Fire And Grace - David Johndrow

5-Fold School of Ministry

2012-01-16T11:20:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was the first of a 2 part 5-Fold School of Ministry. I was a great time in which we covered the the role of the pastor and prophet as equippers in the church.

Pastor Stephen Russell laid out the principals of 5-fold pastoring which included the attributes of protection and nurturing a local flock. He also talked about confronting unbecoming behavior in the church. I loved his passion for his place in the Kingdom. In addition the team covered the following:

- Caring for the Sheep
- Deliverance
- Healing
- Wholeness
- Feeding the Sheep

My brother, Lee Johndrow spoke for the part of the class on the prophet. He did an excellent job talking about accuracy, faith, and the trials of those that occupy this role in the church. I addition we covered:

- What is Prophecy
- The Prophet
- The Gift of Prophecy (charisma)
- The Role of a Prophet (doma)
- Receiving/Judging Prophecy
- How to Prophesy

If you are in Southern New England, and are free on February 3 and 4th, we'll be doing part 2 and talking about the Evangelist, the Apostle and the the Teacher.

For more information, visit www.apostolicschool.com .

I Am Thankful Today

2011-11-24T08:10:00.001-05:00

On Monday, April 4th I was admitted to the Heart Trauma Center with congestive heart failure. You can read that story HERE.

On Tuesday my pastor drove down to visit me. I was on 12 liters of oxygen per hour. Daryl and I had a nice chat, and he prayed for me just before he left. As he prayed I could feel the anointing of God and I had a picture (internal vision) in my spirit. It was my heart and swirling around it were my heart enzymes. In that still small voice I heard the Lord say, "You will completely recover." I shared it with Daryl and he agreed, "I am not worried" he said.

I made tremendous progress that day. My ejection fraction went from the 20s to the high 30s!

Five days later I was home, although I went back the following day due to chest pain.

Nearly a month passed and I was recovering at home; resting, exercising, and eating right. One Sunday morning I took a shower and was heading for the YMCA to do my tri-weekly mile on the treadmill. It was 5 minutes to nine, the Mother's Day breakfast in bed was a success, and I wanted to get to the local church for the 10:30 service. I heard the Lord prompt me, "Go to the 9 o'clock service." I swapped my sweat pants for a pair of jeans and headed to the Vineyard.

I sat through the acoustic worship, then a sermon on forgiveness - you know, the f-bomb. Both were introspective. I was in the lobby getting ready to leave and one of the elders gave a word of knowledge. "There is someone here this morning with a weak heart which I believe God wants to heal." I didn't even hear him, but a woman that I know came and got me. I went up for prayer. There were only about 20 people there that morning, and God had a plan for David!

A few days later I sat in the cardiologist’s office. I could hear the nurse whispering to an aide. "Oh my God!" At first I thought something was wrong. I later found out that she had been comparing my EKG from the day I was admitted to the ICU to the one from my appointment that day, and there was a drastic difference! The cardiologist confirmed it with my echo-cardiogram saying that my heart function was now completely normal!

In fact, I went for my 6 month check up a few days and he said not only was my heart completely normal, but that I had made a full recovery.

Today I am thankful life itself.

What are you thankful for?

Apostolic Reform

2011-10-15T21:16:00.003-04:00

I have written many times about issues in the church, but today I want to offer some solutions for free! You may download a copy of my book.

How good/pertinent is my book? Well, I'd love for you to have a copy and give me some feed back. But before you do, here is what my friend Mark had to say.

David is part of a emerging generation of Equippers. Apostolic Reform takes a look at the 5-fold ministry with fresh eyes. The book opens the conversation about the importance for New Testament churches and leadership models. This book is a good introduction to the reformation happening in the Ecclesia at this hour. The focus of the book is the Body being equipped and coming forth to fulfill her destiny.

I recommend that all believers read this book at allow it to challenge you toward a fuller understanding of Apostolic Reformation and Kingdom living.

- Sr. Leader Village Church, NH

They say a picture paints a thousand words; likewise, without using many words, this
work by David details the 5-Fold ministry gifts of the church, and lays a foundation for a
much needed discussion concerning Apostolic reform. Projecting a vision which honors
the gifts God has placed in others, and activating them in the framework of a relational
team, reinforces the supernatural origins of the 5-Fold.

History reveals that "small unknowns" have both challenged and defeated giants. While this mini-book may look small, it contains revelation of a topic which can topple non-relational, institutionalized religion, which has held relational power infused Christianity captive for centuries. As my dad, who being small in stature says, "I may look small in size, but I am a big man inside", likewise this book contains greatness.

My hope is that church leadership will catch the heart of this work, embrace its contents, and begin a much needed discussion towards change.

- Daryl Nicolet, Sr. Leader, Faith Worship Center Pepperell, MA

Download Apostolic Reform - A Fresh Look at the 5-Fold Ministry right HERE.

My Destiny, and the Passing of Steve Jobs

2011-10-07T10:02:00.002-04:00

I had a friend that wept when Ansal Adams, the famous landscape photographer, passed away. Some famous people that I have identified with in life have passed on during my life time: Keith Moon of the Who, Stevie Ray Vaughn of Double Trouble, Tommy Bolin of the James Gang and now Steve Jobs.of Apple.

I never met Keith, or Tommy Bolin, but I did meet SRV in New York in the 80s. I also met Steve Jobs in Boston in the early 90s. He was talking about the Internet, and his user-friendly Linux operating system NEXTStep. He had been banished from Apple and was not far from his alliance with Pixar (Toy Story etc.) NEXT was perfect, yet like so manything Steve Jobs, too far advanced for the average person.

Steve was just plain intense. Check out the movie Pirates of Silicon Valley.

Why am I emotional about the death of Steve Jobs? Well, 4 reasons.

-1 I think he was a genius because of his innovation. One does not need an IQ of a bajillion to be innovative. Certainly we owe every cool advancement in computers from the mouse, to the iPad to Apple. Microsoft and Google pale in comparison to innovation. I'm just sayin'

-2 The most amazing ad during a Superbowl.

-3 God used Steve's invention, the Macintosh to change my life, my career, and give me a testimony. It was even prophesied. HERE is the story of me, God and a Macintosh (pictured upper right).

-4 Eternity: I am not a universalist, and I don't think I will be seeing Steve in heaven. That makes me sad. Life is but a vapor, be eternity is a long, long time.

I would like to add that cancer sucks, and just maybe, Steve had an epiphany.

Prophetic School

2011-10-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

I just finished teaching a Prophetic School at my church in which there were 60-75 students. It was exciting to see people that have never met one another, deliver a message with amazing accuracy; some of them for the first time in their lives.

I want to share a couple of other things which were pretty cool.

My friend, Mark Sanchez came down to the school along with my brother Lee and they were wonderful - edifying, and a real blessing. They are a great prophetic team. I am looking forward to ministering with them again in the future.

Another of my life events started when I felt I was supposed to go to a conference with my pastor. A year later I received a phone call from a guy that I have never met face-to-face, but we have talked to on the phone. His name is Bill Miracle. He called me about a month or so ago, and said: "One of us is going to California." We talked for a little bit and I received the word.

A few weeks later, I was asked by my pastor to attend a conference in California. I committed to go without having the funds to get there. My friends had been praying for a plane ticket. Not long after I received a word from a woman that I also have not met face-to-face; she lives in Vancouver. Here is her Facebook message to me on September 22:

"David, I was praying for you this afternoon, and I felt God say that the money for your ticket was going to come from your church, an honorarium, for teaching the course, perhaps?

I could have heard wrong (it's happened lots before), but I'm practicing hearing God and I have faith for you. Let me know how God provides."

At the end of the school, my pastor decided to do an offering. It was unusual because I attend the church and do classes for them all the time. In all the classes I have done we have never had an offering - well until this one. It was enough to fund my trip and also my wife as well.

I'll let you know how things go in California!

The New Direction

2011-09-19T07:00:00.000-04:00

If you look back over the years of posts here at Fire & Grace, you'll see that God is at work in my life. I am going somewhere, and the next step is pretty well established. I am teaching at the Apostolic School. It is really what I love to do. In addition, it looks like there are some other opportunities as well. I could not be more excited!

So what is the new direction?

David is taking a new direction in his walk with Christ - no I am not going to become a Buddhist or a recluse, praying night and day - I am being promoted - the Lord has called me to some other areas of the Kingdom which have been on my heart for years! Like any good web site, no one wants to read all the fine print, so here are some FAQs:

Q. Are you quitting blogging?

A. Mostly, yes.I have been writing blogs since 2005, and there are now over 1000 of them on the Internet somewhere. I am sure you haven't read them all. In addition my weekly contribution on Kingdom Bloggers, the ones I have written on my own site, Fire & Grace, and recently post a few wise cracking blogs about weight loss on MyFitnessPal.com, there is lots of me to go around for some time to come.

Q. What will you be doing with your extra few hours a week?

A. It's a good question. I am devoting more time to teaching and ministry, which; is a great honor, privilege and joy. I had a prophetic word about returning to my second love (ministry over a year ago), it is just time. I have written a second book (the first one is free online HERE) which is out for editing. I hope to publish it as soon as I can afford to.

On a personal level, I am taking care of my health, my marriage, and my family. The heart trauma put a stress on every area of my life. I get up and run 2 miles pretty much everyday, and have dinner with my family every night. It's all good.

I will be posting from time to time - but there won't be a schedule for now.

Q. How can find out how all that is going on with David?

A. You can follow me on Twitter (or my ministry), that is the best way. I am going to be writing 140 character blogs on a regular basis, as well as updating those who care. You be able to see my progress working in the Kingdom, the details of my new book, and probably what I had for dinner - I often post grill pictures! Facebook is a good option too- but that is more about posting pictures of my family with goofy expressions.

Q. Will you miss blogging?

A. Of course I will, but what I loved about it the most was the people, not the words. Please stay in touch, and be blessed. As soon as the Lord gives me a street address in Heaven, I will be sure to post it. Until then, you can find me at FireAndGrace.com.

Q. Is there anything else?

A. Yes, the teaching and ministry requires travel, and I could use your prayer support. A couple of people asked if they could give financially, and the answer is yes. I need a plane ticket for late October.

A New Direction

2011-09-14T20:01:00.001-04:00

My apologies for not posting regularly. I have been in a bit if a funk as I am working more and more since my hospitalization. My new focus is my own health. And I am getting ready to do some teaching in a small conference setting. It's time consuming, yet all very exciting for me.

As I move forward on things and in the Kingdom, as I start to take care of my health, I have been messing around with some blogs to encourage people in losing weight - hey, I am down 60 pounds myself.

As you have read here from time to time, I try to have a little humor about it all; life is not a cement tuxedo!

If you would like a few laughs, check out my personal blog over at www.myfitnesspal.com. There you can visit a few more twisted abscesses of my mind, and find out why guys like me are afraid of the beach.

Truthfully, I am not sure what the future of Fire and Grace is, but God sure does. I certainly would appreciate your prayers for the Apostolic School as we've got classes scheduled out into 2012!

Be sure to follow me on Twitter to see how the story ends. It's not over yet! I have a few more posts left in me - so stay tuned.

Worship

2011-09-12T07:00:00.000-04:00

Wow, that weekend was a blur. Saturday I got up and wrote a blog that got deleted. I went on to have breakfast with some friends, and then lunch with a couple of the young guys in my church. Then I can home and worked on the house, did some shopping, made some dinner and practiced for this mornings worship set.

I went to church early to rehearse, and then home to shop for my wife's birthday, ride bikes with the family and a special meal for the love of my life.

In lieu of a regular blog, I am going to share the videos of the tunes that we played this morning. It was said that worship at church today was just really powerful. I don't know, I had my head buried in chords sheets for most of it.

5 1/2 Getting Down

2011-09-09T09:24:00.002-04:00

I have some good news today!

Here is where I am heading!

The good news is after prayer at church my viral panel came back negative, completely healed! As I wrote about a few months back, after being called out with a word of knowledge at church: "someone with a weak heart", 3 days later I had a confirmed echo-cardiogram showing my heart was back to normal.

Two healings, two major ones! Wow!

I have found that I have two more health hurdles, and I expect the same from God. One of them is potentially serious, while the other is just a knee injury for which I am getting and MRI for later today.

You can pray for both issues if you like.

The other good news is that I am down 60 pounds from working out, and eating a bit differently. I have 25 to go.

Here are 5 1/2 things I am looking forward too:

1 Buying new shoes that tie, now that i can see my feet.

2 Putting on my old 32x34 black jeans.

3 Not wearing 40x32 pants with elastic waist bands.

4 Putting on a regular length tie that does not miss my belt line by 4 inches.

5 Getting completely off my blood pressure medication! (I am half way there)

5 1/2 Never seeing my weight start with "2"

Tell us about a change in your life that you are happy about?!

What is Sin Really? Why We are All Hypocrites

2011-09-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

I started this post years ago, and it caught my eye again. I am need of a post, and this one was almost done.

To listen to a traditional evangelical preach the Gospel, we are quickly aware of the following points.

- We are all sinners (Romans 3:23)
- We all need a personal Savior: Jesus to be exact. (John 14:6)
- The Bible is law and our guide to God's will. (2 Timothy 3:16)

Those particular points ask the following questions:
- What is sin, and who says so?
- What happens when we sin after we are "saved" and have a personal relationship with Jesus?
- Why does it seem OK for some to sin?

What Is Sin?
1 John 3:4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

Sin is breaking the Law, missing the mark set by God.

The word "sin" is a translation of the Greek word "hamartia" which means to miss the mark.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Religious tradition labels many things as sin which the Bible does not. People make up all kinds of rules based on what they think is right. But God is the judge and only God can decree what sin is.

Mark 7:9 And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!

God has not left us to wonder what sin is. The Bible reveals it to us. We don't have to guess, or make it up as we go.

Just because you do something someone else thinks is wrong does not mean it is a sin. So don't let people condemn you over things the Bible does not clearly say are wrong. God is the judge.

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

Another error is to think being tempted is a sin. Temptation itself is not sin. You cannot help being tempted. Even Jesus was tempted - but He never yielded.

Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin

A common mistake is believing that having a desire is a sin. It is not a sin to be tempted with a bad thought. It only becomes a sin when we embrace those thoughts as our own and decide to act on them.

James 1:15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

God is against sin because it is deadly. Sin brings forth death, not life and blessing. God loves people, so He is against everything that harms people.

All sin harms people. (Just because you don't see how a sin would harm anyone, does not mean you know more than God.)

But no human can be right with God by never sinning. We have all fallen short and need a Savior. It is only by God's grace and His forgiveness that we can be right with God.

Romans 3:20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

We can be glad because Jesus came to save sinners, and He paid the price for the forgiveness of all sins by shedding His blood.

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

So what if we are saved, what about those sins?
1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

It's a pretty good plan!

What do you think, is you faith in Jesus enough to receive His eternal grace and heavenly presence?

The Call of the Wild

2011-09-02T04:00:00.000-04:00

Don't you find it interesting that a lot of Christians see ministry as a vocation? I belong to a Christian discussion group on Linked In and there was a big to-do about all this. It did make me think, why do people get in the God business any way? Are there folks in ministry that God did not call? Are their folks in ministry that he did call, and they are dormant because they don't fit the religious molds of the church?

Here is what David thinks about all this:

The indicators of calling are spiritually discerned. If someone is called they would know it in their spirit. For others to recognize the call - in particular a very young person (IE: King David) - it would have to be revealed by the Spirit.

I teach about being called in our 5-Fold School of Ministry. Here are some of the points I believe are the building blocks of "calling.".

- Ministry is not a vocation.
- Ministry is not a position.
- Ministry is not a title. (I think that some folks have concentrated on the "office" and not on the role.)
- Ministry if filling a God-given role in the church.
- Those who don't recognize their call are often in religious structures that do not permit, or recognize the role they are called to. There is no one to model it, or a lack of teaching. (The very reason we did the 5-Fold School)
- Intimacy with God defines our call (or the lack of it) I likened it to salvation. There is a point where we cross the line (called), however; we have to work it out and mature.
- Relationship also helps define our role. Paul was in relationship with Timothy and Barnabas. Those relationships helped define the role that he was called to. The same was true of Phillip the evangelist.
- The fruit of ministry confirms a person's role in the church. IE:
The apostle's fruit is sound doctrine, tasks and teams.
  The prophet's fruit is revelation, focus on the living word.
  The evangelists fruit is salvation and the watering of the saved.
  The pastors fruit is is the healing and wholeness of people.
  The teachers fruit is imparting the knowledge of God,
  They are the equippers for all other roles in the church.
  The elders fruits is teaching, and corporate healing.
  The deacons fruit is service.

Those that are called often go through a process:
-1 The Call (Hearing God)
-2 Submitting to Leadership (Learning to be obedient)
-3 Trained through Trials and Testing (Maturing)
-4 Desert Experience (Doing the right thing when no one is looking.)
-5 Reentry into the Church (Doing well in the little things, being a servant.)
-6 Appointment by Elders (Public recognition of the call)

I believe intimacy with God is the key. If we cannot see what the Father is doing, it is going to be really tough to do it.

How Come God is not Logical?

2011-08-31T06:00:00.002-04:00

I am back from blog vacation! I confess, after many years of blogging weekly, I didn't miss it. It gave me time to think more deeply about new topics, and rethink some old ones... my newest topic has been grace and I am actually teaching and online Bible study on Facebook entitled "The School of Grace", feel free to join me for 8 weeks.

I really hate legalism, wooden literal-ism, liberalism and super-intellectuals when it comes to Bible. I am serious, I have listened to so much "educated" mumbo-jumbo in 35 years I don't know where to start! To top it off I have heard 102,834,727,237,283 people say "I think", followed by a comment that you could't come close to making up with even the most liberal interpretation of the scriptures Therefore; today, I am going to take a look at how Jesus, Peter and Paul interpreted the Torah. It is quite enlightening when you really look into it.

Here is an example of Jesus interpreting the Scriptures:

Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'

And what is with Peter, a little too much new wine?

Acts 2:14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. 15 These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! 16 No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.

Folks we need to ask ourselves this question: How the hell do we know what any of the Bible means? We read the books, study the Greek and Hebrew, listen to our seminary educated pastors and teachers, and yet religion prevails, and God is imprisoned in the minds of many.

Much of Christianity spends time pouring over the Scriptures as did the pharisees and the Scribes. And many just like them become educated in everything but the ways of the Spirit. We are taught that when Paul called his past education rubbish (Philippians 3:8), that somehow he is speaking of his past life, when in fact he is talking about all the education he had which did NOT bring him to the knowledge of Christ.

The relationship with the Spirit of God, the inner working of the Holy Spirit and knowing the voice of God are essential for understanding the Scriptures.

Romans 8:14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

If you read the rest of the the Devil's discourse, and the other places in the Bible where the Torah is quoted, you would think that it was taken out of context - and in truth, it sure seems to be!

Jesus is very clear about who follows him:

John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

God is not logical, He doesn't care if his ways follows scientifically proven "facts" of men, He does't care about your pet theologies, no; He wants you to know Him, to hear Him and to obey Him.

1 Corinthians 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

How about you, do you hear God?

5 1/2 Things I like about Hurricanes - Wussicane Irene

2011-08-29T07:00:00.002-04:00

Bass River Hurricane Bob '91

Well, we survived Hurricane err... Tropical Storm Irene. She was sort of a wuss compared to her grandparents Bob '91 (Cape Cod, MA) and Gloria '85 (CT) both of whom I lived through - but you already knew that..

I have lived in New England all my life; almost all of it on the coast. We have some pretty severe weather from time-to-time. I survived a tornado or two in Connecticut. We have Nor' Easters that pound the coastline and drop huge amounts of rain and/or snow - one nearly wiped out the Bush family home in Maine during the Nor' Easter of October 1991 with hurricane force winds and 39 foot waves.

I survived the Blizzard of '78 where we had snow drifts that completely covered every car in the driveway and rose 6 or more feet above the ridge on the roof on the house! Sometimes winter storms don't get much credit, but we had 42" of snow in 32 hours back a few years ago. Massachusetts/Rhode Island had torrential rains that flooded malls and washed out all sorts of bridges last year. Hey we even had an earthquake earthquake in Boston a few days ago, and another one last year.

I have to admit, as dangerous as hurricanes are, and even with the damage they can cause, I really like them - and here's why.

-1 WIND, WIND and more WIND! I like to get right outside and experience the high winds. It's an amazing experience as the winds whip around faster then the speed limit on the interstate highway. The best experience is out at the beach... but I wonder where the sea gulls go?

-2 Giant Waves! The day after a hurricane the waves can be taller than a 3 story house. The magnificent surf simply leaves me standing in awe of the raw power of the ocean, and our Creator.

Matthew 8:27 The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

-3 Power Outage: It's a good reminder of how much we depend on electric current to run our lives. I sort like the eerie quiet and the smell of candles.

-4 Rain: There is nothing more spectacular then to see "horizontal" rain blasting by at over a 100 miles per hour. It has such a distinctive sound.

-5 The Eyewall: One of the most spectacular things about a hurricane is the eye. The sky suddenly changes from the ominous blackness and driving winds, to a beautiful calm with a blue cloudless sky. As it passes overhead the "eyewall" is like looking up from the bottom of a giant empty milk glass - the wall of clouds extending into the heavens.

-5 1/2 Pop-Tarts (the largest selling item at Wal*Mart before any major storm.) ...

Here is brief clip from my front porch.

...and the Oscar for Christian concepts and sybolism cleverly hidden in a secular film goes to...

2011-08-26T07:01:00.000-04:00

Even though I’m completely responsible for this weeks Kingdom Blogger theme, this was one of my most difficult weeks. Not because I didn’t have anything to say…the problem was picking just a single movie/television show to focus on and dissect.

Those who know me (or regularly read Tony C Today) are already rolling their eyes and waiting for the Lonesome Dove or The Godfather breakdown. Sorry, Not today. While I often spew quotes from either movie like idioms on commitment to family and friends, I want to go with another one of my favorite classics…

The Shawshank Redemption

Has it been done before? Probably. Is it a tad overt? Maybe. But, the scene in the picture here alone warrants a closer look at how a prison movie can depict Christian values/themes.

The main character, Andy Dufresne, is as Job-like of a character as you will find in modern-day cinema. Convicted for a crime he didn’t commit, Andy is sent to his own person hell at Shawshank prison. But Andy isn’t completely innocent either. While he didn’t actually pull the trigger that kills his adulterous wife and her lover, he did contemplate the act in the movie’s opening scene (Matthew 5:28) and left himself open to incrimination and circumstantial evidence that lead to his judicial fall.

Upon arriving at Shawshank, Andy is first met by the Bible-thumping Warden Norton who professes to believe in two things: discipline and the Bible. The problem, as we come to realize, is Norton has very little self-discipline in his own life and doesn’t really apply the principles found in his beloved Bible to his life. He may know the Bible…but he sure doesn’t live the Bible. Norton would have made a great Pharisee.

After a rough start to prison life, Andy quickly accumulates the right kind of friends…well…as prison friends go that is. One of those friends is an old convict who most of the other inmates look up to called Red. Sentenced as a teenager for murder, Red is the prison ‘go-to’ guy if you need something. Andy’s first encounter with Red is to request a rock hammer which completely baffles the older con. When Red finally fills Andy request, they both share a laugh at the absurdly small hammer and the thoughts of someone being able to dig their way out with something that small.

The Shawshank Disciples

I believe the rock hammer is symbolic of Jesus for several reasons. First, Andy is in desperate need of Hope, and for him, the rock hammer represents that Hope (Romans 15:4). Red initially rejects that Hope stating Hope is a very dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane. Later in the movie, Andy leads Red to understand Hope by providing him a incentive to continue on with life once Red is released back into the world. Andy writes to Red- Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

Jesus is my rock...hammer.

The symbolism is further carried out between Andy and the Warden. Despite coming to knowledge that Andy may in fact be innocent of the convicted crime, Norton keeps the information buried because he knows too much about his dirty dealings. During one exchange the Warden discovers the seemingly innocent tool handing it back to Andy with-I'd hate to deprive you of this. Salvation lies within. Later the Warden discovers Andy had, in fact, used the small hammer to dig his way out of his cell while all along hiding the tool in a carved out space in his Bible (which happens to start in the book of Exodus if you pay attention closely). Hope, coming from within the Bible, leads to salvation. Hmmmm. Andy jabs back at the Norton in a letter left for him that states- Dear Warden, you were right. Salvation lay within.

One last point (and I’m skipping many others), the closing scene shows Red reaching Andy
on a beach in a scene many would say looks like Heaven…or at least the Sea of Galilee.

Watching this film, it's easy to forget this is actually a Stephen King story.

A little more cheese please

2011-08-25T06:00:00.002-04:00

Written by guest blogger and Kingdom Bloggers team mate, Tracy Chiara.

Ok, so the truth is that I really enjoy cheesy, 80s, movies. One of my all time favorites being The Blues Brothers. I mean, what's not to like about really cool music numbers, and car chases and pile ups?!

Elwood was always really terrible in a wonderful way!

But what I adore most about Elwood is that he's "on a mission from God" and he does whatever it takes to follow through on the mission. (Not to mention that I like the way he sounds when he declares that he's on a mission from God.) Nothing deters him. Seems to me that I could take a lesson from Elwood and not grow weary and give up so easy. I'm reminded of the exhortation of Paul in Galatians 6:9-10A:

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people

These words from Galatians are ones that I need to come back to repeatedly when I'm exhausted (like right now) with what's in front of me.

Elwood stayed the course even though he was rather a jerk. May I stay the course simply because I depend wholly on God's grace.

Team Edward

2011-08-24T06:00:00.006-04:00

Written by Guest Blogger and Kingdom Blogger teammate, Andrea York.

I’m going to tell you a secret...I’m a closet twi-hard and I’m very excited about the new movie, Breaking Dawn, coming out in November. For the second movie, New Moon, I went on opening night – I took my friend’s 12 year-old daughter because that would have been weird and pathetically sad, otherwise. I’ve been fascinated with vampires since Anne Rice’s Interview with a Vampire. Let me clarify – I’m fascinated by what it reveals about the author’s theology. Aside from Anne and Stephenie’s vampires; I stay away from the R-rated HBO series, True Blood, or CW network’s, The Vampire Diaries.

Stephenie Meyer is a Mormon (not the fundamentalist, sister wives kind). Mormons are known for their good family morals and fresh-faced missionaries. They are great to have as neighbours but their belief system is based on good deeds, rather than the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Similar to Anne Rice, her predecessor who worked out her theology through her vampire characters, I believe Stephenie Meyer is working out her theology through her characters.

We are eternally damned. It’s fact. We are all eternally damned because we have all sinned. The response to our dismal-looking eternity is varied and several of the characters offer a different perspective.

Shift the blame
Edward Cullen became a vampire because of someone else’s decision. His *father*, Carlisle made a decision to *save* him from dying from influenza by making him immortal. Blame shifting is as old as creation. We are sinners, period. Blame shifting does nothing other than justify our sin and create a moody, bitter person.

Don’t acknowledge the problem
Edward spends centuries mulling over his eternity, but others such as his love interest, Bella remain unconcerned. She even goes so far as to say she doesn’t believe it anyway. She is consumed only with the moment.

Redemption is our own responsibility
Edward desperately is seeking redemption. By his own admission, he is a monster. But he doesn’t want to be. His motive is pure but his execution will always come up short. He’s even willing to lay down his own life to save another, Bella – his love interest. Sadly, even then he will remain condemned.

Supernatural abilities belong to the darkness, not the light
All vampires sparkle like diamonds in the light. Alice can see the future. Edward has knowledge. Jasper can alter moods. Bella is a shield. These are kingdom truths and gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ and yet in the Twilight books/movies, they are given to vampires, the immortal super beings and the human is left without any defense.

Stephenie’s characters are looking for truth but never finding because truth is Jesus Christ. The Twilight books and movies are indicative of a culture that seeks spirituality but deny its power (which is the Holy Spirit). I learn about mindset and worldviews when I see and read things that are different than my own. And that’s why I like the Twilight series. :)

What movies/TV shows speak to you about theology?

My name is Andrea York and I want to be a trophy wife. Every Wednesday, I join David and the other Kingdom Bloggers on Wednesday for a weekly commentary of various topics and I write regularly about kingdom living on my own blog, Write Down the Revelation.

If a picture is worth a 1000 words, how much is video worth?

2011-08-23T12:54:00.001-04:00

Written by guest blogger and fellow Kingdom Blogger, Joyce Lighari.

When I preach or teach, I like to use video to emphasize my message. It can be really effect! I love doing it. I’ve had classes on this stuff in school so I know I’m not alone. I read a good book on preaching that talked about the use of video. In fact, this is so popular there is a website for preachers/teachers to go to for appropriate video clips. If you want to use video, here is a good place to start. Or of course, there is always YouTube.

Sometimes God speaks to me first and then I find the movie. Other times, I am watching a movie and the inspiration comes.

A time when God spoke to me first happened just a few weeks ago.

A number of years ago, when I first started to preach, I preached a message about horses, Run with the Horses, taken from Zechariah 10:3b

…For the LORD Almighty will care for his flock, the people of Judah, and make them like a proud horse in battle.
When I got ready to live on campus this summer, I was nervous. I asked the Lord for verse of scripture. He directed me to Jeremiah 12:5:

"If you have raced with people on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses? If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?

That sermon, run with the horses came to mind… Since then, in the last few weeks, I’ve preached that sermon again. These times I preached it with video clips from Secretariat. Here are two that I’ve used.

I love that line about stoking the fire. I told my daughter, that’ll preach. And it did!

However, the movie that probably spoke to me the most is The Lord of the Rings Trilogy:

Stand your ground, stand your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes, the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come, when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends, and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves, and shattered shields when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! For all that you hold dear, on this good earth, I bit you stand, men of the west!

Yes, Stand and Fight!

Celebrity Worship

2011-08-22T07:00:00.055-04:00

This week I have a special treat. The gang over at Kingdom Bloggers is going to be doing guests posts (I still have room if you are interested.) each day this week! It is an interesting mix of backgrounds, wit, intelligence (or lack of) and religion over there. There are 5 of us and we post Monday through Friday on the same topic; each from our own perspective. I am little nicer over there than I am here in my hometown, refraining from the use of calling certain low-life segments of society "stupid idiots," however; the rest is pretty much the same. Without further introduction, I am going to start it off, but be sure to catch the rest of the gang right here all week long!

This week the topic is movies and media. Why? Because Tony C, the one who picked this topic, has two freakin' huge TVs at his house and satellite dish as big as Iran. Little does the KB gang know, I watch maybe an hour of TV a day if I am lucky, and most of that is news. I haven't been to see a movie in a theater since Gran Torino in 2008, which starred Clint Eastwood (with his usual gun). It was an excellent movie; one of my favorites along with the The Mission and Bruce Almighty.

Growing up we didn't always have a TV in our house. Back then we had to get off the couch to change channels, and interestingly, everyone watched the same shows. You know, The Wonderful Word of Disney, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, ABC's Wide World of Sports and Truth or Consequences. We even thought All in the Family was funny, very funny!

I know it seems hard to believe, but I never watched Family Guy, Seinfeld, or Lost. I did however; become enlightened watching the Blue Collar Comedy Tour and The Mind of Mencia. I haven't laughed that hard since Cheech and Chong in 1975.

Well now that you have no problem challenging me in the Entertainment category of Trivial Pursuit, I do have a favorite movie that makes an excellent analogy to the Kingdom of God: The Italian Job. That's right. There are the crooks that get robbed by a crook! What did they expect? Most of the "job" takes place in Venice which is sort of symbolic if you think about all that has come out of Italy in terms of religion.

There is the great action packed interaction between characters as one crook tries to outsmart another crook. I love the ingenious and deceptive ego of the character playing the computer nerd and the suspense filled moments cracking safes, planning get-aways and ruses to trip up the others.

The church is sort of like that sometimes. We focus on what others are doing, we trust in man, and we spend all this time trying to outsmart, and out-theology one another. It's all very exciting trying to figure out where we are right and they are wrong - oh and a little success and egos soar as we become "inventors of the Internet" in our own minds.

In the movie there is also a love story taking place. The daughter of a murdered man brings love to a crook's life and it changes him. Love always changes people.

And that is what you and I are supposed to be doing with the Father's love, spending it on crooks who's lives are wrapped up in the wrong treasure - expending love that will change them.

It's the Truth

2011-08-19T07:00:00.001-04:00

I am still looking for guest bloggers, let me know if you are interested!

I am eventually going to be teaching at the The School of Grace. It is an awesome opportunity, and a good chance for me to dig into my own understanding of grace. This is one area where I have relied on the teaching of others, and now it is time to go deeper. Even if I don't actually teach on this, grace is part of the freedom I possess by faith.

I don't like to get too Bible about all this, but this is the central truth of the message of grace, and about who we are in Christ.

1 Corinthians 16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them.

The Spirit of God in us, which has sealed us for the day of redemption, which has regenerated us, the very one that raised Christ from the dead; who is alive (the Spirit that miraculously co-mingles with ours when we came through the door of faith) is the new man!

If we can simply grasp the very fact that our spirit-man is Christ, that he is seen by God as completely perfect and completely glorious, then we will begin to see how this truth not only set us free, but it sets us free from the law of sin and death!

The Good News of Jesus Christ is not eternal salvation, but that by faith He comes to dwell in us in his fullness capturing our soul and creating a new man (or woman) that has all the qualities of Christ; for which there are many!

For many years I have been taught 2 things which are suspect. 1) That somehow my sin nature affects my spirit man, and 2) that there just might be something that I need to do to make my relationship with Christ better.

As it turns out, both are untrue. My regenerated spirit man (new man) has everything that the Kingdom has to offer - the inheritance of the riches of Christ. From the moment I was born again, every bit of Christ was manifest in me. My natural body may not have been aware of it all, but that doesn't make it untrue.

The work of the cross - salvation - is complete, and there is nothing that I can do to add anything to tho it. Nothing!

What is holding us back? Releasing the new (spirit) man by a conscious choice so we may connect with the good works for which we were created to do by faith. This becomes easier from spending relational time (not religious time) with the our Father.

What do you think, is the work of Jesus Christ complete? Tell us what hinders you?

Who the Heck do You Think You Are?

2011-08-17T07:09:00.000-04:00

Note: I am still looking for guest bloggers, let me know if you'd be interested!

Last Friday I wrote about grace and mercy. Today I want to write about grace from a little different perspective.

I have a friend that said: :Mercy is not getting what we deserve, and grace is getting what we don't deserve; I'll take both." I like that, but it still makes grace a verb, when the work of Jesus Christ is really a know. How can that be? Well, John said that God is love, and I would submit to you that he is also grace. His person is pure grace, pure love, and pure peace.

When we connect with the love of God by faith, we become capable of being his love to others. It is the same with grace and peace. We don't extend anyone unmerited favor, we allow the person of Christ to work through us.

As we release the Spirit, the new man becomes Jesus to those in our lives; in fact we are meant to be overflowing with it!

Here is how I got there. Jesus was 100% man, while he was 100% God; it is possible for God to be many things at one time. His attributes and names number well over 600 in the Bible. He is a lot things, but the most important is alive. As he lives eternally, the ebb and flow of the Kingdom of God is consuming souls for eternity! He is constantly at work regenerating men and woman of faith.

Grace is one of those eternal persons of Christ. It is alive. It has a manifest presence just as his love does, and by faith we can feel it. And he can wrap his arms around us, and live in us!

We often talk about grace as though it is legal transaction, but it is so much more than that. Grace is the fullness of Christ in us! It is the new man, it is not help to fix the old man.

How about you, how has grace changed your life?

Shooting Pains

2011-08-15T07:13:00.001-04:00

Saturday morning I sat in my car with the window open. I could smell gun powder and hear small arms fire in the distance. My heart rate increased and I fidgeted in my seat as I waited. "Today is the day." I said to myself. Thank you Jesus! Today we are hitting the target range!

Saturday I went to the sportsman's club with my friend from church. We had a blast! (I know, bad pun, but a good time!)

There is nothing like a warm summer day, a pile of ammo, and half dozen weapons!

I have been shooting since I was 14. For my family, guns were no different than owning a hammer for carpentry, or a chainsaw for cutting firewood. We gave them the same respect we did any other potential harmful piece of hardware - like a car. Each of us took hunter and firearms safety courses. My dad was a hunter, and so were the rest of the men in my family; it put food on the table. Me, I preferred target shooting and plinking.

Every weekend I would purchase a few hundred rounds of ammunition and head to the sand lot behind the house. I set up empty cans and targets and fired away for hours. I became quite a good shot; a talent I hoped to use in the US Army some day.

When I was in college I sold or gave away all my guns. It was the cost of education, and I had no where to store them safely. Trust me, bong smoking, beer drinking college students do not need guns! Not long after there were kids in the house, and stifling laws. It was for those reasons I put my interest aside for 2 decades.

In 2000 I worked for a software company and they occasionally delivered computer systems to a "not so nice section of the city," to be installed at night, while the client was closed. Everyone but me carried a handgun. The owner of the company paid for my license and State Police certification as well as giving me a rifle and pistol. Almost exclusively we would hit the local rod and gun club about once or twice a week; we never made any of the late night deliveries.

It is interesting, a lot Christians get lumped into the right-wing-extremest-gun-toting-religious stereotype. Even president Obama used the term "guns and religion" in San Francisco when he thought he was off mic.

I don't think anyone enjoys being stereotyped; I sure don't. I am not a hunter, and I am not sure that I would use lethal force to "protect" myself. Heck, even Peter had a sword in the garden.

I am not so sure the guns kill people. If that were the case, than all mine are defective.

I have very strong opinions about the 2nd Amendment. Of course on one side there is the take them all away crowd, and on the other, the lack of regulation all together. I find it sort of silly that we have certain regulations, while we leave other types of gun behavior, which will often lead to crime, untouched.

If we look at some of the gun tragedies that have taken place, we need to ask an important question: How do these nuts get guns in the first place? Some buy them legally at gun shows where no federal background check is required. I am sorry, that's a good place to start. As much as I hate Massachusetts' ridiculously restrictive guns laws, they have the second step right. They do not allow people that have had ANY admissions to a mental hospital or detox to get a license to carry. Add to the that, convicted felons. Guns are confiscated when restraining orders are issued, and domestic violence is reported. Bravo Massachusetts.

It bothers me that the media does not report whether or not a gun is legal, or illegally possessed when they report gun violence. It becomes pretty clear that convicted felons in some of the USA's largest and most violent cities are not getting their weapons at Walmart. Don't even get me going about what is happening on the border with Mexico.

Massachusetts has a mandatory sentence for anyone who carries a weapon (legal or illegally purchased) and does not have a permit to carry it. Again, bravo to MA - make it a 20 year sentence!

Children who end up with a weapon that came from a parent, neighbor or relative is one of the easiest gun tragedies to stop. They have gun locks idiots! In MA you may have all the gun locks that you want, and they are free at the police station in every town! For those the feel the need to keep a loaded firearm at the ready, there are gun safes that will open at the scan of a fingerprint.

This is not an exhaustive list of logical gun regulations. It is a little common sense so that those of us that obey the law, and enjoy our freedom as US citizens to bear arms, get to keep on doing that.

What do you think, what other restrictions would make sense without taking away the right to bear arms?

Aren't You Sick of Being Called a Sinner?

2011-08-12T07:05:00.000-04:00

The first time I heard about grace, it was one of those silly acronyms used in a teaching. It worked, I still remember it after 30+ years. GRACE = God's Riches At Christ's Expense. It was meant to remind me of the work that was done on the cross for David, and to remind me that salvation is a free gift that I received by faith in that work. At the time it was a sobering message for a selfish sinner. I guess some how I thought that I found Jesus, when the truth was he mugged me at conference.

Like many other things in the church, the message of grace has been abused in the church. It's been that way for a long time.

Grace is the love of God poured out on those that do not deserve it: murderers, rapists, child molesters, gays and even Democrats and Wall Street Execs. See, I told you it was a sobering message! Some times it is confused with mercy, which is given to those whose hearts will receive it. In the Old Testament, grace is not mentioned with mercy. It is the new covenant, the one in which started after the resurrection of Christ. The Old Covenant fell under the law, and each year the Jews would make a presentation at the mercy seat. There was a ritual in which they would continually ask God to cleanse them of their sins. That is mercy, the repeal of judgment.

Until Jesus finished the work on the cross, that is all there was. They didn't have the Holy Spirit, the very power that raised Jesus from the dead living in them. Once Jesus fulfilled the law, not only did the tombs split open and many walk about the city, but each successive generation entered the age of grace.

For those that ask WWJD, the temptation is to live under the old covenant. Jesus did! He obeyed the law (as it was meant to be obeyed, not some crazy religious bologna!) The cross, however; separates the law from grace, and that is the point of today's blog.

We live in the age of grace, and it is not only free, but freeing too!

This is the wonderful thing about the life of the Apostle Paul, he only lived in grace after his conversion. That is why he was set against all of the religious junk that he had been taught previously - including some of Peter's junk! Paul walked by faith, lived by the Spirit and presented the "new man" in Christ.

I have often heard the term, "sinner saved by grace", but that is really not a correct statement - my apologies to John Newton. We are saved by faith in the finished work of Jesus. What takes place in our conversion, is the result of grace. I was a sinner save by faith, and now I am enjoying the fruit of the grace of God which I cannot manipulate; it is a done deal. In the same way a pickle can never be a cucumber, I cannot undo grace, or make it better by anything that I do.

Not only did the grace of God save a wretch like Paul (and me), but that same grace allowed a new man to be created in Paul, the co-mingling of God's Spirit and the human spirit. It is like God is yellow and I am blue, but together we are green!

When we receive Christ by faith, a new entity is created which unfortunately lives in an old body. The new entity is eternal, and the old body is corrupt, and it will die. That is why we need a new body in the age to come!

We are often taught about the battle between flesh and spirit. That is not really the battle. We are never going to be able to make this body (flesh, bone and soul) conform to the things to the Spirit. We need to hear God, and obey by the Spirit. We are going no where under our own power!

The new entity is entirely the work of grace. The fact that this new entity is eternal, is due to the mercy of God. There is nothing that we can do to earn grace, but to best understand it, we will have to let the old man die - and the sooner the better.

How about you, are you still presenting yourself as a sinner, or are you letting the new man out?

It's Like Christmas Eve!

2011-08-10T07:00:00.002-04:00

I am sitting here in my office, and not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse, or the noisy chihuahuas; not even the 7-year-old. In my spirit I am as excited as a kid on Christmas eve. I don't even know what God is doing quite yet (I usually get the memo about the time it is happening).

So what is going on? Well, the Spirit of God is beginning to move in our region. Some of the things that I have brooded over, prayed about, and had vision for are on the precipice. How do I know? Well, my spirit is raging. Emotionally life is just the same old, same old.I am working part time, exercising and recovering from a heart trauma. It it has taken a physical and financial toll, but the Kingdom of God is where I live.

There is a saying: some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good, others are so earthly minded that they are no heavenly good. it is meant to point out the balance between living here, and living there. Me, I prefer to walk by the Spirit. Whatever Jesus is doing, that is where I want to be. I am not too good at my earthly responsibilities some days; however, I do try!

I had started this post on Monday, not knowing where it is going. Today the phone rang, and I was asked to do some ministry!?!?!

September launches a very special type of ministry for me. I will be ministering at the School of Grace in Keene, NH on the 9th and 10th, with my brother and his pastor. Then I am running a School of Prophecy on the 31st-1st at my own church. Wow! Having sat on the sidelines for many years just writing this blog, it seems a little daunting. In addition I will be training a lot of folks in my church in the basic concepts of personal ministry such as the laying on of hands for healing, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, Salvation and the confession of sin. Exciting!

I am also hoping to do a mission trip next year, and I am hoping to see what comes together for that.

If you feel so moved, I would covet your prayers. It is so much more than a vocation, it is a battle and I am sure going to need to be ready for it!

Thanks for reading along. Tell us what you are looking forward too, even if it is vacation!

Is this Crazy Fad in Your Church? - Guest Post by Arny Sanchez

2011-08-08T07:00:00.003-04:00

As I promised, we'll be having some guest posts here on Fire & Grace, and today is the fist of who knows how many. As long as they keep coming, I'll keep posting them from time to time. Let me know if you are interested. Today I have a post over on Kingdom Bloggers if you just can't live a Monday without me.

I am regular reader of The Analogous Truth. It is always light while being heavy, and has a sense of humor to it that usually makes me laugh a little to myself. Arny is very good at returning comments, so show him some love and leave a comment here today, I am sure he will reply!

Hardcore or Watered Down?
By Arny Sanchez
The Analogous Truth

It was going to happen sooner or later. It was inevitable. Someone was bound to write about. I just never thought that It would be me.

It’s the latest craze. The latest, “It”, thing to do. Everywhere you look, there it is. It starts to get a bit annoying after a while, but there is no escape.

It can sneak up on you like a bad habit. It can invade your life and not even know it. It runs through your body. It makes you do things you never thought you could do.

Of course I’m talking about the one and only: Zumba. Even the name gives me chills up and down my spine. Zumba is the exercise dance craze that is sweeping the nation.

Have you seen it? It’s everywhere. Infomercials, Facebook statuses, our households, and even in our churches! It’s based on Latin dance moves and used as aerobic-like cardio exercises.

It is the answer to our prayers. The prayers that went out from us who couldn't keep up with P90X or The Bowflex.

The Real Zumba

My wife made me try it once; at home of course. I was not about to flaunt my jiggley, husky body by swinging my hips and shimmies in public. I’d probably kill somebody when they’d see how I move these hips of mine. I haven’t the least bit of dance rhythm in my bones!

I’m not gonna lie, it felt a little dirty inside. You can’t help it when you shake your booty like that! Not even in front of my wife!

She is really into Zumba, and takes classes at the local gym. She says the best class is always on Thursday nights. The Zumba instructor is really hardcore and she says he is really difficult to keep up with. He uses Zumba a lot more like a fast paced aerobics class. (I might be allergic, I am not sure.)

A couple of weeks ago, she went with some friends to a Zumba class they were having at a community center near by. She said that it was nothing compared to the class at the gym. This class was like the watered down version. It was slower, not as aerobic, and more for just fun and dance. Not something to exercise your body fully for a work out.

Watered Down Zumba like Watered Down Jesus.

Sometime I fear that we water down Jesus the same way. We some times present him as a religious side item we carry around in our back pockets.

We present him only as a tender, gentle push over, whom we shout "Shut Up" to with our actions.

But that is far from the real Jesus.

He is God incarnate. Emmanuel, God with us. Everything was created by Him, through Him, and for Him.

He is the untamable Lion of Judah.

He is the Lamb of God that was slain, and made his enemies his footstool.

At His Voice the Storms bend their knees in reverence.

At His Voice the demons tremble back to emptiness.

At His Voice the dead rise from the grave.

At His Voice, we drop everything and follow.

Our Jesus can’t be watered down. The dead still have to bury their own dead, and who ever looks back after putting their hands on the plow is still unfit for the Kingdom.

Our Jesus can’t be watered down. We still have to deny ourselves, and take up our cross daily.

Our Jesus can’t be watered down. He is still The Christ and the Son of God who bled and died on a Cross for undeserved sinners. He is still the one who took our filthy sin and nailed it to the Cross.

Needless to say, my wife went back to the Thursday Night Zumba instructor because he was the real thing. He was hardcore. As she says. I hope that we can do the same with Christ, and not fiddle around with a watered down version.

What “Hardcore” Character Trait of Christ stands out to you the most?

Have you ever done Zumba? Or what do you do for exercise?

5 1/2 Solving all the Problems in the USA

2011-08-05T07:05:00.037-04:00

For those that know me, I am pretty politically involved. God gave me a country, a vote, and a spirit that is co-mingled with His to help me be discerning, have love, wisdom and compassion for my fellow man. I ask you from the very beginning of this blog, how will the government ever be more godly unless Christians get involved?

I have often thought about running for an office. I even received a donation once, as well as encouragement from others to in fact run. I am still thinking about it. We have so many important issues facing us here in the USA, that I would like to get in there and represent the people of my state in some capacity.

Because I care about solutions, I have a hard time with party politics!

Today, if I were running for the Congress, here are my top issues with some simple solutions. (Sure they can be complex, but a broad view often helps put an outline to the solution.)

-1 Taxes, Social Security and Medicare: I think that every one needs to pay taxes. The Flat Tax is the best plan (though I like the Fair Tax except that it screws seniors who have paid under the current system all their lives.). We could get rid of the IRS and take a flat percentage out of every type of income, wages, tips, interest, corporate profits and a short list of capital gains. I don't know what the percentage is, but it would have to fund the budget.

We could tax profits from corporations and lose the subsidies. The only deductions I would give them would be a reduction in employment taxes for keeping jobs here in the US, and for certain types of innovation. For example, ones that get us off foreign oil!

Put SSI and Medicare in their own funds with their own budgets. This is how SSI used to be until LBJ started to rob it to fund the Vietnam war.

We have now reduced the power of special interest groups, and the temptation to rob SSI and Medicare to fund everything else.

I like the idea of a balanced budget amendment as a percentage of GDP! (You do know that this week we hit 100%, borrowing as much as we take in!)

-2 Immigration: Lock down the borders with whatever it takes: fences, moats, soldiers - get it done. Make a line, and put everyone in it! Make a set of hurdles that must be overcome by each immigrant. Learn English, pass a citizenship test (all US students should!), keep your record clean and in 3 years you are in if you have a job.

Get rid of the criminals that are here.

Fine the illegals that are here and put them in the line if they know English and have a clean record.

Heavy fines for companies that hire illegals!

Start a real guest worked plan that hires immigrants after companies have run an ad for 15 days to hire American Citizens.

-3 Jobs: Provide incentives for companies to hire people, to innovate, and to keep workers. Government jobs cost tens of thousands of dollars to create. The private sector runs a free ad on Craigslist and it is done. Here the employment tax could help as a sort of tariff to keep labor here. The tax could be used to fund education for Americans.

If we are already giving workers assistance for not working, how about we let them have the assistance for a period time after they start a job so that the incentive is there for both employee, and employer? We want people to feel good about getting back to work (or starting work altogether). Unemployment needs some reform here too. It is too easy to take a vacation.

If the Feds reduced taxes on business, the states could do a better job of controlling costs at a local level. This helps create jobs. IE: A financial company got a better deal on taxes from a neighboring state and move 1,500 workers over the border here in MA. Another company sent 3,000 jobs to China after we funded their start up?!?!? Hello!

-4 Health Care: It's a huge mess. Start over! Let's get a basic coverage outline for what health care is. How about a yearly physical, dental and eye exam along with mammograms and colonoscopies (Washington could use a few dozen of these to find their heads!). Then add major medical coverage for important conditions. The pay for everything system is not going to be affordable. Again, safety net, not hammock.

The rest could be picked up by insurance companies if citizens choose to have it. This way no one if forced to purchase something. They have a safety net for huge things, and basic preventive care. Let the insurance companies compete for all the vanity options, additional visits and medication. It is not perfect, but at least people get to see a doctor every year as apposed to never having any care at all.

I like the idea that no preexisting condition can cause you to be declined coverage or dropped for whatever reason.

And how about a cap on malpractice suits? Most life insurance policies are $300-500K. It is a good start.

-5 Welfare: If you can work, you should. Why we pay some people to sit around and do nothing is beyond me! It should be a safety net, not a hammock! I am not talking about sick or disabled people, I am taking about people that don't want to work, or are not motivated to work because, well, it's easier to collect a check. It would be better to put them to work doing something that we pay government contractors for, than to allow this to go on.

While I am on it: Prisoners live better than many seniors in nursing homes. I have a problem with that. And you should too! Oh yeah, and why don't we have non-violent prisoners on home-confinement and let them pay for their room and board?

- 5 1/2 Big Government:: There are too many ridiculous line items to mention. Can't we keep it to military protection, infrastructure for commerce and a few important regulatory and informational agencies (NRC, NOAH, FDA etc)? Leave education to the states along with a host of other things.

So what do you think, did I cover important things? Are my solution reasonable and workable - well once we get rid of the current crop of ineffective representatives!

I have been writing Fire & Grace for many years; in that time I have only had one guest blogger. Therefore, I am inviting you to do a guest post. Yup, that's right. I'd like to feature them once a week, maybe twice of they are really good. They can be fun, testimonies, teaching in nature, or politics. Just leave a comment with a way to contact you. (Comments are moderated, so I don't have to post them!)

Blog Redistribution - The Bible is a Good Book! (Bible BS)

2011-08-03T07:05:00.001-04:00

I have been writing Fire & Grace for many years; in fact this is my 600th post. in that time I have only had one guest blogger. (Well, I had some on my 500th Blog-a-versary). As I am recovering from all this heart stuff - actually I am feeling pretty good - I need some time to spend on other things. Therefore, I am inviting you to do a guest post. Yup, that's right. I'd like to feature them once a week, maybe twice of they are really good. They can be fun, testimonies, teaching in nature, or politics. Just leave a comment with a way to contact you. (Comments are moderated, so I don't have to post them!)

The Bible is a good book, don't you think? Or, maybe you don't, and think Ex-Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards is a saint. It doesn't matter. The fact that this very blog might be about the Bible may already have you thinking "I'm bored," or "religion is not for me." If it was my kid listening to this, she might slip in one earphone from the iPod as she was talking to me - or disappear into a text message frenzy ending with a one word sentence, "Huh?"

When a message is not received, it doesn't always mean that the message is flawed - but it might be the messenger is - I'll take my chances.

Have you asked yourself if you really believe the Bible from Genesis to Maps - and why? Do you think that Adam and Eve were real people? How about that Noah fellow, did he really build an ark that housed two of each? Do you think the ark smelled after 40 days? I do. And the Gaterenian Demoniac, was he just mentally ill? Then how did Jesus heal him?

It's hard, isn't it, to read the Bible and understand it? But you know it's the truth - and if God said it, you believe it, right? Or maybe you think it is simply inspired writing, a collection of history, poetry, allegory and crazy prophetic visions written by religious folks to inspire people to do good.

Do you have an authorized version of the Bible or GAK! an unauthorized version? For some The Message is absolute blasphemy, for others the NIV, written on a 6th grade reading level, is inaccurate.

How authoritative is your Bible? Has it changed your life? Tell us how in the comments section.

Do you bring your Bible to church? I don't. I kept losing them. They are not very authoritative if you can't find them. And my pet peeve is people that found my bibles, which were inscribed with my name and phone number, and never returned them! Some Christians need to be whipped.

I used to be a religious underliner - well until someone gave me a Sharpee marker that bled through 18 pages of John, obscuring the odd chapters, starting with 3.

Do you share what you know about the Bible with others? I try.

Jonah had a real struggle with getting the word of God to needy folks, and God slowly but surely narrowed his pathway to success until he got it. Do you think that is a historical account? HERE is a great blog about Jonah by my friend Joyce Lighari.

In light of John Edwards admission of guilt for fathering a child with his mistress a few years back, do you think that matters to God? Can God forgive him? How about David Letterman? What about the Oslo killer?Osama bin Laden? Barrak Obama? What does the Bible say about it?

If we're honest, most of us don't have all that much time for Bible reading. Many of us probably spend more time brushing our teeth or putting on make up - even spending more time wolfing down lunch or breakfast at a fast food joint, then we do reading the Bible. Hopefully we do make time every day - at least read a chapter or look for a juicy verse to post on Facebook or Twitter so people know that we are religious folks.

I have met a lot of people that believe the only will of God is in the Bible, so I looked in there to see which job I should take when I had two offers. It didn't help! I thought about putting out a fleece like Gideon, but is that really faith?

And all those supposed biblical errors - I don't know what to do about them. Do you?

I once went to a church that worshipped the Bible. The sermons were filled with proof texts and little else - they called it the truth. So, I asked them about John 14:12, "doing greater things than Jesus." It was puzzling because if Jesus was limited to only the very things we see in the pages of the Bible, then how could we do something greater?

I further inquired (read that , blasted them) regarding John 21:25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

For fun I asked them to tell me what the unforgivable sin was.

Tell me, what do you believe about the Bible? Are their parts that are not true? I'm hoping for a lively discussion. But don't give us any BS (Bible Stupidity).

I Can't Believe It, I am Religious Too!

2011-08-01T07:05:00.026-04:00

The End of the Block

I am up at 5:45 every morning. I head on downstairs, switch on the PC in the office, make my way to the kitchen for my daily cup-o-joe, let the dogs out while it brews, and head back to the keyboard to check my email, Facebook, log my blood pressure, and get ready to run a few miles.

It is the same all the time; my formula for getting the day started. It's pretty rigid, and very religious. It is sort of like church every day; predictable, ordered and well, routine.

Having suffered a major heart trauma in April, I am not only grateful for the simple things, such as not being in the hospital, that I could not go back to work unless I had my life in better order. Although I was exercising regularly, I wasn't as serious about it as I am now.

I like to run outside as often as I can. We did get 88" of snow this past year, so the gym is a good option during the winter months and the treadmills are wide enough for snowshoes.

As spring became summer, it is best to run early when it a cooler; that and I only have to take one shower a day. Recently I noticed the crosswalk gods were good to me, and repainted them all, not that there are many cars on the road at 6:15 am.

The Pond and the Lily Pads

I get to the end of the block, some times I am still half asleep. My trusty Android watching my heart rate, counting my steps, averaging my pace, monitoring my speed and route along with a custom play list of "running" tunes such as: Take the Money and Run (S Miller), Born to Be Wild (Steppinwolf), Set Me on Fire (Burn Service), Born to Run (Springsteen), Let it Rain, Turn it Around (Israel Houghton and the New Breed) and similar fast paced rock and worship tunes.

The music can really set the pace, and wimpy slow stuff is out!

I pass by a small pond with swans about the same time CardioTrainer tells me that I have just completed 3 tenths of a mile. On occasion there is a Blue Heron who fishes among the lily pads. As I pick up the pace, jogging a few more blocks to warm up, I decide on a route for the morning. I have 4, with the shortest being about a mile and half, and the longest being closer to 4 miles. I like the one with the steady 1/2 mile slope that passes by Mass Bay College the best, though I run it backwards as well.

Mass Bay

A mile in, I check my time to see where I am. My stamina is good for longer, but my knee (some runners knee due to not warming up!) and the fact that I need to get to work, push and pull the pace for the second mile.

Adjusting the tempo of sneaker-to-pavement, I have certain songs that make me want to pray, so I do. I pray for revival in my town, my church, my state and the US, all while I huff-and-puff my way down the sidewalk.

I don't get to be too religious in my prayers as I am zipping by the scenery at 6.5 miles per hour. I just ask, and move on to the next item on my list. I don't recommend this as a regular way of praying, but some of the music just lends itself to certain prayers.

I pass a few other runners from the National Guard Armory. Those guys move! There are a couple of other faces that give a quick smile or slight wave as they pass in the other direction fiddling with their iPods. On the lawn at the school I see a few folks practicing Tai Chi at 6:30 am.

I often think about what one does in Tai Chi that might connect them with God. I guess it seems a little religious to me - ha!

Like a little city, dozens of squirrels amuse themselves beneath the oaks, gathering acorns and eating breakfast.

As I round the corner and head down the hill towards the lake, I can see the hospital where I was in ICU just a few short months ago. I think about how many thousands of beats my heart has made since that day - I thank God.

I am glad that I had good care, insurance, and have had an excellent recovery; many do not. I often think about folks who rely on all that and don't have Jesus.

I pour on the speed for the last half mile. Now I am thinking about getting home, getting a lunch made, grabbing a shower and heading to work in rush hour traffic.

As I walk the 2 houses to my front door, I often wish I could go longer. Certainly not working would help!

How about you, are you religious about anything?

The Holy Spirit vs Religion

2011-07-29T07:05:00.001-04:00

In my enthusiasm for the Holy Spirit - the witness of Jesus on earth - I just couldn't contain myself. I somehow rounded up a bunch of friends from the local evangelical church and invited them to one of the conference meetings. They were nice folks, loving, but always struggling. By there own admission, they were saved, but each one confessed that they didn't seem to be going anywhere with God. Religion for them was boring and bit dry. They had been told that tongues were of the devil, and that any worship of the Holy Spirit and not about Jesus, was a cult.

Off we went to the meeting!

“Do you believe God?” shouted a loud and fiery preacher from the platform; right in the midst of worship. There was such a sense of the need to repent, that I hit my knees as soon as I found a seat. Closing my eyes, I quietly cried out, “God forgive me, God forgive me! Oh Jesus, please forgive me.” I wasn't looking around me—it was me and the Lord right then. A few minutes later, when I felt a release, I stood to my feet and I noticed that hundreds were on their knees around the sanctuary. Except for an Anglican mass, I had never seen such a sight.

The meeting went on going between worship and preaching, to prophesying and praying, and back to preaching again. The air was filled with anticipation. I hung on every word, every note expecting something to happen. What, I didn't know.

At the first of many altar calls that evening; a couple that I was with went forward. The husband asked for healing for his a lung disorder. As the presence of God came on him, the preacher asked him to recite the sinner’s prayer. He just began to cry as he mouthed the words.

“Are you full of the Spirit?” she asked. “You know, God won’t give you a scorpion when you ask for an egg.” She continued. “Do you want to be full of His spirit, His Holy Spirit?”

He barely eked out a “yes,” and the power of God caused him to lean forward 45 degrees to the floor. As he started to speak in tongues, he just hung there, almost suspended in thin air.

“Now do you want to be healed?” she asked.

“Yes” he said, and hit the floor, overcome by the power of God.

The preacher leaned over and grabbed his hand, “Get up and run! Show everyone what God has done for you tonight!” She exclaimed.

He got up and ran around that sanctuary! “I can breath!” he shouted as he took his victory lap down the center aisle. People clapped and gave God praise as he returned to the seat next to me.

Next it was his wife’s turn. They had been trying to have a baby for nearly five years. One of the ministers laid hands on her belly, and shouted. “I break the curse of bareness over your womb!” She fell to the floor.

A few weeks later my friend’s wife was sick in the mornings and went for a pregnancy test. The doctor determined, not only that she was pregnant, but that she had conceived the day of the conference! We laugh about it every time we bump into each other. Because of her healing that night, they went home and believed God for her miracle.

What do you think, is it God or not?

All Hands On - Rejecting Biblical Leadership

2011-07-27T07:00:00.001-04:00

Just about all people follow someone's leadership. They have heroes, bosses, managers, parents, pastors and teachers. And yet most of us also lead. We can lead ourselves, a family, or a country; someone is in always in charge. I believe Church leadership is partly talent, partly learned and always entrusted to us by God.

All of our choices have consequences, and therefore are leading somewhere.

Every entity has some sort of leadership; the church is not exempt from that. It seems I have come across more then few uniformed church people in the area of leadership. They don't seem to understand the fundamentals of leading, but have no problem taking control. They don't seem to get that leadership is not about them, but about those they lead. Simply stated in the Bible, "But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first." Leadership in the church is about getting at the end of the blessing line and encouraging others to join you. Church leadership is really a place of sacrifice, humility and service.

Within the church there are different visions for leadership. Some churches have a board, others have a voting deaconate, some seem more like a corporation and others are one man; one vision, take it or leave type operations. There are also different leadership styles, some are aggressive, some are not. John Maxwell has written some good solid leadership books. He details some of the key principles of leadership. Real leadership seems to have a persuasive nature to it. A leader interfaces with people in a fashion that motivates them to do things your way. Leaders take responsibility for their actions and choices. Good leaders are an example to their followers and know how to delegate to others. A good leader considers lots of ideas.

What if all that training, all those ideas, and all that counsel is not God?

Regardless of our style, Christians need to adhere to biblical principals. What amazes me is that many don't know what they are. Here is one that shows up a lot, but I don't see it in the Bible. Voting! No one in the Bible voted on anything... save Paul before his conversion to put Christians to death. They cast lots to give God and opportunity to show His preference. But they didn't vote! They relied on wisdom, council, prophecy and hearing the Holy Spirit. You may remember that Peter and Paul addressed some conflicts, but this was an informational meeting for the uninformed, not a vote. When we understand church leadership is being led, we come up with some very different models.

In the church we seem to have a CEO mentality... I am the boss you are the workers; or worse, the spectators! This view is an American corporate teaching, not a biblical teaching. In business I guess it works, but in the church it separates the leadership from those that need more intimate attention. It turns people in to commodities, not parts of a body joined together by grace to perform the work of the church. Certainly we have to have authority in the church, but that comes from God and it is not controlling everyone, or trying to make everyone like us. The church is meant to be a body with all the parts working together to fulfill the mandates of Christ. There are many scriptures regarding the body and it's functioning. Read 1 Corinthians 12, 13 and 14 along with Romans 12, and Ephesians 4. These chapters talk about the body and the gifts that are used both in the and outside of the church walls. Ephesians 4 specifically talks about how we are to train and equip all believers.

If you look over your life I am sure you can think of people, teachers, pastors, parents, coaches and managers that taught you things, not by control and manipulation, but by modeling principals and behaviors, answering questions, and encouragement. They answered your questions with interest and information in a way that that you could understand. They allowed you to do it and helped you to become your best.

Over the years I have heard of all kinds of discipleship movements. My favorite was the matrix model. I liked it because it took those in leadership and asked of them to raise-up someone to take their job within the church. From pastors and worship leaders to Sunday school teachers and toilet cleaners, everyone serving in the church was to raise someone else up! It was something like an Elijah and Elisha type relationship. Or a better example might be Jesus and the 12 apostles. He trained them for a time when He would be gone they took over. I am sure that they were glad that He was around when they had to feed the 5,000 men and their families. But on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was with them and thousands were added to their number.

We may only be making coffee, but that is an important job in the church and when we grow into something new, we'll need someone to take our place. If you are a leader, don't be threatened by your protegé, he might just do a better job. Wouldn't it be great if those we inspired did a better job then us! We don't have to be experts or super spiritual, no, we need to get at the end of the line and put someone before us. And if God sees fit, we'll get a promotion to do something else.

How about you, do you lead, or have an inspiring leader?

5 1/2 Millstones, Tombs and Whitewash

2011-07-25T07:05:00.002-04:00

I have been writing about religion the last few posts - mostly why I think it is a spirit killer. I often wonder if vegetarian, eats a juicy steak, are they a hypocrite? If a Satanist DOES not run someone down in the crosswalk, are they a hypocrite? Is it really what we believe that gets us into heaven, or what we do? Is a Christian a hypocrite because they have poor character, fruit-less lives or don't speak in tongues and cast out demons?

For sure, I have more questions than answers. Here's a tough one: What is the difference between being religious, and being a Christian? Ha! After all, isn't Christianity a religion?

-1 Rote Practice: Why is it that we make formulas for getting God to move? One of the reasons that I hate WWJD? is that it limits us from God doing something different. We stuff him in the same yesterday, today and tomorrow box like He won't ever surprise us with a new and creative solution. AND when we get something that does work, we turn it into a program, a framework for prayer, or an outline for a message.

Conversely, we can't do something new to be different. We need to be obedient to God.

Jesus wept (John 15:13), Jesus healed (Matthew 8:13), Jesus rebuked (Matthew 19:13). Jesus loved (Mark 10:21), Jesus hung out with sinners (Matthew 9:10), Jesus let a bad guy on his team (Matthew 10:4) and Jesus healed a guy with spit and dirt (John 9:11) - so which one is the model for all our ministry? It is the one that God is doing at the moment!

-2 Lack of Power: Jesus said to go out into the world and make disciples, heal the sick, cast out demons, and preach the Good news to the lost. Why is it that almost all American churches are not seeing healing, demons cast out and a significant number of salvations? God is still a God of power, and like Jesus, he still isn't forcing himself on anyone. He did not try to convince people as much as he demonstrated the love of God by the power of Heaven. Paul went on to say that the manifestation of this power (love) that is in the gifts (1 Cor 12) is available to all, DESIRE THEM.!

-3 Man-Made Traditions: Pulpits, genuflecting, songs before preaching - the list goes on and on. Jesus preached a lot without music. Music happened without sermons. The disciples went out in tows to cast out demons and heal the sick.Offerings were given directly to ministers.

All of these traditions are suspect, and if they don't translate across cultural lines, then they have to be God locally,or they have to go. (Did you know a lot of people are bored with church? Traditions are a killer.)

Are we at church to practice some set of rules?

-4 Spectator Mentality/Formatted Services: This flies in the face of 1 Corinthians 14. Church services are supposed to be places for us to be obedient to God. Unfortunately we have made the focus of most of our services the worship music and the pulpit, leaving very little room for anything/anyone else to participate.

How can we come to church with a song, a word or a testimony when we don't have a format that allows it to happen? We often her that God is a God of order - LOL - that passage is for the people prophesying and giving tongues and the interpretations of them in the church.

If we are at church to entertained, I suppose that is better and cheaper than a Broadway show, but is it God?

-5 Lack of Freedom: We talk grace and love like it is the key to Christianity. Then we identify ourselves as sinners. How is that possible? Most of the church has a problem calling believers "saints." I don't think it's bad to say where we came from. I think it's bad to make our identity that which we used to be. Our past is not our future. We are a new creation.

Freedom allows us to enjoy our grace. It lets the work of the cross be "completed", "finished" - "done!" There is nothing more that we can do to please God except to have faith in the finished work, and be obedient to his voice.

-5 1/2 Lack of Love...

Here is a 2 minute testimony that is exactly what I am talking about. Enjoy.

Church, we need to stop doing what we are used to, good at, talented at and put it all on the altar and see what's left after Jesus is allowed to get at it.

Break the Neck of the Religious Spirit

2011-07-22T07:00:00.018-04:00

I can get angry at the devil for messing with me and my Christian friends. I don't mind conflict, but I sure do prefer it when it's resolved. I recently had another one. It seems that gossip is more important than relationship, and that makes me even angrier.

Matthew 5:23 Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. 25 Make friends quickly with your opponent... (NASB)

It has been my experience that many church people hold things against you, and they don't really say what they are - somehow in the name of Christ or something like that. I think they find it easier to abdicate from resolving issues by avoiding them. I am sure that it is not every Christian, but it seems there are enough of them to provide leaven to the religious bread.

Matthew 16:12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

It is no secret that dysfunctional churches misuse authority to gain control, or at least emulate the structure of a corporation. How religious must one be to "require" someone to be in the Sunday service and not in the lobby getting to know a wayward teen or a listen to the woes of a brother? (Some days I wonder if pastors take pastoral jobs because they are unemployable anywhere else!)

That's how is all got started. A pastor decided that I would have to be in the service in order to set an example. It sounds reasonable, until you look at the motive. It wasn't during worship, it was during the sermon. Hmmm... That ended me up in an elder's meeting to confront my bad behavior. I had already dropped out of any sort of leadership role, and tried to be a good boy for a few months. It was absolutely suffocating listening to an hour sermon from a book I already read.

I left for another church where I could at least get some good preaching.

I know that God cares about hearts, and I didn't care to rebel, or cause them any trouble. I simply said that I felt my time there was over. What angers me is that they are still talking about it three years later. Of course the "niced" me out the door with prayer and everything. They probably thought I would evaporate until we got to heaven. Of course, they never came to me.

I assure you that religion and legalism is a real problem in the church. Some times we don't think that the devil can touch our church, or our services, but it is not true. Some times it can be pretty bad.

Mark 1:23 Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, 24 saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” 25 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” 26 Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. 27 They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”

Jesus was in the church of the day with the people of God, and there he confronted the devil. In the book of Ephesians, Paul speaks of the the powers of the air and principalities that reign over certain regions of the earth. These too can be destructive forces which come against the church - and can entangle us. Do you think Peter knew what was going on when Jesus said "Satan, get thee behind me!" I doubt it very much. Peter was a pretty religious guy, and friend of Jesus. I don't think that his heart was purposely set on hindering the plan of God - but he sure did get all religious certain things.

My point is this: Religion and legalism are killers. Add to that gossip, and your have the perfect storm for division and offense, both of which are sin. We must constantly search our hearts to remove that which keeps us from having relationship. To put it in more biblical terms. "remove the plank from our own eyes. Part of this is just good relationship skills. If someone I know and love messes up, it usually because they are in some sort of pain, they are overtired, or they've been offended. We have all been there. Why be offended, just get on with life after a sincere "could you forgive me?" I have to tell you, i have heard that phrase very little in all the years I have been a Christian.

The religious spirit empowered by Satan who walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Whether it is you who is offended, or some else that sins against you, it doesn't matter. It is foothold for the Devil and he'd be happy to have you for lunch.

Demonic strongholds are tougher because they are the undercurrent of a region. It takes discernment and humility to beat them at their game.

I had a prophetic word about "breaking the neck of the religious spirit in my region. It is an interesting mission. It is not by power or might, but by building and maintaining relationships. there is a lot of pressure that comes against us from darkness, it is part of being in an army.

I have written about the demonic before, but not in terms of its effect on me. Here are some blogs if you have the time.

Demonic Oppression Part I

Demon Possession Part II

My Turn Part III

And of Course there is More Religious Stupidity

What do you think, are religious people just stupid, or is the devil behind it?

5 1/2 I Really Hate Religion, Well Until Now!

2011-07-20T07:00:00.005-04:00

This next few posts are going to be about religion. If you have read this blog for any length of time, you know that religious practice that is disconnected from a living God, is a something I often rail against. If you have any doubt, just click on the Religion topical link down to the lower right!

Religion is in itself, a bunch of hooey. One person believes their pet philosophy and practices it in a certain way. They are all out there, Muslims, Jews, Christians, Buddhists, Rastafarians and a half a million more. They all claim to follow someone,or something, while they incorporate the teachings, practices, sayings, or theologies into their daily lives; or not. It seems that no one can prove anything, therefore; there is this debate that never ends. No wonder most people find at least one aspect of religion boring.

There is a new religion that is is taking hold in Austria. It is the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster whose members are call Pastafarians. HERE is more on the founder sporting a colander in head in a driver's license photo shown above. If your God can't do anything, might as well join them and get your spaghetti colander while you are at it.

When I was in college I took a class in Comparative Religion, it was awful! It simply made religion seem like choosing one off the shelf at the Dollar Store. Most people (globally) think that the Christian church is shear foolishness. And that is what religion is for me, foolish. I know, I write these words and I am just another one that has chosen to follow my own way of thinking... hmmm....

If we claim to know God, there should be a difference in our religion. Don't you think?

Let me make this really clear. If we have faith in a living God, then we need to show a marked difference between "them" with the dead or nonexistent god, and "us." Here is how I see it.

-1 Healing: I am inspired by the testimonies that came from the Expecting Miracles event at one of the churches I attend. They made testimony videos of people that came with physical ailments and were healed in the name of Jesus! The is part of the inheritance we have in Christ. It is not magic, it comes through faith and prayer.

-2 Miracles: Elijah called down fire on Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18) and it was AWESOME! Since man first acknowledged God, he has been preforming miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit, and he still does. I have witnessed quite a few in my lifetime: Anonymous checks in the mail that met a certain need to the penny, multiplying invitations to a church meeting in Norway, and a number of others which I have written about on Fire & Grace.

-3 Revelation: The sheep know His voice! If you are one of God's sheep, then you should be hearing his voice! Wake up, God wants to speak to you if you'll take the time to learn how to listen with your spirit. (I know you've probably had a hundred sermons on hearing God's voice) It may come in prayer, or though a prophetic word, or an illuminated Bible verse, but you need to hear God. Sure, sermons are great, but if that is all you are getting, it might be time to do something different.

-4 Authority over the Demonic: In America we pretty much don't believe in the Devil or demon possession, but that doesn't make it nonexistent. Once we engage the spiritual realms and leave the realm of intellect and debate, we will engage evil spirits. Jesus said we had authority over them. Did you know that?

-5 Reckless Abandon: Are you serious about your Christianity? Are you willing to bet your life on it? We think the terrorists are extreme because they are willing to die for their cause. Well, guess what, you and I are in an army that requires that same sort of commitment. We are not suicidal, but we value the path of Jesus more than our own lives.

-5 1/2 Sacrificial Love... love is not feeding the poor, caring for the sick, or preaching a sermon. It is doing what we see the Father doing!

Releasing the New Man Puts Sin to Death - Guest Blog

2011-07-19T06:14:00.000-04:00

Today I am guest blogging on Write Down the Revelation which you may find HERE.

Releasing the New Man Puts Sin to Death

There are many way in which we identify ourselves. As Christians we have a new identity, but somehow we've been taught to live like sinners.

As humans we do have frailties which the word of God has not yet been able to eradicate; some of that is due to the lack of knowledge, His sovereignty, His timing, and in some case, His grace. If we are saved, we are God’s mess now.

Read more...

You May Have Noticed

2011-07-18T07:00:00.004-04:00

You may have noticed that I have been posting from the archives more frequently than ever before. I am back to work in the city after 3 months of being home/working from home. It takes a lot of energy just to manage work, exercise, food and sleep. I have pretty much cut out any extra activity, an don't even make it to my home church every week.

Enough with the excuses.

I have been working on my second book, and the last chapter is coming along just fine. I am hoping to find a decent copy editor to get it ready to send off to a publisher. There are other changes too, I lost 50 pounds, I finally have paychecks coming in again, and it's summer here in the Northeast. It's all good.

Today I have my weekly donation, on Kingdom Bloggers and Tuesday I am guest posting over on Write Down the Revelation with Andrea York. Enjoy, I have a new series coming on Wednesday!

And thanks for being faithful readers!

BTW - I am thinking about having guest posts here, which is something I have pretty much not done in the past 5 years.Let me know if you are interested, just leave a comment.

Why Man Can't Fly and the Church Can't Get Along

2011-07-15T07:02:00.000-04:00

From the archives - but I am guest blogger next week and I was working on that - more on Monday. This is one of my most popular blogs.

I have an online buddy and last year we had a chat about some denominational differences. It wasn't a debate, but a sincere conversation about what the Bible says, and what man has added to it. In the midst there were questions about religious practice.

A denomination is simply an emphasis on certain biblical truths; often "colored" by a culture, a religious experience, or a move of God.

The truth is there are lots of denominations. We have many expressions of Christianity in the US, and also some cults which seem Christian on the outside but reject the central truth that Jesus taught: Jesus is God. A cult is defined as any so-called Christian organization that denies the divinity of Christ - Jesus is/was/always has been God. I am not going to try to answer the age old question regarding theology: "Who's right?" (I am writing this blog because I think I am!)

Please keep an open mind and explore the links. In the end, you will be challenged in your own beliefs.

If we look at the major denominations, we'll find some interesting information in how they have arrived at their denominational traditions and bylaws. Each one emphasizes a certain portion of the truth. Be sure, I am not picking on anyone, I am just trying to bring some enlightenment to the Body of Christ for the sake of unity.

The largest denomination in the world is Roman Catholic and over 1/3 of Christians (little Christs or little anointed ones) belong to this group. They have been well established since the 3rd century and for over 1,200 years they were pretty much the only show on earth - we'll talk about them first.

One of the traditions that makes Roman Catholics different from any other denomination is Priests that do not marry. Why? 1 Corinthians 7:27 Are you married? Do not seek a divorce. Are you unmarried? Do not look for a wife. 28 But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

38 So then, he who marries the virgin does right, but he who does not marry her does even better.

It is not a sin to be married, nor a requirement not to be. Paul is simply stating that marriage requires focus that could be used on the Lord and serving Him.

The debate over divorce and marriage rages on in just about every denomination. We have a number of other catholic denominations including the Anglican Communion and the Eastern Orthodox churches who split from Rome over things like marriage and divorce. The Anglican church is considering splitting over gay marriage. There is nothing new under the sun.

Catholics also have services in which they "adore" Mary. This too; is not unbiblical. (Luke 1:46-55) See verse 48b From now on all generations will call me blessed.

I think Evangelicals adore Paul an awful lot from the pulpit. I'm just sayin'.

Catholics also have a liturgy to exercise or cast out demons. (Mark 16:17) I would have to say not too many Protestant churches even think about this as a possibility, never mind practicing it.

After the Protestant Reformation (Martin Luther) in 1517 we saw the rise of other Liturgical denominations, including Lutheran, Presbyterian and Congregational. In doctrine, they are pretty much agree on the Nicene Creed as a basis of their belief. Over the centuries their differences in worship style certainly begun to separate them.

John Wesley (1703-1791), who embraced Areminianism, was an Anglican that developed intensive, personal accountability, discipleship and religious instruction among members. His great contribution was to appoint itinerant, unordained preachers who traveled widely to evangelize and care for people in the societies.

There are many historical documents in church history. Some of the major ones you may read HERE.

With each nuance of change, reform, cultural differences and new ideas, our beloved church has changed a lot over 2 millennia.

Over the centuries there have been many notable men and woman of God. Here is a brief list of folks that changed the face of Christianity. Some names are controversial, but each in their own way has contributed something to the Kingdom of God.

St. Patrick - He lived in the 4th century and spread the Gospel to Ireland. From slave to missionary; he confronted the Druid darkness in Ireland. He operated in the supernatural stopping a snow storm and raising the King's children from the dead.

St. Francis - One of the most influential missionaries of the 13th century was known as a man of peace; one who traveled to Egypt and the Holy Land as he witnessed to Muslims. When he preached, Christ was known to appear among those listening.

Smith Wigglesworth - (1859-1947) Known as the Apostle of Faith. He claimed to have never read any book but the Bible, he was sought after for healing, carried an amazing presence (anointing) of God, and standing up to the Devil.

John G. Lake - (1870-1935) A businessman who became known for his ministry as a missionary and faith healer. He was influenced by the healing ministry of John Alexander Dowie, and he received the baptism of the Holy Spirit in 1907 in the wake of the Azusa Street Revival.

Kathryn Kuhlman - (1907-1976) A Methodist, sometimes called the Mother of Charismatics, she had a TV and radio show called, I Believe in Miracles. She was responsible for thousands of healings.

Oral Roberts - (1918-2009) A Televangelist that withstood the test of faith and the critics. He touched the lost and the saved for 6 decades.

Benny Hinn - One of the most charismatic and controversial faith-healers in the world. He is responsible for thousands of salvations and physical healings. As I write this, his wife has filed for divorce [Article].

There are a number of American denominations and their traditions differ based on their interpretation of the Bible. Here is a brief list.

Lutherans are of course followers of Martin Luther. The main theme is salvation by faith, through the grace of God. (Acts 2:21) The are the original evangelical movement.

Calvinist's used the Apostle's Creed. Those who follow the teaching of John Calvin are called Presbyterians in the US. The doctrine of being "predestine" (Romans 8:29) as opposed to act of the will, is predominately the major difference from other evangelical denominations.

Followers of John Wesley we called Methodists. They placed primary emphasis on Christian living, on putting faith and love into action (James 2:26), both in the local community, and abroad.

The Baptists were refugees from England as were the Puritans in New England. They first gathered in the backroom of an Amsterdam bakery in 1609 to read the Bible together. There most notable doctrinal difference is baptism by submersion. (Matthew 3:13-17)

Pentecostals are named after a revival that took place on Azusa Street in Los Angels in 1906 and lasted to about 1915. (Acts 2:1-13) The particular revival was characterized by speaking in tongues and resurgence of the 12 gifts of the spirit (1 Cor 12:7-11) The Pentecostals had another well known revival in Pensacola, FL at the Brownsville Assembly of God.

Four Square - A spirit-filled denomination following the 4 tenets of Christianity: prayer, fellowship, Bible study and communion, outlined in Acts 2:42.

The Vineyard Movement was a group that followed John Wimber and were the churches in which the Prophetic Reformation, the Apostolic Renewal and the Toronto Blessing grew out of. Their main differences from other Charismatic and Pentecostal denominations is the emphasis on spiritual gifts, the laying on of hands, small group community and "one man, one vision," church government.

For the past decade a new movement of churches are making their way onto the Christian Landscape. It is based on the 5-Fold ministry laid out in Ephesians 4:11.

As I type the last words of this blog, I want you to challenge you to think, to pray, and worship outside the box!

I have previously written more about some of the subjects I have only mentioned here. I have tried hard to recognize biblical differences not identify the tradition of man. Religion is the quencher of the Spirit of the Most High. For it is only in loving one another, agreeing on the basics of salvation and coming together for the work of the Kingdom, that we will ever be unified by the Holy Spirit.

What the Bible Says
http://fireandgrace.blogspot.com/2009/01/do-we-really-believe-bible.html

How Much Do I Know About the Bible?
http://fireandgrace.blogspot.com/2009/10/some-pages-are-missing-from-my-bible.html

The Gifts of the Spirit:
http://fireandgrace.blogspot.com/2008/12/gifts-great-time-to-receive.html

How do All the Gifts Work Together?
http://fireandgrace.blogspot.com/2009/04/5-fold-ministry-prerequisites-part-1-of.html

Putting it Together:
http://fireandgrace.blogspot.com/2008/12/foundations-of-spirit-filled-life.html

After all Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever more!

Facebook 10 Tips for the Over 40 Crowd

2011-07-13T07:00:00.003-04:00

Well, it seems like every one is on Facebook these days - well the ones that haven't moved to Google+. As we become more computer savvy, the middle-age crowd is still making mistakes. If you are not aware, here are David's Top 10 Tips to be cool enough to survive cyberspace.

1. Friends: Don't become friends with people at work! Do I need to explain this? Have you seen the news, people get fired for posting beach pictures when they've called in sick! Even saying that you've had a bad day - not a good idea. (One reason Google+ is so cool, it's easy to post to specified groups.)

Let me ask you, I don't come visit you ever, have you asked yourself why? You probably don't know that I hid all your posts and that's why I NEVER comment on them. And when you posted the status: "I am cleaning out my friends let me know if you want to stay on." I didn't respond. Yeah.

2. Profile Pictures: They need to be recent; within the last 10 years people! Group and travel photos are confusing, especially if there is an animal in the background that is better looking than you! Do remember to change the orientation of your photos so it looks like you are standing up, not laying in the gutter eating pizza. Stay away from amusement park photos of you pulling up your shirt up at Splash Mountain - boys you are not that cute. And don't put up a picture of your dog or favorite cartoon character, you're an adult now. And we know how old you are.

3. Status: "What's On You Mind?" I realize this is scary question for most of us. Big Brother is recording everything on Facebook, so lie - well, and remember to confess it on Saturday too. We don't care if you lost your car keys (try the front door). Skip the fantasies, song lyrics and don't be firing off stuff to make people mad that are not my friends too. IE: I am mad at Bob, he such is such a jerk and deserves to die. Try Compose New Message from the Messages menu! And while we are at it, forget the "fishing statuses". "People suck", really? Which ones? Be specific and tag the people that suck. If you post "I wish I was dead." I might reply "me too."

4. Relationship Status: Call the other party and let them know that you are dumping them, OK? I mean, nothing like Bob changing his relationship status to "Single," and then posting your friends asking for dates. Not cool.

5. Family: If your kids are your friends, do not post "when you get home, your father is going to kill you." Think about their friends?

6. Fan Pages: Please, Bobby Sherman is long gone and preforms in Vegas for old people. He was actually never cool, and he still isn't. Don't become his fan, it shows your age, and you're on Facebook trying to hide it right? Remember, this is your last chance to be cool before you die, don't blow it. Even if you are a fan of Morning Sex, don't go there. Your kids are watching and this is a picture they don't want to have.

7. Commenting: This is different from What's On You Mind? It's a comment about a post. You didn't know that because you were too busy watching your fingers while typing. FYI - comments are public too!

8. Notes: This is where you put all that junk that you would normally send in email as a forward. SO STOP FORWARDING ME EMAILS! I don't want the Neiman Marcus cookie recipe, and I don't play in the balls at the McDonald's playground. Oh, one more thing, I am not going to read your notes either!

9. Birthday: Skip displaying the year. There are 3 reasons: 1) We graduated together in 1970 something -- in 30 years, nothing has changed-- including the year you were born. OK, well maybe our pants sizes. 2) It makes me feel old. 3) Identity thieves can use it to get your credit records.

10. Name: Can you please use a name I recognize? I shouldn't have to buy a vowel just figure out who you are. There is a space for maiden name - you can even use that if you are divorced. And if you don't like your middle name, don't put in "holy crap" or butterfly lover" - please, millions of people can see this!

Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh - Making Happy Campers

2011-07-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Campers

We've all heard the song "A Letter from Camp."

"Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh. Here I am at Camp Granada. Camp is very entertaining. And they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining."

What's it going to take to make us all happy campers in church? I think I have a few ideas - so bear with me as I lay a foundation.

The song assumes that the "singer," a child, has two parents, one male and one female. But this blog is not about families - no - it's about church.

Presently, in most developed countries, the cultural status of the nuclear family is fractured. There is rampant divorce both in and out of the church, resulting in single parent families, and various other aberrations of the biblical family. Regardless of what the world thinks is politically correct, God has a standard.

I am assuming that you have noticed there is a difference between the way males and females act? The healthiest families are meant to have a father and a mother. I am not dissing single parent families - thank God one of you is taking the responsibility to raise your child!

The male is meant to be the leader and initiator (Father God), where the female is meant to be the nurturer and comforter (Holy Spirit). This does not mean that men cannot be nurturing, or that females cannot initiate. These are however; the "natural" and instinctive roles for men and woman.

Interestingly the church is designed to be the model of marriage, with Christ as the head, and the church submissive to His loving leadership. That's normal, regardless of how you "feel."

Ephesians 5:23 "For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church"

In a marriage, a woman is not to be the head of the house, although she may feel the need to take over if the husband does not lead. The man is not created to be the one with the "nesting" instinct. These (and all) biblical principals are meant to bear fruit for the family by balancing love, grace, discipline, and submission. All are essential elements in a healthy relationship with Jesus.

Although grace has been available in the church since the beginning - much of that has come from Mother Church - she has held that name for nearly 1500 years. This understanding comes from Ephesians 5:23 (above). At best it is an incomplete revelation - and possibly a wrong interpretation of the scripture. Having a one parent church over the centuries has caused some problems in the church.

We are in the post-denominational era. It is an interesting time for the church global. Participation in denominational churches is subsiding in the US and elsewhere. The term "recovering Catholic" has been coined but it is commonly used to describe every other "recovering" denomination. The growth of non-denominational churches, although still seeing a decline in attendance, is doing a better job in attracting congregants than its denominational siblings. That's a fact, not an opinion.

Unfortunately all churches not only have declining attendance, but they also have an exodus of young people to other religions such as Islam and JCLDS, as well as followers of the paranormal and occult. This is sad news parents!

So, what does all this have to do with parenting, kids falling away and denominations? Everything! Let me explain.

The same thing that is going on in the world, for the most part, is going on in the church. Believers in our churches are parented in the same way many children are - with one parent. And in some cases a dysfunctional parent. In the worst cases, there is no parent at all!

Parent-less; but particularly fatherless believers show up at church every week looking for significance. Maybe you're one of them. As Christians, we need both spiritual fathers and mothers!

Do a word study on "father" and then do one on "mother," you'll see.

Look, I don't care how we got here, but we need to fix it. We need the church to act as both parents, not a parent. That means we need both fathering and mothering. Maybe you remember when you told you mom you were too sick to go to school. She got you and aspirin, and a cup of tea. But when your father came in he said, "If you are to sick to go to school, then you are too sick to play in the game after school.

You may remember your mother saying. "Wait until your father gets home." I do.

Fathers are to provide some "spine," it is part of who they are. Mothers are to be nurturing. It is part of who they are. And when both dynamics are part of church, we are much more likely to become disciples.

We need spiritual fathers and mothers, and we need them now!

And now for the good part. You can be a spiritual farther or mother. Woman you can dote on your kids with affection, and smother them with love. Fathers, you can take another male and teach him to be accountable, help him pray and make decisions that are good for him and his family. You can be affectionate, loving and hear confessions. You can be a family.

Sure, many of us have had bad modeling in terms of parents - particularly fathers. So? There are a lot of things we used to be, but then we met Jesus? Amen?

Think about it. You can find someone in your church or neighborhood and model God! You can bless them, laugh with them, cry with them, and take on their burdens. You can hug them and kiss them, and expect nothing in return. If you do, you will probably have a spiritual kids that you are proud of. A child that serves God, and loves others.

What's that you say? This wasn't done for you? Well, its got to start somewhere.

Next time you see a lonely teenager in the back row, grab them. Next time you hear someone say, "let's get together." DO IT!

What would it mean to you if someone who had invested something in your life said, "I am proud of you kiddo!" What would it mean to have a cheerleader for every decision? How would you feel if someone showed up at your game?

Me, I'd be a happy camper. How about you?

Advanced AIT - We Are In A War

2011-07-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

Division and disagreement in the church is nothing new, but it sure ain't God's fault. For awhile it seemed like the most popular church planting model was a resentment and coffee pot! As I discussed in the blog "The Great Divide", there needs to be a way to reconcile the opposing views by inserting the will God over everything else. This is not an intellectual endeavor, but a spiritual one. However; division in the church is historical.

1 Corinthians 3:3 For you are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men?

There are more divisions in church then there are denominations! It's still not God's fault. The central problem lies with human nature - but hey, aren't we supposed to control that with the Spirit?

In the US Army, AIT is an acronym for "Advanced Individual Training"... but for the purpose of this blog, it means, "attitude, integrity and teaching." That is how we combat division. We can't all be right, and we can't all be in God's will. So, we need to find a way to get in His groove, and leave behind our good ideas and get with God's ideas.

The first thing we need to change is our attitude. There is no room for judgment of those of "lesser faith." There is no room for looking down on others because of their beliefs, or there social stature or position, or lack of it in the church. I like the saying, Jesus isn't judging anyone until they are dead, so why should you? Sure we need to be discerning, and if we have a track record for that, I say go for it. If not, shut up. ;o]

Part of changing our attitude is the problem of being easily offended. If you are like most people, you have probably been offended in one way or another either by someones comments or actions. Holding on to grudges because you were offended does not contribute to your happiness or mental health - and it sure isn't God. We need to grow up, and realize that we are all human, and have flaws that will be offensive. We need to stop being oversensitive, and follow some of the wisdom of Proverbs and James in taming the tongue.

The second part of overcoming division is integrity. We need to take responsibility for our actions, admit when we missed God; when we were wrong, and ask others for forgiveness. We need to quickly agree with those that we are in conflict with.Without this crucial element, we will never overcome division. Pride, arrogance and ego will take over and rob from us, and others, what God wants to do in the church.

A big part of integrity is that our private lives match our public lives. A good test is this. If you can't say it, or show it to your spouse, or from the platform in church, it is probably off limits. Another facet of integrity is preferring and serving others. You will reap what you sow in terms of giving time, resources and relationship.

The problem for so many is the biblical model of conflict resolution is not followed. Here is the proper way to resolve conflicts with Christians.

-1 Go the them first! Matthew 5:24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering."

-2 Bring someone with you - Matthew 18:15-20 15 "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. 16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that `every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector.

-3 And remember, be angry but do not sin. Understand the source of your anger to overcome it. IE: Separation, Disapproval, Rejection, Inadequacy/Failure, Deprivation, Betrayal, Humiliation, Exploitation/Manipulation or Injustice/Unfairness (From the Rage Within)

And the last element of combating division is teaching. I find that so many are poorly taught in some areas, and get the same food week after week. Well, even caviar eventually gets boring. And there is a long list of topics that divide the church, when, for those that really read and study the word of God, are pretty clear. They maybe outside of your experience, but God's ways are not your ways.

Here are some divisive topics, yet they should never be avoided:
- Leadership structure
- Woman in ministry
- Spiritual gifts - especially tongues
- Tithing
- The Eucharist
- The laying on of hands
- The color of the hymnals
- Worship volume

Babes in Christ will have an opinion about all these. But I think God has one opinion, and it may not agree with mine or yours, but for those that truly seek Him, they're likely to be closer to the truth, don't you think?

It seems we are so focused on the milk, that we can't get to the meat. Why is that? I mean someone is running the local church! It might be time to recheck attitude and integrity. If there is no fruit, it is pretty likely not God. Paul had a lot to say on growing up, getting taught, and who was supposed to do it.

Ephesians 4:11-25 (NKJV)

11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ- 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

17 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

20 But you have not so learned Christ, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: 22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

25 Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor," for we are members of one another.

How about you, are you a messenger of unity, or of division? Tell us why.

This is from the archives. I am trying to get back to writing.

Lack of Deep Relationship - More Stupid Christianity #!10

2011-07-06T07:00:00.001-04:00

-10 Lack of Deep Relationship - I think of all the stupid things Christians commonly do, the fact that so many do not understand what it means to be a church family, a brother or sister in the Lord, or a godly friend tops the list.

John 15:12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Somehow this scripture from John (above) has been Americanized to mean "be nice to each other." Sure, some will take it deeper and pray for others, and some will even serve each other by bringing a meal or visiting someone in the hospital. The deeper the better - but I don't go to church to be "niced" to death!

I think the basic problem is that we love as we have been loved, not as Jesus has loved us.

The true test of a loving and deep relationship, however; is not good feelings, personal satisfaction and a plaque for expressing love using one of the 5 Love Languages. A deep relationship creates an atmosphere of trust, accountability and camaraderie. It is sacrificial - an intimate expression of God's lovingkindness, mercy and grace; facilitating the sharing of burdens, confession of sin and prayer for one another.

James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

Christian "fellowship" as it is often called, tends to be focused on Sunday services, Bible studies, chit-chat at the coffee pot and other small group activities. Fellowship focuses on religious activities, occasionally on Jesus, and rarely the building of healthy relationships. IE: Getting to know one another.

What would it be like if every Christian, instead of hoping that their sins remained private, had someone that they could trust to share them with?

I confess, I have never been to a church that taught true relationship. They threw a few books at it - temperaments such as DISC or the Greek Model, The 5 Love Languages (for married couples) and a few sermons on love - often aimed at married folks. Others have focused on personal healing - using books like the Boundaries series, 12 Steps for Christians and Search for Significance.

Many men's groups used Wild at Heart, are touting leftovers from Promise Keepers and other materials pertaining to the differences between men and woman. All of these are EXCELLENT resources. They are helpful in understanding yourself and others, which; results in better quality relationships. Some, however; are aimed at fixing the old man, the very same one that must die so that the new man in Christ can be released!

There are practical things you can do to facilitate relationship, those are listed HERE.

If we are first going to develop real relationship, then we need to know what God expects of us in those relationships. As previously stated, just telling folks to love another, doesn't seem to be doing the trick!

The following is a list of Bible versus using the Greek word ALLELOUS; often translated as one another along with a few of others that imply one another. As doers of the word, I am sure you'll find them handy.

Leviticus 19:11 "'Do not steal. "'Do not lie. "'Do not deceive one another.

John 13:14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet.

John 13:34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

John 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Romans 12:16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Romans 13:8 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

Romans 14:13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.

Romans 15:7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Romans 15:14 I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.

Romans 16:16 Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings.

1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.

Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Ephesians 5:19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,

Ephesians 5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Colossians 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Hebrews 10:25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-- and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

James 4:11 Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.

1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

1 Peter 4:9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

1 Peter 5:5 Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another , because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

1 John 3:11 This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

1 John 3:23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

1 John 4:11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

1 John 4:12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

James 5:9 Don't grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

Hebrews 13:1 Keep on loving each other as brothers.

2 Thessalonians 1:3 We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.

1 Thessalonians 5:15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

1 Thessalonians 5:13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

1 Thessalonians 4:18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.

1 Thessalonians 4:9 Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.

1 Thessalonians 3:12 May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.

Colossians 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Colossians 3:9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices

Philippians 4:2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Galatians 5:26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Galatians 6:2 Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Corinthians 12:25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

Galatians 5:15 If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

1 Corinthians 11:33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other.

Romans 1:12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith.

Ephesians 4:16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Philippians 2:3-5 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.

The Influence of Witchcraft In the Church - More Stupidity #9

2011-07-04T07:30:00.002-04:00

-9 The Influence of Witchcraft In the Church - What? The church does not engage in witchcraft! Well, some Christians do - and it is more common than you might think.

Human beings are designed to engage the supernatural realms. Some of it's just not God! Even 33% of atheists believe in the paranormal and prayer.

Martin Luther taught that witchcraft was a sin because the 2nd commandment says, "you shall have no other God before me." With that in mind, and before we look at the scriptures, here is brief list of practices and topics that I found in the Google search "christian witchcraft."

- Divination, Fortune Telling, Horoscopes, Tarot Cards, Psychics and Ouija Boards

- Fantasy characters such as Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Disney, Santa and the Easter Bunny

- Holidays that take place on pagan holidays such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Valentines Day

- White and Black Witchcraft, Wicca and Liberal Christians only casting loving spells (I really found that!)

- Satanism

- Repetitive prayers and mantras

- Positive Thinking - you thinking good thoughts, random acts of kindness.

- Study of the temperaments and other psychological practices

- Eastern Religions and their practices

- Santeria, Skull Worship, cannibalism, shrunken heads and various Indian traditions

The Bible definitively condemns the practice of witchcraft.

Deuteronomy 18:10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD.

Exodus 22:18 Do not allow a sorceress to live.

Some who practiced near-east religions acted as "mediums", channeling messages from the dead or from a "familiar spirit". This would include things like ghosts, seances, demons inhabiting homes, and other tangible items such as crystals and dream catchers.

Saul rightly consulted prophets (supernatural hearing from God) as king of Israel and sinned when he consulted the witch Endor (supernatural hearing from the demonic) 1 Samuel 28.

The difference is the source!

The church (Catholic, Pentecostal, Charismatic and some independent denominations) maintain their own supernatural arsenal sometimes called charism (plural: charismata). The word comes from the Greek, charis - grace. It's a reflection of God's grace and power. These are described in 1 Corinthians 12, 13 and 14, Ephesians 4 and Romans 12.

The gifts of the spirit are from God, however; they can be duplicated by demons. I once ministered in a church full of false tongues. I have also ministered in hundreds of churches with the real deal. These are the type of spiritual phenomena that Paul said need to be spiritually discerned. The same is true of prophecy, healing and other types of miracles. If you don't know God, it is doubtful you'll recognize His handy work.

As we contrast the above list to the second commandment and the verse from Deuteronomy , we can easily weed out a number of practices.

Off the list are all types of spells, divination, psychic readings horoscopes and the like. We'll call that the occult. Also off the list are non-Christian religions - eastern, western, Indian, New Age, and Wicca. HERE is a related blog by Tony C Today.

That leaves us with holidays, fantasy characters, and psychological practice. Regarding psychology, there is some very good stuff out there, but use your discernment. Good psychology simply observes healthy godly behavior. I'd stay away from Jung, Freud, and some of the pop stuff. Remember, we can't make this stuff our god or we risk sinning against Him.

I am going to state my opinion when it comes to stuff like Harry Potter. If it looks like sin (witchcraft), it is likely to cause sin.

I am big fan of the imagination, and therefore artistic and creative writing is on the good list. God gives us talents and creative thoughts. Like everything else, we must keep the truth in perspective, and enjoy that which is created by artists. Certainly I am not talking about profane images, and other types of art that will cause us to sin.

With such a tremendous saturation of video games, entertainment, movies, online activities and a barrage of other media that runs 24/7, we need to find ways to keep our Christian life in balance. I don't think that we can set up a balance schedule - we need to hear from God and do it, that's always that bottom line.

A steady diet of non-Christian books, music, media and games, is not going to develop godly character!

When it comes to holidays, as Christians we must careful of the appearance of evil. If it looks like we are sinning, or we are doing things that cause others to sin, we're in trouble. The Christian calendar has been primarily established by the Roman Catholic church. Holidays were meant to "compete" with secular celebrations (this was the beginning of ineffective programs!). It is not what I would have done personally, however; tradition is not harmful unless it keeps us from God.

There is a realm between sin and holiness that I like to call Not Sin, Not God - Read About It HERE. It is possible to know which activities that are not strictly forbidden by scripture, are permissible.

Paul said this:
Romans 14:20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.

22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. 23 But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

Enjoy that which is legal, refrain that which is not, and keep your mouth shut about what is neither. How does that sound?

Settling for Less - More Stupid Christianity #8

2011-07-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

-8 Settling for Less - Mediocrity in the church is a foothold for Satan. As church members are lulled into lifeless religious pursuits, believers grow lukewarm in their relationships, commitments and passion.

Revelation 14"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

We have all heard this verse. Most church hoppers use it at least once to describe the church they are leaving for another church.

The question is this: is being lukewarm the fault of the believer, or the fault of the church?

I believe the answer is both. When individuals are not passionate about their Jesus, about the mission of the church, then, for lack of a better word, they get bored like teenagers on MySpace. When you have enough of these folks, then it becomes widespread in the church.

If we look over the letters to the churches in Revelation, we find the following faults and encouragements:

Ephesus Revelation 2:1-7
-Left their first love
-Fallen

Smyrna Revelation 2:8-11
-Be faithful, even to the point of death.

Pergamos Revelation 2:12-17
-Hold the doctrine of Balaam (Balaam's heart was perverse and he spoke for gain, abuse of grace)
-Hold the doctrine of Nicolaitions (A spiritually smug hierarchy, a ruling class in the church, abuse of power)

Thyatira Revelation 2:18-28
-Allowed Jezebel to seduce God servants to commit fornication and eat things offered to idols. (She was a Phoenician queen that turned Ahab's people from Yahweh to Baal.)

Sardis Revelation 3:1-6
-Have a name that you live but are dead. There deeds were not complete.

Philadelphia Revelation 3:7-13
-You have kept my command to endure patiently.

Laodiceans Revelation 3:14-30
-Lukewarm
-Think you are rich and increased with good, but are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.

I believe that there are two teachings that can help turn these church "faults" around; neither of which I have ever heard preached on 30 years! I believe the manicured American church suffers from some of the failures listed above. The following two spiritual principals embody the encouragements to the churches at Philadelphia and Smyrna. (The other 5 were to repent)

-1 Excellence - This is the spiritual principal of running the race in such a way that we push ourselves for a better time each lap.

Matthew 5:48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

This is a verse that can be casually dismissed by saying to ourselves and to others, "No one is perfect, so why bother trying?" Yet, it embodies the very essence of the new man in Christ.

The pursuit of perfection is called excellence. As Christians we don't get to say, "That is good enough for me." We need to ask ourselves if it is good enough for God?

-2 Commitment - The principal of adhering to a godly vision regardless of the personal cost. Commitment is the determination to finish the race in spite of all hurdles, obstacles and conditions.

Matthew 5:37 Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.

This is another verse that can be causally dismissed and yet it is very powerful when we think about how many of us, can run our lives apart from committing to God, the church, and His people.

Paul reiterated the message.

2 Corinthians 1:16 I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 When I planned this, did I do it lightly? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say, "Yes, yes" and "No, no"? 18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No."

And finally, mediocrity is sin. Without godly repentance, and a spiritual commitment to life building activities, we are just going to end up in the same place.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

I have come to believe that if a person will seek God's face in repentance, they will be in a personal revival. If a church does this, they will be in revival, and if a country does this, they to, will be in revival. No matter what the church global does, their action is the result of the individual decisions that are part of that entity in which they are a part.

Repentance is a hard lesson, but in it is the essence of dying to self, and the promised release of God's Spirit - which this writer finds very exciting!

We need revival, are you willing to repent, to work for excellence, and commit to the process?

We Need to Have A Tag Sale

2011-06-29T07:00:00.001-04:00

In 2000 I sat with a my pastor and another friend of his who also was a pastor from a local church. At the time I was renting a room from a guy I knew at church. Pretty much everything I owned fit in that room. I wasn't what you would call success. They were praying with me about some church junk, and one of them prophesied healing for me in the form of marriage. Wow, that came out of no where.

On occasion, you don't know what you want until you get it.

Today is the 10th anniversary of meeting my wife Mary Anne. We went dutch to dinner at the Way Ho in Bourne, MA. There she was in her floral blouse and light blue skirt. We chatted over a some flaming dish and took a long walk by the Cape Cod Canal. It was nice time. I wasn't really sure what the score was, so we chatted online later that evening.

Thank God for second chances.

Today I am just glad that Mary Anne brought to me what I really needed: healing. She cares about my happiness, she can always be counted on.... try having a heart attack, you need help! She was there when my mother died, she was there every time I came home from a painful visit with my kids... she was there. She's always there.

I have written a lot about the love of my life. Here are few blogs. Valentines Day, 7th Anniversary, The Best Wife, and 6th Anniversary.

Like every couple, we've been through some tough times and we are looking forward to a little happiness - well after the current crises is over.

In ten years we have acquired a lot of stuff: 2 houses, a new child, 3 dogs, toys, guitars, and a lot more than I had in my room when I met her. We need to have a tag sale! In spite of all the stuff, we always have each other. That's the best part.

Today I just wanted to say I am blessed. Yesterday we celebrated 8 years of marriage, but the journey has been 10 years.

I love you, Mary Anne!

Missed Opportunities and Overlooked Treasures - More Stupidity #7

2011-06-27T07:00:00.014-04:00

-7 Missed Opportunities and Overlooked Treasures - I find it interesting that the church often says one thing, and does another.

Quite a few years ago John Wimber discovered that evangelical churches claimed that bringing folks to salvation in Jesus was there main mission. He then asked the question, how's business?

The truth was that most churches claiming to be evangelical were in fact, not seeing regular salvations!

When John looked closely at what churches were spending time and money doing, salvation was often near the bottom of the list. For a church to be effective, it needs godly vision, solid priorities and dedicated leaders. Too often the church can get so filled up with programs that it can easily miss what God wants to do.

Every church needs to be part of the local community. Churches are not meant to cloister the saints in some sort of secret society. Every community has needs. Within those needs are opportunities for the church to make an impact for the Kingdom of God.

First let me say that salvation certainly comes at the moment of conversion. The road to salvation can be a long one for some folks. Along that road I think there are many missed opportunities. If we focus on getting people closer to the goal, instead of getting to the starting line, we have many more chances for advancing the cause of the Gospel.

Here is an example of what I am talking about. My town has a small state college. In New England rolling onto campus and holding some sort of revival is very unlikely. But when we think about the road to salvation, we can see that college students have lots of needs. They need rides, laundry done, or a home cooked meal. Some students need to have a place to stay for short vacations such as Thanksgiving and Memorial Day because going home is too expensive, or too much trouble. Those are opportunities a church can take advantage of.

One church I belonged to would get "day old" bread from a supermarket. At first they put it on a table in the lobby for families in need. On many occasions it was still there after the entire congregation had left the Sunday morning service. Finally one gal decided that she would take a small team to the projects in the vicinity. In pairs, they simply knocked on doors, and gave away bread - all of it - hundreds of loaves each week. At first folks seemed put off by the team just knocking on doors, but after a month or two, people would meet them at the mailbox building twice a week. Needless to say, many received prayer, food, encouragement, a dozen or so got saved.

Church, we need to look for opportunities, and find a way to love people with the hands of Jesus.

How about going to the local nursing home every Wednesday instead of having another boring book study? Maybe you could have a dinner for the poor, families of those serving overseas, or foster children instead of a pot-luck with 10 trays of baked macaroni that no one else wants? How about putting a sandwich board out for movie night inviting the whole community? Hey, it might not be too late to rake lawns for widows, or shovel snow for the elderly. Maybe the church could buy a snowplow and do lots of driveways, or a limo to pick kids up for youth group? Maybe?

More Treasures within our Midst
Our churches are filled with gifted people, who, given the right training, encouragement, and opportunity, could be a treasure in the Kingdom of God. Too often leadership gets caught up in personal visions, program planning, or a denominational way of doing business, overlooking many that would be successful ministers!

Some of the obstacles to finding these treasures are:
- Leadership trying to clone itself and not staffing for weaknesses
- Training that is too general or too rigid
- A rigid set of programs
- Doing it because it was successful somewhere else
- A program "punch list" of leaders and helpers - filling jobs, not finding callings and gifting
- A condensed gospel as opposed to a full gospel
- The "we never did that before" mentality
- Well it worked at [fill in the name of your favorite mega-church]!
- Lack of understanding of what a "body" is
- Not allowing members to follow their passion!

When leadership is focused on "church" and not on individuals, many members will be overlooked. I also find that churches do not always have a defined track for getting people up and running - or one that is so arduous only the over-achievers can measure up. Why does someone need to be in a church a year to park cars, or a divinity degree to clean toilets?

Where are our mentors?!? If you are not training someone to take your job in the church's ministry, you are not discipling!

If we look at the gifts and roles within the church (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4), we'll find that the body of Christ has many, and diverse individual opportunities. It is IMPOSSIBLE to have a program that will work well for missionaries, home-group leaders and prophetic people. There is no pastor alive that can fill all the roles that a healthy church requires to advance the Kingdom, and produce committed and gifted disciples.

Church, we need to teach believers what the needs of the community are, get people trained in the spiritual gifts, the basics of faith, the laying on of hands and kick them out of the nest!

Leaders need to entertain all ministry ideas and weigh them against what God is doing. Worried about character, wait for #10!

I the mean time, I dare you to pray, "Lord send me someone with the gift of helps, one with prophesy, one with the word of faith, an apostle, an evangelist and a those with healing gifts! Lord let me see their gifting as an opportunity to advance your Kingdom. Send them Lord, and let me release them. Amen.

5 1/2 Steps, Sweat and Solitude...

2011-06-24T07:00:00.003-04:00

The title is about as spiritual as I am going to get today. My regular readers know that I had a serious cardiac event a few months ago, that I bought a new Android phone, and that I have been working out for quite a while. Today you get the child of those three parents!

Gyms are interesting places. The YMCA where I live is sort of the Walmart of gyms. It's big, it's got a lot a stuff in a huge building, and the people, well, they are colorful. I am going to start a page People of the Y. It is some of the same characters you see on the People of Walmart site with spandex.

Come with me on a short journey from desk jockey and couch potato to amateur runner and health nerd as I share the essentials of getting into shape.

-1 Equipment: If you are going to be a health nerd, you need health nerd stuff. First, you need running shoes. It is best to get the ones that do not have the flashing LED's and Dora the Explorer or Diego on them (seriously, get good ones!).

Then you need a musical device: iPod, SmartPhone or MP3 player will do. If it is really sharp looking gadget, then get the Velcro armband holder for it.That way you don't have to hold it when you use the rest room. If it is a cheesy Barbie phone, you may want to stitch a pocket for it in your drawers.

Be sure that you have headphones; at the gym, sharing is not caring!

If you are really cool (like me!) you need a heart monitor to keep track of your pulse. Some of them have alarms so you know when you are about to die on the treadmill. Mine is wireless, and to my surprise, not only does it show up on the special decoder watch I have as well as my SmartPhone, but it displayed on the Precor treadmill too. Freaky!

-2 Apparel: In the old days we had sweat pants and sweat shirts. Period! Walmart could have saved aisles and aisles if that were still the case - but it's not. Now you can get Spandex (please don't if it makes you look like a package of pork tenderloin!), polyester, fake velvet and even sequins. I am just kidding about the sequins - I hope. So what;s up with cheap polyester? It makes noise, lots of noise. The good news is that if you are huge like I was, you won't be going fast. The velvet sweat suit with the nice little piping and stripes, be careful. If you fall on the treadmill, it 's like a long-haired cat caught in a lawnmower. I 'm just sayin. Oh, and remember, Richard Simmons is not trendy.

-3 Diet: Come on, you've maybe tried a few such as Jenny Craig, Atkins, South Beach or the Dill Pickle Diet. If you are going to lose pounds, you need to change the way you eat. Dill pickles are 0 calories, so try them seriously! Dump the sweet drinks, cookies, candy and chips. It's over. You may want to get rid of rice and potatoes too! Only whole wheat or whole grain bread, bagels and crackers if you are serious. Get yourself an 8oz measuring cup. You get two filled with veggies or fruit for each meal plus 3-4 oz of meat or fish. The trick is to chase down stuff that makes it taste good. 3 snacks a day of something nutritious and you're done! I went from 276 to 233 exercising 3 times a week for 30 minutes. Without the exercise while I was sick, I still lost 10 pounds in 2 months.

-4 Music: If you are going to move, you need music. It should rock, you are not meditating! I suggest, Led Zeppelin, Burn Service, Steve Miller, Kutless, Tim Hughes and Jason Aldean.

-5 Events: I need a goal, and you might too. Mine is a 5k race. My first for next month is Run, Walk or Crawl 5K in a nearby town. There has got to be some slow people there! Sure, in high school I ran it in 16:57, but now I'm happy with 35 minutes.

-5 1/2 Noom! - I have a app on my phone entitle Noom/Cardio Trainer. It keeps track of all my exercise and food consumption! (Here is another one that is pretty cool if you don't have a SmartPhone: http://www.myfitnesspal.com)

How about you, are you as healthy as you'd like to be?

Fighting Among Ourselves - More Stupid Things Christians Do #6

2011-06-22T07:11:00.000-04:00

-6 Fighting Among Ourselves - A few years ago, there was a division within a local church; it made the headlines. One group of founders had purchased the land that the church was now built on. A second group of believers had donated money for the church building.

The pastors from both groups had originally agreed to work together for the good of the region. A few years into the endeavor the pastors had a disagreement over theology and the church split. That's nothing new - however, the respective founding groups ended up in court to decide who should get the building and land valued at about about $1 million dollars.

The battle went on for over a year, and each court proceeding was made public in the left-leaning, anti-religion newspaper. There were scathing editorials by staffers as well as malicious comments from the church folks on the web articles. What was going on in the church was even worse.

The Bible is very specific on how we should resolve conflicts in the church. The simple fact that the Word of God is so detailed on the issue should give us insight into how important it is!

Please keep in mind, that conflict is not strife, nor is it division, however; those can easily be the root. In Ephesians 4, Paul says this: "Be angry, but do not sin." Sin is always a problem where the result is often hardness of heart and stiff-necked religious people.

So what are some of things that cause conflict in a church?

- Greed
- Lust for power
- Need for recognition
- Love of money
- Pride
- Arrogance
- Inability to submit to authority
- Improper use of authority
- Dishonesty

Teaching people to truly love, and have genuine passion for Jesus, can overcome many of these shortcomings.

How should Christians resolve conflict?

- Go to the one that you have an offense with regardless of who may have caused it. Matthew 5:23-24.
- If this person will not listen, then bring along one or two brothers or sisters in the Lord. Matthew 18:15-16
- Bring it before the church. Matthew 18:17
- Then they should be asked to leave the church. Matthew 18:17b

The problem usually starts when an offended believer circumvents the process by going to someone else instead of the offending party.

There are lots of verses on how a Christian should act, but somehow we overlook all of that because we feel entitled to our anger.

Church, it is time to love - 1 Corinthians 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.

Church Hopping - More Stupid Things Christians Do #5

2011-06-20T07:00:00.001-04:00

-5 Church Hopping - Why is it that Catholics seem to go to the same church for a lifetime, and most evangelicals go to a church on the average, for just a few years. Is God confused about where He wants us?

Choosing a church should be like choosing a spouse, not dating!

I confess, I have been one of these people. But I still don't think that it is normal to hop around. It seems that all that is required to start a new church these days is a resentment and a coffee pot.

If you've been following along in this series, there is more of a problem when churches focus on church, and not on Jesus and people. Churches that focus on Jesus, while providing significance to their members do much better at retaining those members. That in a nutshell is the role of leadership.

Our part is to be passionate about Jesus, and to dialog with Him about ways in which we can grow. If we are mature Christians, our priorities are in order, we are praying, studying, and giving, then Sundays should be a place where we can meet people that need what we have.

The healthy church should be providing us with opportunities to worship in song, giving, various other art forms and service. I haven't been to a church that didn't need help with all kinds of stuff, ranging from elders to toilet cleaners.

The normal and most predictable church services are pretty much music, and teaching. Some denominations have time devoted to the use spiritual gifting and altar calls. If the average church offers the same thing, then why do we need to go somewhere else? I'm just asking.

The Bible says that we should not forsake the gathering of believers. God want us somewhere in fellowship, right? Unless we move out of town, why would God change His mind about where we go? If we are doing our part, won't God do His part?

There are good things about blooming where you are planted.

- You get to know people
- You get to serve, and hopefully work with others that share your burdens and passions
- You get to be known - not to be a big shot, but so that others feel a deeper sense of relationship
- You will be challenged in your attitudes, and opinions
- You will be challenged in your faith
- You will need to work things out with others
- You will hopefully grow up to the "meat" of the word

What are some of the reasons people leave churches looking for greener pastures?

- Pastors are abusive, fall into sin, or take a job somewhere else.
- Division over theology - in particular the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but I have seen them over the colors of hymnals.
- Division over programs
- Taking sides in a couples divorce
- Personal sin
- Burned out from serving
- Lack of leadership opportunities
- Too many good ideas and not enough God ideas
- No room for your gifting

Those are all bad reasons to hit the pogo stick looking for another church.

There is one good reason to move on, and that is that God has instructed you to be at another congregation.

Are you looking to move on? Here are a few things to ask yourself:
- If I find a place to fellowship, can I commit for life?
- If I find a place to worship, am I willing to submit to leadership, serve, and lay down my life for those that God has chosen for me to walk with?
- If I find a place to worship, am I going to pray for the pastor, the leadership and the folks around me?
- Am I bringing religious baggage I need to work through?
- Does this church have programs and ministries that I am passionate about, and would participate in?
- Am I attending as a taker, or a giver?
- Does the church have non-religious activities? IE: Movie nights, ski trips, picnics, dinners and other places that are NOT for prayer, Bible study and worship?

It is a statistical fact: Unless an attendee makes 4 to 6 meaningful friendships within the first year, they will move on to another church.

So, next time you are at a church picnic, get to know someone, it could save you and them a hop or two.

Father's Day 2011

2011-06-19T08:07:00.002-04:00

I have posted about my dad a few times over the years. He passed away in 1998. HERE is that story. HERE is another post about him too. I have written about who he was as a dad, and as a veteran in both the Korean War as well as WWII. Today I am going to be with my 3 girls at some point, and then head over to have dinner with my father-in-law.

As a son I wasn't too good at it - and as a son of God, I still have a long way to go.

I just wanted to share a friends blog that is really quite wonderful this Father's Day. Her name is Andrea York, and you might have noticed she is pretty regular comment-er on Fire & Grace. In honor of all dads, and the kids who need and love their fathers, HERE is her blog.

Be sure to leave her a comment and click the follow icons if you like. Oh yeah, and you may certainly raz her about the Vancouver Canucks losing the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads who read along.

Talking Like Bible Experts - Stupid Things Christians Do Part 4

2011-06-17T07:05:00.006-04:00

-4 Talking Like Experts About Things We Have Not Studied - Don't you just hate know-it-alls?

We do not expect a 9-year-old to drive a car; we also do not expect them to teach someone else to drive.

Why is it that we feel the need to answer every theological question? Although I find it interesting that many Christians have not really read the Bible, that is not the entire problem. Often times those that have taught us, tend to round the corners of verses to fit a particular point, or topical teaching. I do that here. It is always a good idea to take a look for yourself!

The Bible is an amazing book, and no one will know everything about it.

Christians seem to find it important to defend God and the Bible. Well, God doesn't need defending. Nor is He threatened by popular culture running off in the ditch.

In life, we will often meet folks that are better educated than we are. It happens all the time. But we don't start telling a doctor how to do a medical test or procedure, or tell the car mechanic how to adjust the intake valves, do we?

I find it interesting that cults seem better educated in the scriptures than many Christians. Cults rely on having answers, and we should too - answers that give life, not simply engage debate.

Early on, I was encouraged to read books about other religions, the cults and the occult. It is good to know what we, as a church, are up against. That said, it is better to know what our gifting is, and stick to that which God has created us for. Each one of us has unique abilities to relate to God and to others with our spiritual gifts. This will include an understanding of the Scriptures pertaining to our gifting.

I happen to think that the church is well taught in some areas, and extraordinarily uneducated in others. Any good evangelical knows Romans 10:9-10, John 3:16 and Acts 2:21. Our Charismatic and Pentecostal friends are well versed on 1 Corinthians 12 and Acts chapter 2. Folks that believe in healing are familiar with Isaiah 53:5 and Mark 6:56. And our friends at the 4 Square, their denomination is based on: Acts 2:42.

Where we fall short is in digging in and getting our own revelation, while developing an intimate relationship with God. We tend to follow the main stream of Sunday morning teaching, missing important areas God may want to work in us personally. For example, I know hundreds of believers in the spiritual gifts, but few, even pastors, who can give a biblical example of each of them. If you'd like to be the first on your block, HERE they are.

When questioned about our faith, it is OK, to say: "I don't know," " I'll look it up," or "I'll get back to you." God can use that kind of humility - especially if it is the truth!! Most folks are much more interested in what Jesus has done for YOU than they are with the tidbits you know from the word.

To put it in a nice neat little list.
-1 Be passionate about why YOU love Jesus.

-2 Don't float Bible verses like magic diamonds in an arcade game.

-3 Keep the Bible chatter to a minimum. Some say don't use verses with those that are not saved. But I believe that the Word has power. One Holy Spirit placed verse is worth a 1,000,000 words. Read Acts - quoting scripture, however; is mostly for religious people!

-4 Don't Claim that only Christians can understand the Bible. That's crazy! Some things are understood with the natural mind, like some of the 10 commandments.

-5 Don't confuse science with faith - and for God's sake if you are against the Theory of Evolution, abortion or Global Warming (and you should be) then you should know why!

-6 Do NOT pound your least favorite denomination into the ground or tout your favorite one. It makes you sound like a religious bigot. Romans 14:22 So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.

-7 Listen carefully and speak slowly - if God is at work, and then let Him do His job. HERE are a few tips. It is much easier to present a challenge to naysayers such as this. "Ask God every morning and every night to reveal Himself to you in a simple prayer for 30 days." Then we'll talk some more.

I believe that what people find important about Jesus is that He meets them where they are. He doesn't beat them over the head with a Thompson Chain Bible. It is love that is attractive; it is the beauty of His presence - the wonderful and indescribable passion we feel that overflows our hearts - which seems to capture the attention of others.

Revelation 12:11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

What's your testimony?

5 1/2 Lord Stanley Comes to Live in Boston

2011-06-16T09:35:00.001-04:00

Today is a bonus post for my regular readers. Last night my life-long favorite hockey team won the national championship, better known as the Stanley Cup. Congratulations to the Boston Bruins!

Before you dash off to read something more interesting than a blog about sports, consider this. Each one of us has a God given destiny. For the some of the Boston Bruins, last night was part of who they are in Christ - whether they know it or not. I suppose there are some that have chosen this path, and on it they will miss God. For others, this may in fact be the path that leads them to Jesus.

Enough spiritualization, here are 5 1/2 reasons why you should at least checkout the video highlights of the winning game HERE. Or you may read about it HERE.

-1 Because the Action Doesn't Stop: Hockey, unlike football and baseball (snore) plays until there is a reason to stop the play. (like basketball and soccer) There is no stopping for a huddle to make plays, no waiting for a pitcher to wind up and throw another ball. The plays unfold in a high-speed and fluid manner until one of the rules is broken. You are not going to get up and get another bowl of chips or hit the bathroom and take chance of missing a goal! (I actually did this last night to get a glass of water! I was gone 30 seconds)

-2 Hard Hitting: In addition to superior balance, physical strength and hand-eye-coordination, you need to be tough; really tough. This is the fastest team sport in the world. I believe the fastest hockey player ever was clocked at over 35 mph. Skaters smash into each other at 3 times the speed of any football player. It is called checking, and it is not for wimps. Good hits are like good blocks in football, they take a player out of play. Bad hits are extremely dangerous. Both the Canucks and the Bruins suffered serious injuries from "cheap hits" this series. Even good hits are dangerous. HERE is a good legal "hit." HERE is a cheap shot that ended the season for Boston's Nathan Horton.

-3 Goals: The point of the game is to score goals and keep the opposing team from scoring against you. The goal is 4 feet tall and 6 feet wide. You put a fully clad goalie in front, and there are few places to sneak a 1 inch tall by 3 inch in diameter chunk of vulcanized rubber called a puck. Boston's Zdeno Chara can make it fly 105.4 mph. That's quite a bit faster then a MLB pitch. I'm just sayin! Shooters learn to find one of the 5 holes.

-4 Strategy: Every team wants to wins. Professionals are able to adapt to changing strategies. What works in one game, doesn't work in the next. In period 1 (there are three @ 20 minutes) you can bring the puck out of your zone (end of the rink) along the boards (the walls that keep the play on the ice for the most part), The opposing team now places players along the boards and you need to have a new strategy. It takes some skill to spot these subtle changes, called adjustments. My wife says watching hockey is like watching fish swimming back-and-forth in a fish tank. But they are fish with strategies.

- 5 Skill: Like any sport, there are players that do stuff that simply makes you say wow! Boston's goaltender, Tim Thomas (age 37) made some amazing stops! He gave up 8 goals in 7 games. Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks gave up 23 in the same 7 games. I saw the Bruins win the cup in 1972, and it was all about one player, Bobby Orr ( the most skilled player to ever play the game - see the TV graphic above). This year it was about a team. Each game had an MVP.

- 5 1/2 Spirit...

How about you, has a team you were a fan of won a championship?

Not Living Up to the Level of Our Beliefs - Stupid Things Christians Do Part 3

2011-06-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

-3 Not Living Up to the Level of Our Beliefs - Healing, creative miracles, salvation, power over demons and other supernatural abilities are ours - well if we believe. I know it sounds a bit like Peter Pan.

Why is it that we know what God can do, yet we do not pursue the type of relationship with Him that produces Kingdom results?

The fruit of the kingdom of God is power. I am not talking about the fruit of the spirit outlined so eloquently by Paul in Galatians 5:22. The substance of God's kingdom is power manifest in you and in me. The Gospel message is about becoming a disciple of Jesus, not merely a follower. Those that are disciples do what Jesus did, that includes the miraculous. They are not robots waiting for their ticket to the heavenlies when the rapture comes. The violent take the Kingdom by force. (Matthew 11:12)

The Bible says that signs and wonders will follow them that believe. Are they following you? If not, why not? If you are truly born again and full of the Spirit of God, then the job is to advance the kingdom one loving act a time. If you read chapters 12 through 14 of the first book of Corinthians, you will see the complete package. In 12 you will see the power, in 13 you will understand how love and gifting co-mingle in the heart producing supernatural works by your hand. In chapter 14 you will see its outworking in the community of believers.

Do you know what you believe? Maybe it's time to make a checklist.

- Salvation
- Blessing on your family for keeping your priorities
- A return on your tithe
- Spiritual gifting to support your call from on high
- Help in times of trouble
- Interpreting dreams
- Healing
- Power over demons
- Revelation
- Wisdom
- The dead raised

As Christians it is easy to give lip service to the things of God. A quick reflection of our prayer life should reveal what you can expect from God. Are you praying for healing? Most of us can pray for help in times of trouble, but what about interpreting a dream, or for revelation regarding a friends situation?

John 16:24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

Do not be cheated by Satan, it is by your testimony and the power of God that the Kingdom of God expands and lives are changed.

Revelation 12:11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

Isn't it time to pray at your belief level?

It's About Jesus, Not About Church! Stupid Things Christians Do - Part 2

2011-06-13T07:00:00.002-04:00

-2 Winning People to the Church, Not Christ - You may be all about your denomination, you may have a great church, a pastor that is amazing; you participate in small groups, you have Bible verses all over your MySpace, your Facebook and your refrigerator - even a Honk if You Love Jesus bumper-sticker - you are a soul winner to boot. You are, after all, out to get folks saved, isn't that the purpose of the church?

Each one of us comes from some sort of Christian upbringing, background or heritage. Our religious experiences and influences tend to shape our view of what church is, as well as who Jesus is. To some, God is a legalistic, rod bearing tyrant, that will have His way, or send you down the chute to Hell. For another, God is so full of grace, He wouldn't want you to be unhappy, so those rules, well, He'll just forgive you if you if you break them. Others think that if they are devout enough, never miss church, try to be good, and help with the poor; they are in good standing with God.

For many Evangelicals and Catholics too, the purpose of conversion is to make another member of the church. Denominational opinions abound - why is that?

In the first century church, there was one church, one way of doing things. There were no buildings, no mega-churches, and leadership was under the authority of the 13 apostles (12 plus Paul). As you can imagine, the factions started right away. Paul vs. Apollos (1 Cor 1:12), while Peter wanted folks to act like Jews. Paul rebuked him for the same (Acts 15:1-12).

1 Corinthians 1:12 What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas [Peter]"; still another, "I follow Christ."

It is in this verse that we see exactly what is happening. Each of the four are expressing whom it is that they believe; whom it is they follow, and whom they look to for answers. The one who said, "I follow Christ," if in fact that is what they were doing, that voice was correct.

It is a rare church that brings someone to Christ, and then wants them to attend another church. Sure, Billy Graham tries to connect folks with a church after a crusade. He planted seeds that others would need to water. That mentality needs to be every believer's heart. We lead people to Christ so that Christ can take over and reign in that person's life.

Church, it essential that everything that we do points to Jesus, not to men, denominations or theology. You may not agree with my Baptocostalmatic theology, but I assure you, God has a church for each one of us! A church where He will allow us to grow to be what we were destined to be. The very essence of what God knit in our mother's womb and knew before the foundations of the earth - to be like Him.

Shooting Our Wounded - Stupid Things Christians Do #1

2011-06-10T06:30:00.000-04:00

After 30+ years hanging around the church I have noticed some odd behaviors. I wrote them down and then discovered a book that I have not read, nor do I intend to, entitled: The 10 Dumbest Things Christians Do. After a quick look at the Table of Contents I noticed that Mr. Atterberry and I matched 7 out of 10! I felt like I was a contestant on Concentration waiting for Hugh to let me solve the puzzle.

-1 Shooting Our Wounded - Isn't it bad enough that church people get caught with their pants down; their failures televised on broadcast news? Look, we all sin. It doesn't matter more to God that someone is a televangelist or mega-church leader when they sin. Sin is sin.

What matters is how we act towards those individuals who do sin.

Newscasters make money by reporting the news. From the Baker' of PTL fame, to the Clergy Sex Abuse Scandals in Massachusetts and Ireland, church folks fail - that hurts the church. I am not saying that we should side-step the truth, or cover things up. Sin is sin.

Why is it that the church some how feels a need to shoot it's wounded?

It is not wrong to have an opinion about sinful acts. In fact we should speak out against them. Gossip, name calling, degrading remarks, acting better than, acting unlovingly towards, and judging people, however; is sin. Their is a law written against those things (Gal 5:20-21). I also do NOT have a problem identifying Christians that don't act like one. Hypocrisy hurts the church (wait for number 9).

In the past couple of years a few stories made the news. I wrote about Rick Warren's flip-flop on Prop 8 back in April. I don't know Rick Warren, but he told his congregation that he supported Prop 8 in CA, he then told Larry King that he didn't. So, which is it? He has, as far as I know, not set the record straight.

Hypocrisy in religion hurts the church. Had the elders removed Pastor Warren, he may have had second thoughts about sticking to both stories.

Three years ago there was a sex and drug scandal involving a prominent Colorado pastor named: Ted Haggard. Ted was rightfully removed from his pastorate. Remember we all sin, and there are consequences for that sin.

What makes these two stories different? Repentance; albeit a little slow on Ted's part, he came around to saying the following in a goodbye letter to the congregation:

"I am guilty of sexual immorality. There is a part of my life that is so repulsive and dark that I've been warring against it all my adult life." MORE...

What much of the church did correctly, starting with removal from a leadership position, was provide counseling, love, and support. Some Christians, however; took up the cause of bashing the denomination, evangelicals in general, his wife, their family - and the list goes on. The holier-then-thou blogosphere went crazy.

What Ted did correctly, was take God up on His offer to forgive, to renew and to bring new life.

How about you, has someone fallen in your midst? Have you been a minister of reconciliation, or a harbinger of the latest gossip? Is it easier for you to talk than pray? There is sin all around us: divorce, addictions, teens with trouble, it's everywhere in the church. Have you thought for a minute what it is like to be caught in your sin?

Jesus saved thieves, prostitutes, and even religious folks, are you a messenger of THAT Gospel?

Church, we are not going to solve the problem of sin with broadcast news. It will be solved with loving confrontation, mercy, grace and recognition of the very fact that we are sinners too. For a wonderful illustration of this fact, read Joshua Harris' essay, The Room (at the end of the post).

Revelation 2:5 Remember the height from which you have fallen!

Matthew 5:24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.

The End: You Know What I Mean?

2011-06-08T09:59:00.001-04:00

Today I am taking a few minutes off from working; that's right, I am back to to work. It has been a tough two days. I was accustom to taking an afternoon nap, or at least a rest. Instead of plying myself with caffeine, I am going cold turkey. The good news is that I am working from home and get to skip 2 hours of insanity on the Massachusetts Turnpike each day.

But I am tired, really tired at the end of the day. Within 2 hours of starting work, I seem to have used up a lot of my creative energy - then I fake it 'til I make the rest of the time.

It's not a very spiritual message, but I must say that I have discovered my limitations quickly. I am still not back to where I once was, and truthfully I wonder if I ever will be. I will say that I have been pushing the exercise, running three times a week about two and half miles. That is where I feel the most normal.

In spite of all that, the cardiologist says that my heart is back to 100%. That's a miracle seeing as 1/3 of the folks that have a viral myocarditis die from it, and about 1/3 need heart transplants. The rest, have varying stages of recovery; I am one of those. Yay God!

At the end of these limitations, lies the end of me. It is interesting, in all the years I have been alive, I am not sure that I have pushed myself to the end of me. I always thought if I had more time that I could do more; if I worked a little harder I could achieve more. Now I struggle to do the things I need to do in the time that I do have. I can't think any more thoughts, take anymore steps, or do one more chore - when I am done I am done.

Interestingly, I am still worshiping, and ministering as God supplies folks for me to engage with. I love to be a messenger for the Lord. I am always hopeful for a God encounter where I get to walk into the good works that have been created for me by God. I get to do what I see the Father doing. It's energizing!

Sunday I visited a local church that which I used to attend for a few years (Read that: "let's says they didn't really have a need for a guy like me.") It is the same place where one of the elders had a word of knowledge about God healing my heart a few weeks ago. I have had their ministry team pray for me each week too. (read that 100% heart recovery!) This week I went up for prayer again. It's one of the coolest things that Christian get to do!

The pastor had some young guy pray for me. It was very nice! In turn, the Lord gave me a simple word about his teaching gift, and the word "education." As soon as I shared it with him, he said, "Have you been talking to my friends?" He was looking to see if the pastor had given me the inside. It is sort of funny to me - well, because it is common place in my world to hear from God. In any event, he received the word because he had been pondering whether or not to pursue some formal education in the ministry for you guessed it, teaching. God is very cool and knows us very well!

How about you, what happens between you and God when you come to the end of yourself?

Taking the Land, Or Kicking the Devil's Behind

2011-06-06T06:30:00.025-04:00

We all face problems in life, that is nothing new. There is sorrow, betrayal, sickness, accidents, extreme weather, financial woes, car troubles, kid troubles, and death, just to name a few. No one is immune, and for those of faith, we know that God is not on vacation.

Because I am facing some adversity of my own, I decided to give myself a pep talk. Here are things that I know I need to do.

Stay Focused on Today: it is so easy to think about what will happen a week, or a month from today. The truth is that two days before my heart attack, I was blasting along on the treadmill at 6 mph training for a 5K road race. Think about what was happening a just a few days before you lost a job, heard about a serious sickness, met your spouse, or won the lottery. (Strangely, I feel like there are no lottery winners reading this blog.)

Matthew 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

James 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will[a] go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

The Lord provided the Israelites enough manna for one day. That is the promise.

I was talking on the phone with my friend Bill. He asked how I was doing, and I proclaimed that I felt like a unexpected check would come in the mail the next day (Wednesday). It did!

Don't Shrink Back: It can tough out there in life. Our faith is not religious jewelry that we display in Christian debates, but it is a connection to the Rock of out Salvation. God has made us people of perseverance and longsuffering. I know the Driv-Thru Christians don't always like to hear that. We want it now, want it to be easy. But come on, is that the testing of our faith which refines us? Paul said the worst thing they can do is take our lives, and even that is victory.

Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

Accept Help: Adversity is the time when all the faith you think you have gets put to good use. We believe that God will take care of our need, or we don't. In some way or another, many Christians have problems understanding blessing. One thinks that blessing is everything going their way. Another thinks that it is the byproduct of something that they did, while another feels that they somehow have earned it. Worse, some have too much pride to let others be a blessing to them.

Blessing is that which is freely given to us by our Father in Heaven. If we are truly in fellowship, those that love us will quickly be prompted to help out. I know that my church, though they are 55 miles away, have made the trip to visit, and provided other types of help. It is humbling, but it is the Kingdom.

Nehemiah 4:6 So we [all the Jews] built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.

Be Positive: This is the tough when when things are truly out of my control. It is easy to say "This will never get better." I have to remember that 1/3 of the people that contracted the virus I had died from it, and 1/3 never recovered or needed heart transplants. I recovered.

I can be down about the finances, but millions have lost their home sin the US, not to mention how people live in some third world countries.

Colossians 4:2 Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.

Make it Easy: It is is easy to worry, it is easy to complain when we are uncomfortable, and it is easy to feel abandon by God when the ship is breaking up in the rough seas.

God didn't promise me an easy life.

Matthew 11:30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

Who about you, how do handle adversity?

5 1/2 What I Wish I Knew All Those Years Ago

2011-06-03T06:30:00.001-04:00

Across the northern hemisphere, school is drawing to an end for another year (well not so much in Europe - but hey, be jealous!). It's no secret that kids don't really know what they need in life, that is why they have parents. Education is supposed to give them knowledge of useful subjects, but does it? Most of what I learned in school did not make me a better person, a more mature adult, and sadly, except for one class, it didn't help me get a job; and worse, I didn't even get into a good college.

Honestly, if you add bad parenting to poor education, you get a guy like me. It's not pretty. I have a few things I wish that my parents and educators would have taught me, but instead I mastered the art of memorization:

-1 Credit is Bad: In my senior Health Class I did very well on the budget project. The problem, I included a lot of borrowed money and no one said a word. The simple economic principal of "never borrow money unless you can make money with it" would have been nice. Unless you own a business, cash is the best way to go. I happen to be a Dave Ramsey fan, he has some sobering thoughts in finances.

-2 Relationship Skills: All my skills came from my parents and media; neither were good. The guys resolved a good conflict with a few fisticuffs, and the girls with some hair pulling. I didn't really know how to end a conflict. I didn't know how to say "I was wrong," or "forgive me." I still think those are two of the basics in relationships. I love stuff like the temperaments, 5 love languages and other facets of the successful relationship pie.

-3 Real Life Skills: I learned all that math and English for no apparent reason. Sure, I use it now, but I learned i on the job. It might have been good to connect it to something - anything! I never saw a purpose in any of the classes I took. I just went in, memorized whatever I needed to, and passed. Of course math and English were not so easy, but history, civics, biology, physics, sociology and even psychology didn't require any thinking on my part. How about buying a car, managing a checkbook, interviewing for a job, budgeting, saving, voting, growing old, and the list goes on. To many of these things were a total surprise.

-4 Second Language: I am so impressed with my daughters' Spaish immersion school, that I only wish that I had learned another language a long time ago. I attended her school fair themed on habitats today. Each one of the first-graders made a scene (didn't we call these dioramas?) with the desert habitat of their animal; Charlotte choose the camel. She did a 5 page illustrated report in both Spanish and in English which she read to each parent as we took turns sitting with the different students. Me, I had to wait until I was in Brazil with no interpreter to learn Portuguese!

-5 Citizenship: There was no real connection to understanding the importance of participation in politics, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. I did have a couple of teachers that tried, but it more about their agenda than actually teaching. It was worse in college. Had I known these things, I would have understood that phrases like "the separation of church and state" are principals, not laws that deny the expression of religion within the government.

-5 1/2 Jesus: I didn't have Him back then, and all the religious folks that I knew didn't either.

How about you, what do wish you learned a long time ago?

Hearing God - A Short Story

2011-06-01T06:30:00.002-04:00

I often talk about being led by the Spirit. A lot of people think that if they read a Bible verse and it fits what they want to do next, it is God. There are so many doctrines and versus that you can debate in the Bible. I have heard both sides of lots of issues. Isn't that what denominations are, people that disagree on certain versus in the Bible, or place more importance or certain versus? There are those that debate if there could be an apostle in this day and age, if you can really speak in tongues, are there idiots in the church, can believers be possessed by demons... if you ask me, that answer is yes to all of them... but certainly they are debatable.

I guess, I was thinking about times when I was sure that I heard God. A few years ago my kids wanted to go to a conference about 120 miles from the house. The registration fee for the three of us was nearly $100; plus the price of food and gas. I had heard so many good things about Acquire the Fire, that I wanted them to go... and me too! I talked it over with my wife who says "yes" to just about anything she thinks I will like. As we talked, I saw she had a lot of concern about the cost. I was about to cancel the outing, thinking that $100 was a little extravagant for this time in our life, when I head the Lord say, "just go, I will take care of it." I did not know how it was going to happen, but I felt that it was going to be taken care of. So, the girls and I got in the car an headed for the conference over 100 miles away.

We arrived there a little early and walked into the arena area where we enjoyed the first meeting. At the end of the meeting and the music, we saw a friend of ours from church. We got to talking about how good the conference was. The topic of the cost of the conference came up, and we realized that we didn't have wrist bands. "How did you ever get in without them!", she exclaimed. "They have five or six people checking at every door for them." We never even saw anyone selling them, nor did anyone check us when we went in. (Sometimes day meetings are free at these type of events, I honestly did give it a thought.)

Just before the second meeting, absolutely not wanting to sneak in, we went to a table where they were selling the wrist bands. I went over to see what it was going to cost for the rest of the day. They were charging the full admission price for the entire weekend; one meeting was the same as the entire conference. I spoke the to gal at the table and told her that I was sorry that we had gone into the meeting earlier without knowing about the wristbands. She said that it would not be a problem, but that we couldn't go in like that again.

"Thank you anyway," I said. I went to the girls to tell them we were leaving. I didn't even have $100 if I wanted to stay. They seemed a little disappointed, but they understood that it was expensive for me at that time. They started to say how much they had gotten out of the first meetings' dramas, message and worship. We headed for the door when the the gal from the table said that God had told her to just give us the wristbands. I told her that she didn't have to. She held them out and said, "You know we never do this. Ever!"

I told her again, that she didn't have to and that we had just enjoyed being there for the time we already had. She insisted that we take them. One more time I said, "are you sure?" She simply said, "God bless you," and held them out for the us to take.

Then I heard the Lord say, "I told you I would take care of this."

The voice of God is a wonderful and sometimes scary thing. However; we have His assurance that we will hear His voice and know it." The rest of the meetings were really life changing for the kids. They still talk about some of the things they heard that day. Me, I am just glad that God speaks to His people.. and especially me. On the way home, I thanked God that He had made way for us to be there.

Hearing God should be common place in the church. How does God speak to you?

CSI - Light On Our Lives

2011-05-30T06:30:00.000-04:00

It's Memorial Day, and am taking a day off. I did write about it HERE.

I watch enough forensics shows to know that the use of alternate light sources can reveal evidence unseen by the naked eye. DNA tests can reveal the identity of virtually any perpetrator. The entire science of forensics, from gas chromatography to scanning electron microscopes, make it hard to hide anything from criminologists. I also find it amazing that in the city of London there are thousands of video cameras on which all types of activity can be watched on virtually any street in the city.

Undersea remote submarines equally amazing. They have ruined the myth of the Titanic and exposed the secrets of the Bermuda Triangle by finding ships that "supposedly" vanished. Those very mysteries, along with the illusions of Harry Houdini, intrigued me when I was in fourth grade. Even more intriguing is the NTSB as they reconstruct an entire airliner from a crash site. It is astounding how they seem to find all the pieces, let alone reassemble them!

Have you ever thought about the thousands of years of ancestry each one of us has? I know a little bit about my grandfather and heard about my great grandparents. But I don't know much beyond that. I wonder how many family trees would be altered with a few DNA tests? Isn't it scary the things which technology can bring to light?

If you watch the news you'll hear a lot about the right to privacy in medical records, cell phone calls and more... where do we draw the line? This blog really isn't about privacy invasion or the "big brother" of Logan's Run. God knows we all have something to hide. It is really about the way we live our lives. With technology, we need to be careful where and when we do things. However; as a Christan, we need to be careful what we do, regardless of the fact that there are no security cameras, or witnesses present.

What we do in private is as important as what we don on Sunday morning!

If you ran for office, what dirt would they find on you? If they confiscated your hard drive, what would they find on it? If they published your Internet log, or cell phone records, what would be there? There has been a lot said about our private lives being in the light, what do you think? Here is a story I read some years back. I think it is the perfect illustration of my point.

The Room... Joshua Harris

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features except for the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order. But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endless in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read "Girls I have liked." I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one. And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was.

This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn't match. A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching.

A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I have betrayed." The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird "Books I Have Read," "Lies I Have Told," "Comfort I have Given," "Jokes I Have Laughed at." Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I've yelled at my brothers." Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents." I never ceased to be surprised by the contents.

Often there were many more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived. Could it be possible that I had the time in my years to fill each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature.

When I pulled out the file marked "TV Shows I have watched", I realized the files grew to contain their contents. The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of shows & but more by the vast time I knew that file represented.

When I came to a file marked "Lustful Thoughts," I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content.

I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded. An almost animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn't matter now. I had to empty it and burn the cards. But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it.

Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh.

And then I saw it.. The title bore "People I Have Shared the Gospel With." The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand.

And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that they hurt. They started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes. No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key. But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him.

No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own.

He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did He have to read every one? Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me. He could have said so many things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me.

Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card. "No!" I shouted rushing to Him. All I could find to say was "No, no," as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood. He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards. I don't think I'll ever understand how He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side.

He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished." I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door. There were still cards to be written.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."-Phil. 4:13 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." If you feel the same way forward it so the love of Jesus will touch their lives also. My "People I shared the gospel with" file just got bigger, how about yours?

About the Author:
17-year-old Brian Moore had only a short time to write something for a class. The subject was what Heaven was like. "I wowed 'em," he later told his father, Bruce. "It's a killer. It's the bomb. It's the best thing I ever wrote.." It also was the last.

Brian's parents had forgotten about the essay when a cousin found it while cleaning out the teenager's locker at Teary Valley High School. Brian had been dead only hours, but his parents desperately wanted every piece of his life near them-notes from classmates and teachers, his homework.

Only two months before, he had handwritten the essay about encountering Jesus in a file room full of cards detailing every moment of the teen's life.. But it was only after Brian's death that Beth and Bruce Moore realized that their son had described his view of heaven. "It makes such an impact that people want to share it. You feel like you are there." Mr. Moore said.

Brian Moore died May 27, 1997, the day after Memorial Day. He was driving home from a friend's house when his car went off Bulen-Pierce Road in Pickaway County and struck a utility pole. He emerged from the wreck unharmed but stepped on a downed power line and was electrocuted.

The Moore’ framed a copy of Brian's essay and hung it among the family portraits in the living room. "I think God used him to make a point. I think we were meant to find it and make something out of it," Mrs. Moore said of the essay. She and her husband want to share their son's vision of life after death. "I'm happy for Brian. I know he's in heaven. I know I'll see him."

To Heck with Following Christ, I Just Want to Be a Christian!

2011-05-26T06:30:00.018-04:00

I have to say, when I hear the term Jesus follower, I want to puke. It seems to be the new fad to replace the word "Christian" which means little Christ. I know this appears to be a biblical term, but is it really what we do as believers? I don't think so. In any case here are the verses from which this misconception comes from.

Matthew 19:21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Mark 1:17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

If you read them in context, which is really the only way to read the Bible, these are aimed at folks that did not know Jesus personally. Not to mention that it was before the Holy Spirit was given, and following God was all that you could do. Following is in fact pre-salvation if you'd like to get technical about it. It was only later that Jesus said we need to believe

John 6:35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.

In context it says that we need to not only follow, as many did to see him perform miracles and preach, but to believe that he is the Messiah. There were lots of things that Jesus told his followers to believe.

John 11:26 Who ever lives and believes in me will never die, do you belienve this?

As I have discussed before belief and faith are not the same. The next step in becoming a Christian is faith. I understand that in English that those words can often be interchanged. Here is the difference. I believe that Obama is the President of the USA; it is a fact. Whether on not I have faith in him to do his job is an entirely different story Faith is in the unseen works, and belief is in the facts.

It is NOT until we have faith in Christ, that salvation actually takes place. Therefore; belief is sometimes pre-salvation as well.

Why does it bother me to say that I am a "Christ follower," or "I follow the teaching of Jesus?" Because it does not accurately express the following truths!

I am a New Creation:
2 Corinthians 2:16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

I am Transformed:
2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Christ Lives in Me:
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I am a Christian, a little Christ bought with a price. God lives in me, so that I can be conformed to His image. Umm and I can't follow myself! I can believe the teachings of Christ are important, even essential, but without faith I cannot please God. (Hebrews 11:16) Once He lives in me, under the power of the Holy Spirit, I can be Him to a lost and dying world.

Let's stop being like Jesus and be Jesus, for we have the spirit of God within us!

How about you, are you just a follower, or are you a Christian?

Yeah, There's an App For That!

2011-05-24T09:28:00.002-04:00

Wow, one day I am Blackberry user, and the next I am not. Like my mentor and friend, Tony C. who actually dumped his Blackberry for another phone, my break up was covered by a prenuptial agreement with Sprint.

I really like technology, but only when it works. In the late 60s I traveled to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. It was there the Ma Bell was showing off their push-button phones, the replacement for the rotary dial phone (above right).

My new phone is an HTC EVO operated by Google's Android OS. It's a phone that allows you to do a lot more fun stuff than old fashioned talking! It's a mini-computer, and there are some applications that make your handheld device something out of Star Trek. But who cares about that, what can one do for you?

Keep in mind that I have had my phone for two days, while my wife has had hers a bit longer. She has the fully touch-screen model, and mine has a shift out Keyboard. You would have thought using the web, texting, chatting, phone calling, calendaring, looking up sports scores and using the Blackberry as a GPS would have been enough - but its not even close to the iPhone/Android world! Without further ado, here is are some free apps/trials which I discovered in the last 24 hours.

Please note, if you are reading this from your Android device, links go directly to the Market Place where you may download for free. If you have an iPhone or Blackberry, you need to Google them.

- YouVersion Bible: Just a great app which allows you to download all your favorite versions from the King James to The Message. Of course you can access any of the online Bible sites too. Speaking of access, your phone can use you home WiFi too. That means that your gadget can download as fast as your home PC! It's 5 times faster than 3G, and as good as 4G. YouVersion offers spiritual protection, but then there is digital protection...

- Lookout: Android's can get viruses, therefore I downloaded Lookout. There is a free version, and a paid version which backs up your phone's data including your pictures, contacts, documents, and some other important stuff. Your smart-phone is really a handheld computer, and one that is easy to misplace. Speaking of misplacing your phone, you can send it an ear piercing 95 db SCREAM message from the online site, GPS its location anywhere in the world, lock it, or wipe all the data off it.

- GroceryIQ: My wife and I try to keep groceries in the house. Because we like fresh food and we have a snacking 23-year-old, we shop more than once a week. We often end up calling each other from aisle 7 to ask if we need anything from the store. Sometimes we send a text message, while other times, like today, we just stop and get what we need. Yes, we both bought Greek yogurt and now we have enough for 2 weeks.

Well GroceryIQ is THE app to end all this insanity.

With it you may share a grocery list for everyone in your family sorted by store name! It even allows you to compare prices and provides coupons based on what you are buying!

Oh, but who has time to type in all that stuff? Not me. So you simply scan the bar code and shazam, your Ritz crackers in the list!

- Shazam: No more walking around all day with that song in your head driving you NUTS! If you like music, this one can take a 15 second sample from the tune playing on your radio, PC, friend's iPod, or the elevator, then look it up as well as providing a link to purchase it! Come on, can I get an amen!? Speaking of music, mine holds about 500 CDs worth!

- Swiss Army Knife: It is just what you'd expect, a bunch of nearly useful survival tools. It has a flashlight, a compass, a stopwatch, a ruler, a bubble level and a couple of other nifty things!

- Hungry Shark and Hungry Sharl 2 (Free): If you can hear Quint's brogue in the movie Jaws during your nightmares, this game is for you. Guaranteed to reduce your stress while waiting for your mate to get ready to leave the house, or kill time at the airport after a full-body pat down. It's very entertaining, though not for those the faint at the sight of blood or get queasy from an occasional scream.

- Paper Toss: A virtual office game. You flick toss a wad of paper and try to get it into a virtual wastebasket. Amusing. Or yo can download Angry Birds Rio!

Those are the essential apps for your first 24 hours. Although, as a certified nerd and musician, I also downloaded a Sound Pressure level meter, an Audio Frequency Analyzer, Pandora, a Metal Detector, an FM Radio, TV, a virtual Rotary Dialer, and oh you probably don't want to know the rest...

I am going to look into some Christian apps in the next week or so and report back. And my wife is leaning over the keyboard reminding me to add the Honey Dew List app....

There now, doesn't that beat the Royal Wedding (Which I am sure you are not surprised, there is an app for!)?

How about you, besides phoning family, friends, and business contacts, what do you do with your phone?

We're not Going Anywhere Yet!

2011-05-21T08:12:00.003-04:00

Well today was supposed to be the day that Jesus returned. It's not going to happen! He is coming back, but this is not the season.

A lot of folks are concerned about who is going to Heaven at the rapture, and according to Family Radio today is the day. I suppose by tomorrow, you'll know. The Bible says there is a great and mighty day of the Lord. However; before that day comes, Jesus said the following would take place and that these events are only birth pangs.

Matthew 24:5 For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

Forget the fact that Jesus said the day and the hour are unknown!

There are some that think that Christianity is hoax because Jesus never really lived. Others are fine with Jesus the man, Jesus the prophet, but not with Jesus the God - and that's OK with me. However; in the last year or so we've had some really devastating quakes, and it wasn't because that Democrats lost the House. Let's take a look at earthquakes, famines and wars.

Earthquakes:

Here is a list of quakes for 2009 and another for 2010. Except for 1 in Illinois; a 3.8, they were all over 6 on the Richter Scale with Haiti being a 7.0. Then there was the quake in Japan and a pretty sizable list of others in 2011. As Jerry Lee Lewis once said, there's whole lotta shakin' going' on.

Famine:
According to Bread.org an estimated 1.02 billion, 1/6 of the world's population, goes hungry and 16,000 a day are dying of starvation daily.

Wars:
We have a few going on besides Iraq and Afghanistan. HERE are the details. Rumors of war? Let's see, North Korea, Pakistan, Libya, Syria along with both China and the former Soviet Union doing some saber rattling as well.

Without trying to decipher the symbolism in Revelations, there is some more plain talk about the last days in the Bible. See if any of it resonates with you.

2 Timothy 3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Here are a couple of sites that are bolder than I am in interpreting the season for the End Times if you care to look. 28 Signs and 26 Signs.

Armed with the potential knowledge that Jesus is really coming back - and soon, I have some real issues with the following articles on Yahoo News. (And you thought Pat Robertson was off his rocker!)

Below is a remix of what I wrote at the time of the Haiti Earthquake. The same sort of stupidity prevailed after the Japan earth earthquake. HERE is one pretty sharp article on judgement.

If I am going today, I want to make sure that I have clean underwear, and dang it, I hope I don''t sucked into a jet engine on the way up, and have to spend the eternity in the Hudson.

Voodooists attacked at ceremony for Haiti victims

It is wrong on so many levels, I don't know where to start - but I'll try:

"Praying and singing, the group was trying to conjure spirits to guide lost souls when a crowd of Evangelicals started shouting." (and throwing rocks)

Are you kidding me? Flesh against flesh - what a horror show. When Elijah confronted evil (1 Kings 18), he called on God to prove himself - sure, he did a bit taunting, but really rocks and shouting?

"Religious tension has also increased: Baptists, Catholics, Jehovah's Witnesses, Scientologists, Mormons and other missionaries have flocked to Haiti in droves since the earthquake to feed the homeless, treat the injured and jockey for souls. Some Voodoo practitioners have said they've converted to Christianity for fear they will lose out on aid or a belief that the earthquake was a warning from God."

Ah yes, the every religion melting pot. It really bothers me that the writer of this article lumped them all together - but as Christians we should take note. If all we have to offer is a different deal devoid of power, maybe it's best we are lumped together.

"Many missionaries oppose Voodoo. I hope this does not start a war of religions because many of our practitioners are being harassed now unlike any other time that I remember."

Where in the Bible does it say we should harass people? I'm just asking.

"We would give food to the needy in the short term but if they refused to give up Voodoo, I'm not sure we would continue to support them in the long term because we wouldn't want to perpetuate that practice. We equate it with witchcraft, which is contrary to the Gospel."

-Pastor Frank Amedia

Help me out here Frank, where in the Bible does it say that we should not feed the poor if they participate in voodoo or any other sin for that matter. Isn't the point of ministry to show the love of Jesus and go beyond that which the world would do? When we are different, it is easier for them to see what they are doing as futile, no? Even Paul let the slave girl be - well, for a little while. (Acts 16:15-20)

Carnal weapons can only be used in a carnal war.

2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

I think it's time for a revival, how about you?

It's Not Okay to Use A Toaster Oven in the Bathtub

2011-05-20T06:30:00.001-04:00

I have finally distilled what it means to be a true Christian. I have read blogs on being spiritual and not religious, on the reasons why the Book isn't really the "book", on being followers of Jesus, about the doctrine of universalism and been slammed in the comments over the years for being to narrow-minded about the path to salvation.

Please allow me a short paragraph to sum up where I have been over the years. I mean there are nearly 600 posts on this blog and even I haven't read them all! We have discussed denominations, who gets to go Heaven, is there one true God, dead religion and host of other churcified topics. I have also challenged belief and faith.

And today, I am going to tell you why I know what makes a true Christian! POWER!

There are a million debates we could have. This whole mess started about a bajillion years ago when the earth was without form and void. There we see the adolescent God of the universe messing with the chemistry set he got for - actually it might not have been for a holiday, we didn't have those yet. He took a week out of his summer vacation to create creation. Actually we didn't have season yet, but I am pretty sure it was a vacation. (sort of a paraphrase of Genesis 1) Since that Genesis, the spiritual forces have been violently opposed to one another. (Matthew 11:12) Adam and Eve knew both God and Satan, but future generations were not always so sure.

Elijah had this same scenario with religions people back in his day. Ahab sent 450 prophets of Baal to challenge the God of of Israel. It was quite a showdown. (1 Kings 18:20-40) God's pyrotechnics that day make a Kiss concert look like a skit from Sesame Street, and would have had Oscar trying to find his trash can floating in the Mediterranean.

So here we are in 2011, standing in the bathtub full of water with a toaster oven plugged into the wall, wondering if it will kill us if we drop it.

That is how the church is. We believe this, and we believe that, but is not always connected to a power source. It is sad. The Kingdom of God is power! The Word of God is power, not a book! The Holy Spirit that resides in us is power. The new man in us is powerful, the old man has lots of good ideas, cunning schemes and evil thoughts - and no power.

Without power, we can drop the toaster oven into the tub in complete safety, and with power, it not a good idea. Amen?

God's power is attracted to love, to the preaching of the Gospel and it's available for advancing His Kingdom and defeating the Devil's. His power flows through those who know Him. Regardless of what you believe, it is only visible by FAITH! It is miraculous, forgiving, revelatory, loving and explosive. God's power does not have to conform to science, logic or intellect. God's power IS and always was - and will be forever. The expression of God's power is the fruit of true Christianity, you can bank on it!

Do you know his power?

How Well do You Fit In at Church? - Remix

2011-05-18T06:30:00.003-04:00

God's will, what is it for you? For the church? For the world? The basic plan for the Kingdom is to bring salvation to all mankind so that they can share in God's love for Jesus. We were created to be a witness to, and participate in this amazing love. The church has been chosen for this task. (Ephesians 4) But what about you and me, the individuals? How do we fit in the church in such a way that we fall into God's will and bear fruit? How is it that we do the work of God, be led by the Holy Spirit, and stay humble at the same time?

God's will isn't all that simple some days, yet there is only one will for you, and one will for me.

A few years ago I received and email linking to a pastoral sermon about what we could do for the pastor; how we could pray to make him a better servant of Christ. Now don't get me wrong, I want every pastor to be awesome, but I was bothered by the tone of how we could serve him. Certainly I do think we need to pray for our pastors and bless them. My problem was with the tone of this sermon which bordered on pastor worship. I am totally against against that.

Before you stop reading, let me give a you couple of positive examples. I once heard a pastor speak on Father's day. He preached about how fathers need to get at the back of the line to serve their families. The sense of humility in his sermon was amazing. He asked the question, "Did you know that shepherds lead from the back of the herd? That was nearly 20 years ago. His form of leadership was to serve, always getting at the back of the blessing line. I have a friend that is a missionary and he is the same way. We give him a gift, and he passes it on to the poor.

It is interesting that people seem to want to lead or be led. I also find that when challenged, they rarely mention God as the one they are following, and when they do, that in itself can be an excuse for bad behavior. Read Romans 12, there are some biblical gems in there. "Do not be conformed to the world," "don't think more highly of yourself then you should." That's is good stuff. My point is simple, we need to be a church, not a corporation. People need to have significance and value in church to achieve their destiny in God. God is not looking for ability, but availability....

Jesus is already good at everything and ready to empower us!

One of the main problems that I see in the church is the improper use of authority and/or a corporate mentality (which is not biblical). That along with a good dose of control, often used as a tool to cover up insecurity, the church fails to reach more folks for Jesus.

I will say it again, people need to have significance and value in church to achieve their destiny in God.

The church does not need power brokers or control freaks. Those types of leaders end up with a following that will most likely never reach much in the way of potential, and in the end, probably be a huge stress on the leader just to keep them going.

So what is the plan for jump starting the church and providing significance and value for the average parishioner?

-1 We need to pray corporately. We need to identify our prayer worriers, intercessors and storm Heaven as a group. This is intercessor led prayer.

-2 We need to stop being spectators at church. That's right. We are not there to give the Sunday sermon a thumbs up or down. We should be there expecting God to use us for something. Maybe it is us, that is there to do some of the feeding, not just to be fed. We may not take the pulpit, but that doesn't take us off the hook for doing something for God.

-3 Leaders need to staff for their weaknesses, not try to create clones. We're a body, and we can't all be armpits. If you are an evangelist, then you better raise up a teachers, pastors etc.

-4 Invest in People: I once attended a church that had the motto "reach, teach and release." No one got released. Why? The churches teaching didn't allow others to participate at any meaningful level. There was no mentoring, and little encouragement for ministry outside of the what the pastor was called to do personally. They filled the programs like Sunday school, but they had no place for missionaries or other ministries. The excuse, it's not or vision. As a church, we must train people to do something and then let them do it! How long do we have to show up before we let someone clean a toilet, do an announcement or greet folks at the door? For God's sake, you can get a paying job at Wal*Mart doing this stuff. Character? It is built by allowing folks to make mistakes while teaching them the truth.

-5 Passion: I attended another church that has the motto "passion, vibrancy and relevancy" or something like that. Same old stuff. Musical worship, teaching and coffee. I read Acts and I get excited about Jesus. Some days I would rather just stay home and listen to worship music and read the Word, dreaming about being used like that. One of these days I want to turn around and hear someone saying, "gold and silver I do not have, but what I do have I give to you, walk in the name of Jesus!" (And hopefully it's not the firing of the head of the deacon board.)

-6 We desperately need to hear form God. Who are your prophetic folks, your dreamers and interpreters? Are you listening? Are they tested? I always find it funny that some people seem to hear from God, and we don't test it. I would think a pastor would be overjoyed if he had someone that was hearing from God that he trusted in his church. Well of course, until it conflicts with their vision.

-7 Love, we need love. We need sold-out lovers in the church, ready to lay down their lives for one another. And with it mentoring, really showing someone else how to do our job as toilet cleaner, secretary or pastor. What would happen if we were left in the dust by our protégée? Is our ego so big that we don't want someone else to be better that we are?

-8 Power. We need His power, not our own understanding. We need more power as the days grow evil. If you have been on this earth 20 or 30, or 40 or 50 years, you'll see that things have changed. Only the Holy Spirit can convict others of sin, and only He can empower us to do the tins that Jesus did and greater.

Did I miss anything?

5 1/2 Barriers to Truth

2011-05-16T06:30:00.000-04:00

Over the past few months, probably since Rob Bell's new book came out, I have been reading about what people believe, and don't believe about Christianity. In fact there is a lot blogarrhea about what part of the Bible is or isn't correct, authentic, or infallible yakity yak. I just shake my head at the myriad of opinions. It's like everyone is a religious pundit! Maybe you think I am one as well.

The real questions are these: Is the Bible true, all of it? If not, which part is not true? Is there more than one interpretation for a given passage? Who has the correct theology?

Certainly there are many more questions to be asked, but you see where I am going. How can we get out of this mess and become "true" disciples of Christ? It is not easy or it would have been done, and there would be no denominations. Is the splintering of the church and variety of thought OK with God? I don't think so. That is why we need Jesus!

It is not enough to be a Jesus follower - I know so popular, yet so shallow. We are meant to become disciples teaching ALL the things that Jesus taught as well as doing what Jesus did - and greater things than he did!

For those of you that are parents, is it okay with you when your child does specifically what you've told them not to? I don't think so. Is it okay with you when your child believes something that is damaging to their life? I don't think so. God is our Father, he feels that way too.

There is only one theology, and some have it more right than others!

If we look back in the Bible, we see that there were city churches which were comprised of many home churches. Everyone's basic beliefs were pretty much the same, although culture and local law were a battle everywhere. The Epistles of Paul were letters to those churches; it was the broadcast teaching of the day. Yes there were divisions, but that didn't mean that both were right! Paul told the church to be patient with those that oppose them, and do not argue with words. Other times he said to rebuke them.

There is only one true theology, and you don't have it!

This morning I scanned Paul's letters to Timothy. I find it amazing the warnings he gives Timothy [us] about false teachings and it seems as if most of the bloggers have overlooked them.

Here are 5 reasons why you may never know the "truth" and have God's perfect theology:

-1 Tradition: Let's face it, churches like tradition. They can build one on just about any verse, and then dress it up with some religious looking acts and words or turn it into a program.

-2 Religion: This is simply a belief system that may, or may not be connected to the living God. It's like Charismatics raising their hands during worship, Pentecostals wearing suits and ties to church, or the Pope wearing his pope-ly garb on the balcony at St. Peters. It is either God, or it is not. If it is not, then it is just religion.

-3 Laziness: Are you eating someone else's food, or are you getting your own? It is so easy to read a book or a blog, and never read the passages in context. This is where the greatest possibility for errors arises - building faith on non-biblical sources like psychology, scientific theory, logic, and good ideas. The context of biblical passages is important. My blogmate, Charlie said "sex feels good." And he is correct. It just needs to be in the context of marriage.

-4 Lack of Experience: We spend so much time talking about faith, that we can end of worshiping faith like an idol. Jesus promised us that he would heal through us, give us the ability to cast out demons, and raise the dead. Some of us believe that is true, but for some reason it only seems to happen in 3rd world countries, and "those" churches. Get over yourself, and get out there and experience God, you never know, maybe you are a prisoner of religion and didn't even know it.

-5 Narrow-mindedness: I think these folks were called stiffed necked in the Bible. This is the one that allows you to tie up all of the above in nice neat little package, and say, "I don't need ________ from them!" "They are in error!" "So and so is of bad character." and the list goes on and on. It is easy to distance ourselves from things we don't understand. You can learn from people in error. If you are not comfortable with your own faith, you will stuff it all in a box that fits your little god.

-5 1/2 Unbelief...

Do we embrace every wind of doctrine? NO! Like Timothy and Paul, we are not threatened by it, and we do not fear it; we address it as needed. Do I think everyone is going to heaven because Rob Bell says so? NO! Has Rob Bell ever taught anything of value? YES! Would I go to his church every Sunday? Only if God told me to. I mean he sent me to a Southern Baptist Church for a few years. I assure you, I am NO Baptist! Interestingly they completely denied the gifts of the Spirit, and my faith and use of them grew even greater.

How about you, are you secure in your belief system? Tell us why.

Counting the Cost of Following Jesus - Greatest Hits

2011-05-13T13:29:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wondered what it was really like for the disciples to follow Jesus? Think about it, you leave your job, you drop everything, and go into full-time ministry. Most people I know, can't just leave their job and house and go into ministry. I also hate to call it ministry, because they actually became friends of Jesus; even Judas. Real ministry flows out of relationship.

Jesus' insight, genuineness, warmth, and His can't-quite-put-my-finger-on-it qualities were somehow very attractive. Of course, now we know why, but the disciples, they didn't. They had some sort of religious notion that there would be a messiah, a king greater than David - one that would rule and reign in Israel, defeating all their foes. Which is true, but the way that God carried it out, well it wasn't what they thought - not even close. How about you, do you have some sort of religious notion about church, about Jesus?

I could write a hundred things about being religious, and I have. However; today, I want to write about what is costs to follow Jesus. The disciples went from working for a living, to living by faith. They had no idea what was going to happen to Jesus - I doubt they knew what was going to happen in the next minute. The Triumphal Entry must have made them feel amazing, even exhilarated - and then the crucifixion shortly afterwords. That was one of the prices for Jesus' ministry here on earth - He is our example. He also became poor, and never married. He put His life in danger more than once. How about you? What is it costing you to follow Jesus?

It is true that the disciples; later called apostles, feared for their lives because of their relationship with Jesus, and in some cases suffered persecution, imprisonment, while eleven of the thirteen, suffered death.

For most of the church in today's world, things are different for Christians; they don't fear for their lives. (I don't mean to minimize what goes on in some places in the world, it is heinous.)

I think the love of mammon and the love of God are very similar. We look to both to provide for us, protect us, keep us healthy, provide for leisure (happiness) and give us some sense of worth. Money and material possessions can do that. The difference is what it costs us in terms of tension, as we try to insure and protect our wealth. One weighs us down, the other lifts us up. Where are your treasures?

But what about you? What has serving Jesus cost you? Money, prosperity and materialism can certainly come between us and God. But there is a much deeper cost to serving Him. What would you do to have an all expenses paid mission trip to Brazil. Out of the blue, a man at church writes you a check for $1000, and the church sends you off with a powerful time of prayer? Most folks could probably do that pretty easily. I know I did. But what if you came home to find you were laid-off from work, or lost a parent to an unexpected illness? I have experienced both.... and I am no martyr, not even close. I am just your average Christian going though my days trying to make a difference for the Kingdom.

I took another trip to Europe and received a call from my kids with an emergency, there was nothing I could do. Even Paul was buffeted by the Devil. It is part of the cost of following Christ. In some ways, it is easiest to say it this way, "you trust Him or you don't." I didn't at the time.

Luke 14:28 "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it--"

There is so much more to the cost of following Christ - we forsake all that we have, all that we are, and all that we own. As followers of Christ there is always the possibility for losing our earthly treasures - but there is for those that don't follow Christ. Paul also said that they could take our life, and that to, would be glorious. I have some friends that were missionaries in Indochina. They expected to lose their lives for Christ at some point, yet they pressed on preaching the gospel in Communist countries. They often prayed, "Lord we give it all to You, but could you spare us the torture please."

The cost of serving Christ is greatest when we have a lot of earthy possessions to lose. When our treasures are stored up in Heaven (Matt. 6:19-21), we can do all that we are asked by the Master without fear. The less we have to lose, the more valuable we are to the work of the Kingdom.

As I was writing this blog I was reminded of a story about a little girl. I believe it was in the book, Intimacy Cover Up. Her Father loved her so, and took her on outings; just the two of them. He bought her little gifts, but she especially loved her sting of "princess" pearls. Of course they were only plastic, but she loved them so.

He father saw how much she loved them, and decided to buy her real pearls - for she so treasured the plastic ones he was certain that she would take care of them. One evening he looked at her while she lay in bed waiting for her goodnight kiss. In his pocket was a string of beautiful pearls in a velvet jewelry box. But when he asked her for her plastic pearls, she said emphatically "No, I love my pearls, Daddy! But you can have my purple pony." Her father kissed her good night as he always did, and left the room.

He returned the next night and asked her the same question. She was confused, "I love my pearls Daddy, but you can have my dolly." Each night her father would come into the room to kiss her good night, and ask her if she was ready to let him have her treasured plastic pearls.

One night he came in to say good night, and she was sitting up in the bed crying. In her hand she clutched her beloved plastic pearls. "Here Daddy, you can have them." He placed them in his pocket, and caressed her face as she sobbed. Finally, from his pocket he withdrew that little velvet box, and with delight, he watched her open it. "Oh Daddy, they are beautiful!"

He lovingly looked at her and said, "I have been longing to give you these."

Everybody Get's to Play - Remix

2011-05-13T13:19:00.002-04:00

John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard movement, used to say "everyone gets to play." What he meant was that the leadership wasn't going to be doing all the ministry. And that is a good thing because, in most denominations, the pastoral and overseeing authorities were really separated from the laity. They were the paid "holy men," often doing all the praying, all the teaching and all the administration and counseling too. Bigger churches just had more paid holy men to carry out the so called ministry of the church.

When I was doing missions in Brazil, I found it really difficult to just be a regular guy, trying to do what I saw the Father doing. Everyone wanted to address me with some sort of title -- out respect for sure -- but I wasn't ordained at the time. The separation between me and them was perceived. Sure, I studied the Bible in a formal school... but really, who gives a flying epistle? Paul the apostle was a very well educated Jew, but he didn't count his formal education as anything that made him special. Me, all I wanted to be was David... I even insisted on it.

I once ministered in a Korean church. They required that I have an ordination certificate, so I went out and got one from a local congregation that was a plant of a mega church in OK. It's been in a packing box for nine years. I remember ministering in the sanctuary, and my friend Holy Spirit came in a mighty way. For many there, this type of ministry was new, however; the pastor was very savvy. Instead of having another altar call where the manifestations of the Holy Spirit could be misunderstood, he simply sat me in the front pew, and let folks come in one at a time to let me minister to them. Wow! All the paradigms of church went out the window as God healed a woman with a deaf ear, caused demons to flee, and provided insight and wisdom from His Spirit. And the Asian Buffet next to the Waffle House was great too!

I have come across all kinds of religiousness in my day, and sadly, been one of its promoters too.

Another thing that I loved about the Vineyard movement was that they trained everyone to pray for others. My church taught me the laying on of hands, how to pray with someone for salvation and/or the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Sure, I knew how to do some of that, but this was a complete package. It took only four two-hour sessions, and changed the paradigm from "we are the senior holy men" to "you too can partner with Christ for the work of the kingdom." I don't promote any denomination, but the training was freeing for me. Since that time, I have received ministry training from a number of other big name venues... but it all comes down to, be loving, listening for God's leading, be willing to mess up and be accountable, and getting out there and doing it.

What is the impact of this type of Christian life? I find it exciting, amazing, humbling and little scary sometimes.

When I was in Brazil the first time, I went to a Full Gospel church... one where they believed in the gifts of the spirit (1 Cor 12). I traveled with a team (see top photo); one with a healing gift, another a preacher with a doctorate in theology and another a real evangelist. As the worship played, I just prayed in the spirit-- mostly because I didn't understand the words. This particular night my team decided that one of us would preach, and I would do a time of ministry and the laying on of hands.

Something was a little odd about all that was going on there. From the outside, it looked like a standard Pentecostal worship service. But as folks came forward during the ministry time (altar call), there was a lot of speaking in tongues and flopping around on the floor... honestly, this isn't a problem for me, but this night there was something wrong. As I laid hands on people, they began to jump around like pogo sticks, praying in tongues - but they were false tongues. You might be thinking, how do you know the difference if you don't understand tongues? I dunno-- some sort of Holy Spirit insight is all I can say.

After a few of the folks went bouncing off, a young woman came forward and started the pogo stick-ing along with the false tongues. I simply said, as she went up and down while I laid my hand on her forehead, "I break the spirit of religion in the name of Jesus!" In the spirit, I heard a loud snap, just like a breaking bone, and she hit the concrete floor and lay there under the power of the Holy Ghost. After a few moments she began praising God-- and then something stranger happened, she began to speak in tongues; Holy Spirit tongues. It was beautiful, just beautiful. As she did this, tears streamed down her face to the floor. I continued down the line of bouncing congregants.

After a few minutes she got up and began to speak very loudly, and with such authority. The worship team stopped playing, and she gave a short testimony. Through the interpreter, she said. "Brothers and sisters in Christ, I have received this prayer and God has changed me. I know Him now and I didn't know Him like this before. Come, get in line with this pastor (they just can't help themselves :o) ) from the the USA. Don't pray, and don't hop, just receive." That night many religious spirits were broken in the name of Jesus. By the end of the service we had such an amazing turn out that they scheduled a special meeting the next morning for us to minister again.

Formal religion can be tough because there are so many perceived expectations of so called leaders. They must be this and that, gone to school for this and that -- yikes. No wonder we feel separated from them, and worse, less useful to the Kingdom! They have been given the job that is rightfully that of all believers. You don't need to have a degree-- thermometers have degrees and you where some people put those. You just need to have a heart for the Kingdom of God. Jesus said it is at hand-- your hand and His. Jesus said that we could do greater things than He did. SO why aren't we?

Paul Cain, a man I perceive to be a prophet, gave a mighty prophecy about a nameless and faceless generation for workers that would simply be Jesus to a lost and dying world. A generation of sold-out and equipped Christians, that would go out and make a difference for Jesus. I don't know about you, but that's what I am looking for-- a place to just be me, and do His work.

Have You Ever Felt Like a Basket Case? I Have

2011-05-09T06:30:00.004-04:00

Today it will have been five weeks since I was rushed to the ER with a a heart attack. As I type this, it was only a few hours ago that I said "I am not the same as I was before." Something has changed....

My friend Joyce always tells it like it is on her blog: Sounds of Hope. She's a trooper and has become the near pure fragrance of the Holy Spirit through a lot of refining; I have not. After some of her stories I just shake my head in amazement at that which a human can endure, especially one as kind and sensitive as she has become.

Today I am going to imitate her a bit, and be real about the my Christian life. Faced with some challenges since my hospitalization, the biggest one being that I need to get back to work, I have been shaken. Interestingly I suppose that isn't actually the biggest hurdle. Before me still looms recovery, one that is far more complicated than I ever thought. I have been in denial about the seriousness of my condition. In spite of the fact that two cardiologists, my primary care physician, and a number of nurses have told me "THIS IS A BIG DEAL AND IT IS GOING TO TAKE TIME," I have decided that I should be better than I am - I should have more energy, more enthusiasm, and a clearer mind.

I spend a lot of time alone with my thoughts, which is probably not the safest neighborhood. My mind has so many things to accomplish, and my body is resistant. I continue to try to do more than I should. I am supposed to "listen to my body", but without caffeine (which I can't have), it doesn't listen. I have doctor's orders and they don't fit my feelings or my lifestyle. They don't allow me a fast-track back to my old life. In fact today, I am certain something has changed; I have changed.

I was reading a web site about the emotional health of a post heart attack victim, me. It put names to the things I am feeling. I felt like a basket case before I finished reading the page. It was as good as a word from God, though.

Although I am what Jesus says I am, and I don't always believe the reports I get from doctors, I do listen. I think He knows more than they do. I'm just saying.

How does Jesus fit into all this? Well, when I read what I am experiencing (HERE), and it seems normal, I need to remember that Jesus is normal. In the end he suffered some pretty sever medical conditions and didn't give up. With his strength, each day, I get up at the regular time, I try to maintain a normal schedule, I do small chores that I can finish, I pray, I walk, I eat well, and I take the medication. I have had a hard time resting, and not over exercising. I made 3 miles on the treadmill 2 days before all this happened.

My friends say I was too busy, and that is why I got sick. I guess I don't know what busy is - I worked/commuted 50-55 hours a week, wrote 4 blogs, played in a band one evening, dated my wife one evening, did a few chores on Wednesdays, went to the gym 3 or 4 times, and participated in church. Too much? I don't know, it still seems normal to me. Life is for living.

Now I go out once a day because I am bored (I have driven all of about 350 miles for the month), I try to write a few blogs (I fortunately have a backlog of about 700 that I can remix), I walk a mile every other day, keep up with all the doctors and try to relax. It is a big span from where I am to where I was. With each task, I think, can't this be done some other day?

I am afraid that I won't be able to make a living like I once did.

When I was in the hospital, my pastor prayed for me, and I felt that the proof of my healing would be that my heart enzymes (released in a heart attack) would become normal. I actually saw some sort of picture in my spirit of that happening. I have faith for that, I do. I know I heard God.

In the midst of all this, Jesus also promised me that he would "redeem everything." Hearing from God is way cool, and vital to the peace that I do have. For me, although hearing from God always causes a dilemma: did I really hear Him, and do I have faith to believe it, to nah, that is just my wishful thinking. I am choosing faith in this promise.

Faith is serious business. It is not religious jewelry, but the turnbuckle that connects heaven to earth; the supernatural to the natural. Sometimes it fits the flow of life, and some times it is counter to that flow.

Well, you know God is awesome, right? As I typed the above bold sentence, I felt like I had more to say, but didn't have words to say it. I set a publish date for Monday, and forgot about it. I took a shower and was heading for the YMCA to do my tri-weekly mile. It was 5 minutes to nine, the Mother's Day breakfast in bed was a success, and I wanted to get to church for the 10:30 service. I heard the Lord prompt me, go to the 9 am service. I swapped my sweat pants for a pair of jeans and headed to the Vineyard. Mix-and-match gym/church clothes are awesome!

I sat through the acoustic worship, then a sermon on forgiveness - you know, the f-bomb. Both were introspective. I was in the lobby, getting ready to leave and one of the elders gave a word of knowledge. "There is someone here this morning with a weak heart that God wants to heal it." I didn't even hear him, but a woman that I know came and got me. I went up for prayer, and you know, I am now certain that my healing is on God's radar.

I heave heart enzyme tests next week.

How about you, have you had a life changing event, one you were never the same after? Tell us about it.

11 Crowns and One Broken Dream

2011-05-06T06:30:00.005-04:00

As I spend time recuperating at home from a viral myocarditis, I have rekindled my love of ice hockey; watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs sure beats Oprah and Ellen! I know, you are thinking what does this have to do with Jesus? I'll try to explain.

Growing up in New England we have cold winters with frozen ponds from late November to early March, therefore;. hockey didn't require indoor facilities for which there were none in my town. We laced up a pair of department store skates, grabbed a hockey stick at the local hardware store and headed out the door. We used tree branches for goals, and protective padding was unheard of.

During the 1970-71 season I saw the New Haven Blades play. It was their last year, and one of their last games. It was hard hitting, fast-paced game with a number of fights - truly exciting and inspiring! My brothers and I headed to the pond and imitated them as best we could.

About the same time one the neighbors joined a "real" hockey team and started to make us look pretty bad out there on Brock's Pond. In the winter of 1972 my high school started it's first hockey club which my brothers and I joined. It was unfunded by the town, so we sold candy bars door-to-door to make money for ice time at Wesleyan University. My team had some added encouragement from the New Haven Nighthawks, a new AHL team in our city; that's their logo on my jersey.

We practiced once a week at the rink before dawn and had games on Saturday afternoon. The rest of the winter it was the ponds, or we lost the last puck in the snow bank.

A dream was born!

North Branford only won a couple of games that season at personal cost of a dozen stitches and a lost tooth. My mother's response, and my father's were quite different....

The Johndrow' became a hockey family with practices at 5 am, a net in front of the garage door, and summers at hockey school with the big names: Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Billy Smith and a bunch of others. We watched every televised game of out New York and Boston. I would lay in bed under a photo of Bobby Orr dreaming about going pro one day. If I worked hard enough, I just new I could do it. To stay in shape I rode my bike to school 12 miles each day. I ran a few miles three times a week and weight trained on the Universal. And my favorite, I shot a few hundred pucks a day at the net in front of the garage.

I had a few successes as a defenseman: there was the slap shot from the blue line that beat the second best goal tender in the state, as we beat our arch rivals 3-2 in sudden death overtime. And then I beat the number one scorer in the state as he and his teammates descended on me in a 3-on-1 break, slamming him into the boards with with hip check and stealing the puck away. We lost 2-1, but we were ranked 35th to their number 1.

Every season there were injuries - I stopped counting stitches and chipped teeth - I only missed one game due to a concussion.

Eventually I had try-outs with a local pro-am team. After 5 hours on the ice, I got cut; it was disheartening. I did go on to play at college where we got beat every single game. It turned out to be more about the party, than the game. After 2 years I was done playing organized hockey for good. I stopped following the Boston Bruins, Orr was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks - hockey was never the same. As I run my tongue over 11 crowns; which are a constant reminder of those 10 years of hard work, it the back of my mind it still seems possible to play pro.

Today as I watch my old favorites in living color, but it bothers me that there are teams in the NHL from cities where the average snow fall is zero!

As fate would have it, about three years later after I quit, God gave me a new dream, one to serve the Kingdom of God. Again, I thought if I just worked hard, I could achieve it. I was wrong, I couldn't make anything happen. I couldn't practice harder or study more, I just had to wait on God.

Isaiah 40:31But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

And finally one night I awoke about 2 am, and the Lord asked me if I wanted the ministry he had for me, and all that went with it.

1 Kings 3:5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

I said yes.

How about you, what is your dream?