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Spirit Filled Water Baptism

When I got saved I really looked forward to getting water baptized.  I was expectant of a life changing experience.  Unfortunately, all I got was wet.

Years later I met a man who had seen an itinerant minister conduct baptisms that people got touched by God in.  We began to baptize people in faith that God would do something and sure enough He did.

When I began The Mission, we started baptizing new believers right away.  We saw many great things in baptism.  I even saw a girl get converted in the waters, but that’s another story,

One day I read a testimony about Maranatha under Bob Weiner how folks would get baptized in the Holy Ghost when they got water baptized.  I wondered why I never saw that.  Then I herd a testimony for like the fifth time when it jumped out at me again.  A woman was talking about how she go baptized in a oneness Pentecostal church after she got saved and that when she came up out of the water she started praying in tongues.

I was angry.  How come the Oneness folks get it and I don’t?  Matthew 3 tells us that Jesus got the Holy Ghost when He got baptized.  Now I had some bible to back me up.  Watch out!

Don’t get me wrong. We had pretty remarkable baptisms.  Folks received deliverance, open visions of heaven, saw the water as fire as they went down, received promises from God, and all kinds of other stuff.  I had even baptized folks, then when they came up, prayed for them to receive the baptism in the Spirit.  They would get filled and speak in tongues and all that but I see that at the altar all the time.  We see that in connection groups.  Thats kind of common around these parts.  I wanted something more sovereign.

So I began to go for it.

Well, now it is not that uncommon for folks to get the Holy Ghost when we baptize them in water.  Just tonight I had a young man in my Connection Group that experienced the infilling.  I don’t remember this but he relayed that I told him, “You are going to go under the water, and when you come out you are going to be speaking in tongues.”

He said that it did not make sense to him but when he went under water him mind went clear and when he came up he was speaking in tongues.

So preachers go for it!  Step out in faith.  Ask the Lord to show up and watch what happens.

ESV Audio Bible

This past week in the message I spoke about how I like to go to bed at night listening to the bible.  Here is a link where you can find the ESV audio bible online.

Be Blessed!

Kingdom Man / Carnal Man

Kingdom people are driven by the Spirit.  Carnal people are driven by flesh.

Kingdom people are driven by values.  Carnal people are driven by circumstances, emotions, etc

For Kingdom people the Word is set.  For carnal people, the word is ever changing.

If the “now” word of God for your life changes before the last “now” word was fulfilled, chances are that your life is not being directed by the Holy Ghost. It is being directed by your lusts and insecurities.

I pray that God is raising up a generation of believers who will stand and see the deliverance of God.  They won’t be tossed by disappointment.  They won’t allow their failures to dictate their tomorrow.  They will not allow their lust for power and fame rob them of the blessings that come from being rooted and grounded.

In your prayer time tonight, ask Jesus to teach you to walk in perfect communion with the Holy Ghost like He did during His earthly ministry.  Then be prepared to stand.

The Bible is Not a History Book

Too many people read the Bible to see what God used to do.  There is something to be gained by that but there is something better.

I read the bible to see who God is.

He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

When I read the Bible I ask God to show me aspects of His character that I take for granted.  I want to embrace all that He is and emulate those characteristics to a lost world.

Thoughts on Idolatry

Its easy for protestants to point to the Catholics and call them idolaters.  We love to point out the big easy sins and miss the heart issues right here at home.

Simply put, an idol is anything that holds sway over your happiness.

How literal should we get with that?  How radical for Jesus do you want to be?

If there is something in your heart that you desire, and your greatest goal for that object is not to give it away then it is probably an idol.  Every gift from God grows as it is given away.  Every idol loses value as it is given away.

What are your priorities?

What Kind of Fast Pleases God?

“This is the kind of fast day I’m after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed,  cancel debts. What I’m interested in seeing you do is:

sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless poor into your homes, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,  being available to your own families.

Do this and the lights will turn on,  and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.  The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.  You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’ (Is 58 The Message)

More Daniel Fast Craziness

Like many churches, The Mission is doing a three week fast to start 2010.  Fasting is a regular part of biblical Christianity.  The sticky part starts when you ask what qualifies as a real fast.

I asked Randy Bohlender of ihop fame how most folks there in Kansas City fast.  His response really irritated me.

Seriously, we have a pretty firm ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ rule about fasting among our staff because it leads to a wrong spirit.  Some do a daniel fast – just fruits and veggies.  Others fast on water.  Some skip lunch.  There are a number who fast on juice only.   We do it differently based on what we feel we have the grace for.

The more rules about fasting, the more people you will have who live in condemnation for not living up to someone elses’ rules.

After thinking about his response for the better part of a month I finally realized that I was looking for the check list of what I had to go without in order for it to really qualify as a fast.

If that has been your perception, allow me to tip some sacred cows.  I promise this won’t go too long.  But it will be worth the read.

There are three biblical fasts, total (no food or water), normal (no food lots of water) and partial (abstaining from some foods).  Many people rename the partial fast the Daniel fast.  In the book of Daniel, we see that he abstained from certain foods on two occasions.  The first was for health reasons.  The second was to hear God.

These days, people do not delineate between the two.  In the first he asked for only vegetables to eat and water to drink.  Daniel did not want to be defiled by what the king was serving and chose this other diet as an alternative.

But when he wanted to hear God, he said,

I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

Completely different matter! But these days, people say in order to get the effects of the second fast you have to do what Daniel did in the first.  But that is unbiblical.  There are troves of websites dedicated to what you can and cannot eat while on a Daniel Fast and it is all nonsense.

The reason Randy’s reply irritated me is because I wanted to know what folks agreed was a legitimate effort in fasting.  The Daniel Fast websites are more than happy to answer that question for you.  But if we are fasting to humble ourselves before the Lord, that level of self righteousness will not produce the desired fruit.

The vegan can go years on a Daniel Fast.  Does that make them super close to God?  I say it makes them thin and slightly discolored.  Nothing more nothing less.

The key to fasting?  Jentzen Franklin says that if it does not mean anything to you, then it won’t mean anything to God.  If it means something to you, it will mean something to God.  That’s it.  It is a matter of the heart.  I am going without in an effort to magnify Jesus in my life.  What that means for me will be different than what that means for you.

This year I am not going to freak out about white or brown rice or go super crazy examining ingredients.  I have chosen to put aside most of my diet in an effort to understand where God is taking me and to break free some of the efforts of the enemy in my life. These three weeks are about me hearing and following my Savior Jesus.

I am not looking for anyone else to validate my efforts.  I hope you won’t either.

New for 2010

I did not make any new years resolutions this year.  But right around the turn of the calendar I decided to make some changes.  Some are bigger than others, and at least one is a carry over from last year.  But I thought I would share a few.

bye bye facebook.
I decided that facebook is a tremendous waste of time.  I so not plan to delete my facebook account because it is a means of communication for many of the people I pastor.  But I don’t plan to mindlessly scroll through status updates any longer.  I hide so many people I wound up looking at the same half dozen folks anyway.  Status updates get posted through a 3rd party service so folks will still see status updates.  I just wont see theirs as often.

I also deleted the facebook app from my blackberry.  When I was bored I would fire it up.  Funny thing happened.  When it got deleted, my bible app slipped onto the default screen.

the bible
For the first time in my life I am going to do a one year bible reading plan.  The folks at YouVersion have great one year bible apps you can access through your smart phone.  You can mark off chapters as you go, comment on verses, tweet from the reading and all other kinds of useless stuff.

the blog
I really felt like it was time for me to return to writing about revival in general and what I see in my ministry specifically.  The last few years I have blogged more about church planting but I have begun to write more about the manifestation of the Holy Ghost as I minister.  At some point I will write books.  On what I don’t know.  I am thinking one of the first will be a treatise on how REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups can be incorporated into a Daniel fast but I don’t have all the dots connected yet.  I think it has something to do with the wheel within a wheel.

the house
I have put a bunch of stuff off “till later.”  I realized that later comes when I decide it has come.  Home improvement season is coming.  On the same note I am going to have a little oral surgery today.  Its time.

more direct
Lots of times I wait for people to “get it.”  Some never do.  I am going to just tell people some times.

the anointing
Full steam ahead.  This generation does not need another religious festival.  They don’t need new forms of entertainment.  They don’t need ritual.  They need a life changing touch from the Holy Ghost. I plan to be more of a conduit of that this year.

The Struggle is Futile

I sometimes watch people think they are in a struggle with God when they are really in a struggle with themselves.

I wrestle with my kids.  I never make them feel that their fight is futile.  I play along.  I let them think there is a struggle happening.  I play it up and make loud noises and feign surprise at their tactics.  We have fun.  But if they had to go to the bathroom, I would immediately relent.  If I had to go to the bathroom I would break free, get up and walk.

Because in the end, there never really was a struggle.

I see people do the same thing with God.

They act as if the Creator is in some sort of power struggle against them for their will.  For most people, they are not fighting God, they are fighting wisdom.  They are fighting inevitable forces.  They are fighting the law of seed time and harvest.  For their efforts they might as well be trying to stop the sunrise or hold back the tide.

Oh you cause some ripples but the water is rising.

Psalm 46 says

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.

There is no struggle happening.  Here is my Saturday night word of advice.  Stop being stupid.  Give up the struggle.  Enter into His rest.

See you in church tomorrow.

Build an Altar on Your Greatest Failures

The temple in Israel is built atop one of God’s greatest acts of mercy.  David sinned against God by conducting a survey instead of trusting Him.  In turn God sent an angel to bring judgment.

Right there, atop Mt Moriah God stopped the angel and the death ended right after David repented.

Most people would build a monument to the dead and live in the shame of their sins forever.  They would wear the failure forever.

David was instructed to build an altar there instead.

From that day forward, that place was celebrated as a place of God’s mercy.  His mercy triumphs over judgment.  Maybe your failures deserve judgment.  Here is how you deal with it.  Build an altar to God on top of that failure and tell everyone how God’s mercy triumphed.