In my last blog I laid out a case for the existence of a principle that says: Intimacy precedes fruitfulness. However, I didn't give you any application. Since principles unapplied aren't much help we need to come up with some application. It's great knowledge, but if we can't begin to leverage the principle then what good is it? It's great to know that intimacy precedes fruitfulness, but how do we develop a more intimate relationship with God?
You know when I came to understand that there's a principle that says that intimacy precedes fruitfulness I was a bit discouraged and sometimes I still am. Like you, I've striven and struggled to increase intimacy with God. I've done the quiet time thing. I've sat and stared at the wall and thought about everything under the sun during my prayer time BUT God. I get it. But here's the deal. The fact that we've struggled doesn't invalidate the principle. Unless God is exceedingly unfair, then there must be a path to intimacy and fruitfulness, right? There has to be. If God is a good and loving God and sent Jesus to die in order to create the basis for relationship, then there must be some way to actually experience that relationship in terms of growing intimacy which leads to fruitfulness.
I've never known God to be formula driven and because what we're after is spiritual in nature I don't believe there's a formula or a foolproof process for growing in intimacy with God. You're not a formula either. God made you in a special way and there will be a way that you interact with Him that will produce deeper intimacy and increasing fruitfulness. You're going to have to ask God what creating a more intimate relationship with Him looks like. This is important, because it needs to come from Him through His Spirit so that it's not a method or ritual that you develop on your own that only becomes drudgery. However, if it's a process or method that is of the Spirit then it cannot fail to produce intimacy between you and God and more fruit in your life.
Hundreds of years ago the desert fathers went off to be alone and give themselves to the pursuit of intimacy. Some tremendous fruit came out of that. I'm not saying you need to go live in a cave and be a hermit, but you are going to have to be intentional and maybe the starting place for that is asking the Lord what your pursuit of intimacy would look like.
So there's no program or system. What I am going to suggest to you is this. How about asking God what the process of moving towards ever deepening levels of intimacy would look like? And how about this? How about you don't sweat it too much until He answers? You should be prepared to hear either very little or perhaps things you didn't expect. You might not get the response you're looking for. For instance, I felt a release to put my bible down for a while. I've since found out that some others, though not everyone, have had a similar experience and I think the reason is this. God wants you to have a relationship with Him and He's not the bible. Now don't freak out on me. I read my bible this morning. I love God's word. I just needed to come to a place of loving God more than His word.
When I got to the point of deciding that I might never really get to intimacy with God I asked a question and it was this: God, what would it look like for me to pursue a more intimate relationship with You? I also told him I wasn't going to do anything until I felt Him leading me. Do you know that God led me down a path? I began to have a desire to find out how other people who have achieved greater levels of intimacy did it. To that end I read some books. Through that process I was able to place some options in front of me. Kind of like a menu of different types of spiritual activities, or disciplines. They ranged from praying in specific ways, to contemplating, to meditating, to singing, to spending time in nature and other things. From these I began to pick some activities that I felt I resonated with. I interpreted anything that resonated in my spirit as something I'd like to try, as leading from the Holy Spirit and I tried them. Some worked, some didn't. The point is that God and I starting having a conversation about what my process for growing in intimacy would look like. There was a process of discovery that is still ongoing, but the great thing is that I'm beginning to increase my level of intimacy with God and produce some new fruit.
So that's how it's worked so far for me. Whatever the method He chooses to use with me or you......and it doesn't matter what it is....the point is that God does want to weigh into this with you and He's got some ideas about what might be helpful if you'll ask. One thing will be true of His answer for all of us. He's going to ask for time. I don't know how you'll spend that time with Him but it will take time. The secret is finding a way or method of spending that time which doesn't become drudgery or ritual for you. Ask Him about that and tell Him you don't want another check off list.
If you're younger this is good for you to hear, because there are lots of opportunities for you to get sidetracked by strategies and methods of growing in spiritual maturity that won't really grow you that much. You can read books like I did and books may be helpful from time to time, but books are not going to be the thing that gets you to go deep with the Lord. It's also highly unlikely that going to a study, or a seminar, or filling in the blanks in a workbook is going to facilitate a lot of intimacy. Can I say this as well? A human discipling relationship isn't going to do it either, though it may play a role and be helpful. My relationship with Max produced fruit and was positive, but Max wasn't the thing or the person that spurred me in the direction of intimacy. It was the Holy Spirit that did that. Paul said, " I planted and Apollos watered, but God gave the increase". So if that's true it would be foolish for you to put all your eggs in the basket of finding someone to disciple you as the means of growing in intimacy. Pursue the discipling relationship, but pursue the Lord as well.
If you're older, maybe you're like me and you've experienced some pain in your life and some disappointment and out of that you've grown and matured and you can see more clearly the priority of developing a more intimate relationship with the Lord. Maybe you're hearing the whisper of the Holy Spirit calling you to intimacy, but you've got no idea how to make that happen. And besides that, your attempts in the past may have ended in failure and that thought of giving it another shot just makes you ill. I've been there. But if the principle is true, if intimacy really does precede fruitfulness, and if we want to be fruitful, then what choice do we have?
So I know it's hard and intimidating, but I want you to forget about that for a moment and I want you to dream. What might change in your life if you were able to come to ever increasing levels of intimacy? What might be possible if you came into deeper relationship with God?
How do you think increased intimacy would impact your ability to disciple someone? How many of you have been discipled by someone who didn't seem to know God any better than you did? You don't want to be that person do you? It might be important for you to get to a level of intimacy and what if you did? Think about the fruit God might produce if you were discipling someone out of your own intimate relationship with God.
How do you think your relationships with your friends might change if you were more intimate with God? What about your relationship with your spouse? Parents? Children? What might happen if you were constantly going deeper with God? What fruit might be born in those relationships?
What if you moved to intimacy and in that process God began to reveal some things to you about yourself and you engaged with God and worked with God in fixing them? You'd have a basis for helping someone with the same problem.
What if through a process of growing intimacy you came to an understanding of who you are? One of the most powerful prayers you can pray when it comes to getting identity sorted out is this: "Lord, I want to see myself the way You see me." This is a great prayer because God does two things - in no particular order. First He begins to show you how special and wonderful you are and how precious you are. Second, He begins to show you some things about yourself that aren't so nice to look at. However, it is necessary for you to see those things and if you'll face them and then allow God to bring you through them and change you in the process you'll grow in both intimacy and fruitfulness. You see, the hard work of sorting out your identity only happens as you press in to God. This is because God created you and He's in the best position to talk to you about who you really are. Once you come to understand and see yourself the way God sees you, you're positioned to produce a lot of fruit. That understanding only comes through a process of increasing intimacy.
What if you grew in intimacy with the Lord to the point that you always knew, in every moment, that He loved you? How would that understanding change you and the people around you? One thing that might change is your critical spirit (if you have one). You'd begin to see the same struggles in others that you've seen in yourself and instead of being critical, you'd be compassionate. Do you see how intimacy could produce fruit? We could go on and on.
If this principle is true then it's also a requirement that all of us grow more intimate with God or our lives won't count as much as they could. So here's my hope for you. I hope and pray that you'll give the intimacy thing a try. And if your first response is, - "I've tried that before and it just didn't work for me" - I'd ask you to take a moment and think about that experience you had and ask yourself some questions.
The last time I really made an effort at intimacy, did I go about it based on my understanding of what that process should look like or did I invite God into the process?
If I'm honest with myself, did I really just decide to buy into some canned program that someone else had developed with all the best intentions, striking out on my own without one thought as to what God might have to say?
If I'm honest have I ever really pursued intimacy with God in the manner that God wants me to pursue it? Have I ever stopped long enough to ask?
If you haven't then I hope you'll give it another shot. But this time I hope you'll ask this question first: "Lord if intimacy really does precede fruitfulness, then would You show me what steps to take so that my life can be a life that is characterized by intimacy with You and becomes a life that bears fruit in Your kingdom?" If you ask that question sincerely here's what I think will happen. I think that God, who is the author and creator of intimacy and the one who thought up the idea of fruitfulness, won't disappoint you.
I was asked recently to speak at a small discipleship weekend about...you guessed it, discipleship. As I thought about what I could say about discipleship I asked myself a question and the question was: What's the point? It's not that I don't think there's a point, I just want to know what it is. As I thought about that I concluded that the purpose for entering into a discipling relationship either as a discipler or disciple is to produce fruit of some kind. As I thought back over my experiences with discipleship and my experience of being discipled by the Holy Spirit, I realized that there is a principle that governs fruitfulness in any kind of relationship and that principle has to do with intimacy. Stated simply the principle would be: Intimacy precedes fruitfulness. You see the outworking of this principle all around you. All of us are the fruit of an intimate relationship between a man and a woman. Businesses often join forces for the purpose of accomplishing something in relationship that they couldn't accomplish apart. There's also a corollary to the principle and it is this: More intimacy produces more fruitfulness. Jesus talks about this in John 15. If this principle is true it means that in order to become the man or woman of God that you want to become you're going to have to enter into a process of ever deepening intimacy with the Lord because there's a principle that says intimacy precedes fruitfulness.
My first experience being a disciple was when I was 24. I found myself in a place of very few human relationships and an emptiness that needed to be filled. I felt the Holy Spirit calling me back to church and a man named Max asked me if I'd like to spend some time meeting with him on a regular basis. As I moved through that experience I noticed changes beginning to take place. I grew closer to the Lord and my life began to bear some fruit. In all honesty it wasn't a lot of fruit, but I didn't have a lot of intimacy either.
About the time I was 32 years old a question popped into my head. The question was, "What are you going to do when you grow up?" I thought that was a weird question to be asking myself, because I was grown up. I had a career, a wife, kids, a house and two cars. Along with that question came an impression that I was supposed to be doing something else with my life and that time was slipping away. I recognized the question and the impression as coming from God through the Holy Spirit and so I felt a level of urgency in responding. My response was to begin to pray some prayers. I prayed that God would allow me to see Him do great things, that He'd use my life in a significant way, and that He'd make me look more like Jesus. I didn't recognize it at the time, but those prayers were prayers for intimacy. Through that process of prayer I drew closer to God and the intimacy in our relationship increased the result of which was fruit. Over the next few years I made some life changing decisions, the most profound of which was to leave my career in order to re-order my priorities with respect to being a better husband and father and to honor the Lord in those roles.
About 8 years ago I was beginning to work through the decision as to whether to come on staff with AIM or not. During that time I did a lot of praying and I think that the level of intimacy between me and the Lord increased. I came on staff with AIM and I'm not the same person I was 8 years ago. There's been some fruit produced as a result of intimacy.
I bet you could tell similar stories and connect the dots between the production of kingdom fruit in your life and intimacy with God. It should be apparent to us God has an economy when it comes to producing fruit that goes from call to intimacy to fruitfulness because there's a principle that says intimacy precedes fruitfulness.
In spite of whatever progress I've made I still struggle with intimacy and with a desire to produce more fruit in my life. I bet you'd like to produce more fruit as well. I wonder if you feel the same tensions in your life that I feel in mine. Maybe this resonates with you. You know that God has a destiny or plan for your life and you've gotten to the point spiritually where you understand that there are some things in you that need to get resolved. Maybe you're wounded or you're coming into a realization of your brokenness or you need some emotional healing. Maybe you sense the Holy Spirit saying to you that these things need to get resolved before you can move into greater levels of ministry and service.
Maybe you've gotten to a level of maturity in which the things of the world no longer hold the allure they once had and you've made a decision to follow the Lord more completely, but now you feel like God is calling you to another level of faith, a higher level of dependence on Him and you're not sure you're ready to make another sacrifice. You know in your mind that God will take care of you, but you also know that from a faith position, you're still relying on yourself to some degree. Intimacy needs to increase so that faith can increase so that fruitfulness can increase.
Maybe you're just spiritually dry. Maybe when you pray there's nothing there. God's not around and you just don't know how to connect with God anymore and you're about to give up. Maybe for you there's no intimacy. You're thinking, "I'm on board with the principle that says intimacy precedes fruitfulness, but for me, there's not a lot of intimacy and very little fruit."
Whatever it is, I bet that you would admit that you want to produce more spiritual fruit than you do. The good news is that God wants that for you as well. In fact He wants it so much for you that it was something that Jesus prayed would happen.
On the night Jesus was arrested, He spent some time praying in the garden. Jesus knew that in a matter of hours he was going to be arrested, beaten, whipped, tried, and hung on a cross. He knew that this would be the last opportunity He had to pray to His Father. If you know anything about Jesus' life, you know He prayed a lot and of all the prayers He had ever prayed this one might have been the most urgent. I don't think it's an accident that He prayed that you and I would come into deeper levels of intimacy and produce more fruit because Jesus understood the relationship between intimacy and fruitfulness.
In John 17:21 Jesus prays the following: "...that they all may be one , as you father are in me and I in you; that they also may be one in us so that the world may believe that you sent me."
The first part of this prayer is for intimacy among believers. The second part is that the intimacy we have with each other would be like the intimacy Jesus and the Father shared with each other. The third part is that we would have the same level of intimacy between ourselves and God as Jesus and God have in their relationship.
Why would Jesus pray for this level of intimacy to be achieved? He answers in the last part of the sentence. He knew that His followers would be charged with spreading the message of the Gospel and He knew the opposition that would occur. He knew that in order for the message of the Gospel to produce fruit, His messengers would have to come to a level of intimacy, because intimacy precedes fruitfulness.
In verse 26 Jesus says, "And I have declared to them your name, and will declare it, that the love with which you loved me may be in them.
What an amazing statement. This is one of those verses that I read many times before I realized what it was saying. It made such an impression on me that I taped it on my bathroom mirror so that I always remember that Jesus wants me to love him as much as God loved him. In some sense I'm not even able to comprehend the meaning of that request. I know that God is a good and loving God and I've experienced God's love as I'm sure you have. But the fact is I don't love like God loves. God has given me both a revelation of Himself and His love, but it's not a complete revelation. If I were to experience the fullness of God's love I think I'd become undone as Isaiah was when He had a vision of God. Yet Jesus wants us to love Him the way God loves Him. As amazing as that is we'd have to ask why. I think Jesus wants us to love him like God loves him because if we do, or if we move in the direction of loving him more, there will be a deepening level of intimacy that produces fruit, because intimacy precedes fruitfulness.
Here's some proof of the validity of the principle. Can you imagine any relationship in the history of relationships that has been more intimate than the relationship between Jesus and God? Can you think of any relationship in the history of relationships that has produced more fruit than the relationship between Jesus and God? Intimacy precedes fruitfulness.
If you're like me principles without application aren't much help. We'll take a look at how we leverage the principle in Part 2.
I just spent the day yesterday with some other staff members at AIM responding to the fact that one of our First Year Missionary participants in South Africa was killed in an automobile accident. In the midst of getting the details of what happened, working to make sure the team in Africa is cared for, contacting the family, and praying, I found myself thinking about the cost associated with obedience. This wasn't an instance of martyrdom in the sense that you and I think about martyrs. However, a life was lost as a result of obedience to an understanding of God's will and and call. I've not spent much time asking why. I know that on this side of eternity, there may not be a good answer. What I do know is that God is sovereign and in His sovereignty He allowed this tragedy to happen.
I've thought a lot about the parents in the last 24 hours. I can't imagine their pain. I think often about the parents who send their kids on our mission trips. I know that they are concerned for the safety of their kids. It's natural. You send your 18 year old half way around the world and as a parent, you worry. You understand that something could happen to them. But you move from that quickly, because the possibility of that happening is remote. And then it happens. As I spent the day working through the aftermath of this tragedy, it occurred to me that God doesn't have us playing games. Yesterday death reached up and took one of our missionaries. I know God was and is sovereign in the midst of that, but a price was paid today. If we're going to be in the center of God's will we will find ourselves in danger and the consequences might be our lives. I've heard it said many times, "The center of God's will is the safest place you can be." How completely untrue that is. The martyrs would tell you that God's will is a dangerous place to be. God has sent us as ambassadors into a world that is in opposition to Him. It is dangerous for us to be in His will and in obedience we take risks.
This summer my 15 year old son, Ryan, will spend 5 weeks in Mexico serving our mission teams. As a parent I think about worst case scenarios. I understand that something could happen to him. I have a choice. Do I allow my son to be in a situation that God would use to make him look more like Jesus? Do I do that in spite of the known dangers or do I opt out of the danger and keep him home this summer? Yesterday I came face to face with the starkness of the possibilities. God reminded me of the cost that might be required and has asked me to choose. I choose to opt in to the danger. I choose to risk something for the upward call of Christ. I choose not to take the safe road that leads to complacency. I choose the danger that exists within the will of the Father. I'm not sure how this will sound, but I'd rather my son die in the midst of obediently responding to God's plan for him, than to live a safe, mediocre life that is an affront to the reality of who he is: an heir of the King, called to wage a battle for the establishment of the Kingdom of the King. So I will let Ryan go to Mexico this summer and I'll pray for two things. I'll pray for his safety, but I'll also pray that God begins to awaken him to his destiny and that he begins to embrace the danger inherent in obedience.
Here's the text of a blog post from Seth Barnes, AIM's founder and Executive Director. I was going to put a blog up to share my thoughts about this situation, but my thoughts are a bit scattered right now.
Yesterday an AIM participant in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, was killed in an automobile accident. I'm not going to mention her name in case word hasn't gotten out to everyone yet. But I'm told she was a real star - a young lady who set an example to everyone she touched. Certainly she did so by following God's call on her life and ministering to the poor in South Africa. She loved Jesus and died serving him, and I thank God for her life.
Last night we called her parents. It makes you ask, "What are the limits to what God expects of us?" I know he wants to give everything to him, but this is beyond heart-breaking.
God has called us to a road that is sometimes more than we can bear. And this feels like one of those times. Please pray for the family as they cope with this unimaginable loss. I'll share more when I'm able.
Some of you have had to deal with tragedy. It is so hard to make sense of events like this. Please pray for the family as they cope with this unimaginable loss. And if you have words of consolation that we can pass along, please feel free to share them.
A couple of months ago I was reading through Genesis. As I read I try to be listening for what God might have to say to me. I was reading the account of Abram chasing after his nephew Lot. Lot and his family had gotten in the middle of a battle between some kings and had been taken captive. Abram defeated the king who had kidnapped Lot and his family and returned them to their home near Sodom. At that point, the king of Sodom came out to meet Abram and said, "Give me the people [you rescued] and keep the goods for yourself." He was trying to be benevolent to Abram and to thank him for rescuing Lot by allowing him to keep the spoils of his victory. Abram replied, "I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.'
Abram understood that God is holy and that our response to God's holiness is to keep ourselves holy as well. He knew that the spoils of the battle were rightly his, but he also knew that an unholy king was seeking to enrich him. By keeping the spoils Abram would have allowed the perception that his wealth, success, and prosperity were the result of an association with someone who was in opposition to God. Rather than allow that perception to be created, Abram refused the spoils. So this is what God said to me, "Is there anything in you, is there anything that is a part of you, have you been enriched physically or otherwise due to an association with sin?"
It's a good question to answer. We all need to achieve a level of self-awareness. Part of achieving that is coming to understand how we've become who we are. Does the world look at you and admire you? Are the things which they admire about you yours due to an association with sin? Or do the things they admire about you result from your association with the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth?
We just had a team come back from India. They have been in New Delhi for the last 3 months ministering to orphans and in leper colonies. One of the things we do with teams is debrief them when they return. We want to get them thinking about what they've seen and experienced and begin to help them process through what God has shown them. One of the questions we ask is this:
What was something that was hard for you on the trip, how did you face the hardship and get through it, and how did God redeem that struggle?
Here are some of the answers from different people on the team. I've put the first initial of the person at the end of each anecdote. Several of them are 'K'. For some weird reason about 8 out of the 10 participants have a first name beginning with 'K'.
I was extremely homesick. My family has always been my comfort. God became my comfort in the absence of my family. I also knew that India was going to be dirty and gross. It was and I hate being dirty and gross. At some point during the trip God showed me that I needed to be willing to give up cleanliness for the name of Jesus. I was able to do that and Jesus desire to love the people of India through me was more important than my being clean. M
I thought it was silly when people would say that God knows us better than we know ourselves. After all, I'm me, who could know me better than me? At the leper colony I was confronted with things I'd never experienced before. I saw a dead person for the first time. I had some reactions that I didn't expect and they weren't good reactions. I guess God put some things in front of me to bring out some things in me that need to change. It was amazing to realize that He really does know me better than I know myself and puts me in situations for the purpose of revealing the things in me that need to change. K
I didn't like anyone on my team. At one point I told them all that. God showed me that I could love them. As I made the decision to love them, I found that I was able to love them and that it was a real love. K
We were at an orphanage and there were kids everywhere. They were hanging on us and we couldn't get a break. They were pulling at my skirt so much that I had to keep pulling it up to keep it from falling down. I was getting really frustrated and angry wondering why these kids couldn't calm down. Jesus showed me that He had always been in demand by people who needed to be loved. Wherever He went He was in demand. People mobbed Him and wanted to be near Him. From that point forward I considered it an honor and not a burden to experience the same thing that Jesus had experienced. K
That's a taste. As I sat and listened to their stories, I was seeing a group of college age kids who had been changed. The perspective changes that have taken place are foundational and they'll see things differently from here on out. It's a blessing to be a part of something that allows people to experience God in real ways. As He reveals Himself to them He shows them who they really are and it changes them. They want to be more like Him and to do that they have to face their own falleness and give it to Him.
About a year and a half ago I started teaching a series in my Sunday school class about legalism and faith.The Lord has been speaking to me about legalism over the last couple of years and most of what I teach on Sunday mornings is a fleshing out of what the Lord shows me.From that broad topic came a series of lessons about the Kingdom of God and what the Kingdom of God is, at least as I currently understand it.Out of that came a question: How did the Kingdom manifest in Jesus ministry and in the book of Acts?(1)Based on my study and what I have observed, it seems the Kingdom manifested itself in the New Testament through signs, miracles, and wonders.
That fact begged another question:How is the Kingdom of God supposed to manifest today?Nothing seemed to indicate that it should or would manifest any differently today.So we were faced with another question:Why is there so little evidence of Kingdom power in the western church today, when it seems like demonstrations of power were meant to be the norm for the church?Our answer to that question was sobering.
It's apparent that the manifestations of the Kingdom in the NT were the result of people believing and being willing to act on that belief.When someone was sick, they prayed for them.When there was a spiritual battle with demons, they stood and fought based on the authority that was theirs in Christ.In short, they exhibited faith and their faith was efficacious.We concluded that our lack of experience with Kingdom things is the result of a lack of faith.(2)By the way, the absence of faith always results in legalism. We become more interested in appearances than in actually experiencing and walking in the power God intended for us to walk in.From a Sunday school perspective, we're more interested in coming once a week and participating in a program than coming without an agenda to see how God would move that day.
As I thought about my teaching and our Sunday morning format, I came to some conclusions.I concluded that our reliance on program every Sunday morning was quenching the Holy Spirit and I needed to get out of the way and allow Him to begin to direct our weekly time together.I concluded that my teaching was doing very little to address our legalistic mindsets and move us toward the exercise of faith that establishes the Kingdom.I concluded that the people in my class already know about 90% of what I share with them anyway.I concluded that the Lord was telling me to stop teaching because He had something else in mind. I told that class that I wouldn't be teaching any more lessons. They looked at me blankly, but they didn't stop coming either. (3)
I also concluded that the Lord wanted to show us something of what the church is supposed to be, that He had something to show us about fellowship and community.Two of my favorite verses that speak to fellowship and community in the church are in Hebrews.
"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much more as you see the Day approaching."
Heb. 10:24-25
As I thought about my church experience it came up a little short on the considering and exhorting side.So I thought, "Let's stop teaching and start considering and exhorting."So we started meeting without a lesson and without a plan.We waited for God to guide the discussion.I confess that it felt weird initially and the times we had visitors it was a bit awkward for them, but there was fruit.
During this year the following has taken place within our group.
People have confessed grievous sin and they've been ministered to.
We have prayed for healing and people have been healed.
We have wept on each other's behalf and born each other's burdens.We've manifested Jesus' heart of compassion to each other.
We've confronted one another in love.There have been no hard feelings.
We have spoken the truth to each other, often times hard truth, and people have changed in response to the ministry of truth.
People have shared deep, intimate hurts and they've been ministered to.
Lies from the enemy have been identified and refuted.
Marriages have been put back on track.
A place has been made where there is no judgment or condemnation.People can unload their burdens in safety and know that all they'll receive back is consideration, love, and exhortation.
I've seen a lot of spiritual fruit in our group in the last year.More than in the last 15 years of teaching Sunday School lessons combined.The Lord knit us together in relationship for the purpose of establishing His Kingdom in us and through us and on some small scale, that's what happened.We didn't establish community in the sense that God intends us to.I don't think you can do that when you only meet for 1 ½ hours per week.But He gave us a taste.The last year has shown me that what He says the church is supposed to be with regard to community, fellowship, and Kingdom impact, is real.It can happen.Like all of my other experiences with God, it leaves me wanting more.
You know what's really interesting?In the midst of our group ministering to each other, there's been a lot of teaching going on.When we minister, part of what we do is to communicate God's truth; we teach.But it's been teaching that has been led and motivated by the Spirit, consequently, it produced fruit.
(1)We know that Jesus came to re-establish God's Kingdom.In Matt. 4 He said, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand."In Matt. 12 Jesus rebuked the Pharisees saying, "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you."He healed the sick, cast out demons, and performed miracles.Signs, wonders, and miracles seem to be the things that accompany the establishing of the Kingdom of God in the New Testament.
(2) There's been a lot written on how and why God moves miraculously and I don't understand the variables operating (faith or otherwise) when Kingdom miracles happen.I just know that God wants us walk in the Spirit, i.e. to move in response to faith.I also know that lack of faith equals walking in the flesh and lack of Kingdom establishment.
(3) I am a proponent of both teaching in the church and the gift of teaching.Teaching is one of my spiritual gifts.The gift/ministry of teaching is necessary and God wouldn't give it if it wasn't important.However, I believe that its place as the main corporate activity of the western church is out of balance and not what God intended.But that is another discussion.
I'm leading a youth trip in North Dakota this week. We're on a Sioux indian reservation in Devil's Lake. Devil's Lake is the name that was given to this area by indian agents in the 1800's. It's an incorrect translation of the indian name which means 'People of the Enchanted Water'. They call themselves The Spirit Lake People, now.
I've been on a number of different trips with AIM. As an organization we attempt to go to hard places to minister. This is one of those places. I'm struck by the social problems. Unemployment rates of 60%, rampant alcoholism and drug use, teen pregnancy through the roof, lots of dads, but very few fathers, suicide.
The first night we were here a woman knocked on the door of the house we are staying at. She was drunk. She had been drinking for four days. She wanted a ride to Devil's Lake which is about 15 miles away. She was just sober enough to carry a conversation. I listened to her tell me about her life. She has three children, all of whom have different fathers. She is an alcoholic, her father and mother are alcoholics, her grandfather is an alcoholic, her children either are or are becoming alcoholics. Her daughter is 16 years old and living with a man in his 30's. She wanted me to pray for her.
I sat with her wondering how I could possibly minister to her. I had no frame of reference for her life, her problems, her struggles. I don't know her pain. I prayed that God would give me something to say to her that would minister to her. I shared some things with her and prayed for her. I'm not sure if I ministered to her or not. In the end I think I was reasoning with demons. We got her to Devil's Lake and she stumbled into her home.
We went to church on Sunday. A man stood up at the end of the service. He had been ill and recently spent time in a nursing home. He had a cane to help him walk and moved very slowly. He spoke to us about some of the social struggles that people on the reservation face and some of the things he has struggled with. Alcohol, multiple suicide attempts. I judged him to be in his mid sixties, perhaps he was 70. He looked as if he could be my father. He's 49.
The Lord has impressed on me something He's been teaching me over the last few years. I've asked Him to let me see the world through His eyes. He's been showing me that most of what we see in the physical is only a manifestation of an underlying spiritual reality. Paul tells us to look not at the temporal but at the eternal in 2 Cor. 4:18. The people here are in spiritual bondage.
The question is, what to do about the bondage? I have with me 14 youth from Seattle Chinese Church and 12 from Alliance Holiness in Chicago ( a Korean church). They are 26 in all and most of them have never been on a mission trip. This is a tough place to be the first time out. We've been praying for God's leadership and asking Him to speak to us in the midst of ministry. We want Him to give us the words to say. These kids on the trip can't empathize with the pain of the kids they're interacting with. They're like me; no frame of reference.
Thankfully, Jesus does know the reality of the pain and the suffering that the people are subjected to here. He is acutely aware of the spiritual battle that is going on and He's using these kids to begin the process of taking back dominion in this place. He wants it back and He wants to use us to begin getting it back.
My bible study is in the book of Mark recently. Mark is focused on the things Jesus did. There are signs and wonders. Miracles. I was reading through chapter 9 the other morning. Jesus is coming down from the mountain with Peter, James and John. As they come down they see that the rest of the disciples are engaged with the Teachers of the Law in an argument. There are a lot of people standing around watching. As soon as they see Jesus, they forget the debate and run to Jesus. There's probably a lesson there.
One man tells Jesus that his son is beset by a demon. He says that the disciples have tried to deliver the boy but have been unsuccessful. At that point Jesus laments regarding the unbelief of the people. The man brings his son to Jesus and asks Jesus to help saying, "But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." Jesus reply is, "What do you mean, 'If you can'? Everything is possible for him who believes."
Jesus' reaction to this man stopped me. It's as if He says, "If? There is no 'if'!" Jesus' indignation is comforting to me. It comforts me the same way that Jesus promise to be with us always comforts me. It reminds me that my faith makes me eligible to participate in the revealing of the Kingdom of God and that the ultimate success of that revealing has been secured.
Lord, the next time You lead me to minister the Kingdom, and my brain starts to take over, remind me of the fact there there is no 'if' for those who believe.
AIM's new e-zine has launched. It seems like there's an e-everything these days. What's an e-zine you ask? It's exactly what you would expect.....an online magazine.
The name of this particular e-zine is
Wrecked For The Ordinary. The web address is www.wreckedfortheordinary.com. I just spent some time reading some of the articles. They're good. There's one particularly contributor I'd encourage you to read. Scott Molgard is his name. I've included the links to two articles he wrote as well as another one that touched me. Currently Scott is on the World Race and is southern Mexico.
In my last 
