Recently I got a call from a worship pastor friend who was befuddled and discouraged. He was deeply hurt.  He had received a hand-written anonymous note after worship one Sunday, attacking him and accusing him of being a “performer”.  That term – “performance” was consistently used, over and over to demean and compare his leadership with that of a polished actor, discharging his duties as a professional musician void of genuine heart and motives.  I felt sorry for the writer of the note.  They had become the handmaiden of evil.

Unfortunately, I’ve heard this before. Everyone has an opinion.  We enter worship every week with assumptions and preconceived notions.  We have preferences.  We know what we like and dislike.  When kept in their proper context, they can be beneficial.  Yet when they motivate us towards prejudice and judgement of someone else’s worship, we are in dangerous waters.  Profoundly dangerous with the risk of losing something precious!

King David was finally restoring the Ark of the covenant to it’s rightful place.  With great and profound worship, he moved the Ark to the City of David.  It was indeed the very presence of God.  The scriptures tells us that David “Danced with all his might before the Lord”.  He did so, in what was basically his undergarments or linen ephod typically worn by the levites or priests.  This picture in 2 Samuel 6: 14-23, tells us that in all this grand splendor, David’s wife, Michal, “looked down from the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart“.

         With great and profound worship, he moved the Ark to the City of David.

Later, when David comes home to “bless his household” he is met by Michal who satirically greets him: “How the King of Israel honored himself today!”  She said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself”.  Michal had looked down on David from her lofty perch and proclaimed his worship vulgar.  She had passed judgement.  In her view, he was offensively performing before the slave girls.  David’s response: “I was dancing before the Lord…I will celebrate before the Lord…I will humble myself even more and humiliate myself”.  His motivation was the joy of the Lord.  And…it was pleasing to God!

As David’s worship was pleasing to the Lord, so Michal’s words were repugnant and pronounced the chill of her heart.  Verse 23 simply says: “and Michal had no child to the day of her death”.  Most Biblical scholars believe this was because of God’s removal of His Spirit and blessings from her life.  Her name was removed from the list of wives and she is not mentioned again.  Ichabod – the glory has departed!

      As David’s worship was pleasing to the Lord, so Michal’s words pronounced the chill of her heart.

As my friend is reading this note to me, I feel the chill and venom of Michal’s prejudice and judgement: “you are a performer”.  Yet little does she know, he has prayed, sought after God, planned, rehearsed and laid his life before his King!  He has stood before the people to point them towards Jesus.  Yet from this modern-day Michal’s lofty perch, she sees a musician who is too polished, too rehearsed and too slick.  Maybe his hair is too trendy and his clothes too progressive.  Maybe his voice is too pure and his musicianship too finely tuned.  I wonder, should he sing pitchy or mess up some lyrics to show his humanity?  Is he too tightly wound?  Too happy?  Too exuberant to be believable?  Does he not pass the litmus test of your own superior worship?  I wonder what the view is from Michal’s elevated & spiritually enlightened perch?

I do know from God’s view, He loves the heartfelt worship of His children.  The Worship Pastor, team, band/orchestra, choir, leaders who spend hours and hours rehearsing their craft do it out of love and devotion.  They wrestle with the tension of good motives.  They come early and leave late.  They are artist, servants, passionate and devoted.  Just like all of us, they are broken people in need of grace.  They are a gift to the church!

     I do know from God’s view, He loves the heartfelt worship of His children.

Remember these 7 things – lest you find yourself like Michal – devoid of God’s presence:

1. Never, ever, judge someone else’s worship!  God is the judge, not you!
2. Never, ever again accuse your worship leaders of performing.  This arrogance says more about you, your motives and heart!
3. Never demean your artist because they’re too good at what they do.  This should really go without saying…
4. Never, ever assume your preferences, assumptions and preconceived notions are shared or even valid!  Leave them at the door.
5. Love your worship leaders.  Pray for them.  Support them even when you don’t “get” them!
6. Always remember: our worship is motivated by God, for God, to God!
7. It’s not about you!  Never has been…never will be!

Michal called vulgar that which was beautiful to God!  In so doing she made a huge and serious misjudgement.  She became the thief to rob David’s joy.  In the end, God took it seriously enough to remove His presence, retrieve His blessing and leave her barren.  She became irrelevant.  Don’t make the same mistake.  Look into the mirror and allow God to prepare your heart to explode with the same joy, praise, worship and celebration as did David’s.

Recently I watched a video of a man held captive for years, set free and returned home.  When he got off the plane he fell to his knees, kissed the ground and raised his hands in worship…thanking God for his freedom, his family, his home.  No doubt, it was a perfect picture of a heart bursting with gratitude.  He knew he’d been given something he didn’t deserve and all the simple pleasures of life were now magnified.  What once was lost, was now found.

This got me thinking!  I wondered if I was as thankful for the simple things as this man.  I wondered if I had become entitled, spoiled & privileged.  Maybe grace had become expected, as if I were owed this life of mine.  Maybe I was charging into every day with the demand: “give me a straight and easy path”, “give me luxuries not known by most” and “give me what you owe me”.  Not that I would ever say that or outright embrace this notion, but instead maybe my heart had drifted?  Maybe…

As I watched this man again…it reminded me of my past.  It reminded me of times when I felt the same way.  It reminded me of my youth, when every day was an adventure.  It reminded me of laughter in rain, my gorgeous bride walking the isle towards her awaiting bridegroom.  It reminded me of my newborn sons’ cry and the fresh smile of a little girl always meant for me!  It stirred something in me.  It stirred that sense so vital to knowing the depth of His grace.  It brought an ember of thankfulness!

“You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.  For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.”   2 Corinthians 9:11-12

The doorway to knowing God is absolute.  There is no substitute and no way around it.  Without a heart of gratitude, we can never know much less experience God.  A thankful heart is a heart full.  A person of gratitude is a person who has the very touch of God on them.

Here are the four marks or attributes of those who’ve discovered the journey of thanksgiving:

• A grateful heart is a generous heart

When you understand the nature of grace given to you, you tend to measure out the same grace on others.  You tend to be generous with your money, your time, your praises, your prayers.  You desire to give and not always take!

• A grateful heart is a forgiving heart

Wounds not cared for become bitterness which then breeds cynicism and sarcasm. Cynicism and sarcasm are markers of a heart grown cold or a grudge held far too long.  A heart thankful will be a heart that embraces it’s own failures and tends to forgive the same in others.  Thankfulness is the antidote to bitterness and fosters deep compassion and charity.

• A grateful heart is a humble heart

It has been said: “in the south our greatest sense of pride is found in our deep humility”.  We often misread true humility.  We often misread true pride.  Gratitude will unmask our deepest intentions and help us see with clarity.  A heart that seeks God cannot entertain both pride and thanksgiving.

• A grateful heart is a worshiping heart

A few years ago I was given a small new testament Bible by Lisa’s grandfather.  As a marine, he carried it in his pocket during the battle of Guadalcanal in the Pacific during World War 2.  I was overcome with emotion.  I knew the depths of this gift and the meaning behind it.  The scriptures abound with the pathway to entering God’s presence: through the gates of thanksgiving.  Gratitude reminds of what we’ve been given and the depth of meaning behind it.  Only then can we truly worship!

 

That video of a man set free is our story!  The kiss of sun on our face, the joy & laughter of a house full or the book of memories of days gone by are a sign of God’s incredible gifts.  When we really stop and think about it, ponder His hand in our lives; it doesn’t take long to see we are nothing but ragamuffins and orphans afforded something that was never ours.  How could we possibly complain about another thing…ever!

Be grateful!  Seize this day before it’s gone.  Make the call, hug the neck, forgive and release the hurt.  Choose to be like the man in the video; set free and overcome with thanksgiving.  Then head into Thanksgiving Day and beyond with a heart warmed by the very touch of God.

These past two weeks have been interesting at our house.  As I have shared with you, the sudden onslaught of a kidney stone during the middle of the night brought great wailing and gnashing of teeth.  For those who’ve never had one, there are only rumors of the divine sanction this offers to those who’ve been chosen.  Let me assure you, it is not a path for the faint of heart!

Not knowing what was wrong, I just prayed for 2 things: the Lord’s quick return or a powerful trance inducing potion to make it go away!  Seeing that Jesus chose to tarry (for the moment), the second option worked just fine.

Sitting later that day at the urologist, I discovered that this “stone” was an itsy-bitsy, scanty, minuscule, petite, puny stone halfway on it’s journey towards freedom.  How in all of God’s creation could this tiny thing cause me so much agony and torment?  Folks, I do not attempt to bamboozle you when I say – it completely ceased all my normal operations for the sole purpose of survival.  If you’ve had one – at this point your hands are lifted high as you shout “AMEN”!

“How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire”!  How can a puny small tiny spark cause a blaze that consumes an entire beautiful forest?  But it does!  That is exactly what James says.  But he’s not talking about a kidney stone.  Instead, something small which can also inflict great sickness:

How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.  For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,  but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.  From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.  Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water?  Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. James 3:5-12

James is telling us the dangers of the tongue when used for evil.  But notice, the fire is set by hell and there is no human who can tame the tongue.  Just like a kidney stone – its’ on fire and there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.  Instead, I must rely on my Doctor to break it up and remove.  So – only the Holy Spirit can tame our tongue and use it to bring glory to God and build up the body.

A couple of thoughts here:

• Consider this Biblical truth through a spotlight that shines only on you!  God’s instruction is first and foremost for you.  Or me!  In other words, when I read this, I should NEVER see another person and think “I wish they would practice that” or “I wish someone would tell them that” or “I wish they’d practice what they preach”.  God’s instruction is meant to shine a light on me.  Not him, her or they!  Me Lord…show me!  David understood this as he penned Psalm 139:

                    Search me, O God, and know my heart!
                    Try me and know my thoughts!
                         And see if there be any grievous way in me,
                    and lead me in the way everlasting!

•         Always use the wisdom and instruction of God’s Word as an invitation to the Holy Spirit to show you grievances.  As it applies to the tongue – you cannot control it, only He can.  That means you have already allowed it to defile your offerings and bring disunity to your family, your home, your church.  Trust me – just like a kidney stone, it has set a blaze to your world and only the Holy Spirit can show you this.

• My kidney stone is not hurting you!  Aren’t you glad?  Some of you have winced, patted me on the back, offered your prayers.  Some of you have just chuckled and offered a “good luck” while wondering what kind of good stories are forthcoming.  But understand this – your tongue will set a blaze, but it’s first victim is YOU!  But unlike a kidney stone, it is a slow moving cancer that consumes you, changes you, rescinds the power of God in your life, and obliterates your testimony.  It will, with time, reduce you to a bitter, angry and caustic soul.  Now as a reminder – I hope you don’t see another face than your own.  That would be missing the whole point!

• Own it!  My kidney stone is not yours to bear.  It is mine, all mine.  Every ounce of it was created by me.  Something I drank, ate and consumed over time has transformed into a painful and unwanted journey.  But I can not, in any way, blame my kidney stone on Lisa…or you! (while it might be fun trying – I must admit).  I made it, I must deal with it.  The same is true with our tongue and our actions.  Don’t blame that which is a creation of your own on others.  Although the blame game is rampant in our culture, God’s Word does not give you an option.  Don’t buy the deceit of my pain is your fault, his fault, their fault.  This blaze that has set afire to my world was started by him/them.  Nope!  It’s your fire – own up to it and allow the Holy Spirit to show you how to squelch the pain of it’s flames.

The realty is this – we all share the burden!  Built into everyone of us is this tool (the tongue) which affords great praise and adoration to the Father and our brothers/sisters.  But it’s also a time bomb, just ticking and waiting to inflict astonishing misery.  In reality – we all need Jesus!  My Doctor is the only one who can help me deal with this stone (my stone – whom I’ve fondly named “Rocky”)! So it is also true: only Jesus can bring healing to the freshly burned embers of our lives.  So – I offer this corporate prayer:

“Father – your grace is always sufficient for me.  You offer your mercy and kindness to me when I am so undeserving and wayward.  Search me Lord!  Show me Lord!  Forgive me Lord for any way that grieves you or impedes your power and plan for my life.  Fill me up with your Spirit and send me to live a life that shines brightly in a dark world.  Help me to walk in unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ.  Allow me to walk in peace and use my tongue for your glory alone!  In Jesus name – amen!”

So let it be!  I join you in this prayer and walk with you in asking God to do the uncomprehensible and miraculous for His glory!

Thou Oh Lord are a shield for me!  The GLORY and breaker of my stone!  Wait…it’s The GLORY and the tamer of my tongue.  NO – actually I believe it’s: The Glory and the Lifter of my head!

The devastation from Hurricane Michael is a reminder of just how quickly a storm can turn our world upside down.  The worst of nature can bring out the best in people.  I watched as the fear of devastation caused the people of Florida to reach out to one another without regard to race, ethnicity, culture or economic status.  It’s a beautiful thing with pictures and stories celebrated on the evening news.  Our nation is hungry to see unity.  A devastating storm can do just that!  It reduces us to a place of helplessness in the shadow of a mighty storm.  It’s a reset button; a re-calibration of our compass.

It reminds me of a story found in the Gospels:

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.  But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”  And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”     Mark 4:35-41

You know this story.  The scene: Jesus and the disciples on board a fishing boat, at night in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.  Note: the Sea of Galilee lies 700 feet below sea level surrounded by highlands & Mount Hermon to the northeast rising to 9,000 feet above sea level.  The cold highland air meets rising hot air from the sea to create huge storms.

The Greek term for “furious squall” is used here to describe a fierce windstorm which literally means “sea quake”.  It was like a hurricane.  The sides of the fishing boat were low and the boat is taking on water.  For the disciples, this was not something they were going to survive.

And of course, Jesus is laying on a cushion, sound asleep.  He is exhausted from a full day of ministry.  With all that’s happening, he’s sleeping like a baby.  Until, of course, the disciples wake him to ask a poignant question: “Don’t you care that we’re going to die”?

God – where are you when I need you?  Don’t you know I can’t pay my bills, keep this marriage together, survive this diagnosis, overcome this depression & anxiety, reconcile with my brother, beat this addiction?  Don’t you see my enemies surrounding me, hear their insults?  Why are you sleeping when I’m on the verge of death?

Fear replaces faith, even when God is so close you can hear him breathe and feel his heartbeat.

Then Jesus, speaks: “Silence!  Be Still!” or literally “be still, and stay still” and nature responds immediately with a great calm.  The fear of the disciples refers to timidity and lack of confidence in God.  But even so, Jesus transformed the great storm into a great calm with a single breath.

But don’t miss the real gut punch here!  After Jesus had calmed the storm and rebuked them for their lack of faith, this happened:

THEY WERE TERRIFIED – literally “they feared a great fear”.  The great storm that Jesus turned into a great calm now led to great fear! “Who is this that even the wind and sea obey him?”

This is the fear which brings a reset and re-calibration.  It’s me and you eclipsed in the sheer magnitude and power of Almighty God.  It’s a fall on your knees and worship kind of fear.  It’s a fear that brings unity, without question or regard.  It’s a fear that melts away all our other fears.

If you find yourself faced with a hurricane, remember: God is in the boat.  But even more so, when He melts the storm away with a word, concede your flesh and ambitions for a place of humility, subjection and submissiveness before the magnitude of who He is!

There’s never been a better place to be before a Holy God!  And just like those scenes from Florida of help, caring and selflessness in the wake of a storm; choose gentleness and kindness as you lead unity in His Church!

Routine often dulls us to the majestic and beautiful.  That which we see and enjoy on a daily basis succumbs to the certainty that it/he/she will always be there.  We often take for granted those who are closest to us until it’s too late.

This summer, while at the beach, I played in the sun until I got burned.  And then I sat in the shade complaining about the heat and sunburn and wishing I had a little respite from the singe of the sun’s rays.

But the past February, I longed for just a flicker of warmth and the feel of the sun on my face and it’s steady warmth to sooth my pale soul.  I was homesick for the very thing in the summer which I wished would wane.

Every day we’ve had on this earth, the sun has risen and set in it’s path.  We set our clocks by it’s course and we live out our schedules completely tethered to the sun’s timetable.  We just take it for granted.

It is God, who at the beginning of the age of this earth created the sun and set her course:

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.  And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.  Genesis 1:14-19

Yet today she will go dark.  That which we have grown to rely upon and take for granted will be momentarily snuffed out.

This time, we’re expecting it.  We have our certified viewing glasses.  NASA has given us the forecast schedule and it’s a big party.

Next time, it will be unexpected.  That which we have taken for granted will be darkened as a sign in the heavens:

“The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.”  Joel 2:31

“I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;”  Revelation 6:12

Today, as we enjoy the total eclipse of the sun, remember to pause and give thanks for it’s light – for it is a gift from God.  When she peeks her head back out from behind the moon, pause and give thanks for His grace that gives us a second chance.

And finally – do as the scripture says:

From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised!
Psalm 133:3

Praise Him for this day, for the Word tells us His day of judgement which will darken the earth will surely come!

So let your LIGHT shine!

Recently, while trying to be a good husband, I’ve watched (endured) an HGTV show with Lisa called Fixer Upper.  Lisa loves the show and really wanted to share it with me.  Although I’m in amazement of how they do what they do, for the most part, I end up drooling through half the show and eventually falling unconscious until I get an elbow in the ribs.

The stars of the show take a run down dilapidated house and restore it.  They basically take a piece of junk and make it new.  It’s amazing.  The end result seems almost impossible.  How in the world could you begin with something in such bad condition and end up with a masterpiece.

When we, as a TV audience, are given a glimpse of the house in the “before” condition, there is no way most of us could visualize a pathway where this out of date, run down, aged, tired, used house becomes a work of art.

But it does!

And you know why?  Because someone with the power to transform sees potential.  When everyone else says “tear it down” these architects of renewal say “we’ll make it new”.

Have you ever looked in the mirror and gazed at a reflection that feels out of date, run down, aged and tired?  Or maybe you feel useless and valueless.  You just can’t see the potential anymore.  Regardless of your age you might just feel like the house that simply is what it is: worn, weary and spent.  Your soul is tired and your heart has lost it’s passion.

From Psalm 23:3 falls a small nugget of truth that cracks the foundation of lies with a bold and beautiful truth: “He RESTORES my soul.”

God is the architect of transformation.  He sees you as you are and offers you a full renovation.  A transformation.  A restoration!

It’s more than paint and spackling.  It’s not cosmetic but foundational.  He longs to rebuild your walls, shore up your foundation and add some new features.  He sees you as a masterpiece, even before the work has begun.  He sees the end result way before the job has broken ground.

If this is you, then you need a restoration.  It all begins with a view of what He sees.  The journey begins with a tiny glimpse of the plan from the Grand Architect.  See you as He sees you!

You are a pearl of great worth.  You are a masterpiece under construction.

Completion date sometime after your spirit escapes the bounds of this life!  Make sure you’re there for the unveiling!

It’ll be a moment you won’t want to miss!

It was a covenant that would soon be updated! For it would, in just a brief moment, be eclipsed by the a bold pronouncement from Christ Himself: “This is MY BODY…this is MY BLOOD”! The new covenant was now replacing the old.

Sin once forgiven for a moment, now forgotten for eternity through the Lamb – our sin debt paid in full.
Now the Angel of Death would pass over us. The red crimson blood was placed on our forehead, upon our heart and the sting of death banished from all who find shelter in the shadow of His mercy.
Next week Passover begins. Our Jewish brothers and sisters will gather to reflect on the faithfulness of Yaweh to deliver His people.

For it is through the line of David that we as gentiles find our salvation.
And because of this they’ve become the most persecuted people since the call of Abraham and the birth of a new nation. Today I can’t help but be drawn to the plight of Israel. I sense God’s longing to bring them home to Himself. I sense time is fleeting and we must be praying for the salvation of Israel.
Have you ever noticed how so much political unrest and deep hatred centers around Israel?  She is a democratic nation surrounded by enemies on all sides.  Yet, even so, she continues to thrive and prosper.  We would be wise to remember God’s covenant with His people, for it has no expiration date.  We are commanded to pray for Israel (Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure. – Psalm 122:6).

The symbolism is profound and has deep meaning. Don’t miss it! God leaves nothing to chance.
Jesus was the Messiah who fulfilled every prophecy and now stands as the Lion of Judah!
He has come to save His covenant people and we have the enormous benefit of being the orphaned child, adopted, upgraded and placed at the same table with His chosen.
Thank you Jesus!

In the late 1930’s and early 1940’s as war was breaking out in Europe, there were many American’s who desired to remain neutral.  Although concerned for the suffering of our allies, World War One had caused the bulk of our country to become weary of war.  Within the country we were still in recovery from the Great Depression.  We certainly had our own problems without taking on another overseas conflict.  We would watch from a far with concern.  We would help Great Britain by FDR’s Lend Lease program.  But that’s it…let’s not get involved.

Isolationism.  That was our mindset.  What happens over there, as concerning as it may be, will not effect us over here.  Not until the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor did that change.  And boy did it change!  The rest is history…

Recently I’ve been troubled by the Western Church’s isolationism toward Israel.  What happens over there, even though we are concerned, certainly won’t effect us over here.  Right?

I believe we are seeing a gradual shift in politics and world sentiment that will set up prophetic events…potentially in our lifetime. 

As the world becomes more and more anti-Israel, we will begin to see obvious signs of God’s supernatural intervention and protection of His covenant people.  So what do we do?

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
“May they be secure who love you!
Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers!”
For my brothers and companions’ sake
I will say, “Peace be within you!”
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.  Psalm 122:6-9

As you watch the news…as you see the rockets firing…as you hear & see the hatred – pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  If it were not for God’s covenant people, we as gentiles would not know salvation – for salvation flows through her veins to us.  Remember what Jesus said in John 4:22 – “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews”.  Not FOR the Jews but FROM – “springs” from or “through”.

So…where is the Church?  Why is she silent?

This past spring, my son and I visited Haiti for the first time.  Jake is 14 years old and I knew this would be a powerful moment in his spiritual growth.  One day our team visited a village surrounding a Voodoo temple.  As we walked into the village I quickly felt oppression in my spirit and could see it in the eyes of the people.  Although we were not there long, Jake picked up on it.  He become very disturbed, pleaded with me to leave…NOW!  Once we got back on the bus we had a great teachable moment.

I shared with him as I do with you now: evil rarely shows it’s hand.  It has the ability to cloak itself and most often can only be discerned through the Spirit.

It disguises itself in robes of light and takes on the look of righteousness.  And that is the darkest, ugliest and most disturbing of all.  For it’s true purpose is to attack the church and tear her apart from within – limb by limb.  This evil turns us against one another through gossip, backbiting, slander, and all around grumbling and fighting in the church.  All the while causing us to forget WHO we are and WHAT we are called to be.

As God’s prophetic timetable ticks towards midnight – the church is fighting, bickering or just too self consumed to notice.  And evil, the same we openly felt in the voodoo temple, now concealed – lulls the sleeping giant into an isolationism of our own making.  That same evil that longs to destroy God’s covenant people of Israel has it’s eye on the Church.

Brother’s and Sisters, it’s time we wake up and start acting like the Body of Christ…the one for which our Lord gave His life.

So I encourage you to be aware and keep your eyes open to what our Hebrew brothers and sisters are enduring – and pray for the peace of Jerusalem.  Let’s not be isolationists – but help carry this burden and fulfill our scriptural command.  Talk about it in your families and be aware that the prophetic time table is ticking…faster and faster every day, month and year.  Be aware that we may see God’s hand in this lifetime. Then – turn your heart towards Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith!  All these things must be fulfilled – and then you will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds.

Even so – come quickly Lord Jesus!

Recently I’ve been watching the mega snow catastrophe in Atlanta.  No one saw it coming.  No one that is, except the National Weather Service, which issued the proper warning in plenty of time to avert a crisis.  But instead, the city went about it’s normal functions choosing to ignore the impossible was not only possible but probable.  In the end, the prophets of weather were ignored; their voice too familiar and the sounding alarm meaningless.  Until it was too late!  Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers^, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes”.

It’s important to understand, prophets of the Old Testament who summoned the Nation of Israel back to God are alive and well in today’s church; calling the church back to Biblical obedience and Spirit filled living.  They sound the warning…the alarm of coming persecution.  God will deal with dissension and disunity in His Church.  And trust me, it won’t be pretty!

It would be easy to think the prophets would call out this sinful and lost culture.  We assume the darkest and most depraved world in which will live would be the target.  We would be very wrong.  The Spirit has given the prophets for the church…for that is where the darkest most vile, reprehensible and sickening sin festers.  Clothed, all the while, in garments of light.  It is by far the most dangerous and destructive.  And be warned…it will be the target of God’s justice and wrath.

Throughout the scriptures, God purges and cleans His people through the vehicle of persecution.  He reveals His sheep and scatters the goats.  It’s Jesus who prunes and cast aside all that does not bear fruit:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  Every branch in me 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.”  John 15

Today’s western church is amassed in self spiritual pride and heresy.  She is garnished with hypocrites who think nothing of chasing fame, wealth, and sexual immorality.  But even more dangerous, are those who clothe themselves as spiritual giants.  Hidden is their true nature of condemnation and divisiveness.  They bring disunity to the Body and manufacture gossip with great talent and amazing deceit.  They cloak their poisonous gossip in spiritual banter with appearances of wisdom and concern. They turn on their leaders and Pastors with pious spirituality; all the while in direct and resolute defiance of God’s Word. They are tried and true Pharisees.  They are vipers!  Paul warns us in Titus 3:

“Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.  As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.”

There is a storm gathering.  But this storm is heaven sent for the purging and cleansing of His Church.  It’s time we stop discarding the warning of His prophets and begin to return to full obedience of His Word and wrap ourselves in the joy and love of His Spirit.  The dead branches will be cut and discarded.  And when it happens rejoice!  For new growth will follow.

Stay tuned for the next posting as we explore the signs and symptoms of the pharisees among us.  We’ll explore 5 Biblical signs of a pharisee within the church and the prophets who call their bluff.

It’s easy for us to enter the Christmas season and go on autopilot.  The holiday season is so driven by traditions (which are not a bad thing)…and typically the busy gets busier and the opportunity to worship is lost.  The focus of Emmanuel becomes us.  He is here for us…to walk with us…to give us hope.  Us, me and I.  He can quickly become our means to an end for our comfort and needs.  Don’t get me wrong, all of this is true…but we must resist the temptation to become the center of Christmas.  Emmanuel – GOD with US.  <

O Come O Come Emmanuel and ransom captive Israel.  That mourns in lonely exile here until the Son of God appears.  Rejoice, Rejoice Emmanuel.  Shall come to thee O Israel

Allow me to offer a higher view.  The very nature of God is seen in this amazing transcendent act of love.  The unseen has now become visible and we can focus on what had been so hard to see and understand.  All the while knowing – we’ll never really see and understand fully while we inhabit these jars of clay.  For me, the thing that really captures the nature of Emmanuel are two magnificent moments in the scripture that absolutely blow me away…so much so it brings me to my knees every time I dare read them:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.  Hebrews 1

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  Philippians 2

He is The Radiant Glory of God!  The Word tells us that heaven will have no light – for the light will be the Lamb of Glory!  Somehow we just dim in comparison.  This Christmas, let’s worship Him for who He is…not for what we get out of it!  Then the priorities will right themselves and you’ll find a dose of worship that really gives you hope!
Come and Worship Christ the newborn KING!