On December 4th at Edwards University Town Center 6 at 4245 Campus Drive, the documentary "The End of Poverty?" will open.
I encourage you to visit this website about the film and to consider taking a group to go and see this important film.
Visit TheEndofPoverty.com
HERE
**
ABOUT THE FILM
-With so much wealth in the world, why is there still poverty?
The End of Poverty? is a daring and thought-provoking documenary by award-winning filmaker Philippe Diaz. This film reveals that poverty is no accident. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor.
Today, global poverty has reached new levels because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies - in other words, wealthy countries exploiting the weaknesses of poor, developing countries.
-Why do 20% of the world's population use 80% of its resources and consume 30% more than the planet can regenerate?
Can we really end poverty under our current economic system?
Think again.
**
TRUE SOLUTIONS - TAKE ACTION
Ending poverty is a daunting challenge. However, since it was made by human rules and institutions, new ones can unmake it, right?
The intention of the film is to change the dialogue so that concerned citizens will blame the system that creates poverty, not the people caught up in it. That requires a shift in our thinking.
The solutions touched on in the film are based on justice and not charity, solutions that will change the system that grinds down the poor.
This section will soon present specific campaigns that work towards changing the system, but the following is our call to action:
First, forgive international debt unconditionally and stop other predatory tactics. End the use of economic power as a means by which the wealthy control the poor.
Second, change the tax system in every country of the world. If justice is to be done, most of the taxes should fall on property ownership and not on the wages of working people.
Third, the poor should demand land reform, restoring land (or its value) to the people who actually work on it, instead of a few landowners.
Fourth, end privatization of natural resources and share these in common. Land, air, water, and oil are the common inheritance of all of humanity, not the stockholders of companies that have managed to grab these resources.
Fifth, "degrowth" in the rich nations--a radical cut in consumption of resources and production of waste--is necessary for the poor nations to survive. As Gandhi said, "Live simply, so others can simply live."
Visit TheEndofPoverty.com
HERE
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
NEW ORGANIC CHURCH ONLINE RADIO
Bookmark this online radio program for the ongoing series on Organic/Simple/New Testament Church.
Search the archives for the Jon Zens' interview too. It's a great one!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Ekklesia as God Intended
Whenever we engage in dialog about New Testament forms of church it is inevitable that someone will say, "The New Testament really doesn't give us any guidelines for what church is supposed to look like."
This is exactly why I have spent the last 2 years working on a book about God's design for His Church. If we really are open to what we might find I believe it is possible for us to read the New Testament and discern what God's exact intention and design for His Church, His Body, His Bride actually was.
At face value, I think we should agree that it seems absolutely preposterous that God should have no opinion or intention about how His Church should operate or function.
Did God remain aloof when it came to the design of the Tabernacle? Was He indifferent to how the Temple was to be constructed? Of course not. In fact, God was meticulously specific about what He intended. Why should we assume that He suddenly has no intention or specific design for His New Testament Church?
Furthermore, isn't it a little odd to have this entire New Testament document about the birth and formation of something called "The Church" and then claim that the same New Testament doesn't reveal anything to us about what that Church looks like, how it should operate, or what form it should take?
Of course, these are not my opinions. These are clearly revealed facts documented by the New Testament. My speaking out about these ideas has not gone unnoticed. In fact, there are several in the Body who have ostracized me because I attempt to point out these facts.
Of course, I can understand if there are those who disagree. However, I must contend that those who disagree have no quarrel with me, but with the very words of the New Testament.
I only ask that everyone who claims to follow Christ take seriously the very specific statements that God has made about His Church in the New Testament, and especially what Jesus says about His Body. To me, these are very, very important issues that the Body of Christ must get right.
Thankfully, God is at work even now refining the Body. He is opening eyes and revealing His design for His ekklesia to old and young alike. It gives me great joy to see a genuine move of the Holy Spirit within the Bride - awakening her to her true identity and empowering her to operate as He intended.
-kg
Peace to you!
kg
This is exactly why I have spent the last 2 years working on a book about God's design for His Church. If we really are open to what we might find I believe it is possible for us to read the New Testament and discern what God's exact intention and design for His Church, His Body, His Bride actually was.
At face value, I think we should agree that it seems absolutely preposterous that God should have no opinion or intention about how His Church should operate or function.
Did God remain aloof when it came to the design of the Tabernacle? Was He indifferent to how the Temple was to be constructed? Of course not. In fact, God was meticulously specific about what He intended. Why should we assume that He suddenly has no intention or specific design for His New Testament Church?
Furthermore, isn't it a little odd to have this entire New Testament document about the birth and formation of something called "The Church" and then claim that the same New Testament doesn't reveal anything to us about what that Church looks like, how it should operate, or what form it should take?
Of course, these are not my opinions. These are clearly revealed facts documented by the New Testament. My speaking out about these ideas has not gone unnoticed. In fact, there are several in the Body who have ostracized me because I attempt to point out these facts.
Of course, I can understand if there are those who disagree. However, I must contend that those who disagree have no quarrel with me, but with the very words of the New Testament.
I only ask that everyone who claims to follow Christ take seriously the very specific statements that God has made about His Church in the New Testament, and especially what Jesus says about His Body. To me, these are very, very important issues that the Body of Christ must get right.
Thankfully, God is at work even now refining the Body. He is opening eyes and revealing His design for His ekklesia to old and young alike. It gives me great joy to see a genuine move of the Holy Spirit within the Bride - awakening her to her true identity and empowering her to operate as He intended.
-kg
Peace to you!
kg
Monday, November 23, 2009
RE-POST: CONSUMPTION, EXPRESSION, IDENTITY
By Keith Giles
As a society, we are conditioned to find our identity in what we own or purchase. As Christians, we are conditioned to express our faith through the sanctified products we purchase, own or consume. This is the perversion of Christ into Capitalism and an expression of faith through consumption of products. It is wrong.
A good friend sent me an article he found that provided an intriguing historical perspective on our evolution from artisans to consumers. I've pulled out the quotes I found most fascinating below:
"A Short History of Consumption
With the rise of the Industrial Revolution, the relationship between people and the goods that they made was broken. No longer did peasants plant, tend, and harvest their crops; now agricultural workers labored over someone else’s crops in exchange for wages. No longer did artisans design, plan, craft, and sell; now factory workers repeatedly carried out a single step in the production of a product, again in exchange for wages."
"In short, people were no longer producers, they were now consumers."
"Our identities were no longer tied up with the work we did, but with the buying power our work left us with."
"So people found their identities not in their work but in the things they could buy by working."
"People became consumers, not just in the way they got what they needed but in who they felt themselves to be."
"Unlike the artisan who could express his or her identity through the things s/he created, we have learned to do so through the things we buy"
*Full article HERE
**
The entire article is mainly looking at consumption from an environmental impact perspective, but the points made about our lifelong indoctrination to consumerism as a society are very eye-opening to me. Especially in light of the ongoing series of articles I've been writing lately regarding the evils of the Christian Subculture over on my weekly e-newsletter [Subversive Underground].
Here's what I think we need to understand, as followers of Jesus, regarding the observations made in this article above.
CONSUMPTION IS SELF-EXPRESSION
We, as a society, have made consuming and purchasing products part of our identity structure. This is why people will fork out $30 for a t-shirt with some corporate logo and walk around as a billboard for them, not because they love that company or product, not because of their loyalty to the brand, but because they think that logo makes THEM look cool. It says something about them, and so they willingly become walking advertising...and they PAY for the privilege. Amazing.
CHRISTIAN IDENTITY
Honestly, this really does help me to formulate a clear picture of what's going on in the Christian subculture. We're finding our identity as "Christians" in the products we purchase. These products brand us and identify us as a subset of people. Instead of finding our identity in Christ by the way we relate to Him daily, obey His teachings, and emulate His example of service and unconditional love, we now identify ourselves as Christians by our t-shirts, bumper stickers, books and CD collections.
ARTISTS AND CONSUMPTION/IDENTITY/EXPRESSION
It's also fascinating how this shift in our society stems from the devaluing of artisans in our culture. People now express themselves by what they own or purchase more than by what they create with their hands or their imaginations. Artists within our society are influenced by this consumerist identity structure. Artists of faith are compelled to create art that can be sold, or that conforms to the acceptable Christian marketplace. Art in this context is devoid of pure self-expression, unless that expression conforms to the acceptable branding and messaging of the sacred market.
More from the article:
"The rise of consumption as our primary interaction with the rest of our society has had profound effects. For example, social status is obtained and marked by the things we buy and use. A car, for instance, is not just a way to get from one place to another but has to “say something” about who we are — and even the lack of a car says volumes. Unlike the artisan who could express his or her identity through the things s/he created, we have learned to do so through the things we buy: the t-shirt with the logo of our band or team, the bamboo towels that show our environmental commitments, the alternative album that shows off our indie cred, the designer shoes that place us as part of the trend-setting elite, the minivan that shows us to be part of the dependable, hard-working, family-oriented suburban middle class, and so on."
SUBCULTURE AND IDENTITY
The Christian Subculture has a market. That market embraces a brand. That brand has a message connected to it. That message serves the market and encourages ongoing participation in that market. It means providing reasons to continue purchasing these products day after day and week after week. The market serves itself. It exists to keep itself in business.
The Christian Subculture provides an oasis made of soothing products that help us escape from the Big Bad World that is "Out There". It's a sacred version of "Calgon-Take Me Away!" only our message is more pervasive. It's not just one soothing bath to calm our fears of being trapped in a world of sin, it's music and movies and clothing and books and toys and key chains and license plate frames and decals and candy and pens and pretty much every conceivable object and piece of product that can ever be branded with our message. It's nearly a complete world unto itself, and it's exactly what Jesus prayed to God would never happen to us. (see John 17:15)
THE CART THAT PULLS THE HORSE
I'm not against art or music or expressions of faith. Most of my favorite musicians are believers and their music contains references to our Lord and to faith in Him. Many of my friends are Artists who paint and sculpt and create art to communicate a Kingdom reality. The issue is not that creating art or any sincere expression of devotion to Christ is wrong. What is evil is the marketplace we've created to showcase product. In the beginning the market existed to serve the Art, now the Art exists to serve the marketplace. We have lost focus. Making money is now the main objective. Evangelism or edification or worship is secondary at best, if considered at all.
During my six years in the Christian Music Industry I slowly began to realize the sickness of it all. At first I saw the industry as a way to spread the Gospel and to provide a voice for talented musicians of faith. But soon I realized that it didn't matter if your music ministry was responsible for leading thousands to Christ each year. What mattered was record sales. If your CD's weren't selling at least 20,000 units per sales cycle you'd be dropped from the label in a heartbeat. It was, after all, a Record BUSINESS, and like every business making money and selling product is the very bottom line. Ministry is incidental, and sadly only useful in the context of marketing the product to your target audience, in order to drive more sales.
Like the money-changers in front of the Temple that Jesus chased away with a whip, the original idea was a good one; To provide animals for sacrifice so that people could enter the Temple and participate in the worship of God. However, when money got in the way the original vision was corrupted and the Temple became a marketplace which obscured access for the common man and made a mockery of real worship. The same is true today.
BACK TO JESUS
The tension still remains between the clear command of our Lord to "Go into all the world.." and a subculture that bears His Name, yet encourages a full retreat from the World and identifies membership based on purchasing the acceptable, branded product. The product carries a message that we should fear those outside of our group. It encourages non-involvement with the culture. It makes minimizing contact with those outside the subculture a preferable reality.
If Jesus modeled radical inclusion and commanded us to be known by our love for everyone, especially those who hate us, and a subculture emerges with His Name on it that encourages us to be radically exclusive and creates behavior by which we are known for our intolerance, hatred and condemnation of those outside our group, we must make a choice. Do we choose Jesus or do we choose the man-made subculture with his Name on it?
I choose Jesus.
If Jesus clearly teaches something, and another organization or person teaches the exact opposite we call that "Anti-Christ". To me it's plainly obvious that the Christian Subculture is "Anti-Christ" because it contradicts His message of inclusion, involvement and meaningful relationships with sinners.
I've said it before and I say it again; "Death to the Christian Subculture!"
BRINGING A CHANGE
Where can we fashion a whip and drive out the money-changers from the Temple? It's difficult because we now deal with this on a massive scale. Participation in this market-driven Christian Subculture is pervasive and intangible. There is no physical structure to kick over. There is no clear method for applying the whip necessary to drive them out.
All we can really do is to begin, one person at a time, to disassociate ourselves with this subculture. Stop participating. Stop identifying yourself as a follower of Jesus based on your purchases. Stop pandering to what the Christian Marketplace finds acceptable and palatable. Make Jesus your single source of Truth. Ask God to show you where you have replaced a Jesus way of life with a carefully branded subculture way of life. Escape the false notions of "Sacred" and "Secular" and just start living, as a disciple of Jesus, in this World (the only World), right now.
I declare a personal War against the Christian Subculture.
kg
**
NOTE: Originally published here in October, 2007 and republished here for your edification.
As a society, we are conditioned to find our identity in what we own or purchase. As Christians, we are conditioned to express our faith through the sanctified products we purchase, own or consume. This is the perversion of Christ into Capitalism and an expression of faith through consumption of products. It is wrong.
A good friend sent me an article he found that provided an intriguing historical perspective on our evolution from artisans to consumers. I've pulled out the quotes I found most fascinating below:
"A Short History of Consumption
With the rise of the Industrial Revolution, the relationship between people and the goods that they made was broken. No longer did peasants plant, tend, and harvest their crops; now agricultural workers labored over someone else’s crops in exchange for wages. No longer did artisans design, plan, craft, and sell; now factory workers repeatedly carried out a single step in the production of a product, again in exchange for wages."
"In short, people were no longer producers, they were now consumers."
"Our identities were no longer tied up with the work we did, but with the buying power our work left us with."
"So people found their identities not in their work but in the things they could buy by working."
"People became consumers, not just in the way they got what they needed but in who they felt themselves to be."
"Unlike the artisan who could express his or her identity through the things s/he created, we have learned to do so through the things we buy"
*Full article HERE
**
The entire article is mainly looking at consumption from an environmental impact perspective, but the points made about our lifelong indoctrination to consumerism as a society are very eye-opening to me. Especially in light of the ongoing series of articles I've been writing lately regarding the evils of the Christian Subculture over on my weekly e-newsletter [Subversive Underground].
Here's what I think we need to understand, as followers of Jesus, regarding the observations made in this article above.
CONSUMPTION IS SELF-EXPRESSION
We, as a society, have made consuming and purchasing products part of our identity structure. This is why people will fork out $30 for a t-shirt with some corporate logo and walk around as a billboard for them, not because they love that company or product, not because of their loyalty to the brand, but because they think that logo makes THEM look cool. It says something about them, and so they willingly become walking advertising...and they PAY for the privilege. Amazing.
CHRISTIAN IDENTITY
Honestly, this really does help me to formulate a clear picture of what's going on in the Christian subculture. We're finding our identity as "Christians" in the products we purchase. These products brand us and identify us as a subset of people. Instead of finding our identity in Christ by the way we relate to Him daily, obey His teachings, and emulate His example of service and unconditional love, we now identify ourselves as Christians by our t-shirts, bumper stickers, books and CD collections.
ARTISTS AND CONSUMPTION/IDENTITY/EXPRESSION
It's also fascinating how this shift in our society stems from the devaluing of artisans in our culture. People now express themselves by what they own or purchase more than by what they create with their hands or their imaginations. Artists within our society are influenced by this consumerist identity structure. Artists of faith are compelled to create art that can be sold, or that conforms to the acceptable Christian marketplace. Art in this context is devoid of pure self-expression, unless that expression conforms to the acceptable branding and messaging of the sacred market.
More from the article:
"The rise of consumption as our primary interaction with the rest of our society has had profound effects. For example, social status is obtained and marked by the things we buy and use. A car, for instance, is not just a way to get from one place to another but has to “say something” about who we are — and even the lack of a car says volumes. Unlike the artisan who could express his or her identity through the things s/he created, we have learned to do so through the things we buy: the t-shirt with the logo of our band or team, the bamboo towels that show our environmental commitments, the alternative album that shows off our indie cred, the designer shoes that place us as part of the trend-setting elite, the minivan that shows us to be part of the dependable, hard-working, family-oriented suburban middle class, and so on."
SUBCULTURE AND IDENTITY
The Christian Subculture has a market. That market embraces a brand. That brand has a message connected to it. That message serves the market and encourages ongoing participation in that market. It means providing reasons to continue purchasing these products day after day and week after week. The market serves itself. It exists to keep itself in business.
The Christian Subculture provides an oasis made of soothing products that help us escape from the Big Bad World that is "Out There". It's a sacred version of "Calgon-Take Me Away!" only our message is more pervasive. It's not just one soothing bath to calm our fears of being trapped in a world of sin, it's music and movies and clothing and books and toys and key chains and license plate frames and decals and candy and pens and pretty much every conceivable object and piece of product that can ever be branded with our message. It's nearly a complete world unto itself, and it's exactly what Jesus prayed to God would never happen to us. (see John 17:15)
THE CART THAT PULLS THE HORSE
I'm not against art or music or expressions of faith. Most of my favorite musicians are believers and their music contains references to our Lord and to faith in Him. Many of my friends are Artists who paint and sculpt and create art to communicate a Kingdom reality. The issue is not that creating art or any sincere expression of devotion to Christ is wrong. What is evil is the marketplace we've created to showcase product. In the beginning the market existed to serve the Art, now the Art exists to serve the marketplace. We have lost focus. Making money is now the main objective. Evangelism or edification or worship is secondary at best, if considered at all.
During my six years in the Christian Music Industry I slowly began to realize the sickness of it all. At first I saw the industry as a way to spread the Gospel and to provide a voice for talented musicians of faith. But soon I realized that it didn't matter if your music ministry was responsible for leading thousands to Christ each year. What mattered was record sales. If your CD's weren't selling at least 20,000 units per sales cycle you'd be dropped from the label in a heartbeat. It was, after all, a Record BUSINESS, and like every business making money and selling product is the very bottom line. Ministry is incidental, and sadly only useful in the context of marketing the product to your target audience, in order to drive more sales.
Like the money-changers in front of the Temple that Jesus chased away with a whip, the original idea was a good one; To provide animals for sacrifice so that people could enter the Temple and participate in the worship of God. However, when money got in the way the original vision was corrupted and the Temple became a marketplace which obscured access for the common man and made a mockery of real worship. The same is true today.
BACK TO JESUS
The tension still remains between the clear command of our Lord to "Go into all the world.." and a subculture that bears His Name, yet encourages a full retreat from the World and identifies membership based on purchasing the acceptable, branded product. The product carries a message that we should fear those outside of our group. It encourages non-involvement with the culture. It makes minimizing contact with those outside the subculture a preferable reality.
If Jesus modeled radical inclusion and commanded us to be known by our love for everyone, especially those who hate us, and a subculture emerges with His Name on it that encourages us to be radically exclusive and creates behavior by which we are known for our intolerance, hatred and condemnation of those outside our group, we must make a choice. Do we choose Jesus or do we choose the man-made subculture with his Name on it?
I choose Jesus.
If Jesus clearly teaches something, and another organization or person teaches the exact opposite we call that "Anti-Christ". To me it's plainly obvious that the Christian Subculture is "Anti-Christ" because it contradicts His message of inclusion, involvement and meaningful relationships with sinners.
I've said it before and I say it again; "Death to the Christian Subculture!"
BRINGING A CHANGE
Where can we fashion a whip and drive out the money-changers from the Temple? It's difficult because we now deal with this on a massive scale. Participation in this market-driven Christian Subculture is pervasive and intangible. There is no physical structure to kick over. There is no clear method for applying the whip necessary to drive them out.
All we can really do is to begin, one person at a time, to disassociate ourselves with this subculture. Stop participating. Stop identifying yourself as a follower of Jesus based on your purchases. Stop pandering to what the Christian Marketplace finds acceptable and palatable. Make Jesus your single source of Truth. Ask God to show you where you have replaced a Jesus way of life with a carefully branded subculture way of life. Escape the false notions of "Sacred" and "Secular" and just start living, as a disciple of Jesus, in this World (the only World), right now.
I declare a personal War against the Christian Subculture.
kg
**
NOTE: Originally published here in October, 2007 and republished here for your edification.
Friday, November 20, 2009
TO PREPARE A PLACE
And Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:1-3)
Jesus promised that he would go and prepare a place for us to be with himself.
He promised to send us the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth.
The Holy Spirit at Pentecost came and inaugurated the birth of the Church, which is the Body of Christ.
God poured out His Spirit on all flesh - men and women and children - on that day.
Jesus fulfilled the daily sacrifice in Himself as the Lamb of God.
Jesus fulfilled the Holy Priesthood when He became our High Priest.
At the moment of His death on the cross God the Father ripped the veil in the Temple from top to bottom.
Why?
To signify that an end to this old form of worship was fulfilled and had come to an end.
The Temple of God is now composed of living stones.
The Priesthood of God is now expanded to include every single believer in Jesus as the Messiah.
The blood sacrifice is no longer necessary. Bulls and sheep and doves are no longer laid on the altar. Instead, every single follower of Jesus is a living sacrifice to God.
Where is the place that God will prepare for us?
In Revelation 21:9-10 we see the Bride of Christ coming down out of Heaven like a city. This city is the Bride. In verse 21 it says, "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple."
Within this city there is no Temple. Why? Because Jesus is our Temple. Yet, we are called the Temple of God where Jesus dwells.
"Behold, this is a profound mystery," Paul says in Ephesians. "I am speaking of Christ and the Church," he says when referring to how a man and woman will become one flesh.
In 2 Samuel God promises to send a Messiah from David's seed who will build a house for David, and establish a Kingdom which will have no end.
Instead of allowing David to build a Temple for God, God promises to build a Temple for David.
Yet, when Jesus came to this earth in fulfillment of this prophecy there already was a Temple in Jerusalem.
Standing in that Temple, after clearing it of the money changers, Jesus said, "Destroy this Temple and I will raise it again in three days". We know that he was speaking of the Temple of His Body.
We are His Body.
His Body. His Temple. A House for Himself. A House for us where we will be with Him.
What Jesus is building is His Church. A Bride for Himself. A Temple for God. A House for us to dwell with Him forever.
The Church, the Body, the Bride, is the promise of God fulfilled, and in process.
We are the place He is preparing for us to dwell with Him forever. He will purify His Bride until we, the living Temple, are presented holy and unblemished. Then, He will dwell within us, and we will dwell within Him.
What if the "many rooms" Jesus speaks of are the individual members of the Body? What if we are the rooms where Jesus dwells, and where we dwell within Him?
If we are the Body of Christ, and the Temple of God, and the Bride of Christ, then imagine how important it must be that we love one another.
Love is what holds us to Him, and it is what holds us to one another.
There is only one Bride. There is only one Temple of God. There is only one Body.
Let the Temple of God be built as we love one another and hold fast to Jesus, our Lord.
"As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." - 1 Peter 2:4-5
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." - John 15:9-12
Jesus promised that he would go and prepare a place for us to be with himself.
He promised to send us the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth.
The Holy Spirit at Pentecost came and inaugurated the birth of the Church, which is the Body of Christ.
God poured out His Spirit on all flesh - men and women and children - on that day.
Jesus fulfilled the daily sacrifice in Himself as the Lamb of God.
Jesus fulfilled the Holy Priesthood when He became our High Priest.
At the moment of His death on the cross God the Father ripped the veil in the Temple from top to bottom.
Why?
To signify that an end to this old form of worship was fulfilled and had come to an end.
The Temple of God is now composed of living stones.
The Priesthood of God is now expanded to include every single believer in Jesus as the Messiah.
The blood sacrifice is no longer necessary. Bulls and sheep and doves are no longer laid on the altar. Instead, every single follower of Jesus is a living sacrifice to God.
Where is the place that God will prepare for us?
In Revelation 21:9-10 we see the Bride of Christ coming down out of Heaven like a city. This city is the Bride. In verse 21 it says, "I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple."
Within this city there is no Temple. Why? Because Jesus is our Temple. Yet, we are called the Temple of God where Jesus dwells.
"Behold, this is a profound mystery," Paul says in Ephesians. "I am speaking of Christ and the Church," he says when referring to how a man and woman will become one flesh.
In 2 Samuel God promises to send a Messiah from David's seed who will build a house for David, and establish a Kingdom which will have no end.
Instead of allowing David to build a Temple for God, God promises to build a Temple for David.
Yet, when Jesus came to this earth in fulfillment of this prophecy there already was a Temple in Jerusalem.
Standing in that Temple, after clearing it of the money changers, Jesus said, "Destroy this Temple and I will raise it again in three days". We know that he was speaking of the Temple of His Body.
We are His Body.
His Body. His Temple. A House for Himself. A House for us where we will be with Him.
What Jesus is building is His Church. A Bride for Himself. A Temple for God. A House for us to dwell with Him forever.
The Church, the Body, the Bride, is the promise of God fulfilled, and in process.
We are the place He is preparing for us to dwell with Him forever. He will purify His Bride until we, the living Temple, are presented holy and unblemished. Then, He will dwell within us, and we will dwell within Him.
What if the "many rooms" Jesus speaks of are the individual members of the Body? What if we are the rooms where Jesus dwells, and where we dwell within Him?
If we are the Body of Christ, and the Temple of God, and the Bride of Christ, then imagine how important it must be that we love one another.
Love is what holds us to Him, and it is what holds us to one another.
There is only one Bride. There is only one Temple of God. There is only one Body.
Let the Temple of God be built as we love one another and hold fast to Jesus, our Lord.
"As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." - 1 Peter 2:4-5
"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." - John 15:9-12
WHY YOU CANNOT IGNORE THE HOUSE CHURCH MOVEMENT
"The latest research indicates that the number of house churches in Europe have already reached or surpassed 10,000, Australia could have up to 10,000, and New Zealand up to 6,000 house churches."
"Research in the US shows that between 6 and 12 million are already attending house churches, making house churches one of the three largest Christian groups in the country."
"In the case of Bangladesh or India, with many hundreds of thousands of house churches, the various networks of house churches have already become the largest Christian movements in their respective countries."
"Don't look for the elephant in the room. Look instead at the colonies of mice that have burrowed inside the furniture and are now taking over the house."
FULL ARTICLE
HERE
DOWNLOADABLE PDF DOC FROM WOLFGANG SIMSON
HERE
God is up to something with His Bride.
"Research in the US shows that between 6 and 12 million are already attending house churches, making house churches one of the three largest Christian groups in the country."
"In the case of Bangladesh or India, with many hundreds of thousands of house churches, the various networks of house churches have already become the largest Christian movements in their respective countries."
"Don't look for the elephant in the room. Look instead at the colonies of mice that have burrowed inside the furniture and are now taking over the house."
FULL ARTICLE
HERE
DOWNLOADABLE PDF DOC FROM WOLFGANG SIMSON
HERE
God is up to something with His Bride.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
IF JESUS IS LORD
To have a Kingdom you must have a King. In the Kingdom of God, our King is Jesus.
The phrase, "Jesus Is Lord" is more than a slogan on a bumper sticker. In fact, it is the motto of the Kingdom of God. It literally means, "Jesus is our King."
When Jesus is the King, our lives inherit new purpose and meaning.
If Jesus is Lord – we can love one another, we can forgive as He has forgiven us.
If Jesus is Lord – we can bear one another’s burdens.
If Jesus is Lord – we can humble ourselves and seek his face and turn from our wicked ways.
If Jesus is Lord – we can offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices.
If Jesus is Lord – we do not have to conform any longer to the pattern of this world but we can be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
If Jesus is Lord – we can serve one another. We can put the needs of others ahead of our own.
If Jesus is Lord – we can, in humility, consider others better than yourselves.
If Jesus is Lord – we can wash one another’s feet.
If Jesus is Lord – then the first become last, and the greatest among us can become the servant of all.
If Jesus is Lord – we can love mercy, do justice and walk humbly with our God.
If Jesus is Lord – there is no jew or greek, slave or free, male or female, but we are all ONE in the Body of Christ.
If Jesus is Lord – we can learn to be patient and kind, we can learn not to envy, we can stop our boasting, we can lay down our pride…(1 cor 13)
If Jesus is Lord – we will keep no record of wrongs, we will not delight in evil but rejoice with the Truth.
If Jesus is Lord – then behold the old has gone and the new has come, behold all things are made new!
If Jesus is Lord – then the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in you.
If Jesus is Lord – then we are His ambassadors and we have been given the ministry of reconciliation.
If Jesus is Lord – then He is the vine and we are the branches and without Him we can do nothing.
If Jesus is Lord – then He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, and the One who was, and is, and is to come.
THE QUESTION IS NOT: “IF Jesus is Lord” – But “IS Jesus Your Lord?”
Because we know that He IS the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And one day every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess to the Glory of God the Father – that JESUS CHRIST IS THE LORD OF ALL.
The Good News of the Kingdom is that we can bend our knees today and confess the Truth and receive Jesus as OUR Lord, our King.
We have a choice. We can cast down our crowns today, and we can bend our knees today, and we can surrender our lives to Jesus today, and His Kingdom can come to our lives – today.
Where is your crown? Is it on your head? Or is it at the feet of Jesus?
He traded His crown for a cross (Phil 2) and He asks you and I to do the same.
Remove your crown – humble yourself, become obedient to Him, and take up your cross. Die daily to yourself so that the Life of Jesus can be revealed in you – and so that Jesus can truly be “Lord of All”.
-kg
The phrase, "Jesus Is Lord" is more than a slogan on a bumper sticker. In fact, it is the motto of the Kingdom of God. It literally means, "Jesus is our King."
When Jesus is the King, our lives inherit new purpose and meaning.
If Jesus is Lord – we can love one another, we can forgive as He has forgiven us.
If Jesus is Lord – we can bear one another’s burdens.
If Jesus is Lord – we can humble ourselves and seek his face and turn from our wicked ways.
If Jesus is Lord – we can offer ourselves to God as living sacrifices.
If Jesus is Lord – we do not have to conform any longer to the pattern of this world but we can be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
If Jesus is Lord – we can serve one another. We can put the needs of others ahead of our own.
If Jesus is Lord – we can, in humility, consider others better than yourselves.
If Jesus is Lord – we can wash one another’s feet.
If Jesus is Lord – then the first become last, and the greatest among us can become the servant of all.
If Jesus is Lord – we can love mercy, do justice and walk humbly with our God.
If Jesus is Lord – there is no jew or greek, slave or free, male or female, but we are all ONE in the Body of Christ.
If Jesus is Lord – we can learn to be patient and kind, we can learn not to envy, we can stop our boasting, we can lay down our pride…(1 cor 13)
If Jesus is Lord – we will keep no record of wrongs, we will not delight in evil but rejoice with the Truth.
If Jesus is Lord – then behold the old has gone and the new has come, behold all things are made new!
If Jesus is Lord – then the same power that raised Christ from the dead lives in you.
If Jesus is Lord – then we are His ambassadors and we have been given the ministry of reconciliation.
If Jesus is Lord – then He is the vine and we are the branches and without Him we can do nothing.
If Jesus is Lord – then He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, and the One who was, and is, and is to come.
THE QUESTION IS NOT: “IF Jesus is Lord” – But “IS Jesus Your Lord?”
Because we know that He IS the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And one day every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess to the Glory of God the Father – that JESUS CHRIST IS THE LORD OF ALL.
The Good News of the Kingdom is that we can bend our knees today and confess the Truth and receive Jesus as OUR Lord, our King.
We have a choice. We can cast down our crowns today, and we can bend our knees today, and we can surrender our lives to Jesus today, and His Kingdom can come to our lives – today.
Where is your crown? Is it on your head? Or is it at the feet of Jesus?
He traded His crown for a cross (Phil 2) and He asks you and I to do the same.
Remove your crown – humble yourself, become obedient to Him, and take up your cross. Die daily to yourself so that the Life of Jesus can be revealed in you – and so that Jesus can truly be “Lord of All”.
-kg
Sunday, November 15, 2009
MIRACLE IN THE PARKING LOT
Seven years ago the manager of the Studio Inn told me they wanted nothing to do with Jesus or anything religious. "You're wasting your time trying to bring that here," he said, and then he sent me away.
I went home and got on my knees and began to pray for God to change his heart, or take him out of the way.
The next time I met with this manager he agreed to everything and welcomed us to his motel.
For the first 4 years we brought a bounce house and played games with the many children who lived in this motel with their parents. We prayed with people who were out of luck, needing hope, and desperate for answers.
One day I met with someone from Saddleback church. He was in charge of their home group ministries and wanted to come and begin serving breakfast to the residents every other Sunday. I brokered a meeting with the same manager. Everything went fine and soon these Sunday breakfast services turned into church services.
Just about a month ago this twice a month breakfast service became an every Sunday worship gathering where the name of Jesus is lifted up in song, the Gospel of Jesus is preached loudly from the back parking lot, and people receive hope, and felowship, and love.
Today, after being told not to waste my time on this place, I am teaching these dear ones about the Gospel of the Kingdom and more about The King Himself.
At 10am today, in the back parking lot of the California Studio Inn, I will preach to the Church that God Himself has planted. I will remind them of how much He loves them. I will declare His Glory to His people. We will celebrate the miracle that only God Himself could bring forth with the help of a mega-church ministry and a small house church working arm in arm.
Rejoice with me. Celebrate the miraculous birth of His Church in this place.
The Kingdom of God is at hand. The King is alive. Nothing will stand against His Church, or His Gospel.
-kg
I went home and got on my knees and began to pray for God to change his heart, or take him out of the way.
The next time I met with this manager he agreed to everything and welcomed us to his motel.
For the first 4 years we brought a bounce house and played games with the many children who lived in this motel with their parents. We prayed with people who were out of luck, needing hope, and desperate for answers.
One day I met with someone from Saddleback church. He was in charge of their home group ministries and wanted to come and begin serving breakfast to the residents every other Sunday. I brokered a meeting with the same manager. Everything went fine and soon these Sunday breakfast services turned into church services.
Just about a month ago this twice a month breakfast service became an every Sunday worship gathering where the name of Jesus is lifted up in song, the Gospel of Jesus is preached loudly from the back parking lot, and people receive hope, and felowship, and love.
Today, after being told not to waste my time on this place, I am teaching these dear ones about the Gospel of the Kingdom and more about The King Himself.
At 10am today, in the back parking lot of the California Studio Inn, I will preach to the Church that God Himself has planted. I will remind them of how much He loves them. I will declare His Glory to His people. We will celebrate the miracle that only God Himself could bring forth with the help of a mega-church ministry and a small house church working arm in arm.
Rejoice with me. Celebrate the miraculous birth of His Church in this place.
The Kingdom of God is at hand. The King is alive. Nothing will stand against His Church, or His Gospel.
-kg
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
5 Words Every Christian Should Never Use Again
1 "Outreach" – Stop using this word. Stop planning projects or events where you recruit others to go out and "pet the poor" at a service project or descend upon unsuspecting citizens at the mall to throw a Bible tract at them. We're called to love people, not to target them. Instead of doing an "outreach" to the poor, for example, why don't we think of ways we can befriend people who are living on the streets in a more long-term relationship? Instead of organizing a drive-by ministry op, what if we simply shared with those who have less than we do? Maybe that's a family on your street? Or maybe it's a homeless woman under the freeway overpass.
Suggested replacement: "Loving People"
2 "Church" – Stop referring to the place you go every Sunday morning as Church. Stop identifying the Church as the specific group of believers you hang with. The word in the New Testament is actually "ekklesia" which is better translated as "Called Out Ones" or "Community". Whenever you say, "Look at that Church" or "I'm going to Church" you are expressing something that is non-Biblical. Why? Because according to the New Testament, YOU are the Church. We are all part of a single, living temple of God. The global population of all followers of Jesus are part of one, single Body or Family. There is no room to segment or to separate ourselves from the brothers down the street, or the sisters in India, or anyone else who has been baptized into the Body of Christ.
Suggested replacements: "Community", "Assembly, "Family of God", "Body of Christ", "ekklesia".
3 "Belief" - Christians have so mishandled the Biblical concept of "Belief" that it has become virtually unrecognizable in its current form. When Jesus says that "whoever believes in me shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16) he is not asking people to accept that he exists. In that passage, Jesus is asking Nicodemus, the Pharisee, to understand that placing his entire life under the authority of the Messiah is necessary in order to be born again and to enter the Kingdom of God. Today we have twisted this word "Belief" into a magic word. All we have to do is to believe that Jesus died on the cross and "poof" - we are eternally secure. Nevermind that this is never taught by Jesus, or His disciples, but that's our popular teaching so no one questions it.
Suggested replacements: "Submission to Christ", "Trust", "Going all-in".
4 "Pastor" – Stop using this word to refer to the man who gets paid to teach and preach to the same people every single week. Why? Because the word is only used once in the entire New Testament – and when it was used it was in the plural form, not the singular. In addition, the New Testament concept of a "Pastor" was someone who helped to care for the spiritual well-being of those in the community of faith and worked as a team with other pastors and elders. The New Testament contains absolutely zero evidence for any one person who taught or spoke every single week while everyone else sat silently taking notes. Instead we see 58 "one anothers" in the New Testament where the entire Body is encouraged to teach, encourage, exhort, rebuke, and love one another.
Suggested replacements: "Brother", "Sister", "[insert first name]"
5 "Tithe" – The New Testament Church has never used this term, nor did it practice tithing. In the New Testament we see the Church taking voluntary collections as followers "gave...whatever they could afford" and only if they had the means to do so. Whenever a collection was taken, it was either for feeding the poor in the community, or perhaps given to travelling missionaries who preached the gospel and planted new churches. On a few occasions a special offering was taken to support another group of believers in another region. Primarily, the offerings collected were distributed to the poor, the widow and the orphan. FACT: The Christian Church didn't impose a formal tithe until the 7th Century A.D. under Pope Adrian I.
Suggested replacements: "Each man should give as he has purposed in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion..." (2 Cor 9:7)
NOTE: These are only suggestions. Your mileage may vary.
-kg
Suggested replacement: "Loving People"
2 "Church" – Stop referring to the place you go every Sunday morning as Church. Stop identifying the Church as the specific group of believers you hang with. The word in the New Testament is actually "ekklesia" which is better translated as "Called Out Ones" or "Community". Whenever you say, "Look at that Church" or "I'm going to Church" you are expressing something that is non-Biblical. Why? Because according to the New Testament, YOU are the Church. We are all part of a single, living temple of God. The global population of all followers of Jesus are part of one, single Body or Family. There is no room to segment or to separate ourselves from the brothers down the street, or the sisters in India, or anyone else who has been baptized into the Body of Christ.
Suggested replacements: "Community", "Assembly, "Family of God", "Body of Christ", "ekklesia".
3 "Belief" - Christians have so mishandled the Biblical concept of "Belief" that it has become virtually unrecognizable in its current form. When Jesus says that "whoever believes in me shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16) he is not asking people to accept that he exists. In that passage, Jesus is asking Nicodemus, the Pharisee, to understand that placing his entire life under the authority of the Messiah is necessary in order to be born again and to enter the Kingdom of God. Today we have twisted this word "Belief" into a magic word. All we have to do is to believe that Jesus died on the cross and "poof" - we are eternally secure. Nevermind that this is never taught by Jesus, or His disciples, but that's our popular teaching so no one questions it.
Suggested replacements: "Submission to Christ", "Trust", "Going all-in".
4 "Pastor" – Stop using this word to refer to the man who gets paid to teach and preach to the same people every single week. Why? Because the word is only used once in the entire New Testament – and when it was used it was in the plural form, not the singular. In addition, the New Testament concept of a "Pastor" was someone who helped to care for the spiritual well-being of those in the community of faith and worked as a team with other pastors and elders. The New Testament contains absolutely zero evidence for any one person who taught or spoke every single week while everyone else sat silently taking notes. Instead we see 58 "one anothers" in the New Testament where the entire Body is encouraged to teach, encourage, exhort, rebuke, and love one another.
Suggested replacements: "Brother", "Sister", "[insert first name]"
5 "Tithe" – The New Testament Church has never used this term, nor did it practice tithing. In the New Testament we see the Church taking voluntary collections as followers "gave...whatever they could afford" and only if they had the means to do so. Whenever a collection was taken, it was either for feeding the poor in the community, or perhaps given to travelling missionaries who preached the gospel and planted new churches. On a few occasions a special offering was taken to support another group of believers in another region. Primarily, the offerings collected were distributed to the poor, the widow and the orphan. FACT: The Christian Church didn't impose a formal tithe until the 7th Century A.D. under Pope Adrian I.
Suggested replacements: "Each man should give as he has purposed in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion..." (2 Cor 9:7)
NOTE: These are only suggestions. Your mileage may vary.
-kg
MY FIRST BOOK ON AMAZON.COM
My book, "Nobody Follows Jesus (So Why Should You?) is available via Amazon.com (if you don't want to purchase it directly from my online store at Lulu.com).
About my book:
Nobody Follows Jesus (So Why Should You?)
A devotional book for the next generation. This 205 page collection contains forty inspirational articles that address what it means to really follow Jesus, not just attend a service or agree to a set of beliefs. If you desire to know more about following Jesus and less about how to join a program or a religious organization, this is the book you've been waiting for.
Find it
HERE
REMINDER: You can always download this book for FREE as a downloadable PDF at www.KeithGiles.com. Look for the link on the left-hand side.
NOTE: My third book will be published early 2010.
About my book:
Nobody Follows Jesus (So Why Should You?)
A devotional book for the next generation. This 205 page collection contains forty inspirational articles that address what it means to really follow Jesus, not just attend a service or agree to a set of beliefs. If you desire to know more about following Jesus and less about how to join a program or a religious organization, this is the book you've been waiting for.
Find it
HERE
REMINDER: You can always download this book for FREE as a downloadable PDF at www.KeithGiles.com. Look for the link on the left-hand side.
NOTE: My third book will be published early 2010.
Monday, November 09, 2009
ON THIS GLORIOUS DAY
It was only forty three years ago that the fabric of space and time pulled back to reveal this fragile and yet strangely troubled soul.
It was a day of wonder and tears. Cigarettes were burned. Laughter echoed down the hallway. A mother's heart slid into gear.
The angel's sighed, and one of them farted, but no one knew which one it was so they pretended not to hear.
It was a day of love so great it hurt to breathe.
Glad to be here, friends. Hope to be here a bit longer before I join the flatulent angels.
Wubba,
Keith
It was a day of wonder and tears. Cigarettes were burned. Laughter echoed down the hallway. A mother's heart slid into gear.
The angel's sighed, and one of them farted, but no one knew which one it was so they pretended not to hear.
It was a day of love so great it hurt to breathe.
Glad to be here, friends. Hope to be here a bit longer before I join the flatulent angels.
Wubba,
Keith
Friday, November 06, 2009
TELL ME YOUR STORY
If you were a pastor in a traditional church and felt God calling you to step out into a more New Testament model church, please let me know your story.
I'm currently finishing up my book about the radical difference between Church as we know it and Church as God intended it and I need your help.
Over the years I've counseled several pastors, and former pastors, who have realized that God was calling them to abandon the Church-as-a-business model in favor of a more shared community of faith where everyone is free to function and minister.
My hope is to include a few of those emails in my book, but I know that there are probably many others out there who also have a similar struggle or story to tell.
If you're in that place right now, or if you've already come out the other side of this journey, I'd love to hear your story, and if you're ok with it, I'd also love to include a portion of your struggle in my book.
Please post your story in the comments below, or if you prefer just send your story to me in an email form at my main address: elysiansky (at) hotmail (dot) com.
If nothing else I think it's a good thing for people to share their story to help others realize that they're not alone in this journey of faith.
Peace,
kg
I'm currently finishing up my book about the radical difference between Church as we know it and Church as God intended it and I need your help.
Over the years I've counseled several pastors, and former pastors, who have realized that God was calling them to abandon the Church-as-a-business model in favor of a more shared community of faith where everyone is free to function and minister.
My hope is to include a few of those emails in my book, but I know that there are probably many others out there who also have a similar struggle or story to tell.
If you're in that place right now, or if you've already come out the other side of this journey, I'd love to hear your story, and if you're ok with it, I'd also love to include a portion of your struggle in my book.
Please post your story in the comments below, or if you prefer just send your story to me in an email form at my main address: elysiansky (at) hotmail (dot) com.
If nothing else I think it's a good thing for people to share their story to help others realize that they're not alone in this journey of faith.
Peace,
kg
Thursday, November 05, 2009
RE-POST: JACKIE PULLINGER - "THE SIGN OF THE CROSS"
Jackie Pullinger – “The Sign of the Cross”
(Transcribed from “The Fragrance of Justice” Conference tape series)
It seems that there are many of us in the church these days who look at miraculous signs and think, ‘If God would only do them, the whole world would come to Christ’. And they’re hoping that the Holy Spirit will fill a church while we worship, and fill it so full that it will somehow get to the ends of the Earth.
No. If it worked like that, He would not have told us to go! It does not get there by itself. It gets there if you go.
You think Jesus Christ, up there in heaven, couldn’t have done sky writing? Done a few signs and somehow by the power of God we’d all be one?
No.
The miraculous sign upon which all men will be judged was the cross. That is the miraculous sign that the world is waiting for, through us.
There’s this terrible song that we sing called “Lord Let Your Glory Fall”. I don’t know if you sing it, but I get real upset when we sing this song.
I can’t sing that song, especially when they sing it all sweet. You know what the Glory of God is? The Son of God, crushed, voluntarily.
“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life, only to take it up again.”- John 10:17.
God gives us this same privilege. “Anyone who would follow me must take up his cross, daily.”- Luke 9:23
See? That’s it!
I don’t think the Glory of God is going to get to the ends of the Earth when we sing in church. I mean, it’s not a bad thing to do, to praise His name and bless His heart. But that’s not how the Gospel gets to the Nations.
You see, it isn’t “just” a miraculous sign. The miraculous sign comes through a man.
I think the world has yet to see this. The world has yet to see Christians laying down their lives. They’re singing in church for God to do it again.
I think we’re so rude to God. I mean, He gave us His son, He gave us His Holy Spirit and we say, ‘More, Lord’!
What more can He give? He gave everything, and we say ‘More Lord’?
We say, ‘We need more before we go’. No! No! We haven’t used hardly any of what He’s given us yet. And if you go and it’s quickly used up, great! Because as you use it up you get more, and you use it up, and you get more. That’s how it works!
We haven’t seen hardly any of the signs and wonders that we’re supposed to see yet. Hardly any.
Because we think that the sign and the wonder is instead of the Cross. But the sign and the wonder is “in” the cross.
Then, when we understand the Cross, which is His heart, all the other signs and wonders are the expression of His heart. They are not demonstrations of His power, merely. They’re expressions of His heart.
You know that this was Jesus’ temptation, right at the beginning of His ministry, and at the end, to have it all without the Cross.
For any of you, young people, if you will minister with the poor, everything’s backwards. You spend a year on these people, and then they rob you of your money. In this ministry, you go backwards. God is faithful, of course, they all come off drugs by the power of the Holy Spirit, but then many of them turn back.
I was sharing this with a church in Taiwan and the pastor came up to me afterwards and said, ‘How can this be? We’ve never heard this teaching before.’ And I said, ‘It’s the way Jesus did it.’
Look at Him. At the end of three years, what’s He got to show? I mean, he’s had some great Glory meetings and some people got healed, but what’s He got at the end?
Eleven in disarray and one suicide. His group hasn’t multiplied even.
Not until Peter knows the Grace of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s that Rock the Church is built on; a weak, forgiven Peter knowing the Grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
And so few yet in this world have used this explosive mixture of the compassion of the Lord with a broken heart, and the power of the Spirit.
It’s what the world waits for.
**
Transcribed from Tape 4 in the conference tape set entitled “The Fragrance Of Justice”; VMG, 2005
(Transcribed from “The Fragrance of Justice” Conference tape series)
It seems that there are many of us in the church these days who look at miraculous signs and think, ‘If God would only do them, the whole world would come to Christ’. And they’re hoping that the Holy Spirit will fill a church while we worship, and fill it so full that it will somehow get to the ends of the Earth.
No. If it worked like that, He would not have told us to go! It does not get there by itself. It gets there if you go.
You think Jesus Christ, up there in heaven, couldn’t have done sky writing? Done a few signs and somehow by the power of God we’d all be one?
No.
The miraculous sign upon which all men will be judged was the cross. That is the miraculous sign that the world is waiting for, through us.
There’s this terrible song that we sing called “Lord Let Your Glory Fall”. I don’t know if you sing it, but I get real upset when we sing this song.
I can’t sing that song, especially when they sing it all sweet. You know what the Glory of God is? The Son of God, crushed, voluntarily.
“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life, only to take it up again.”- John 10:17.
God gives us this same privilege. “Anyone who would follow me must take up his cross, daily.”- Luke 9:23
See? That’s it!
I don’t think the Glory of God is going to get to the ends of the Earth when we sing in church. I mean, it’s not a bad thing to do, to praise His name and bless His heart. But that’s not how the Gospel gets to the Nations.
You see, it isn’t “just” a miraculous sign. The miraculous sign comes through a man.
I think the world has yet to see this. The world has yet to see Christians laying down their lives. They’re singing in church for God to do it again.
I think we’re so rude to God. I mean, He gave us His son, He gave us His Holy Spirit and we say, ‘More, Lord’!
What more can He give? He gave everything, and we say ‘More Lord’?
We say, ‘We need more before we go’. No! No! We haven’t used hardly any of what He’s given us yet. And if you go and it’s quickly used up, great! Because as you use it up you get more, and you use it up, and you get more. That’s how it works!
We haven’t seen hardly any of the signs and wonders that we’re supposed to see yet. Hardly any.
Because we think that the sign and the wonder is instead of the Cross. But the sign and the wonder is “in” the cross.
Then, when we understand the Cross, which is His heart, all the other signs and wonders are the expression of His heart. They are not demonstrations of His power, merely. They’re expressions of His heart.
You know that this was Jesus’ temptation, right at the beginning of His ministry, and at the end, to have it all without the Cross.
For any of you, young people, if you will minister with the poor, everything’s backwards. You spend a year on these people, and then they rob you of your money. In this ministry, you go backwards. God is faithful, of course, they all come off drugs by the power of the Holy Spirit, but then many of them turn back.
I was sharing this with a church in Taiwan and the pastor came up to me afterwards and said, ‘How can this be? We’ve never heard this teaching before.’ And I said, ‘It’s the way Jesus did it.’
Look at Him. At the end of three years, what’s He got to show? I mean, he’s had some great Glory meetings and some people got healed, but what’s He got at the end?
Eleven in disarray and one suicide. His group hasn’t multiplied even.
Not until Peter knows the Grace of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s that Rock the Church is built on; a weak, forgiven Peter knowing the Grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit.
And so few yet in this world have used this explosive mixture of the compassion of the Lord with a broken heart, and the power of the Spirit.
It’s what the world waits for.
**
Transcribed from Tape 4 in the conference tape set entitled “The Fragrance Of Justice”; VMG, 2005
Sunday, November 01, 2009
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