Resting in the Poewer of God

I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching [were] not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. - 1Co 2:3-5 NKJV

It is very easy to communicate with people who agree with you already. No matter what you are saying, when your audience is a friendly group of peers that share your convictions and beliefs it is a great strength and comfort. However, when you move outside of that safe place and expose your convictions and beliefs in the marketplace it becomes a fearful thing and the gospel of Jesus is far more divisive than most anything else you can share. The Jesus presented in the bible cuts through our inner being and dices up much of our cultural norms. I am now in weakness, fear and much trembling, for I have chosen to live for God in such a way I am considered foolish by many. Yet I do not boast in my “courage” to push forward, for if it were by my own power then I might have a boast, but it is solely because of the revelation of Jesus Christ. My hope is in the reward of the gospel that is stored up in heaven for me, and the glory of the Kingdom of God, for it is God who chose the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. In other words, I am on display, living counter to the American wisdom, believing that my life is truly hidden with Christ in God. My own heart attempts to defraud me, saying what are you doing, what are you accomplishing? Even though I continue in faith that what Jesus said is true. What many of you may be unaware of is that my “blind faith” is not blind or misguided, but it stands upon the power of God. Jesus revealed himself to me through visions and acts of power. I was not persuaded to become a “Christian” by a convincing presentation of the gospel, but direct communication from the Lord. So now, after 20+ years it appears the silence of heaven has grown loud, but I stand firm on the power of God. 

Now to you I say if you claim to have faith, what is it built upon; reason, arguments, wisdom of men, science, history, logic, etc. If your faith is built upon any of these things then you are in danger because they are not enough to preserve you. We will continue to work, toil, spin and otherwise wear ourselves out to gain prominence, security and peace in this age when all the while we are called to rest. We work our fingers to the bone to have a good retirement and then have it snatched away by some type of difficulty and are left wondering, “What was the point”. It has been sung that everybody’s working for the weekend, and I know what it is like, but this is not the life God has planned for us. All we want is to be happy and yet we sacrifice our happiness in order to get it and wonder why we are bitter, angry and selfish. Let your faith be in God and the work He accomplished through His Son Christ Jesus our Lord. Rest in Him, for He is returning to gather His beloved to Himself to lavish His love upon you who believe. Outlandish and foolish but the only rock solid hope there is.

The Who Cares Christian

The bottom line is “who cares!!’. This is what we have become, a bunch of self-centered, spoiled brats who barely have a minute to care for another human being with no strings attached. I do not understand the lack of compassion and love that the “so-called” church exhibits. We want to be relevant and identify with “sinners” but there is no real expectation of transformation. We love to speak and think about Jesus, but in reality we have no faith and are just the new gnostics looking for the latest and greatest revelation, technique or teaching. Knowledge puffs up, I’m sick of heaping it up to myself. It has no power to overcome sinful passions. I want change! I am not satisfied with the working of the gospel in my life and I am not willing to buy the mantra that I am just a sinner saved by grace. You cannot be both a sinner and saved, you either were a sinner and have been saved by grace or you are a sinner not yet saved. Yet still another teaching, who cares. We seem to think that there is no obligation to be transformed into the image of Christ while still in this body. We are called to walk as Jesus walked (before His resurrection) and He had the same flesh, the same temptations and the same Holy Spirit as we do. There is far more available to us now than we are willing to believe. We have not even settled for crumbs at the master’s table, no we are feasting in the wrong house and have been put to sleep by the empty foods of western culture. In the last days the love of many will grow cold, many means many and I am leaning toward most. Even the most dedicated Christian seems no different than the world in anything other than word. We have all sorts of ministries and churches who are fervently pursuing converts that will diligently follow their particular flavor of the gospel and yet no one actually expects transformation. I want transformation and I want to live and work alongside believers who hold transformation soberly and with the intent of hearing God and obeying Him. I am simply not satisfied with hearing or preaching messages, praying and getting “revelation’ and then no change in me or anyone else. I don’t care if I preach another “good message” if your life is not transformed by the power of God it was uneffective no matter how many compliments are handed out. If you really needed to hear it then you really need to live it.

The Womb of the World

For we brought nothing into [this] world, [and it is] certain we can carry nothing out. - 1Ti 6:7 NKJV

I was born naked, ignorant and helpless. There was nothing that I brought with me from the womb into the world. Now I am called to be born again. This second transition will also forbid me from bringing anything that I possess in this womb into the Kingdom of God.

When in our mothers womb we had no reference point or knowledge of what was to come. There was not even any light. Our only contact with the coming life was through the actions of our mother; we could taste what she tasted, smell what she smelled, we could feel her touch and movement, we could hear the sounds she heard, and even see up to 10% of the light she saw. But we had no direct contact with the outside world. Hearing is the closest a fetus can come to perceiving life outside the womb. Isn’t it interesting that hearing is the primary way we are to receive from God? Although we are able to interact with other senses (taste and see that the Lord is good, see the goodness of God) hearing is the chief way to receive.

Jesus told Nicodemus that if he could not understand earthly things, how would he be able to understand heavenly things. We need to grow familiar with God’s voice before we can understand God’s ways.

I long to enter my true home, to put off this current tent and enter into the fullness of life. Right now though I am permitted to experience great things. I only need to remember that my nutrition and health comes from what God puts into His body and not what I put into my own. There is no take-out food in the womb, we can only receive what is put before us with thanksgiving.

In The Beginning

A Short Commentary on Genesis 1:1-2

In the beginning (re'shiyth) God ('elohiym) created (bara') the heavens (shamayim) and the earth ('erets). The earth was formless (ohuw) and void (bohuw), and darkness (choshek) was over the surface (paniym) of the deep (tĕhowm), and the Spirit of God (ruwach 'elohiym) was moving (rachaph) over the surface (paniym) of the waters (mayim). - Gen 1:1-2 NASB

The beautiful symphony begins with a tap upon the podium. Our creator and narrator demands us to stand at attention to receive the account of how He alone placed everything in its place and produced its form and stature from not nothing per se, but from the eternal expanse and power of His being. All things are birthed out of Himself and for Himself for this creation is the correct result of a being known as love, for love will never fail to produce offspring.

Now consider the joy of emptiness; a blank canvas, an empty room, an uncultivated plot of land, an unheard song. A future masterpiece is the vision of love upon emptiness, it rises to fill everything in every way. It is the anticipation of what light will reveal in dark places and how life can truly swallow up death; how joy can overcome all sorrow and where comfort blankets the uncomfortable with peace.

It is with great anticipation, a self-contained dynamite stick of joy, that the Spirit of love broods over the darkness; a darkness not of wickedness nor a formless void of chaos, but the womb of expectation, a seed deep in the being of God yearning to sprout in praise of her creator. Just as the Spirit overshadowed Mary and the Word became flesh, so the Spirit awaits the word to come forth with a hopeful expectation of good. The darkness awaits to be commanded.

The Message of Christ

And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus [as] the Christ. - Act 5:42 NKJV

Jesus is the long awaited Messiah that the law and the prophets spoke about. He is raised from the dead, He has forgiven your sins through His blood, He lives to make intercession for you, and He is returning. I am convinced that there is really no other message to be preached or taught. He loves you enough to die in your place. The message of the cross of Christ is and always will be foolishness to those who are perishing, and we must not succumb to the temptation of attempting to make the message “relevant” to our culture, but plainly declare Christ (the anointed One) as savior. The message is always relevant; science doesn’t change it, education does not alter it, culture does not mold it, morality does not drive it, politics does not sway it and men cannot control it. No matter what we have become individually or as a society, God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He takes what is broken and fixes it, and all of us are broken. We all have a nature that desires to follow our own way, and that way is always opposed to the rule of God over our lives. We are all born this way, we have no control to change it, but we can believe that Christ died for us and will change us into the image of God again. I invite you to believe in Jesus as the Christ. Lay down your definition of good and evil, right and wrong, and receive with meekness the word of God. He will not turn away any who come to Him. I tell you the truth, if you turn from your own desire and cal upon the Name of the Lord, you will be saved and filled with His Holy Spirit and transformed.