We Are The House

Chris Biano visitation

2008-07-19T00:21:00.004-05:00

Last night was the show at Coffee Station that I helped with for my Chris Biano, an artist from out of town. I had billed the event to the Christians in my own housechurch as a ministry opportunity for evangelism and seeing the Lord manifest among us while we are among others. Although the show (for strangers and outer circle acquaintances) started at 8 o'clock, I invited my Christian family to begin at 6:30pm to invite the Lord's presence, minister to our own needs, and create a welcoming atmosphere for Jesus to be magnified at the coffee shoppe.

I'm very glad that Chris came; I see him as an ascension gift of the Son, as it is written in Ephesians 4:7-8

But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. / Therefore it says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN."

However I'm very disappointed in the Body of Christ. What was a precious opportunity to carry Jesus (the Ark of God) on the poles of our lives OUT of the temple four walls was treated as an opportunity to be entertained. I mean: Nobody showed up on time. We didn't have a community until 8pm, when it was too late to cultivate the Lord's presence, minister to Him, allow Him to come in and through us, and prepare the way of the Lord. We did not convene as the Church to do great exploits, but rather as an Audience of Chris or to "support Monty in his endeavor."

I am reminded of the prophet John, who in the spirit and the power of Elijah urgently exhorted the people of his time. Of him, Jesus said

This is the one about whom it is written, 'BEHOLD, I SEND MY MESSENGER AHEAD OF YOU, WHO WILL PREPARE YOUR WAY BEFORE YOU.' (Matthew 11:10)

If we would work the works of the Evangelist, if we would see the mighty acts of the Healer, if we want to see the wisdom of One who wins souls.... we must become like John, the messenger who ran ahead and prepared the way for Lord to come. All else is vanity!

The Lord's name is Emmanuel, which means The Lord Is With Us.

I'll stop writing right now so that I can continue tomorrow to speak grace to all who hear, and not vent, because yes I'm feeling let down.

Finishing The Task

2008-06-05T23:23:00.008-05:00

I'm thankful to Father, for Mark Sayers' provocation to ruminate in Hebrews 10:25 . . .

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.

Maybe the reason 15 million christians don't Go To Church is that they reckon church is not a building. Maybe they don't experience the truth of Christ's Commandment by going to church as is the habit of some.

Many find the daily experience taught in the Scriptures among the assembly of Christian friends (at a home, coffee shop, or mall), rather than a Church Service. How's your mileage? Yes, please reply (this is a question and this is interactive media).

Why do we continue to invest time & money in a paradigm with a 1% yield (some would say less) of souls? I'd rather listen to the esteemed research of Mr. George Barna (of The Barna Group) than some Mark Sayers.

Jesus said,

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn’t first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build, and wasn’t able to finish.’

Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace.

So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple. Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile.

It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

So let the tower be finished, so let the war be won, for worthy is the Man who began: to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.

To him be dominion, for ever, and ever. Amen.

O Holy Night

2008-05-22T09:15:00.008-05:00

Sometimes songs come and linger with me, favorites of the Spirit, so to say. One which has visited this week is "O Holy Night," which is a song celebrating the 1st coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Usually Christians sing this carol around Christmas and it is part of the mixture stirred with shopping malls and home decor and apple cider and candy canes and pine trees and warm clothing. So, it is a bit out of context to be singing this song in the spring/summer: which provoked me to inquiry in the house of the Lord.

If you look at the lyrics this summer, absent all of secular (and religious) holiday distractions, it is a beautiful song, and captures the contradiction inherent in the epiphany. Even the song's title is antithetical: holy ...night?

God always chooses to create a dawn, while the world is in darkness. I wonder what kind of dawn is about to break in my life? (or my city) - if indeed the coming of this song is prophetic - which I believe it is. The God of faith requires that we trust in Him and the intimacy we have with Him, in spite of circumstances and in the midst of them.

Numbers Racket

2008-05-06T10:33:00.006-05:00

In this month's Harper's Magazine, Kevin P. Phillips penned an article Numbers racket: Why the economy is worse than we know indicting the United States government for intentional falsification of vital economic indicators for a few decades.

In fact, he speculates a probable causal link between the credit crisis we're now in with this habit of lying. The problem with lying is that you can't stop: one leads to another and another and another, and the longer it goes on, the more severe the consequences once you're caught or reality catches up.

God save America.

Isabel Allende

2008-04-13T08:49:00.005-05:00

I just listened to Northern California resident, author, Chilean feminist and poet Isabel Allende share my heart's passion about life and meaning. I know little about her, but I will learn. She has met success where I have tried and tried. Clearly she has enmity with God, calling the earth God forsaken, and clearly she harbors enmity with men, publicly insulting her husband's ability to sexually perform. But nobody's perfect. And I like this woman. Here is brief NPR audio with her in their this I believe series. (To contrast, I do not agree with her ultra-feminist beliefs latent in all her writings.)

Wealth Transfer

2008-04-07T07:36:00.005-05:00

Recently, the mini-sermons given at offering collection time have begun to annoy me.

They seeming to always focus on miraculous wealth transfer that ministers experience when they give to one another. The message to the congregation is that when you transfer wealth to me, God will make others transfer wealth to you, and this is preached as an immutable law, illustrated by ministerial experience.

I don't suppose it would occur to clergy that God's usual way is hard work and wealth creation, instead of wealth transfer?

Now I know a good man who has turned his life around, placing hope in God as Savior, who is standing on this Gospel of Wealth Transfer, expecting God to do it for him too. Maybe God will, and hallelujah if He does; maybe God won't. If God doesn't stand behind the Gospel of Wealth Transfer preached by Localchurch clergy, this soul will blame God. God should not suffer disrepute because of bad doctrine promulgated by the self-promoting.

God's way is work; God's way is wealth creation, in general. Business is a line of doctrine which is unfamiliar to churchmen, but, not the Bible. We need our "men of God" in the work world--perhaps with calloused hands or dirty nails--to insert some teaching here.

Babylon

2008-04-05T14:49:00.005-05:00

I had a dream some years ago in which I saw Babylon the Great, a city that was beautiful but so very alien to the natural earth. The dream had a practical purpose, to warn my girlfriend of something so she wouldn't get hurt, but it was also a general revelation to me of how the world works. Babylon is built through exploitation, not cooperation or faith or fairness; people exploit people for purpose or gain, and that was building a city. I hated it, although I realized it was effective.

That is, generally, how the world works. And I've learned that it is generally how the institutional Church works too - especially the clergy. Fear, greed, envy, loathing, control, hate, lust, etc are how this world turns; religion is just another sector of Babylon. And if any genuine churchlife emerges which is not Babylonian in operation and spirit, religion will defame it and try to destroy it. In the name of God, of course.

Religion is so effective at this that anyone who does not play its game is considered a hippie, weirdo, heretic, or outcast.

Laodicean Easter

2008-03-23T13:37:00.006-05:00

As authentic Christians, we celebrate another Sunday knowing our Lord and bringing friends into the knowing of our Lord! What a glorious day, full of grace.

As authentic Christians, we also recognize that the occasion for the holiday was Roman Catholic religion masking the worship of Easter, goddess of fertility, and we look forward to the celebration of Passover, of which Jesus Christ is the Lamb. We know it is important not to divorce the death & resurrection of our Lord from the biblical heritage, history, and rich culture from which it comes, that of the festival of Passover remembered by the Jews.

We leverage any and every opportunity to witness to our Laodicean neighbors, who are trapped in a synthetic experience of religion, having the name to be alive but dead, and having a form or show of godliness, but denying the real power of revival transformation.

What a great day to be alive! And what a great day to repent from our sins and from our ungodly, Laodicean ways, returning to the One who bought us with His own blood. That's worthy of celebration - repentance from inauthentic faith, hope, and living, toward the living God, live faith, and real hope.

Ah Jesu, what a Savior!! We celebrate you today, and pray that all would come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God.

Book Recommendation

2008-03-12T21:52:00.002-05:00

authentic experience

2008-03-07T17:31:00.011-06:00

One message which is evident in the Holy Spirit in this hour is that God is wanting His people to come to an experiential knowledge of, and reliance on, Him. (Also He expects reciprocation, that He would come to a knowledge of and record of being able to rely on you.)

Individually, how do we accumulate this authentic experience of trusting and knowing each other?

Well, merely by walking in obedience, living the faith - ceasing from foolishness, self-justification, self-pity, and other stupidity; awakening to the love and the faith of God, who justifies the one who calls on the name of His son for propitiation (1 John 2:2). God is the one who justifies! God is the one who loves. God is the one who bridges the gap. All we must do is realize we are loved, and believe His great love, that He would forgive so greatly and accept so completely. As it is written...

As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

I pray that you may become established in this present truth: in your practice, and thoughts, and real relationship with the Lord God Almighty.

Experience!!

For I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able.

faithful to the field

2008-02-24T15:14:00.037-06:00

When I was a leader in a parachurch in my college days, the Lord sent me a three part dream. One part was about him & me, another was about a guy I was discipling in the faith, and the third part I'll summarize here. It was very simple, but in those days I was very unskilled in the prophetic and in dreams interpretation (I didn't even know anyone who flowed in prophetic gifting back then), so I didn't really "get it" and the Lord had to teach me His message in some other ways.

I was a worker in a field of dirt, who had a bucket I'd been assigned, and I was persisting in doing my insignificant job; although others were in the house partying. The workers who were at assigned stations in the field were few. I thought my task to be almost meaningless, because it was lacked honor, but, I continued to do it, out of a sense of duty. I grew restless hearing the fellowship in the house of those having a good time, tho, wanting to abandon my bucket for some socializing. They were really having a good time. I kept working.

Then I recalled that it had been long since the Lord had visited us; I missed Him sorely as I remembered the pleasure of His presence, and I ached for Him. I wanted Him. I decided finally, in my boredom and sense of missing out, to leave my bucket to go to the chapel in the center of the field. Surely I would find Him there, where religious services were going on!?! when I got there I had that sinking "uh oh" feeling; He wasn't there... When I turned to run to the fields, I was too late: the Lord was visiting and I was not there.

He was fellowshipping with the laborers who were faithful to their stations in the field, although they were not worthy of Him. (I asked Him why he did that since they were not worthy of Him; He answered me that He didn't care about their worthiness, He gave Himself to them because it pleased Him because of His great love.)

The message the Lord tried to convey to me was that He was in the work He had assigned, not in the house nor in the chapel. There are many buildings, programs, and personalities who set themselves up as His Church, but his church is his people under his command, at assigned stations, doing assigned things. When He returns, He expects to find them busy with what He directed.

When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?

It is not for us to judge whether our task is significant; We must not envy those engaged in civilian affairs; All that matters is the Lord and the field. Beware of busiment with religious buildings, programs, or personalities; what truly pleases God is allegiance - faith and obedience - out of a sacrificial heart: Will you suffer loss for the Lord? Will you miss out for Him? Will you stay true, even when in your own eyes the glory of your assignment is small? Will you run to the chapel?

At issue is our trust in the Lord, whether He will do what He said. He is faithful to heal the wounded, restore the defrauded, keep His promises, and make us into the very dwelling place of GOD forever. Despite prevailing winds of the day; it is written,

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and do not lean on your own understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make your paths straight.

We are all like sheep, in constant need of reminder of this one thing the saints of the tabernacle of David sang in the city of the high king:

The Lord is good, and His love endures forever.

So the message is this, James 5:7-8,

Therefore be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too, be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

Amen.

Every Member Ministry

2008-02-14T17:54:00.007-06:00

In reading the thoughts of some like-minded men, and it occurred to me this week that the way I'm conceiving of churchlife as consisting of pastors & sheep, ministers & ministries, is alien to the apostolic conception of churchlife. Whatever the denomination it may appear in, it is Romism all over again, and the mindset of the Nicolaitans, which Christ hates.

The way that God has ordered the body is described in Ephesians 4, whereby the abilities and functionality and supply is distributed among the members. The sole reason that God gave us ministers and pastors is for the equipping of the holy ones for the work of ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ. The problem with pulling any verse here out of context is that these verses have so often been preached out of context that we no longer get their sense. If you're going to get the same revelation I got, you're going to have to read the chapter and read it again, and after meditating some, read and read again.

The members are Christ's, the sheep are Christ's, and the members are called to be equipped to minister to, not outside the four walls, but to each other, that they may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ--from whom the whole body, joined and knit together (1) by what every joint supplies (2) according to the effective working by which every part does its share. 1. Are we joined together? are we knit into a garment He can wear? 2. To become a supplier, Joe Christian must be given opportunity to speak. If all he ever does is listen in an audience configuration, how does that equip Joe to supply? It doesn't; it continually conditions him as a consumer.

It is time we accept the headship of Jesus Christ, present & personal. He is here today; He is here, I say. He is the same and He does not change. Any denomination who appoints a minister or pastor to assert headship in a way which cuts off the working of the ministry (as described in Ephesians 4) is putting idols in the temple. God's house is holy, and it must be purified from idols if we are to contain revival.

Does revival come and go? If visitation does not lead into habitation, look to the church government for it is out of order.

Rich and Lindy Oliver came to our church and explained to us the meaning of Laodicea -- Laos (Strong’s #2992, meaning “people”) and dike (Strong’s #1349, meaning “principle, decision”). Laodiceans trust in their ability to rule themselves, judging and deciding matters to the exclusion of Christ’s rule within His Church. The Laodicean condition of a church has everything to do with its rejection of God's way and God's form (as prescribed in scripture) for a man-made thing.

2008 grants for community service

2008-02-01T17:36:00.000-06:00

Target local stores offer grants between $1,000 and $3,000 to charitable organizations in the community focused on arts, early childhood reading, and family violence prevention. (Many branches of the government also offer grants up for bid to non-profit organizations who seek to filfill defined objectives.) What is your church doing to form organizations to compete for these grants?

Some might contend that church shouldn't having any involvement with music or the arts, helping children, widows, or families in distress. The Bible, however, indicates that these are core to the mission of advancing godliness and the gospel in the community.

see the sundial

2008-01-26T18:12:00.000-06:00

This week in worship, God gave me a flash vision of a sundial on the earth which emerged in view as the sun (dawn, new day) rose on it. In this vision, I received a phrase: "Know the hour."

In the light of revelation, we can know what hour it is in God's schedule and the world timetable. This is the 2nd or 3rd time the Lord has said something to this effect in the last quarter. So it is probably very important.

Do you know the hour we're in? Are you prepared for what is about to come?

Myspace

2008-01-08T09:16:00.000-06:00

Myspace is a wonderful place for networking with people with leisure time and the self-employed, but it is inaccessible to 98% of the 'real world' of working stiffs who sit behind a corporate firewall. This is the reason why I believe in preferring the openness of the blogging world.

Myspace is great for targetting that section of the population which doesn't have a job in corporate america, which is primarily students (mainly teens). This can give the illusion of participation, when in reality only a special fraction of your contacts have the leisure access to interact there. In college, most people migrate to Facebook, which was created to specifically cater to the needs of University students and alumni. But even Facebook is blocked at the firewall, and thus inaccessible to most of the people, most of the time.

If you want to reach the average man, you cannot stay within the walled garden of any social networking site. Your people deserve more than just a static web site and interaction on myspace; forums and especially interactive blogs are a great way to network and keep in touch.

Fire, Order, Gaze

2008-01-05T23:31:00.000-06:00

Tonight in worship I was given several visions. The most significant to me personally was the Lord's Light, the Dawnlight, shined through cloud and darkness upon me. This is the very same light from The Day of the Lord, which is yet to come. It was very good. Then He showed me this light shining upon waters, dark and vast.

I saw the Fire of God, coming upon the earth, well in places, not everywhere. The Fire of God is alive; it is God. I saw cities with blue jellyfishish shields to protect them from God. Our city didn't have a shield, but some neighboring cities did; one name which came to me was Beaumont. The shields are not good.

The Lord gave me the message that He might "shuffle the deck." He has mercy on whom He has mercy, and He choses whom He choses. He did once say "So the last shall be first, and the first last" (Matthew 20:16), with this same meaning. If anyone thinks his order in the kingdom of God is secured, think again. The Lord might be demoting and promoting sometime soon.

I also saw we attracted His gaze. He wasn't present and steady gazing as before, but rather the image of the Lion's Eye formed of dust of the air. The hunger and thirst for Righteousness had drawn Him.

Rejoice!

2008-01-03T10:52:00.000-06:00

As 2008 dawned across the city, I discerned a change in the spirit; I could literally feel the gladness caused by the rejoicing of all the people. Their rejoicing was in (the rememberance of the past year and) the anticipation and hope of a new year. Wow, rejoicing is a powerful way to effect real change in spirit.

I reflected yesterday that often the way we feel is not actually a result of events which are observable; sometimes, the way we feel is a result of spiritual warfare or other things which are not directly correlated to recent happenings of memory. This is why the Bible exhorts Christians to: Rejoice in the Lord always; I will say it again: rejoice!

There is great power to effect change by rejoicing. Don't just draw conclusions that the way you feel is a result of events; this is often untrue; I know all too often I make that mistake.

Let's lift our gaze, remember your Hope and Joy, and take up the shield and spear of the act of rejoicing.

1 Peter 1 gives our grounding for this:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

Power and Presence

2007-12-28T13:02:00.000-06:00

Jesus commanded in Matthew 6:33, But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. But what does He mean; since He told Mary that only one thing was necessary, why does He tell us here to see 1st two things? Are we divided in what to pursue as first priority?

Not really. I think Jesus meant for us to seek first His presence (as opposed to seeking to be justified apart from Him by conforming to a code or law) (for He is The Lord Our Righteousness) and His power in all of the affairs of men. His presence and His power in our lives - that is to be our preemptive desire.

Some want the pleasure of His presence, but do not desire His power to be influencing their worlds; others seek His power, but find justification in some other way than Him.

Seeking both is what it means to seek Him in spirit and in truth.

Hunger and the Hunt

2007-12-25T13:11:00.000-06:00

It was the opinion one of my spiritual fathers (ask) that clergy and churches were conditioning common folk to become the laity that neither God's word nor God's Spirit birthed them to be.

When I reflect on the DNA which makes me and those whom I admire different, it is easy to see that we were all trained with a firm belief in the priesthood of the believer and the need for every Christian to individually labor in God's Word for his own edification, and to have a ministry to those in his world. Most protestants are in practice (if not theory) in agreement with Roman catholics (RC'ers, pronounced like drinkers of the cola) in that the real work in the Word should be done by (paid professional) pastors.

"Sunday school" is (largely, not completely) a feeding program designed to give congregants Bible bites pre-digested by an approved denominational authority. Q. Does this increase, or decrease real spiritual hunger? The answer should be obvious. The work performed to get nutrition is as necessary to survival and strength as the food. Sunday School placates and pacifies, and gives Powers That Be sufficient opportunity to nullify the Word of God by indoctrinating the traditions, making men not just less hungry, but incapable of preparing their own food.

A song given to me by my roommate Anthony Burke has these lyrics Peaches come in a can, they were put there by a man, in a factory down town... because I love peaches, but not the skins or work required to eat a fresh peach; I preferred them from the supermarket isle 7. What this attitude produces in America is a diet deficient in non-soluble fiber and Acid Reflux disease; that is, it actually causes bodily harm to the human digestive system. What is true in the natural, is true also in the spiritual.

These are the very practices which abhorred Jesus Christ on the earth. We need to stop it. Seriously. Let we earn the anger of Him who sits in heaven by practicing the deeds of those whom He abhorred on earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Content Creation

2007-12-24T09:21:00.000-06:00

Initially, there was fear within the Brazos Valley House of Prayer organization about opening up a wiki that anyone could edit. I lobbied for wide open editing, requiring only that the anonymous editor give some name, without any kind of authentication or authorization. Others wanted a full account auth system with logins and passwords, like the Joomla website we had before. We compromised by having a wiki with a single, site password which we told to anyone who asked.

Our experience confirmed what wiki operators worldwide know: the problem isn't in regulating all the people who want to write on the website at all. It is rather encouraging anyone to write anything. Some weeks, even a spam or two would be welcome, letting us know that the system is at least operational and waiting, even though nobody is writing.

Why is the majority silent? Creative expression requires something original to say, instead of just forwarding someone else's email. By definition it gives the author exposure: making her vulnerable to others reading the content. And of course, the reader may have an opinion or judgment about what she reads, perhaps unfavorable; there is that danger. So, there is a definite cost to prophetic, or let me generalize by substituting the word creative, expression.

In 1 Corinthians 14, scripture commands to seek after love, and you should truly want to have the spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. Those who prophesy are speaking to people to strengthen, exhort, or console.

Yes, God's desire and the Bible's instruction is that we need to pay that cost, bear that burden, and use the talents and gifts we have, especially creating content having verbal expression, which edifies the believers in some way; and this command is given by an apostle directly to the common person in the congregation.

Yet the ratio seems to remain about 100:1 consumer to producer in the Body of Christ. How can we reward and encourage creative expression of this sort, desired by God to edify the Body?

Circuit City's Shame

2007-12-23T13:21:00.000-06:00

Getting this story out makes me glad. My roommate Scott worked as a salesman at this company, and resigned for ethical reasons. They smeared his name, and yet he refused to disclose the details, merely saying that what they'd done was wrong. I have been and am so proud of Scott; I'm so glad to have known him as a roommate; and I'm glad now that the truth has come to light and the company's misdeeds are known by shareholders, customers, Americans, and everyone.

I thank God that on this side of heaven we have foreshadowing of the justice which is to come, in the form of revelation of these shameful deeds. More judgment is to come, for sure; we'll leave the vengence to God. But as for purchasing... well I'm not buying from Circuit City anytime soon; will you?

Christmas - whose birthday is it?

2007-12-21T10:18:00.000-06:00

Many consider the Christmas holiday to be a celebration of the birthday of Christ. The Roman Catholic origin of the event traces to the RC observance of their religious rite of mass, remembering the death (not the birth) of the Christ. However, He is alive. Might we might do well to consider what He might want on His birthday?

What do you imagine He thinks of people spending thousands of dollars on each other for presents wrapped in paper, placed under an ornately decored tree?

In Luke 14, He says,

When you host a party, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

This Christmas, if we indeed seek to honor Christ? let's remember to invite whom He loves, and is concerned about. But let's be honest - hardly anyone really cares what He thinks or feels, on this day or any other day. Right?

The will of Christ for Christmas is clear. He would have us to focus on and think about those less fortunate in health, finance, friends, or family. This is true for every person, family, and church.

I'm proud that my family has a tradition of inviting others to our celebration, but I wish that my church provided a way for "lay" people to connect with those in nursing homes and shut in without relatives this holiday. Church is an institution which encourages and facilitates us to do the will of Christ, both personally and corporately, in our community.

Offense and Judgement

2007-12-19T08:39:00.000-06:00

The ministry of condemnation, as with most evil strategies, operates by deception; demons have no inherent authority on earth except what is granted by men (men are the agents of God created in the image of God and vested with the authority of God to judge and rule the earth). So, the dark ones lure humans (by the corrupt nature within them) to heap judgment on one another: which gives them an opportunity to "help" enforce these condemnation.

Romans 14 says,

Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself.

For if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.

The context of this chapter regards people taking offense at brothers having different beliefs, style of worship, consumption of food & beverages, or holiday observations. Beware of offenses! and remember to speak first to the Lord about a person, to obtain His opinion and advice.

Kidnapped!

2007-12-17T07:33:00.000-06:00

As we head into the Christmas holiday season, and families are preoccupied with materialism, greed, and traditions of men, the Enemy has mounted a full military press against any individuals which can be taken out. The two spirits I'm discerning in use for this kidnap/kill operation are 1) condemnation and 2) manipulation.

If you know any singles, internationals, or anyone with recent family/friends loss, keep them in your prayers and encouragements during this difficult season. Satan is trying to isolate and kidnap them from their destiny, church, friends and family; the intensity of this offensive is extreme, too. Sound the alarm! It is time to pray and intercede with more than words; lest Christ's dearly beloved suffer harm, or worse, kidnap.

Get the Prize

2007-12-16T17:21:00.000-06:00

The week my pastor preached a sermon about "running the race," I heard a word when in intercessory prayer for the congregation and meetings (prior to the sermon) to the same effect: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize 1 Cor 9:24. This word was accompanied by a vision: the runners were mounted on horse.

Interpreting the message, I infer that running refers to fulfilling one's calling, whereas horses represent gifts, technologies, or ministries which help to bear one toward the goal. Whoever is faithful in a small thing, will be faithful also in more (Luke 16:12,19:17); I believe the horses are not yet received, but available to any footman who runs well; this is a qualified grant, accessible to but not appropriated by all, as it is written, many are called but few are chosen Matt 22:14.

Scripture strategy for getting the prize:

Realize there is a race, and a prize to win by those who compete (1 Cor 9:24);

Believe that God is and is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebr 11:6);

Accept and retain identity as "my Father's son" (Hebr 12:1);

Set aside every sin or hinderance to winning my race (Hebr 12:1);

Enter strict training, involving proper diet and exercise (1 Cor 9:25);

Avoid persons, sins or distraction that dissuade me from the straightest path (Galatians 2:7);

Play fair (Hebr 12:1).

I'm currently failing in several of these points, and I humbly ask for your prayers, presence, and co-participation, so that I may get up and run again. As it is written: Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:12