiah 30:21) The flow of the Holy Spirit is perhaps the most effective and active tool for God to lead His beloved to their destiny. It is a constant flow. Never does the Holy Spirit stagnate. We do. Our understanding or perception of the flow of the wind of the Spirit can become dampened or hindered, but the Spirit Himself will not be restrained. It is rather for you and I to be obedient and willing to hear, acknowledge and act upon the unction or promptings of the Holy Spirit. It is for that reason and necessity that we MUST be open conduits available to God's activity, use and impartation. Why? Because precious people, God is handing out gifts on a constant basis to all who are open to receive them.

"Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines."-(1 Corinthians 12:7-11) The GIFTS of the Spirit are the very reason that we must be open conduits free of hinderance for God to impart to. It is through these Gifts that we build His Kingdom, whereas it is through the Fruit of the Spirit that we see the evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit. "By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."-(Matthew 7:16-20)

My Father-in-Law composed an anointed song "He's Here Right Now" which expresses "He's here, right now. Here right now. We don't need to wait, we don't need to beg. He's passing out gifts for all to receive. He's here right now to meet every need." And so He is. And truly, when we become cognizant of His omnipresence and His glorious Love for us, we can become open to receive His GIFTS. They come on the Wind of the Spirit. When the Disciples were gathered on Pentecost they were all together and in agreement, ready to receive. At that moment, the entrance of the COMFORTER, the parakletos, the Holy Spirit entered with a MIGHTY WIND and began freely granting gifts. While we are ministering in the power of the Holy Ghost, we are privileged to witness firsthand the awesome gifts of the Spirit. The environment is bathed in God's presence and the atmosphere is one of FAITH. Without FAITH it is impossible to please God, and without pleasing God with our faith, we quench the Spirit. But we manufacture NOTHING. We cannot force His hand nor create His gifts. It is the prerogative and the authority of the Holy Spirit to decide who, what, when, where and HOW. The WHY is for God alone to know. But it is our initiative to flow with the WIND of the Spirit that enables us to minister effectively to the gifts and callings imparted to others. Everything and everyone must be as He wishes, or we miss the outpouring. Sensitivity to this is a process which we as believers are never finished with. It is a constant learning process, and the depth of the mystery and complexity of the Person of the Holy Spirit is BOUNDLESS.