What do you mean by that?

It didn’t take very long to realize that although we were using the same words, our understanding of those terms was completely different. We had agreed that we would meet at ‘exactly’ 8:30 am and then head out for the day. For me, this meant that by 8:20 am I was at the prearranged spot waiting and ready to go, but by 10:25 am I could tell that it didn’t mean the same thing to my friend. This revelation was only reinforced when at 11:00 my friend showed up and, without a word of apology or explanation, asked if I was ready to go. It became abundantly clear that the real issue was not the terms, or words, we had used, but rather the understanding we carried for those terms. The culture I have been raised in understood that, ‘exactly on time’ meant at least 10 minutes early, but in the culture of my friend ‘exactly on time’ meant it would happen sometime that day. Our different backgrounds meant that for many of our common terms we carried very different understandings. When we took the time to come to a place of mutual understanding we minimized our frustrations and mishaps, but where we assumed we had a correct understanding of what had been said only produced frustration and tension.
I am learning that this same issue extends beyond our interpersonal relationships into our understanding of, and participation in, the Kingdom. When we begin to talk about life in the Kingdom, and living as citizens of the Kingdom, we quickly run into terms, and ideals, which can carry a variety of understandings. The culture that someone has been raised in has a significant influence on the understanding that they bring to these terms and ideals. For example, when you think of the terms; submission, tithe, honour, or father, what thoughts run through your mind? If you have been raised in the culture of the world the chances are very good that your understanding of these terms carries with it; apprehension, resistance, control, law, and abandonment. While these may be the natural understanding for someone raised in the culture of the world, we must understand that these are not the correct understanding in the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom these terms all carry the understanding of; life, release, protection, blessing and care.
It is so important for each of us to have the correct, and thereby same (Philippians 2:2), understanding of Kingdom concepts so that we can all freely participate in Kingdom life. There must be a willingness in all of us to let go of our cultural, or traditional, understandings of terms and embrace the true Kingdom definition. When we are able to do this we will discover less frustrations, fear, apprehensions and resistance in all of our relationships – with man and with God. In North America we refer to the Webster’s, or Oxford, dictionary to define our terms, but as citizens of the Kingdom we must turn instead to our Kingdom dictionary – God’s Word – to define the terms.
A good test of whether we have the correct understanding or not is, if we feel at all apprehensive, hesitant or fearful of embracing Kingdom realities. The Bible is clear that these responses are not from God so we must be defining His realities with our own understanding instead of His. So let’s go back to our dictionary – God’s Word – and find the proper understanding and then enjoy the peace and life that comes with it.

That weren’t no golf clap!

It was the sound of rolling thunder that just continues to roll as we stood this morning in intercession. For a prolonged period of time we stood and participated with a desperation and a faith in an act of ‘intercessory clapping’ that I know moved the hand of God both locally and globally (glocally). At both our Comox Valley campus services this morning we spent a prolonged time in ‘intercessory clapping’ as we physically declared our ‘yes’ and ‘amen’ to the reality of the Kingdom in every situation around us. I watched as members of our church family clapped for; the restoration of a marriage, the healing of an illness, the return of a prodigal, the release of provision, the removal of obstacles and, all manner of situations that currently aren’t experiencing the reality of Heaven on earth (Matthew 6:10). Each time our hands came together we were declaring and proclaiming the advance of God’s Kingdom into enemy territory. Our applause was an assault against the works of the enemy (1 John 3:8) that I know will bear God honouring fruit.
In the book of Revelation we are told about the prayer bowls (Revelation 5:8) that are filled with the intercessions of God’s children and when they are filled they are poured out. Well our time of intercession was capped off by the prophetic voice delivering the message to us that in essence the bowl over our house was filled. The picture was of a container that was being filled and with our prayers had now surpassed the tipping point and was beginning to pour out into our lives. It was a picture and word of breakthrough, release, and refreshing that we all wholeheartedly received.
In golf the spectators clapping comes after the good stuff, but this morning the participants clapping preceded the ‘good stuff’. I have heard it said about prayer and God moving that, ‘If we don’t He won’t’ and this morning was an amazing Kingdom moment that once again showcased God and the divine partnership with have with Him in seeing His will accomplished on earth as it is in heaven.

I'm protected, are you?

Almost every night without fail I am asked the question by one of our children, ‘did you lock the doors?’ It doesn’t seem to matter to them that my answer has only ever been, ‘yes, they are all locked’, they still want that reassurance each night before they drift off to sleep. There is something within them that wants the assurance that when they are at their most vulnerable, they are safe.
As we grow up the questions we ask are often posed differently than when we were children but the issues remain the same. We all want, and need, to know that we are safe, particularly when we are feeling vulnerable. Even the greatest risk takers consider a variety of factors to determine if there is an acceptable degree of safety before launching off into some new endeavour, even if it is a level far below what others would deem safe. This inherent human need within all of us leads us to take certain measures to provide for our own safety and the safety of those dear to us. We lock our doors, put on seatbelts, wear helmets, protective eyewear and all other manner of safety precautions that mankind has been able to develop.
In our quest for safety however, there is a protection we can provide for ourselves that far outdoes a seatbelt, airbag or helmet. This is a protection not fabricated by man, but rather created by God. It is similar to protective devices fabricated by man in that there is a specific way to apply it but that is where the similarity ends. Just as a seatbelt must be worn properly, a helmet must be adjusted correctly and there is only one way to correctly lock a door, God has given us very specific instructions for His protective covering on our lives.
These instructions can be found in Malachi 3:6-11 where God gives us instructions on tithing. Tithing is when we take 10% of our income (increase) and return it to God by giving at our local church. God has made it very clear that the first 10% of our income is His and for us not to return it to Him is robbery and sin. But, when we follow His instructions and return His 10% by giving at our local church we come under the covering of His protection.
We are told that when we do this, the devourer is held at bay (rebuked) over our lives. This is the amazing protection that God provides for us by simply following His instructions (living in righteousness). There is a very real enemy in the world whose sole desire is to destroy us and everything we have. What he will attempt to do to us is far worse than any home invasion, car accident or biking mishap, and yet sadly too many of us don’t avail ourselves of the protection God makes available to us.
We hold on to what is rightfully Gods and then wonder why there seems to be so many struggles in our lives. The answer is quite simple, in a world full of prowlers we have left our doors wide open.Family, I want to invite 100% of our church family to live under the protection of God. I don’t want to see any of us suffer loss because the devour was allowed into our lives. Let’s all follow the simple instructions of God and come under His amazing protection.

I Need You More…

I came home the other day to the cry of, ‘…I’m starving… I think I’m going to die…’ as one of our children laid themselves out on the floor in mock desperation. I wasn’t immediately too alarmed at this situation as I’ve become accustomed to melodrama like this in our home. This declaration and demonstration did however prompt me to spend some time thinking about the posture and hunger of my own life. Not for food, a quick glance will tell you I’m not starving to death!, but for Jesus.
I began to wonder if I could honestly make such a declaration about Jesus as I lay prostrate before my Heavenly Father? Do I live with a desperate hunger for more of Jesus that compels me to pursue Him while at the same time surrendering more of myself or, am I too easily satisfied with my current experience with Jesus and the expression of His Kingdom? This line of questioning quickly brought me to the place of wondering not only whether I could make such a declaration but, in fact whether I SHOULD. Should this be the place and posture of my life? Should this be the posture of all Kingdom citizens? I found the latter questions much easier to answer, although there answers clearly held implications for my life that only produced more questions (are we having fun yet?).
In John 15 Jesus uses the analogy of a vine and its branches to show us the extent of our ‘connection’ to Himself. In the same way that a branch is only healthy and fruitful as it constantly draws nourishment and life from the vine, we are to constantly be drawing our nourishment and life from Jesus, our Vine. In the vine and branch analogy, and by implication our lives, there must never come a point where we become satisfied and stop drawing more of His (the Vine) life into our own. The moment a branch stops drawing nourishment is the moment it begins to die and the same is true for us. We must actively avoid the trap of becoming satisfied with our current experience with Jesus and continually draw more of His life into our own.
There is so much more that we have yet to experience in our relationship with Jesus that we must not slow up in our pursuit of Him. There are expressions of His grace and power that we have not yet seen that are waiting to be demonstrated in, and through, our lives. The prevalence of sin and its affects in our world will on be thwarted by a people who are absolutely hungry for more of Jesus and willing to live in a posture of desperation without being in despair.
It is my prayer that Holy Spirit would awaken within all of us a continually increasing hunger for more of Jesus with each passing moment and that we would gladly surrender our lives as we draw more of His life into our own.

Thinking & Doing – Doing & Thinking

Over the last 2 weeks we have been looking at God’s mandate for us to “Speak Up’ (Prov 31:8,9) for those who can’t speak for themselves. The Father heart of God is so overflowing with love and compassion for humankind that He can’t stand to see people in situations of poverty, injustice and oppression so He instructs us to act on His behalf. His direction to be active in addressing the plight of the poor and needy both promote, and require, the shaping of our actions and our attitudes.
In responding to the requirement of God to ‘do justice’ (Micah 6:8) we are clearly called to a place of activity beyond an offering or a prayer. We are called to the lifelong pursuit of promoting justice and eradicating injustice in our world in all its vile expressions. While our instant involvement towards this end can be prompted through simple obedience – God said it, so I will do it – our sustained involvement will require much more than dutiful obedience.
For us to be able to give our lives expressing the heart of the Father in this way will require that we maintain a growing personal revelation of our Heavenly Father’s heart towards us and humankind. It is only as we know how much we are loved and how valuable we are, and how loving our Father is, that we can properly reflect this to the world and speak to any issues that challenge this. So let me challenge all of us, that as we ‘Speak Up’ together and find our voice, and become active in these issues, that we not miss the proper heart and attitude amidst all the activity.
We may find within ourselves attitudes of apathy, complacency, condemnation or self-righteousness as we begin to consider the poor – I don’t care OR I really care and these must be dealt with. We are required to put off the attitudes of the world, and put on the attitudes of heaven, and this is done on the anvil of activity and with the fire of Holy Spirit.
One of the primary ways that God uses to shape our heart and attitude is through our activity so we mustn’t remain inactive towards these issues until we have the right heart and attitude. This will only result in a long wait for us and a lost cause for others. It is through our obedient response (activity) to Christ that we become more like Christ in our heart and attitude. So let me encourage to not only to “Speak Up” but to Step Out and actively address these issues. It is as we model our Father’s hand extended to the world that we will more clearly hear His heart of love beating for the world.