Papa took me to school the other day.
I was driving somewhere or the other,
minding my own business chugging down the freeway on cruise control.
I was thinking about stuff. I do that.
Along comes this little white sports
car; it passed me, and pulled right in front of me and slowed down,
not a lot, but enough that I needed to drop out of cruise control and
change lanes. So I did.
Then it sped up again, pulled in front
of me again, and slowed down again. I wrestled with the temptation to
say some things, but about that time it turned off onto the exit
lane. I wrestled some more, and George Carlin’s quote came to mind
(“Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an
idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?”).
I understand that Carlin was describing
human judgmental human nature, not human driving, so I decided not to
call the driver of the white car any sort of names; I recognized that
whatever things I called him would function as a curse, cuz words do
that, so I restrained myself. That’s not Dad’s way. I just kept
driving. No big deal.
It was then I “heard” a video game
“be-doop” noise in my spirit, and had the sense that I’d just
“leveled up.” OK. That was interesting.
“Now I can trust you with authority
in your words more, Son.”
Wait, what? That was a test? I had no
idea!
I had a million questions, but he was
patient with me. (That’s not actually uncommon.)
He reminded me of the parable of the
Talents and its lesson: if I’m faithful with whatever he gives me
responsibility for, the reward is more of it, and specifically more
authority in the Kingdom (Matthew 25: “I will make you ruler over
many things!”).
He explained that the principle was
true with my words as well. As I’m faithful with using my words in
ways that extend and expand the Kingdom, I’ll find that my words
will have more effect.
I thought you might enjoy sharing my
lesson here.
Showing posts with label kingdom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kingdom. Show all posts
Thursday
Literal or Metaphor
I’ve found myself coming back over and over to Jesus’
conversation with Nick at night in John 3. I have realized something
new about Nick’s communication, how it differed from Jesus’ communication, how
that difference got in the way of Nick understanding what Jesus was saying, and
how often I’ve done the same thing. made that same mistake, and not merely once or twice.
Recently I realized that Jesus was speaking
metaphorically, while Nick – not understanding metaphor – was trying to
understand his words literally. No wonder Nick had such trouble figuring Jesus
out.
Here’s the passage:
“Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was
a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said,
"Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one
could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him." Jesus
replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless
they are born again." "How can someone be born when they are
old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely they cannot enter a second time into
their mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell
you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the
Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You
should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'” [John 3:1-7]

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not
understand these things?” [verse 10]
Then I recognized that those two facts are related: Nick
did not understand how Jesus was teaching because he was Israel’s teacher:
because he spent his days studying the scriptures. He approached scripture very
literally, and that literal way of interacting with the scriptures kept him
from understanding what God was doing right in front of him.
That has been me often enough. I’ve approached scripture
so terribly literally that I have misunderstood my Father who speaks literally
sometimes and metaphorically sometimes. I’ve prided myself for not being afraid
to interpret scripture literally, and yet that very literalist approach has
often kept me from seeing, from understanding what God was doing in me, right
in front of me.
Because God does not always speak literally.
Watch Out for the Yeast!
“Be careful,” Jesus warned them. “Watch out for the yeast [the
influence] of the Pharisees and that of Herod.”
The religious spirit and the political spirit are really bad
influences on believers. Watch out.

That doesn’t mean to stay distant from religious people or
the religious system. Jesus didn’t. He attended synagogue, temple, dinners with
Pharisees. But he influenced them; he didn’t let them influence him.
He doesn’t mean to avoid politics or politicians. We’re
commanded to pray for them. And we need believers in the middle of the
political system; who else will influence the political system for the Kingdom,
anyway? But influence them; don’t let
them influence you. Watch out for that.
In fact, it was when they work together that things get
really ugly. Jesus was murdered by that combination. The Pharisees worked with
Herod, to murder Jesus.
Same same in our world today. When the religious spirit
tells the political process what to do, watch out! Doesn’t matter which
religious spirit. The Muslim religious spirit is no better (and no worse) than
the Christian religious spirit, though because it’s gaining political power in
some places, it’s getting more aggressive about its influence. They’re both demonic,
they’re both controlling, they’re both dangerous.
We’ve seen a lot of this over the last several years.
And when the political spirit tells the religious spirit
what to do, watch out! When the political spirit tells us how to worship, what
life to value, when or where to pray, that’s a problem. The Liberal political
spirit is no better (and no worse) than the Conservative political spirit, though
because it’s “in power” in some places, it’s more aggressive about its influence.
They’re both demonic, they’re both controlling, they’re both dangerous.
There’s one more territorial spirit that we need to pay
attention to; in fact, this is the strongest, most territorial of them all. The
Holy Spirit is the one we need to be following. The others masquerade as him,
try to mimic his voice so we’ll get confused.
Watch for him.
The Grant Covenant
There are various types of covenants that could define
relationship between people. Some are covenants among equals (such as a
marriage covenant). Many are covenants between a superior and an underling.
One of those covenants between a superior and a lesser
person is called a “Grant Covenant.” It is what it sounds like: the great
person doesn’t negotiate, doesn’t require anything. They just grant the
covenant. “Hold still and let me bless you.” The lesser person does nothing to
deserve it.
This video is my second favorite example of a grant covenant (though of course, it’s not a perfect example). Prince Edward does not ask anything of William, offers no conditions, no negotiation. He just frees him from prison and makes him a knight in the kingdom of his father. He doesn’t even ask Will’s permission. Will could have refused it, I suppose, but there was no negotiation here.
This video is my second favorite example of a grant covenant (though of course, it’s not a perfect example). Prince Edward does not ask anything of William, offers no conditions, no negotiation. He just frees him from prison and makes him a knight in the kingdom of his father. He doesn’t even ask Will’s permission. Will could have refused it, I suppose, but there was no negotiation here.
That reminds me of my most favorite example of a grant
covenant, and this one IS a perfect example:
“Jesus Christ… has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.” [Revelation 1:5&6]
“Jesus Christ… has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.” [Revelation 1:5&6]
Note that this grant covenant is pretty much the covenant
that God offered the children that Moses led out of Egypt [see Exodus 19:6], which
they rejected in favor of a less scary covenant.
And the more I learn about this Kingdom that I’ve been
granted a position in, the more I understand why they thought it was scary. There
is an obligation that comes with real authority. It changes us.
We are no longer slaves, so acting like a slave is no longer appropriate. We’re kings, we’re heirs, we’re priests. So no, as a result of the grant, we act differently. We respond differently to the King and to the world around us now.
We are no longer slaves, so acting like a slave is no longer appropriate. We’re kings, we’re heirs, we’re priests. So no, as a result of the grant, we act differently. We respond differently to the King and to the world around us now.
Or as Peter Parker’s Uncle Ben said it, “With great power
comes great responsibility.” That’s true. Even if we’re freely granted this
covenant, this kingliness, this priesthood; even if we have done nothing to
deserve it.
This, then, is our covenant. It’s a grant. We’ve done
nothing to earn it. We just stand still and let him bless us.
And then we live from this new place, this new identity.
(If the embedded video doesn’t work, the whole scene is here: https://youtu.be/A_BN__oO7nA)
Are We Mere Men?

I’m actually quite disappointed in how free Christians are about telling the world of their
hatred for various leaders in Washington.
Let me hurriedly add that I have no great love for their
political shenanigans! I abhor their apparent willful dismantling of the
American constitution. I can see why so many American patriots have such hatred
toward them.
But Christians? Really?
I get that we care about what’s going on with our country. I
get it that icky things are being revealed. And believe me, I understand that what has
been going on with our country over the past several years is pretty bad, about
as bad as anything since the Boston Tea Party. I get that.
And I also get that we want to vent our frustration about
what’s going on, and our frustration about our political powerlessness.
But this is not how sons and daughters of the Kingdom of God
express themselves.
I find myself thinking of 1 Corinthians 3:3: “For since
there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not
walking like mere men?”
“Mere men.” What an indictment. But it appears to be a
pretty accurate description of so *many* of the angry, hateful, disrespectful
comments I’m hearing from Christians, that I’m seeing posted on Christians’
walls. “Mere men.”
Mere men are people who are swayed more by the news media,
than they are by the Word of God. I can tell, because the Word of God tells me
to “love without hypocrisy” (Romans 12:9) and that our love “bears all things,
believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians
13:7) We’re not “bearing” or “enduring” all that well right now, are we?
Then after all that, the Book, the Word of God, our Orders
from Heaven, gets even more direct: "I urge, then, first of all, that
petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people-- for
kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in
all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:1-2)
This is how sons and daughters of the Kingdom respond.
Politically, we are pretty powerless. But that’s on purpose:
we are not primarily a political people. We are born to be a people who live
from heaven, toward Earth, who walk in a body among the physical and political
places and events of this planet, but fundamentally, the reality is that our
primary reality is being seated in Heaven, seated with the Son of God, sharing
his throne, at the right hand of the Father’s throne.
Fundamentally, the power we wield is not *supposed* to be
merely human. The power that we are born to wield is the power of the Kingdom
we’re born into: the power of Heaven. The power that will halt and reverse the
damage done by various administrations, various congresses is wielded by the
means of prayer: by “petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made
for all people-- for presidents and all those in authority.”
We are a prophetic people, but it’s not legit prophecy to
declare what’s wrong and how mad we are about it. That’s the work of “mere
men.” That’s submitting to the principalities of this world. Outrage demonstrates
our failure.
Our prophetic calling is to call out the solution – which
nobody else can even see – to the problem – which nobody needs help seeing. Our
calling is to draw resources from Heaven and implement them on earth. To
implement them in the House and the Senate and the White House in Washington
DC. To implement them in the schools and businesses and news organizations in
our communities.
Our calling is to be the fulfillment of “Thy kingdom come,
thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.”
Now let’s see if we can go beyond being “mere men"
– Nor'west
Prophetic
Sunday
Whose Holiday Is It Anyway?
Whose Holiday Is It Anyway?
Point One: Plunder. When you conquer an enemy, the enemy’s property becomes your property.
Point One: Plunder. When you conquer an enemy, the enemy’s property becomes your property.
Plunder has been defined as “the indiscriminate taking of
goods by force as part of a military or political victory.” Foot soldiers
viewed plunder as a way to supplement an often meagre income and transferred
wealth became part of the celebration of victory.
On higher levels, the proud exhibition of loot formed an
integral part of the typical Roman triumph, and Genghis Khan was not unusual in
proclaiming that the greatest happiness was “to vanquish your enemies ... to
rob them of their wealth”. [Wikipedia]
Point Two: Naming rights. When you conquer a territory, you
have the right to rename that territory, and to assign new purpose to that
territory.
“When the territory of the Danites was lost to them, they
went up and attacked Leshem, took it, put it to the sword and occupied it. They
settled in Leshem and named it Dan after their ancestor.” [Joshua 19:47]
See also: Constantinople Turkey, Ponce Puerto Rico, Ho Chi
Minh City Vietnam, Lviv Ukraine, Valdivia Chile, Puerto Cortés Honduras, Al-Sadiyah
Iraq,
Point Three: We are “more than conquerors” and we are children
and heirs of the One who has conquered the world. [Romans 8:37, John 16:33]. “The
kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ,
and He shall reign forever and ever!” [Revelation 11:15]
As conqueror of the systems of this world, Jesus has – and since
we are in him and he is in us, we have – the right to rename and re-purpose
conquered territory. This is ours.

Ēostre has been well and truly conquered. So has Ishtar, whose
name does not contribute to our holiday, but who has fallen before our
conquering King.
We have the right by conquest to rename the conquered earthly
holidays, to cancel their earthly origins and publicly display our King’s victory
over them.
Yeah, Easter used to be something else to somebody else. But
it’s not theirs any more, unless we, as the spokespeople of the Kingdom of God
give it back to the conquered demons. Same for Halloween and Christmas and any
other holiday you care to name.
They’re ours now. Don’t give ‘em back!
Friday
Kindness Leads to Repentance
In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus is describing some of the ways
that his family is to be different than how the world does things. In the
middle of that lecture, he drops this bomb: “Do not be like them, for your
Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
There’s one command in this, and one reason for the command.
Don’t be like those people because unlike their father, your Father knows what
you need, even before you tell him.
I’d like to share a testimony, if I may.

The World Class Pain was making his life miserable,
threatening lawsuits, threatening huge expenses, and was completely flouting
the law on the matter. He was Too Important To Be Bothered with things
like that (he is a legitimate millionaire, for all the good it does him), and
he does know powerful people who owe him favors.
So we’d talked together about the options open to us. At its
most intense point, my spiritual son called me in terror and confusion about
the latest round of threats, so I called the Millionaire Pain and explained
things firmly to him. I think he’ll be able to use that ear again in a few
days. I did not submit to his campaign of terror. I wasn’t rude, but I didn’t
let him push me around.
But I pissed him off, so he jacked up the intimidation and
threats, and neither my son nor I slept much for a couple of nights.
I wanted to ask for prayer, but I didn’t feel that freedom.
A day later, I realized that when I got in his face, I
misquoted some facts to him, so I called him back, and (as expected) he sent my
call to voicemail, so I left him a long message. I apologized for my errant
facts, explained the situation from my son’s perspective, acknowledged what we understood of his own
needs in the situation, and proposed a sit-down meeting where we could resolve
the disagreement.
He ignored me, of course. His intimidation continued, but it did not escalate again.
Again, I wanted to post a prayer request, but I still didn’t
feel the freedom.
One night it really got to me. I should have been asleep.
Instead, I was ranting, my intestines were growling, and my sheets were soaked with sweat.
I had acknowledged that we’d probably need to take the Pain to court, but as I
rolled it around in my mind, I realized that we couldn’t lose the case. We had
him cold! We had documentation of a couple of things that would make this an
open and shut case! I didn’t want to go to court (nobody in their right mind
does), but if we needed to, we would win.
And then I realized that The Pain wasn’t doing any of this to hurt my son
or to hurt me, and he wasn’t doing this to win a court case. He just needed to
stay in power in his interactions with other people. He needed to feel
powerful, and this whole drama was how he met that need. I honestly began to feel sorry for
him. That was actually confusing; he was the reason I was still awake at 3:00
in the morning!
And then Father reminded me of Romans 2:4b: “God’s kindness
is intended to lead you to repentance.” We wanted him to change his mind about
the hell he was wreaking; we wanted him to repent. Here, God’s showing me the
key to The Pain's repentance: my kindness. Nice.
So I prayed quite a bit; I prayed blessing on this man, on his business, on his real estate holdings. But wait, there's more!
So I prayed quite a bit; I prayed blessing on this man, on his business, on his real estate holdings. But wait, there's more!
I’d been studying angels in the Bible, recently. My new
favorite book of the Bible talked about them: “Are not all angels ministering
spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14).
So I invited some angels to go visit him and minister the
things of the Kingdom to him. We’re supposed to DO the stuff we’re learning,
right? And I gave him a new name. No longer The Pain, now he was The Millionaire.
Suddenly, I was tired and I slept.
The next morning, the Millionaire surprised us all. He messaged my son with a
remarkably reasonable response. He outlined some things he needed from us
(reasonable ones!), and offered some concessions we hadn’t even asked for. Then
he recused himself from the final negotiations and he invited us to work with his more reasonable partner. (What? Who IS this guy?)
I wonder if there’s a connection?
I shared the good news with Mrs P, and she admitted that she
had been praying blessing on him as well (before she dropped off to a sound
sleep several hours before I did!).
I never did ask others for prayer. Our amazing Father really does know what we need, even before we tell him. He ’d been answering that prayer long before we got around to praying it.
Then I heard Holy Spirit whisper to me, “I’m serious. It’s
kindness that brings repentance. Not power, not strength of will, not even
being right. It’s kindness.”
It's kindness that leads to repentance. It really is.
Thursday
The Controversial Source of the Law.
God offered, “You [Israel ] will be for me a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6) God offered a covenant of equals: you
and me, face to face with God with nothing in between. Peers.
They rejected his offer, and counter-offered, “Speak to us
yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”
(Exodus 20:19)
They proposed the intermediary, which is what a priesthood
is. And they promised to listen. The original language contains a hint of
obedience, but no, this isn’t an express promise (which was probably good).
They rejected the peer relationship, the covenant of equals,
and they substituted a vertical relationship: big god with the rules (and
therefore the spank stick), and the only way to know him is through a priest. Ick.
So the idea of a priesthood was not God’s idea, but the
people’s. And the idea of hearing and obeying rules wasn’t God’s idea, but the
people’s. He wanted a face-to-face with every living being, but they threw that
back in his face and demanded a priesthood and rules.
So God was backed into a corner: either relate to people
through a priesthood and rules, or walk away, wipe his hands clean and start
over again.
But he’s not One to walk away.
So he submitted his mighty self to their silly little
demands. It was better than no relationship at all.
They wanted a priesthood: Moses started it with Aaron, and
it continued on. That’s what Leviticus is all about. Don’t you love Leviticus?
Isn’t it fun to read?
They wanted rules. So God gave them a handful. Those rules
were never about “Do this and you go to Heaven.” They were “Do this and you won’t
get spanked.” (see Deuteronomy 30, and Luke 10:28). “Do this and you won’t be
cursed.”
But they broke covenant before the rules were even delivered
(remember the golden calf?). Then came more rules. And they failed those, so
he had to give them other rules, more specific rules.
If you have rules, then you need to have an enforcer, and
that is ALWAYS your god. So God was party to a covenant he didn’t want, and was
the enforcer if the people didn’t keep their end of the covenant.
No wonder God was glad to be rid of that covenant. “By
calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete
and outdated will soon disappear.” (Hebrews 8:13) He never wanted the stinky old rules or the
silly little priesthood in the first place.
Fight the Good fight of Faith
When we don’t question our beliefs, when we just accept what
others have told us (whether from a pulpit, from a seminary, or from a
publication), there are repercussions well beyond our own belief structures.
Some of the things that we’ve unquestioningly believed for a
few generations have functioned as incredible obstacles for people who don’t
know God’s nature; some of these people take our un-questioned beliefs
literally, point out the very logical failures of those beliefs, and cause
formidable damage to our Father’s reputation on the Earth.
One of those beliefs is the version of hell that was
primarily outlined by an unbalanced Catholic politician, pharmacist and monk in
the 14th century. His imagination was brilliant, but not particularly either
Biblical or true. These details which did not trouble him, but his writings
have been (probably unintentionally) adopted by the “turn or burn” evangelists
as the default definition of “burn.”
Their depictions of Heaven were similarly unbiblical, and similarly designed to maximize the number of people running to the altar at the end of the service.
Their depictions of Heaven were similarly unbiblical, and similarly designed to maximize the number of people running to the altar at the end of the service.
The result of such haphazard doctrinal foolishness included
a large number of “converts” eager to escape this horrendous and unbiblical
threat, often described as “buying fire insurance,” which, of course, was never
God’s goal.
My hope is that we will ask questions about what we’re being
taught, to test the doctrines that teachers are telling us are “The Truth.”
·
I’ve observed that the more any particular doctrine is mirrored in the “distinctive” practices or
beliefs of a denomination or a fellowship, the more those particular doctrines
need to be challenged. This is true in both traditional denominations and more
fundamental or Pentecostal fellowships and denominations.
·
One of the best ways to test our belief sets –
in addition to questioning their conformity to Scripture’s simple contextual
instruction on the topic – is to examine the fruit of the doctrine. And examine
the fruit of that doctrine among believers and among non-believers: does this
doctrine increase people’s love for God and love for each other, or does it
regularly result in resentment, legalism, judgment, generally keeping people
from embracing God’s love for them.
This is part of Paul’s admonitions to his apostolic leaders:
“Pay no attention to … myths or to the merely human commands of those who
reject the truth.” “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal
life to which you were called.”
The best part of the conversation will be on Facebook. Come join in.
The Fighter’s Regrets
Have
you ever woken up with a song floating through the fog in your mind? Sometimes
I think that’s just an echo of a dream or a memory, particularly if it’s a song
I’ve heard or sung recently.
How
about a song from your ancient history in your mind as you woke? I actually pay
more attention to these; there’s less chance that it’s just my subconscious
expressing itself.
I’d
like to share one of these with you. You may find the process interesting, but
I believe the lesson might apply to several of us.
Recently,
I woke up with a song from my youth playing in my mind, and trust me, that’s
from a long time ago. The song had
nothing to do with the dream as far as I could tell, and I could only remember
snippets of it – really only one phrase.
But
that phrase kept replaying in my mind: that caught my attention. And as it
replayed, my memory of the lyrics grew. This also suggested to me that this
might be from God. So I spoke with Father about it, acknowledging that I
thought he might be up to something; I asked for insight, and I paid attention
as the memory of the song replayed and expanded in my mind.
Some
themes began to stand out in the lyrics that kept playing in my memory. One of
them definitely seemed to have the fragrance of my Father about it, so I
meditated on that one. That is, I thought about it; I let it roll around in my
mind to see what might come from it.
When
my mind began to warm up (you know, I really appreciate the fact that God
invented coffee!), I fired up Google and looked into it a bit more. And I
realized that even after my memory had been playing it back for an hour or two,
I had remembered only one verse out of five; the rest hadn’t come back to me,
though those verses had actually been more important to me when the song was new.
Here’s
the song: https://youtu.be/MYPJOCxSUFc.
It’s called The Boxer, by Simon &
Garfunkel. It was the last verse alone that spoke to me through the morning
fog:
In the
clearing stands a boxer
And a
fighter by his trade
And he
carries the reminders
Of every
glove that laid him down
And cut
him till he cried out
In his
anger and his shame
“I am
leaving, I am leaving”
But the
fighter still remains*
This
verse had literally never made sense to me, but suddenly, there was a message
in it for me.
It
speaks to me, but I’d like to share it with you, because I suspect it might
speak to other, too, and maybe that includes you.
I
confess: I’m a man of fairly strong conviction. I stand up for those
convictions, and it’s not inappropriate to say that I fight to maintain them.
If I believe something to be true, I’ll fight to defend it.
Father
gently pointed out that I, too, carry reminders of those fights, reminders, I
suppose, every glove that laid me down or cut me till I cried out. I’ve paid a price
to defend my convictions. Like the fighter in the song, the price has been paid
in several areas of my life: in my memories, in my body carrying the stress, in
the solitude that comes from having lost relationships.

(Didn’t
someone say “You shall know them by their fruit”? Hmmm....)
This
is something that’s come partly from my character (I believe that standing up
for “what is true” is important), partly from my youth (I was taught that truth
is important and should be stood up for).
But this
fight may have been fanned into the biggest flame from my years in Bible-believing
churches. “This is what I believe to be true, so I must defend it at all
costs.” We teach that, we believe that, in many evangelical churches, and while
we defend different truths in denominational churches, we still defend them
vigorously.
Think
about how Christians respond when a movie comes that we don’t like out
(remember Russell Crowe’s Noah?). Consider how Christians
respond to “The Homosexual Agenda” or to political candidates, or to the
abortion issue.
We’re
taught to fight. And we do fight. Vigorously.
And
let’s be honest. We don’t win these fights. Hollywood ’s marketing now counts on “Christian
outrage” as a publicity tool for their controversial movies, and they’re always
right. Christians have not affected “The Homosexual Agenda” that we’ve stood
against, abortion is still a very big business, and we’ve never once had an
Evangelical believer in the Whitehouse, despite our fights on those issues.
The
world knows: Christians are fighters. They don’t win, but they sure will fight.
Behold how much they fight.
Father
hasn’t been talking to me at this time about the issues in themselves. He’s
only been using them to illustrate the fight, to illustrate the blows and the
cuts that so many of us have taken in the fights.
Then
he drew my attention to the refrain:
“Lie-la-lie.
Lie-la-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie, Lie-la-lie
Lie-la-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie,
lie-lie-lie-lie-lie.”*
Oh
my. It’s right there. I’ve sung this haunting refrain with Paul Simon and Art
Garfunkel, and I never saw it: there’s a lie here, and the refrain rubs my nose
in it. That’s a lie, lie lie!
There’s
perhaps some room for discussing what the lie is. The song itself identifies
one:
“He cried
out
In his
anger and his shame
“I am
leaving, I am leaving”
But the
fighter still remains.”*
And
I’ve done that. I’ve declared that I’m quitting this fight. But I haven’t
really done it. I’ve lied. I’ve gotten tired of being beaten up, tired of the
anger, tired of the shame, and I’ve tried to quit the fight. And I’ve failed.
As
Father comforted me in this, I realized that for a fighter, the fight is a
choice. It’s an option, but only one of several options. I don’t actually need to fight.
As he
held me and murmured his love for me, I realized that these are not fights that
have helped me, or have helped the Kingdom, not even a little bit.
I
occasionally have “won” a fight, but what was the result? Maybe I could say I
won, that I defeated someone who believed differently. So what? Now they’ve
been defeated, now they’re wounded, too. And now they resent me, and worse they
resent my message, and they resent the truth that I fought for.
You
know, I don’t think anybody’s ever been bullied into receiving the truth, have
they? Oh, sure, we’ve bullied people into acting
like they know the truth, but that’s just equipping them for hypocrisy. That’s
not a win, not really, not for anybody.
For
myself, I’m going to reflect on this for a while. I’m wondering if I might
actually defend my beliefs better by walking them out than I would by fighting
for them. I don’t know. I’ll think about it.
I may
not need to be a fighter, alone in the clearing. I may not need to be laid
down, cut open. I may not need to subject myself to the anger and shame.
The
Kingdom is not about any of this, is it?
Lie
la lie….
----
* From "The
Boxer," by the American music duo Simon & Garfunkel from their
fifth studio album, Bridge over Troubled Water (1970)
©1969
It’s Christmas Eve
It’s Christmas Eve. My home is filled with laughing
children. My son is making something wonderful in the kitchen. My wife has
forbidden any entry into the bedroom until the last few presents are wrapped. A
video game is blaring in the living room, and power tools are finishing up a
last-minute gift in the shop.
My home is a very busy place. And honestly, I love it.
But as much as this night is about family, it’s even more
about a Birth. I stepped outside to visit with Father about it, to remember
that Birth with Him.
Immediately, I had an image of Him, as eager as a grandchild
would be, clapping happily, dancing from foot to foot: this is His Happy Dance!
For me, the laboring woman and her not-quite-husband are
separated from me by twenty centuries. But as God is Lord of Time (among many
other things), He is right this minute, dancing with joyful anticipation over
this impending Birth.
God, being omniscient, knew of the failure of man in the
Garden before He even spoke the words, “Let Us create man, in Our image…”
Before he ever even scooped up mud and shaped it and prepared it to hold His Own breath, he knew that man would fail the test, would eat of the wrong tree, would submit to the wrong voice, and
would be doomed to death.
But God, being the best in the universe at planning ahead,
already knew that He, Himself, in the flesh and blood of humanity, would die a
gruesome death in a backwater, occupied nation in the geographical armpit of
that planet in order to establish a New Covenant with them. How he looked
forward to that!
And He knew that before God could die for man, God would
have to become a man. And this! He looked forward to this with such joy!
And tonight is the night!
The most patient Father that has ever existed has been
eagerly, joyfully anticipating this night! This is the beginning of the
Covenant that He’s longed for since the Garden: when he would have a nation of
Kings and Priests who would know his Father’s heart and love Him as freely as
He loves them!
The cross? That torture, that pain, that indescribable
humiliation? That was nothing! Nothing! Less than nothing! He would pay ANY
price for the privilege of whispering of his love to his wayward children. If
there could have been a greater price that could ever have been paid, He would
have paid it without hesitation for the children that He treasured above even
His own eternal, omnipotent life!
And tonight is the night that it all began.
Tonight! As Mary is breathing hard and sweating heavily, as
Joseph is wringing his hands and feeling nearly (but not quite) useless in the
face of The Birth, God Himself is dancing with joy! Angels are ministering to
the new mother and anxious dad, but God is laughing and jumping and shouting
his joy to the heavens!
Tonight it begins. Tomorrow He gets to walk – well, to crawl
first – among his wayward children! The beginning of the Via Dolorosa begins in
this little, sweaty barn, on the unknown edge of a tiny, powerless nation. This
is the beginning of walking among them, and even more, this is the beginning of
setting them free from everything that holds them back!
This is the night! This is THAT night.
Do you feel his joy? Can you feel his anticipation?
Do you feel his joy? Can you feel his anticipation?
Do We Still Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem?
Recently, a friend asked me, “Are we still required to pray
for the peace of Jerusalem?” (as Psalm 122:6 says). I stopped to think about
that question, and about Zionism in general. Here’s how my thinking went.
When the Old Covenant was in place, it was between one
family – the children of Jacob – aka Israel) and God. (In fact, they resisted
being called a “nation” until the 20th century.)
When the Old Covenant was in place, that family was the
vehicle by which God related to the rest of the world. We’ll overlook the fact
that Israel failed miserably in that task: it was their task. (Note that “The
Law” was the “terms & conditions” of that Covenant. Note also that Israel
failed so completely at that, that God was required by the terms of that
covenant [which the people proposed, it was not God’s proposal] that he was
required to judge them and punish them for failing to keep their covenant with
Him. See http://nwp.link/1Ggenc6.)
And because Israel was the one primary means by which God
related to humanity, they were the victim of many attacks, both political and
demonic.
In that context, praying for the peace of Jerusalem –
Jerusalem being in proxy for the nation/family of Israel – was praying for
peace in the conduit between God and man. If Israel was at war, then Israel
could not well represent God to the nations.
The Old Covenant is now over. It was “obsolete and growing
old [and] ready to disappear,” [Hebrews 8:13] two hundred decades ago. And it
was completely obliterated, totally eliminated when Jerusalem was destroyed in
AD70 (the mortal wound: the destruction of all genealogical records of who’s
qualified to be priest or Levite).
Fortunately, 40 years earlier, the Old Covenant was replaced
by a New Covenant. In contrast, the New Covenant is not between God and one
family, or between God and one nation, or between God and ANY nation. The New
Covenant is between God the Father, and God the Son, and we’re included in the
Covenant by being “in Christ,” in the Son.
In the New Covenant, there is only one commandment: John
15:12: “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved
you.” That’s it.
Paul, expounding on our covenant, urged Timothy, “First of
all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be
made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we
may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” This is, in
his estimation, part of how we “love one another,” and he’s right.
So the question is: “Is Jerusalem part of “all men”? Are
there leaders who qualify as “all those who are in authority”? Do they need
prayer? In my perception, the answer is “Yes!” to all three.
So yes, we pray for Jerusalem, for the same reason, and in the
same way that we pray for Tehran, or New Orleans, or Milan or Pretoria.
We pray “on behalf of all men,” and we pray “for kings and
all those who are in authority.”
But really (and I suspect some people won’t like this),
Jerusalem is no more special than your hometown, and Israel is now no more
special than Iraq or Dubai. And simultaneously, no less special.
On the Implications of Progressive Revelation
We preach it in church. We teach it in Bible School : God
has progressively revealed more of who he is and how he works as history has
progressed. King David knew God way better than Noah or Job or Abraham did, even
though Abraham was God’s friend.

We’ve just forgotten that he’s still doing that, today.
Think about it: we have more revelation today than Charles Finney did, or
Martin Luther before him, or Augustine before either of them.
And as heretical as it sounds, we actually have more
revelation available to us today than did the Apostle Paul did in his day. And
he wrote half the books in the New Testament! (Of course, whether we’re
accessing all that is available to us is open to discussion.)
The principle of progressive revelation is not
controversial. The application of that principle just might scare us.
Two specific applications that strike me today:
* If God is still revealing more of his character and his
ways, then we shouldn’t be surprised if people discover things about him that
we’ve never been taught in church or in Bible School .
It’s stunningly egotistical to think that “I know all that God has revealed
about himself in this generation! If someone thinks they know something that
God hasn’t shown me, they’re in deception.” This is not clear thinking.
* Having more revelation than Silas and Timothy the rest of
the boys (the ones who didn’t actually hang out with Jesus during those three
years), our expectations should be for bigger results, better revelation than
what they walked in. Saying, “I wanna be like the early church” is kind of like
saying, “I wanna wear diapers and suck on a bottle all my life!” This also is
not clear thinking. We are expected to far exceed their exploits.
In addition to the growing revelation that God is pouring
out, there’s just the basic principle that God is infinite: infinitely big,
infinitely complex, infinitely beautiful, infinitely knowing (aka omniscient).
Anybody who thinks their little mind can hold all there is to know about an infinite
God (“That can’t be true! I don’t know about that!”) is on an elevator that
doesn’t go anywhere near the top floor.
Be ready, dear ones, to learn things about God that the guys
who wrote the textbooks never imagined.
Be ready to let God blow your mind a little bit.
(He’s not a tame lion.)
-----
* Steve McVeigh, Beyond an Angry God: You Can't Imagine How Much He Loves You, p93
I Don't See It That Way
We confuse two very different thoughts, and I wonder if
maybe we do this fairly often:
We begin with "I don't see it that way," and
that's well and good. It might be “I don’t see why that baker wouldn’t bake the
gay couple a cake,” or "I don't understand why a gay couple would come to a Christian bakery for a cake," or even, “I don’t see why Christians would want to drink alcohol.”
It's good to be able to see things differently than others; that’s a sign of
health, of our ability to think for ourselves and not just rely on the opinions
of others around us.
But it’s easy to take that one step too far, to impose the
way we see it on others, and we expect them to see the situation the way we do.
This very seldom reaches the point of words, but it works out like this:
"I don't see it that way, so they shouldn't either." or something
along these lines. Fundamentally, it’s about “They need to think like me!”
I’ll be honest, I don't see how baking a cake or not baking
a cake speaks of Christ. Either one sounds to me more like it speaks of flour
and frosting. But those bakers don’t have the benefit of my perspective. They are
working with their own conscience. And I applaud them for doing that; it happens
so seldom these days.
This issue of “You should think like I think” is pretty
rampant in our culture. Regarding the story where a Christian baker declined to
make a wedding cake for a gay couple, the intolerance of certain members of the
homosexual community were identified (by a lesbian) as “the Gay Gestapo.” But
it happens in other realms as well. There’s an “Abortion Gestapo,” an “Evangelical
Gestapo” and many others.
I’ve seen the cry, “You need to think like me!” in both
sides of the homosexual movement, both sides of the abortion conversation, both
sides of several race conversations. I’ve even heard evangelistic sermons based
on this way of thinking.
Note that this doesn’t apply to every conversation in these
areas. There’s a world of difference
between “Abortion is murder, and I’m going to stand against murder,” and “This
is the way I oppose abortion, and you
should do it this way, too!”
I get it when the unredeemed think and act in unredeemed
ways, like this. I don’t understand when Christians, particularly Christian
leaders (who are supposed to be
mature) tell each other, “This is the way I see it. You should agree with me!”
Fundamentally, this is an argument about which side is the
right side on this issue. And fundamentally, Christians aren’t called to take
sides, especially not political sides. We’re called to love people. We’re
called to heal the sick and raise the dead, whether literally or
metaphorically.
It’s particularly frustrating when Christian leaders declare
“If you see it differently than I do, then you’re guilty of breaking the unity
of the saints!” Not so. Unity doesn’t come from agreeing on doctrine (it’s
about being part of the same family, but that’s another conversation).
But it’s just plain foolish when Christians expect
non-Christians to think Christianly. (That’s called “hypocrisy,” people. We don’t
like hypocrisy.) At no point does the Bible command us to make non-believers
act as if they were religious. Let’s get over that right away, shall we?
Instead of looking for the “the right side of the issue,” I’m
going to recommend that when we find ourselves saying, “I don’t see it that
way,” to follow that up with “…but you do, and I respect your thinking for
yourselves. Look for a way to love those who don’t agree with you. (I think you’ll
find that love converts more people than arguments, any day of the week!)
Or we could push for extra credit, and try to see it
their way, try to understand why they see it that way, even if only for
a moment. Seeing like they see is one way of loving them.
With Every Increase of Freedom...
This is quite a season we’re in with God. We’re seeing new freedom, new understanding of his ways, new revelation. The kingdom is making pretty significant advances right now.
And like every other time that we experience new freedom in Christ, there’s also a fresh resurgence of legalism trying to take away our freedom. I can’t remember ever seeing so many people pushing an agenda of “Return to the Law.”
You may have run into people online who warn you about “going too far” in experiencing the infinite grace of God. Some are concerned about holiness and believe that holiness is the result of their good works. Others appear to have invested so much of themselves in making themselves acceptable that they resent those who are made acceptable without the same effort.
I’m finding more books than ever, arguing for a return to an obedience-based covenant, some emphasizing dietary laws, others emphasizing whom you may associate with, others focusing on Sabbath law, or using Hebrew names for God, or celebrating Jewish holidays instead of the “pagan” holidays of whichever culture you live among.
It is EXACTLY this environment into which Paul writes Galatians 5:1: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” This is also the context in which Paul writes, “... some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.” (Galatians 2:4)
The apostle Paul was in the midst of the first great outpouring of the Spirit of God, the very first expansion of the Kingdom of God, and then, like now, there was a great surge towards returning to legalism, whether by circumcision, or by obeying Old Covenant rules about food or fellowship. The “Judaizers” who are promoting this legalism often call it a “restoration,” but the Bible calls it a “Yoke of Slavery.”
This is also the context into which Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)
This is a normal response of hell (often through people who don’t have freedom) whenever God’s people are moving in freedom: try to drag those who are escaping slavery back into slavery; if they can’t do that, then they’ll persecute the free ones and say all kinds of evil against them. Rejoice when that happens to you.
My encouragement is NOT to focus our attention on the people or the influences trying to drag us back into slavery. That’s an unworthy focus for our attention. Rather, be aware that some want to draw you back into their “yoke of slavery;” avoid them, as you avoid potholes in the road, while we “[fix] our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2).
As you follow Him (who IS worthy of our attention!), He’ll lead you “along the right paths for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:3) Trust the freedom that he’s leading you into; it really is for freedom that he has set us free!
Let us “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called [us] heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14)
And like every other time that we experience new freedom in Christ, there’s also a fresh resurgence of legalism trying to take away our freedom. I can’t remember ever seeing so many people pushing an agenda of “Return to the Law.”
You may have run into people online who warn you about “going too far” in experiencing the infinite grace of God. Some are concerned about holiness and believe that holiness is the result of their good works. Others appear to have invested so much of themselves in making themselves acceptable that they resent those who are made acceptable without the same effort.
I’m finding more books than ever, arguing for a return to an obedience-based covenant, some emphasizing dietary laws, others emphasizing whom you may associate with, others focusing on Sabbath law, or using Hebrew names for God, or celebrating Jewish holidays instead of the “pagan” holidays of whichever culture you live among.
It is EXACTLY this environment into which Paul writes Galatians 5:1: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” This is also the context in which Paul writes, “... some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.” (Galatians 2:4)
The apostle Paul was in the midst of the first great outpouring of the Spirit of God, the very first expansion of the Kingdom of God, and then, like now, there was a great surge towards returning to legalism, whether by circumcision, or by obeying Old Covenant rules about food or fellowship. The “Judaizers” who are promoting this legalism often call it a “restoration,” but the Bible calls it a “Yoke of Slavery.”
This is also the context into which Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12)
This is a normal response of hell (often through people who don’t have freedom) whenever God’s people are moving in freedom: try to drag those who are escaping slavery back into slavery; if they can’t do that, then they’ll persecute the free ones and say all kinds of evil against them. Rejoice when that happens to you.
My encouragement is NOT to focus our attention on the people or the influences trying to drag us back into slavery. That’s an unworthy focus for our attention. Rather, be aware that some want to draw you back into their “yoke of slavery;” avoid them, as you avoid potholes in the road, while we “[fix] our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith” (Hebrews 12:2).
As you follow Him (who IS worthy of our attention!), He’ll lead you “along the right paths for his name’s sake.” (Psalm 23:3) Trust the freedom that he’s leading you into; it really is for freedom that he has set us free!
Let us “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called [us] heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14)
Insight About Heaven’s Resources
Maybe you’ve had this experience. You’re praying, usually
praying protection, for someone – perhaps ourselves, more often we’re praying
for someone else. And then it happens: you see or feel the angels that are guarding
them.
Those angels are never wimpy little things, are they? No,
the wimpy little things are the demons opposing you, or at least most of those
demons are wimpy and little; a few are more capable and are worth another
glance before banishing them.

As we prayed, it seemed as if Father was chuckling quietly. “Protection?”
he murmured, as he opened the veil between realms so we could see the protection
that was already in place. Our eyes were drawn up, and up, and up.
Greg is not a small man, but as we beheld the angel that
protected him, suddenly Greg appeared minuscule. Standing tall, he didn’t reach
beyond the calves of the angel who guarded him. Greg was already very well protected, indeed.
Since that day, I’ve “seen” the guardians of many, many
people, and not a one of them is a wimp. And that’s consistent with the nature
of the One who assigns these spirit-beings to protect us: He does not do things
halfway. If He’s going to send an angel to guard his children, it’ll be a formidable
protection!
That’s where I’ve been for years: thankful for these mighty
defenders. But the other night, it changed.
In my dreams that night, I was facing a formidable
assignment, something I needed to do, that I had no idea how I could ever
accomplish that: it was way beyond my abilities, beyond my realm of influence, beyond
my… and suddenly Father interrupted.
“I’ve given you a powerful advocate.” He said. “This task is
not beyond his resources.” The invitation was clear, but that was the moment
that I woke up, with those words ringing in my spirit: “I’ve given you a
powerful advocate. This task is not beyond his resources,” and the sense that I
needed to share this exhortation with the saints.
God has given you a powerful advocate. Don’t shy away from the
dreams He’s given you, just because they’re beyond your own skills and abilities.
Heaven’s resources are with you. You’ve seen them act for your protection. Now,
don’t get all cocky about it, of course, but they’re working with you for your success, every bit as much as for
your protection. This is no longer beyond you.
Let’s take up the assignment, the dreams he’s laid before us, shall we? For we do not work alone.
A Personal History with Unchurched Believers
I grew up in the church. Later, I met Jesus in another church during the Jesus People revolution. That was far more interesting than regular church!
For decades, after I’d graduated from Bible college, I got a real Bible education in a Bible-believing church. And I learned the importance of being part of a church, a local congregation. A campfire of only one log will quickly burn out; a campfire with many logs will burn long and hot: believers, I was carefully taught, belonged in the campfire with other believers, and that meant in a Sunday congregation.
Over the next few decades, as I worked as an associate pastor with several churches, and Father began giving me a heart for His children, and as I watched God’s children in churches grow up, I became more concerned for those children that didn’t have the advantage of a church family.
I met a small number of disenfranchised believers in this season: men and women who were angry and bitter at the church, and sometimes at God, too. And I prayed more for believers who didn’t have a church to call home. I pitied them.
I remember one particular evening while I was praying for the unchurched believers. Father showed me two things about this group of people that I felt a burden for: First, there were more of them than I ever expected, and second, that he was going to do something – something that I call revival – among them. So I prayed for that revival! And I pitied them: lost sheep without a flock to call home.
I prayed for and pitied unchurched believers for years, and as I did, Father’s love for those poor people grew in my heart, fueling more prayer, and probably more pity as well.
One spring Saturday, a friend I respected held an event that I saw as a church service for people who didn’t fit in church real well. It was encouraging for several reasons, not least of which was that I wasn’t fitting real well in my own church at that time.
Unfortunately, when I returned home, I discovered I had left my jacket, with my wallet, behind, and I didn’t recognize it until I returned home, an hour’s drive away.
Unfortunately, when I returned home, I discovered I had left my jacket, with my wallet, behind, and I didn’t recognize it until I returned home, an hour’s drive away.
The next day, I brought a friend and a cell phone with me and drove back to the site of the event. It took more phone calls than I expected by finally someone was able to tell me that my jacket was probably with “Ken and Barbie,” well outside of town.
Great. I really don’t need a Ken or a Barbie in my life right now: I don’t need pretend, doll-type people my life. It was only a Goodwill-type jacket; I considered giving it up for lost, but my wallet was in the jacket. I couldn’t give up my wallet; I guess I needed to go visit Ken and Barbie.
When I arrived at their well-worn farmhouse, I scratched my head: this wasn’t the type of house I expected for “Ken and Barbie” type people. We knocked cautiously and were greeted by one of the more un-doll-like men I’ve ever met. And I recognized as soon as we stepped inside the house that we were well and truly welcome. I described it later as a family reunion with family I didn’t know I had.
We spent four hours together with these wonderful and genuine people, hours spent sharing their hearts, our hearts, stories of our Father. I learned that Ken had been a pastor for a number of years, but made his living as a carpenter now. I realized that even though I was currently a Pastor, I wanted to be more like these people. So I asked what I always ask: “So what church are you guys part of?”
The silence was deafening as Ken and Barbie glanced at each other, and I could see the question in their eyes: “How much should we tell them?” Eventually they admitted that they hadn’t been in church for more than a decade, and they told me their story of how God led them from “churched” believers to “unchurched” believers.

I was in a conundrum: I had believed that believers ought to be part of a church, but here were a whole lot of believers that I wanted to be like, whose life I aspired to, believers who – contrary to my training and my expectations – were solid and mature, and who were pillars of strength in their families and their communities. Here were believers who did not have the “advantage” of a local congregation, who were better believers than those that I knew who had that advantage. My head was spinning.
I needed to re-examine a belief that I’d held as unquestionable, and it started me asking a lot of questions about things I’d never questioned. Let me just summarize by saying that this was an exciting season in my walk of faith, and skip to the part where God confronted me about the church I was part of, where I was the associate pastor, where I was on the worship team, and where I was one of the primary preachers on Sunday mornings.
“When are you going to stop working in another man’s field, and start working in your own?” I knew it was time to leave the church, to leave that church, and to leave the church community in my city. I questioned whether I was supposed to “plant” my own church, but realized that that was just a distraction: we were to become part of the “unchurched” community.
I had a couple of dreams in this season: one before we left, clearly describing our preparation for leaving, and the sequel, after we left, where he warned me of three things:
1) I would be disoriented, not knowing where I was, or where to go. And
2) I would be powerless to steer my life, anyway, even if I did have an idea about where to go. But
3) I would be able to hear Father’s voice substantially better, now that I was outside of the busyness of church, better, perhaps, than ever before.

Curiously, our fellowship is better now that we were “out of fellowship” with Sunday morning congregations. That one surprised me, too. We are still people with imperfections, and we are still in relationship with people with imperfections; there’s no perfection here. We still deal with misunderstandings and stuff. That’s part of life.
But our place in the Body of Christ is more of what it should always have been, now that we’re no longer part of a congregation: better friendships, less judged, more received for who we are, more free to exercise our God-given gifts. In other words: church outside of “Sunday morning church” has been a substantial improvement.
Now, let me explain: I’m not writing this in order to give you a model to follow, or a standard to measure your life by. I’m writing this only as a testimony: this is the confused and real-life experience that I had; perhaps it might encourage you wherever you are in your own walk.
And let me encourage you in this: God is very much able to take you through whatever you’re going through, and to bring you out the other side in extreme and overwhelming victory.
Father & Sons Development Co.
I don’t know if I’ve ever told you that I’m adopted. I was adopted by my Father at a very young age. I love my Father. He’s the best Dad in the world.
Did I tell you I’m working in the family business? The day I was adopted, I started working with my Dad. My Dad’s awesome like that.
When I was really little, he’d carry me in his arms as he walked through the factory floor. He’d stop and visit with machinists and foremen and janitors, pretty much everybody
Once when I was a bit older, I was building stuff with Legos™ in his office, while he worked on something. His desk overlooked the factory floor, and he saw something that caught his attention.
“Son,” he says. “You know Mr. Davidson? Tall guy. Red shirt. Big mustache?”
“I know him, Pop.”
“Son, would you go find Mr. Davidson and ask him to come up to see me? I’ve got something I want him to see.” And I toddled down the stairs to find Mr. Davidson. Soon he and Dad were talking seriously about something on Dad’s desk, and I added a new wheel to the thing I was building.
There was a time after I’d discovered books! Books are wonderful things! I was sitting in a chair in Dad’s office, sounding out a word, when he interrupted me. “Son, Miz Thompson works on the far side of the factory. Would you find her and give her this note?” He handed me the note, and I ran off to find Sally Thompson. She had a wonderful smile, and she used it on me sometimes.
I never did go to normal school. I would say that Dad homeschooled me, except it mostly happened in his office. Is there such a thing as officeschool? We had the best times together in his factory office.
He’d given me an arithmetic assignment that made me think pretty hard. If Mr. Jacobi needs to build this many boxes by the end of the month, how many does he need to build every day? Eventually I puzzled it out right (Dad showed me where I’d forgotten to carry the one, the first time), and he smiled this great big smile! “Son, would you please take this down to Marty Jacobi – he should be in the lunchroom right now – and show him how well you did this.” He wrote his initials on my math paper.
I found Marty. He gave me a cookie while he looked at my work. I munched, and then he smiled, and said, “You’ve got a real smart Dad, you know!” He was right, of course, but I already knew that!
One day he was reading letters. He had a lot of letters, and he read ’em all. One of them made him smile extra big, and he called me to himself. “Son, would you please go tell Bob Davidson that he’s got a new worker coming in the morning. He’ll want to put Cindy on the Quality Control team right away.” I delivered the message. Bob winked at me and nodded. “Sure thing!” he said.
One Thursday morning, Dad pushed my math books out of the way again, and set down his computer in their place. “Son, do you see this? What do you think that means?” and he pointed to a detail on the screen. This was a math test test, I felt sure. I was ready.
“That looks like trouble, Dad. Not big trouble, but trouble. Especially for the QC department. Um… Is that right?”
“That’s right, Son,” and he printed that page. “Would you explain this to Cindy in QC? And maybe talk with her about what to do with it, and bring me your favorite few suggestions.” Later, he picked one of our ideas, and implemented it. That was cool.
So I wasn’t altogether surprised when he set his computer on my desk some time later. He didn’t point to anything, but asked me, “What do you see here, Son?” I studied it a bit, and talked with him about the three or four things I saw. “What about this one?” “Hmm. I saw that, but didn’t think it was all that important,” I answered. “It’s all important, Son. Especially when this is trending,” and he pointed to the first detail I’d seen. “What happens when these happen on the same day?” I hadn’t thought of that! We talked about it and how to help the folks in the factory when that happened. I learn so much from my Dad.
And a few months later, those two things did happen on the same day. “Well, it happened, Dad.” “Yep, it surely did. Well, you know what to do.” I picked up my notes from our planning, headed down the stairs, and called the supervisors together. I explained the problem, and listened to their concerns. One of the guys had already figured it out, so I let him describe the adjustments we needed, filling in details when he needed help. We had the solution in place before the problem was big enough to slow production down.
Eventually we got to the point where I was really running the factory. Dad spent most of his time talking to individuals, or scheduling contractors for the expansion, and he spent a lot of time training some of the other kids, too. If I ran into a problem, he was always right there to help, and there wasn’t anything that he couldn’t figure out.
Figuring things out comes easy when you’re omniscient like my Dad is.
Did I tell you I’m working in the family business? The day I was adopted, I started working with my Dad. My Dad’s awesome like that.

Once when I was a bit older, I was building stuff with Legos™ in his office, while he worked on something. His desk overlooked the factory floor, and he saw something that caught his attention.
“Son,” he says. “You know Mr. Davidson? Tall guy. Red shirt. Big mustache?”
“I know him, Pop.”
“Son, would you go find Mr. Davidson and ask him to come up to see me? I’ve got something I want him to see.” And I toddled down the stairs to find Mr. Davidson. Soon he and Dad were talking seriously about something on Dad’s desk, and I added a new wheel to the thing I was building.
There was a time after I’d discovered books! Books are wonderful things! I was sitting in a chair in Dad’s office, sounding out a word, when he interrupted me. “Son, Miz Thompson works on the far side of the factory. Would you find her and give her this note?” He handed me the note, and I ran off to find Sally Thompson. She had a wonderful smile, and she used it on me sometimes.
I never did go to normal school. I would say that Dad homeschooled me, except it mostly happened in his office. Is there such a thing as officeschool? We had the best times together in his factory office.
He’d given me an arithmetic assignment that made me think pretty hard. If Mr. Jacobi needs to build this many boxes by the end of the month, how many does he need to build every day? Eventually I puzzled it out right (Dad showed me where I’d forgotten to carry the one, the first time), and he smiled this great big smile! “Son, would you please take this down to Marty Jacobi – he should be in the lunchroom right now – and show him how well you did this.” He wrote his initials on my math paper.
I found Marty. He gave me a cookie while he looked at my work. I munched, and then he smiled, and said, “You’ve got a real smart Dad, you know!” He was right, of course, but I already knew that!
One day he was reading letters. He had a lot of letters, and he read ’em all. One of them made him smile extra big, and he called me to himself. “Son, would you please go tell Bob Davidson that he’s got a new worker coming in the morning. He’ll want to put Cindy on the Quality Control team right away.” I delivered the message. Bob winked at me and nodded. “Sure thing!” he said.
One Thursday morning, Dad pushed my math books out of the way again, and set down his computer in their place. “Son, do you see this? What do you think that means?” and he pointed to a detail on the screen. This was a math test test, I felt sure. I was ready.
“That looks like trouble, Dad. Not big trouble, but trouble. Especially for the QC department. Um… Is that right?”
“That’s right, Son,” and he printed that page. “Would you explain this to Cindy in QC? And maybe talk with her about what to do with it, and bring me your favorite few suggestions.” Later, he picked one of our ideas, and implemented it. That was cool.
So I wasn’t altogether surprised when he set his computer on my desk some time later. He didn’t point to anything, but asked me, “What do you see here, Son?” I studied it a bit, and talked with him about the three or four things I saw. “What about this one?” “Hmm. I saw that, but didn’t think it was all that important,” I answered. “It’s all important, Son. Especially when this is trending,” and he pointed to the first detail I’d seen. “What happens when these happen on the same day?” I hadn’t thought of that! We talked about it and how to help the folks in the factory when that happened. I learn so much from my Dad.
And a few months later, those two things did happen on the same day. “Well, it happened, Dad.” “Yep, it surely did. Well, you know what to do.” I picked up my notes from our planning, headed down the stairs, and called the supervisors together. I explained the problem, and listened to their concerns. One of the guys had already figured it out, so I let him describe the adjustments we needed, filling in details when he needed help. We had the solution in place before the problem was big enough to slow production down.
Eventually we got to the point where I was really running the factory. Dad spent most of his time talking to individuals, or scheduling contractors for the expansion, and he spent a lot of time training some of the other kids, too. If I ran into a problem, he was always right there to help, and there wasn’t anything that he couldn’t figure out.
Figuring things out comes easy when you’re omniscient like my Dad is.
Mid-Course Correction Going On

Even now, if
you ask about priorities for the people of God, believers in the “over 40” age
group will talk about theology, and the need to have all the theology right. This
group talks about the Bible as the authority, though they often live as though
the Sunday sermon is the real authority. (Note: “over 40” is just an approximation: some 30-year-olds belong in this group, and some 60-year-olds belong in the other.)
But if you
ask believers in the “under 40” age group the same question, they won’t mention
theology. This group is more focused on “How can I change the world?” and they
expect to refine their theology along the way. This group also regards the
Bible highly; the Bible, interpreted by the Holy Spirit, not by the pastor’s
sermon, is the real authority.
The curious
thing is that the second group, rather than the first is actually more
Biblical: this is the model used over and over in the Book of Acts: “He said
preach the good news to the whole world! Let’s go preach somewhere that nobody
else has preached yet.” In fact, it has been said that Apostle Paul’s method of
being led by God was something of “bumbling around in the Spirit until
something happened!”
Regardless
of which group you find yourself in (I think of them as the “Get The Theology
Right” group and the “Change the World” group), this is not suggesting to you
that theology is not important. It is of critical importance. But theology is
not more important – or more urgent – than obeying the Word.
As I’ve
been reflecting on this, I realize that, being in the older age bracket, I’ve
been assuming that the theological questions have been the right questions to
ask. I’m changing that opinion.
Curiously,
when given instructions by God to go do something (such as “Go into all the
world and preach the good news of the gospel”), it is the servants who insist
on getting the instructions exactly right. The response of sons of the Kingdom
is more along the lines of “Hey, good idea. Grab the debit card and let’s go!”
Since many
of us in the older group, who have valued theology so much, are finally
understanding so much more about our status as sons, not as servants, and since
we’re teaching the younger believers that they’re sons, not servants, I suppose
we should not be surprised that they’re making the choices that sons make,
rather than making the choices that servants make, as my generation has done (much
to our embarrassment).
As I’m
learning more about my identity as a son, not a servant (why did nobody tell me
this decades ago???), I’m coming to value the perspective of the second group
more. I admire their willingness to take risks, I admire their eagerness to
follow God’s leadership, and I admire how much they’re getting done!
I’m going
to think more carefully about how to continue my ministry before the Lord.
The OTHER Benefit of the New Covenant
Our history with God is a history of covenants. Covenants
between God and mankind. This is how the mighty Creator King and the human
species relate: through a covenant.
We do it too. We’re up-front about it with marriage covenants,
and more subtle about other covenants. There is a powerful – unwritten –
parenting covenant: violate that one and society takes your children away from
you.
Now hold still, I’m going to talk directly about covenant
for a minute. Necessarily, I will engage in willful oversimplification of some details in order
to illustrate my point: the actual situation is much more complicated than this
simple explanation.
A covenant is a “promise to engage in or refrain from a
specified action.” Covenants are how people agree to relate to each other. Covenant
is how God relates to humanity.
Noah had a covenant. Abraham had a covenant. David had a
covenant. But the Big One was the Mosaic Covenant, often called The Old
Covenant.
The Old Covenant was kind of a failure in before it ever got
going, of course. God proposed a covenant to the people of Israel that had
a lot of the elements of our New Covenant in it. Before there even were the Ten
Commandments, God offered Israel
a covenant where every single person is a priest, every single person can come
to God for himself or herself:
“Now therefore, if you
will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special
treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. ‘And you shall be
to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words which you
shall speak to the children of Israel .”
(Exodus 19:6-7)
“Kingdom of priests and a holy nation”? Twice in the book of
Revelation, we’re described as “kings and priests unto our God” (1:6 &
5:10). God was offering that relationship to the Israelites four thousand years
ago? (Can you imagine what the world would be like if we hadn’t had the last
four thousand years of legalistic bondage? But I digress.)
But the people who were offered this intimate “everybody is
a priest” relationship with God reject that offer in the very next chapter.
“Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” (Exodus 20:19)
“Go near and listen to all that the LORD our God says. Then tell us whatever the LORD our God tells you. We will listen and obey.” (Deuteronomy 5:27)
And so the “everybody is a priest” covenant was put aside,
and was replaced with a covenant based on the people’s obedience. Any covenant
that’s based on obeying will necessarily have consequences for disobedience.
Thus this is a covenant about blessings for obedience, and punishment
(sometimes called “curses”) for disobeying.
Deuteronomy 28 functions as kind of a summary: You’ll be
blessed when you obey, and you’ll be cursed (or punished) if you disobey.
Verses 1 through 14 outline the blessings. The rest of the chapter talks about the
punishment for disobeying, and it’s God that is charged with that punishment.
Frankly, that was a lousy covenant, it’s a poor substitute
for God’s first proposal, but it’s a covenant! Even that poor replacement was
better than no relationship at all between God and man!
We remember that the terms and conditions of the Old
Covenant (which we call “The Law”) were intended to constrain the behavior of
the humans in this covenant relationship. But we tend to forget that the Old
Covenant constrained the behavior of BOTH parties of the Covenant: God had
chosen to bind himself to the Old Covenant as well.’
So when we read in Deuteronomy 28 about “If you disobey,
you’ll be punished.” Guess who the punisher has to be. Yeah, that’s God. He has
bound himself to this busted-up covenant, because it’s better than no covenant
– no relationship – whatsoever. Moreover, this was the only covenant that the
people would agree to, so this was the covenant that he bound himself to.
And this covenant, proposed by fearful men, required that
God punish (or “curse”) the people that he loves so very much, every time they
disobey. (Seriously, go read Deuteronomy
29!)
Now let’s remember that there was a third party loose on the
Earth, who was not a party to the covenant between God and man. Lucifer had
already demonstrated his eagerness to accuse God at every opportunity (see Genesis
3:4-5). And he’s up to his old tricks here as well.
So every time the people disobeyed (and that happened so very often!) and God was required by the
people’s busted-up covenant to punish them, Lucifer steps up to the microphone
and declares, “Look how mean God is! Look how bloodthirsty he is! Look how
angry God is!” completely ignoring the fact that God is merely complying with the
conditions of the covenant that mankind offered him.
That’s a hot mess. I’ve oversimplified the story in this
short article, but it’s easy to see the mess that the Old Covenant is:
seriously, the only one who benefited from that debacle was Lucifer, and that’s
not actually what we’re aiming for.
Now skip forward until Jesus is sitting in the Upper Room,
where Jesus is offering – for the second time – a covenant of an “everybody is
a priest” relationship between man and God: “For this is My blood of the new
covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:28,
Mark 14:24, Luke 22:20, 2 Corinthians 11:25.) But this time, the
representatives (the twelve) accept the offer.
I still marvel at that cup, that biscuit. With that token
meal, God removes us from the Old Covenant and makes us participants instead in
the New Covenant (Hebrews 8:13 makes it clear: “In that He says, “A new
covenant,” He has made the first obsolete.”). And this is a covenant whose sole commandment (John 13:34) is to love
each other.
What an amazing relief that is: in a single moment, these
guys are plucked from a covenant of “If you obey, I’ll bless you; if you
disobey, I’ll punish you!” and dropped into a Covenant of Love.
The seminal New Covenant verse, John 3:16, says it
beautifully: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” And
if that wasn’t clear enough, verse 17 clarifies that the New Covenant is not
about punishment: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the
world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” What a relief that is!
All that is amazing, spectacular, and otherwise completely
awesome.
But it is also only half of the story. The Old Covenant is
made obsolete, and we are released from its bondage, but we were not the only ones held in bondage by it.
With the passing of the Old Covenant, God Himself is no
longer constrained by the Law to provide blessings when people obey, like
treats for a dog that sits when you tell him. More importantly, God is no
longer constrained by the Law to bring punishment, curses, judgment on the
people that he so desperately loves.
When the Old Covenant was replaced by the New Covenant,
humanity could give a great, corporate sigh of relief. We’re no longer under
the law, but now we’re under grace, under love.
But the greater relief may not be ours. In the New Covenant,
God is now free to love us with all that is in his heart, as he has longed to do
since the day he said, “Let us make man in our own image.” (Genesis 1:26). God is now free from the Old Covenant, and he’s more excited about it than we
are.
We are free. But more important, God Himself is free!
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