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Preach the Word

I finished up our Timothy series this week with Paul’s instruction on how to avoid spiritual pitfalls, preach the Word.  All throughout his first letter to Timothy Paul warns him of false teachers, false doctrine, self-appointed leaders, destructive heresies, and the likes.  In his second letter he picks up where he left off in the first, again lashing out at crazy doctrines and teachings that do nothing but tickle the imagination.

Finally in the fourth chapter of his second letter Paul gives Timothy the formula to combat spiritual goofiness:

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

A myth is an invented story.  I hear a bunch of stuff preached as revelation that is nothing more than invented stories.  People are prideful and want to feel that they have revelation that nobody else has. This is born from beneath and not from heaven.  The enemy is more than happy to fan the flames of self importance.  Clearly it is not God bringing “teachers to suit their own passions.”

Paul knew that Timothy would be tempted to follow suit so he laid the truth bare.  People will turn from the truth, preach it anyway.  Even if does not make you a superstar.  Even if it does not make you rich.  Even if people leave your ministry to follow after their own false teachers and super apostles.  Preach the Word.

So you eat pop tarts in heaven with Adam?  Great.  Preach the Word.  You walk through walls and heal the sick?  Great. Preach the Word.  You are so special that God gives you secrets that you can’t tell because we are not spiritual enough but you elude to them all the time just so we know how spiritual God thinks you are?  Wonderful.  Preach the Word.

By the Holy Ghost Paul saw through the smoke screen of manipulation and pride and declared that folks who presented themselves as leaders just so they can get rich or to overcome their insecurities were not to be trusted.  He taught that people who build their ministry on invented stories were not to be received.  He taught that the Church would be built up in truth by the preaching of the Word.

At The Mission, folks experience all kinds of things that are not in Scripture.  Supernatural experiences are completely biblical.  Some things are purely a wonder.  But trying to become rich and famous from your intimacy with God is spiritual prostitution and we won’t have it.  Preach the Word.

When the Anointing Drops

It does not make a difference to me one way or the other if people fall when I pray for them.  It is not a goal of mine.  If you fall, I might kneel beside you and keep praying.  I may feel like I am done praying for you while you are still standing.

When I was young in ministry I fell into the trap of thinking that people falling was some sort of validation of my anointing.  I never pushed people down or anything like that but I certainly did pray till they fell.

Today I teach that the only thing that falling means is that you are no longer standing.  period.

But let me tell you, there is something completely awesome when God touches someone and there is nobody touching them.  In the last couple months during altar calls people have had the Holy Ghost fall on them and in turn fall to the ground without regard for their safety.

Yesterday I had an altar call for people who felt that God was doing something in them in regards to evangelism.  When they got to the altar I told the ministry team not to lay hands because I saw the Holy Ghost wanted to do something all on His own.  Then, out of nowhere, people began to drop.  Not everyone.  Not even half.  But enough people were overcome by the Spirit of God that I knew it was a sovereign moment.

I love the anointing that comes upon a minsters life.  But I love even greater that Jesus is able to minister all by Himself without my help.  He truly is a living God.

Wedding Tears

I have a confession to make, I have cried at every single wedding I have done.  If you did not know me you might not notice but somewhere in the middle of the vows I did.  Why?  easy.

Most people don’t know why they cry at weddings.  Some might say it is because it is such a big day or because it is such a life change event.  I don’t think it is because of either.

The Bible says in the second chapter of Genesis that Adam said Eve was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.  Then the writer of Genesis goes on to say that for this reason man shall leave his parents and be formed into a single person with his wife.  

The only other time we see this miracle in the Bible is when people receive Jesus as their Savior and become one with them.  And if you ever watch me give an altar call you will see me cry there as well and for the same reason.

Witnessing a miracle overwhelms my emotions.

So, as I stand on stage doing what so many men and women do as a ceremony, I will do understanding why the Catholics call marriage a sacrament, I will do it in faith, and I will witness a miracle.

A Sermon but No Message

When you are a preacher you have an obligation to step into the pulpit with a message. Sometimes that is easier than other times.

This week I really struggled with my message.  I knew exactly what I was going to preach.  I knew the text, I had an outline, I had references, I was ready.  Except I wasn’t.

I have no desire to bring a sermon.  I step into the pulpit to bring a message from the Father and yesterday I had a sermon but no message . . . until the third song of worship.  At that point the Holy Ghost came into the room, gave me a vision, and told me what to preach.  Actually He gave me a vision, two sentences, and an altar call.  I had to figure out how to preach it.

So with a few minuted till I was going to be welcomed on stage I furiously scratched out the message the Holy Ghost gave me.  I preached it and the Holy Ghost confirmed it with signs and wonders.

Now, that’s preachin.

God Told Me…

Can I be honest?  Sometimes when people come up to me and say, “God told me…” I shudder inside.

I believe God tells people things all the time.   So if  I believe in hearing God what is the problem?  Glad you asked.

I am at a place that the phrase, “God told me” has one of three meanings, and two are not good.

1. I am a mature Christian who hears God.  Purpose: Live in unity with God and God’s people.  Scripture: Acts 21:13  Likelihood: least likely.  Description: I am a person who is submitted to heavenly and earthly authority.  I am submitting what I believe God told me for you, as my leader to test.  I would like to walk in submission to this direction from God and I would like you to prayerfully consider what I think the application of this word is.  Please hold me accountable to this direction since I know how serious God’s spoken word is.
   Likely Example: “Since you have asked me to take a leadership role in this area of ministry, I feel I should tell you that before I started serving I felt God told me I was going to lead this area of ministry.  I was just planning to come to church here but God told me so I started serving.  Please help me stay in God’s will and not take on things God does not want me to.”
2. God has to audibly speak before I will do anything I don’t feel like doing.  Purpose: Get credit for being a martyr by obeying God and make it clear God is really inconveniencing you.  Likelihood: probable. Description:  I know about God.  I may have walked with Him for a season.  I clearly heard Him tell me to do something I don’t want to do and I will not do it without someone lavishing praise on me for obeying God.  I am willing to try obeying God but if this is not enjoyable real fast count me out.
   Likely Example:  In service God told me that I am supposed to go to church here.  He said my kids will walk with Him if I serve here and that I will come into my ministry calling here.  Pastor, can I lead a connection group?  Can I be on the worship team?  When can I preach?  I want to write curriculum for Mission Kids.  I want to lead a Mission Trip.  You can count on me to … oh look…. they use candles at New Age Worship Church.  I am still with you.  I will be back.  These folks will not be seen again till tragedy revisits their home.
3. You’re not the boss of me. Purpose: Protect pride.  Likelihood: Bing! Bing! Bing! We have a winner!  Description:  I believe that I am above other Christians.  I am sharing this with you so you can tell me I am right and to tell you that if you disagree with me, you disagree with God.  You might want to refer people to me so I can minister to them.  God thinks I am going to be the biggest, the greatest, the most anointed, the most widely recognized and the most respected ever.  If I submitted any of this to five fold leadership it is possible that my over-sized ego would be damaged.  I might be inclined to lay on my bedroom floor and suck my thumb in depression.  I can’t let that happen so I have convinced myself that I am infallible, and by telling you “God said” I am trying to manipulate you into agreeing. 
   Likely Examples:  There are so many it is hard to list just a few.  I know you can’t stand me but God said you are going to be my wife.  or God told me to share something on the mic, that’s why I did not ask first.  or God told me that people would not understand my call.  or God told me I don’t need to get water baptized.  or God said that tongues is not for me. or God said I should live off my parents well beyond adulthood.  or God showed me in intercession a problem with your ministry.

Real prophecy comes from the heart of God and will always be drenched in humility.  It will ooze with submission to God and His plans.  Pride, rebellion, self-exultation, and manipulation are never from God.

Ghetto Parenting and its Charismatic Counterpart

Mary Mitchell of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote a great article titled “Ghetto Parenting Dooms Kids.”  Here are some of the traits of ghetto parents she listed,

• Ghetto parenting is cursing around, and at, a child.
• Ghetto parenting is brawling with your man or your woman in front of your child.
• Ghetto parenting is letting your child roam the streets until somebody else’s mother has to tell the child to go home.
• Ghetto parenting is putting your child off on friends and relatives because you want to hang out in the street.
• Ghetto parenting is getting so hooked on substances that the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has to remove your children and place them with strangers.

Now, you would not think that this would need to be stated but to some it is a surprise that there are varying levels of parenting.  Some people took exception to the article.  They were not mad at “ghetto parents” but mad at the woman who coined such a phrase.  Sometimes things get so ridiculous that they have to be pointed out even at the risk of offending people.  Otherwise, people begin to think that the ridiculous is the accepted norm.

I could follow that thought with a boatload of doctrines at loose in the Charismatic church right now but I will defer for later.  I would, however, like to point out Charismatic Christianity’s version of ghetto parenting.  For the purpose of my typing laziness, I will shorten Charismatic Ghetto Parenting to CGP.

Ok, so you love getting touched by God.  You love laying on the floor enjoying His presence.  You love sitting under anointed preaching.  It makes you feel good to be around people hungry for God.  That’s great.  But if that touch, presence, preaching and hunger does not manifest in the ability to understand that God wants you to raise the children He gave you, then at best you have hardened your heart to the true word of God and at worst you have been deceived by a false spirit.

Newsflash:  You are not your own.  Bring real glory to God.  Get off the ground, prepare a meal at home, and raise godly children.

William Booth Vision of the Lost

Here is the copy of a vision William Booth had regarding the lost and hurting.  Do not read it unless you are ready to respond to the conviction of the Holy Ghost.

On one of my recent journeys, as I gazed from the coach window, I was led into a train of thought concerning the condition of the multitudes around me. They were living carelessly in the most open and shameless rebellion against God, without a thought for their eternal welfare. As I looked out of the window, I seemed to see them all . . . millions of people all around me given up to their drink and their pleasure, their dancing and their music, their business and their anxieties, their politics and their troubles. Ignorant – willfully ignorant in many cases – and in other instances knowing all about the truth and not caring at all. But all of them, the whole mass of them, sweeping on and up in their blasphemies and devilries to the Throne of God. While my mind was thus engaged, I had a vision.

I saw a dark and stormy ocean. Over it the black clouds hung heavily; through them every now and then vivid lightening flashed and loud thunder rolled, while the winds moaned, and the waves rose and foamed, towered and broke, only to rise and foam, tower and break again.

In that ocean I thought I saw myriads of poor human beings plunging and floating, shouting and shrieking, cursing and struggling and drowning; and as they cursed and screamed they rose and shrieked again, and then some sank to rise no more.

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The Name of God is Jesus

There is a specific cult that uses a straw man argument to set a person up for their belief system.  They talk about the importance of using God’s proper name because all people want to be known by their proper name . . . right?  The confusion that follows goes something like this,

Do you know God’s proper name?  I know you are a loving Christian who wants to really know God.  But how can you say you know Him if you don’t even know His name?  We know His name because we truly know Him.  Come with us and you can know Him also.

Sounds perfectly logical.  But it is a trick of the devil.

The next time someone knocks on your door with a copy of their magazine asking these questions let them know you can both have fellowship knowing the name of God, JESUS.  They probably won’t be excited about that answer.  This is how you will know that they are not really Christians.

Extra-Biblical Revelatory Nonsense

I rarely do this but I want to post something the prophet Loren Sandford wrote a few years ago.  It really sums up much of the nonsense I see in the Spirit-Filled church today.

“I have been calling us to a new simplicity and purity. What we have had is an intrusion of extra-biblical stuff posing as “revelation” and established fact that has no place in Scripture. The effect has been to create a division between two groups of people – the elite who have this special knowledge that they believe makes them mature or more gifted vs. those who don’t have that knowledge or who don’t have that attitude about themselves. The latter group simply lays down their gifts and eventually goes away.

I’m convinced this is the reason why churches where the Spirit is allowed to move are almost always small while the seeker sensitive churches tend to be large. The seeker sensitive churches are entirely accessible, simple and intelligible, untroubled by esoteric knowledge gained from extra-biblical sources. Charismatic churches have endless barriers of weirdness built from all that extra-biblical nonsense that passes for truth. People turn away from the barriers and go where things are simple and intelligible. So while they don’t allow for the things of the Spirit, the seeker sensitive churches grow and charismatic churches don’t.

It’s all so unnecessary. We can have both worlds, but we’re going to have to stop accepting as truth these things that have no basis in God’s Word. We’re going to have to stop making things so mysterious and complicated. For instance, never did Paul send in an advance prayer team to spiritually map a region, study its history and identify its territorial spirits so that the gospel would be successful there. Never did he do silly things like bury communion elements in the ground. Never does any human being in Scripture summon demonic powers into the heavenly court for judgment as I’ve heard done so often in recent days. Nowhere are we given authority to convene any heavenly court. Several times recently I’ve heard it stated as fact that if you’re a cancer survivor you have more authority to pray for cancer. Nonsense. We’re healed by his stripes, not by surviving the disease we’re praying to heal. These are just a few examples of the kind of thing that has infiltrated us and every other charismatic church I know.

It’s time to come back to the simplicity of doing things the way they are modeled for us in the Bible. We ask. God does. The words don’t need to be perfect. The revelation doesn’t have to be complete. We just have to talk to our Father.

So I’m calling us to a new purity of devotion and a simplicity of approach that makes it all so much more accessible to the average guy and that doesn’t create a spiritual elite that kind of puts everyone else down. Our average Joes and our timid ones have simply laid down their gifts and walked away.

But that’s changing. The more I’ve spoken this into us the more people have picked up their gifts and begun to walk in them. Sharing dreams. Visions. Words. Praying aloud. Having fun again. Growing again. I think we probably spent 45 minutes last Monday talking through all this – and some bit of time today as well. It’s healing our fellowship. God shows up just as He did before, but it’s sweeter and more restful. People feel safe to take the risk and move forward.”

I am continually shocked at how unspiritual people who are supposed to understand the spirit world are.

I heard Kris Vallatton say “I am continually shocked at how unspiritual people who are supposed to understand the spirit world are.” and I could not agree more. Check out this video.

Forgive the annoying gypsy music in the background.