Give Me Revelation

Galatians 1:15-16a

But when who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by His grace was pleased to reveal His son to me, in order that I might preach Him among the Gentiles...

I like to consider myself a fairly sensible guy. That's really a cop-out sometimes to protect myself from taking risks, but nonetheless, it's who I have become.

Shortly after my first tenure ever served as Youth Pastor (to be honest, it was really about a year before it was over) I began to question many things about my "experiences" in the body of Christ. We, like many people in the late 1990s were swept into "revival" mode. The Pensacola revivals were in full swing and churches across the country were longing to fall in line. I'm not going to get into all the ins and outs, but there were some weird things happening.

But without that ever taking place, I probably would have reached the same crisis of belief. I grew up seeing weird things, and with what I would easily label strange occurences in the body of Christ, and I would be lying if I didn't say that I thought such weren't driven by who I thought to be weird people. And it was these weird people that I, the sensible human being, distanced myself from. There just seemed to be a major conflict in my heart that everyone had these "words" from God when the Word of God as so often ignored. Even the absence of preaching in any given service was one of the earmarks of a "Spirit-Filled" environment. Yeah, that still rubs me wrong, and always will.

But now, as I often do, and as misguided as I think they often were, I failed to see what God wanted to teach me by them. These people always seem to have a sense of prayerful revelation. As cooky as they were to me at times, none that I remember ever claimed to have extra-biblical revelation (which will always be a spiritual no-no), but rather a strong sense of listening to God through prayer.

I am a Word man. Always will be. But the pitfall in that is to forget that even the WORD still needs a sense of prayerful REVELATION to the reader. The truth, embodied in Jesus Christ still has to be REVEALED to us everyday. Using the Word of God as our guide, "he who set us apart before we were born, and has called us by his grace, [is still] pleased to reveal his son to us" today.

So let me, let us, read with REVELATION. Not just what does the scripture say, buy what is God saying to me through the scriptures. This is not a bad thing at all, to pray when we read His revealed Word that He as the divine author works it into our lives. God bless and may we all find Revelation.

10% Giving = 10% Living

Just yesterday I was exposed to a teaching by a teacher named G. Craig Lewis concerning the tithe. I only listened to the first two minutes of it before I figured I knew where he was going, and my thoughts began to run rampant concerning the notion of giving.

I remember some time ago, my former pastor had come back to preach a service in the church I grew up in. He made a comment that he did not believe tithing to be a heaven and hell issue. Boy did that rock our traditional wooden boat!

Ever since I can remember, the tithe, made famous by Malachi 3, has been preached at least once every six months in the churches I have associated with. As a member of my denomination, I still send 60% of my tithe to my district as part of my "fees" to stay ordained. And the teaching of the tithe summed up is this (let's all sing along):

Before you do anything, cut God his portion; it's up to you whether gross or net

And if you do you will be blessed; a blessing so big you will never forget.

But if you don't take it out of your purse; God's holy wrath will bring a curse.

Releasing the tithe makes you a part; and try to remember it's from the heart.

So you get the idea. I want to make this short and sweet. I think that's wrong, and I think it puts people in bondage. So how do we go beyond giving God our 10%? Aren't we free to do and think better than that? Yes we are.

The only people I have had conversations with about this frustration of the tithing law are from the standpoint of trying to get out of giving at all. Of course, in all fairness, i believe that to be part of what such bogus teaching produces...a dissatisfied obligated giver that never gives from his heart, but rather out of fear of the curse. Nevertheless, freedom FROM giving is not what we are looking for here. The heart of Christ is freedom TO give.

Make no mistake, if the ten percent burdens you, it's a heart problem. The scripture lines out the the purpose of the law in Galatians 3. To paraphrase, the law was a guardian to us that kept us in check. There was a curse for those who did not tithe correctly under the law of Moses, but it can't be translated as such for those of us who are under grace. But the understanding of the law of the tithe tells me this; if I cannot release a meager 10%, how can I ever be a ridiculous giver? How can, as part of the New Covenant body of Christ, my money become community money for the furthering of the Kingdom? So the law has it's role. It can show us the condition of our heart. And what does that heart need to realize about giving?

It needs to realize that New Testament giving is meant to be a generosity from the heart. It's a widow's mite mentality, meaning not about an amount but about motive. Remember, freedom in Christ is freedom to do EVERYTHING how we are created to do it. We are now, under that idea, free to give, and that out of a glad, generous, Christ-compelled heart. In order to be that though, we have to break the shackles of the law. We have to get outside of this fear-driven bondage of cursing, and as much, get out the mentality of generous return as God's "promise" or "obligation" back to us. Not tithing under the law will not wreck my life (remember I am free from the law), but neither does tithing under the law guarantee a return on my investment in the way we understand it. It all has to be heart. A content heart. A kind heart, A heart after God.

Stop giving God your 10%, and start understanding your free to give more. Prayerfully consider your heart when it comes to money. I know mine is under Holy Spirit revision. But above all, find the freedom in Christ in all areas of your life. We may lose self along the way, but in losing self, we are in gain of Christ. Let us indeed, in the words of the apostle Paul, "count all things rubbish in comparison to knowing Christ our Lord." God bless us in our pursuit!

Deliverance

Reading Psalm 6 and the aftermath I experienced this morning in devotional reading has me think on this topic of deliverance. This is a term that I have wanted to forget for sometime now, mainly because of the connotation in which it took growing up in the Pentecostal church. It seemed all that one had to do to recive this deliverance is go to an altar, act like an idiot and have other people push you around a little. Now I have to insert here that I realize this I speak of many people hold dear. And if what I reference has merit to you, I mean no offense. But I think with the crass way of putting it, those who choose to read this understand the experience.

If in that instance, or after it, you felt better about your circumstances that was noted as deliverance. And then you would go home and fall and wait again until next Sunday, praying once again the Lord to take your burden away.

Whether or not this experience has been yours, I am quite sure we all share the experience of pain and anguish. Life has a way of doing this to us. It brings circumstances, relational problems, and many things that send a wrecking ball to what otherwise we call our "norm". It brings severe discomfort and and die-hard desire to exit the current state. It brings the atheist to say, "oh, God" and the agnostic to suddenly be sure there is something higher at work. We have all been in that place, and maybe some of us right now. So, in an attempt to bring solace, seek advice from this song of deliverance.

1) Be honest before God (6:1-3).

Lord, Im tired, in every part of my soul I am tired. God knows how you feel, there is no sense hiding it. Many times we are in this place of "our wit's end". We have deep despair and hurt. There is no antecdote to be said, no mantra to be repeated to bring relief. Even the Psalmist says, in paraphrase, "Lord will you even overlook my own shortcomings just long enough to be my strength? (v.1)" He must have hurt. God knows you are too. Just tell Him.

2) Make sure your motives are pure (6:4-5)

Why do you want "delivered"? Why is it necessary for you to leave your current state. Sometimes God has us in a place so that we may call to Him. We are not good at discomfort. We do not do suffering well. So much in fact that we have convinced ourselves that God would never allow it. But it is a recurring theme in scripture of the lives of those who belong to Him. Make sure your cry for deliverance isnt a cry caused by lack of endurance. Verse 4 says "deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love". The only right reason for God to "bring us out" is that so we may be examples of His great power.

3) Know that God will work (6:8-10)

There seems to be a great confidence in God's hearing and response even though he doesn't see it in this instance. Take notice of the element of despair in your life for a moment. Now ask yourself, "have I lost confidence in God to answer?" I know I have. I mean if you can't get something done right (and by right I mean when and how YOU want it) then do it yourself. I am wholly guilty of acting on God's behalf and giving up on God completely. This, above all is what can keep us in undude despair. I referenced Godly despair that is necessary, but surely there is a despair we bring to ourself when we take matters in our own hands. Any prayer of deliverance must be coupled with confidence that God hears and will act.

You know, perhaps this last part of the Psalm even holds the key to what true deliverance is. Maybe its not the absence of circumstances that bring despair, but rather the surety and confidence of God in the midst of those circumstances. There is no doubt life brings different things, but God never changes. I know you have heard this all before, but just as I, maybe your ears need deliverance to hear it again.

HELP!

I start with these lyrics from the Beatles:

HELP!HELP! I NEED SOMEBODY,HELP! NOT JUST ANYBODY,HELP! YOU KNOW I NEED SOMEONE, HELP.HELP ME IF YOU CAN, I'M FEELING DOWNAND I DO APPRECIATE YOU BEING AROUND.HELP ME GET MY FEET BACK ON THE GROUND,WON'T YOU PLEASE, PLEASE HELP ME.

I had an interesting conversation with a great friend just the other day that alarmed me. He's a "corporate" fellow and we were talking about the comparisons to the church. Now, I am not much on such comparisons as the church and the corporation are not the same institutions. In the corporate world you can fire people who aren't productive, with little or no concern for their well being. After all, they had their chance. But in the church world, well they are people, and their well being should matter a little more...and grace should abound in all.

But we were discussing systems, more specifically systems that are designed to get people funtioning properly. We spent some time discussing the importance of foundational structure and how important it was to overall "success" before diving into some other arenas of dialogue. The comparisons I think were fair. After all, the church as we know it is an institution, and in any institution there needs order, structure, and purpose.

For the church, the foundation has already been laid. That is Christ. No debate. And it would be foolish for any church to ever think that their "corporate" policies superceded that. But a struggle remains in any culture with that foundation. How do you make it concrete? Jesus doesn't live here in the flesh here anymore and as vital as the Holy Spirit is, we have made that person of the trinity extrremely foggy at best. So what is the answer to making Christ concrete...the church. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the church was established. And the church today needs to find ways to make Christ touchable again.

In our conversation, this conclusion was reached: "As beneficial as the church has been, it just isn't helping me through life." Ouch!! I don't know if that conclusion hurt me more as a Pastor or as a Christian. If I were truthful, i think it hurts me as a sinner most. Because I can see it. And I can count numerous times I needed help, that I did not feel the church equipped to really help me through.

I have to be fair, it is hard to help people who do not avail themselves to help. After all, in my sin or any other's sin and despair, the current system tells us it is our own fault, and more of our fault if we cannot dig ourselves out. After all, we live in the land of opportunity. Good ol' America! If you cannot live high on the hog here, it is certainly because you are lazy or just don't have sense enough to pull yourself up by the boot straps. But I cannot help but raise the question of how one is to avail themselves to a help that is not made attainable to them. Was not, or is not Christ just that, God reaching His hand to those who knew no way? Was not Christ God's answer to making Himself "concrete"? Perhaps my theology is tainted, but I am beginning to want to defend this position more and more. Granted, some people will never respond to the Gospel. Got it. But there is a flipside to that opinion. Some people either don't know or they are victim of faulty presentation. In that case, who's fault is it?

So I am concerned pastorally about how well the church is really helping people sometimes. It saddens me that good people, who are wholly committed to the church in attendance, giving, and even serving that feel the church is not really helping them through life. They get to hear their problems railed against, and in some scenarios brought up in discussions, but their is never any real help offered. The porn addict gets to hear how wrong and dirty he/she is, but never offered a system of help to break the addiction. The struggling marriage gets to hear about God's ideal of living in perfect harmony, but is never offered a human hand or listening ear that hasn't treated the situation like an inconvenience. Some of our current systems have bowed to poor theology, or denied Christian education altogether, leaving our next generation with a foundaiton of only mixed emotions about Christian living. In the current climate, we have become self-proclaimed experts on "Christianity in the market place", but have denied a proper forum of Christian community where people find strength for the battle or healing from its wounds.

So what can be done about this? If I had those answers I wouldn't be so focused on the problem. I simply think it's time to come to the table though. Communication is the first step. All the frustrated that have remained silent so long need to raise their voices of heart-felt concern to our church leaders. Sitting on the pew (or in those new-fangled connecting chairs) in frustration doesn't help anyone. We're either going to once again making Christ known or simply stay in our stagnant state of "Christian" affairs. I am calling for covnersation of how. Maybe because my concern has never been higher, or maybe just becasue I refuse to any longer live life this way.

My Current Status Revealed

I began to muse the other day on the things that make me feel alive. I know the things I sometimes do that make me feel dead inside and produce death in me. But there are several things I do that produce life. I find that the harmful things quench the life-giving things, and I think upon evaluation, you would see the same thing. It is sometimes only after I have a series of difficult time that I can see thos same times arrive when I negelct the life-giving sources. So these are the things that make me feel the Spirit of God alive in me. Things I will try to do as often as humanly possible. Things I will not apologize for and do with confidence. Things I share with others.

I feel the Spirit of God alive in me when....

I write.

I have meaningful dialogue with a Christian brother or brothers.

I listen to music.

I muse on God's Word.

I preach.

I read.

I listen to great men of God.

I spend time with my family.

Watch inspirational true stories and epic films.

Hang out with students.

Give to a charitable or missionary cause.

These things are in no particular order, but I urge you to look at mine as an example. Of course there are other things in a day that we "have" to do. But what day of mine would not be complete or lived to the fullest if I gave attention to a few or all of those things every single day. I bet your list would be no different. Christ came to give us life. Christ lives in us. So shouldn't that manifest itself in such things that come from our heart? He came to give us life internally, as "out of our bellies will flow living water". He isn't going to smack us over the head with it. So what are you waiting for? Live!

I remember the pettiness of my High School years. At Mounds, we had was called "party road", a dirt road running behind the school that people would go to "settle their differences". You know what I mean. It was the dreaded meeting point of two people after the words "see you after school" were spoken, meaning someone was going to take a beating.

Fights in school were always over stupid stuff that didn't matter. Someone called you or your girlfriend something, or some misunderstanding caused an already hot-head to boil over. This is was always followed by these scuffles, in some desperate attempt to prove how tough we were. RIDICULOUS!! And that's also how I feel about church squabbles...

Its completely unrealistic to think that we can live "fight" free. Even Jesus said, "it is impossible that offenses wont come". Being offended to the point of wanting to protect ouerselves is a natural part of human existence. So we fight. The book of James talks of this asking the question, "Where do fights and quarrels come from?" It then answers by saying, "It because we are at war within our own members." We are basically unsettled people, selfish people who have a hard time being at peace with self and God. This magnifies when we get with others, so therefore, we fight.

But as all things natural, there is a supernatural remedy. The ultimate way is to crucify your flesh. But for sake of practicality, there is some awareness that I wish to bring about conflict resolution that I feel is helpful to know. Maybe until we reach that perfect ideal of a total renewed self and peace is achieved, these are some tips to perhaps cut down on the number of fights we have, or at least make sure they don't spin horribly out of control.

1) When attempting to solve conflict, understand that everyone naturally has a defense for their position.

Conflict resolution only happens when people lose their pride and come to see the truth of a situation. That truth is usually that whatever the fight is over is no big deal or often a misunderstanding. But because we are unsettled and selfish people we take things to heart. And when we take it personally, we attempt to justify the reasons why we did, hence the defense. If we do not understand that all parties invovled are prepared to defend moreso than solve, we will never reach a resolution. The fight will only grow based on the fact that everyone thinks they are right, and our personal flags of "we are right" will be staked in the ground.

2) Offensive statements made in conflict are usually a reaction based on the defense, and rarely sincere appraisals of the situation or the people involved.

Any statements made behind your back in a conflict or before that dreaded roundtable of resolution should not be taken to heart. The passion surrounding the conflct itself and the defensive nature of humanity cause us to say stupid things about one another. Simply stepping back from any situation when its fresh usually will help the end result. Keep quiet as much as possible until thoughts are collected, and by all means, bridle your tongue. But if this does not happen, don't put much stock in what is said toawrd you or about you. I bet you they dont' really mean it the way its comes out.

3) Know that everybody wants somebody elses head on a platter.

The intersting thing about conflict, and perhaps this is the defensive nature, is that initially no one thinks they are at fault. We are often so blinded by anger or hurt that we can't see our own role that's complicating the situation. Let's face it, it's easier to play the blame game. And its never easy to self-assess. The neat thing is that in true conflict resolution, nobody's head has to fly. All parties can come away whole. And I dont think its a stretch to say this is probably how God wants it.

Fight were largely stupid then and they are largely now. Im sure there are a few things worth fighting for, but save your energy for when they arrive. Because they will. If knowledge is power, then understanding is steroids. Understanding the nature of conflict, more imoprtantly the nature of the people invovled, will go a long way in finding resolve. Peace be with you!

I Can See Your Under-Aware

Tonight when I was preparing my papers to throw i noticed that the "Scene" section, which is the part of Tulsa World that carries entertainment news, was thicker than the front page section that prints local and world news. I wonder if this is not going to become the trend.

In 1994, and estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed during the genocide, lasting nearly 100 days. Twenty percent of the countries population died, while the United Nations pulled out all assistance. Americans were glued to the television watching the OJ Simpson trial.

Our search for entertainment is killing our sense of awareness!

I grew up on movies and television. It was a favorite hobby of my family. We didn't spend much time outdoors and most Friday nights were movie nights. I speak as one who is certainly over-entertained. But also as one who is growing sick of it.

It's not enough that all shows and movies are the same now, we still seem to crave more and become more addicted to the idiot-box. Even when we are not watching, we have it on for "noise". Little do we know that the nosie leaks its messages into our sub-concious even then. And it's more than shows, it's commericals, telling us we must have more. All the while, glued to it, we become less aware of the world around us. The needs of our neighbors, literally and figuratively, get lost. And without knowing, we ourselves become less and less equipped to deal with reality, as we are more conditioned to the world of fantasy. Our reality becomes skewed, and our senses become weakened. Sooner than we can realize it, our entertainment works its way into every conversation and we are speaking to each other in movie quotes and commercial lingo. How life-giving is that?

Now the extreme...people who don't watch, who don't spend there God-given time engrossed in entertainment are viewed as "too religious" and outcasts of society. After all, to even mention life without the necessary dose of entertainment is unheard of. One is met with defensiveness of, "what do you want us to do, live in a cave?" As if that's the alternative for one, and secondly, and sadly, we have been made to think that the lack of entertainament makes us too primitive to exist in society. So then, we try and "regulate" it at times in guility response to what we know we should be doing instead. But we all know the necessary dosage, the controlled habit, still has a way of becoming an over-dose, and overdoses are always killers.

So what's the message in all of this? I think perhaps it's time to tune out for a while. I think that looks different for all of us. I don't know what it looks like for you. But at least even a short-term media fast would do us good. Whenever you do this, you will always find reasons "you have to have it". Listen to that thought alone. Anything folks that one "has to have"...by definiton, is an addiction.

But we cannot turn tuning out into piety. The idea of learning to be "Christianly" aware is never about the absence of something, but rather the involvement in Christian mission. The challenge can never be just to tune out. The over indulgence of entertainment has made that easy. We are too good at tuning out already. But the chief drive is for us to become people who are prayerfully aware. Aware to needs. Aware to suffering. Aware of the presence of God and when to celebrate it.

So, simply put, perhaps it is time to tune out in order to tune in. Be a sober people as we are called to be. And let us no longer disgrace the Faith by letting people see us Under-aware!