Q-The need for the hour, the need for our day, the need in this generation…and of every age?
Yes, and we are being made more and more aware in our time of this fundamental and universal need. We could even say that there never was a time when there was a greater need for people who could say, “I see!”… That is the need!
Hope for us hangs on this, that there would be people in this world, this dark world of confusion, self-interest, chaos, tragedy and contradiction; a people that can say, “I see!” In all the geo-political, educational-economic, spiritual-religious, ethnic-environmental, marriage-family, military-energy, youth and leadership crises; there must arise a people that will face these challenges, and meet these needs. And, I dare say, they must be met in a spiritual way with strategic thinking by people of influence that can say, “I see!” It is this “seeing factor” that makes all the difference…and is the great need for our hour.
The initial inspiration for “20Twenty Vision” as a ministry came as God began to open up Jn.9 in the Bible to me. This story of the “man blind from his birth,” arrested my attention, and launched me forth on a mission to “recover spiritual sight.” Elton Trueblood once said, “True recovery is never a matter of going backward for the sake of re-establishing an older pattern, but rather of uncovering (re-discovering) what has been hidden or overlaid and therefore forgotten.” Randall Jarrell said, “Soon we shall know everything the 18th century did not know, and nothing it did, and it will be very hard to live with us.” We have lost some essential things, both culturally and in Christianity, and we desperately need to find them again.
We do not just seek for a new revelation, or even suggest that you have to have extra-Biblical or some new Biblical thing. We do however claim that there is a vast amount of life changing truth and experience in relation to the Spirit of Christ, the Christian life, and the Word of God that we have never seen, which we may yet see. For so many of us, there is a vast realm of Divine thought, scriptural insight and purpose that still waits for a deeper and fuller work of the Spirit within us. We are not seeking to change old truths or have new truths, but for spiritual sight into the truth. And perhaps, most of all, what we are actually missing and seeking is experiential Christianity …personal faith and 1st person perspectives that are God centered.
With that in mind, I am utterly convinced that this blind man encountering Jesus is a modern day parable, loaded with the principles, problems and purposes that are both prophetic and pertinent to the issues and needs of our day.
It is now time for the Christian church and both its’ leadership and people to “recover the testimony of this blind man.” The Christian life begins here, spiritual growth happens here, mature ministry flows from here; and in all facets, through every season of our faith journey…spiritual life must have this secret in it, “I see!” There is no more pressing need today than for men and women who can stand spiritually as this man stood and proclaim, “One thing I know: I was blind, and now I see!”
To keep us going HIS way, to be a part of what HE is doing in the earth, the LORD is constantly bringing us into situations where it is absolutely necessary for us to see HIM! This provokes us to seek HIM that we might experience and know the LORD in a new and Living way. The whole matter is summed up in us seeing, first that we are sinners that can’t see and don’t really know; and, then by us seeing and knowing Jesus Christ. Oh how we need to be aware of the Holy Spirit’s working in our lives in this way. How often God providentially leads us in and through a series of crises to release fresh vision…a series of crises of seeing and seeing yet again, as the LORD opens our eyes and we can say as never before, “I see!”
It is not just our study, our past experiences, our learning or book knowledge, but … “that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the (intimate and personal) knowledge of HIM; the eyes of our heart being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of HIS calling, and what are the riches of the glory of HIS inheritance in the saints (you)!”
How effective a witness …how transformative to our world if we once again brought with us this authenticity and authority that is so needed and required today. The need for the hour is for a people to stand and say, “One thing I know: I was blind, but now I see!”
Showing posts with label Seeking God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seeking God. Show all posts
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Gaining God's Perspective
One of my favorite things to do on vacation is to sit at a table with a scenic view, a favorite drink, some great music and work for hours on 1000+ piece puzzles. Yes, it’s true that few supposed relaxing or recreational things may seem as daunting or feel as frustrating at times; but, that’s why I take frequent walks outside. However, don’t forget the thrill of returning to the puzzle table with fresh perspective or a new angle that reveals a wrongly placed (forced fit) piece, and causes a wave of progressive connectivity. There’s something so satisfying about concentrating on small pieces, connecting and contextualizing them (little by little), and ultimately completing the task of re-presenting “the big picture.”
For much of my life, I’ve felt like one of those force fit puzzle pieces…a square peg in a round hole. It wasn’t environmental, A.D.D., or an identity crises, I simply possessed a prevailing sense of the world focused and awed at a puzzle put together wrongly. Have you noticed that our world is constantly separating things that obviously were meant to be connected; and, connecting stuff that’s definitely to be separated?
Something was off. People around me seemed to have or perceive everything backwards. Like a crowd starring at a Picasso or Dali as if it were reality and life was fantasy; the world (at best) seemed convinced of trivialities and confused on absolutes, or (at worst) didn’t care about their inaccurate, incomplete view of life. Most of them were focusing and prioritizing wrongly, and were blinded to or ignoring the things that matter most. “There is nothing stranger today than the importance of unimportant things. Except, of course, the unimportance of important things…modern man is now committed to the exaltation of very small and secondary matters at the expense of very great and primary ones” (G.K. Chesterton).
Since I became born again (summer 1981), an almost overwhelming, instinctive urge has compelled me to seek wholeheartedly for the “Gaining of God’s Perspective.” This internal conviction has driven me to swim upstream against the raging currents of cultural correctness, present circumstances and Christian nominalism. While a dead thing can go with the stream, only a living thing can go against it. This was not a search for salvation, but the pursuit of God to receive HIS Heavenly Vision. On this journey, the Spirit of Grace and Truth has faithfully guided me through the dangers of humanism, the toils of religion, and the snares of man-made traditions. Like a salmon in spring, I knew somewhere behind and beyond the torrential floods (the accepted and deficient ways of the world) lies the place of my destiny.
Behind the surrealistic puzzle/picture of life, beyond the conventional currents of selfish and secular perspectives was more than meets the eye…and I had a passion to discover it. Behind it all, I knew there was something real, true, eternal, tangible…Someone transcendent and larger than life itself, yet immanent-actually there. As Francis Schaeffer once said, “HE is there and HE is not silent.”
Behind it all was not a place, but a person. Jesus Christ is more than a savior. HE is the “Great I AM”, the revelation and message of God, “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of HIS nature, upholding all things by the word of HIS power.” Jesus is the picture for the puzzle pieces of the human heart and life.
By seeing and knowing Jesus, things begin to look different. You become suddenly aware of people and particulars that were missed before. This new sensitivity brings with it a longing to know what it all means. Soon, my longing to know and search for understanding gave way to regularly experiencing “Aha!” and “Oh, I see it!” moments. Faith in God, intimate relationship with Jesus, and the pursuit of HIS heart and eyes brought stunning new insights…causing me to discern misplaced or missing things.
The scriptures are the key to collecting and connecting these clues of life until there’s a coherent pattern or whole picture. They provided me more than a sketch of reality –they revealed where each piece of life’s puzzle went to re-present the big picture…helping me make sense of it all. Most questions can be answered, many puzzles solved, and personal hope for wholeness and vision restored by reading the Bible. Biblical truths are the keys that fit the locks of life…opening the doors to the world around us.
By the daily guiding of the Holy Spirit through the Holy Scriptures, I was now seeing reality more accurately. I came to understand that what was off or missing was due to the world’s rejecting and neglecting of spiritual realities and scriptural truths while putting the comforts of the body over the care of the soul. This is faith in the material to the utter neglect of the spiritual…which is none other than covetousness or idolatry. Through the eyes of selfishness, everything we see is distorted, as our pride and prejudices pervert our perceptions.
Gaining God’s perspective allows us to see as HE sees. It is catalyzed by the revelation of Christ, cultivated through spiritual discernment and a Biblical worldview, and made accurate through the proper conception and care of the soul. By seeing these ultimate truths/realities, we are freed from slavery to the immediate.
Then we can be prophetic –interpreting life from the perspective of faith and love and under the aspect of eternity.
This type of vision is accompanied by the desire to help “all men see the fellowship (connections) of the mystery”… that they may turn the things of their lives around and put them back together rightly. Like the sons of Issachar, our understanding is always with an eye to what we should do, and not simply know.
May the God of Heaven invade your life that you would be captured by HIS presence, captivated by HIS enduring vision that is born of a different perspective and commitment. “Oh, Lord, open our eyes to see!”
For much of my life, I’ve felt like one of those force fit puzzle pieces…a square peg in a round hole. It wasn’t environmental, A.D.D., or an identity crises, I simply possessed a prevailing sense of the world focused and awed at a puzzle put together wrongly. Have you noticed that our world is constantly separating things that obviously were meant to be connected; and, connecting stuff that’s definitely to be separated?
Something was off. People around me seemed to have or perceive everything backwards. Like a crowd starring at a Picasso or Dali as if it were reality and life was fantasy; the world (at best) seemed convinced of trivialities and confused on absolutes, or (at worst) didn’t care about their inaccurate, incomplete view of life. Most of them were focusing and prioritizing wrongly, and were blinded to or ignoring the things that matter most. “There is nothing stranger today than the importance of unimportant things. Except, of course, the unimportance of important things…modern man is now committed to the exaltation of very small and secondary matters at the expense of very great and primary ones” (G.K. Chesterton).
Since I became born again (summer 1981), an almost overwhelming, instinctive urge has compelled me to seek wholeheartedly for the “Gaining of God’s Perspective.” This internal conviction has driven me to swim upstream against the raging currents of cultural correctness, present circumstances and Christian nominalism. While a dead thing can go with the stream, only a living thing can go against it. This was not a search for salvation, but the pursuit of God to receive HIS Heavenly Vision. On this journey, the Spirit of Grace and Truth has faithfully guided me through the dangers of humanism, the toils of religion, and the snares of man-made traditions. Like a salmon in spring, I knew somewhere behind and beyond the torrential floods (the accepted and deficient ways of the world) lies the place of my destiny.
Behind the surrealistic puzzle/picture of life, beyond the conventional currents of selfish and secular perspectives was more than meets the eye…and I had a passion to discover it. Behind it all, I knew there was something real, true, eternal, tangible…Someone transcendent and larger than life itself, yet immanent-actually there. As Francis Schaeffer once said, “HE is there and HE is not silent.”
Behind it all was not a place, but a person. Jesus Christ is more than a savior. HE is the “Great I AM”, the revelation and message of God, “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of HIS nature, upholding all things by the word of HIS power.” Jesus is the picture for the puzzle pieces of the human heart and life.
By seeing and knowing Jesus, things begin to look different. You become suddenly aware of people and particulars that were missed before. This new sensitivity brings with it a longing to know what it all means. Soon, my longing to know and search for understanding gave way to regularly experiencing “Aha!” and “Oh, I see it!” moments. Faith in God, intimate relationship with Jesus, and the pursuit of HIS heart and eyes brought stunning new insights…causing me to discern misplaced or missing things.
The scriptures are the key to collecting and connecting these clues of life until there’s a coherent pattern or whole picture. They provided me more than a sketch of reality –they revealed where each piece of life’s puzzle went to re-present the big picture…helping me make sense of it all. Most questions can be answered, many puzzles solved, and personal hope for wholeness and vision restored by reading the Bible. Biblical truths are the keys that fit the locks of life…opening the doors to the world around us.
By the daily guiding of the Holy Spirit through the Holy Scriptures, I was now seeing reality more accurately. I came to understand that what was off or missing was due to the world’s rejecting and neglecting of spiritual realities and scriptural truths while putting the comforts of the body over the care of the soul. This is faith in the material to the utter neglect of the spiritual…which is none other than covetousness or idolatry. Through the eyes of selfishness, everything we see is distorted, as our pride and prejudices pervert our perceptions.
Gaining God’s perspective allows us to see as HE sees. It is catalyzed by the revelation of Christ, cultivated through spiritual discernment and a Biblical worldview, and made accurate through the proper conception and care of the soul. By seeing these ultimate truths/realities, we are freed from slavery to the immediate.
Then we can be prophetic –interpreting life from the perspective of faith and love and under the aspect of eternity.
This type of vision is accompanied by the desire to help “all men see the fellowship (connections) of the mystery”… that they may turn the things of their lives around and put them back together rightly. Like the sons of Issachar, our understanding is always with an eye to what we should do, and not simply know.
May the God of Heaven invade your life that you would be captured by HIS presence, captivated by HIS enduring vision that is born of a different perspective and commitment. “Oh, Lord, open our eyes to see!”
Monday, May 25, 2009
Our Braveheart
Psalm 101:6 “My eyes shall be on the heroes of the land!”
“Tell my father…I died with my face to the enemy!” –Col. Avery at Gettysburg
Between 1992 & 1994, I actually spent in depth devotional time reading about Christian martyrs. Foxe’s Book, Fair Sunshine, The Search for the Twelve Apostles, They Knew Their God, Martyrs Mirror, The Forbidden Book, The Torch of the Testimony, They Dared to Overcome, many Chinese martyr booklets & The Early Christians were the most memorable.
I believed then & now that history frees us from the cult of the contemporary & testimony invites us into experiences with the One True Living God! The shock & awe of such studies births authentic, New Testament faith, love, humility & perspectives, as the spirit of our age evaporates in the face of the courageous sacrifices of these heroes of faith.
The Bible became a new-open book, conviction & shame filled my heart exposing the desperate need of a sincere & unfeigned faith, religion & worldliness turned repulsive, the Cross shined forth wisdom & power, life became precious, the Kingdom & calling of God was now, prayer & worship became tearful & breathless…
When resurrection is reality, truth is a Spirit & person…Jesus Christ is revealed, experienced & crowned King & Lord!
In these revelation moments, uncontrollable weeping, groaning-travail prayers, raising hands to Heaven, & falling repeatedly on your hands & knees are normal!
Yes, JESUS is alive! He was crucified, dead, buried in a borrowed tomb…and on the third day…arose! This glorious revelation produces a heart revolution resulting in personal, family, community & historic reformation. It is all to be set down as the personal, post-mortem achievement of the Son of the Living God!
JESUS is & ever shall be our “Braveheart!”…& those who follow HIM, the called, chosen & faithful…that great cloud of witnesses should stir our hearts to historic faith & heroic obedience.
My challenge & HIS calling on this Memorial Day was captured by Erwin McManus’ when he invited Christians “to return to the ancient, primal, dangerous faith of Jesus & His early disciples.”
“Jesus is being lost in a religion bearing His name. People are being lost because they cannot reconcile Jesus’ association with Christianity (or the church). Christianity has become docile, domesticated, civilized (paltry, acceptable, palatable, unscriptural, unspiritual, worldly and weak -added for emphasis and clarity). We have forgotten that there is a kingdom of darkness stealing the hopes, dreams & souls of humanity without God. It is time to hear the barbarian call, to form a barbarian tribe, & to unleash a barbarian revolt.”
“(Please understand) the barbarian way is about love, intimacy, passion & sacrifice. Barbarians love to live & live to love. For them God is life, & their mission is to reconnect humanity to HIM. Their passion is that each of us might live in intimate communion with Him who died for us. This way is both spirit & truth, & the soul of the barbarian is made alive in the presence of Jesus... (Remember) the evidence that Jesus is the Christ is that He baptizes us in both Spirit & fire. Barbarians are guided by the wind of God & ignited by the fire of God."
"This way can be found only by listening to the voice of the Spirit…only known by those who have the heart of God. The steps of this way are guided by the footprints of Jesus, followed by those that see the invisible & hear the inaudible because their souls are alive to God…”
“There is within you a raw & untamed faith waiting to be unleashed!...Let go of a sanitized Christianity & get back to the powerful, raw faith that chooses revolution over compromise, peril over safety, & passion over lukewarm, watered-down religion.”
–Erwin McManus, “The Barbarian Way”, a must read by every Christian disciple!
“The Almighty says this must be a fashionable fight. It draws the finest people!”
-Stephen, (One of my heroes, the Irish guy who talks to & hears from God in Braveheart)
“Tell my father…I died with my face to the enemy!” –Col. Avery at Gettysburg
Between 1992 & 1994, I actually spent in depth devotional time reading about Christian martyrs. Foxe’s Book, Fair Sunshine, The Search for the Twelve Apostles, They Knew Their God, Martyrs Mirror, The Forbidden Book, The Torch of the Testimony, They Dared to Overcome, many Chinese martyr booklets & The Early Christians were the most memorable.
I believed then & now that history frees us from the cult of the contemporary & testimony invites us into experiences with the One True Living God! The shock & awe of such studies births authentic, New Testament faith, love, humility & perspectives, as the spirit of our age evaporates in the face of the courageous sacrifices of these heroes of faith.
The Bible became a new-open book, conviction & shame filled my heart exposing the desperate need of a sincere & unfeigned faith, religion & worldliness turned repulsive, the Cross shined forth wisdom & power, life became precious, the Kingdom & calling of God was now, prayer & worship became tearful & breathless…
When resurrection is reality, truth is a Spirit & person…Jesus Christ is revealed, experienced & crowned King & Lord!
In these revelation moments, uncontrollable weeping, groaning-travail prayers, raising hands to Heaven, & falling repeatedly on your hands & knees are normal!
Yes, JESUS is alive! He was crucified, dead, buried in a borrowed tomb…and on the third day…arose! This glorious revelation produces a heart revolution resulting in personal, family, community & historic reformation. It is all to be set down as the personal, post-mortem achievement of the Son of the Living God!
JESUS is & ever shall be our “Braveheart!”…& those who follow HIM, the called, chosen & faithful…that great cloud of witnesses should stir our hearts to historic faith & heroic obedience.
My challenge & HIS calling on this Memorial Day was captured by Erwin McManus’ when he invited Christians “to return to the ancient, primal, dangerous faith of Jesus & His early disciples.”
“Jesus is being lost in a religion bearing His name. People are being lost because they cannot reconcile Jesus’ association with Christianity (or the church). Christianity has become docile, domesticated, civilized (paltry, acceptable, palatable, unscriptural, unspiritual, worldly and weak -added for emphasis and clarity). We have forgotten that there is a kingdom of darkness stealing the hopes, dreams & souls of humanity without God. It is time to hear the barbarian call, to form a barbarian tribe, & to unleash a barbarian revolt.”
“(Please understand) the barbarian way is about love, intimacy, passion & sacrifice. Barbarians love to live & live to love. For them God is life, & their mission is to reconnect humanity to HIM. Their passion is that each of us might live in intimate communion with Him who died for us. This way is both spirit & truth, & the soul of the barbarian is made alive in the presence of Jesus... (Remember) the evidence that Jesus is the Christ is that He baptizes us in both Spirit & fire. Barbarians are guided by the wind of God & ignited by the fire of God."
"This way can be found only by listening to the voice of the Spirit…only known by those who have the heart of God. The steps of this way are guided by the footprints of Jesus, followed by those that see the invisible & hear the inaudible because their souls are alive to God…”
“There is within you a raw & untamed faith waiting to be unleashed!...Let go of a sanitized Christianity & get back to the powerful, raw faith that chooses revolution over compromise, peril over safety, & passion over lukewarm, watered-down religion.”
–Erwin McManus, “The Barbarian Way”, a must read by every Christian disciple!
“The Almighty says this must be a fashionable fight. It draws the finest people!”
-Stephen, (One of my heroes, the Irish guy who talks to & hears from God in Braveheart)
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
"Get Smart" #1
My purpose in these seeking times was always intimacy and a deeper, more personal relationship with God. However, I was regularly led by the Spirit into 3-4 hour intercession on specific subjects. And, as the Bible promises (Is.58:6-11), I would leave these fasts with fresh Manna from Heaven –specific, now words and priorities. Father God is always faithful to answer those who call, and to give clear understanding of His heart and perspectives to those representing HIM (2Chr.7:16). As a young pastor, I desired and needed to wait on God for spiritual discernment of His will for the next season of life and ministry.
Most years, I would leave this time refreshed and refocused by God’s presence and promises. The Word of God would come alive in my spirit as these fasts ended…and truth would leap like flames off the pages of the Bible, and kindle a fire in my heart. Then, I would turn my attention to “What the Spirit was saying to the churches?” I would study and pray over the rhema-word (phrase and scriptures) that God had quickened to me. After a month of study, these words usually became a 4-10 week sermon series beginning in late January. This year would prove to be very different.
During this fast, I found myself crying out for Revival in my city and the southeastern
This day, this year was different. On this December day, I became keenly aware of a special grace. There was an overwhelming sense of the presence of the God who is Love. It felt as if God embraced me, and was whispering encouragement and affirmation deep into my spirit. A distinct impression came to me that God was about to call me into another level of life and ministry. It was as if HE stepped back from me and was gazing intensely and intently into my soul and future…like HE knew me better than I knew myself, and understood explicitly both what I had forgotten and what was about to happen.
It was then that God spoke to me so clearly and profoundly that it still echoes in my head, stirs my heart and holds me to the course HE has marked out for my life. There would be no sermon series revelation for the start of 2000. There was not even a spiritual emphasis or scriptural study to follow into the New Year. There was no promise or prophecy this time…..God asked me a question! HE said, “You have loved Me with all your heart…will you love Me with all your mind?!?” ...After 3 days, I answered, “Yes!” This word became a 10 year priority (it’s been 8 ½), and part of my life-calling. Wow, think about that…I seek God for His will and way for revival and generational blessing, and HE says to me, “GET SMART!!!”
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