In the story of the healing of the paralytic in Mark 3:1-5, the great fault of the Sadducees and Pharisees was that they had become enslaved to their liturgical calendar.
Healing could not have happened on the Sabbath because man-made laws were more important than the men for whom they were created to serve, they would say.
How sad when the loving compassion of the Living God grows stale under the uncompromising devotion of religion.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Chain Prayers need Deliverance
I just received another one of those dumb chain prayers in my inbox - you know, the ones that have a nice prayer for prosperity and then say if you forward it to "7 other people within the next 10 minutes" it promises some sort of blessing?
I get two or three of these a week. "If you want God's blessing," they say, "Don't break the chain."
I have some advice for you. Break the chain.
These "Chain Prayers" are about the furthest thing from authentic Christianity that I can imagine. It borders on the practice of superstition, luck, and good fortune and flies in the face of people who have been called out of the practices of the world for a vibrant and living relationship with Jesus Christ.
Don't be fooled. Jesus doesn't not allow Himself to be manipulated. Do you think the power of these letters forces Him to act on your behalf?
Woe to us for thinking we can create anything good by "passing this prayer onto 10 of your best friends - and, be careful; if you break the chain you'll be out of the blessing!" How absolutely silly!
Well meaning Christians have sent me things like this. You've probably received them as well. Perhap even forwarded them along. (It's okay, you won't loose your salvatoin over it.) These prayers contain wonderful, sympathetic, touch-feely sentiments but they invite us into a practice that lies outside the scope of who we are called to be.
Our "promise of blessings" and "divine favor" do not rise and fall with the forwarding or deleting of a Chain Prayer. We serve a Heavenly Father who delights in giving us all things, simply for the asking. We have been ushered into the very throne of Grace and been invited to speak with Him as a friend. Our blessing, favor, healing, and salvation can only be found there. When we place the source of our blessing in anything less than the Person of Christ we have once again succomed and demoted ourselves back to our old sinful, pagan practice - things that have no place (nor carry any weight) in the Kingdom of God.
So the next time you receive an email promising you fame, success, good fortune, or a special blessing, break it, delete it, and cancel it's power. Don't worry. You won't be keeping another person you love from a special blessing, nor will their day be miserable. What even gives you the idea you have the power to do that in the first place?!
Let's put an end to these chain prayers. Make the decision now to simply tell Jesus your need. (Ask Him to bless everyone in adress book as well!)
I get two or three of these a week. "If you want God's blessing," they say, "Don't break the chain."
I have some advice for you. Break the chain.
These "Chain Prayers" are about the furthest thing from authentic Christianity that I can imagine. It borders on the practice of superstition, luck, and good fortune and flies in the face of people who have been called out of the practices of the world for a vibrant and living relationship with Jesus Christ.
Don't be fooled. Jesus doesn't not allow Himself to be manipulated. Do you think the power of these letters forces Him to act on your behalf?
Woe to us for thinking we can create anything good by "passing this prayer onto 10 of your best friends - and, be careful; if you break the chain you'll be out of the blessing!" How absolutely silly!
Well meaning Christians have sent me things like this. You've probably received them as well. Perhap even forwarded them along. (It's okay, you won't loose your salvatoin over it.) These prayers contain wonderful, sympathetic, touch-feely sentiments but they invite us into a practice that lies outside the scope of who we are called to be.
Our "promise of blessings" and "divine favor" do not rise and fall with the forwarding or deleting of a Chain Prayer. We serve a Heavenly Father who delights in giving us all things, simply for the asking. We have been ushered into the very throne of Grace and been invited to speak with Him as a friend. Our blessing, favor, healing, and salvation can only be found there. When we place the source of our blessing in anything less than the Person of Christ we have once again succomed and demoted ourselves back to our old sinful, pagan practice - things that have no place (nor carry any weight) in the Kingdom of God.
So the next time you receive an email promising you fame, success, good fortune, or a special blessing, break it, delete it, and cancel it's power. Don't worry. You won't be keeping another person you love from a special blessing, nor will their day be miserable. What even gives you the idea you have the power to do that in the first place?!
Let's put an end to these chain prayers. Make the decision now to simply tell Jesus your need. (Ask Him to bless everyone in adress book as well!)
How I Got Filled with the Spirit
Here's a blurb from my book entitled, Meet Me in the Desert. It describes how our Heavenly Father baptised me in the Holy Spirit - enjoy!
I surrendered my life to Christ in November of 1977 on a beach in Central Florida. For me it was all about “giving in” to the Lordship of Christ. I had been wallowing in mud and squandering my wealth for far too long and it was time to get on with the things God had planned for me.
So late one night, sitting in the sand with the roar of waves in the backround, I did it. It felt goofy. But I was just that desperate. I said, “God, I don’t know who you are or what you are. But I’ve heard it said that I need to invite Jesus Christ into my heart and I will be saved. So, I now invite Jesus into my heart. I guess that’s it. Amen.”
When I arose from that beach I had a sense that something “very right” had happened. Over the course of the following months I bought a Bible, read it every day, and began to see the beauty of my Lord Jesus Christ everywhere I went.
While things on the inside had changed dramatically things on the outside were still the same: I still lived in the same beach house, still hung out with the same people who still had their same parties each and every night. For a while I had great satisfaction in having the strength to being able to be in the same room with them without sharing in the same old activities. As the nights wore on, however, there were times when I lacked discipline to stay the straight and narrow road.
“Where is your power, Lord?” I prayed.
Previous to my conversion I had experienced cult and occult power – some of which was frighteningly powerful. I knew God was bigger than Satan, yet – up to that point – had not experienced the fullness of God’s power in my life. I grew increasingly frustrated and “backslid” more times than I care to admit. Where was this so-called “victorious life in Christ”?
Shortly thereafter I received a call from a friend who invited me to a “church meeting at the Quality Courts Hotel on A1A,” in Cocoa Beach. I hitchhiked up and we met in the lobby. The moment we walked into the banquet hall I was literally overcome with something I had never experienced: the power of God’s love. I looked around in awe. People everwhere were laughing, hugging; the room was filled with electricity – and the band hadn’t even played yet!
As the worship began, the Presence of God filled the songs with a sweet fragarance of grace. It was a thick, almost cloud-like. And, though the people leading music looked normal, like me (young, blue jeans, t-shirts, and long hair), their faces grew ablaze with the visible presence of God’s undeniable joy. I didn’t know any of the songs, but it didn’t matter. I felt that even if I sang the wrong notes it would still be “right” somehow.
At one point the worhip leader strummed one chord and invited us into a time of free-form worship. As I observed, everyone around me began singing their own words and melodies in adoration to the Lord. It was beautiful. None of it was rehearsed, but it was choreographed piece of music I have ever heard. Most people were standing, eyes closed and hands upheld. I was astutely aware of the sacredness of the moment and slowly dropped to my chair, burying my head in my open palms.
I heard behind me a man singing, in what I now know to be “tongues.” As he sang my heart was strangly attracted, spiritually riveted to his voice. The more he sang, the more my being seemed to rock with the ebb and flow of his song. It was then when I began to experience the power of the Father’s love poured out to me through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5)
In the midst of it all I saw (in my mind) a vision of a door. It was cracked opened about an inch and had intense white light pouring in from its sides, top and bottom. I gazed in awe and wondered how something so brilliant wouldn’t hurt my eyes. I leaned forward and tried to get a better look.
That’s when I heard God say, “Bill, you know I love you.”
I nodded intently. “Yes, Lord, I do.”
“And you know I will never love you any more, or any less, than I love you right now – right?”
“Yes, Lord, I do.”
“There’s nothing you can do to make me love you any more, or any less, than I do at this moment. You know that, right?
“Yes. I do.”
“But, listen: I have more for you.”
“More? For me?”
“Do you want more of Me?”
(Did I want more of Him? By that time in my life I had already realized that everything in the world paled in the face of the love and knowledge of Jesus. I was a fully devoted, fully sold-out, Jesus Freak and wanted – needed – anything and everything He died to give to me. Did I want more of Him? You bet I did!)
“Oh yes, Lord,” I cried. “You know I – “
And before I could finish the statement, the door flew open and I was immersed in the overwhelming light of Christ. In an instant, I saw the horridness of my sin – its effect and stain – completely and wholly swallowed up by God’s unconditional, holy love. I keeled over in my chair and sobbed as the love of God cleansed, restored, and empowered me in the depth of my being. My friends surrounded me, laid their hands on me, and blessed me. I was finally experiencing the power of God, filling me from head to toe, giving me the power I needed to be a victorious follower of Jesus Christ.
The whole time this man behind me was singing away, praising God in his own tongue; his voice rising and lowering with the ebb and flow of the miracle happingin in my heart. God was breaking my stubborn pride. In His unrelenting and undeserving mercy, He was restoring the years the locusts had eaten, giving me a heart of flesh for a heart of stone, and trading my sorrows for the joy of the Lord!
Afterwards I couldn’t wait to get home. I ran through the door, headed down the hallway, turned on the bathroom light and looked at myself in the mirror. The experience of God’s power had been so intense that I had to see if I had changed on the outside! In my reflection I saw the radiant face of a young man who had finally found what he was looking for – the peace and power of God in his life. The waters of the Laver had been poured out upon my heart, washing me clean of my sin and filling me with the unimaginable power of the Holy Spirit.
I remember looking at myself in the mirror and saying, “Don’t you ever loose this!” And, today, some thirty years later – by God’s grace and His everlasting faithfulness – I haven’t.
A few years later I heard a song by the late great Keith Green which articulated the experiance:
Like a foolish dreamer, trying to build a highway to the sky,
All my hopes would come tumbling down,
And I never knew just why,
Until today, when you pulled away the clouds that hung like curtains
On my eyes,
Well I've been blind all these wasted years
And I though I was so wise,
But then you took me by surprise.
Like waking up from the longest dream, how real it seemed,
Until your love broke through,
I've been lost in a fantasy, that blinded me,
Until your love broke through.
All my life I've been searching for that crazy missing part,
And with one touch, you just rolled away the stone
That held my heart,
And now I see that the answer was as easy, as just asking you in,
And I am so sure I could never doubt your gentle touch again,
It's like the power of the wind.
Like waking up from the longest dream, how real it seemed,
until your love broke through,
I've been lost in a fantasy, that blinded me,
Until your love, until your love, broke through.
(From the song, Your Love Broke Through, Keith Green)
That was my first visit to the Laver. And I have returned to it many, many times (remember Ephesians 5:18!). The Laver is always there for us. Why not pause now – just for a moment – bow your head to His throne of Grace – and ask the Father to fill you afresh with the power of the Holy Spirit?
I surrendered my life to Christ in November of 1977 on a beach in Central Florida. For me it was all about “giving in” to the Lordship of Christ. I had been wallowing in mud and squandering my wealth for far too long and it was time to get on with the things God had planned for me.
So late one night, sitting in the sand with the roar of waves in the backround, I did it. It felt goofy. But I was just that desperate. I said, “God, I don’t know who you are or what you are. But I’ve heard it said that I need to invite Jesus Christ into my heart and I will be saved. So, I now invite Jesus into my heart. I guess that’s it. Amen.”
When I arose from that beach I had a sense that something “very right” had happened. Over the course of the following months I bought a Bible, read it every day, and began to see the beauty of my Lord Jesus Christ everywhere I went.
While things on the inside had changed dramatically things on the outside were still the same: I still lived in the same beach house, still hung out with the same people who still had their same parties each and every night. For a while I had great satisfaction in having the strength to being able to be in the same room with them without sharing in the same old activities. As the nights wore on, however, there were times when I lacked discipline to stay the straight and narrow road.
“Where is your power, Lord?” I prayed.
Previous to my conversion I had experienced cult and occult power – some of which was frighteningly powerful. I knew God was bigger than Satan, yet – up to that point – had not experienced the fullness of God’s power in my life. I grew increasingly frustrated and “backslid” more times than I care to admit. Where was this so-called “victorious life in Christ”?
Shortly thereafter I received a call from a friend who invited me to a “church meeting at the Quality Courts Hotel on A1A,” in Cocoa Beach. I hitchhiked up and we met in the lobby. The moment we walked into the banquet hall I was literally overcome with something I had never experienced: the power of God’s love. I looked around in awe. People everwhere were laughing, hugging; the room was filled with electricity – and the band hadn’t even played yet!
As the worship began, the Presence of God filled the songs with a sweet fragarance of grace. It was a thick, almost cloud-like. And, though the people leading music looked normal, like me (young, blue jeans, t-shirts, and long hair), their faces grew ablaze with the visible presence of God’s undeniable joy. I didn’t know any of the songs, but it didn’t matter. I felt that even if I sang the wrong notes it would still be “right” somehow.
At one point the worhip leader strummed one chord and invited us into a time of free-form worship. As I observed, everyone around me began singing their own words and melodies in adoration to the Lord. It was beautiful. None of it was rehearsed, but it was choreographed piece of music I have ever heard. Most people were standing, eyes closed and hands upheld. I was astutely aware of the sacredness of the moment and slowly dropped to my chair, burying my head in my open palms.
I heard behind me a man singing, in what I now know to be “tongues.” As he sang my heart was strangly attracted, spiritually riveted to his voice. The more he sang, the more my being seemed to rock with the ebb and flow of his song. It was then when I began to experience the power of the Father’s love poured out to me through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5)
In the midst of it all I saw (in my mind) a vision of a door. It was cracked opened about an inch and had intense white light pouring in from its sides, top and bottom. I gazed in awe and wondered how something so brilliant wouldn’t hurt my eyes. I leaned forward and tried to get a better look.
That’s when I heard God say, “Bill, you know I love you.”
I nodded intently. “Yes, Lord, I do.”
“And you know I will never love you any more, or any less, than I love you right now – right?”
“Yes, Lord, I do.”
“There’s nothing you can do to make me love you any more, or any less, than I do at this moment. You know that, right?
“Yes. I do.”
“But, listen: I have more for you.”
“More? For me?”
“Do you want more of Me?”
(Did I want more of Him? By that time in my life I had already realized that everything in the world paled in the face of the love and knowledge of Jesus. I was a fully devoted, fully sold-out, Jesus Freak and wanted – needed – anything and everything He died to give to me. Did I want more of Him? You bet I did!)
“Oh yes, Lord,” I cried. “You know I – “
And before I could finish the statement, the door flew open and I was immersed in the overwhelming light of Christ. In an instant, I saw the horridness of my sin – its effect and stain – completely and wholly swallowed up by God’s unconditional, holy love. I keeled over in my chair and sobbed as the love of God cleansed, restored, and empowered me in the depth of my being. My friends surrounded me, laid their hands on me, and blessed me. I was finally experiencing the power of God, filling me from head to toe, giving me the power I needed to be a victorious follower of Jesus Christ.
The whole time this man behind me was singing away, praising God in his own tongue; his voice rising and lowering with the ebb and flow of the miracle happingin in my heart. God was breaking my stubborn pride. In His unrelenting and undeserving mercy, He was restoring the years the locusts had eaten, giving me a heart of flesh for a heart of stone, and trading my sorrows for the joy of the Lord!
Afterwards I couldn’t wait to get home. I ran through the door, headed down the hallway, turned on the bathroom light and looked at myself in the mirror. The experience of God’s power had been so intense that I had to see if I had changed on the outside! In my reflection I saw the radiant face of a young man who had finally found what he was looking for – the peace and power of God in his life. The waters of the Laver had been poured out upon my heart, washing me clean of my sin and filling me with the unimaginable power of the Holy Spirit.
I remember looking at myself in the mirror and saying, “Don’t you ever loose this!” And, today, some thirty years later – by God’s grace and His everlasting faithfulness – I haven’t.
A few years later I heard a song by the late great Keith Green which articulated the experiance:
Like a foolish dreamer, trying to build a highway to the sky,
All my hopes would come tumbling down,
And I never knew just why,
Until today, when you pulled away the clouds that hung like curtains
On my eyes,
Well I've been blind all these wasted years
And I though I was so wise,
But then you took me by surprise.
Like waking up from the longest dream, how real it seemed,
Until your love broke through,
I've been lost in a fantasy, that blinded me,
Until your love broke through.
All my life I've been searching for that crazy missing part,
And with one touch, you just rolled away the stone
That held my heart,
And now I see that the answer was as easy, as just asking you in,
And I am so sure I could never doubt your gentle touch again,
It's like the power of the wind.
Like waking up from the longest dream, how real it seemed,
until your love broke through,
I've been lost in a fantasy, that blinded me,
Until your love, until your love, broke through.
(From the song, Your Love Broke Through, Keith Green)
That was my first visit to the Laver. And I have returned to it many, many times (remember Ephesians 5:18!). The Laver is always there for us. Why not pause now – just for a moment – bow your head to His throne of Grace – and ask the Father to fill you afresh with the power of the Holy Spirit?
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