Prophetic Worship

Our oldest son Josh, a creative and thoughtful graphic designer has a real, honest and contagious love for God. Not only is he artistically gifted, he plays the "heck" out of a guitar and loves to break into new expressions of worship. I think leading worship might be his most powerful gift.

This past weekend, while teaching through Paul's letter to the Galatians, I used a quote by Don Williams about the nature of true Christianity. Don says, it's all about "Unzipping (your heart), God jumps in and you zip back up". In simple terms, Don is describing the Holy Spirit entering into a person through faith and making His home in the life of a new believer.

On Saturday morning, hours before I was g0ing to teach this message, Josh sent me the lyrics of a new song he is learning. Here are the words to that song.

Peel back our ribs again and stand inside of our chest
We just wanna' love you, We just wanna' love you
Peel back the veil of time
And let us see You with our naked eyes
We just wanna' love you, We just wanna' love you, Yeah
Skeleton bones stand at the sound 
Of eternity on the lips of the found
And gravestones roll to the rhythm of the sound of You
Skeleton bones stand at the sound 
Of eternity on the lips of the found
So separate those doors and let the son of resurrection in
Oh let us adore the Son of Glory drenched in love
Open up your gates before him, Crown Him, stand Him up
We want your blood to flow inside our body 
We want your wind inside our lungs
We just wanna' love you, We just wanna' love you

Growing up in a traditional church, we sang songs with lyrics, 
"I serve a risen Savior, He's in the world today..."
When my wife and I first came into the fullness of the Holy Spirit
in the late '70's, the songs we were singing were songs like,
"More love, more power, more of You in our lives".
The Holy Spirit is breathing into this young generation of
Jesus followers a much more raw, aggressive and desperate
language as they appeal to God for new life.  
They don't just want "more",they want God to 
"Peel back their ribs".

I believe this kind of gut wrenching cry is prophetic
and God's response will be powerful.

Action in Waiting

My wife and I are reading a book together. It is entitled Action in Waiting by Christoph Blumhardt (1842-1919). A friend of mine told me years ago that if I wanted to be challenged to live a life for Christ, he advised me to "read the dead guys". The forward of this book is challenging enough. It begins by saying:

A prominent pastor of our day concludes one of his books with these words: "I'm enjoying God these days. He answers my prayers, He empowers me. He gives me insights from his Word. He guides my life. He gives me loving relationships. He has wonderful things in store for me." "I", "my", "me", "me", "me". Is this what the kingdom of God which has come in Christ is about? God catering to and pampering individual Christians? Is God's rule centered on "me" and "mine"?

This challenges and stirs my thinking as does the entire book. It makes me wonder if I'm reading my Bible with the correct set of lenses. Man do I love God. He never quits challenging my heart. Oh that I can come to love him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.

With God, Simple is Better

Years ago, I memorized 2 Corinthians 11:2-3. The reason I put this to memory was that I wanted to always remember that the Christian life, though it is made out by some to be a very complex way of life, is really very simple.

2 Corinthians 11:2-3 NASV For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.

Our devotion to Jesus is the one great essential to the Christian life. That devotion flows from a constant, conscious awareness of His great love for us. It is that simple. The moment we take our eyes off of Jesus love, our "minds" can be led astray, confusion sets in, fear and anxiety begin to prevail and we are robbed of the abundance of life Jesus promised was ours.

The old acrostic KISS - Keep it Simple, Stupid. There is truth to this and I thank God that the Christian life it is that simple. Christianity is Christ!

Shopping for the Gospel

What's the classic questions being asked by consumers these days? Probably top on the list are the questions, "How good is the product?" and "What's the benefit for me?"

As Christians swimming in a highly consumerist culture, we have had to modify our approach when sharing the gospel. Our response has become, "What's the benefit? Well, going to heaven, of course?" That's the American gospel. Receive Jesus by faith so you will go to heaven. The leading edge question of evangelism has become, "When you die, where will you go?" Put another way, "Friend, are you going to heaven?"

Is that really the gospel? Did Jesus die on a cross, receive life back by the power of God three days later so that people would go to heaven when they die? Or were there other reasons for Jesus death and resurrection?

I praise God that because I know Christ personally, my future does not include hell! I'm also glad that according to John 11:26, I will live forever. But is the gospel only relevant at the point of death?

Take a look at the first few verses in John 17 and notice how Jesus defines eternal life. Eternal life seems to be more than just a life-insurance policy. Eternal life is receiving the capacity to enjoy in-depth relationship with God NOW. Eternal life seems to be an ability to intimately walk with God so that we are able to take on the mind of Christ, the attitudes of Christ, the motivations of Christ, even the power of Christ and live in His presence NOW while ushering in His Kingdom on this earth.

I'm thinking that is the gospel.

Following Jesus for the Sake of Others

An article in the news caught my eye. It was titled "9 Signs of America in Decline". Here are the opening lines.

The sky isn't falling, exactly. America isn't on a fast track to irrelevance. Even in a state of total neglect, we could probably shamble along as a disheveled superpower for a few more decades.

But all empires end, and the warning signs of American decline seem to be blinking more consistently. In the latest annual "prosperity index" published by the Legatum Institute, a London-based research firm, the United States ranks as the ninth most prosperous country in the world. That's five notches lower than last year, when America ranked No. 4.

The article went on to say that the United States is among only 5 countries in the world where the "life satisfaction" index is in decline. I'm not sure how this Institute measures happiness but their finding was this: Happiness in America is in decline.

I don't have any inside track on all the reasons why happiness in America might be in decline if in fact this study is accurate. But if there is a decline in "life satisfaction" in America, could part of it be that we have become so consumed with ourselves in America, so protective of our own, so focused and fearful of losing what is ours that we have lost sight of the simple joy of assisting others through life.

If that's part of the equation, I think we who are followers of Jesus, growing in our desire to follow Him for the sake of others will experience more and more the abundance of life Jesus offers. Not to mention the fact that we will shine brighter and brighter as the world around us seems to be getting darker and darker. I remember John Wimber once said, "Things are going to get better and better and worse and worse at the same time.

I am a Colts fan

Most everyone who knows me knows that I am an Indianapolis Colts fan. These days, there are many people wearing #18 blue jerseys that say "Manning" on the back. The Colts have been winning consistantly for a decade so it's easy to jump on the band wagon and love a winner. But I've been a Colts fan since 1957 when they were in Baltimore and beat the New York Giants in the 1957 World Championship (the Super Bowl didn't exist at that time). I was five years old when I saw Johnny Unitas lead the Colts to that World Championship victory.

Since then, I've watched them go through good years and seen them suffer through terrible years. But I've remained loyal and kept the horseshoe on my helmet. I love the Colts. This season, they have had a wonderful season under first year head coach Jim Caldwell. They were 14-0 going into game number 15 yesterday against the Jets when Coach Caldwell decided to rest the first team in order to get them ready for the playoffs. Peyton Manning, the All-Pro quaterback along with the other Colt stars stood on the sideline.

I am such a Colts fan that I hated seeing my team go on the field at 50% strength. Worse yet, they suffered their first defeat of the season and snapped their NFL record 22 game winning streak. Darn. I am ticked.

But I was glad to see Peyton Manning's comment after the game. Peyton Manning is going to go down as not one of the greatest put most likely, THE greatest NFL quarterback of all time. Here's what Manning had to say after the Colts first defeat of the 2009 season while fans booed lustily at coach Coldwell's game plan.

"Until any player in here is the head coach, you follow orders and you follow them with all of your heart," Peyton Manning said. "That's what we've done as players. We follow orders....."

My thought, not as a Colts fan but now as a Christian, what if believers in Jesus lived out that same philosophy. Jesus said it, He made the decision, He gave the orders and now we follow them with all our heart without question.

Wow, what a world this would be.

Christmas is a Love Story

I read a book years ago that so stirred my heart. It was entitled, The Ragamuffin Gospel written by Brennan Manning. Brennan Manning was a Catholic Priest who left the priesthood but made a deep and lasting impression in the Christian community with his writing and speaking. He was a powerful teacher concerning the grace and mercy of God. If you've never read any of his books, you need to order one today. Y0u will be blessed, I promise.

I didn't know this about Brennan Manning until recently. Brennan Manning was born Richard Manning. At the age of 18, Richard enlisted in the army and was trained as a paratrooper. He and his company parachuted behind enemy lines during the Korean war and began to establish forward positions to drive back the advancing North Korean army.

One day, after establishing a new forward position, Richard Manning was resting with a friend Ray Brennan. They were lying with their heads down, sharing a chocolate candy bar. Suddenly, a North Korean hand grenade flew into their fox hole. Ray Brennan casually threw down the candy wrapper and fell on the hand grenade which immediately detonated. Ray Brennan's stomach completely smothered the explosion and Richard Manning was unharmed. Ray looked up at Richard, winked and then laid his head down and died.

When Richard Manning was discharged from the military, he went straight to the courthouse and had his named changed. He took the last name of his friend Ray and made it his first name. He was no longer Richard Manning. Brennan Manning did this in order to never forget the sacrifice his friend made and that his life was bought with a price. Brennan Manning purposed to live a life worthy of that sacrifice.

And this is what we do as believers in Jesus. We take on a name the moment we believe. CHRISTians. We do this in order to never forget the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. And we purpose to live a life that reflects the love that was demonstrated the day that Jesus was born into the world to atone for our sin.

Greater love has no man, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13