Breaches will be healed

Finally, I have the opportunity to return and finish my thoughts on imperfect vessels and healing ministers.

Studying the lives of many of those who, over the centuries, have been used greatly by God in healing reveals many flawed lives – divorce, infidelity, straying from sound doctrine, sins of the flesh, the heart and the mind.

If you know little about their lives, then look at Moses – who said no to God multiple times; David, who killed a man and took his wife; Peter, who betrayed Jesus not once, but three times; Solomon, the man blessed with the most wisdom who strayed to idols; Peter again, who drew back from the Gentiles until Paul had harsh words with him.

Jars of clay.  That all it is.  Jars of clay.  Imperfect vessels.  Yet, time and time again, our Heavenly Father uses imperfect vessels, not letting the perfect become an enemy of the good or an enemy of saving souls or healing the sick.  If He had to wait for perfect ministers, no one would ever be sent to work in ministry. Peter wouldn’t get to write a chunk of the Bible and neither would Solomon.

Yet also, it is this paradox that perplexes us, doesn’t it?  It disappoints us when we see imperfect men and women (we must include ourselves) in ministry, and hurts us when we have unpleasant encounters with Christians – our close brothers and sisters in Christ.  Sometimes, in truth, it leads to bonds that are irretrievably broken…on earth.

Have you ever lost close friendships with other Christians? I think we all have.  So it gets me to thinking….

How will we be in heaven?

What will happen to all the pettiness in the church?  What will happen to all the awkwardness of broken friendships, broken trust, hurts, differences, separations and the like?  How much awkwardness will there be when Paul meets Barnabas?  Remember they had such an argument that they went their separate ways, despite the bond between them forged in the challenges of ministry.

Yes, Paul had charitable things to say about Mark later – Barnabas’ nephew who they disagreed about – and there was certainly forgiveness.  Yes.  However, we never see Paul and Barnabas together on the mission field again.  That bond is changed, things probably became awkward. Same with the fellow who cheated with his father’s wife in Corinth. Just awkward. Not sure how they look each other in the eye after that, even though he repented.

Will similar moments exist when the Grecian widows meet the Hebrew widows in heaven? Or when you meet that cousin whom you love but cannot stand his tactlessness or the broken trust from the past?

The answer of course in scripture, is No – there will be no awkwardness in heaven.  There will nothing to cause hurt or embarrassment or pain or shame. We lose the old flesh and that is part of it.  In that, we are set free from sins of the flesh and the soul.   We get a new resurrection body that is unblemished and spirit-ruled, not soul/mind ruled.

I believe the other part is a work God does when we go on to be with Him.  Remember, like Lazarus and the rich man, we will keep our memories.  We don’t lose memories.  However, they will lose their power to hurt or harm or shame us.  Thus all the awkwardness, pain, shame will be also gone- rendered powerless also.

So back to the imperfect vessels.  You see, that’s why God says love as He loved you.  Forgive as he forgave you.  Not “to the best of you ability” or “because they deserve it”. Can’t understand how God forgave you?  Right, forgive others the same way.

You can’t understand why God didn’t strike down that arrogant or racist or sinful minister?  Well, he didn’t strike you down, did he?  So we invent the canard that the minster lost his salvation. It makes us feel better.  Most likely, he did not, no more than you did when you lied yesterday or watched that ungodly film.

Jars of clay. Imperfect vessels. That’s why Christianity is so different from any other religion. Pure grace. Unfathomable grace.  Grace yesterday. Grace today and tomorrow.  Grace in life.  A mysterious grace in death.  A grace that sets things right, cleanses, purifies.  Why don’t you see the end from the beginning?  Then you can love without real reason.  Then you can also “love sincerely, from the heart.”

May God’s grace be upon you who offended and the ones who offended you.  May His grace work to restore broken trust in THIS life, not only the next.  May He bring reconciliation where it is possible and where it is impossible.  May He help you understand and love even when distance must be kept in this life due to the memories and awkwardness. Amen.

Fixing our eyes on the prize and on things of eternal significance is the singular thing we have to do as believers.  What matters is how we respond to God’s gift, to the Father’s call.  The thought that struck me a while back is that word, “singularity“.  Singularity of function, singularity of purpose.

In the field of business, we would call it a “critical success factor“, that is, factors that most or all our activities must be aligned with.  My critical success factor is healing – the subject of healing.

When awake, I think of healing.  When asleep, I dream of healing.  In daily life, I visualize God healing.  I have led hundreds of people to the Lord and I thank God for salvation, but where I fit is healing. I have been involved in mercy ministry, counseling, writing, giving, teaching financial seminars, even children’s ministry, but healing ministry is where I know I should be.

Singularity does not mean I am obsessed or one-dimensional.  Even if we are obsessed, it is OK to be obsessed with God’s business.  But I hope you understand.  Life goes on, I go to work, I spend time with family, I empty the trash.   You can get so spiritual that you’re of no earthly good.  That’s not me.

Paul knew a little bit about singularity when he wrote to Timothy (1 Timothy 4:1):

“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.”

To paraphrase, Timothy was encouraged to spend his time on his calling and to make it his singular purpose.  I watched Joseph Prince the other night teach about receiving healing through communion and that was encouraging to see a man in this generation being bold about healing.  It is one of the ways to receive healing I listed earlier.

What strikes me is that most of the men and women prominent in healing ministry over the last century are dead or elderly now.  I’m sure those still alive are amazed at the extent to which the healing message of the gospel has almost disappeared in our day.  This is not only referring to America, but to Christianity globally.

I also do not refer to traditional denominations – they have long since moved on, or perhaps more accurately, regressed in their theology.

So back to singularity.  Singleness of purpose means that we pay more attention to God’s call than to what everyone else is doing.  That’s singleness of purpose. Personally, I’m looking forward to spending more time and more focus in ministry, doing what I know I was called to do.

"There will be terrible times in the last days..."

The news these days is quite instructive. If I were a baby Christian, I would have said “depressing”, but it is worthwhile to read the news in context of the Word of God.  Wordwide, there is great disappointment with political leaders, there is state-sponsored terror, and impunity. For the story about persecution of Christians in the picture, click on it.

People and governments are increasingly not just immoral, but amoral, without any sense of right or wrong. Even in churches, many pastors believe righteousness is a means to financial gain – to the extent that I cannot even bear the sight of so many on TV – posturing and being so theatrical, having the form, but lacking the power.

However, we have confidence and foreknowledge in that Paul warned us of what would occur in the last days, as in these words in 2 Timothy 3;

” 1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”

As we see the evil become more evil, the insatiable greed of corporations and their managers; and the growing secularity of nations, it should encourage us that Christ is coming soon. It should also inspire us towards good works which He has prepared in advance for us to do. The time is short.

God is not impressed by the nations that rage and the people who plot in vain. In fact He laughs and scoffs at them (Psalm 2) and soon will rule them with an iron scepter, dashing them to pieces like pottery.

I’ve been focusing too much on the world these days, terrorism, wickedness, impunity, corruption, greed, and too little on what God is doing. That must change. I will instead, focus on what God is doing and what He is calling me too. I will fix my heart and thoughts on things above, where Jesus is seated at the Father’s right hand. That is the wisest course. When the dust settles over His creation, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. Then we will see that it was the best decision to serve the Lord with fear, rejoice with trembling and take refuge in Him. May you be similarly encouraged in Jesus. Amen.

Worship and Truth: We often think that worship is something we only do in church, but sometimes when worship is mentioned in the Bible, it’s not in reference to an organized church service at all. It is personal worship. Here are some examples:

Genesis 24:26 – Then the man bowed down and worshiped the LORD,
Exodus 34:8 – Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped.
John 9:8 – Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

The common trait with worship is that it is done in the presence of the One being worshiped, that is, God. It is grim to worship in a setting where the Spirit of God is not present. Worship has little meaning if it’s not in God’s presence. Jesus further said in John 4:22:

“…true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is (a) spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

He said we must worship “in Spirit and in Truth”. What does that mean?  Worshiping in truth means being real before God – he knows our motives anyway, so why try to hide? It also means HIS truth, not ours. The fashion these days is folks making up a gospel of their own and following it.

Some lifestyles are now accepted by churches that have made up their own ‘gospel’, because “God loves everyone”. What poison for those who believe that “truth”! They and their version of truth will be rejected by the Truth.

Folks are just hilarious sometimes. Like the golden calf, they will create their own religion, throw the Name of Christ into it and think God will bless it. I think sometimes that many who pass the gates of hell are as completely shocked as they were completely deceived.

How is your personal worship life? Do you have one? Do you spend time worshiping Him in the “beauty of His holiness”? Our public worship should be an outflow from our personal life of worship.

Is your worship in Spirit or based on ritual, form and function? The driest churches are those whose service formats are fixed in stone. God couldn’t break in even if He wanted to. Don’t believe it? Read where; “…they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.”. (Psalm 78:41).  I have nothing against structure and certainly I love services that start on time.  However, we must remain open to the Spirit. We must be led by Him and not by formats or schedules.

Love: Paul, in 1 Peter 1:22, says;

“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.”

The final “evidence” is love. This facilitates the entire Christian life and allows our faith to work—faith works through love. We love with His love. I think if we had to love with our love, it would be a rougher world than it already is. Remember how we gossip about people because we are ‘concerned’ and want to “pray for them”? Or how we advise people in certain directions because their actions will benefit us? Or how folks seek to control others in order to gratify a controlling spirit? Our love must be sincere, not selfishly motivated.

Power: How much power is in your life and ministry? I love the fruits of the Spirit as much as the next Christian, but why do pastors avoid the topic of power so much? Even in the most loving, polite, “help-old-ladies-cross-the-road” churches, they’ll preach on kindness and humility and general niceness week after week. No matter how many blind, deaf or diseased ones sit in the pews suffering week in and week out. Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 2:4:

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power,

The world cries out for a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, we respond with niceness. That’ll get you run out of town in Islamic or animist parts of Africa. Go there with power or stay home. Even in developed countries where so many have chronic diseases, there is a great hunger for power. I call this issue the elephant in our living room.

I recall the story of a young man in my old high school. After preaching the gospel to a skeptical friend for a while, becoming frustrated, he says to his friend, “see that streetlight in the distance?” The friend answers “yes, I do”. “OK”, he says, “In Jesus’ Name, I command that streetlight to go out” and it flickers and dies. The friend’s jaw drops. Emboldened, he goes on “In Jesus Name, I command the streetlights to come back on!” and they dutifully comply. The friend kneels and promptly gets saved. Come with power or go home. We must move in power.

Money: Is God reflected in your checkbook? Would I know you were a Christian if I went through your checkbook? The way we handle money determines our priorities in life. And no, I’m not talking about the concept of tithing, which has no relation to the church age. Why folks are still teaching tithing, which a very cursory read of the Bible by a one-eyed boy with half sense would reveal is not a New Covenant doctrine, is beyond me (sorry for the long run-on sentence…) Then again, in the modern non-denominational church, probably a third of what we preach and teach is myth. So the Mosaic law of tithing being taught does not surprise me. I only wish they would obey the other 600 ordinances while they’re at it… Why pick just one? For us under the NT, here’s the rule – give generously and cheerfully, for God loves a cheerful giver. I would also add (my suggestions): give thoughtfully, systematically, and consistently.

Prayer: The last evidence I’ll discuss today is prayer. I’m preaching to myself here as my prayer life has suffered in the last few months as I’ve gotten very busy. As an unnamed pastor once said: “if you are too busy for God, you are busier than He intended you to be!” We’ve got to get away from the “Good morning”, “Good night” prayer life. For the Christian who read the words “be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints” (Ephesians 6:18), the way we pray today is dangerous and leaves too many believers “exposed.” Think on the meaning of that for it is true. May you have deep and productive Spirit-filled times of prayer with our great God who has called you to His service. Amen.

(To Be Concluded…)

What are these evidences? They are important issues that will resonate in the lives of some who will read them. They are ‘markers’, if you like, that can be used to measure Christian character and maturity. I personally don’t gravitate to “lists” normally, as some of my friends know, but when they are given, I’ll write. That’s the way it should be: when God says “Jump!” the correct answer is not “How high?” the correct answer is to jump with all your might.

Some of the great men of faith amuse me. Read Moses’ burning bush account in Exodus 3 again and you’ll be incredulous. God says, “I’m sending you to get my people released”… Moses says, “They won’t believe me”…God says, “Here’s a stick that turns into a snake and your hand will turn leprous when you put it into your cloak”…Moses responds: “I can’t speak well”…God replies: “Aaron will go with you and speak…” Know what Moses eventually says? “I just don’t wanna go!” Hmmm… that’s not a shining example of obedience, just in case you were wondering. Moses eventually went and did great things in God, but the burning bush episode was not a high point in his life.

OK, what are these “Nine Evidences”?

• The Tongue: It has the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21). James declares that fresh and salt water cannot come from the same spring (James 3:11). Today, more than ever, we are too loose with our words, we are coarse, we are obscene, we say things that we don’t mean, we think lying is just being “nuanced”. Words conquer thoughts, don’t you know? What do I mean? I mean, if you have bad thoughts, the way to deal with them is to begin to speak faith-filled words. You cannot think certain thoughts while speaking different words. You remember paper-rock-scissors? Well, thoughts are paper and words are scissors. Who is the Rock? Jesus, of course… Just remember, the solution to ‘uncontrollable’ thoughts is words – His Words.
• Thought Life: This follows from the first evidence. Paul says if anything is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy, think on it (Philippians 4:8). If not, don’t. A mature believer has his/her thought life more under control than an immature one. The way to achieve this is to control what you see and hear. I don’t mean just avoiding stuff—that’s only half the battle. The other, more important half is filling your mind with the Word. That includes the Bible and good, faith-filled Bible teaching. Doing one without the other is no real use.
• Relationships: are they real, genuine, or disposable? You don’t need a million Christian relationships, but you need at least a few genuine ones. And yes, it could be your wife, husband, children, parents, cousins and of course, friends. You need people to be accountable to and people who will sharpen you. Proverbs 27:7 states that “Iron sharpens iron”. Healing is also a lonely endeavor – you need people around you who will encourage you to forge on through the good times and challenging times.

OK, these are just the first three of the nine – I shall continue in my next post…