I've Been Collared

In all the years I have worked in Ministry, as a pastor, as a minister under another pastor, as a leader of a house church or even as a house prophet I never ever worn any of the following:

• A Collar
• A Cassock
• A Robe

Or any other accouterments. In fact I am of the Rick Warren School of Pastoral Dress. Hawaiian Shirts are God's plan.

So, when I got a call this week from our denominational area Church Planter that he wants me to wear a collar when I minister in the new Church (Because there are a lot of traditional people there) I laughed. He assured me this was no joke.

So I went out and bought a collar.

But, I'm not well today. Cold and all. Feeling peek-ed. I may go nowhere tomorrow.

We'll see.

About traditional people. I met one last Sunday. He is a Unitarian who never goes to church. His name was John. His first question of me and Pastor Aaron was, "Where did you go to seminary?" "Where did the Pastor go"? My answer was I went to the same seminary the Apostle Paul went to (That went right over his head) and that Aaron has his Masters in Divinity and soon PHD from ORU.

That seemed to satisfy.

During the service Pastor Aaron played a pretty moving review of the Crucifixion on the Video Screen. John looked away from it the whole time. Then when we did Communion he was an abstainer. I guess his beef wasn't with seminarian training but with Jesus.

I don't think a collar will solve that problem.

I am obedient to a Sr Pastor, if he wants that, I'll do it.

I've been collared.

Government Conspiracy?

I have always loved a good Conspiracy Theory

Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get me!

The cold spring has got me to thinking. What IF::

The Meridian Atlantic Circulator has stopped. The government knows it. Tony Blair knows it. George Bush knows it. That's why the weather is so blamed cold.

This means that the whole of North America and Europe into the Russian territories will drop in temperature about 10 degrees. This means a year without summer, maybe several years. Chicago's climate will be like Winnipeg. Fargo will be like Edmonton.

No citrus grown anywhere in North America.

If it did stop and the weather changed abruptly as it did in the 1200's perhaps the governments would NOT tell us. Look at the power it places in the hands of the oil producing countries. Look at the impact on agriculture. Look at the changes in culture.

This would change everything.

I'm not saying yes, I'm not saying no. I'm just saying.

NEWS FLASH - ALL SHIPS AT SEA, WAR IS HELL!

A couple days ago after the secretary of defence announced that he was going to extend all tours of duty to 15 months there was the predictable pap from network news profiling some poor soul who I do have pity on who in his second tour of duty was injured very badly by a roadside bomb. Never mind that could have happened in his first tour.

Tears all around, angry wife, confused soldier (brain damage) and upset parents. If that were my boy I'd be upset too. But, War is Hell.

One of my all time favorite movies WAS Braveheart. The heroics, the bravery in battle. Fabulous stuff.

Then there's Shakespeare's Henry the Fifth and the battle of Argincourt. If you have seen the Kenneth Branaugh edition of this play on the TV you have seen a good one. It's wonderful.

And PATTON. I saw some of it today on AMC. The part where he is driving by the walking wounded and goes to the hospital tent. It is there where the famous slapping of the soldier incident takes place. We forget that in WWII we would lose as many men in one DAY as we have so far in Both Iraq and Afghanistan together.

MY NEW MOVIE FAVORITE and I expect anyone who reads my humble blog to go see it in theater. The 300. That was one of the most beautiful movies I have seen in years. Very colorfully and artistically done. The plot was about a brave group of men fending off people from present day IRAN who want to invade and destroy Greece and Sparta. They come across a village already destroyed. It's complete and brutal. They know they are dealing with a ruthless enemy. But there is a traitorous and cowardly congress unwilling to support the war effort.

So 300 men go against tens of thousands of Persians and prevail for the most part until a defector betrays them. The glory, courage and honor of these men in the battle is wonderful to behold. And the Kings wife was brave and courageous.

Of course it reminded me of the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. Traitors and cowards in congress. Defectors (Pelosi) doing evil behind the backs of our men. Every soldier in Iraq and Iran should see this movie. It tells the story of the importance of standing firm against an evil invader.

It was true in 700 BC and it's true today.

By the way, every one of the 300 but ONE is killed heroically. War is Hell.

For my more pacifistic readers was the action portrayed in The 300 justified or not? If so, then, why isn't the Iraq and Afghan war as well.

What Price Hope?

I know you have seen the ads for Cancer Treatment Centers of America:  Some testimony about a person condemned to have only 2 months to live, then they go to the CTCA and they give them hope.  Maybe even some treatment.  They then live or die. 

 

I'm sure they are nice people at the CTCA.  I am also sure they charge people money for what they do.

 

What they do is do examinations and reexaminations and make sure any cancer diagnosis' are correct. Then they make sure the treatment (curative, experimental or palliative) are in order for the situation at hand.  It's not a cancer cure center, it's a cancer treatment center.

 

They do not promise a cure. They promise hope. Some people do get better.  Some never die as prematurely as their family doctor said they would.

 

The people at CTCA are caring, compassionate and full of hope that somehow by direct or indirect intervention the people involved will be made well or at least live life more fully till they are done.

 

I do not object, I am not judging them.  It's just wrong.

 

That is exactly what the Church of Jesus should be doing.

• Offering Hope for Healing
• Giving Comfort
• Building Faith
• Encouraging the discouraged
• Telling people to look again
• Giving a reason to believe in the impossible

 

And, if some people don't get healed, being there for families.  That is MORE than CTCA does.

 

I believe in healing enough that I am actually surprised when someone who comes in faith to Jesus for healing doesn't get healed.  Not all do, but many.  I have people with incurable cancer who I know that are still among us because they came to a fellowship and like the woman with the issue of blood reached out for healing and were made whole.  I know several in fact.  Then I know some like my friend Jean who after we prayed, laid on hands still died.  She and her husband were prepared for whatever happened.  He holds no bitterness.  Hope in God was all she had.  Hope in God or hope in Cancer Treatment Centers of America.  Which is better?

 

When we minister to someone and then they get worse or die WE are labeled as quacks offering false hope.  That is a crock.  We  in the Christian community should be aggressive in offering hope for healing.

What about Cancer Treatment Centers?  I'll wager their cure rate is less efficacious than the power of Jesus for healing. 

 

When I get sick before I ever go to a doctor I go to Jesus.  So should you.  He doesn't charge.  The Cancer Treatment Centers didn't build those big buildings from nothing.

 

I am not critical.  It's just kind of a crime that in a formerly Christian nation like the USA the medical establishment prospers many times better than the Christian Church.  I blame the Church.  We don't believe in healing any more.  We lost our authority because of tradition.  Oh we pray for the sick in a sick kind of way.   Then blame God when nothing happens.  We have as Christians in America lost our zeal and understanding of our authority in Jesus to deal with sickness and disease.   Very very few PASTORS I know actually have a clue in how to minister to the sick.  This isn't taught in seminary at all.

 

We used to be a place that people could come to be healed.  Now we aren't.

 

Isn't there something wrong here? 

 

I think there is.

A Post of Complaint

Yesterday I stood side by side an 81 year old man pruning plants for potting.  Something you have to do. I'm a pretty hardy type.  I have one of those "You can't outwork me" syndromes.  I lost.  After 2000 plants by the end of the day and way more hours on my feet he won. He smiled a victory smile at me, grabbed his lunch box, and headed for home.  I wilted onto a chair in pain.

 

I'll blame it on the fact that I have the sniffles.  Of course that won't work.  If I can't work thru a little cold I'm a weenie. 

 

This morning I'm sore, stiff, still tired and now this afternoon I'm off in the truck to pick up another load of plants to get ready.

 

Oh the humanity, oh the agony, oh the pain, oh how much I love it all.

 

I'm a sick man in more ways than one.  I have this idea that if I'm not in pain the day after I work in the garden I didn't do anything.

 

Sick.

 

But, if I can do what Ed did yesterday 20 years from now I'm going to be a happy man.  I think I will and I can. Maybe I can whip some 62 year old whippersnapper's behind then and smile at the end of the day.

In the Garden Alone

I am a gardener.  It's a task I do out of love.  While doing a few garden things last night I thought about how much like the Kingdom of God gardening is.  Maybe it's not coincidence that Jesus was mistaken for a gardener after the resurrection by Mary.

 

He is a gardener.

 

He understands gardening.

 

Here are some parallels:

• Much of the work is done on your knees
• Nothing happens unless you dig
• You can't talk a plant into growing, you have to nurture it
• Weeds are detrimental to good growth
• It takes faith to plant a seed
• When you plant you have to have expectation of growth
• There is little that happens fast in gardening
• Spending more money to shortcut usually doesn't shortcut
• Patience and faith are a gardener's tools
• What will it look like at the end is the pruning motto
• Fertilizing a dead plant does no good
• If it doesn't prosper where you plant it, move it
• Sunshine and water are essential to grow things
• Sometimes things look a little rough and ugly, if you want perfect all the time plant plastic plants.
• Insects for the most part are your friends
• Thorns have Roses and Bees sometimes Sting, it's part of the deal
• Everyone thinks they could do it better, but they won't
• Nothing happens unless someone does something
• Having a meeting about gardening is telling God what to do: Dumb!
• We never finish, it's a moveable feast, we can't ever say DONE

 

If you miss the spiritual implications to all that, too bad.  I'm not going to explain.  But if you have ears to hear you will get it.

If You Care at All About the Church You MUST Read This

I know that some will feel triumph over this, some will gloat, some will despair, and some will do as I did; read it and weep. You must read the whole thing in detail. Read all the comments. It's disturbing and revealing. We are being sent a wakeup call and can't hear it for all the noise WE generate.

The Church in America is so far from God. It's like this cartoon.

A sinking ship with happy talk as it drifts away. I don't know if there is hope. I know that if there is it won't look like it ever did before.

I love the Church, grew up in her, minister in her, try to build her up. I sometimes wonder if I am wasting my (and other's) time. We make so little difference to the world and marginal difference to those who attend our services.

I have had more hope when I knew less than I do now. After 4 years of trying to make a difference in helping a local fellowship become relevant I don't know if I made any difference at all.

I'm not sure the Church at large matters anymore, even to the Father. Maybe Barna was right. Maybe its over. Maybe we missed the Fax from God saying "I have changed my focus and the 'Edifice Complex' no longer applies."

If it sound like I'm a tad discouraged, I'm not discouraged in God, I am discouraged in Church. What if the Church in America is like Sampson and "Whist not that the Spirit of God had left him"?

A few other links you will want to read to give you depth in this:

http://jesustheradicalpastor.blogspot.com/2007/04/people-formerly-known-as-pastor.html
http://emerginggrace.blogspot.com/2007/04/underlying-issues.html
http://emergentvoyageurs.blog.com/1664695/

Berwyn Church Plant News

A few have been asking me how it went last Sunday in the Church Plant I have been part of in a less hands on way than normal.

Short review. Plant has been underway for about a year. This is my 4th plant of which I have been part. Two including this one are still going. Church planting is brutal business. Not for the timid or faint of heart. But essential. With hundreds of churches in America closing every month, we need bold brave men and women to plant churches that work to replace those that don't.

The church had originally rented space in North Riverside in a movie theater. The city using zoning kicked the church out of it's space. Lots of arm waving. But the Church (denomination) had spent tens of thousands of dollars to publicize this plant via direct mail for it's first official service.

Then a few days before the rug was pulled out. There was no predicting this. No one did anything wrong.

With some radio ads and some phonebacks to people who called we pulled Sunday morning Easter off.

About 70 people showed up. Less than hoped for, more than expected. I can't tell you the difference.

Lots of rocky things in first runs. We were there at 8AM and left about 1PM. I have done this enough to know that church planting is hard work and that work includes hauling stuff in and out.

The service was good.

Pastor Aaron came to town with a smile on his face and a Bible in his hand last January. He just went around and met people and pulled the whole thing together.

Of course every good church needs a good worship team. So, every person he met the conversation eventually drifted toward people who could play an instrument. This impressed me. He knew what it took. Music, Youth, Children, Technical. And of course a space to meet in.

People are attracted and held by a good anointed worship music. It will cause people to come back even if the preaching's poor, or the service is clumsy.

He put together a really good band. Guitar players are fairly easy to find. Keyboards ditto. Drums are harder. So, he looked and looked and found a guy who was a friend of someone he met. He had others. But this guy was interesting.

He played drums in a rock band 20 years ago. Before he met Jesus thru Aaron, the drummer had NEVER been in church. Never. Knew NOTHING. But now he plays drums for Jesus with a smile on his face. I spoke with him and when I heard the story was frankly amazed. He's hungry and growing in God every day. I thought of the Christmas song, he doesn't have much to bring, but he will play his drums for HIM.

Aaron had no Bass player. But he had an eager young man, RENE. Rene said, "I always wanted to learn to play an instrument". So Aaron and Rene met twice a week for several months with a CD player, A bass, and Aaron on guitar (which he also plays). He taught him to play the Bass guitar. From scratch. 6 hours a week for 3 months and now Aaron has a dedicated and competent bass player.

Ditto the keyboards. Esther, Aaron's wife, plays keyboards, but a young man, a son of one of the early core group members had always wanted to learn to play something. So, Ester payed the price. Now they have a decent keyboard.

What makes this interesting to me is none of these people had ever played in a Christian praise band before. NONE. They didn't know any of the canon of Christian music. They only had a CD player and a heart. And the one who could play didn't know Jesus. The drummer. He knows Him now.

There is a church in Sterling IL I know who's whole praise band is people who never played a lick before they came to church. The Pastor's son put it together. Garage band for Jesus he called it. Now they have a CD out. The band is called Final Quest.
I have their CD. They tour. Raw recruits with a pastor's son devoted to pulling together a team of dedicated passionate lovers of Jesus who became musicians.

Their recent CD is all original music.

If you dropped this young man from a helicopter into any city in the world that spoke a language that he could communicate in he would have a decent praise bank put together in 6 months. He would probably have to teach every person how to play and train them how to play together but I know him and I know he could do this.

The opposite of this was a church I was part of in Germany. They couldn't get the band to come together. This was in Heilbronn. Good church but the band never got off the ground. They had music, a piano, occasionally a choir, words on a screen, singers but no band. No one took it upon themselves to say, "give me free reign and I'll get you a Praise Band". So since no one took responsibility nothing happened. I remember one morning they sang for Peggy and I in the service, "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" in English. Let's just put it nicely. Germans have no soul. At least not in Heilbronn.

In Frankfurt at the church we were first part of when we lived there before we moved was not the same situation. I even remember the Music guys name. Peter. He had the full complement. Drums and all. It was loud and proud. I loved it.

What was interesting is many of the praise and worship songs sung in the church today I learned in German. When we came back to the states it was hard to sing them in English. I mean, God hears them in German, Right? Why should He have to translate.

"You are my prince of peace" is not the same as "Du bist mein Friedensfurst"

It must be Easter, I went a long way down that bunny trail.

Back to Berwyn.

The rest of the morning went off well. I did wonder to myself if in today's day and age if we think we think we can even have church without powerpoint or microphones. I know that if you lose power everything seems to go south. We did and it did.

My part was to do the Communion Service. It was very moving. I used no powerpoint. I don't need a mic.

The kids had fun. I would hope Children's church would have meat too.

So all in all I guess I would pronounce it a success. Ephesio 4 Church is up and running. Ephesio is Spanish for Ephesians.

Now, Lord, What's next? How bout something in the Fox Valley area where there is no real move of God, yet. The most unsaved region in Chicagoland. How can we soften this parched and dry land with your living water?

Probably more than you wanted to know

Being married 40+ years there are certain love things couples do. I guess most couples think they are alone in the practice and it's just them.

One of them is what Peggy and I call, "Holding of the Feet". She and I assume a posture watching TV or talking or whatever where She lays back and I hold her feet. I thought we owned the franchise on that activity.

Till yesterday.

The Zits Cartoon:


Click on the image to make it full sized.

So much for creative loving I guess. But, we'll always think we thought this up. I mean go back 200 years, did people do this? I'd like to think so.

Falling Down Drunk

I don't know why I am posting this but I think there may be one or two readers who will find this helpful.

Aaron Telian, wise beyond his years, posted a quote from C. S. Lewis.

It was on the misuse of temperance. Last paragraph:

One great piece of mischief has been done by the modern restriction of the word Temperance to the question of drink. It helps people to forget that you can be just as intemperate about lots of other things. A man who makes his golf or his motor bicycle the centre of his life, or a woman who devotes all her thoughts to clothes or bridge or her dog, is being just as 'intemperate' as someone who gets drunk every evening. Of course, it does not show on the outside so easily: bridge-mania or golf-mania do not make you fall down in the middle of the road. But God is not deceived by externals.

I know a lot of intemperate people who never touch a drop of drink. So do you.

Read Aaron's whole piece. It's worth it.

I know a man..........

When he came to a distant church as a visiting minister he was greeted and honored. People were thankful for the gift of God he brought to them. He was called by his name and his gift appellation. Those there were genuinely appreciative of his ministry and the offering of himself he brings.

When he came as a guest minister to another church in another direction and was asked to bring a word or administer a sacrament people responded by saying. "Please come back, we need what you bring". This was not a disservice to the Pastor of the Church, it was a recognition of a ministry gift that manifests when the man I know was given free reign to exercise it.

In a third Church in another direction when this man visits as he did fairly often he was always asked to bring a word of encouragement. He was asked to minister to the people. He was placed in a place of opportunity for the flock to access the gift of God he carries. He can never leave that church without the leader saying with deep appreciation, "Thank you for coming to release the Gift God placed in you among us,come back soon, we need you."

This isn't about Honor (although some might read it that way). It's about receiving the Gift of God when it dwells among you.

In this man's own Church he is accepted and received by some and reviled by others. Needless to say for the most part the gift of God is neutered among because of a lack of engagement. It's easy enough to say, "No man is a prophet in his own home town". But the consequence of that is "He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief."

Therein lies the danger. Jesus, the man I knew, was honored and reviled depending on how he was released in ministry he was among the people he was with. In his day it was villages.  In today's time it is churches.

This still goes on today. The hungry beg for the bread of life and  Pharisees trample it underfeet by tradition.  The village (Church) lies in darkness because the light is darkened by Pharisees.  Bondage remains because chains are institutionalized, even honored.  I have this huge chain but I'm suffering for Jesus in it.  Jesus didn't want us to suffer, he wanted us out of out chains.

Judgment will be harsh for them. "I was with you and yet I knew you not, depart from me."

Top Ten Ways to Know if you are TOO Obsessed With End TImes Prophecy

1. You always leave the top down on your convertible in case the rapture happens.
2. You never buy green bananas.
3. Your Church starts using "Up Up and Away" as a Worship Song
4. Barcode Scanners make you nervous
5. You get a tax refund for $666 and you refuse it
6. You can name more of the "Signs of the End Times" than the Ten Commandments
7. You are certain that the original Hebrew Text came with Scofield Notes
8. You think the "Church Fathers" refer to Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye
9. You get a few goose bumps if you hear a trumpet
10. You use "Left Behind" books as Devotional Reading

Dance Dance Dance

This morning our Men of God group had a great time exploring Dance in Worship. In the end the Men got up and danced. If you missed it you missed a great deal of anointed fun.

We started by saying that all of us as kids even as teens danced. We put on a tune and by ourselves like Tom Cruise in Risky Business danced a free and abandoned dance.

Little kids who can barely talk will dance. You don’t have to be taught how to dance, you have to be untaught to not dance.

The most dance free zones in America are the Churches. So what can we do, what should we do? Why don’t we dance despite the Biblical Encouragements:

He turned our Mourning into Dancing Psalm 30:11
When we are most depressed or discouraged the dance will break the back of it.
11You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,


Dancing as an act of Faith Jeremiah 31:3-4
Sometimes when you don't believe you must dance anyway
3The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying,
"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.
4"Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
Again you will take up your tambourines,
And go forth to the dances of the merrymakers.


Dancing for Joy before God 2 Samuel 6:16
David before the Ark Danced with abandon. He was critisized. But he loved God more than the approval of men.
14And David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod.
15So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.
16Then it happened as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.
20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!"
21 David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor."
23 And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.


It’s still that way today.

People that won’t dance or are critical of dance in worship will be rendered barren and fruitless.


David after bringing the Ark to Jerusalem made sure that worship went on day and night with plenty of noise. 1 Chronicles 16-4-6 and 40-43

4He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, even to celebrate and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:
5Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, with musical instruments, harps, lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals, (editorial comment, this should take care of the idea that drums don't belong in Church)
6and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.
39He left Zadok the priest and his relatives the priests before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place which was at Gibeon,
40to offer burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in the law of the LORD, which He commanded Israel.
41With them were Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because His lovingkindness is everlasting.
42And with them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who should sound aloud, and with instruments for the songs of God, and the sons of Jeduthun for the gate.

Dancing to insure the future
This is dancing for a new and better future.
Judges 21:21 Shiloh and the Sons of Benjamin

17They said, "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel.
18"But we cannot give them wives of our daughters." For the sons of Israel had sworn, saying, "Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin."
19So they said, "Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah."
20And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,
21and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
22"It shall come about, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we shall say to them, 'Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take for each man of Benjamin a wife in battle, nor did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.'"
23The sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives according to their number from those who danced, whom they carried away. And they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the cities and lived in them.

Anyone who decided they didn't want to dance that morning was left behind and never was able to move into the inheritance of the Benjamites.

Dancing on those injustices in your life
Sometimes when things are done to you, you have to place them under your feet and dance upon the injustice in your life. That is why the part in the song
"Can you hear the mountains tremble" includes the verse that says "Dancers that Dance on Injustice".

Psalm 149
1 Praise the LORD!
Sing to the LORD a new song.
Sing his praises in the assembly of the faithful.
2 O Israel, rejoice in your Maker.
O people of Jerusalem, exult in your King.
3 Praise his name with dancing,
accompanied by tambourine and harp.
4 For the LORD delights in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
5 Let the faithful rejoice that he honors them.
Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds.
6 Let the praises of God be in their mouths,
and a sharp sword in their hands—
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with shackles
and their leaders with iron chains,
9 to execute the judgment written against them.
This is the glorious privilege of his faithful ones.
Praise the LORD!

Dancing in Victory over your Enemies Exodus 15:19-21
Miriam and the women danced after the Egyptians were drown in the Red Sea.

19 When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and charioteers rushed into the sea, the LORD brought the water crashing down on them. But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground!
20 Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine and led all the women as they played their tambourines and danced. 21 And Miriam sang this song:

“Sing to the LORD,
for he has triumphed gloriously;
he has hurled both horse and rider
into the sea.”

Dancing to Honor and Celebrate God’s Hand on Others
1 Samuel 18:6-7
It’s right to dance to celebrate and honor others. We do it at weddings.

6 When the victorious Israelite army was returning home after David had killed the Philistine, women from all the towns of Israel came out to meet King Saul. They sang and danced for joy with tambourines and cymbals. 7 This was their song:

“Saul has killed his thousands,
and David his ten thousands!”

Dancing to Release the Power of God in Warfare (God will fight our battles for us as we dance).

Joshua 6 Jericho March
Like Joshua marching the Israelis around Jericho until God came to fight their battles for them by crushing down the walls, So, when we take a stand in faith God will fight our battles for us and push back the darkness.

2 Chronicles 20:14-25
Worshippers and Dancers before the army confuses the enemy
15 He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the LORD’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the LORD is with you!”
18 Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the LORD. 19 Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.
20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”
21 After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the LORD and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:

“Give thanks to the LORD;
his faithful love endures forever!”

22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the LORD caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 23 The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. 24 So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped.
25 King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder. They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing, and other valuables—more than they could carry. There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all! 26 On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing, which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the LORD there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.


And, the ultimate Dance - Father God Dances over you (Exults) with singing.

Origional Hebrew in this phrase has him twirling and spinning while he sings over you. Zephaniah 3:17

17Jehovah thy God is in thy midst, a mighty one that will save: he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love; he will exult over thee with singing.

Exult and Sing. Two different actions.


If you could NOT Speak or Sing could you worship? Why do we think singing is the only acceptable form of Holy Worship?

Luke 1:20-23 Zacharias struck DUMB and still worshipped.
20"And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time."
21The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple.
22But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute.
23When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.

DID HE WORSHIP? HOW?

In the Dance. In movement.

We all danced when we were younger. We were born to dance. Little kids dance constantly.

At the disco you did before you were saved.

Let's Twist Again, The Monkey, The Swim. We all did.

Why not here? Why not us? Why not NOW?

With Tambourines and Banners

Raising of the hands in A Wave Offering
When we raise our hands and wave them we are saying, GOD, Here is my offering to you today. I bring a sacrifice of praise. Many people use the waving and hand motions to accentuate what is being sung.

Exodous 29:23
and one cake of bread and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before the LORD;
24 and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.
Leviticus 7-9
26From the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD, he took one unleavened cake and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer, and placed them on the portions of fat and on the right thigh.
27He then put all these on the hands of Aaron and on the hands of his sons and presented them as a wave offering before the LORD.

The Clapping of hands

Psalm 47:1
1 O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.

Isaiah 55:12
12For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Falling Before GOD
17.--And when I saw him, I fell down at his feet as dead; and he laid his right hand on me, and said, Fear not; I am the First and the Last; I am he who lives and was dead; and behold I am living forever and ever; and I have the keys of the unseen world, and of death. Write the things which you see, even those which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. As to the hidden meaning of the seven stars, which you see in my right hand, and of the seven lamps of gold: the seven stars are messengers of the seven congregations; and the seven lamps, which you see, are seven congregations.

Bowing a la Jews at the wall
Whenever the Hebrew word "shahhah" is used as an action toward God, the translators translate this word as "worship". But, whenever this same Hebrew word is used as an action toward another man, the translators translate this word as "obeisance", "to bow" or "bow down".

Worship by bowing is appropriate and Biblical. Copy those Jews at the wall and bow to the music.

Dancing before the Lord sometimes even means moving our feet

Worship is not a noun, It is A VERB
An action work that means as David Says:

Psalm 150
Let EVERYTHING that has breath praise the Lord
Let all that is within ME praise the Lord

IF you don't want to dance and sing just hold your breath for an hour. It says if you have breath praise the Lord.

Psalm 103
1Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Some might say, It’s not my style, or I don’t need to dance to worship God. That’s true sometimes.

BUT:

We don’t have to dance all the time, but if we never dance ………..
We don’t have to clap our hands all the time but if we never do ………
We don’t have to raise our hands all the time but if we never do………..

The choice is ours,

If you choose NOT to who is it you really are worshiping…..Pride Fear?

If you choose not to who is really restraining you in worship

If you enter in it will be contested. Satan hates worship. He hates that you worship. HE was the worship leader in heaven and thru pride was cast out. He is jealous and angry when you worship. He does all he can do to stop you.

Pride, Tradition and Fear will keep us from Evangelizing, Worshipping and Prayer

It can NEVER be based on how we feel.

He’s either worthy of all our worship or he’s not

We must get up and do it.

We need a touch of madness. Madness driven by our love for Jesus. Fearlessness,
Boldness, presenting our body in dance as a living sacrifice before the Lord.

Romans 12:1-3
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

To truly worship it must be as if you were in a deep rushing river. If you stay motionless you will drown. We must be moving and trusting the River of God to take us where HE want to. We must dance to survive.

Ezekiel 47:
1 In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side. 2 The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway.
3 Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. 4 He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist. 5 Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through.
6 He asked me, “Have you been watching, son of man?” Then he led me back along the riverbank. 7 When I returned, I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the river. 8 Then he said to me, “This river flows east through the desert into the valley of the Dead Sea.

The first 6 verses of Isahia 62 speaks to why we move out in God in Worship including the dance.
Isaiah 62

1 For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet,
till her righteousness shines out like the dawn,
her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will see your righteousness,
and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.
3 You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 No longer will they call you Deserted,
or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah (which means married or Betrothed),
and your land Beulah ;
for the LORD will take delight in you,
and your land will be married.
5 As a young man marries a maiden,
so will your sons marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you.
6 I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the LORD,
give yourselves no rest, (DANCE)

Then we closed with a Song that is drawn from these two passages of Scripture:

The Song is "THE RIVER":
I have heard there is a river
Making a way thru the desert
Life Giving streams to all who dream on a barren height

All who’ve tasted of this river
Have touched on joy and new found freedom
There’s deeper water still
so let the hunger build a greater thirst for more

And my heart cries over here Lord
I need much more of you,
I need much more of you
And my heart cries over here Lord, I can’t stay silent – NO
I need you much more than I ever knew

I am going to that river
Take me into the deep water
Trusting in your strong arms
Learning to hold on with all the faith I have

I know your best is in the river
Because you are in the water
I have tasted the best,
Now I can’t settle for less than your own presence Lord


Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. Come to think of it, for the Christian, Every Sunday celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus.

We just spend a little more time on it tomorrow.

Let yourself worship Jesus in the Dance. It’s the right thing to do. At least How I read my Bible.

Have a Great Easter.

Ron McKinzie on Church Leadership

Ron McKinzie says what I know to be true sometimes better than I ever can. Blessed Economist is on the links to the left. I am convinced that the idea you can VOTE in church is the seed of all kinds of rebellion. Even a forum for idea input sends the wrong message. If the Man of God with strong Apostolic Gifting casts the vision and implements it with the assurance of the Prophetic voice behind him there is nothing that will stop that train from moving down the track. It's only when the idea of votes and consensus is considered that it falls off the tracks. Been there Done That. Doesn't work. Read Ron's take:

Most people assume that democracy is a superior form of government, but democracy is rule by the people (demos kratos = people rule). The problem is that sin and the fall means that people can make terrible mistakes so democracy is dangerous. Many of the worst political dictators were voted into power by large majorities. Democracy generally results in the majority group in a society ruling over minority group that loses their freedom.

Winston Churchill’s statement is often quoted, as if it were true. He said,

Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried.

This statement is incorrect, because the best form of government has never been tried. The best method of government is theocracy. Theocracy is the rule of God (theos kratos = god rule). Theocracy is the same as the Kingdom of God. Kings rule over kingdoms.

God is king of the Kingdom of God, so he rules in the Kingdom of God. This means that the Kingdom of God is the same as the rule of God. Christians believe in the Kingdom of God, so we should be supporters of theocracy and not democracy. The rule of God is the best, because it is the only way to blessing.

Greg said...

Sadly, the American Church must bear much responsibility for exporting a flawed governmental system to the world it has sought to evangelize.

When the infant church in America began to experience the blessing of God, leaders sought a new form of government out of which they hoped this new church would flourish. Looking to secular society, these men saw the "Bold Experiment" of a Republican / Democratic form being developed. Without consulting God - much as Israel did when demanding a king (Saul), the church adopted a secular form to contain spiritual life. The result is more than 200 years of painful "limping."

In thirty-five years of working with the "institution" of the church, I've found that most church problems are government problems. If we would trust God, as Ron has urged, many church problems would dissolve for lack of fuel.

Gasoline Price Sanity

Right this minute ABC news is making headlines saying the price of Gasoline will soon spike to $4 a gallon. I don't buy it. There are such things as fundamentals that keep this market under control. There is no shortage of OIL. This is all about short term profits. The cure for high prices is high prices.

James Williams has a different View. He doesn't work for ABC news. He makes his living as an energy economist. In other words he actually knows what he is talking about.

He said gas prices could drop about 25 cents a gallon over the next two months because current gasoline margins aren't justified by the price of crude oil. Spring price increases came early this year, he said, because some refiners finished their spring maintenance early. Refiners switch at this time of year from winter blend to summer blend, which costs more because of more expensive ingredients.

Williams also said that crude oil prices may drop, probably next year, but that the maximum decrease would be to $30 to $40 a barrel because of the weakness of the dollar. After three to four years of sustained high prices, he said, consumer consumption patterns are beginning to react and gasoline production is increasing.

I don't trade commodities anymore. I used to. Now I just buy and fill my tank.

I'm not panicky and no matter what ABC says, or anyone else, neither should you be.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

As part of what I do I have to go testify as an expert witness from time to time.  I'm off to Columbus OH to do so tomorrow.  I'll be back late Fri night.

 

Then we have our Men's Group in Church on Saturday.  I have twice too much information to give and half too much time.  Typical.  I like being overprepared.  I am.

 

Then, the church I mentioned that lost it's lease found a place.  It's going to be kicking off Sunday Morning Easter.  Peggy and I have committed ourselves to help the Pastor get this off the ground.  This is a rough time for this young man.  He has been thru the wringer.

 

And, to top it all off this is the dead center of our busiest season in the nursery biz.

 

Thankfully Peggy is able to hold down the fort.  It's a tiny bit nuts out there.  Other than that things are fine.

 

One haunting question I was asked the other day.  What does my ministry look like.  How does it manifest itself.  I have to tell the truth, right now maybe less than it does at other times.

 

I have vision but I'm stretched.  I do better hearing from God when I take time and just listen.  I mostly hear the phone ring right now.

 

I feel a little bit lonely because of it.  I'm used to more Holy Ghost download than this.  Maybe on the plane and in the Hotel room I'll have some quiet time.  This isn't normal for me.

 

So, I'll be absent from Blogging till at least Sunday PM.  Maybe Saturday if I get a chance.

 

One other thing, that man I mentioned with the dog and the hematoma.  He just called.  They are worried about his leg being in jeopardy. 

 

Lose a leg for the love of a dog. 

 

That is really wrong.

Dyslexic Dog Lovers - 3 Stories

Big news in Chicago was that a lost and injured (not all that badly) coyote wandered into a Quiznos sandwich shop. The back door was open. They lured the coyote into a cooler. Animal control people came and looped him took him off to wherever animal control people take these wild animals. I hope it's not in my neighborhood.

You should have heard the hue and cry about the fact that the officer slipped a loop over his head and dragged him out. "He's so cute. He wasn't hurting anyone. Why didn't they just carry him out. I hope they Will take him into the wild and release him. Yadda Yadda Yadda."

This is terminally stupid. People who live in cities wouldn't know wild if it bit them on the leg. THERE IS NO WILD IN IL. Not like you think. If they take him to Winnebago County and let him lose he will:

1. Starve
2. Get mange or rabies and die
3. Be killed by a hunter
4. Kill people's kittys puppies and chickens and worse produce more coyotes.

But he is so cute. He's not a pet. Raccoons are cute when they are small but they can kill you when they grow up.

Then someone said, "Put him in a Zoo". I can't stand zoos. It's Animal jail except not as nice as a jail. I become ill going there.

You don't know what I would do. Animal rights folks are nuts.


Second Story
A good Friend of mine is in the hospital. Again. He has all kinds of ailments. His joints are all destroyed because his dog (actually a small horse) pulled them out of their sockets. I said to him (he's older than I am), "that dog is too big for you. If you want a dog you should get a little one."

"NOOOO.. He's my baby."

He's NOT your baby, he's a dog who doesn't care a whit for you except as a lunch ticket. 200 pounds of baby.

So, he takes all kinds of joint shots, can hardly walk, stoop or lift. The dog pushes him all over the place. Now he's near invalid. Because of a stupid dog. If I as his friend grabbed his arm, roughed him up and pulled it out of socket he would or should sue my rear end. But not the dog. Not his baby.

A couple days ago, his BABY pushed him over, jumped up on him. This is a badly behaved dog. Caused a huge bruise (Hematoma). My friend is on blood thinner. The hematoma moved and he passed out. He's in the hospital. He's in terrible pain. Because of a dog.

Once more I suggested he get rid of the dog to preserve his life. He admits that all of his physical troubles are due to this and his previous large dog. I'll bet the dog outlives him.

The dog will see to that. Again, if I, his good friend came and pushed him down and caused a huge bruise placing him in hospital by now a lawyer would be banging on my door.

I should know better right? The dog doesn't. YEP. IT'S A DOG!!! It's not human.

His owner should know better. Get rid of the dog, it's dangerous. That's why I have such a hard time with people who own big pit bulls and are shocked when they act like pit bulls.

"They're my Baby." Hogwash. They're dogs. This is not a good thing.

Third Story

This one is way off the chart. A couple not much older than I am grieving over the death of their 12 year old dog "Puppy" did what dog lovers all around the world do commited suicide together, they hung themselves. Seems rational. NOT!

How is this any different from story number two. That's a slower suicide because of a dog but suicide non the less. Or those that want a predetor loose in My Neigborhood because he's cute.


I am not anti pet, not anti dog. I have had dogs and cats and other animals on the farm. Yes, tough to break it to you but dogs and cats and coyotes are animals. Not furry humans. They don't love. They are animals. They don't have souls. They are animals.

People have come to worship their dog like they were dyslexic.

Praise DOG from whom all blessings flow.

Open Thread - Jesus Needs a Better Body

With a tip of the hat to Blessed Economist. When I look around at the Church in America Jesus Body looks like a 98 pound weakling to the bullies that continually kick sand in his face.

HOW COME?

His body is weak, anemic and powerless. Charles Atlas of the Church where are you?

The open thread question (Open Thread is I am inviting anyone who wants to chime in Anonymously or otherwise to click on the comments link at the bottom of this post and say your piece). With Body Building as a metaphor for building up the Body of Christ examples might be:

• You only build up the muscles you exercise
• It takes good nutrition to help build bodies 12 ways
  
• Steroids look like they are helping but don't really help at all
  
• You can get exercise by being in the field or at the gym

You get the idea.

What can we learn from the body builders about building Jesus a better body here in America? Your comments please.

Too Much Theology Discourages Bible Reading

If you knew for certain that there was a secret map code hidden in the pages of the Bible that would lead you to buried treasure of fantastic wealth and all you had to do was find and interpret it correctly you would read the Bible. Like the Movie National Treasure. Nicolas Cage discovers a buried treasure from the Declaration of Independence (I think that's the plot, I never saw the movie).

There is treasure of course. But no one believes it. I am so sick of tired of the theological joy Robbers that suck all the life out of the word of God by explaining away the parts that are rich and full.

Every page in the word of God has truth meant to enrich your life. I have made this challenge to those who teach or preach. Open the Bible at random. Any Page. Look for the buried treasure. It's there. Any preacher or teacher of the word should be able to build a whole sermon including a life changing altar call from any single page of the Bible. It shouldn't be that hard to do.

Most can't do it.

They are expert at explaining the historical, chronological, theoretical, hermeneutical, theological context of the text from something they learned in seminary and strip out the joy and richness from the application of the spoken and written word of God. The mystery and awe is robbed by intellectual analysis.

This isn't about the gifts of the Spirit although it could be. It's about the Glory of God revealed on every single page of his word but unseen and unread. Like standing on a faboulous treasure and never digging deep enough to find it.

Because of this intelectual approach people feel inadequate to read the Bible. They can't "understand it". Instead of looking for clues to riches in Christ they look for intellectual grasp and miss the clues.

People don't read the Bible today because they don't think there's anything in there for them. Then at church they are taken on a guilt trip because the pastor tells them they need to get into the word of God to be good Christians. Because they don't they feel guilty. Then next week the Pastor spanks them again. And they feel guilty. Round and round it goes.

What really needs to happen is for the pastor to start showing them clues. Showing them how to start finding the gold for themselves. Showing them how to get past all the hermeneutics and start digging for jewels.

Only then people will start reading the Bible. It will change their lives. They will be richer in spite of the theologians who try to rob them by explaining away the glory and mystery of it all.

If I sound a tiny bit angry and upset by all this I am. If I could I would close all Christian Bookstores for a while I would. Teach people to read the Bible for what's in there for them and then after people have learned to hear from God for themselves you can start writing books again. When blind book writers write books for spiritually blind people they both fall in the ditch.

The Bible is better than Prego Spaghetti Sauce. It's in there.

Another Horseman of the Apocolypse Appears

I know for certain the end of days is here. 

 

Oh, There were early indicators.  Some will point to the formation of Israel in 1948.  Peanuts.

 

Much more important was the translocation of the Brooklyn Dodgers to some other town west of there. Then there was the Baltimore Colts who were obviously raptured out of Baltimore to somewhere (not heaven) who later came to wreak wrath upon the Saintly Bears. 

 

Now this morning's newspaper describes a horseman none of us saw coming.  The Cubbies, centennially not a World Series winner, will be sold and may be drug off to another venue somewhere. 

 

Wrigley Field will be leveled for either a new Wal-Mart or go Condo. 

 

I'm not one to stand in the way of progress.  But this isn't progress.

 

I'm just hoping the end of the world comes before another horseman appears.  I caint take it no more.

Another Gospel

I have spoken often of the apostasy in mainline churches. It's destroying people's faith who were taught badly or discipled incompletely.

Then this nut comes along. An Anglican priest in England says, "Jesus didn't die for your sins".

Worse is some people will hear him and believe him.

We fight over nuance in the Body of Christ when the true "Another Gospel" is right before our eyes. This represents all that is bad, may I say even EVIL in much traditional Church organization. Keep them stupid, untaught, immature, baby Christians and you won't have to deal with the hard questions or questions at all. Just treat them like mushrooms. Pretend everyone is "Growing in Christ" and lie to them. Shepherds who lead sheep astray are condemned in the Bible. I will add my voice to theirs. As bad is shepherds who don't lead at all.

Of Remembence and Sainthood

I just returned from a 3 hour intense visit with a man I have admired for many years.  He is a Pastor.  It was great to spend some quality time with him.

 

We talked about all kinds of things not all Biblical.

 

I have come to the conclusion that if you fear confrontation, difficulty, nastiness, negative people and sin then you should NEVER be in the ministry.

 

That's where they all are.

 

But the good news is I know who the redeemer is and he is well able to dig them back out of the hole they dig for themselves.

 

My friend Pastor Barry Kolb said that we are all in a boat and we think only our boat is shaking and seeming to sink in the waves.  It's not true.  Everyone's boat is rocking and seeming to sink.  But if we keep our eyes on Jesus the boat won't seem so shaky.  Heck, we might even walk on water.  That's another story.

 

I say that Barry Kolb is a friend.  He should be a saint.  According to the news they are beatifying John Paul II because a woman was healed from his intercession.   I know for a fact Pastor Kolb has been responsible for more than one person healed as a result of his prayers and intercession and ministry. 

So, if we use the same standards he should be in line for beatification.

 

Come to think of it so should I.  Saint Gene.  HMMMM.  Has a nice ring to it doesn't it.  I mean I have had a number of people over the years that I have laid hands on and they have been healed.  So. Don't I qualify?

 

But them I'm not Catholic.  St. Gene still sounds about right.  I mean I'd get one of those little statues of me and put it on the dashboard. 

 

Waddaya think?