The Customer’s Never Right?

I’m sitting here in Starbucks where I thought I’d get faster internet and be able to sit in an air conditioned atmosphere to write this update post, but lo and behold, I’m compelled to face the speed of internet working as slow as molasses being poured in February in Canada. The readers should note this is tolerated as an acceptable speed for internet in Peru. Because it’s taking a month to load the page, and though I’m sitting here getting some reprieve from the heat, I’m writing this as a Word document instead.

The thoughts going through my head are spurred on by the stuff below, but also by an article I just read about a Tim Horton’s in New Brunswick banning a customer for excessive complaining, and from a website I like visiting all the time called The Customer Is Not Always Right. But my almost year of living in Peru has smacked me in the face against that mentality, because here, if there’s a problem, it’s been my experience that you’re the one at fault, no matter how illogical or implausible the excuse given by the service provider.

We use Telefonica for phone and internet where I live. This amenity is included in my rent of course. However, we’re told to turn it off for four hours per day. I used to believe–when I first moved in—that the reason the property owners wanted us to do this, had to do with not using it at night when everybody’s sleeping, and that, though password protected, neighbors could use the WiFi and turning it off would be a step in preventing it’s use. However, turns out the real reason is because sometime in the past, when the internet wasn’t working, she had called the company and they told her it was because she wasn’t turning it off for four hours per day so it could ‘cool down’. Apparently, WiFi routers need four hours of rest time, or else it affects your internet connection adversely.

So they deflected on her their responsibility to provide working internet, and caused the customer to permanently believe–it seems—that if the internet isn’t working, they are at fault for not taking care of the router and letting it ‘get some rest’. Maybe there’s a hamster wheel inside it, and the poor little guy needs a break everyday or he won’t run his course efficiently enough for our internet to work properly. I don’t know, even after a year.

While I went back to Canada, my landlady seems to have stopped trusting all the tenants to turn it off at night, and now her or her mother set their alarm to come upstairs at 1:30am to turn it off themselves. I got talking to another lady who started renting here–when bumping into her in the kitchen–and she pointed out to me you don’t set your alarm to wake yourself up in the middle of the night to do something if you don’t seriously believe it’s necessary. I’ve tried talking to my landlady for over 45 minutes once trying to explain routers are supposed to be left on and left alone, and gave her other examples of products you don’t unplug when not in direct use (“You don’t unplug your refrigerator when you’re done eating, do you?”). I even tried, much to her refusal to accept—that other Peruvians I’ve met don’t do this with theirs and laugh at this idea when I tell them about it.

Like I said, forty-five minutes of my life I’ll never get back trying to change their minds. But suffice it to say, each of the homeowners here are convinced they heroically saving our lives every night and that if it weren’t for them, the router would overheat, explode, burn the house down, and kill us all, because all of us are too irresponsible to bother turning off this ticking timebomb every night. Or we just know better and that we don’t need to bother, whichever of the two it is.

But this business with the internet company being the one who put this idea in her mind and building such a mental stronghold that nobody seems to be able to demolish with sound reasoning or logic, also got me thinking about the ‘customer is always right’ business ethic we take for granted in North America. Instead of just doing something about the problem, it’s easier to make up some retarded reason for why the customer’s behavior has done something to provoke the undesired results.

My friend and fellow missionary to Peru, Denise and her husband Martin were telling me a number of months ago about losing four pairs of jeans in one load of laundry when taking her clothes to be cleaned, and not being able to do anything about it because the worker denied that she ever brought that many pants. Or one of my favorites she told me; getting film developed, and they mismatched the image on the negative with the print they were putting it onto, causing the about 80 % of one photo to show with 20% of the next one on the same print. My friend explained to her the problem and that she wasn’t going to pay for this, and was repeatedly told the problem was not their mistake in processing the photos, but hers. She, according to them, just took the photos wrong and that’s why they turned out that way!

Living in a culture that does this, makes me wonder when I’m being too aggressive or coming on to strong about when I’m receiving lousy service or being ripped off or taken advantage of in some way. Do I act like I’m in North America, or lower my standards? After all, my culture is no better than theirs nor theirs than mine. Are the things that bother missionaries and foreigners to other countries matters of opinion, or are some things universal no matter the culture–like good customer service.

These are thoughts almost every missionary goes through, I’m sure, living abroad.

2010
02/08
CATEGORY
introspection
travel experiences
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Unconditional Obedience?

“And as they sat at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back. And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the LORD and have not kept the command that the LORD your God commanded you, but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’” 1 Kings 13:20-22

This is a passage that confuses many of us, and in all honesty, for a long time I couldn’t honestly admit I understood its implications or what exactly was supposed to be conveyed here. We read in 1 Kings 13, the story of a prophet sent by the Lord to speak a harsh word of judgment against the backslidden kingdom of Judah. Oh how mightily this young man operated! He was clearly not a novice to the ministry!

The prophet went to Bethel, and he challenged King Jeroboam of Judah, delivered a word that came to pass generations after this concerning Josiah’s reforms to the nation, and proclaimed judgment on the current king. The moment Jeroboam tried to seize him, his hand was withered, and the prophet mercifully entreated the Lord, and healed him. When the king sought to reward him and offered him a meal, the man refused and resisted, while repeating what the Lord had commanded him to do. This prophet was unflinching in his focus to only do as the Lord commanded him, and refused to have any communion with wicked idolaters. No doubt this would cause him either persecution or at the very least, inconvenience.

Too bad the story doesn’t end here on a good note, as we continue reading. The narrative changes focus and zeros in on this “old prophet” who lived in Bethel. It’s observable that the Lord did not use this old prophet to speak to the king. In fact, it’s clear he was unworthy of being used mightily of the Lord for the purpose of which the Lord had to send this other young prophet who still had character issues to be worked out.

This old prophet’s sons came and told him about what the other young prophet had done—such as the predictions he offered and the healing power he operated in. Why the sons of ‘the prophet’ were at the king’s sacrifices is pure speculation—it could have been as spectators, or maybe as participants. When the old man rode his donkey to the place the young prophet was found, it should be noted the young man was sitting under an oak tree—likely fatigued since he was fasting and had been on a long journey as well, and probably in his physical weakness he was more vulnerable, and impressionable. The old prophet not only invited him to his house like the king had done, but deceived the man and said the Lord told him it was alright:

And he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” And he said, “I am.” Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread.” And he said, “I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place, for it was said to me by the word of the LORD, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came.’” And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water.’” But he lied to him. So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.

At first, the man told the older prophet the same thing as he said to the king, only this time, a man who is supposed to be seasoned in the ministry of the prophetic—or at least wears the title–told him “no no, the Lord told me to tell you…” which is a common form of manipulation in the Body of Christ. The older prophet used the ‘God card” and coerced the young man into obedience. Each and every one of us will at some point face people we should be able to trust, but will throw the ‘God card’ at us in order to manipulate us to do their desires. Not only that, but the old man said an angel of the Lord spoke to him. The young prophet probably didn’t think he could argue that! But verse 18 indicates the old man was lying. In fact, it might be possible that the man did hear from an angel—an angel of darkness seeking to discredit the young prophet’s ministry and destroy him early in his ministry, and the old man–for whatever reason–was open game to it. Who knows conclusively, but false prophets have always been among the worst enemies of true prophets.

If you’re like most evangelical Christians who don’t believe in the gifts of the Spirit, you’ve probably rejected the possibility men in sin could prophesy accurately–if you’re one that believes we can at all. But this passage shows otherwise. In verse 20 the man who brought the young prophet back, at the dinner table stood up and told him: “Thus says the LORD, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the LORD and have not kept the command that the LORD your God commanded you, but have come back and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place of which he said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your body shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.‘”

Isn’t that interesting?! The deceiving prophet proclaimed a word from the Lord, and it came to pass! And not only that, he had a word of knowledge about what the Lord told the young prophet. If you’re a good charismatic, you’ve been told that you can’t prophesy anything accurately if you’re living in sin, so get the sin out. Which is true—clean up your life! When reading this passage, notice the young prophet just gets up from the table and goes on his way. If someone just prophesied to me that I disobeyed God and would be killed for it, I’m sure I’d be more concerned than that! Maybe the writer of this passage is simply omitting other details, and forgot to write “and he left trembling in fear uncontrollably” but the text doesn’t specify or go into more detail than we have here.

Obey Your Leaders Without Question?

Sometimes the hardest people we must refuse to be persuaded by are those who are ‘mature leaders’ or spiritual pioneers in our lives. Though it is important to be submissive to our leaders, and trust those who’ve gone before us in the Lord, they’re capable of being wrong! Not only that, they’re capable of being in sin or deceived. Recent headline news of scandals and leaders falling from grace make that abundantly clear. It is very easy to fall for what leaders and people we look up to in our lives tell us. It’s easy to fear contradicting people we should trust, and just believe what we’re told and not ruffle any feathers or disappoint anyone we respect when we develop an understanding or convictions of our own.

I’ve been in situations before that will remain vague due to the fact I don’t know who may read this. I’ve run with a few different Christian circles the following applies to, so people may read this and believe I’m talking about them. I am, and I’m not. I’ve been told more than once in my life I was in rebellion to certain people or persons when I stepped out and obeyed and did what the Lord told me to do–or didn’t do someone else’s wishes because I could not in good conscience before the Lord. In situations like these it’s very easy to be persuaded by the people who have gone before us or who wear spiritual titles because we trust they know better and are out for our best interests.

It’s easy to stand tall in a wicked society that rejects God, but it’s even harder to do so in the midst of a compromised Church. It’s not so easy to resist people when they cast doubt on if we really heard the Lord or not, because they throw out the “God told me” card—implying WE haven’t heard the Lord for ourselves if we contradict what the Lord allegedly told them. While I don’t judge the hearts or intentions of any of those people I’ve mentioned, it bears noting that just because people older and mature in the Lord advise us to do or not do something does not guarantee they’re hearing from–or have heard from–the Lord. They could be old useless prophets who’ve missed their calling and are encamped at Bethel, instead of having moved on, and are just jealous and envious that you are willing to step out and be used mightily in ways they are missing out on.

It’s a strong possibility. I’ve been told a few times in my life–by people who sincerely believe this no doubt!–that “when you have authority over you and they tell you not to do something, even if it’s wrong, God will judge them and you’ll be protected so long as you stay under their authority”. Supposedly, even if they’re wrong, YOU won’t be affected by the judgment or consequence that falls on them. Is such a notion even Biblical, or true in history? What of the Nazi soldiers who committed unspeakable atrocities to Jews, and used as their defense “I was just following orders.” They did not avoid consequence for their actions and faced the death penalty and life sentences for their crimes.

We see in passages like this that such “covering” and “protection” teachings are not true–even though someone listened to someone else more seasoned in the Lord tell them “God told me to tell you to do this“, that there was still grave consequences for not obeying the direct word from the Lord he was initially given. I know many believers who sincerely believe God will judge you if you disobey the orders of a so-called apostle or prophet–especially the former–because in the way God has set up his ‘church government’ that you venture into unsafe territory if you leave your ‘covering’ of your pastor or apostolic ministry.

But the thing is, as we see in this passage, it’s even more unsafe if you disobey the Lord–even while listening to a so-called leader or more experienced minister. Who are you going to listen to?

2010
02/01
CATEGORY
prophetic
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Creative Entrepreneurship

A week or two ago, I was having the rare trouble with my Macbook that I was contemplating rebooting my hard drive to fix any bugs.  It was worth blogging about at the time while it was fresh, but I didn’t have time and didn’t get around to it until today.

Since my Leopard disc seems to be scratched or something, I couldn’t get it to finish rebooting past the 17% mark, so I decided to suck it up and finally upgrade to Snow Leopard since $30 is not going to break the bank for me like if it were priced similarly to Leopard.

So I first to go to this building near my house–I forget the nickname for it–but it’s like a tower of just computer related stores.  I get to the Mac Reseller, and see a box of Snow Leopard in the display, and ask how much it costs.  They told me 80 soles (about $27 US give or take).  So I state I’d like to buy one, and the guy then explains to me that they can’t actually sell it to me; it’s only bootleg copies they have, and that it costs 80 soles for them to install it for me on my hard drive.  I really didn’t want to buy a bootleg copy, but I was more interested in buying the disc than merely paying to have them install it for me, when presumably I’d probably need to reinstall again it in the future.  But I wasn’t surprised that they’d be selling a bootleg copy in Peru.  So instead of actually selling me the product, they wanted me to pay the same price to have them install it on my computer and keep the product–a bootleg at that.  No thanks.

So I suck it up and take a taxi out to Jockey Plaza where the iStore is, and upon getting there, find out they’re sold out of Snow Leopard, and won’t have in stock sent from the USA until the second week of February.  So I linger around and I’m looking at other products because–if the price was right–I could use a thing or two.  As soon as I realize the guy at the ‘genius bar’ has nothing to do, I pull out my laptop and explain to him the problem I was having with my computer–the browsers all didn’t work, but would freeze after about 30 seconds of usage, making it practically impossible to do anything useful on the computer and that I didn’t desire to wait until February to fix this if he knew the solution.  He didn’t.  Some genius.

So he runs some kind of test by plugging in a hard drive through my USB port and it shows nothing wrong with my computer–and by now I’ve got two people waiting in line behind me with iPod touches.  So he encourages me to sign into my Windows partitioned drive, and see if I have problems with the browser in Windows mode.  I sign in, and of course, no problem.  Other than the internet working slower than molasses being poured in January in Northern Canada, I have no problem.  But at this point I’m out of sight out of mind and the ‘genius’ is no longer giving me any kind of attention…for an hour.  I finally force him to look at my computer and he tells me “well, I don’t know what the problem is”.

At this point, he offers to install Snow Leopard for me–for 200 soles!  I asked him whether if he did that, would I be able to come in February and pick up a copy of Snow Leopard for free having ‘paid’ for it today as part of him installing it on my hard drive.  He said he doubted it, but I could wait for the boss to come in later that day who was supposed to be there any minute.  I waited another half hour and when it was obvious I was wasting my time, I tried reasoning with the ‘genius’ again, and of course, he was too afraid of giving me a definitive answer about paying MORE than what the disc cost, even though I was leary of not actually getting the disc.

Gotta love this culture’s entrepreneurial spirit:
“Senor, we’d love to install it for you and have you pay more than it costs, but not actually give you what you came here for– a disc!”

Anyway, that’s my latest cultural experience to share.  It reminds me of things I take for granted when in North America, where I can just go get something, as opposed to living in a third world country where I have to wait for leftovers to be shipped here and then sold overpriced to cover the import costs.

Anyway, check out Apple’s Epic Fail = the iPad.  The Failblog posted this the very day the announcement was made.  I can’t help but wonder if Apple even has any women working for its marketing department who could have warned them to come up with a better name?

2010
01/30
CATEGORY
Uncategorized
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How To Catch the Foxes That Ruin The Vineyard

“O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crannies of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.“ Song of Solomon 2:14-15 (ESV)

I originally wrote an article on this a number of years ago specifically about the insights I had at that time about the effects of praying in tongues, but with the revelation and insight into this Bridal paradigm God’s giving me lately–and to flow with the articles I’ve been posting in the last few months–I couldn’t help but feel that a re-working and revisit to this subject were necessary. Especially in light of our spending significant time lately reflecting on truths of Christ based in the Song of Solomon and talking about “love being more excellent than wine”. I have always had a profound revelation from this passage about the way speaking and praying in tongues builds up the believer and helps them overcome in their life and ward off the foxes and demons trying to ruin the work of the Spirit in our lives.

The whole book, whether you read it allegorically or just as a song, is about the love between the Bridegroom and His Bride. We can glean from it in more specific and personal ways for our individual journeys with the Lord, and not just the collective Body of Christ. When I read these simple yet profound verses in the Song, I’m compelled to think of passages like the following in the Gospel of John:

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in Me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. (John 15:1-8 emphasis mine)

We go to the “hiding place”, signifying a place of privacy, but more specifically that of intimacy with Christ in our relationship with Him. It speaks of letting Him hear our voice, hence re-enforcing that you can’t only think your prayers, but He desires to hear it out of our mouths as well. Click here for more articles on the importance of confession and just what it is exactly. Hearing our voice is also applied to our worship of Him.

The Hebrew for the word “ruin” in S.O.S. 2:15, is Châbal: A primitive root; meaning to wind tightly as a rope, or to bind, specifically by a pledge. It also means figuratively to pervert, or destroy; also to writhe in pain, especially of parturition. The English Standard Version I quote from uses the word spoil, which shows the same concept.

The foxes represent the devil or demons, and could also be applied to our flesh and our carnal leanings & tendencies. I believe it represents both: in our own neglect of our relationship with Christ, the opportunity is created for outside spiritual and demonic schemes to come in when we’ve let our guard down through neglect or lack of personal devotion. In either case, if the foxes are not dealt with at this time, they will cause more damage and be more difficult to overcome. When we’re growing and the vineyard is in bloom and ripe, THAT is the time they are the most vulnerable and sensitive. Little foxes can destroy the vine that yields fruit. They do this by gnawing and breaking the little branches and leaves, and the bark, by digging holes in the vineyards, and so spoiling the roots by eating the grapes, and any other way to hinder the growth of the vine.

Our First Fruits

What are vineyards for? Grapes. And what are grapes used for? To produce wine. Chapter 5:22-23 of Galatians lists the fruit of the Spirit, and these are some of the evidences there will be in our lives if we’re intimately connected to the vine, we’ll produce fruit and become more like Him whom we’re beholding and Whose image we’re being transformed into. Though many times different symbols are used in different ways in Scripture, the vineyard is often a type or a symbol of the Church in the New Testament, Israel in the Old Testament, and just the people of God in general. And of course, if you’ve been reading my series on “Love, the More Excellent Way” you’d already be familiar with examples of how wine is correlated with the work of the Holy Spirit, and used in chapter 1:2, and 4:10 in the song as representative of GOOD things and finer pleasures of this world. The devil is always seeking to destroy us in any way he can. He desires to ruin the work of the Spirit, in our lives individually and collectively as the Body of Christ, and there’s no better way to do it than at the foundational root level, like the foxes seek to do to the vineyard.

More specifically, we know one symbol for the Holy Spirit is new wine–which is made from fresh just-picked grapes, and the passage here in Song of Solomon talks about how the foxes ruin the vineyards that are in bloom–when they’re young, tender or sensitive. Most plants and trees require that you remove the first fruits as soon as they appear, and then after that the fruit appears in larger size and more quantity. But if it’s not obtained properly in that first fruit stage, the tree will never grow properly and yield very much fruit–in other words, will never realize its full potential. I’m sure there’s a sermon in that on giving God our first fruits with all things in our lives, but that’s another post. Suffice it to say, it’s the first fruits the foxes are trying to spoil, so the vine never comes to its full potential. Therefore it’s at this crucial moment the foxes must be stopped from doing any damage or else it will be irreparable and the young one in Christ may not fully recover from the damage caused.

Intimacy with God

God calls us through this passage to the hiding place in the rock (the Rock Christ Jesus) and wants to see our face and hear our voice. This is indicative of prayer, and definitely indicating intimacy. Viewing these verses in that lens, we see that going and being alone with God and praying, we’ll wind up “catching those foxes” that ruin the Spirit’s work in our lives because we’re bound to them instead of walking in freedom. When the vineyard is getting watered with the Word of God (Eph 5:26), then the things of the Spirit, such as the gifts and the fruit, and new wine revelation will flow, and it’s THIS the foxes try to destroy, stop or pervert and prevent from happening.

If you are struggling with fleshly tendencies, or overcoming habitual sin, experience and my understanding of this passage encourages me to encourage you to go be alone with Christ and ‘behold Him’ in this manner. Doing so will help you catch the foxes in your life that spoil the work of the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit in turn will help you grow strong in your inner man to overcome these areas.

Notice how it states in verse 14 that He loves the sound of her voice, so what better thing to be offering up with our voices than tongues since according to Romans 8:26 we don’t know what we ought to be praying? Jude 20 mentions praying in the Holy Spirit to build ourselves up in the the most holy faith. Another way of saying it, is that praying in tongues builds up the inner man and helps keep those foxes from spoiling the vine. Jude was writing to the early Church–which was young and still in formation like ‘tender grapes’–to contend for the faith because false doctrine (foxes) had gotten into the Church and was rendering it powerless at this crucial moment in its history. Early on, while the Body of Christ was still young and getting established, much like the vineyard with grapes in bloom in spring time–was the most sensitive and important time for false doctrine to be weeded out from spoiling things. So the remedy to that is verse 20, praying in the Holy Ghost. Praying in the Spirit is our inoculation against false doctrine (the foxes) because it is how the Holy Spirit teaches us.

The Apostle John stated in his epistle: “I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. But the anointing [of the Holy Spirit] that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.” (1 John 2:26-27, emphasis mine, and parenthesis mine). The Holy Spirit, and abiding in Him IS the way you’ll avoid and be protected from deception.

So the application of this teaching? Be intimate with Christ, and pray a whole lot in tongues as well. Not only will it help with your understanding and revelation of the Word of God, but it will help crucify your flesh and overcome the foxes that are holding us back. As you dwell in the pure Word of God and allow it to ‘water your vineyard’, it will result in wine being produced.

The Holy Spirit is more easily able to flow through those who are intimate with Christ.

Related posts:

What Are You Feeding Your Tree?

How’s Your Connection To The Vine?

2010
01/26
CATEGORY
charismatic
christian life
christianity
holiness
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Does God Send Natural Disasters?

My response to Pat Robertson’s comments

I don’t usually write opinion-editorials for Fire On Your Head, and usually save them for my personal blog, but I feel the need to share some thoughts on the Earthquake in Haiti–but specifically the public comments made by 700 Club host Pat Robertson.  I also realize if one listens to the context he spoke his comments in, he didn’t specifically say this disaster was judgment, but I’m using that title for this post because it’s the subject matter I hope to tackle–although insufficiently–even though lengthy as this post will be–I’m unable to cover everything needed to grasp this–so when leaving comments, please keep in mind that, yes, there are plenty of things I’m overlooking or not tackling.  A book wouldn’t be enough to cover this stuff!  So we’ll tackle a few things to make my point.  After all, I’m just sharing my opinion.

I’m not going to repeat the same things as Albert Mohler said in his excellent article “Does God Hate Haiti” where he Scripturally contradicted much of what Robertson said, without mentioning his name at all.  Maybe he wasn’t even referring to the controversy, but that’s how I and many others on Facebook took it when we re-posted it.  I also read a very excellent response by Donald Miller, on why so many of us are drawn to the personality of a vengeful mean-spirited judgment-happy God.  Heck, many in evangelicalism and in the liberal media to boot are all pouncing on Robertson’s latest ill-timed comments in the wake of a disaster, so why am I sharing my own?

I will assure you I’m NOT about to speak ill of Robertson other than to say I think over the years he has increasingly lost his relevance in our culture, by the repeated things he says publicly that may have a lot of truth to them, but are almost always said at the wrong time.   I’m just using this latest controversy of his, and the fact many of us are well aware of the earthquake in Haiti to talk about stuff like this and ask serious questions Christians have struggled with all throughout history.  But in showing respect to Dr Robertson, many Christian television programs and networks owe their livelihood to people like him who’ve paved the way with the CBN television network and The 700 Club show.  The picture selected for this article of Robertson on the cover of TIME magazine in 1986 is selected as a way of indicating the influence he has had in his ministry and career.  I’d like to show honor for what he’s accomplished.  However, he’s not right all the time.  Remember Job’s friends who tried explaining away why Job was going through such hard times, waxing eloquent in their theology, but God himself stepped in and rebuked them!  I want to be careful with our explanations of things in case that’s just what they are–wrong.

A few years ago a school board in a county in Pennsylvania rejected teaching intelligent design alongside evolution and he proclaimed that sometime in the next year a natural disaster would occur because they rejected God.  He was among the first after Hurricane Katrina to correlate the disaster to the city’s wickedness, even though as others pointed out–the French Quarter–the area known infamously for Mardi Gras celebrations–was untouched, but yet many lower income families were the ones who lost their homes.  I could give many more examples, usually revolving around the alleged evidence something is judgment from God–to give examples Dr Robertson has said publicly, and many Christians probably would agree with him but just not the timing of his comments.

His comments not only cause the enemies of God to scoff, but damage others who hear them and don’t understand them.  I also realize Robertson’s spokespeople released a statement on his behalf clarifying “Dr. Robertson never stated that the earthquake was God’s wrath,” and that “They have sent a shipment of millions of dollars worth of medications that is now in Haiti, and their disaster team leaders are expected to arrive tomorrow and begin operations to ease the suffering.” And praise God for all that aid!  However, most people don’t know or really care about the aid, since all they know about are the comments Robertson continues to make with such ill timing.

I also read a blog by an self-proclaimed atheist who is currently located in Haiti, saying in his post that upon crawling out of rubble and realizing other colleagues didn’t survive, that part of him thanked God even though he didn’t believe in Him.  Then at the end of his post he clicked to a news article about the Pat Robertson controversy and stated this was some kind of proof (or excuse) for why he’d remain an atheist.

What Does The Bible Say About God’s Judgment?

Since the nature of my post is an Op-Ed, obviously I won’t be able to cover every single point of Scripture.   Natural disasters and accidents get people talking and thinking about such matters, so let’s take a BRIEF look but a specific passage of Scripture and concepts come to mind.

First of all, most people head to Old Testament Scriptures for their perception of this God who sends hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and so on, when people are wicked.  But even then, we’re not given sufficient information on why specific things happen.  We look to God’s dealings with Israel and Babylon, and wicked nations, and point to the God of wrath for our conclusions on his dealings with the human race.  However, Al Mohler pointed out in his article:

Why did no earthquake shake Nazi Germany? Why did no tsunami swallow up the killing fields of Cambodia? Why did Hurricane Katrina destroy far more evangelical churches than casinos? Why do so many murderous dictators live to old age while many missionaries die young?

If sin and wickedness by the inhabitants are the reason natural disasters occur, then we have to explain why it’s not a consistent explanation all throughout world history for scores of other disasters or lack of them.  As well, would it hurt our pride to admit the New Testament Scriptures (post-Christ’s work on the cross)  don’t seem to really deal with this subject?  We’ll get to the work of Christ on the Cross to pacify the wrath of God in a moment.

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them,  “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:1-5, ESV, bold emphasis mine)

Jesus answered by pointing out the victims in these situations were no worse sinners than people such calamities had not happened to.  He tells them however, unless they [those listening] repented, they will all likewise perish. Keep that in mind as we will come back to it.  He didn’t say the victims were reaping what they’d sown.  He didn’t say there are generational curses back in their family line for so many generations that had never been renounced.  He didn’t say there must not have been enough righteous people like Lot to avert judgment.  He didn’t say “nobody did a good job spiritually mapping the place and taking down every stronghold through prayer and flag waving.” He didn’t even touch that kind of stuff.

The following paragraph, one that’s probably separated in your Bible translation with a new sub heading, goes on to say:

And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”(v. 6-9, bold emphasis mine)

Jesus continued the point he was making about those calamities with the comments that followed, and was not changing the subject as our subheadings might subconsciously make us think.  I believe the vinedresser represents a type of intercessor standing in the gap between God and man, and tying this into why the tower fell or why the Galileans were killed in such a way as to have their blood mixed with pagan sacrifices.  It’s one thing to react to a calamity and offer help and practical aid.  It’s another thing to callously go on our TV shows or go on our blog sites and explain why the calamity happened in the first place–but what about the rest of us–who aren’t in the spiritual habit of interceding for nations, praying for other saints and for the Gospel to be spread in various places?  What about those of us to whom God speaks something to for the purpose of praying against it, as intercessors? Are there any of those such saints in Haiti or any other nation on a fault line miles underneath its soil (that’s another explanation–earthquakes tend to happen in regions where they are likely to happen!).

Jesus didn’t answer the why to their question, and dealt with other more important aspects of this calamity.

We Are Way Too Simplistic in Dealing with Heavy Issues

I have a hard time with some of the prophetic declarations people so easily throw around these days about God judging nations.  It’s the opinion of this author that many of these perceptions stem from peoples’ own frustrations about other peoples’ wickedness.  I also believe we as Christians are way too simplistic about things like evil, and natural disasters. I don’t say this because I pick and choose Scripture I like and don’t like, and like God’s mercy but not his judgment or something–but because I find some of the stuff popularly believed by modern ‘prophets’ and many Christians whose perception of God is so vindictive He’s looking for an excuse to wipe us out–I find a lot of that contradicted in the New Testament by the work Christ accomplished on the cross.

The more I study the judgment day of God, the more I’m compelled to see that it’s a day or fixed point when He will judge [the secrets of men's hearts] (Romans 2:16-17)  So if Christ accomplished a way for us to be redeemed from the wrath of God, and there’s coming a day when all will be judged once and for all, where do we come up with ideas that in the meantime, when something goes wrong it’s somehow related to God judging for sin?  Natural disasters happen. Things happen to loved ones and we’ll never know or understand why. We may question God when it looks like He did or didn’t do something.  We know that all of creation underwent a curse as a result of man’s sin, and the first Adam brought death, sin, and disease into creation–not just to mankind.  That being said, the work of Christ on the cross that was meant to redeem mankind from the curse of sin, does accomplish what it was intended to.  However, mankind is a creation with free will to reject Christ.

It’s this author’s understanding of Scripture that we as a people of God cry out to Him in intercession, we can avert things in the natural such as disasters.  I’ve heard remarkable stories of tornadoes avoiding churches where Christians were gathered praying and worshiping.  But that being said, I don’t see Scripturally God sending the tornado.  Sowing and reaping happens: the earth, creation is groaning, waiting for the revelation of the sons of God.  As that day gets closer and closer, the more and more we will see it.  But we aren’t given explanations as to where and why they originate.  However, for discussion’s sake, I do remember Tommi Femrite teaching a very compelling teaching on intercession a few years ago dealing with how we can affect the actual land.  Check it out here.  Not saying I agreed with everything in it, but still worth a listen in light of this subject matter–heck you may like her explanations better than my article here.

Behind the Scenes

There might be a pillar of the community who’s an elder in the Christian fellowship he attends, and who runs a bank and gives sizable amounts of money to the poor.  Not only that, but he selflessly helps old ladies cross the street every time he sees one.  One day in the middle of winter he slips, falls and breaks his neck and spends the rest of his life in a wheelchair unable to move his arms or legs, needing to be fed and clothed.  Meanwhile in the same community, a cussing, tobacco chewing, thieving adulterer and blasphemer–who’s constantly in and out of jail–survives a plane crash that otherwise had no survivors.  He then goes on to survive a train derailment, which also had no other survives.  Next, he walks away from an 18 car pile-up with not even a cut on his body.  His apartment burns down and he walks out of the rubble unscathed.  And worse yet, he even steals candy from little children when their parents aren’t looking in public playgrounds.  Nobody can understand why the Christian man would have such a horrific lot in life when he seemingly was such an upstanding man, while Joe bank robber keeps dodging death.

That’s the point–we’re looking at THIS lifetime and details we can see with our natural eyes to make spiritual judgments of eternal matters.  It could very well be, that like the vinedresser Jesus spoke of in Luke 13 pleading for mercy, that this Joe bank robber’s mother is a devout born again believer, interceding for him for 6 hours a day in her prayer closet, begging God to work on his heart so he could willingly submit his life to Christ.  But he keeps winding up in situations where, if it weren’t for his godly mother fighting in prayer for his very soul–his life would have been required of him the first time he entered into peril.

Who knows?   But that’s just a hypothetical example.  It could very well be that stuff is going on in the spirit realm we’ll never know! I admit and realize there are no easy answers to things like this, and that’s why all this is just my opinion.

The Ultimate Issue

To get back to the Scripture I’ve chosen to use, at first glance it might seem as though Luke 13:9 leaves us hanging, as Jesus is interrupted in verse 10 by a demon possessed woman, and upon casting it out, the pharisees get on his case because it was the Sabbath.  It would seem that Jesus left us listeners hanging and was interrupted.  That is not the case, this was actually icing on the cake for the stuff he’d been teaching the crowd in the previous chapter.  That being said, Jesus said “but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (v.3).  That was the ultimate issue.

Don’t let Pat Robertson’s words bother you or cause you worry, let Christ’s words cause you concern if you don’t know Him personally:

“I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! (Luke 12:4-5)

“But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (v. 39-40)

Just as Jesus Christ is returning to the earth at an hour when we do not expect, likewise we have no guarantee our lives won’t be taken at an hour any of us can predict.  If your life were to end today, through natural disaster, accident or just plain ill health of some kind.  Would you be ready?

“For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 2:12-16, emphasis mine)

Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, suffered the wrath of God that yours and my sins incurred.  While we were yet dead in our sins, He died for us (Col 2:13). The only options are to either accept that He paid for our sins by His punishment–that was ours–on the cross, or wait for that day and be judged then ourselves.  It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God when we’re His enemy (see Heb 10:26-31)   Either way, that’s part of why I don’t believe natural calamities are from God as a judgment necessarily, but are a part of a fallen creation–ruined by sin–and we can hold back the floodgates so to speak by our intercession.  But ultimately it’s foolish of us to speak of why some of these things happen.  The ultimate issue, is one of more eternal significance.

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” (Eph 2:4-5)

For more discussion

About a year ago we did a series on the Fire On Your Head Podcast with author and speaker S.J. Hill.  Attached below are the links to them:

Judgment and ‘Acts of God
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The Mystery of Evil & Wickedness
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Has God Given Up On America?
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2010
01/19
CATEGORY
judgment
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Finney on Intimacy With God

charles-finneyAs some readers may have noticed by the direction of my recent postings–and on Fire On Your Head–a blog site intended to motivate readers towards revival–I’ve been focusing a lot on intimacy with God, and His love. I’ve personally been having a paradigm shift where I’m realizing unless we individually have a personal revival, there’s not much point in seeking global or national revival.

The reason and my motivation for taking so much time to do so is important. If we’re going to see the fires of revival spread, then we need to understand what the fuel for that fire is: intimacy with God. And statistically and anecdotally speaking, many of us struggle in that one area of our lives. Many Christians skip books like the Song of Solomon in their Bible because of not understanding Scriptures through a Bridal paradigm. Or many of us have struggled in our relationships with our earthly fathers, and have a hard time viewing God as a loving Father.

At any rate, for whatever the specific reason, it’s not uncommon for many Christians to struggle with their intimate relationship with Christ. I personally used to struggle with approaching my prayer and quiet time from a place of enjoyment, but instead out of duty and obligation, or out of the desire to find something to study so as to have good material to blog or preach about. It took a long time for my stubborn heart to be open to the idea God was pursuing me; that God delights in me and wants to have a relationship with me just because He’d like to, not just because He wants to ‘use me’ to fulfill a purpose.

That all being said, one of the greatest revivalists in Christendom knew this secret to intimacy with God: Charles Finney, a man credited with being responsible for the Second Great Awakening. He had a deep intimacy with God that most people don’t know about, which also is why He was so effective in ministry and revival. I’ve been re-reading a favorite book of mine I got years ago called “Finney On Revival” by V. Raymond Edman.

Check out what Finney says of his conversion experience:

…I returned to the front office and found that the fire I had made of large wood was nearly burned out. But as I turned and was about to take a seat by the embers, I received a mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit. Without any expectation of it or ever having a thought in my mind that there were such a thing for me, and without any recollection that I had ever heard of it mentioned by anyone before, the Holy Spirit descended upon me in a manner that seemed to go right through my body and soul like a wave of electricity. Indeed, it seemed to come in waves and waves of liquid love, for I could not express it in any other way. It seemed like the very breath of God. I can recall distinctly that it seemed to fan me like immense wings.

No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart. I wept aloud with joy and love, and literally bellowed out the unutterable fullness of my heart. These waves came over me and over me, one after the other, until I cried out, “I shall die if these waves continue to pass over me!” I said “Lord, I cannot bear any more”; yet I had no fear of death. (p.34)

“At home, I soon fell asleep, but almost as soon awoke again on account of the great flow of the love of God that was in my heart. Then I fell asleep again, and awoke in the same manner. Thus I continued till late into the night, when I obtained some sound repose. “(p.35)

One thing that interests me about the account of Finney’s conversion experience, is how much it underscores the God who was pursuing him. God was after Him before He realized it to be so. Just like Adam in the Garden, Abraham, Gideon, the Apostle Paul, and scores of other Biblical and historical men of God, the Lord was the one who initiated the relationship. How much more so we could each look at our own salvation experiences and see God at work in the same manner!

He goes on to continue to describe a new baptism that he experienced again the following morning when he awoke, stating:

“In this state I was taught the doctrine of justification by faith as a present experience. I could now see and understand what was meant by the passage “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” I could see in the moment I believed all sense of condemnation had entirely dropped out of my mind, and that from that moment I could not feel sense of guilt or condemnation by any effort I could make. My sense of guilt was gone; my sins were gone and I do not think I felt any more sense of guilt than if I had never sinned.

This was just the revelation that I needed. I felt myself justified by faith…my heart was so full of love that it overflowed. My cup ran over with blessing and with love…I could not recover the least sense of guilt for my past sins. Of this experience I said nothing at the time to anybody.” (p.35, emphasis mine)

Later in his life:

In those days there came a profound desire to search out his heart and test his consecration to all the will of God. It was at that time that Finney had the soul-searching struggle of a deeper consecration than ever before, which included his dear wife and family. With utter and unreserved yielding to all that the will of God might be, he came to a perfect resting in that will as he had never known before:

“At this time it seemed as if my soul was wedded to Christ in a sense in which I had never had any thought or concept before. The language of the Song of Solomon was as natural to me as my breath. I thought I could understand well the state of mind he was in when he wrote that song; and concluded then, as I have ever thought since, that that song was written after he had been reclaimed from his great backsliding. I not only had all the freshness of my first love, but a vast increase to it. Indeed, the Lord lifted me so far above anything that I had ever experienced before and taught me so much of the meaning of the Bible of Christ’s power and faithfulness, that I often found myself saying to Him, “I had not known or conceived that any such thing was true.” I then realized what is meant by the saying, “He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.” He did at that time teach me infinitely above all that I had ever asked or thought. I had had no concept of the length and breath, and height and depth and efficiency of his grace.”

After that meeting with his Master, there never came to Finney the great struggles and protracted agonizing prayer over the will of God; rather he had come to a calmness and perfect confidence in the fulfillment of the divine will, and to say,

“He enables me now to rest in Him and let everything sink into His perfect will, with much more readiness than ever before the experience of that winter. I have felt since then a religious freedom, a religious buoyancy and delight in God and in His Word, a steadiness of faith, a Christian liberty and overflowing love that I had only experienced, I may say, occasionally before…It seems to me that I can find God within me in such a sense that I can rest upon Him and be quiet, lay my heart in His hands, nestle down in His perfect will, and have no worry or anxiety. (p. 54-55, bold emphasis mine)

Finney learned that only a few seem to understand the experience of rest in God:

“But in preaching, I have found that nowhere can I preach those truths on which my own soul delights to live, and be understood, except it be by very small number. I have never found that more than a very few, even of my own people, appreciate and receive those views of God and Christ, and the fullness of His free salvation, upon which my own soul still delights to feed. (p.55)

Father, don’t let us become a people who seek to mimic methods and styles of evangelists and revivalists of the past, but without an intimacy with You. Grant us this understanding and revelation of rest that so few seem to understand and know about You. Draw us into that deeper place, for only there will we have any efficacy in our labors for You–if they’re born of love and from the secret place alone with You. Make of us a people who delight to feed on You and Your Word

Draw us in Father, for we desire to have it said of us that we are first and foremost a people who delight ourselves in You!

Amen

2010
01/11
CATEGORY
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Love: The More Excellent Way, part 3

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. Love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The man who fears has not been made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:16-18

In our first part of this series, we looked at how the love of God as motivation for operating in and serving with the Spiritual gifts was more important than any use of the gifts in and of itself. Our phraseology has been that ‘love [agape] is better than wine [works of the Spirit] but not excluding them as mentioned in Song of Solomon 1:2, 4:10. We’ve been establishing the context for which I’ve been saying those things: that the gifts and ministries of the holy Spirit are not either/or, but both/and and that true filling and operating in the Holy Spirit will also be characterized by love for God and for one another. Then in our second part, we looked at Ephesians 5:17-33 for another witness in Scripture about this and how it ties into the Bridal paradigm of the New Testament. Reading the first two parts of this study will be highly beneficial for proceeding further, and hopefully we’ll destroy some misconceptions about the fear of God. Let’s face it, how can we be intimate with someone if we’re afraid of Him?

The reason I’d like to look at these verses from 1 John for some reflection and meditating in this context of our series, is because most of us still view God with fear, instead of awe. Many people feel obligated–myself included–to obey God out of fear instead of out of love and appreciation of Him. Many preachers I love listening to and reading emphasize the consequence of disobedience, and the consequences of sin, and talking about what we’ve been saved FROM, but they don’t nearly emphasize as much what we’ve been saved TO. The side effect as a result, is fear, shame, and guilt motivating much preaching rather than obedience as a fruit of intimacy.

Love Instead of Fear as a Motivation For Obedience

In Revelation 1: 17 we read the Apostle John say upon seeing Jesus in all his glory in the verses preceding, that “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.” Most of us don’t finish the sentence and read Jesus’ reaction to this: “But he laid his right hand on me saying, “Fear not.” Even though Jesus is clothed in all his splendor–and the human heart’s reaction would be to be fearful of being struck by lightning or something of that sort–we are SAFE in the presence of the Savior. He reaches out His hand, yearning for us to come near and not fear.

A friend of mine once remarked to me that most of us are so preoccupied with loving God with all our heart, that we forget to realize and accept how much He loves us. Author, speaker and teacher S.J. Hill says this:

Personally, I’m deeply troubled by messages that use the fear of punishment as a motivation for obedience. Jesus deserves so much better! In fact, if our obedience is not motivated by love, it’s not the kind of obedience Jesus is wanting from us in the first place. If some want to talk about God testing our motives, then let’s talk about the proper motivation for walking in holiness. Our obedience must be affection-based. If it isn’t, then it’s not true obedience at all. How can an obedience motivated by a fear of punishment in this life or the life to come really be pleasing to the Lord?

In my book, ENJOYING GOD, I write, “Passages such as 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 have been used to provoke individuals to radical obedience. However, what’s overlooked is John’s statement in 1 John 4:16-18 (Emphasis mine)

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The man who fears has not been made perfect in love.‘” (v 18)

Most of us mistakenly view fearing God as the same thing as being afraid of Him. How on earth could we be intimate with Him if we were afraid of Him? How many children have had deep meaningful relationship with their earthly fathers if they were afraid of them–maybe growing up in abusive situations? Afraid that at any given moment the father might fly off the handle and snap. When you’re afraid of a parent, you’re not going to be close to Him.

We’re not going to spend eternity with God afraid He might wake up one day in a bad mood. There won’t be some day in the year 5 million, where we hear a loud grouchy thunderous voice, and have fear instilled in us as we ask someone nearby ‘what was that?“

“Oh, that was God–He’s in a bad mood today! Don’t look at Him wrong!“

Of course not! He is the most pleasant person to be around, and our worship of Him should reflect that.

The fear of the Lord is more rightly translated as the awe of Him. We are to be in as much awe and fascination of Him as possible. The idea that He dwells in unapproachable light is not to be taken to mean HE is unapproachable, but that that is our reaction in holy fascination of His beauty.

Putting the Cart Before the Horse

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

This is a very important and sobering concept and you might not have heard it put this way before, but hear me out: I’ve heard fear-based messages on this taught more times than not, using this passage to point out that just because people do things in the name of the Lord doesn’t mean they’ll be in heaven. I don’t disagree with that, but I think it’s over-emphasized by most. Notice the things mentioned–these people were proclaiming to Jesus that they were prophesying, casting out demons in His name, and performing mighty works which one cannot do in His name without being saved and filled with the Holy Spirit. They were boasting of all the great ministry they were doing in His name. His response isn’t that he merely didn’t know them, but the text says never. Not just because they didn’t know him, but because they didn’t know Him and then after the comma, in the same sentence He states, “you [are] workers of lawlessness“–or as other translations put this phrase–’workers of iniquity.’

I’d like to submit for consideration a different angle to view this from: it’s not just that these people were workers of lawlessness or iniquity who this will be said to on that day when the sheep are separated from the goats, but that doing anything–even of the spiritual gifts–WITHOUT agape love and coming from a place OTHER than out of agape love and intimacy with Christ–is itself iniquity. Even when our motives are good, our righteous deeds are still as filthy rags (Isa 64:6). Hosea 6:6 mentions how God desires mercy–or as some translations say loyalty–more than sacrifice, which could signify the ‘right’ religious rituals and activity. God wants us, and stands at the door knocking so that He may fellowship with us, first and foremost. Anything ministry-wise that we will ever do effectively for God must come from a place of intimacy with Him. It is such a reason as this that He will take one look at many, and say “I don’t know you. In fact, I never knew you.” It’s not that spending time in intimacy with Christ is important so that He won’t cast you aside on that day, but because NONE of the works you could ever do for Him to present to Him on that day will have any significance if they aren’t birthed from an intimate relationship with Him.

I speak from experience as well as just posing the question: how many of us rely on our works, our ministry, our deeds for God to replace our relationship with God? How many of us are so preoccupied and busy doing ministry, that we have no relationship with God? Friends, never allow yourself to get to a place where you’re too busy to spend time with the lover of your soul, because you’ve put the cart before the horse and are finding yourself too busy to spend time with him.

For further discussion on these matters, be sure to check out our most recent episode of the Fire On Your Head Podcast where we discuss love-empowered holiness and asked the question “Do Happiness and Holiness Mix?” with speaker and author S.J. Hill and missionary & world traveler Gregg Montella.

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2010
01/04
CATEGORY
christian life
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Has it really been ten years since Y2K?

First post of 2010.  Not sure that really matters or not.  But I thought I’d take a moment to write a change of seasons type of reflective post.  I seem to do this a lot, and I had to go back to the one I wrote this time last year to see where I was at because I could hardly remember. I see the Lord has done a lot and I’m in awe.

However, if I do decide to write a post like that this year, it will yet be forthcoming.  And unlike previous years, I will write one looking forward instead of looking backward.  I’ve come to realize nostalgia never advances any moves of God, and I certainly get depressed when I look back at things in my life and realize what goals I haven’t realized since making them.  I get more inspired and motivated looking forward thought.

I trust and hope that those of you reading this had a good Christmas holiday and exceptional new year’s.  This was the first time in about 7 years that I’ve been away from Canada for Christmas, the last time being when I lived in Pensacola, FL for Bible school.  The years since, even though I’d lived overseas (in Holland) I usually seemed to not be in Holland for December, so this was the first time being in another culture for their version of Christmas.

Peruvians like their fireworks and all night parties! In this culture, what they do is start their fiesta at midnight on Christmas Eve, open their presents and eat their big meal, and then go to bed at maybe 4 or 5 am. The next day they sleep in and eat a breakfast type of meal when they wake up.  So, many people near my house in either the high rise next door or in some kind of other place out back party with loud music and light off fireworks at night so I’ve had a hard time having a normal sleeping schedule.  I’m a light sleeper, and the type who can’t sleep until all noise is gone or unless I’m so wiped I will sleep through any noise.  So I’ve been going to bed late this week and sleeping in.  I’m looking forward to changing that back to a decent hour in the next few days.  No, really I am.  I’m normally a night owl, but my life is taking on more of a pattern in this culture of being early to rise and many things I need to do involve being up and out of the house early some mornings of the week.

Last night, I spent New Year’s at Catedral De Fe (translation Cathedral/Church of Faith) for their new year’s service.  It started at 10pm, and went until 6am.  Of course, I didn’t make it that long.  When I arrived, they put on Fireproof dubbed in Spanish.  I knew I could understand it but it would still be a challenge.  In fact, I had a real problem understanding why the character of Kirk Cameron’s wife was such a mean witch to him through out the movie as he’s trying to save their marriage.  Then when I went home and looked up more on it on the internet, and I realized I that a scene in the beginning in the kitchen where he screams in her face and says all sorts of nasty stuff was lost on me and I didn’t get the jist of it like I thought.  But other than stuff like that, I understood a dubbed Spanish movie.   Yay for me!

They cut the movie off part way through around 11:40 and had the worship band come on and lead us in some music to lead us right up to the new year, stopped for some sandwiches and drinks, then they put the movie on again, and before I left around past 2am, they were worshipping God some more.  I didn’t feel I’d be able to stay up all night.  Maybe if I knew how loud the party near my house would be when I got home I might have stayed, because it was so loud I didn’t go to bed until 5am anyway, and slept in until around noon.  I may have been perfectly justified in staying up late and sleeping in lately, but it doesn’t make me feel any less lazy today.

Well, I’ll catch up and write some more later.  If you haven’t ever checked out www.fireonyourhead.org, I gave the site a complete design overhaul in the last few days, and I must say I REALLY like the new look.  That’s another thing I’ve done with my time during the holidays, and I’m happy with it.

Have a happy new year!

2010
01/02
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