Prone To Wander

This video tells the story behind my favorite hymn...."Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing."
 It tells of Robert Robinson, the author of the hymn His father died when he was eight and his mother sent him to London at age 14. When he was 17 he and his drinking buddies attended an evangelistic meeting in hopes of making fun of what took place. There at the meeting, young Robert was awakened to the spiritual state he was living in. Out of this encounter, this meeting with the Holy Spirit,  came the words to this incredible song.

This is the heart of the Gospel of Christ.....
It isn't about great orators who can stir the emotions with flowery words that paint pictures in our minds.
It isn't about music that stirs our hearts when we hear it.
It isn't about nature or the cosmos....Standing out looking up in the night sky and suddenly are aware that you are small and there must be something greater somewhere out there.

It is about the Holy Spirit of Almighty God meeting us right here, right now.
With all our mess....
With all our sin....
With all out doubts and fears...
And yet in spite of all of this, we cry out, "O God, save me!"
He comes and the divine connection is made...He, with saving grace, and us with darkness and sin...The great trade off through confession and repentance. He takes my sin and I receive His life.

This song, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, has followed all my life. It was in my CD player as I drove into town yesterday.
It boomed and shook my car as I sang and worshiped at the top of my lungs....Down 759 I let this incredible truth wash over me. The guitars and drums pounding out the truth of this day....God is the source of every blessing. I wish that I could dive into the deepest depths of this fount and come up screaming, "Yes! God, You are everything You claim to be!"

"Prone to wander, Lord I feel it....Prone to leave the God I love....Here's my heart o' take and seal it....seal it for Your courts above."
Lot of people don't like it when I say that this is my most favorite verse.
The idea that there is an urge or voice that whispers to me, seeking to draw me away from God. Knowing this keeps me in touch with the the simple fact that inside me is something tha,if I let loose, will entice me to leave this relationship I have with Christ. There is a voice that whispers to me sometimes. It is especially loud when I am most tired.
This dark voice, with its soothing words,  come to me like the night breeze and are filled with sweet promises if I would only leave this Jesus. As quickly as though words fill my mind, my heart responds with the truth. Here is my heart...You bought it and paid the price for it. You take my heart Lord, and seal it in your safe keeping.

Come and meet us when we gather in Your name, Lord.
Come and reign over us and rain down on us Your grace, mercy and Love.
Come and change us for Your Kingdom.
Come thou fount of every blessing....

God on you.....
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Up Close And Personal

Luke 17:12
As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance......

Isn't it weird that we all tend to think that we have things that are a part of our make up....our personality.....who we are.....that keep us from Jesus?
Things and attitudes that whisper to us and say..."He won't accept you!"
Sins and memories that flood over us every time our thoughts turn to Jesus.
Sins and memories that seem to rise up and cry out, "What you've done is beyond His reach." Such things that keep us from coming to Jesus is a kind of spiritual leprosy.

"I'm not good enough."
"I want to believe that He would heal/save me, but I've done some terrible things."
Such thoughts that overpower us and keep us in bondage to sin, are the very weapons that the Devil uses to keep us at a distance.
Funny part about the verse from Luke 17......
The lepers could see Jesus.
They could hear Him.
They could watch His every move....
But because of their disease, they stood at a distance.
Why?
Because of the nature of leprosy. That, coupled with the fact that it was against the law for anyone with leprosy to come in contact with anyone else.
But isn't that the way it is with the law. Isn't that the way it is with the law that God gave Moses. God gave 10 commandments to follow. Ten! And we couldn't even keep them. The law demanded a payment from those who had broken a commandment. Old Testament says that such payment was death.
The law keeps us at a distance. My inability to keep the commandments put me at a distance from Jesus.
But mercy and grace....ahhh, that is another story.
Mercy and grace flow over the law and whispers to us that the payment has been made to satisfy the law. Jesus was that payment.
Calvary was the place it was satisfied at.
From that hill....
Fro that cross.....
Echoed the words..."IT IS FINISHED!" No longer would we have to stand at a distance from Jesus. Now we can come to him....with our spiritual leprosy and find healing. We no longer have to stand at a distance and be a spectator to the presence and power of Christ. 

Matthew 8:1-3
Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly a man with leprosy approached Jesus. he knelt before him worshipping. "Lord," the man said, 'If you want to , you can make me well again." Jesus touched him, "I want to," he said. "Be healed!" And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

Two different passages from the Bible.
Same disease.......leprosy.
Same Jesus...
But this time, instead of standing at a distance, the man with leprosy risked everything he had and came to Jesus. He not only came to Him, the man with leprosy fell to his knees and worshipped. There was a brokenness and a humbleness to this man. His words revealed his faith in Jesus. The only doubt he had was that Jesus simply might not want to heal him. That was never the case as Jesus told the man, "I want to." Hidden in those three words, "I want to," is the revelation that speaks to us saying, "I've been waiting for you. I have longed to see you well and walking in new life. I am so glad that you have come to be healed." 
What is it that is keeping you from Jesus?
What is it that is blocking you from receiving the ultimate healing...salvation?
Today is your day to be healed.
Don't be branded and thrown to one side because of your sin. Don't be told that you must stand at a distance and simply observe. Push through the crowd and fall at the feet of Jesus this morning and cry out..."Heal me, Lord!"
"For God so love you.......that He gave His only begotten Son, that if you would believe on Him, you would not perish but have everlasting life."
Now if that doesn't set you on fire...then your woods wet!

God on you....
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Being About The Kingdom Business

From time to time I get asked a question concerning my "spiritual" education.....
"Where did you go to seminary?"
To which I reply, "In the closet!"
I did not go to a formal institution of higher learning.
I never sat with others and listened to great minds (and hearts) espouse the finer points of preaching. 
My seminary was found in a closet at Gadsden Vineyard Church.
There in that little room were hundreds and hundreds of teaching tapes from various leaders within the Vineyard movement. Of all the tapes, I found myself mesmerized by the teaching of John Wimber. God used this man to open my heart and mind up to the reality of the Kingdom. What it was...how it operated....how it was the central message of everything Jesus taught. The kingdom is coming....the kingdom is here...the kingdom is not yet.

So it made only sense, as I thought about John this morning, to post part of one of his teachings. Enjoy....


I Corinthians 2:4
And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.

The word of God...taught...
The validity of the word of God demonstrated.
Such is the basis for how we are the church on Saturday night.
No matter which view you hold to about recovery...
It all comes down to a POWER greater than ourselves who could restore us.
If that Power is never manifested...
If that Power is never revealed....
If all we do is talk about power...
read about power...
Then it serves no purpose to no one.

I do not wish to presume upon God, nor try to manipulate Him (As if I could) in any way, shape, form or fashion.
But the simple truth is this....
If we don't encounter God at some time...Then our lives just aren't going to change.
We can act like we've changed.
We can go to a meeting every day and night of the week, and collect chips for our sobriety until we could fill up the trunk of our car with them.
But unless we are touched by God....
We are are without hope.

Every Saturday night, I come to our meeting expecting to encounter God. I don't know how it will happen. I don't know what He is going to do..I just know that if I show up not expecting, then that's what will happen...nothing.
I've written this on numerous occasions but I can't say it enough. Over the past almost 17 years, I have not held a meeting where God didn't show up and touch someone, manifest himself in some way, or speak a specific message. 
We have seen, and continue to see...
Healing's...
Deliverance from demonic spirits...
Salvation...
People receiving words from God...
Rededicating of people to God.
People long into their addiction admitting they need to at least take a look at the possibility that God has been the missing piece in their sobriety.

Recovery is found in God...
Recovery is God...
The ultimate Power brought to bear to take back those who have been trapped in the darkness of Satan.

God on you...
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The Power Of A Past Not Dealt With

Three things we have to face everyday....
Our past....
Today....
Tomorrow....
Unless we have a change of heart, that can only come through the work of the Holy Spirit, We will keep repeating the same mistakes, even if we don't want to.
How can I say that?
Because unless we deal with our past....take our Step #4 inventories....we will always be governed by shame and guilt. These two toxic emotions are the very thing that holds us in the grip of our addiction. We allow the past to define us. We allow our past to color and tint everything that happens today. And when today is filled with failure and "what's the use!" then there isn't any future. We don't want to look at tomorrow because we know how it will turn out.

The apostle Paul kind of nailed all this "past / present / future" thing when he wrote Philippians. He begins in Chapter 3, verse 12 addressing the need for taking care of today.
"Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected (His behavior or performance) but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me."

Paul has a healthy inventory of himself. He admits that He has not reach the pinnacle or summit of life yet. He knows that his actions and behavior are still a work in progress, because his heart is being transformed daily as he allows the Holy Spirit to change his heart, his nature, and his character. How can Paul have such a view with the past he carried around?  Easy. We find out his secret in Verse 13.
"Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind (past) and reaching forward to those things which are already...."
Think about Paul's past....
He was a hot-shot in the Jewish Temple circles. He was a Pharisee...big time enforcer of the rule-keeping bunch. Paul had a mad-on for anyone connected with Jesus, so he went about locking up people in jail for following Jesus' teaching. He had people killed. Families were destroyed because of Paul, and now here he is following Jesus himself. Do you think maybe Paul had nightmares about the people he had killed? Do you think the devil and his bunch used Paul's past to derail his efforts to tell of what Jesus had done to him?

When we read in this Philippians passage that Paul "Forgot About His Past", what he is really saying is, "I have dealt with my past!" Paul confessed, repented and received forgiveness for what he'd done. It was no longer a point of contention in his life. Paul was just crazy enough to believe that if you confess your sins.....then God is faithful and just to forgive you....and as a bonus, cleanse you from all (an what falls under "all"?") your unrighteousness. Paul was no longer moving forward trapped in the prison of his past.

Then in verse 14 Paul sets his sights on his future. We read "I press toward the goal for the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Paul is saying, "There will be obstacles and days when the effort to move forward will be hard, but I am pressing on...I am moving forward....I have a goal to reach....I want to run the race before me and be able to stand before Jesus upon my death...and hear Him say, "Well done my good and faithful servant."

That Paul was pretty slick, was he not?
So, bottom line, don't let your past define who you are today.
Don't let your today keep you from who God desires you to be tomorrow.
Think on this...

God on you...
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Urgency And Revival

Philippians 3:12
Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

Philippians 3:14
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Something happened this weekend that has never happened before.
I spoke Saturday night at Vineyard ReCovery...
I spoke Sunday morning at Northside...
And I spoke last night at Catalyst Recovery....
On each message, I felt a sense of urgency that I've never experienced before...
Not an urgency to be through quickly with the teaching....
Not an urgency to rush through the Scripture....
But a sense of God wanting the truth to come out plainly and clearly.

Last night before I taught (as the worship was going on) I was bombarded in my thoughts with all manner of negative accusations.
"You didn't study enough!"
"You don't really know God, you just claim you do!"
"Who are you to stand up in front of all these people and act like your holy and righteous?"
I knew where these thoughts originated....the devil.
After a few moments of prayer, I sought out someone to pray with me, and for me.
I saw Jeremiah Smith moving around near the back so I approached him asking for help and prayer.
He prayed...
God came....
I spoke...
But that sense of urgency was there.

I really have no frame of reference for this feeling, but the closest thing I could come up with was that the urgency is about preparing myself and others for a visitation by God....A revival. That I was simply to teach the word....casting seed upon the ground, if you will....and God would do the rest.

I have been praying for an awakening among the recovery community for a number of years. I have seen mental pictures of a  huge fire lighting up the night sky...flames rising 100's of feet into the air. People came from miles around to see what was burning. People who were in recovery...people who were still in their addiction...people who may not have known or understood what was burning, but they simply wanted to see. There gathered around that fire...God began to touch hearts and a movement of change and salvation swept through the crowd.

The funny part in this mental picture was that it did not take place in what we would call a church building. It took place outside in a location that no one would have ever picked for a meeting. I think this speaks of the power of God to revive that is not bound by our timetable, our location, or the way we think a revival should take place. God is God...He will not be manipulated, or controlled.  The one thing I have remembered and held on to when it comes to our Saturday night meeting is what God told me before we ever had our first meeting. He let me know in no uncertain terms that this was going to be His meeting, I was to get out of the way and simply facilitate what He was doing. I think this visitation we are going to experience this year will be conducted the same way.

Whenever man seeks to get involved in a move of God....It's not good.
Men try to control what's going on....
Creating a structure or form in which the meeting can take place.
Making decisions of what they will and will not do...
What they will and will not allow to happen...
God removes His hand and blessing from such ways and thoughts, and we are left with hungry people who we have nothing to give.
I do not wish to be a part of something like that.

Bottom line....
I think this year will be a time of urgency and revival among people of recovery and addiction. I ready to experience and hear all God has to say and do among us.
Maranatha, Lord Jesus...
Come quickly..

God on you...
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Acts 26:20
.......I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.

(Archive Post From January 28, 2011

Powerful words......
"Prove their repentance...."
Today we are simply called to repent and assume that every one knows that we are sincere about it.
A few tears....
Many gathered around praying for us....
We get up and go back to life as usual.
But here in Acts, Paul makes the bold statement that it is our responsibility to show the work of God in us by the deeds that we do. He didn't say that we should work for our salvation or develop a lifestyle that appears to validate our holiness and commitment to God...............He said that from our repentance would spring forth deeds and actions that reveal the work of the Holy Spirit in us. The deeds Paul is writing about, comes as second nature after I'm saved. 
I don't share the gospel because I have too, or because I have a belief that it is required....I do so because I want to. It is a by product of the Holy Spirit at work in me.

I received a wonderful present last night. Two former clients of Rapha came back to the 9 p.m. Bible study. We sat in my office and I listened as they told story after story of what God is doing in them and through them. One has gone on several mission trips, in particular to Africa and as he was telling me about how he had the chance to preach (he doesn't consider himself a preacher), his eyes filled with tears. He told of sharing John 3:16 with a group of children. As he did so, a number of them ( 15 if my memory serves me right) came forward to receive Christ as Lord and Savior. He was so jazzed about the whole thing. But it didn't stop there. He is working with kids and now has a weekly opportunity to show and share the love of God. He is "proving" his repentance and salvation.

The other man who came is working with others who are caught in addiction. He has so committed himself to this work that people are coming to him for help. He prayed that God would heal him from a physical condition that had plagued him for years........and God healed! He told me story after story about how God has allowed him to work with those who are beaten down and in darkness. This man is also "proving" his repentance and salvation. These two who I have written about go about their day watching and waiting for God to direct their footsteps. They follow God's directives because it is simply what they do. Not because they have to. Get it! We do it because how could we do any less.

This God is a good God!!!!
God on you....
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Genesis 4:4
Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel  and his offering.

Hard to be a follower of Jesus and be selfish at the same time.
Hard to be a follower of Christ and be self-centered at the same time.
But such is the nature of a life given to addiction.
Selfish and self-centered.
Maybe that is the very heart of sin....there is room for nobody else but yourself.
Oh, you need people in your life...but they are allowed in for only what they can do for you. You draw them to yourself for what they can give you.
You enter into a relationship with another person and they become your second drug of choice.
Why?
Because they make you feel good about yourself. A good friend of mine described such a mindset (selfish and self centered) as being "Little black holes of endless need." Just sucking the life out of everyone they meet.

The two brothers in the Genesis story, Cain and Abel, are perfect examples of what happens when "self" gets involved and in the way.
Both men were hard workers.
But the selfish nature of sin brought destruction on the scene.
Both brought their "offerings" before God. One offering was received, one was rejected.
Why?
Because Cain approached God the way he wanted to. He wanted to receive a blessing an acceptance of his offering from God, but he wanted it in order to fulfill an ego...."Hey! Look at me...God loves what I do."
Abel, on the other hand, came to God in a way that was acceptable. Abel received the blessing.

But even with all his selfishness, God still came to Cain and engaged him in a conversation in order to show Cain the error of his ways. Funny thing about being selfish...when you are wronged by someone, you don't really want to listen to anything that person has to say to you. Being self-centered has a way of shutting down all outside communication.The only thing you want to listen to is that voice that is screaming inside your head. "It isn't fair! Everyone is out to get you! You've got to do something to get even!"

God came to Cain and explained the situation.
Genesis 4:7 - "If you do well, will you not be accepted?And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." Such words as these spoken by God doesn't sound like rejection, does it? God loved Cain and wanted the best for Him. But Cain wouldn't listen, and such rejection of God and His words only darkened a heart that was being driven by sin. Rather than see the error of his ways, and the love that God had for him, Cain wold not turn it loose. Instead his selfishness and anger was directed toward his brother, Abel. You know the rest of the story. It was all down hill after that. Except for one thing. Cain still could have repented at any point. He could have gone before God and said, "You know..you were right and I was wrong. Forgive me for what I have done."  But the selfish part of Cain would not allow him to repent. Don't give such a thing as selfishness and being self-centered a place in your heart and in your live.

Following Jesus is built on humility. Knowing who you are in this relationship with Christ, or what I call the "divine" Pecking order. 
(1.) He is God
(2.) I am not.
End of story.

The song that I posted above, Lilly of the Valley, is one of my favorites.
To recognize the awesomeness of God and the simple fact that HE wants to have relationship with me, is beyond my ability to understand or comprehend such a thing.
"More of You...and less of me.....More of You and less of me. And More of You...And More of You.....Jesus!"
Let that be the cry of our hearts. For when we live from this place, there isn't any room for selfishness.

God on you....
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