Imagine yourself having traveled from the country you have known and loved to a new land – unsettled, wild, unpredictable, dangerous. In this new place there is no guarantee that you will be fed, that you will prosper or even that you will survive. And still you travel across an ocean in a small, rickety merchant ship, crowded with 102 other pilgrims – seekers, like yourself – for a place to start a new life.
The draw of that new life was so powerful to those pilgrims that sailed 65 days across the Atlantic Ocean to Plymouth colony that they were willing to endure a painful and debilitating winter, suffer starvation and disease, and risk attack from Indians so that they would be able to experience life together as a free Christian community.
In late September or early October of 1621 – almost a year after they had arrived – the pilgrims were ready for a breakthrough. Half of their community had died. They faced another difficult winter without enough food. The Indians, whom they had only recently begun to interact showed up with five deer, vegetables, and some wild game and shared with the pilgrims a meal. It was in the “nick of time” as they say.
This meal wouldn’t have been called Thanksgiving by the Pilgrims. They had other religious holidays by that name. But they were thankful nonetheless. They were not alone. God had opened a providential door for them to trade with the nearby Indians and with that came the confidence that they would make it through their second winter in this new land.
I think what has endured in our memory of the Pilgrims has been their absolute reliance - when they had come to the end of themselves - that God would provide. I’m not sure that if they had come and not faced the incredible hardship that they faced that we would be celebrating a day we call “Thanksgiving.”
No, it seems that somehow being thankful comes with the recognition that we rely on something deeper and greater for our provision – that what some people call luck we can with the eyes of faith recognize as what we call - God’s providence. In the economy of God’s providence – God has a plan and as we choose to live and work and love and worship in agreement with God’s plan, we find that our most fundamental needs as human beings are cared for.
This brings joy, doesn’t it? To know that all we have to do is say yes to God and God will care for his children whom he already loves! We no longer have to strive against a resistant and unmerciful existence, we can instead have faith that in obedience and surrender to God is life.
Mt 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
It was a lot like some other pilgrims we read about in the Old Testament. As the prophet Jeremiah had foretold, the Israelites would spend 70 years in Babylonian captivity and then released to their homeland to rebuild the temple. Around 538 BC, groups of Israelites were allowed to return to Jerusalem and there they were allowed to begin rebuilding the Jewish temple. The Jews who returned pooled their few resources to pay the masons and carpenters to build the new temple. As they witnessed the foundation being laid they celebrated and praised the God who had delivered seen them through.
Ezr 3:10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD: “He is good; his love toward Israel endures forever.” And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. 12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.
That’s the kind of noise we should make when we see the goodness of God. When was the last time you shouted for joy that God had delivered you from sickness, from depression, from a poverty mentality, from loss – so much so that your neighbors had to call the Sheriff’s dept because the noise you made was so great! Against a larger tapestry, we are able to see the hand of God at work so that even pagan princes serve the purposes and divine plan of God. It’s when we pause long enough to express our thankfulness that we can see a loving God connecting all the dots in our life.
This was certainly true in Ezra’s day. It’s also true in ours. God isn’t finished yet. The people and places and events that the Spirit of God uses to bring about His kingdom are the people and places and events you and I see, touch, and hear every single day. God is still at work and his intentions are good.
We may feel at times as if we are in a season of Babylonian captivity. We may feel as if we’re always waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled over our lives. But persevere and wait with great expectation. God has a day of deliverance set aside for each one of us when we can look book with “Aha!” eyes and see the lengths God has gone to do draw us into deeper relationship with him.
Galatians 5:1 says “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” And every day in Christ is another day toward our ultimate freedom and purpose. Let’s then receive each day with thanksgiving. God is working out his purposes in us. And his purposes are good. It’s Jeremiah who tells us about God’s good plans in Jer 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
Let us pray.
Gracious and loving God, today we bend our hearts toward you and receive your blessings with thanksgiving and praise. Send your spirit to breakthrough our doubt and “right now” thinking to see your grander movement in our lives. Allow each day, Lord, to be a day we receive as a blessing from you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Spiritual Gifts
Thanks to Shannon Haynes for sending me the link to an interesting spiritual gifts inventory. She grabbed it off of New Directions Christian Church website. Here it is...
http://www.TeamMinistry.com/
Here were my results. Very cool and confirmed the kind of pastor I tend to be.
Jay Hutchens
Spiritual Gifts (number is relative strength compared to the others)
Evangelism 6
Prophecy 12
Teaching 16
Exhortation 12
Pastor/Shepherd 20
Showing Mercy 16
Serving 13
Giving 13
Administration 21
About Your Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual gifts are tools God gives Christians to do the work of the ministry -- to fulfill the Great Commission to reach, baptize, and teach and to minister to one another. Every Christian receives at least one gift at the moment of salvation. Spiritual gifts are not rewards, are not natural talents, are not a place of service, are not an age-group ministry, and are not a specialty ministry. They express themselves through various ministries which, in turn, accomplish a variety of results. A spiritual gift is the primary channel by which the Holy Spirit ministers through the believer. It is a supernatural capacity for service to God -- and He gives you a supernatural desire to perform the duties of that gift. Spiritual gifts are tools for building the church. They are a source of joy in your Christian life and influence your motives. A spiritual gift is a divine calling with a divine responsibility, because what God has gifted you to do, He has called you to do, and what He has called you to do, He has gifted you to do.
There are three categories of gifts: The Miraculous Gifts, generally known today as Charismatic Gifts; the Enabling Gifts which all Christians have the ability to develop (faith, discernment, wisdom, and knowledge -- qualities possessed rather than activities performed); and Team Gifts which are activity, service, or task-oriented. The Team Gifts are functional and involve speaking or ministering.
Chances are, you have several of these gifts that vary in different degrees and intensity. In many cases, spiritual gifts even complement your secular employment. The Spiritual Gifts Analysis you took identified your dominant TEAM GIFTS which will help you find your place on the team in your church. Prayer and serving God will also help you see where God wants you. This profile gives you a simple bar graph showing how all the gifts relate to you and to each other, but analyzes indepth only your dominant and secondary gifts which are the ones that will have greater influence in your life.
________________________________________
Your dominant gifts are Administration, Pastor/Shepherd
The results of your Spiritual Gifts Inventory indicate that your number one dominant gift is ADMINISTRATION! The Greek word "kubernesis" means one who steers a ship. This expert had the responsibility to bring a ship into the harbor through the rocks and shoals, under all types of pressures. As an administrator you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by organizing, administering, promoting, and leading the various affairs of the church. The administrator is not a glorified file clerk.
As an administrator you are a take-charge person who jumps in and starts giving orders when no one is in charge. You will put a plan on paper and start delegating responsibility. You may lean toward organizing things, events or programs, OR toward organizing people, emphasizing personal relationships and leadership responsibilities. In the first case, you usually organize details and have people carry them out. In the second case, you tend to organize people and rely on others to take care of the little things.
You don't often admit to mistakes and do not like to take time to explain why you are doing things; you just expect the job to get done. If things in the church, office, club, etc. become fragmented, you can harmonize the whole program if given a chance. You are a person with a dream and are not afraid to attempt the impossible.
You are goal-oriented, well-disciplined, and work best under heavy pressure. You are often a good motivator and not a procrastinator. You are serious minded, highly motivated, intense, and have an accurate self-image. You tend to be more interested in the welfare of the group than your own desire. You are probably a perfectionist and want things done your way now.
Although to others you appear to be organized, you usually aren't. Be careful that you do not make decisions just based on logic rather than Scripture. Work on your willingness to admit to making a mistake and on being more sensitive to "little" people. Try to be a little more tolerant of other people's mistakes.
Beware of Satan's attack on your gift. He can cause pride because of your leadership role, selfishness because of success (not sharing glory with those under you), blame-shifting when things go wrong, discouragement and frustration when goals are not met, anger and mistreatment of those who disagree with your plans, lack of concern for people, lack of spiritual growth, and wrong motives.
HOW CAN YOU USE YOUR DOMINANT GIFT? You may work well as the leader of a project, ministry, or program; chairman of a committee or board; a church planner; or chairman of building or fund-raising projects. Other positions where you may serve well include pastor, assistant pastor, business manager, office manager or department head for large staff, Sunday school superintendent, fellowship group or missionary circle leader, library manager, camp director, church moderator, bus ministry director, nursery coordinator or Vacation Bible School director.
________________________________________
The results of your Spiritual Gifts Inventory indicate that your second dominant gift is PASTORING/SHEPHERDING! The Greek word "poimen" means pastor. In Paul's spiritual gifts listing in Ephesians 4:11, this term is translated "pastor." Although the word "poimen" is translated pastor only one time in Scripture it is used sixteen additional times. The remaining sixteen are all translated "shepherd." Therefore, we are actually discussing the GIFT of shepherding, not the POSITION of pastor. Though a good pastor must have the gift of shepherding, everyone who has the gift of shepherding is not called to be pastor. The gift can be used in many positions in a church.
As a gifted shepherd, you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by overseeing, training, and caring for the needs of a group of Christians. You are usually very patient, people-centered, and willing to spend time in prayer for others. You tend to be a "Jack of All and Master of ONE," meaning you are usually dominant in one of the speaking gifts (evangelist, prophet, teacher, exhorter) as well. You are often authoritative, more a leader than a follower, and expressive, composed, and sensitive. Your pleasing personality draws people to you.
You have a burden to see others learn and grow and are protective of those under your care. You want to present the whole Word of God and do not like to present the same materials more than once. You are willing to study what is necessary to feed your group and are more relationship oriented than task oriented. You are a peace-maker and diplomat - very tolerant of people's weaknesses. You tend to remember people's names and faces. You are more concerned with doing for others than others doing for you. You are faithful and devoted and may become a workaholic. You can become an all-purpose person in order to meet needs.
People with the gift of shepherding make the best Sunday school teachers and group leaders because their desire is to go beyond just teaching or leading, to shepherd and minister to the daily needs of their students. The position of Sunday school teacher or group leader is an extension of the pastoral ministry in the church. These groups should be shepherded on a small scale the same as the pastor shepherds the whole congregation on a large scale.
Be careful to involve other people; don't try to do it all yourself. Work on making people accountable. Do not be overly protective of your "flock." Because of these potentially weak areas, other people may think it is your job to do all the work; they rely too heavily on you. You may be expected to be available at all times, know all the answers, and be at every function. Learn when to say no.
Beware of Satan's attack on your gift. He will cause discouragement when the load gets heavy, and pride because your "sheep" look up to you. You may develop family problems because of too little time and attention. You may become selfish when "sheep" feed in other pastures.
HOW CAN YOU USE YOUR GIFT? This gift is a great help in many areas. You may serve as a Sunday school teacher, small group leader, pastor or assistant pastor, bus captain, special ministry leader (such as youth, children, men, etc.), nursery worker or as a half-way house or other type shelter volunteer. You may consider serving as a dormitory leader in a college, orphanage, children's home, etc. Scout troops would appreciate your assistance as a den leader.
________________________________________
Building an effective team in your church depends on putting the right people in the right places. The best way to determine what place each person belongs in is by determine everyone's spiritual gifts. But, just discovering your spiritual gift is not enough.
Here's the real challenge. Many Christians are asking the question, "What is my spiritual gift?" When in reality they need to be asking, "What is a spiritual gift?" They do not understand the relationships of spiritual gifts. That is, they don't understand how a spiritual gift relates to their life, how it relates to the will of God for their life, how it relates to the lives of those around them, how it relates the local church, or how it relates to the body of Christ as a whole. To give John J. Christian an additional name and make him John J. Exhorter Christian is only doing him an injustice. Having a new name or title does not make you a more effective, more fulfilled, or a better Christian, nor does it give you any more understanding of yourself or those around you. Most contemporary material written on spiritual gifts does an adequate job in helping you recognize, discover, and define what your spiritual gifts are. Also, many do a fine job of teaching on the individual parts of the body, but few complete their teaching by assembling the body, thus showing how church members can work as complementing, effective, and efficient team. Thus, teaching a person only what their spiritual gift is without teaching them what a spiritual gift is, is like giving someone a new tool without giving them the operator's manual. They will never understand it fully nor will they be able to use it to its maximum potential. The same is true with your spiritual gifts.
Now that you have taken this inventory and know what your spiritual gifts are, we encourage you to study the principles that revolve around and relate to spiritual gifts. These principles combined with recognizing your gifts have been proven to dramatically change lives AND build churches. We have many resources available to help you better understand your gifts and how they relate to all areas of your life. Plus, we have resources to equip and assist you in teaching spiritual gifts and biblical team building to others. Furthermore, we have teachers who can come to your church and teach private seminars for you group. For additional information on resources or seminars just click on the appropriate button below.
http://www.TeamMinistry.com/
Here were my results. Very cool and confirmed the kind of pastor I tend to be.
Jay Hutchens
Spiritual Gifts (number is relative strength compared to the others)
Evangelism 6
Prophecy 12
Teaching 16
Exhortation 12
Pastor/Shepherd 20
Showing Mercy 16
Serving 13
Giving 13
Administration 21
About Your Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual gifts are tools God gives Christians to do the work of the ministry -- to fulfill the Great Commission to reach, baptize, and teach and to minister to one another. Every Christian receives at least one gift at the moment of salvation. Spiritual gifts are not rewards, are not natural talents, are not a place of service, are not an age-group ministry, and are not a specialty ministry. They express themselves through various ministries which, in turn, accomplish a variety of results. A spiritual gift is the primary channel by which the Holy Spirit ministers through the believer. It is a supernatural capacity for service to God -- and He gives you a supernatural desire to perform the duties of that gift. Spiritual gifts are tools for building the church. They are a source of joy in your Christian life and influence your motives. A spiritual gift is a divine calling with a divine responsibility, because what God has gifted you to do, He has called you to do, and what He has called you to do, He has gifted you to do.
There are three categories of gifts: The Miraculous Gifts, generally known today as Charismatic Gifts; the Enabling Gifts which all Christians have the ability to develop (faith, discernment, wisdom, and knowledge -- qualities possessed rather than activities performed); and Team Gifts which are activity, service, or task-oriented. The Team Gifts are functional and involve speaking or ministering.
Chances are, you have several of these gifts that vary in different degrees and intensity. In many cases, spiritual gifts even complement your secular employment. The Spiritual Gifts Analysis you took identified your dominant TEAM GIFTS which will help you find your place on the team in your church. Prayer and serving God will also help you see where God wants you. This profile gives you a simple bar graph showing how all the gifts relate to you and to each other, but analyzes indepth only your dominant and secondary gifts which are the ones that will have greater influence in your life.
________________________________________
Your dominant gifts are Administration, Pastor/Shepherd
The results of your Spiritual Gifts Inventory indicate that your number one dominant gift is ADMINISTRATION! The Greek word "kubernesis" means one who steers a ship. This expert had the responsibility to bring a ship into the harbor through the rocks and shoals, under all types of pressures. As an administrator you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by organizing, administering, promoting, and leading the various affairs of the church. The administrator is not a glorified file clerk.
As an administrator you are a take-charge person who jumps in and starts giving orders when no one is in charge. You will put a plan on paper and start delegating responsibility. You may lean toward organizing things, events or programs, OR toward organizing people, emphasizing personal relationships and leadership responsibilities. In the first case, you usually organize details and have people carry them out. In the second case, you tend to organize people and rely on others to take care of the little things.
You don't often admit to mistakes and do not like to take time to explain why you are doing things; you just expect the job to get done. If things in the church, office, club, etc. become fragmented, you can harmonize the whole program if given a chance. You are a person with a dream and are not afraid to attempt the impossible.
You are goal-oriented, well-disciplined, and work best under heavy pressure. You are often a good motivator and not a procrastinator. You are serious minded, highly motivated, intense, and have an accurate self-image. You tend to be more interested in the welfare of the group than your own desire. You are probably a perfectionist and want things done your way now.
Although to others you appear to be organized, you usually aren't. Be careful that you do not make decisions just based on logic rather than Scripture. Work on your willingness to admit to making a mistake and on being more sensitive to "little" people. Try to be a little more tolerant of other people's mistakes.
Beware of Satan's attack on your gift. He can cause pride because of your leadership role, selfishness because of success (not sharing glory with those under you), blame-shifting when things go wrong, discouragement and frustration when goals are not met, anger and mistreatment of those who disagree with your plans, lack of concern for people, lack of spiritual growth, and wrong motives.
HOW CAN YOU USE YOUR DOMINANT GIFT? You may work well as the leader of a project, ministry, or program; chairman of a committee or board; a church planner; or chairman of building or fund-raising projects. Other positions where you may serve well include pastor, assistant pastor, business manager, office manager or department head for large staff, Sunday school superintendent, fellowship group or missionary circle leader, library manager, camp director, church moderator, bus ministry director, nursery coordinator or Vacation Bible School director.
________________________________________
The results of your Spiritual Gifts Inventory indicate that your second dominant gift is PASTORING/SHEPHERDING! The Greek word "poimen" means pastor. In Paul's spiritual gifts listing in Ephesians 4:11, this term is translated "pastor." Although the word "poimen" is translated pastor only one time in Scripture it is used sixteen additional times. The remaining sixteen are all translated "shepherd." Therefore, we are actually discussing the GIFT of shepherding, not the POSITION of pastor. Though a good pastor must have the gift of shepherding, everyone who has the gift of shepherding is not called to be pastor. The gift can be used in many positions in a church.
As a gifted shepherd, you have the Spirit-given capacity and desire to serve God by overseeing, training, and caring for the needs of a group of Christians. You are usually very patient, people-centered, and willing to spend time in prayer for others. You tend to be a "Jack of All and Master of ONE," meaning you are usually dominant in one of the speaking gifts (evangelist, prophet, teacher, exhorter) as well. You are often authoritative, more a leader than a follower, and expressive, composed, and sensitive. Your pleasing personality draws people to you.
You have a burden to see others learn and grow and are protective of those under your care. You want to present the whole Word of God and do not like to present the same materials more than once. You are willing to study what is necessary to feed your group and are more relationship oriented than task oriented. You are a peace-maker and diplomat - very tolerant of people's weaknesses. You tend to remember people's names and faces. You are more concerned with doing for others than others doing for you. You are faithful and devoted and may become a workaholic. You can become an all-purpose person in order to meet needs.
People with the gift of shepherding make the best Sunday school teachers and group leaders because their desire is to go beyond just teaching or leading, to shepherd and minister to the daily needs of their students. The position of Sunday school teacher or group leader is an extension of the pastoral ministry in the church. These groups should be shepherded on a small scale the same as the pastor shepherds the whole congregation on a large scale.
Be careful to involve other people; don't try to do it all yourself. Work on making people accountable. Do not be overly protective of your "flock." Because of these potentially weak areas, other people may think it is your job to do all the work; they rely too heavily on you. You may be expected to be available at all times, know all the answers, and be at every function. Learn when to say no.
Beware of Satan's attack on your gift. He will cause discouragement when the load gets heavy, and pride because your "sheep" look up to you. You may develop family problems because of too little time and attention. You may become selfish when "sheep" feed in other pastures.
HOW CAN YOU USE YOUR GIFT? This gift is a great help in many areas. You may serve as a Sunday school teacher, small group leader, pastor or assistant pastor, bus captain, special ministry leader (such as youth, children, men, etc.), nursery worker or as a half-way house or other type shelter volunteer. You may consider serving as a dormitory leader in a college, orphanage, children's home, etc. Scout troops would appreciate your assistance as a den leader.
________________________________________
Building an effective team in your church depends on putting the right people in the right places. The best way to determine what place each person belongs in is by determine everyone's spiritual gifts. But, just discovering your spiritual gift is not enough.
Here's the real challenge. Many Christians are asking the question, "What is my spiritual gift?" When in reality they need to be asking, "What is a spiritual gift?" They do not understand the relationships of spiritual gifts. That is, they don't understand how a spiritual gift relates to their life, how it relates to the will of God for their life, how it relates to the lives of those around them, how it relates the local church, or how it relates to the body of Christ as a whole. To give John J. Christian an additional name and make him John J. Exhorter Christian is only doing him an injustice. Having a new name or title does not make you a more effective, more fulfilled, or a better Christian, nor does it give you any more understanding of yourself or those around you. Most contemporary material written on spiritual gifts does an adequate job in helping you recognize, discover, and define what your spiritual gifts are. Also, many do a fine job of teaching on the individual parts of the body, but few complete their teaching by assembling the body, thus showing how church members can work as complementing, effective, and efficient team. Thus, teaching a person only what their spiritual gift is without teaching them what a spiritual gift is, is like giving someone a new tool without giving them the operator's manual. They will never understand it fully nor will they be able to use it to its maximum potential. The same is true with your spiritual gifts.
Now that you have taken this inventory and know what your spiritual gifts are, we encourage you to study the principles that revolve around and relate to spiritual gifts. These principles combined with recognizing your gifts have been proven to dramatically change lives AND build churches. We have many resources available to help you better understand your gifts and how they relate to all areas of your life. Plus, we have resources to equip and assist you in teaching spiritual gifts and biblical team building to others. Furthermore, we have teachers who can come to your church and teach private seminars for you group. For additional information on resources or seminars just click on the appropriate button below.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Seek a blessing...
I've been reflecting this week on some of the lessons I've learned in close to twenty years of ministry. And out of those reflections have emerged some very general principles that seem to rise to the top of our experience of being church and seeking God.
There's not one of us that doesn't want to be blessed by God and experience favor in our families, work, and relationships. If you're like me, you've spent some amount of time wanting God to "fix it" for you - to undo all the unpleasant consequences of decisions I've made in these areas of my life. We're taught that God moves miraculously and supernaturally, and so it's very natural for us to look for that movement in our own lives.
It's occurred to me though that God does nothing in our life without our agreement. It's not until we say "yes" that God's "YES" becomes something that we can actually see and touch and feel. Our "yes" is more than what we learned in Evangelism 101 as "intellectual assent." In truth, our "yes" resembles a passionate trust in God's purposes and promises over our lives. We literally begin acting out and acting upon what we have come to know to be true about the character and presence and mission of God. We come into agreement with who God is and what God is up to. And we do this completely trusting in the faithfulness of God for whatever outcome He has for us - trust that God desires GOOD things for His children.
In brass tacks, it looks a little like this as we seek God's blessing on our lives...
If you want to receive a blessing, give a blessing.
If you want to hear a blessing, speak a blessing.
If you want to walk in blessing, then lay down the path through which others are blessed.
That may sound like a simple little instruction. Almost too basic for experienced Spirit-seekers as ourselves! But what would your walk with God look like if this guided your walk today? Just today. Would it get a little deeper? And then tomorrow. A little deeper? And then the next day... a little deeper?
There's not one of us that doesn't want to be blessed by God and experience favor in our families, work, and relationships. If you're like me, you've spent some amount of time wanting God to "fix it" for you - to undo all the unpleasant consequences of decisions I've made in these areas of my life. We're taught that God moves miraculously and supernaturally, and so it's very natural for us to look for that movement in our own lives.
It's occurred to me though that God does nothing in our life without our agreement. It's not until we say "yes" that God's "YES" becomes something that we can actually see and touch and feel. Our "yes" is more than what we learned in Evangelism 101 as "intellectual assent." In truth, our "yes" resembles a passionate trust in God's purposes and promises over our lives. We literally begin acting out and acting upon what we have come to know to be true about the character and presence and mission of God. We come into agreement with who God is and what God is up to. And we do this completely trusting in the faithfulness of God for whatever outcome He has for us - trust that God desires GOOD things for His children.
In brass tacks, it looks a little like this as we seek God's blessing on our lives...
If you want to receive a blessing, give a blessing.
If you want to hear a blessing, speak a blessing.
If you want to walk in blessing, then lay down the path through which others are blessed.
That may sound like a simple little instruction. Almost too basic for experienced Spirit-seekers as ourselves! But what would your walk with God look like if this guided your walk today? Just today. Would it get a little deeper? And then tomorrow. A little deeper? And then the next day... a little deeper?
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
When Silence Interrupts...
Something unusual happened last night at our weekly Intercession service. We pride ourselves much of the time on being open to a "move of the Spirit." So it's not uncommon for worship to last an hour and then to have a time of praying for healing or deliverance for people and then to have a message or some combination of the above. We often find ourselves still praying for folks at 10pm. We begin at 7pm. I love it!
Last night, John Ryan McNaughton was "scheduled" to bring our message. But as he led worship, he felt a "halt" being placed on him by God. He described it to me like this - "it felt like moving foward in any way would be contrived. I was confused about how to proceed." Now, this isn't a reflection on John Ryan's competence as a worship leader. He's a very gifted worship leader. It's more of a reflection on how we listen for the prompting of God and respond to it in worship, in work, in relationships, in life.
You see, in North American culture we are convinced that we are wasting time unless we are occupied with work. We derive much of our value from this. Unless I'm doing, unless I'm accomplishing, then I'm not being valuable to someone, and hence I'm being irresponsible with my time. It's a pretty big value for us. And so we at times will do just about anything to keep from doing nothing and feeling "value-less."
Last night, God interrupted our "doing" with "non-doing." It was as if God was challenging us to be in His Presence without doing another single thing. John Ryan played a single sustained note while we sat and struggled with "what next?" What's supposed to happen? What are we supposed to DO now?
And we discovered the answer together which was... not a thing.
One of my roles as a pastor is to interpret a move of God when I perceive it. What I perceived last night was God issuing a radical challenge to our socially inherited sense of what makes me valuable. At any given time, what constitutes the value of the child of God is quite simply their sonship and daughter-ship. God delights in us AS WE ARE.
There are times when I love to go into my children's room at night before I go to bed and just watch them sleeping. I pray over them but I also just stand and just simply wonder. They are beautiful. They are innocent (at least while they're asleep!). They are so wonderfully made by God. There's nothing they're required to do for me to love them. Sometimes, I just get to enjoy them while they're doing absolutely nothing except being asleep.
Our time with God doesn't always have to follow a programme. Sometimes, we are allowed - perhaps released - to just be with God in the manner that God chooses to be with us. God may desire to interrupt our words, our schedule, our highly structured expectation of our time with Him and do something new. He has that permission. After all, He's God. And that's okay. It's more than okay. Against the stream of a culture that so highly values doing over being - it's a very GOOD thing.
Last night, John Ryan McNaughton was "scheduled" to bring our message. But as he led worship, he felt a "halt" being placed on him by God. He described it to me like this - "it felt like moving foward in any way would be contrived. I was confused about how to proceed." Now, this isn't a reflection on John Ryan's competence as a worship leader. He's a very gifted worship leader. It's more of a reflection on how we listen for the prompting of God and respond to it in worship, in work, in relationships, in life.
You see, in North American culture we are convinced that we are wasting time unless we are occupied with work. We derive much of our value from this. Unless I'm doing, unless I'm accomplishing, then I'm not being valuable to someone, and hence I'm being irresponsible with my time. It's a pretty big value for us. And so we at times will do just about anything to keep from doing nothing and feeling "value-less."
Last night, God interrupted our "doing" with "non-doing." It was as if God was challenging us to be in His Presence without doing another single thing. John Ryan played a single sustained note while we sat and struggled with "what next?" What's supposed to happen? What are we supposed to DO now?
And we discovered the answer together which was... not a thing.
One of my roles as a pastor is to interpret a move of God when I perceive it. What I perceived last night was God issuing a radical challenge to our socially inherited sense of what makes me valuable. At any given time, what constitutes the value of the child of God is quite simply their sonship and daughter-ship. God delights in us AS WE ARE.
There are times when I love to go into my children's room at night before I go to bed and just watch them sleeping. I pray over them but I also just stand and just simply wonder. They are beautiful. They are innocent (at least while they're asleep!). They are so wonderfully made by God. There's nothing they're required to do for me to love them. Sometimes, I just get to enjoy them while they're doing absolutely nothing except being asleep.
Our time with God doesn't always have to follow a programme. Sometimes, we are allowed - perhaps released - to just be with God in the manner that God chooses to be with us. God may desire to interrupt our words, our schedule, our highly structured expectation of our time with Him and do something new. He has that permission. After all, He's God. And that's okay. It's more than okay. Against the stream of a culture that so highly values doing over being - it's a very GOOD thing.
A Better Way to Pray
Came across this quote this morning from Andrew Wommack's book, "A Better Way to Pray" (thanks to Jacki Shuttleworth for recommending the book!).
"Don't try to build your relationship with God too intensely, either. Some people think they need a lightning bolt from heaven in order to curl their hair in the morning! If you asked God for that today, what would you need to "feel" His love tomorrow? If God didn't perform something bigger and better, you'd wonder, "What happened, Lord?" Yesterday You zapped me but today I don't feel a thing! Why don't You love me anymore?" He'd have to jump through a new hoop each day just to keep you satisfied. This is the worst thing that could happen to you. Instead of maturing in intimacy with Him, you'd become addicted to spectacular experiences. God's not going to do that!" (Andrew Womack, A Better Way to Pray, 43).
"Don't try to build your relationship with God too intensely, either. Some people think they need a lightning bolt from heaven in order to curl their hair in the morning! If you asked God for that today, what would you need to "feel" His love tomorrow? If God didn't perform something bigger and better, you'd wonder, "What happened, Lord?" Yesterday You zapped me but today I don't feel a thing! Why don't You love me anymore?" He'd have to jump through a new hoop each day just to keep you satisfied. This is the worst thing that could happen to you. Instead of maturing in intimacy with Him, you'd become addicted to spectacular experiences. God's not going to do that!" (Andrew Womack, A Better Way to Pray, 43).
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