Thought I'd do something a little different this morning. Here's a Bible question for you to ponder.
Who is the only woman mentioned in the Bible, that gives her age at the time of her death?
The answer will be in tomorrow's posting.
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Sometimes when you have been at this relationship thing with God for a number of years, you forget what it was like at the beginning. You forget what it's like to not know or understand what the Bible is all about. You're at a church meeting and the guy up front tells you take your Bible and turn to the book of Nahum....gives the chapter and verse, and you have no clue as to what this means. You know that it is directing you to a specific part of the Scripture, but you're kind of lost as to how to get there. You look around and you see people turning pages and finally stopping, but you're clueless as to how to join them.
We forget that this is a pretty common thing with the people who come to our meetings. For that very reason, I want to be that entry point that tells, explains and helps them to feel at home so that they can receive from God. That they not be self conscious or feel like some kind of outsider who isn't welcomed. It's bad enough that sometimes we speak in a language that is foreign to first-timers. That is the one thing I am indebted to John Wimber and the Vineyard for. John was all about keeping the language real and free from word that have been used by the church to define what God was doing. I remember when the renewal came in back in 1994 and people were falling down under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Visitor's would come from other denominations and proclaim that so and so had been "Slain the Spirit". I knew what they'd meant by this statement, but put yourself in the place of someone who was new to this whole "Jesus" thing. "Slain! You mean killed! What is going on here! I don't want any part of this!"
So rather than saying a person was slain in the Spirit, we would say that they were doing "Carpet Time"...That sometimes when the God's Spirit would come, our bodies would react in certain ways....some would weep...some would shake...some would tell us that it felt like low level electricity going through them. And...some would simply feel this weight upon them that caused them to go down to the floor. There is enough mysticism going on when God's Holy Spirit shows up, without us creating a whole language that kind of scares people away.
John 16:13 -- However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into ALL truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, and He will tell you of things to come.
I always ask people, when teaching on this verse..."It says that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will guide us into "All" truth...what is the greatest truth we can be guided into?" I usually get a number of responses, all of which are true. But to me, the greatest truth we can be shown, is truth about who God is....in relation to the truth about ourselves. This is the place of change. This is the intersection where real life begins. Because when God shows me who I truly am and then superimposes Himself in that same picture, I am keenly aware of the changes that must take place in my life. Sometimes when such a thing takes place, we react in physical ways...we may weep. The tears may be a combination of sorrow and joy at the same time. As we see the truth nature of our heart, yet are shown the incredible love and compassion God has for us. And that His heart is to see us change and place our trust and faith totally in Him. I never will understand how someone can sit under hearing the Word of God and not be touched in some way. I'm not talking about anything to do with who is delivering the word. It isn't about a speaker who is dynamic and has a charismatic personality. Some of the most incredible encounters with God came through men who were duller than dull. Have you never read about Jonathan Edwards? Check him out sometimes. He read His sermons. Not only that, he read them in a monotone voice, and because of bad eyesight, he held his sermon notes up in front of his face when he preached. But yet this same dull, somewhat blind, man of God read the words to his sermon "Sinners in the hands of an angry God"....and those who were present in the room began to weep and wail. Now this kind of behavior in the church at that time was totally unacceptable. Men and women were falling out, screaming and asking what must they do to be saved. That kind of thing truly upsets the religious apple cart, won't it.
I guess I've written today's posting with the idea of letting you in on the mindset that I want to bring to Saturday nights. First off, a place where every one who comes through the door, no matter what their spiritual status may be, can meet with God. And that the meeting be based on God's terms and not mine or some theological position that I have nailed down. I want the Holy Spirit to move and touch and do whatever He deems necessary to bring us all into a deeper awareness of God and His presence. I want us to be able to see ourselves as God sees us....not with the heavy handed proclamation that we are doomed...but under the loving gaze of a Heavenly Father who truly desires relationship with His creation. I want my teaching and my words to such that anyone can understand them. I want to be creative in allowing God to speak through me in such a way that nothing gets lost in the translation.
I want people to go away from our meeting with a desire to know more about this God we talk about. I know that everyone will not be saved or actually make the commitment to walk in a relationship with Jesus, but I want them to go away with Jesus on the brain. That in the coming days and weeks, their hearts would be drawn to know more, and that at some point in time, they would take that next step into this new life we talk about.
Could you ask for anything more?
God on you...
mb
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