An Accomplishment Unlike Anything Else

by with No Comment Uncategorized

When a person considers their accomplishments they can be tempted to think, “My hard work produced this and I achieved this with my own abilities, skills and intelligence.” They can even become prideful and arrogant about their accomplishments.

God won’t allow His people to think like this.

The very gift, strength, or accomplishment that we place value in and take pride in is not of our own doing.  The bible says that God has a purpose and a plan for each of us, and He has given each of us certain gifts and favor that serve to glorify Him. We’re in trouble when this is forgotten and pride enters our thinking.


“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” (Prv. 11:2)

Those who seek only worldly treasures will find only worldly rewards. These rewards die when we die and will account for nothing in eternity. While we certainly should work to provide for ourselves in this life, this is not to be our main priority.

The world measures people by their level of success, wealth, knowledge, abilities, appearance, and skills. With so much attention placed on these things, it’s only when the bottom falls out, as it often does, that God can get our attention.  And it’s during these times of loss and brokenness that some of the greatest accomplishments take place.


“He comforts us every time we have trouble, so when others have trouble, we can comfort them with the same comfort God gives us.” (2 Co 1:4, NCV)

It’s never easy to lose things we value.  The brokenness we feel when our plans fall apart can be severe.  But if we allow God to comfort, heal, and redirect us, what can emerge out of our shattered circumstances will actually be used to draw others to Him.  And we can find joy in the fact that He is using us for His purposes and glory.  That’s an accomplishment unlike anything else!

The Power of Honor

by with No Comment Uncategorized

Everyone wants honor, but few are willing to give it.

We actually live in a culture and age of dishonor. It has become the norm for us to disrespect and dishonor anyone and everyone. Whether on radio or television, or in conversations at Starbucks, no one is immune from the assault. 

Many of us confuse honor with respect. We think honor is something we can withhold from someone based on their performance, or based on how much we like them.  But that’s not biblical honor.  In the Bible honor is nonnegotiable.


Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother. (Ephesians 6:1–2)


Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God…Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.” (Romans 13:1, 7)


Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.
(1 Peter 2:17–19)

We are told to not only honor the people we like or agree with, but we are called to honor all people.  Honor is value that it’s freely given, recognizing that God has placed the people who are in our lives.

Honor literally means “a valuing.” The image is one of appreciation, esteem, favorable regard, respect.  Honor is close to God’s heart.  In fact, without honor God cannot work in our lives.  But many times God will send us what we need in a package we don’t like.


“When Jesus came to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things? And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”
(Matthew 13:53-58)

God’s Son, the embodiment of the Godhead, could not do anything significant with people who did not honor Him.  This still applies today.  Where God and His ways are not honored, He is hindered from doing great things. 

Honor is the essential key to receiving from God, and for this very reason the enemy of our souls has all but eliminated the true power of honor. Honor carries with it great power and great blessings!

Changed from There to Here

by with No Comment Uncategorized

Have you ever had different unrelated events merge into one kind of collective experience?  I experienced something like this a few years ago. 

It started with a conversation in which I was recalling a favorite trait that an old friend of mine had.  This friend had had enormous impact on my life.  Unfortunately, he had also hurt me deeper than anyone.  With God’s help I had not held any unforgiveness towards him, however for years I chose to not talk about him, nor recount the various things he did, until this conversation.  As I told about how I admired and learned from a particular habit my friend had, I felt the Lord literally lift the hurt off of me.

Two weeks later, I was attending the then new Hillsong church plant in New York City.  Although the church’s official start date was still months away, we had to wait outside with hundreds of young people before piling into the Fillmore Theatre in the Gramercy area of midtown Manhattan.  The worship was unbelievable!  People were pressing into God’s presence. Joel Abell, one of the pastors from Hillsong Sydney, spoke about growing pains.  He explained how the church and we as believers go through growing pains.  He had me right in the palm of his hand until he started talking about the need for people with apostolic gifting, and prophetic gifting, along with evangelists, pastors, and teachers. I quit saying, “Amen!” because what he was saying was against my doctrine.  Then God nudged me to look up to my left.  In the balcony where there was standing room only, I saw a young man and girl shaking their heads as they held their Bibles. Then the Lord spoke so simply to me, “Joel, quit arguing.”

Finally, a few days later I was in a situation that normally would have “gotten my goat” (and had on other occasions), but I found myself calm, un-reactive, in fact even being kind.  It was huge. I was surprised with myself. As I stood there thinking about what was happening, this verse came to my mind:


“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 Cor. 3:18)

That “glory to glory” part is referring to the process of change that merges together different experiences and results in becoming more like Jesus.  I realized that these three experiences above have worked changes in my life, and I am becoming more like Jesus.

image

Don’t Miss It

by with No Comment Uncategorized

image

There are several metaphors used in the New Testament to describe the Holy Spirit. We are told that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus in the form of a dove.  We are told that the Holy Spirit came upon the believers in the upper room in the form of flames.  We are also told the Holy Spirit is like wind.


“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)

We can sense and discern the move of God’s Spirit, but we cannot see it nor predict it.  My friend Sarah Bowling describes it as, “an elusive perception of a infinite reality.” This mysterious quality of the moving of the Holy Spirit also implies that we could miss it.

Have you ever been somewhere and sensed God’s presence only to find out that others around you were totally oblivious?  The Holy Spirit was totally touching your heart, yet others seem unmoved and unaffected. 

I remember being at the Los Angeles Coliseum for the 1997 Promise Keepers gathering.  There were 50,000+ men there and God’s presence was so strong that most of us hit the ground and bowed our heads.  I say most of us because while I was kneeling I lifted my head to wipe the tears out of my eyes and noticed that an entire group of men near me were still standing totally out of touch with what was happening.

How can it be that one person can experience a dynamic touch of God’s Spirit while someone right next to them does not?  No doubt there have been times when all of us have missed what God was doing.  He was touching others, they were sensing His presence, and yet we felt dull in our senses. 

The bible tells us that in order to discern spiritual things and not miss when God is working, we must have our spiritual senses developed. 


“But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:14)

In other words, in order to discern spiritual things and not miss the move of God’s Spirit, we must have our spiritual senses developed.  We must stay open to the Holy Spirit, loving His presence more than anything else, and desiring above all else to be a part of what He is doing. 

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Too Good to Keep

by with No Comment Uncategorized

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

What causes a video to go viral? It isn’t the quality of the camera work, lighting, or production. Videos go viral because when we watch them they cause us to laugh, cry, or go “whoa”, and then we tell our friends to watch it, and so on. 

There are some things so good you can’t keep them to yourself.

I remember when my wife Kathie received the shipment of her second CD, “Songs from the Center.”  Immediately she posted on Facebook that the CD was finally done and invited people to the CD debut concert, who then invited others.  It wasn’t long before lots of people were talking about the new record.

They’re some things so good you can’t keep them to yourself.

When I was 19, I began to experience pretty severe migraine headaches. After telling my doctor about what was happening, he sent me to a neurologist.  The neurologist put me through a series of tests, including a scan that required a dye with radioactive particles to be injected into my blood.  When the results were in, the doctor asked me to come to his office, and asked that I have my parents come with me.  As we sat down, I could tell something was wrong.  He began to hem and haw about how the test was not conclusive. I interrupted him and asked,  ”Do I have a brain tumor?!” “No,” he answered. “but I’m afraid you have ophthalmic migraines.”  I jumped up and shouted, “Hallelujah!” and ran out of his office to the nearest pay phone to call everyone who had been praying for me. 

There are some things so good you can’t keep them to yourself.

The Bible tells us about the northern tribes of Israel being besieged by their enemies, and as a result a severe famine broke out.  It was so bad that they were eating donkey heads, dove dung, and even boiling infants (2 Kings 6:24).  There were four lepers who figured that because death was inevitable, they would cast their lots with the enemy.  However, when they got to enemy’s camp they found it totally deserted, and all the food and valuables had been left behind.  While they were gorging themselves with food and wine, one of them said, 


“We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news, and we remain silent. If we wait until morning light, some punishment will come upon us. Now therefore, come, let us go and tell the king’s household.” (2 Kings 7:9)

There are some things so good you can’t keep them to yourself.

The New Testament calls the message of Jesus Christ, “good news,” yet most of us have difficulty freely sharing it with others. We feel limited by our lack of Bible knowledge.  Or we feel intimidated by hard questions like, “If your God is a God of love, why would he allow children to die of starvation?’  But those aren’t the issues in the good news of Jesus.  

The good news is forgiveness for all of us who have sinned.  It’s deliverance to all who are oppressed.  It’s help for the helpless.  It’s hope for the hopeless.  It’s news so great, so awesome, so incredibly good that you’ve got to tell, text, post, Facebook, Twitter, blog, video, etc., about it!

There are some things so good you can’t keep them to yourself.

Ray and Dorcas

by with No Comment Uncategorized

I can remember when I was a kid there being a young married couple in our church named Ray and Dorcas. They were good people.  Ray and Dorcas were as sincere Christians as you could find. Yet, whenever my dad gave an invitation for people to receive Jesus as Lord, Ray and Dorcas were always first to respond.  I learned later that they saw each altar call as an opportunity for a fresh start.

As an adult, I’ve wished many times for a fresh start. Not that my spiritual commitment or relationship has changed dramatically, but somehow things inside me get warped, twisted, hard, and dry.  Bad habits develop. Negative ways of thinking, feeling and responding surface that do not fit with who or what I want to be.  I’d like to wipe them out and start again, with a sense of freshness and restoration. I’d like to make a change.

Think about how Israel finally returned back to the promised land after years of exile and rebuilt the temple.  God was faithfully doing new things among His people.  Yet as time passed and the Messiah had not come, the old patterns of life, old values and materialism, crept in.  God raised up a man named John the Baptist as a voice calling Israel to repent…to change. 

One day as John was baptizing people, he spotted some Pharisees and Sadducees standing in the baptism line.  He shouted at them,


”Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskin’s going to make any difference? It’s your life that must change, not your skin!” (Mt 3:7-9, The Message)

I know it sounds harsh, but fresh starts and newness in our lives is more than ceremony.  It requires changes inwardly that affect our outward actions. This is what repentance is.  The result is that God gives us newness of life that never goes away. Like Ray and Dorcas, you’ll come back again and again.

Wide Open Spaces

by with No Comment Uncategorized

One of my favorite places on the planet is the San Juan Mountains in southwestern Colorado.  There’s a spot out by Williams Creek Reservoir that I’d love to take you.  You’d see mountains, water, trees, wildlife, and most of all space.  Lots of space.

It’s not that crowds bother me, it’s just that I don’t like being confined.  Some people love the hustle and bustle of busy places, being where everyone else is.  That’s cool, but what I love are wide open spaces.  An empty road that shoots out for miles.  A single track trail that meanders through a meadow.  Or, a day’s schedule that is blank.  When I think about different wide open spaces, the essence of all of them is the same: they give a sense of freedom, movement, and above all they are welcoming. 

Okay, if natural earth-bound places can provide such release, shouldn’t the people, things, and experiences that surround God do the same?  I mean God created the San Juan Mountains, my guess is He knows all about wide open spaces.  Then why are His people so often narrow, limiting, boring, impassionate?  It’s like we’re living in a crowded confined environment that stifles life and limits freedom.

John’s yelling at us, can’t you hear him?


“And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” (John 1:16)

People who have studied this verse will tell you that the literal translation would be something like this, “The essence, the first impression, the focal point, of Jesus is that He gives grace, then more grace, then more grace, then more grace, then more grace, then more grace, then more grace, then more grace…”

A woman who understood this wrote a song:


His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again (Annie J. Flint, 1928)

So even if you and I can’t go to the San Juans, we can go to Jesus who will give us freedom, movement, and above all will welcome us again, again, again, again, and again. 

image

Skip the Coke

by with No Comment Uncategorized

image

A few years ago I was in Atlanta and visited the Coca-Cola museum.  It was fun to taste all the different flavors of Coke from around the world, and to learn about the origins of the fizzy sugar water.  But I will never forget something that was written on the museum’s wall:

98% of the world has heard of Coca-Cola
72% of the world has seen Coca-Cola
51% of the world has tasted Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola has only been in existence 125 years.  If God had given the task of reaching the world for Christ to the Coca-Cola company it would be done by now.

It may seem impressive that Americans give $700 million per year to mission efforts, but not in light of the fact that we pay that much for pet food every 52 days. Or the fact that we pay $65 billion a year for soft drinks. Or the fact that we pay $117 billion a year for fast food. The truth is that the average Christian in America gives less than .20 cents a week to foreign missions.

Edmund Burke once said,


“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”

When it comes to missions, many of us are like spectators sitting on the sidelines.  Instead of participating in God’s work, were just watching.  If something good happens, we join in the celebration, though we had very little to do with producing the victory.  And if something bad happens, we’re quick to complain about it. 

We’ve been called to reach the world with the good news of Jesus Christ, and that calling has not changed nor is it limited to certain regions.   

David Livingston speaks to the situation so well, “The best remedy for a sick church is to put it on a missionary diet.” If that diet were Coca Cola we might be more successful, but a missionary diet is more important than fizzy sweet water.  It’s reaching people who would never know about God otherwise.

On a tattered page in Robert Moffat’s journal, he wrote these moving words,


“In the vast plain to the north I have sometimes seen, in the morning sun, the smoke of a thousand villages where no missionary has ever been.”

Not everyone can go to foreign mission fields, but we can all be a part of helping send others. Just skip the Coke, and give the money to missions.