Mad Like Jesus

Hi again. It's been quite some time since my last post, and I have to get something out so I don't self-combust! (ever felt like that?) So, in order to keep myself from becoming the headless horseman, I'll spill something that's been on my heart for several weeks.

Ever wonder what the "birth pangs" Christ talks about allude to, or how they feel in a spiritual sense? I imagine that women who have been pregnant and had children will more readily understand the metaphor, but for those of us who haven't had that experience (or won't), I'll try to talk it out and hope it doesn't come across as misinterpreted or confusing.

I know I have the spiritual gift of administration, among others such as teaching, prophecy, and exhortation. Thing with those gifts is that often, those that hold them are easily discouraged by looking around and seeing all the things taking place outside the will of God. I find myself constantly battling these "darker sides" of the gifts I've named above, and so, wishing for the day when all of God's own will act out to reclaim the world around us for Christ. That's not to say that I'm always doing my very best to reach the world for Jesus. On the contrary, I typically find myself overly aware of what I don't like about myself in others, particularly laziness and apathy. And, if you understand this point of view, you also see that when this kind of mind takes a hold of me, I count what I'm going through as "suffering."

This is why I want to look at Paul's letter to the Romans, particularly, chapter 8, and beginning in verse 18:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.

If this is true, and mark my words, it is, then neither you nor I have any reason to stop going forward with what Christ's Spirit has indeed told us in our hearts. And the beautiful thing is, if Christ says it to me, He won't say the opposite to you, for "a house divided against itself will fall."

I often feel as though I look around at many of my brothers and sisters, and I'm talking about Christians, not the lost, and see them "biting and devouring each other" until no forward progress or fruit of the Kingdom of God is being shown to the world right outside our doors. And then comes the anger. And, I believe, I'm justified in my anger. However, if I let it inhibit me from making any more forays into the battlefield, I've completely lost all that justification. Anger is God-made, but we typically count it as sin because of what accompanies it. We hardly ever act Christ-like in our anger, which is to "be angry and sin not." However, that quote from Scripture does NOT mean to "be angry and act not."

Take, for instance, Christ turning over the tables of the money-changers in the Temple. He was irate. (that's a $2 word for really super angry) But what did He do? Did He just leave the problem? Nope. If I'm not mistaken, He went after the problem's throat...not the people's. That's how He avoided sinning. He uprooted the evil of the moment without hurting anything but man's pride.

Pretty radical, when you actually think about it. Can you worship that man?

Or, better yet, do you care little enough about yourself to be angry and act, only not in sin, but in righteousness, as long as it was for the sake of Christ and His Kingdom?

Look at another passage with me: Matthew 17:14-21...to summarize, Christ is asked to heal a demon-possessed boy. And according to the account of the Scriptures, His disciples had tried and failed at doing what He was about to do. What was His response? "O faithless and twisted generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him here to me." And when they asked him why they couldn't do what He did (and by the way, told them they were able to do), He simply said, "Because of your little faith." And He proceeded to do the very thing the disciples were not able to.

So what about us? It's really easy to say "as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." But, often times, and sadly, we tend to tack on a phrase at the end of that statement to the effect of "unless it's something I don't think I can do or don't want to do." Let's put that away, because as we read on, Jesus then gives us hope and an understood command that "nothing will be impossible for you."

I, for one, do not want to spend my life in anger, but I am embracing a Godly way of being angry when it does take place. That said, I'm not following the time-honored tradition of "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all," mainly because when we do our Christian right and responsibility to point out wrong in our brothers and sisters in the Body (AFTER taking the log out of our own eye, mind you), it does NOT sound "nice." However, as Christ did, I am taking strides to act in anger, and to do so in a Christ-like and loving way.

I know this sounds heretical. But so did Jesus.

Let's move on past the only anger we know, that of "I'm mad so I hate." Let's open our hearts up to a Godly, righteous anger, that says, "I'm angry with how things are, and I love, so I'm going to be a Christian agent of Godly change in the Church first and then in the world." I know, it's a longer sentence. And rightly so...it holds a much larger Spirit.

Oh, and the reason we get angry, if we're Godly at all, is because we want the Church to be better than She is at present...so we end with the last bit of the first passage we studied..."Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience."

So, let's hope for the best, and progressively move toward making it happen. After all, "nothing will be impossible for you."

Do You Hear What I Hear?

It's been a while since my last post, so I thought I'd take a few moments and update on what's been happening in my life, and more importantly, the life of the people of God.

I'm very tired right now...not to whine or complain, but the last 2 weeks have been made of nights filled with dreams (which doesn't really allow for much REM sleep, and thus, rest). And quite honestly, they're getting more and more descriptive. What was once just a handful of images and the odd face here or there has become a series of dreams with amazing amounts of detail. Often, I find myself taken back by how much I recollect of the dreams, and I can't help but think that God is trying to tell me something. And I don't mind saying that though these dreams seem silly when describing them to others, in the moment, they're very real and quite frightening.

I also can't help but think of the passage in Joel 2:28-29, in which the prophet of God speaks God's own point-of-view of the future.

"And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit."

Now, I'm not one to make it sound like "hey, it's me, Jimmy...you know, that super cool guy who dreams dreams and sees visions? Yep, that's me!" However, I do wonder if God is not using my dreams to not only speak to me for me, but also for the world I'm in. Come to think of it, I have experienced more of an urgency in almost every area of my life to be a "fuller" vessel, someone who is zealous AND knowledgeable in the Word and who has a great heart to see the world around me change because of the Christ who lives in me. I'm really dying to see this kind of change happen.

Honestly, nothing else matters to me.

And let's talk about the Bible, eh? Remember my post about the lame beggar, how when we even turn a little tiny bit towards our Creator, He immediately sets us to a task that He knows we can handle and will stretch our faith? There is NO growth apart from the Word of God, and now, for the first time in my life, I see it...we ask for answers, and yet we don't want to look at the place they're waiting for us in. I'm not here to berate anyone on their study time, or lack thereof, but I assure you, I've found that reading the Bible is a MUST HAVE for my daily sustenance. Grab a good, godly commentary, talk with trusted ministers and Christians (preferably older in the faith than you are), and dig in. The more I read, the more I'm convinced that although the Church hasn't been doing many things right for centuries, God still has control and the remnant of His chosen people who love Him for Him are hearing His voice. I don't know about you, but I want to be one of the remnant.

My heart has been struck with a passion to worship Christ, too. This sounds really bad at first, especially coming from a leader of worship, both in my home church and on the road, but I assure you, it's real. It's amazing how little I really know, and how much Christ really wants me to know. How compassionate and patient He is with me!

It's March now, and there are so many other things going on right now in my head and heart that I can barely keep them in order. But, the wonderful thing of it all is this: Christ is changing me. Not church. Not a particular subject study. Not a great band or a stunning speaker. Not even the people around me. And I can almost hear some of you out there asking, "But Jimmy, doesn't Christ speak to me through all these things?" And my answer is "yes." But that's not enough anymore.

You see, I've typed all of this to get to this one vitally crucial point: The mature Christian, the true man of God, the lover of Christ is the one who spends time alone with Christ and learns to hear from HIM first...then all the other modes of communication are just icing on the cake, or rather, more and more reassurance that what happened in private actually took place. I'm ready to hear the voice of God speak to my heart directly from His with no middle-men. That's not to discount the way He uses other people or things to speak...rather, it's a wake-up call to go deeper with Him until all the other ways He speaks shore up the truths He's told us in secret. It's intimacy, really.

Think about it...Christ went up to be alone on hillocks, mountains, and the countryside to hear the voice of God the Father directly. And it WORKED. And we're told to be holy as He is holy. It can be done. My challenge? To listen for God with only His Word as your source of hearing. Get in there and grab the answer He's already ordained you to have from the foundations of the world.

I hope you're excited. I know I am. And by the looks of this post, though it be piecemeal and scrapped together, I can see the outline of a beautiful story being told, and I'm just waiting for the next piece of the puzzle. Tell someone you love them today. Share what God's saying now to you. And go somewhere by yourself to hear Him tell you what you'll tell them next.