Re-VISION: the power of seeing things anew

The Message Bible says that we enter God’s presence with the password: “Thank You!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him.

Psalm 100:4

I can’t stop thanking God for all these things:

* All of the people who showed up in SERVE shirts to make our 2011 VBS
“Big Apple Adventure” be our best VBS ever.

* 29 children gave their hearts to Jesus at VBS this year. Get ’em when they’re young.
These lives will be very different because of the work of God in them this week. It’s
a lot easier to “build into children” than it is to “renovate and repair broken adults.”
While we are committed to doing both at Victory, our emphasis and energy is always
on the Next Generation!

* Pastor Haley – what an amazing leader God has put over our children’s ministry.

* Our staff – everyone jumped in and put in extra hours and served to help this VBS
be the great event it was. God has really given us a Dream Team here at Victory.
Thank you Jesus!

* The fresh flow of God’s presence in our worship! Thanks folks for not coming only
to receive but being ready to give God what is His due – the glory of His name!
Several have remarked how it’s been the best ever! Praise God!

* The great Word from Pastor Alex this month. Don’t forget to read 1 Peter 5 before
Sunday.

* The crazy “wall-to-wall” crowd in our 2nd service. I love that level of energy
and excitement about Jesus.

* The Victory Kids’ dance moves with their “Big Apple Adventure” song Sunday
morning! Awesome!

* Tell somebody what God is doing. Invite them and come expecting.

* If you keep your ever-changing prophecy chart on a dry erase board . . . you might be a dispensationalist.

* If you interpret the Bible literally EXCEPT when your prophecy interpretation won’t allow it . . . you might be a dispensationalist.

*If you see the Old Covenant as all LAW and the New Covenant as all GRACE . . . you might be a dispensationalist.

*If you’re more pre-occupied with WHEN Jesus is coming instead of “occupying till He comes”. . . you might be a dispensationalist.

* If you’re convinced that Jesus is coming “any minute” but aren’t living that belief by trying to share the gospel with everyone possible . . .you might be a dispensationalist.

* If you’ve sold everything you own for a set RAPTURE date . . . you might be a dispensationalist.

* If your eschatology is more driven by the newspaper than the Bible . . . you might be a dispensationalist.

*If you think those who have differing “end times” views are heretics . . . you might be a dispensationalist.

* If you can name more past potential AntiChrist candidates than you can Old Testament prophets. . .you might be a dispensationalist.

*If you’re certain of who the AntiChrist is this time . . . you might be a dispensationalist.

And lastly . . .

* If you think any efforts to advance the Kingdom of God and bring cultural transformation are “polishing the brass on a sinking ship” . . . well, let’s face it, you are a dispensationalist.

DISCLAIMER:  One’s belief about the “end-times” (eschatology) is a not an essential of the faith because how I believe in this area does NOT affect my salvation.  However, what I believe about the future certainly does affect HOW I LIVE in the here and now.  One’s hermeneutic (means of interpretation) is like a set of glasses through which we view all of scripture  – obviously, affecting the way I see everything from soteriology to eschatology and everything in between.  Since it is a “non-essential” of the faith, it is NOT a “litmus test” for fellowship with me.  Why . . . some of my best friends are dispensationalists.  OK, bad joke.  Anyway, the tongue-in-cheek humor here is intended to show of the eschatological extremes that have sprung from the dispensationalist’s well.  By the way, I cut the content down here after the word count was “666.”  ; )

Paul includes a section in all of his letters to the churches where he says, “I thank God for . . .” I’m certainly not Paul, but I do have a truckload of blessings for which I am thankful!

1) A restful week at the Gulf Coast. I got up early to sit on the balcony of the
condo, read my Bible and drink coffee while hearing the sound of waves
crashing and looking out over the beach. Dawn and I, Abbey and a friend
enjoyed the sun, sand, and pool along with some great food that we cooked
ourselves and ate at a couple restaurants. We enjoyed amazing weather all
week. I think it rained for about an hour 1 day. So many of my favorite things
are in those few sentences. God’s willingness to give us our hearts desires
always blows me away.

2) The voice of the Lord. I’m thankful for ears to hear. Time in His Word was
rich. Uninterrupted talks with Dawn always blesses me – the woman has a
direct line to heaven. I also read a couple books that greatly impacted me.
Mark Batterson’s “Soul Print” on identity in Christ and Andy Stanley’s “The
Principle of the Path” on direction and life decisions are both fantastic books
that would strengthen anyone’s walk with God.

3) The Victory Vision that just grew and expanded in my heart over this
time of personal rest and reflection. Great things are ahead!

4) Nothing blesses a pastor’s heart more than to know he can leave the church
confidently in the hands of capable people and that there will be a church
there when he gets back. I know you hear me brag on our staff – but listen
folks, they really are a “Dream Team!” Pastor Alex is doing a great job
this month in his series on 1 Peter called “Simon Says . . .”

4) Our praise team. We were absent several front line musicians and those
guys pulled in some others who worked hard to put it together and did a
phenomenal job with the worship, both Sundays. It blessed me to be able to
stand beside my wife on the front row Sunday and just worship with the
saints.

5) The growing “servant spirit” in Victory Church. We had a ‘serve deficit’ for our
upcoming VBS, and you stepped forward to carry the ball down the field with
this vision of Pastor Haley’s for our children both in Victory and the
community. It’s going to impact young lives eternally!

6) Everyone who commits to a task and actually follows through. The culture
of this generation is long on “I will” and short on “I did.” People commit to
things sometimes too quickly and then don’t actually show up to do what
they said they’d do. I just want to give a hand (cue applause) to all the
“Doers” we have in Victory. You put on your SERVE shirt and show up
when you don’t feel like it sometimes and smile anyway and do all the things
that make our services and ministries come off without a hitch. Thank you!
Thank you! Thank you! May your tribe only increase.

7) For the love of God that is growing among the people of Victory. We have
something very special here folks. Guard it! There is an atmosphere of
grace in this place. True spiritual family is built on the incarnational principles
of trust and love. We’re regularly seeing new converts come with all the
problems that people have and they’re feeling the love and acceptance and
receiving the necessary grace for God to do a transformational work in their
hearts and lives. Thank you Jesus and thank you people of Victory for living
the message!

Giving Him all the Praise!

“7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)

God often bestows a “gift” upon an ordinary, “broken” human in order to develop and prepare that man or woman for a life of purpose in His Kingdom. Dawn and I spent a few years in North Carolina in the 1980s working in the ministry of quite an enigmatic leader. Everything could be correctly described in superlative terms when it came to his talents. His gifts to grasp and understand the Scriptures were surpassed by few in his generation. It didn’t stop there. His ability to articulate those ideas through writing books, teaching seminars and preaching conferences were every bit as impressive as his intellectual capacity. Add to that a strong, solid, prophetic unction and everyone saw the powerhouse that this leader was in kicking the bricks of “man-centeredness” out of the spiritual foundations of American Christianity. The impetus of His ministry was Kingdom advancement through a “Christ-centered” Gospel. His influence has literally touched a multitude of nations around the world. I say that it will be a couple of generations before we really understand the reach of his legacy.

Having had the privilege of literally working more closely with him on a daily basis than anyone else in the 1980s, I saw not only the “giftedness” but got a complete picture of the “broken” human that God had graced with these amazing gifts. The strangeness of it all is that the level of brokenness required an unexaggerated description in superlative terms as well. The man who commanded the attention of vast conference crowds was one of the shyest and admittedly the most insecure men that I’ve ever met. The contrast between public ministry and private life was stunning. Hear me here – I’m not talking about “sin” issues. To my knowledge, my dear brother walked and demonstrated an example of holiness with his wife, children and business dealings that could be described in impeccable terms. His ability to move crowds was well known. His inability to relate to the individual “one-on-one” was also well known among the people of his local congregation. I saw people come and go in the 1980s in the midst of a growing church and ministry. Because I had the opportunity to see the “heart of the gifted/broken man” it gave me the ability to understand Him and love Him on a level that few others (the elders of the church) did.

Anytime something begins to experience rapid growth, people flock to it in order to identify with it, and sometimes to stake their claims and get their piece of the unfolding destiny that the future was to bring. The 80s saw a variety of people come and go – some with self-willed and rebellious attempts by those who desired to “do their thing” under the blessing of this man’s ministry. Others were sincere and were wounded by misunderstandings and poor leadership decisions – mistakes that every leader has made at one time or another. Understand that I’m throwing no stones here, nor am I uncovering anyone in this short article. The point requires a high level of honesty.

The fact of the matter is my dear brother was a very gifted teacher and writer. It took him all too long to discover that his giftings and personal make-up didn’t design him to “pastor” people. He has said this very thing out of his own mouth. Unfortunately, he came to grips with that 20 plus years after he’d planted his church. From all that I hear, that church is now under the direction of capable pastoral leadership and is beginning to flourish. I wish that local congregation God’s best as they take steps to define their local mission and identity apart from the shadow of the great man that founded it.

I want everyone to know that I dearly love this brother and His family. He went to be with the Lord a couple years ago this month. I write this short article today because I see a couple of extremes being represented in how people are remembering him. There are those who “demonize” him because of their personal experience of wounding either by their own doing or possibly by his personal leadership shortcomings due to his “broken” humanness. Then there are the “fans” who’ve only read the books and listened to the recorded messages who tend to “divinize” him.

I have no desire here to be unkind to either group except to say, both of these are completely skewed views of his leadership. If we focus on the giftedness and ignore the broken humanness of anyone, we’re guilty of man worship. However, if we focus on the brokenness of any leader’s humanity and don’t walk in grace and forgiveness and refuse to see the “hand of the Lord” upon him/her in giftings and purpose of God, we are guilty of demeaning the gifts and callings of God. I don’t want to be guilty of either. I love this brother. I’m thankful for all the amazing times of fellowship that we had – the friendships that were built that are still on-going. I was blessed to have him directly invest in my life. I learned things by both positive and negative example as all of us do in any station in life. Somehow, Dawn and I managed to leave there in late 1988 and plant the church where we are now in 1989 and look back on the almost 6 years in Richlands with fond memories and grateful hearts that God would let us really get to know one of his choice servants – a man who was amazingly gifted and deeply human at the same time. I thank God for him.

Before I entered grade school, like everyone else, I followed the state requirement to be vaccinated against smallpox.  I still bear the mark/scar on my left shoulder.  Obviously, I’m grateful for the benefits of modern science in practically ending any opportunity of smallpox outbreak in North America.  In case you don’t know how this works – it’s fascinating.  Some scientific experimentation showed that injecting “dead cells” of the smallpox virus into a living person caused the human immune system to kick in gear and actually build a defense system that would ward off and reject  any contact with exposure to living smallpox.  This discovery has clearly saved countless millions of lives from the painful death of the smallpox contagion.

While considering this amazing scientific accomplishment recently and realizing that every natural phenomenon has a spiritual implication as well, I realized something that made me very uncomfortable.  Religion and its attempts to curry favor with the divine through works and form produces nothing but death.  Honestly, my biggest battles in the south haven’t been the very real “sin demons” in the lives of people but the “religious demons” that have been injected into them via dead “southern churchianity.”  Let me share an example.

I’m sitting at Starbucks recently, doing some reading in preparation for a new series, drinking some great coffee, enjoying the sunshine and minding my own business.  Dude next to me decides he wants to tell me his life story.  Not wanting to miss a possible providential moment, “divine appointment” I listen.  In the monologue, the guy gives hints of his faith in God.  After a little while, I begin to inject some very basic ideas about the gospel and its power to transform his life.  He starts to argue.  I’m practically stunned.  He’s just told more intimate details than any stranger should ever think of telling another.  I attempt to apply some gospel-grace and he wants to argue theology.  There was sin in his life that the gospel could easily deal with, but his Sunday school answers and his need to parade them produced a religious pride that blocked any possibility of the living germ of the gospel getting through.

It was as if he had been inoculated with a dead strain of churchianity (notice I didn’t say Christianity – even that word carries so much religious baggage) and when he came into contact with the living strain, he rejected it – warded it off.  Dismissed it with his finer theological points.  I finally said, brother, you don’t want help, you want to argue.  He got up and left.

Then I realized the same thing happened to Jesus.  John 4 – He meets the woman at the well.  He tells her about her life story. She’s had 5 husbands, living with the 6th who is not her husband.  She has just met the 7th man – (the perfect one) who can actually transform her life and give her what she’s looking for.  Jesus reads her mail a little too closely and out comes the religious smoke screen.  “I perceive you are  a prophet!”  Well, duh lady!

Then she loads both barrels.  Read John 4 for yourself.  She argues about worship style for a while, all the time the One who deserves her only real worship is standing right in front of her.  This is the spirit of religion – southern churchianity is eaten up with it.  Lest you think I’m looking down my nose at any of my denominational brothers in our area (you are wrong), please know I regularly battle this thing by determining to “keep things real” at Victory – by refusing to play by outward appearances and speaking “Christianese.”

The “woman at the well” story definitely turned out better with Jesus than my Starbucks intervention.  I’ve thought of that guy a few times and prayed for him, hoping that a few conversations down the line, some living gospel germs penetrate that heavy religious armor that he’s wearing.  God, give me some love-loaded, grace-covered, armor-piercing gospel bullets.  Give us an outbreak of such a fresh strain of Holy Spirit power that southern churchianity’s inoculations won’t hold and folk get infected with the life of God and the whole Delta becomes contagious!   Grant it Jesus!

26 Behold, God is great, and we know him not;
 the number of his years is unsearchable.
27 For he draws up the drops of water;
 they distill his mist in rain,
28 which the skies pour down
 and drop on mankind abundantly.

Job 36:26-27 (ESV)

Often in Scripture, the visitation of the Lord’s Presence is spoken of in terms of precipitation, rain, dew, moisture or some other kind of refreshing waters.  The verse above is a scriptural reference to what meteorology (study of weather) calls the “evaporation-condensation cycle.”  Water is drawn up, gathered in clouds that move around and drop the water back on the earth.  God is amazing!

Since I believe that nothing in the natural is without a parallel spiritual lesson, I see amazing stuff in this verse and others that talk about the Spirit of the Lord being poured out on peoples and nations.  Life in the Spirit is spoken of in terms of dryness and moisture.   O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
 my soul thirsts for you; 
my flesh faints for you, 
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1 ESV)

Every day, the believer is afforded the Presence of the Lord in daily time in the Word, worship and prayer.  Spiritually, we could refer to this as what the Bible calls the “dew of the morning” or the “dew of heaven.”  (Deut. 33:13; Isa. 26:19).  Though I am certainly not a legalist about when one chooses to dedicate time to hearing the voice of the Lord through worship and the Word, there is something to be realized in the Exodus 16:21 passage regarding the “manna. . .that melted away when the sun grew hot.”  Regardless of how your work day is shaped (since the industrial revolution and the introduction of electrical lighting in factories – the work day is no longer determined by the rising and setting of the sun) unless you prioritize some time to seek the Lord, when the hot sun of the day’s work demands begins to arise and grasp your attention, the “manna from Heaven” and your taste for it seems to “melt away.”  Get it first before the demands of the day take it away!  The same is true for the “dew of the morning.”  Hosea 6:4 says, “like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears.”  Get it while you can!  Both of these together show God providing for us the bread (truth) and dew (spirit) from Heaven.  We desperately need both!

I can be overrun with an abundance of the “seed of the Word” and even have it in the ground, but unless there is some “rain from heaven” to water it, it is only dead, dry non-productive knowledge.  Folks should remember that when trying to get a lot of scriptural knowledge.  They need to be seeking equal amounts of spiritual outpouring to water all of that seed!

Now that the analogy is grounded, I’ll cut to the chase.  God establishes truth principles in the scripture in degrees of intensity.  The 3-fold pattern I want you to see here is this:  dew, rains and floods.  We enjoy the daily “dew from heaven.”  We need the regular and seasonal rains that come in times of accelerated spiritual growth. For I will pour water on the thirsty land,
 and streams on the dry ground;
 I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring,
 and my blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like
  willows by flowing streams. (Isa. 44:3-4 – ESV) Don’t ever let anyone tell you that the Presence of the Lord isn’t tangible.  Priests couldn’t stand to minister in the Old Testament because the “glory cloud” of the Lord was so great.  They fell down in His Presence.  Everything about the New Testament in Christ is ALWAYS GREATER than anything that was experienced and revealed in the Old Covenant.

Daily we experience the dew; frequently and seasonally we experience heavier rains. Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; 
his going out is sure as the dawn; 
he will come to us as the showers, 
as the spring rains that water the earth.”   (Hosea 6:3 – ESV) I am certainly thankful for these “times of refreshing that come from the Presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19-20).  But I have to say that I long for more.  Historically, both in nature and in spiritual outpourings, in every generation there is a significant flood.  Matter of fact, these events are spoken of in terms of  “100-year floods” and “500-year floods.”  They’re separated in terms of intensity and effect.  The first brings significant change, destruction of the old and its washing away.  The second (500 yr. flood) is of epic proportions literally leveling things to the foundation that requires rebuilding of structure in the natural and reconstruction of culture, life, civilization in the spiritual.

We are still enjoying the on-going effects of the last “100 year flood” – the Pentecostal outpouring at the turn of the 20^th century.  Historically, it has affected more believers on the planet than any other previous move of the Holy Spirit.  Classical and neo-Pentecostals (charismatics) which include the “spirit-filled” among the multitudes of denominational ranks is the largest segment and the fasting growing in the body of Christ.

I believe that our generation is set on the precipice of seeing the “greatest outpouring of the Spirit of God in the history of man.  We are right at 500 years out from when Martin Luther nailed the “95 Theses” to the Chapel Door at Wittenburg and the first shot of the Reformation was heard around the world.  Clouds are gathering.  The 21^st century has given us more than our share of “chicken-little” preachers who continue to herald their “sky is falling” messages.  The sheer stupidity of “dispensationalism” is being exposed and the house of cards is crumbling.  In the midst of “severe weather reports” about the “end-times” God is raising up a new generation of Martin Luthers who can see prophetically what God is about to do and that is “pour out His Spirit on all flesh!” and flood the earth with his Presence so that we can advance His ever-increasing Kingdom!  Get ready – a flood is coming!

1)  The Kingdom of God is NOT built on LOVE; it’s built on TRUST.

2)  God commands me to LOVE  everyone;  He commands only my  TRUST in Him

3)  If I TRUST you, it means you have EARNED it; that also means you can lose TRUST and then it must be rebuilt.

4)  Receiving FORGIVENESS and restoring TRUST are 2 different, separate and unequal things.

5)  If I have offended you, I can receive FORGIVENESS (love) immediately; but, it will take time to rebuild the TRUST.  (The larger the offense, the

the more time it will take to rebuild.)

6)  I LOVE a lot of people that I don’t TRUST as far as I could throw them, because they are not TRUSTWORTHY.

7)  Relationships are more often destroyed for a lack of TRUST than a lack of love.

8)  Marriages end all the time with two people who still love each other; they end because they no longer TRUST each other.

9)  TRUST is an investment – a stewardship.  It must be protected, safeguarded.  I must make more deposits than withdrawals in order to not be

NSF in the relationship.

10)  Realizing my full potential as a LEADER (pastor, husband, father, business owner) means I understand how TRUST works. I make decisions             everyday that will either cause me to GAIN or LOSE TRUST.  A lifetime of building TRUST can be lost in a moment of stupidity.  God don’t let                  us be stupid!

“Then Isaac called Jacob and blessed him and directed him.”

Genesis 28:1 (ESV)

Like the fast-food chain that says, “hold the pickles, hold the lettuce” and “have it your way,” our American consumerist Christianity is heavy on the “blessing” and quite “lite” on the direction. Natural and spiritual adolescence desires all that Dad is willing to give us but many times is resistant to Dad’s authority. God I want your favor, but hold the commandments please. Dad, please buy me that new car, but will you get off of me about my grades and who I’m hanging around with – Geez!

Like Jacob, if we are going to see God’s covenant envelop us as it did our forbears (Abraham and Isaac), we must be willing to receive God’s direction. Other translations use the words charged, commanded, ordered. My coming to spiritual maturity means that somewhere along the way I pursued, understood and embraced the words of those who were my spiritual authority even when they told me things I didn’t want to hear.

“Stop listening to instruction, my son and you will stray from the words of knowledge.” (Proverbs 19:27 – NIV) God has placed specific, significant people in each of our lives – parents and pastors, mentors, teachers and coaches (natural and spiritual) who carry God’s delegated authority and who truly do have our best interest and will show us the way to life if we’ll receive their direction along with their blessing. Selah!

January 5, 2011

It’s the New Year and still early enough into it that you’re probably thinking about the changes for personal improvement you’d like to make in 2011.  We all do it.  Make the list – whether it’s mental or actually written: quit smoking, drop a few lbs., read the Bible, pray more, be a better listener, get the finances in order, build stronger relationships – the list goes on and on.

The sad thing is that the vast majority of those good intentions never come to fruition.  Something aborts the seed or destroys the plan (if you even have one) along the way.  There are lots of good resources that speak to accomplishing your goals.  What I’ve noticed is that a lot of them are missing the first step.  Maybe they just assume that we get it and move from this premise.  My 50 years of living now has shown me, it’s best not to assume anything.

That first step is simple – but yet probably the hardest to do – take personal responsibility. Since the Garden, man has been shifting the blame for his circumstances on someone else.   Adam blamed Eve; Eve blamed the serpent.  Ultimately it was an affront to God Himself!  “The Man said, “The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it.”  Genesis 3:12 – MSG

Did you catch that?  In other words, the mess I’m in is actually YOUR fault God.  Proverbs 19:3 (MSG) says, “People ruin their lives by their own stupidity, 
so why does God always get blamed?”  Getting out of the mess first requires me to acknowledge that I’m the one that made it.  Breaking denial is the first step to wholeness. The circumstances that I’m in right now are a product of my own choices and the sooner I own that, the quicker I can see lasting change come.  Take that first step today!