Freedom Guns and Jesus

Stretch

Yesterday….  Look, I’m going to be honest.  I was in a bad mood, my wife was walking on eggshells, I was hoping Bread on the Water would get rained out…

On the drive there, I forced myself, out loud, in front of my wife and kids to apologize for my attitude, and break agreements with the enemy, then do the normal prayer, in which we ask that we can be empty of our selves, we commit our time and effort to the Lord and to doing Kingdom work, and we ask God to set up “divine appointments”, where the right people will come by at the right time, we will discern and hear the Spirit, speak His word, have the courage to act on any action that the Spirit prompts, we ask for the presence of the Holy Spirit and angels, we bind spirits of confusion, distortion, distraction, violence, judgement…  and ask for the ability to make people feel the love of the Father.

Now I was ready.

While carrying the last box of bread and the Jesus sign from the car, I came upon three college-age people who were eating the free cookies they just picked up from our giving bench.  They were actually asking each other “what’s up with the free bread”?

I began what turned out to be a 10 minute conversation by explaining that the bread is just a gimmick to be able to speak to people about Jesus, who is the Bread of Life, and is also free.  I asked them if they were already believers, and only one (the youngest female) said that she gave her heart to Jesus as a child (I told her I thought that counted!)

I gave them “The Gospel According to Chris”, which is my 90-second presentation of the Gospel.  The two non believers (in a budding romance), said “We were just talking about this stuff today!”  The whole conversation was light, easy, and friendly with lots of smiles, handshakes and thanks.  I did ask if they were ready to give their life to Christ, and they didn’t take me up on the offer, but the seed was planted, the previous seeds were watered, and an invitation from the Father was extended, and I hadn’t even put on my OC Visor!

There were several divine appointments for me yesterday (way more than usual), but toward the end, there was a family with two adult children.  The dad was taller than me and not the kind of guy you’d approach with a tough question (unless you’re a large foreboding guy like me, or driven by the Holy Spirit, which I am both!).

Members of our group had been having a great discussion with them, and I felt a MAJOR pull from the Spirit to pray for his back.  It was obvious that he had issues, it didn’t take a word of knowledge, but the feeling was so strong that when I disobeyed the urge, I confessed it to James, and then ran off after them.  Half a block later, they stopped, and I said,  “I got this weird feeling like God wants me to pray for the pain in your back”.

They guy didn’t really want to accept prayer at first.  Normally I don’t push the issue, because I am big on people feeling loved and respected.  I had seen another guy with a cane have all the pain in his newly replaced hip leave his body an hour earlier, so I had the faith for it.

This (tall dad-guy) told me that his injuries were from a helicopter accident, and he was used to it by now.  I told him that I was just obeying the voice of God and he said “go ahead and pray for me.”  I took his hand and began to pray.  His wife immediately ran over, called the kids over and they literally clutched to our arms as we prayed in Jesus’ name for her husband and his healing.

I have no idea if the man got healed.  Believe it or not, that was not the issue.  The issue was a believing family where the father was the stoic critic, likely a respected hero, who really needed to be reminded that THE Father loves him.

It makes me wonder if the earlier healing was a setup.  Passing that test gave me the courage to obey the “hook” that would allow the Father to reach the heart of a crusty beloved son of God.

Mission accomplished.  Just another day “down by the river”.

Let me save you the trouble:

I had a brief QT this morning, only brief because I resolved to write this post to encourage others away from my propensity to view scripture with a critical eye.

I read the account of Jesus healing Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46. I was curious as always about Jesus’ technique, as I was thinking about the spit and mud he used in a different healing. In this account, “Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole”.

I then did a google search to read the other gospel accounts (if there were any), and found Luke 18:36 and Matthew 20:29. For a moment there, I got caught up in the following questions:
1. Was it one man or two?
2. Why name Bartimaeus, even identifying his family in only one passage?
3. Did Jesus simply speak, or did he touch their eyes?
Then, as I did some searches on commentaries, more questions arose:
4. Were they leaving or approaching Jericho?
5. Was is the same city in all three accounts?

Finally, I ran across a great answer here: http://www.biblecenter.de/

I have to battle in myself: “Why do I naturally limit my own understanding with pre-conceived notions that the Gospel writers may not have gotten it right?  That Jesus might have been limited to the number of blind eyes recorded, when clearly the Bible states that “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” (John 21:25).

It is, in fact highly probable the the Bible is in fact accurate, and Jesus healed 5 men in these three accounts.

Maybe if I assumed the best about what I read in the Bible, I’d have more faith and more time to “heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out demons” (Matthew 10:7).

I challenge you (and myself) to take every thought captive, especially those that limit and call into question the validity and accuracy and greatness of the Word.  Assume the best, and believe the most outrageous possibilities applicable to Scripture, I suspect that we cannot even come close to understanding the goodness, the generosity, and the fullness of hope and encouragement that the Word provides us to live Kingdom life.

I found myself praying this morning:

“Lord, go with me today, set my appointments.  There is much that could be done, probably very little that should.  Help me discern the difference.”

In “Jesus Calling” today for April 30, there was once again the reminder to value the times when we lack a basic need, because we can fully embrace God in the awareness of our reliance in Him for all things.  I don’t like this teaching.  I have heard it preached all my life, and I have never liked it.

I choose to believe that God is a good Father.  I don’t need to be punished into the reminder of my reliance on Him.  I am painfully aware that my next breath is by his Grace, and my health, my ability to earn, my choice, the loved ones that are in good health and all my stuff is all a gift that is exceedingly more than I “deserve”.

I pray, rather, to be the Camel that goes in through the needle gate.  Dismounted, unloaded, on my knees.  Mark warns us in 4:18 that “the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire for other things come in and choke out the Word making it unfruitful.”  I desire the ability to be out of debt, to bless my family with memories of great vacations, to take mission trips and bless others with wealth (actual money) that comes out of my account, and to be able to go when and where God says to in a moment’s notice without worrying whether I can “afford it” or not.

A camel can’t go real fast on it’s knees, as far as I know.  That makes me feel a little bit better about my “lack” as I still tend to judge my financial position against my expectations and the world’s standards.  The narrow gate is the one I’m headed for–camel optional.

I very much enjoyed reading an article on God & Natural Law this morning.  It comes at an interesting time.

Just yesterday, I was explaining to a friend, and last night to another friend, that even after so many years of deep faith, “growing in the Lord”, and experiencing miracles (yes, super-natural events that break or bend the natural laws), I STILL sometimes struggle with the notion of a PERSONAL GOD, who has a personality and cares about me.

There are three concepts here:

1. The existence of God
2. The difference between god as a force, or God as a person
3. If God is a person, does he care for me individually, and interact with me personally.

(Jesus is a topic for another post.)

If it were allowable biblically, I’d place my hand on a Bible and swear that I have experienced that God exists, is a person, not a force, and that He cares for me individually.  The problem is, we are placed on a planet where the “god of this age” [Satan] is at work with his limited power to influence minds and hearts as we agree with the ideas that he and his agents introduce to us.

Forget “fake news”, remember “TMI”?  We are in the TMI age, and it seems that we have a natural tendency to get bored with “sound doctrine”.  Check out 2 Timothy 4:3, but also the cross-references on the right.

The point is, to be an overcomer, as described in Revelation, we need to be aware that the “powers” of darkness are battling for our mind.  To make us think less of God, less of Jesus, and more of ourselves.  Beware of the teachings and philosophies that will cause us to think of us as masters of our own fate.  When we worship (focus on) the fundamental laws (as described in the article referenced in the first sentence of this post) or on the secondary or tertiary laws that stem from the “transcendent truth”–and our ability to use, explain or manipulate them, we are merely worshiping the creation, not the Creator, which is idolatry.

Remember, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.”  Make it your Honor to search out the “things”, and remember that God is glorified when we merely discover the “things” that he hid for us to discover and enjoy, and have a little moment with Him over the discovery, as it is our “glory” to do so.

There’s that tat again.

Last week, as my family was trying to watch a sermon by Bill Johnson on YouTube, we kept watching that little “loading” circle appear every few minutes.  For some reason, the fact that this was happening during my family’s “God time” moved me to action.  It’s not like we hadn’t spent countless minutes–hours even–watching the buffer sign on Netflix, and even having our dinner music interrupted for the past 3 years.

The sick part is that I’m an IT professional, and I have the tools and even the box of wire, the crimpers, the mod plugs and the wall jacks IN MY TRUCK to do the job.  I had put the job off because I had to run a cable from my cable modem in my semi-detached FROG (for those of you in the North, that’s a Finished-Room-Over the-Garage) through a bit of roof that used to be a covered deck, and into the main house attic, and down through the wall to my entertainment center.  It seemed like a big job.  Bottom line is, when I finally got to it, it took me less than three hours… total.

Now we watch clear movies, listen to uninterrupted sermons and music, we don’t have to wait, lose our place, and stare awkwardly at each other while waiting for the medium to continue.

Why write about all that… and take up all your time?

Because it all has a deeply spiritual significance, as do many annoying and difficult things in our lives.

Imagine if you will, applying this to spiritual growth (this hit me in the shower this morning)…:

I have ample broadband, way more than needed to stream a HD video.  The Holy Spirit is always there – even right inside me, with all the information from God, the maker of all things.

I bought the best Wireless Access Point I could find 3 years ago, to cover a distance of only about 30 feet.  Too often, I rely on getting “the signal” through others.  Bill Johnson is great, as are Pete Cabrera, Tom Loud, Todd White, and countless others who have “discipled” me through my wireless signal.  I have even attended ministry schools, got ordained, serve regularly and have a “ministry”.  But out-dated good doesn’t hold a candle to the current best (listening directly to the Lord).

Reception was not the best.  On the receiving end, my Roku box is buried in a shelf, under a fish tank, behind the kitchen pots and pans…   Our souls are cluttered with activity, a to-do-list, demands of others, entertainment–all things that kill our “reception”.

I thought the job would be tough… and it was.  I had to take apart part of the eaves and drill through some walls and rafters.  I had to drill through the carpet on the office end, and belly-crawl through insulation on the other end.  It was itchy, nasty, and only a little bit risky, but with the help of the Holy Spirit and my daughter (both of whom I frequently enlist), the job went well, it was actually easier than expected (Providence), and the results are fantastic, making me wonder, “Why the hell didn’t I do this sooner?”

And there is is.   Because hell would have us settle for an indirect, weak signal, that casts a blurry and non-coherent message, all while having us believe that our current efforts are reasonable, and that the best is too hard to achieve.

I hear God using this event to challenge me to go the extra mile to obtain the direct signal.  Make the effort, remove the distractions, get alone… belly-crawl though uncomfortable circumstances if you must, but find and maintain that direct signal from the Lord.  It’s worth the effort.

I am walking out a physical episode that I am sure has spiritual implications, so I am going to try to work them out here:

I have my medical needs covered by the VA, since I am a veteran, and have an adequate disability rating to get me benefits.  I have asked my primary doc at the VA to check my skin, and specifically some moles and a rough spot on my nose.  After being told I was fine last year, I still felt a push to see a dermatologist, and pushed hard an long enough to get a referral to a local doc.  They found pre-cancerous cells on my nose, and cut a tough piece of skin off my elbow, and cut off a mole from my back, which came back with a not-so-good report.  Today they went “deeper”, cutting out a section of flesh about half the size of my pinky… that’s the physical.

Now for the spiritual.

What does the nose correlate to?

The looking ahead, behind, going deeper, avoiding catastrophe..etc.  need to finish this later.

____________________________________

A good 3 weeks have passed, and it is coming into focus.  You need to read my post entitled “Out” to understand, go ahead, I’ll wait……

Cancer equals evil, in all its forms.  It starts unnoticed, some of it lies in our past (like on my back) and we don’t even see it in our day-to-day existence, but it is there, and left unchecked, it will infect and affect the entire body.  It takes another to see it, evaluate it and deal with it.

It also starts in plain sight (on my nose), even where the light has been the greatest!  It lurks under the surface, evidenced by a slight roughness and sensitivity.  It can be detected upon close examination with a mirror.

The elbow was a little different.  I picture the elbow is that part of the body that you jab your family member with when they are falling asleep in church.  Sometimes the roughness needs to be removed from that part of us, even if it is benign.

Is the “primary care” doc like our local pastor?  Who knows.  Maybe for you it is.  Be wary of other well-meaning believers telling you that your cancer is nothing to worry about.  Take matters into your own hands and seek out a specialist, go through the cutting out process, and live clean, always aware that the vulnerability will not go completely away until we see Him and are like Him, with our new bodies!

I am in a season of “out”.

One of the questions that came up in my men’s group off a list of questions that accountability partners should ask each other, is “Do you feel that you are in the center of God’s will and sense His peace?” The answer, surprisingly is: “yes“.

Surprising, because I am outside church, outside politics, outside employment, outside religion, outside the burdensome concern of “am I pleasing to everyone?” (… and outside social media for the most part.)  I have even found myself on the outside of a business venture that I was in with my two best “friends”.

I find it easier to hear the voice of God when I am not so focused on all the other voices.  Having said that, the times (recently) when I intentionally seek God (spend time with Him alone, reading the Word, praying, and listening), I get silence… leaving me feeling “out”.  But the times when I serve others (being the Church), or lead them in times of doing the same, I hear Him clearly.  I hear Him along the way, showing me truths that might be secrets, and I am trying to learn when to act on what He shares with me, and when to (or if I should) take it in and use it as a point of intercessory prayer.  The former creates much more conflict.

I wrestle with the accusation of pride when I stick to what I believe–against the advice of some of my trusted advisers.  I examine my motive.  I have been in the season of dealing with the spirit of judgement, and I think I understand that judgement happens when pride looks and speaks.  Discernment happens quite by surprise, and when I speak, it appears to be judgement.

For those who know me, rest assured–while it is a human reaction (fleshly) to enjoy being right, that is NEVER my motive.  My intentional motivation is always truth and love, it’s just that sometimes the truth doesn’t feel like love, and I am working on my delivery when I believe in my heart that delivery is necessary.

I see society ditching truth and love for what they want.  And I see the church (overall, on average) ditching truth in the name of love.  There is an excellent article on the subject here, I just found it while searching for the scripture Reference of Romans 2:4.

Lord, help us find the balance of truth and love in a way that will honor You, and when possible to honor those who love you.

Let’s see if I can remember this, it was a couple weeks ago.

Spirit-led men’s group in Jail is a whole lot different from showing up to “do a class”. I usually ask “who brought the goods” and give the guys a chance to share was God has spoken to them throughout the week. With very little volunteered, we had to pull out all the stops. We actually got quiet and asked God to speak to us–and for once, I got the Word!

God gave me a picture of an anvil.

First, there was a sense that I was the anvil.  Then I asked God, what’s going on here.  Then I saw the poor heated-up piece of iron that was getting beaten, purified and hammered into shape (through adversity) and quickly dismissed the idea that that might be me.  Then the picture zoomed out into the hammer, and God was the blacksmith asking the question:  “Are you willing to be any one of these?”

Sometimes, of course, you are the object being shaped and perfected, and it hurts.  But sometimes we are called to be the hammer– to deliver the blows that shape others.  Not always in a harsh and forceful way of course, because even delivering a timely truth can have the effect of a shaping force in someone’s life.

Sometimes, we are to passively be the platform where the shaping takes place.   I got the sense that the anvil’s function in my vision was that of an intercessory  saint who can keep his mouth shut, and be in the environment, but will provide the quiet support for the process.  Not needing to have “an important” part, but absolutely essential to the process.

Are you willing to be an anvil?

I was reading out of the book of John today, as I am struggling to find the personable Jesus.  Not just the guy who spake in riddles and made people mad by telling them things they could not accept.  Today I found a man who gave every invitation, every demonstration for folks to see and know (not just hear) that He is of God, sent by Him, walks with Him, and is in “Him and He is in Him (that’s not a typo).

Jesus and his disciples had just left the region where Mary and Martha and Lazarus lived, and had nearly gotten killed.  The reaction by the pharisees was always divided, as some believed, and most continued to defend their religion and their lifestyle.  So when Jesus “gets word” that Lazarus was sick and intends to let him die, his reply was “…for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby”.  Is this not a picture of how we must die to be born again?

Jesus obviously had the big picture going on.  For the sake of those he was teaching, he patiently walked out the drama, and yet was fully engaged, to the point that he “groaned” and “wept” before raising Lazarus from the dead.  What does “groaned” mean?  I thought that it meant that he was speaking in tongues, as in Romans 8:26:

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Having looked into this passage in Romans, I come to the conclusion that it is the same (though not the same Greek word).

Here’s what Strongs says about how Jesus “groaned” when he was about to raise the dead:

to charge with earnest admonition, sternly to charge, threatened to enjoin

ἐμβριμάομαι embrimáomai, em-brim-ah’-om-ahee; from G1722 and βριμάομαι brimáomai (to snort with anger); to have indignation on, i.e. (transitively) to blame, (intransitively) to sigh with chagrin, (specially) to sternly enjoin:—straitly charge, groan, murmur against.

Jesus was indeed working up a good mad at the devil while speaking in tongues!  He was walking into battle, and it took effort, much like when he sweated blood in the garden before the crucifixion.  It’s interesting to me that having faith to know the outcome does not take the fight out of the process.

I always laugh when I read Thomas’ reply, “Let us also go, that we may die with him”  (I do notice that in my KJV, “him” is not capitalized, because Thomas does not yet now with whom he is traveling).  All those signs over three years of walking with Jesus and it still takes the death, resurrection, and putting his fingers in Jesus’ wounds before he declares, “Lord!”.

What will it take for us to truly understand and believe the one who walks with us, and lives in us?