The Process of Regeneration: Old Things Have Passed Away; Behold, All Things Have Become New

                                                             

 II Corinthians 5:17

 Ezekiel 11:19  

There is no human being who has ever lived who has been truly different from any of the others who have come before them. We all want to believe that we are somehow more unique or interesting than others; but no matter how hard we try, we are still the same at the core of our beings. We all have the same appetites and desires. We all share the same basic fundamental biological needs; and, we all desire pretty much the same things out of life. A person can change his or hers appearance through body modification, a person can change the way they dress; but in the end, we are all fundamentally the same.  When I was young, I used to be so jealous of my brother. Everything seemed so easy for him, and everything seemed so hard for me. He was good with people, especially girls, and I was awkward and insecure. He could pick up a guitar or sit down to a piano and figure out how to play it without much help from my parents or a teacher; and me, well let’s just say that people, and most animals, are very thankful that I stopped trying to play. I know that I had gifts and talents as well; but to me, they just never seemed as good as the ones God gave my brother. I don’t honestly remember the exact year or date it happened; but, one day the thought was placed in my little head that God had somehow made me inferior to my brother; and that day, was truly one of the worst days of my life.

You may think I am exaggerating; but I can assure you, I am not. At first it was merely a simple thought that was placed in my mind by the enemy. It was nothing more than just a small little lie that should have easily been identified and rejected; but very much in line with the plan of the enemy, it kindled there in my brain till it became a raging wild fire that eventually consumed my heart and my very identity.

 I actually came to believe that I was fashioned, not only a bit different from my brother, but actually inferior to him. This thought so infected my heart that it spread to every relationship I had. I have to say, it must have been exhausting for my friends and family when I was young. God had designed me with a very active imagination and a mind that never stopped, and the enemy knew just how to exploit the weaknesses in that design. Of course, I now realize that with each distinct personality design comes, not only a weakness, but a great strength as well. When I was young, however, all I could see was the weakness. The truth of the matter was, and still is, that my brother was fundamentally no different than me. He was neither better than me nor made for a greater or more important purpose than I was. God did not look down from heaven when he brought me into this life and say, “Oh angels of heaven watch and see the inferior being I have just created. Well, don’t watch since he’s not worth the time. In fact, just ignore him he’s worthless.” Of course, that’s exactly what the enemy had convinced me had happened, and I spent all of my childhood and a lot of my adult life trying to prove to God, myself and the world that I was good enough. Of course, as anyone who has experienced this knows, no matter how hard you try nothing you acquire, no amount of praise, no amount of earthly love nor anything else you may convince yourself will help will ever fill that deep aching void you feel in your heart.

So, if nothing could fill this void in me, how did I finally break this destructive cycle the enemy had put me on? Well, I didn’t. (What? Spoken in a minion voice.) I could not break the cycle. Jason Kiefer in all of his imagined and real strength could not break himself out of this mental cycle. I could have become president of the United States (Kiefer/Inman 2032) and still in the deepest places of my heart, I would have felt inferior. I could have married the most beautiful loving woman in the world whose sole purpose in life was to tell me every day that she thought I was amazing, and still I would have felt unloved. A radioactive spider could have bitten me and given me super powers, and still I would have felt like worthless failure that had nothing to offer. There was, and still is, nothing in this world that could truly stop the slow and debilitating rot that had infested my heart. Sure, there were things that covered over or dulled the crippling feelings in my heart; but in the end, just like medication that only treats the symptoms of a disease and not the disease itself, the disease still remained slowly killing me. There was only one cure for what ailed me, and that was Jesus Christ. Now, anyone who knows me knows I am not a “Love Conquers All” kind of person. I am a warrior; but, the warrior could not just bear up under this and weather the storm of what was going on inside of me. The warrior could not fight his way out of the disease that was destroying me from the inside out. No, the only thing that could save me was the love of God.

I had a friend once who was praying for me after church and started to cry. She came to me later and told me that God had shown her that my heart was filled with holes and that I was always pushing forward and helping and ministering to others while my own heart was being torn apart. She told me she did not know how I had been doing it for all of these years; but, that God was going to change that for me and heal the holes in my heart. Now, I don’t tell this to too many people; but, I can count on my hand how many times I have actually felt the tangible presence of God when someone has prayed for me. This time, however, something supernatural happened in me. My heart actually began to heal. The only way I can express what happened, and is still happening, is to use a superhero analogy. (I know that’s so not like me.) The process is kind of like Wolverine’s healing factor. At that moment my heart began to regenerate supernaturally like I had a healing factor. It was more than just a healing that leaves scars; but rather, my heart was actually regenerating and becoming new as if it had never been damaged to begin with. In fact, because of the person I was designed to be, I am constantly putting myself into situations where my heart will be damaged; but in true God fashion, my heart is also still regenerating causing my heart to be in a constant state of regeneration and renewal. You see, all of my strength could not bring forth this change in me. Only Jesus could do that; and not only did he give me a healing factor, he helped me shed light on the lie that had been festering in my heart for all of these years obliterating  its power over me. You see, only HIS love could do that. Only by realizing that HE loved me and had made me for a grand purpose could do that for me. The truth of HIS love replaced the lie that I was unlovable and shattered the chains of depression and inferiority that had encased my heart.

We have it wrong when we talk about how God heals. If all God ever did was heal, then we would all be walking around scared and damaged. The very definition of scar is: 1. a mark left by a healed wound, sore, or burn. 2. a lasting aftereffect of trouble, especially a lasting psychological injury resulting from suffering or trauma. 3. any blemish remaining as a trace of or resulting from injury or use. Let me ask you something: when God heals or renews does he leave traces of the old life? No He does not; so by default, his healing cannot leave scars. So, he does not heal, but he regenerates. Everything God has ever touched or ever will touch is completely changed and transformed into a completely new state. The bible is filled with instances, and explanations, of this regeneration and renewal process. When Namen the leper dipped himself into the river Jordan he came up more than just healed of leprosy, but his skin and internal organs were completely regenerated. He was made new. When Lazarus was raised from the dead after 4 days of being in the grave, he came back completely restored and made new. No trace of the sickness that had killed him or the decay that had occurred over the past four days remained on him. Imagine if it had, instead of a renewed man they would have had a zombie. Funny to think about it that way; but let’s be honest, if God had just simply given him back his life, then he would have been a sick decayed body walking around. No, God did more than just give him back his life, he completely renewed him. The three Hebrew children after being thrown in the fire came out with no traces that they had ever been in the furnace, not even the smell of smoke was upon them.

 Moreover, in 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. He literally states in this scripture that what has been done in us through Jesus is more than just Salvation; but, a complete and utter renewal of our very being. Our old selves have passed away, or died, and we have been renewed, or resurrected, and have been made NEW.  What is new life? Well new life is the life of a new born baby. A new born baby when it comes into the world has not yet been damaged by the ravages of life. It is completely perfect and new. This is what He is saying He has and will do in us. He will make us like a newborn; a person who not only has no visible traces of damage, but a person who was never damaged to begin with. To use another analogy, its like when the Doctor regenerates in DR Who. The old doctor literally dies and a completely new person emerges. Even his appearance has changed. The person he was no longer exists, and he is replaced by a completely new person. Sure the memories of his old life still remain; but for all intents and purposes, he has been completely made new and given a new life. This is what He did and is continuing to do for me. He not only healed my heart, but removed all traces it had ever been damaged to begin with. Now, all that is left are memories, which are only echoes of a past that has no power over me. Its like looking back at a me that existed in some other reality than the one I now inhabit.  I will leave you with a scripture that, to me, proves this process is not only going on in me, but it is a Godly process that all Christians can believe for. Ezekiel 11:19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh. Rich Mullens uses this line in one of my favorite songs and I like how he paraphrases it, “I will give you a new heart and a spirit. Your heart of stone I will remove and put a heart of flesh inside of you. One I can touch, one I can move, and one that beats in time with the truth.”

    

A Tale of Two Brothers

Luke 15:11-32

I am going to take a break from the series I have been working on for a moment to write about something that is very close to my heart. I am not a perfect man and over the years, especially when I was very young, I had issues and did some things that I desperately needed the grace of God to forgive. Even though I have sinned, one thing I never really was was a prodigal. In fact, I always hated reading the story of the prodigal son and would cringe anytime a preacher would have us turn to Luke 15, because I knew what was coming. I know that this current generation is very enamored with this story because they feel that they were lost and are now found; but, there are still a lot of people, who like me, never really strayed from the Lord. People like me can not identify with the prodigal son story the way it is usually taught. Where as, I do understand the need for the story and the beauty of the love and restoration grace of the Father God; I do not however, really identify with the character of the prodigal son. I am, however, a father; but, I have yet to, and don't believe I ever will, face one of my children turning their backs on me and walking away. Since, my children both love and respect me I also do not identify with the forgiving father either. Yes, I do understand that the father represents God; but, there are a lot of people out there that have gone through this type of scenario as a father ,and this scripture does apply to them in that capacity as well. Now, I am not going to talk about the forgiving heart of the father in this post, nor am I going to talk about how we are all prodigal sons who are returning home to a God who loves us; so, if this is what you want to hear then you might want to skip over this post. If, however, you want to understand the other character in this story then keep reading; because, I am sure you will see things about yourself and God that you never really saw before.

First off, the opening line of this parable goes like this, "A certain man had two sons. (NKJV)." Well now, I thought the parable of the prodigal son was just about two people, the prodigal and the father. Don't feel bad if you missed the fact that there are actually three main characters in this story; because, most preachers have always told the story from just the perspective of two of the characters, and have relegated the third to simply supporting character status. In fact, the heading in almost all bibles for this parable is "The Parable of the Prodigal Son." Of course, if the Academy Awards have shown us anything, supporting characters are just as important to the story as the main characters, this is why they have their own awards category. I, on the other hand, believe that the older brother in the story is just as important a character as the prodigal is. As a story teller, I know that God would not have made it a point to declare in the opening line of the story that there were two sons, if both were not of equal importance. God is not someone who wastes time, and if the older brother was not important, He would have simply said, "A certain man had a son." The story would have had the same effect if there was just one son instead of two; but, he made it a point to give the man two sons, and this shows us that both sons are of equal importance to the story.

Now, before I go any farther I want to cover one point briefly that is of the utmost importance for us; and that is, that there are no supporting characters in the story of life as far as God is concerned. What? Are you saying that everyone has the same value in life as everyone else no mater what role they have to play? Why yes I am. This is one of the most devastating traps the enemy uses to, not only keep us back from the fullness of the destiny God has for us, but also to keep us in a state of depression, hopelessness and insecurity. You see God loves us all equally no mater our role in the kingdom and in life. If we were to measure most of the heroes of faith by todays standards, then we would not consider any of them heroes of faith. Paul, for one, was never the senior pastor of a church and had no real earthly success as we would see it today. In fact, he had to make tents in order for him to not starve. Likewise, once when he was preaching someone fell asleep and fell out of a window because he was so boring. Now, Paul did raise him from the dead; but, it was often said of him that his letters were so good, but he in person was lacking. In other words, people found Paul unimpressive and lacking charisma in person. In todays world, Paul would not be a superstar because he did not have the charisma we tend to look for in out great leaders; and yet, he wrote one third of the new testament and is responsible for most of the doctrine we preach today. So, if Paul compared himself to the other apostles, then he would have saw himself as someone who was less then the others and he would not have stepped into the fullness of what God had for him. This was one of the things that the older brother in the Prodigal Son story also wrestles with. When his brother returns and his father goes all out to receive him, he compares himself to his brother and becomes insecure. He mistakenly assumes that all of the attention his brother is receiving shows that he is of less importance, or loved less, then his brother. In fact, I would wager that his brother was always the daring and fun one while he was the consistent one. In life, since the beginning of man, people have always been drawn to the charismatic; and sometimes, people who are consistent and faithful can seem to be over looked. What God showed me about the older brother was that he most certainly had been wrestling with this for most of his life; and the return of his brother, brought all of those feelings back to the fore front. He was unable to see his own worth because he was comparing the response he received from people with the response his brother received. He, however, is not his brother; and, the response that he receives from people will be different. This, however, does not mean that it is somehow less then the response his brother receives. In fact, God goes on to talk about the rewards that the older brother has for his faithfulness.

Now, how do I know that his brother was faithful; well, because in the scripture it says, "Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing." This denotes that his son was faithfully working and keeping his fathers house. While the younger brother was off wasting his inheritance, the older brother had stayed faithful and consistent to his father. No offence, but I would rather be the brother who stayed faithful then the one who left and came back. I don't ever want to be someone who squanders the love and grace of my Father God in worldly living. If this is who you have been, that is fine because God loves you and, after you have repented, He will accept you back s if you never left. But, being faithful is always better then being unfaithful; this is why, he says in I Samuel 15:22 "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams." Now, the problem that the older brother has is not in the fact that he was faithful; but rather, in his response to the return of his younger brother. You see, it is good that the father and the people excepted the younger brother back, and it was cause for celebration; but, the older brother could not see that because he was too focused on how it effected him. He was on the verge of missing out on the joy of restoration because he was being selfish. What? Wasn't he better then his brother because he was faithful? My personal gut response is, yes he is; but, in truth, no he is not. Both are equally as loved by their father; and the older brothers own anger was preventing him from seeing that his father loved him just as much as he loved his younger brother. Wow! you see what I did there I turned the story on its head. You see the problem the older brother had was not that he did not see the love his father had for his brother; but rather, he felt like his father somehow loved him less than his younger brother. How do we know this is the older brothers heart? We know this by his response which is,

"But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. ²⁹ So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. ³⁰ But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’

This statement is not about his brother; but rather, it is about how he feels about his fathers love for him. He really believes that his father loves his brother more then him. This sad fact is not only keeping him bound; but it is also, keeping him from having a relationship with his brother. Now, I do not believe that the older brother is trying to earn his fathers love by his works; but rather is simply comparing himself to his brother. This is why the bible says it is unwise for us to compare ourselves one to another, because just because the responses we receive may seem different because we are all different, does not mean that they are in anyway less. This is exactly what the older brother was dealing with and what God wants us all to see here. Just because he killed the fatted calf for the younger brother does not mean that he loved the older brother less. In fact, you see, not only how much the father loves the older brother, but also the rewards he has for the older brother in the fathers response when he says,

³¹ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. ³² It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”

In this one statement he lets the older son know just how much he loves him and just what his reward is. First off, he states that the older son will always be with him. This denotes a special level of relationship that he gets  to have with the father because he stayed faithful. Now, this does not mean that the prodigal does not get to have a deep relationship with the father; but, the more faithful you are to the father the greater level of trust and closeness you will be able to have; and at this time, the older brother has been walking in and will continue to grow deeper in that relationship. This is a direct statement of affirmation the father gives to the older brother. Secondly, the father states that everything he has is his. This again displays the principle that the more faithful and consistent you are in relationship with God the more you have access to the presence of God and his anointing. The older brother had access to everything the father had without any constraints being put upon him; whereas, the younger brother no longer did. That does not in any way mean that in time the younger brother would not be able to win back the trust of his father; but rather, that the one who had stayed faithful had always had it. Again this is another statement of affirmation for the older brother who was struggling with insecurity in his own standing with his father, because he was comparing himself to the response his father had given to his younger brother. Lastly, his father reminds him of the fact that he is missing out on the restoration of his younger brother because he is consumed with his own feelings of insecurity.  After all, his brother who was lost had just returned and he was completely missing that fact. I believe after this encounter with his father the older brothers heart changes and he is able to see; not only that his brother has returned, but how much his father loves him. You see, if you are not secure in how much your father loves you then you will never truly be able to love your brother. I believe that the point of this story was not just the restoration of one brother; but the restoration of two brothers. This is why Jesus makes it a point to say that the father had two son. It is the story of how two sons were restored to their father in two different ways. one through returning from his sin; and the other, by realizing that his father loved him just as much as he loved his brother irrespective of the differences of them both. If you are the older brother and not the younger in this story, know that God loves you just as much as he loves the prodigal. Don't let the enemy steal your joy and your relationship with God and your brothers and sisters, because he has you focused on what you feel others are getting, instead of what God has already given you. Just like the older brother in this story, you will always be with God and all that He has is yours; and nothing in this world can ever change that, so don't let the enemy, or your own false perceptions, ever let you feel less then what you are, a child of the living God!

Praise and Worship Part Two: Thankfulness the Key to the Gates

      

Psalms:100

 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
² Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
³ Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;^[a]
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

⁴ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
⁵ For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,

    And His truth endures to all generations.

Have you ever been disappointed? I am almost positive that every one of you who read that first statement instantly had a pretty strong emotional response to it. I know this most likely happened to you; because, it happened to me when I was writing it. We have a strong response because it is impossible to get through this life without facing some form of disappointment. There is no human being that has ever lived that was beyond disappointment's touch. In fact, Jesus also faced disappointment. If you don't believe me then just check out Mark 14, where Jesus is praying in the garden before he is betrayed and crucified. Here Jesus asks his disciples to pray with Him, and they fall asleep after only a few minutes. When Jesus comes back to where they were sitting, He finds them sleeping instead of praying. He was disappointed to find that they had all fallen asleep in His time of great need. Now, unlike Jesus, we all have a tendency to allow disappointment to fester and grow in our hearts till it becomes the tool the enemy uses to destroy us; or at the very least, to steal our joy from us.  The bible says in Nehemiah 8:10 that: the joy of the Lord is our strength; so when the enemy steals our joy, he likewise steals our strength. This fact is why God made it a point to stress to the Israelites and to us as Christians in Psalms 100, that the avenue with which we enter into his is gates is Thanksgiving. You see thankfulness is the antithesis of disappointment; or rather, thankfulness is the tool God uses to break disappointments power over our lives. 

What exactly is Thanksgiving? Webster defines thanksgiving as: 1:  the act of giving thanks

2:  a prayer expressing gratitude 3a :  a public acknowledgment or celebration of divine goodness. So, according to Webster, thanksgiving is the act of giving thanks. The definition God gave to me is very similar to Webster definition; what He told me thanksgiving was is, the act of cultivating a lifestyle of thankfulness. On the other hand, Webster defines disappointment as:  the act or an instance of disappointing :  the state or emotion of being disappointed. Moreover, Webster defines disappointed as: 1:  defeated in expectation or hope 2 obsolete :  not adequately equipped. So disappointment is literally allowing our hearts to be in a place where we are defeated in expectation or hope. So if thankfulness is the antithesis of disappointment; and disappointment is being defeated in expectation or hope, then thankfulness is cultivating an attitude of hope and expectation through being thankful for what God has already done for us. A person can not stay defeated and without hope if they are constantly being thankful. You can not steal the joy of someone who you can not make disappointed, it just isn't possible. Well, this is all fine and good but how does his apply to

Praise and Worship and entering in? I'm glad you asked, because I was just about to get to that part.

In Psalms 100 God tells us that the only way we can enter into his gates is through thanksgiving; which also then means, that disappointment is one of the things that can prevent us from entering in to His gates. You see what God knew about people then still applies to us today. He knew that when we get disappointed we stop believing and start falling into a place of defeat where we lack hope. When this happens we pull back and stop trusting God. This then effects our desire to be near Him. I don't know about you, but when I feel disappointed by someone the last thing I want to do is be close to them. Well now brother, just because I am disappointed does not mean I believe it is Gods fault. Where as that may true in your mind, disappointment has a way of infecting every area of our hearts; even, our relationship with God. You can not and will not draw close to God if you do not trust Him. Since the very definition of disappointment is to be defeated in expectation and hope; then, it stands to reason that if disappointment has infected your heart, you will not trust God enough to draw near to Him.  Worship is the act of blessing God by worshiping Him for who He is. If who He is to you is a God who disappoints; then you can not reach a place of worship, because there will always be a wall of disappointment standing in your way. The only way to break down that wall is to cultivate a thankful heart. What was it that made the Three Hebrew children and Daniel stand out from all of the other Israelites? It was the fact that they did not allow the disappointment of their situation to steal their thankfulness; and thereby, steal their trust in God. Daniel refused to see the lions den and the wrathful king, and instead decided to be thankful that God had shut the mouths of lions. The three Hebrew children did likewise, and instead of being defeated in expectation and hope by the disappointment of the fiery furnace; they rather, were thankful to their God for their deliverance before they were even thrown into the furnace. All of these biblical heroes knew what God knew when He made the statement in Psalms 100 about thankfulness. They knew that by cultivating a heart that is thankful to God for  what he has, can and will do for us, will shatter the power of disappointment in our lives thereby stopping it from keeping us back from the presence of God.

Moreover, praise and worship are both acts of blessing God and not ourselves. Where as it is impossible to come into contact with God and not be blessed or changed by Him; worship and praise, are institutions that were not designed for our blessing, but rather for Gods. In order to be in a place where we are thankful, we have to be in a place where we are no longer consumed with self; and, how can we bless God with our whole hearts, if our hearts are completely focused on ourselves? The answer is, that we can not. It is impossible to bless the Lord if we are completely focused on ourselves and our own problems. Cultivating a heart of thankfulness allows us to get to that place where we change our focus from ourselves and onto God. Disappointment prevents us from doing this by always keeping our focus on ourselves and what we perceive God has not done, instead of what he has and will continue doing.  I used to believe that the main reason that thankfulness was important was because it drew the heart of God. Whereas, this is a true principle, the more important person it draws is me. Thankfulness cultivates in us a desire to draw close to the Lord and to bless Him; and since Praise and Worship is about blessing the Lord and not ourselves, cultivating an attitude that creates in us a desire to bless the Lord is one of the most important things we can do. These principle also apply to Praise, and it is why God links them synonymously with each other as gateway principles that open up the doors to the Holy of Holies.  So since we now have unlocked the gates with thankfulness lets enter in to His courts with PRAISE...

Praise and Worship Part One: The Holy of Holies

Psalms:100

 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
² Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
³ Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;^[a]
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

⁴ Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
⁵ For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

Normally I don't start a post with a scripture;  but, today I felt that it was important to start out by setting a firm scriptural foundation for what I am about to talk about. Recently I was talking to another believer, and they were telling me about how they were thinking of going to school to get a degree in worship ministry. Well, not to make light of this persons genuine desire to serve the Lord through music ministry, but what exactly is a degree in Worship Ministry? I personally attended bible school, was raised in a pastors home and have been involved in ministry in some capacity for most my life, and I had never heard of there being such a thing as a degree in worship. I actually went online to some very well respected bible colleges to verify that they were telling me the truth; and, Lo and behold, to my great surprise, there actually were many such degrees being offered. Personally I feel that a degree in worship is a waste of time and money; but, who am I to judge; but if you want, I can teach you all you need to know about worship and save you about ten thousand dollars. My problem with this all is not the fact that people are going to school for worship; but rather, what everyone seems to have quietly left out of our views and definitions of music ministry. For me personally, when I finally start a church or step into a pastoral role I will not be looking for just a WORSHIPER. Yes brother, you are looking for a lead worshiper who is anointed and set apart by God with the skills and tools necessary to take your worship team to another level. Well, actually I am not. In fact, anyone who comes at me with that kind of view on worship will most likely not even sing backup for me. Lets just set the record strait right from the get go; there is no next level of worship. What??? (Spoken in a minion voice.)  I will repeat this statement again since I feel it is very important. THERE IS NO NEXT LEVEL IN OUR WORSHIP. Surely you must be joking MR. Kiefer? I m not; and, don't call me surely.

You see this is just one of the problems we have with our view of worship. We can go deeper into the presence of God; but, how deep we do or do not go is not determined by the worship leader. It is also not determined by the skill of the worship team, nor by the caliber of our sound system, nor by the song selection. None of these things mater when it comes to how deep we will personally go into the presence of God. Now don't get me wrong, if the worship leader or his team is in sin, then it will hinder what God wants to do; but, it does not have to hinder you from entering in. Likewise, if you allow the failures of the sound system or the song section  to be stumbling blocks for you, then they will be. You see entering in is something that you as a child of God have control over. For us to say that how far we go in worship is determined by all of these variables is like saying that my healing is determined not by my faith; but rather, by the environment around me. The only thing that can limit what God wants to do in me and through me, is ME; and, this is also true when it comes to worship. Of course, we don't want this to be truth because, then it puts the ball back in our court and it takes away all of our pet excuses for not entering in on Sunday mornings. The truth is, if you don't enter in then it is no ones fault but your own. You see the next level we are seeking does exist; but it is in our own personal relationship with God that will then be displayed in our corporate worship and praise. Depth in the presence of God is not inherently found in worship; but rather, it is a result of our personal desire and relationship outside of the corporate setting. The scripture I started out with shows us Gods exact plan when it comes to entering into the Holy of Holies. If we follow this plan, then most likely we will always get to that place of relationship called the Holy of Holies. This is, after all, where we all want to go in the end.

Psalms 100 states: Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. In this scripture the Psalmist is referring to the tabernacle, which was the for runner to the Temple of Solomon. In fact, the temple of Solomon was designed as a permanent version of the tabernacle and was set up with the exact same dimensions. Both the tabernacle and the temple were designed as a physical representation of the spiritual reality of how we as Gods children can come into His presence. These two buildings were set up into three distinct sections: the outer Courts, the inner courts and the Holy of Holies or the Holy Place. Each section had a distinct purpose and was filled with items that were required to move farther in and closer to the Holy of Holies. Both the rooms and the objects in them where physical representations of spiritual truths. The Holy of Holies was the place where the Ark of the Covenant rested, which was the physical container of the manifest presence of God. Now, the Holy of Holies, the place where the presence of God dwelt, was separated from the other rooms by the famous veil. Only one person once a year was allowed past that veil and into the holy Place where the presence of God dwelt; and he, had to do everything perfect and follow every rule to the letter or he would drop dead. This thick veil was placed there to protect us from the presence of God; because if we were to enter the presence of God in our unclean state, we could not survive the purity and holiness of God. His presence would literally kill us. After Jesus died, this veil was torn from the top to the bottom signifying that the way to the presence of God was open to us. I find it significant, however, that the rest of the temple was not destroyed like the veil. What does this mean? Well, I feel that it shows us that the spiritual process of how we enter in has not changed. Jesus did not do away with what Psalms 100 states, and the steps it sets out before us still apply today. In fact, I feel that most churches today are simply wandering around the outer courts and calling it true worship. This is why we are always searching for that deeper place of the presence of God, because we are never really entering in.

You can burn me at the steak later; but for now, just hear me out. I have been in many church services over the past few months as I search for a new home church. In almost every church I attended the worship leader tried to take us right into worship. There was no praise and no preparing ones heart through thankfulness before he or she attempted to thrust us all into this place called the Holy of Holies. Now, I do not look at this as a failure on the part of the worship leader; but rather, it is a fundamental flaw in our understanding of the biblical and spiritual process of praise and worship. We have developed a culture of WORSHIP in the church of today. This in itself may sound like exactly where we were always meant to go; but, it is not. In fact, how can we have a culture of worship with out praise? In the past worship was always unbreakably linked to praise. They were like Siamese twins and you could not have the one without the other; but in todays church, we have removed praise from the equation. We no longer have Praise and Worship leaders, instead we have worship leaders. We no longer hold Praise and Worship services, but rather we have worship services. You see the bible says in Psalms 100 that we enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise. Yes, the Holy of Holies, or true worship, is the end destination of our corporate and personal journey; but, we can not get there in either our personal walk or our corporate walk outside of the process God established. This is why even though we have more quality and professionalism in our music teams today, we just simply do not have the same presence of God as we did in the past. This is not just the ramblings of an old warrior who longs for the past; but rather, a man of God who desires that place of true worship where the manifest presence of God dwells. I for one am tired of simply wandering around the outer courts when I know there is so much more of God then I am experiencing. We have to ask ourselves this one important question, 'Why are we not entering in?" Unless this fundamental and essential question is addressed in every church we will never be able to progress forward into the manifest presence of God, and we will continue to settle for just a shadow of what we can truly have. In the next few posts I will be addressing a few issues that I feel have been holding us back in this area; so stay tuned, because CULTIVATING THANKFULNESS is on deck, with PRASIE waiting in the wings.

When Brothers Become Wolves

 Luke 6 

 Romans 12:19

I Corinthians 13 

1 John 4  

1 Timothy 1:20

 Mathew 18:15-17

Ephesians 6:12 

Have you ever had a brother? I have two brothers and I love them with all my heart. I can't say I was always the best older brother in the world, but I do try my best. In younger years I was at odds with my brother Josh. I was very jealous of how easy things seemed to come for him, when things seemed to be so hard for me. Even in the times of greatest conflict between the two of us I always loved him. In fact, if anyone else attacked him other then me they were in for the fight of their life. Now, as an adult I am a defender by nature. It is something that is built into my DNA by God and it comes as natural to me as breathing. Because I am a defender I absolutely despise wolves. If it were up to me I would eradicate them wherever and whenever I find them. Even though it is good and right to stand against wolves I have encountered one problem; what do I do when the wolves I have to deal with were once my brothers or sisters?

Now I know this is a touchy subject for most Christians and we all fall on two very distinct sides of the coin on this issue. It has become the current trend in the American church today to buy into the Grace Above All Else doctrine; which states, that no matter how horrible a person sins God will forgive and love them anyway. The view through this doctrine is that we are all just sinners saved by grace; so therefore, we should not judge but simply love them until they come back into the fold. On the other hand, on the other side of the coin, we tend to take a hardline stand towards our fallen brothers.  This group tends to be condemning and judgmental lambasting those who show any lack of moral character and integrity. So, since we have two very diametrically opposed views on how to deal with this subject, which one is the right course of action for us? I can think of no better way to find out then an all out UFC battle royal, so lets get down to it! In this corner, wearing the lovely pink "can't we all just get along" shorts, we have the 1 Corinthians 13 love conquers all Christians! In the other corner, wearing the black "sinners in the hands of an angry God" shorts, we have the give them over to the Devil so they can learn not to blaspheme Christians! Both sides have been training under their pet doctrines for sometime now and have even created their own gyms around their distinct fighting philosophies. These gyms, of course, don't associate with each other; but hey, that only makes this fight personal. Both fighters are ready and they meet in the center of the ring and touch gloves as the official describes the rules to them. This is going to be the fight of the century; well, at least the fight of the hour anyway. The bell rings and both fighters emerge from their respective corners like stallions out of the gate. My money is on the fighter in the black, since the fighter in the pink shorts prefers talking and singing together in stead of combat. Both fighters rear back and let fly and a resounding "crack' rebounds through out the stadium. Holy cow folks, both fighters staggered and went down hard. The official is counting and neither fighter is showing any signs of life! Wow folks in a shocking turn of events, both fighters have been counted out and the fight is a draw!

Well now, why a draw? Certainly one philosophy on the subject must be right right? Not necessarily. Neither doctrine is completely wrong or right on the subject;  but in true human fashion, we take things to extremes while shutting out any point of view that does not lineup with what we want or feel. This way of thinking leads to conflict and an inability to see the whole truth on a subject. It is in fact, why there are so many different denominations and sects in Christianity. You see, you can not simply love people out of sin; on the other hand, you can not necessarily condemn them out of sin either. In the end, both philosophies fail producing no lasting effect in the lives of people. One creates an environment that allows sin to continue unopposed and unchecked; while the other, gives no way for grace, mercy or change. So if both are wrong, then how do we deal with brothers and sisters in Christ who have fallen into sin and have become wolves? Well I am glad you asked; and if you did not, I was still going to tell you anyway, because it's what I do. You need to merge the two philosophies into one giant Megazord theology. Kind of like when all the colored lions merge together to form Voltron. (Dinotherms connected Mega Thrusters are go!) If we can see the truth in both theologies while simultaneously discarding what is incorrect,0 then we can get down to the heart of the matter and find the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Of course, this requires us to except things we may not like while letting go of things we have come to except as truth that just simply are not. For example, the bible clearly states over and over again that there are consequences for sin and that God does not necessarily remove these consequences even though he desires to forgive us. Moreover, it likewise states that his mercy far outweighs his wrath and that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.

In Luke 6 Jesus talks openly about how we should love our enemies.

 "²⁷ “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,   ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. ²⁹ If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. ³¹ Do to others as you would have them do to you.
³² “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. ³⁴ And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. ³⁶ Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."


Furthermore, He goes on to talk about how we should not judge.

³⁷ “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
  
Now these are powerful statements that give us a clear conduct that we should follow when dealing with our enemies. Jesus, however, is not talking about how to handle sin here, so let me now deal with a bit of misconception that we have all had about this scripture. Jesus is not referring to dealing with fallen brothers and sisters who have become people who are leading others astray here; but rather, he is talking about how to deal with people who have come against or hurt us personally. Whereas our fallen brothers and sisters may have hurt us personally, this still does not give us a clear cut explanation of how we are to deal with them. It does, however, talk about not judging. WOO HOO, a triumph for the love crowd! Not exactly. Where as He does say we should not judge, he specifically expresses judging as condemning or being unforgiving. One of the definitions Webster has for "judge" is: to sit in judgment on :  to try:  to determine or pronounce after inquiry and deliberation. This is what Jesus is talking about here in this passage. He is clearly showing us that it is not our job to determine guilt or to pass sentence. The problem is that we tend to want to take matters into our own hands because we feel that God is not doing enough. Moreover, it is our job to protect people from those who would do them harm; it is not, however our job to be judge, jury and executioner. Unlike Judge Dredd we are not the law. Moreover, our view of justice is often vengeance and not actual justice. There is a fine line between the two, but both are ultimately Gods responsibility and not ours. (Romans 12:19) 

Even though it is not our job to pass sentence, further down in Luke 6 he does give us an explanation of what is our Job. Now we all know the parable that He states earlier on in this chapter where He tells us to see the plank in our own eye rather then being concerned with the speck in our brothers eye; But after that, he gives us this statement.

⁴³ “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. ⁴⁴ Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. ⁴⁵ A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."

Also in 1 John 4 he states: 

"4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world."

 Here He is letting us know that every person can be identified by their fruit. What? Are you saying that we can JUDGE people? In a manor of speaking I am. Webster also defines the word judge as: to form an opinion about through careful weighing of evidence and testing of premise. Jesus tells us clearly here that we have the right to do this. We must be able to recognize people for where they really are. One of the greatest compliments my sister Melody ever gave me was when she said, "You are not the person you used to be." She was letting me know that I had changed and she knew it. How did she know this? She saw the fruit of the change in my life. It is our responsibility to judge people in this manor. In fact, if we can not, then we will always be deceived. Fruit does not lie, it simply is what it is. If a tree brings forth apples then it is an apple tree. So if a person is bringing forth bad fruit, then there is something wrong with that tree. This does not mean, however, that the tree is nonredeemable or untreatable; but rather, it simply shows that something is not right with that tree.

So now that we see that it is our responsibility to judge people by their fruits, what should we do about them? Well, we first off need to love them. Yes folks, love really is the end all and catch all of everything in this universe. In 1 John 4 the bible states that "God is Love and that if we do not Love we do not know Him". Moreover in 1 Corinthians 13 the Bible states that without Love we have nothing. He is not saying however that all these other things have no meaning; but rather, that with out love they have no significances. Love needs to be the reason and motivation behind all that we do. This is what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 13 and what John is talking about in 1 John 4. Both apostles are showing us that just like God, the motivations behind what we do should always be love. In 1 Timothy 1:20 Paul talks about giving people over to Satan so they will learn to not Blaspheme. We may see this as harsh, but Paul did this in order to save them because thy were heading down a path that would have led to their destruction. The bible also says that the Lord chastens those whom he loves. This of course is again Gods responsibility not ours. 

In Mathew 18:15-17 Jesus gives us a detailed explanation of how to deal with a brother who through sin has come into conflict with us. Here He states:

¹⁵ “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. ¹⁶ But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’^{[b] 17} And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

Here Jesus tells us that if a brother or sister will not come to a place of repentance then we need to treat them like we would any other unbeliever. Now what exactly does this mean? Well, we do not hate or attack unbelievers do we? No we do not. We love them and we treat them with respect and kindness; but we do not, allow them to have a place in our lives of influence and respect. In other words, we do not allow them to be apart of our inner circles of friends. We may love unbelievers and even at times eat with them and have relationship with them, but they are not our best friends who we go to for council. This is what Jesus is saying we should do to brothers and sisters who have fallen away and are unrepentant. Moreover, I have heard the Zacheous story mentioned often about  how Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners often. He did, but they were only allowed into his inner circle after they were repentant and had changed. For instance, of all of the millions of people Jesus helped and ate with how come there were only 120 in the upper room? It was only the ones who were willing to repent and change that ended up there. In fact, I wonder how may of the people who cried "Crucify Him" were also those he ate with.

In conclusion, we need to love or brothers and sisters who have gone astray without becoming people who attack them personally. Our motivation should always be love and restoration; but, we do have an obligation to stand up for the truth and to stand against ideologies or beliefs that are against the Word of God. In doing this, however, we need to be careful to realize it is the sin and the false doctrine we are standing against and not the brother or sister that has been deceived. I will leave you with a superhero analogy. (I know you were afraid I was going to get through this without one, but have no fear!) Loki was raised with his brother Thor since they were young. Thor loved his brother Loki and was deeply torn when Loki decided to do things that were hurting other people. In the end he tried to reason with his brother but to no avail. When this happened Loki forced Thor's hand and they came into conflict. Thor had to stand against what Loki was doing, but at every opportunity he tried to reason with Loki to turn him from the path he was on. This is how we should be with our brothers and sisters who turn away from the Lord and become wolves. We should stand against the false doctrine and the sin while simultaneously doing everything in our power to restore our brothers and sisters who have been deceived by the enemy. After all, in Ephesian 6:12 Paul states: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." People while taking a stand for what's right, lets always remember that the real enemy is the Devil and not our brothers and sisters. 

Lifes Keys Chapter Four: Stay Connected to the Source

                                                                

                                                                  John 15:4

                                                                 Matthew 4:4

                                                                  John 10:10

 

 

I want you to do a favor for me. Throw a seed outside on the asphalt and just let it sit there for a few days. After a sufficient amount of time has passed go out and check to see if anything has happened to that seed. You may find that the seed has grown a few roots; or maybe, it has even opened up and tried to bud a bit. Either way, give it a few more days separated from good ground where it can put down its roots and find sustenance and it will die. Why is this? I thought that life always finds a way as Dr Malcolm in Jurassic Park so eloquently put it. The truth is, that life only finds a way when it is plugged into a source of sustenance that can sustain it. Life may bloom for a while; but, if it is deprived of a life giving source it will eventually fade away and die. Life does not happen by accident, nor can it be sustained by chance. If you buy a fish, as I have, and you forget to feed it or clean its bowl it will die. Unless of course, your fish is a highlander then you have to remove its head. Either way, to have life a source is required. For humans we need a complex environment in order to sustain life. We need breathable air, water and a source of food that contain certain proteins and minerals in order for us to live and thrive. Scientist have discovered that in our universe this complex system is so rare that they have yet to find another planet where human life can be sustained for a prolonged period of time. Even in Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar they had to go outside of our galaxy in order to discover a planet where human life could be sustained indefinitely.

 

In John 15:4 Jesus makes the statement, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” What a powerful statement He is making here. This is not a parable needing to be explained, nor is it a deep mystery that can only be understood through the intervention of the Holy Spirit poking at our brains in order to coax our synapses to life. Sure, it is helpful when the Holy Spirit gives us revelation about certain scriptures; but, this one really shouldn’t require that. What Jesus is saying here is that unless we are genuinely and consistently plugged into Him we can not bear fruit. It really is as simple as that. You see, one of the biggest problems we all tend to face as Christians is that we are constantly trying to bear fruit and have life without actually being plugged into the source of all life. Jesus put it to us pretty blatantly in this scripture when He says that that just simply isn’t possible. Neither is a Human living indefinitely without food or the Transformers without Optimus prime or my kids getting up before noon without some form of cold water involved.

 

Sometimes we are like the walking dead stumbling through life in search of anything that will bring us life except the one thing that really will. It’s kind of like socialism. No mater how many times they try to reinvent it; it just simply does not work. No form of socialism will ever be able to produce any form of prosperity and growth. Moreover, nothing other then Jesus will produce life in us. In John 10:10 Jesus said that he came to give us life and life more abundantly. We as Christians, however, are always trying to have this life without Jesus. Wait a minute now! I am saved and I go to church on Sunday mornings isn’t that enough. Well, if you uproot a pant everyday and only plug it into its source for about two hours once a week do you think it will live and thrive? If it does it will only be a pale shadow of what it could and should be. It will be the living dead since it is constantly trying to have life without being plugged into the source of its life. Just like the plant this is what we do all the time. We try to live an on fire overcoming Christian life without the source; and, we become nothing more then the walking dead who have a small measure of real life while trying to sustain ourselves with the death of this world.

 

Now, I am someone who loves to consume entertainment. In fact, I have always wanted to be someone who created books, movies and television for a living. I absolutely love entertainment; but if all I ever do is fill my life with entertainment, then that is all I will ever have. What do I mean by this? Well, what you put in is what you have to sustain you and to give out. If I never spend time personally with God or in His word and prayer, then when I need that life all I will have is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Now, knowing how to fight like a ninja can be helpful against a mugger; but, it is completely useless against the devil, depression, sickness, suicide, divorce, or any other kind of hurt or pain that we all face in life. The word of God and prayer, on the other hand, are the only powers in the universe that are capable of handling the aforementioned issues. Just like the food we eat for strength and life in our daily life, these things must also become our food. This is what Jesus meant when he made the statement in Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” You see just as our body requires a source of life to live so does our spirit. Without that source we can not have life or bear fruit. The truth is people, that if we want to do more then just survive we have to be plugged into the source of our life everyday and not just once a week on Sunday mornings.

 

 I will leave you with an analogy of one of my favorite superheroes. Seriously, you had to have expected this was coming.) The Green Lanterns are a group of intergalactic superheroes who get their considerable powers from a power ring. This ring must be charged constantly or it will run out of power. They charge their rings by touching them to the source of their power which is their green lanterns. Now the green lanterns personal batteries have power because they are connected to the central power source on the planet OA. If the Lanterns loose their lantern or forget to connect to their battery, than their rings will eventually run out of power and they will become powerless. This is what happens to us as Christians when all we do is connect to God on Sunday mornings or when we are in dire need; we become powerless. The word powerless means exactly what it sounds like it means, “To be without power.” We as Christians are without power when we are trying to live our lives without being regularly connected to the source. Sure, we may have power for a while but we will eventually become more and more drained of our life until all that is left is merely a shadow of what we once were. If this is where you are today then I have good news for you. You have a personal power source with you right now that you can recharge your spirit with called the Word of God and prayer; and, the more time you give to those things the more life you will have.