I love to express what I feel called to say. Writing helps me to open up my heart and do that. I hope that what I write helps you in some way. I hope it makes you think, encourages you, or inspires you. If it challenges you or if you disagree, I hope you know that I respect your right to have a different point of view.
The book of Acts is addressed to Theophilus which means “friend of God.” True Christians are such friends of God that they carry Christ in them. They are Christ-carriers. In Acts, Christians demonstrate the power of being a Christ-carrier who is courageously led by God’s Spirit.
People who are Christ-carriers Let their body Be a temple Where God’s Spirit Lives, loves, and leads.
Contemporary Christianity is too often a demonstration of the doctrine of cessationism–the belief that God has stopped actively working in and thru ordinary people so now we have to depend on religious programming and control. However, the truth is: “Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today, and forever,” and “Christ in you the hope of glory.”
Churches tend to do many things that aren’t effective for training, empowering, and releasing radical and obedient disciples of living, resurrected Jesus Christ. In fact, the most widespread form of cessationism (the belief that God no longer does miracles) is the belief that God can’t even run a church service without a pastor controlling it from the front.
There’s a call from God For His people To be led by the Spirit That is going out to To all who will hear it!
I have my ideas of what I would do if someone gave me a million dollars to give away, but I think my ideas are pretty self-focused. Left to my own feelings and desires I would probably give the money away so that I could get the most praise and recommendation. I might even give an organization with a noble purpose a million-dollar building so that they could put my name on it.
Because of that, I would need to pray and fast and ask for Jesus to show me what to do with it. Then I hope that I would have the courage and humility to do whatever He told me to, even if I have to remain anonymous.
You are guaranteed not to fail! Here’s why: Every attempt succeeds at something. It successfully produces some kind of result, even if it’s not the result you want. An attempt that doesn’t produce your desired results isn’t a failed attempt because it has successfully shown you something that doesn’t work. Chalk it up as positive feedback and move on to your next successful attempt.
Since I can’t fail, I attempt to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, to be daily led by His Spirit, and to communicate His presence and reality to other people. This has been my overarching goal and deep yearning ever since I was 19. There have been many times in my quest that my thoughts, words, and actions have produced results that didn’t directly draw me to my goal, but over time they successfully taught me what not to think, say, and do and how to more effectively align myself with and surrender my will to the risen Jesus.
Continually open wide your heart to the living Jesus and you will be ever amazed by the Lord and constantly encouraged by the Holy Spirit like the early Christmas were. If you will step beyond religious rules, rituals, and analysis and into active surrender to the risen Jesus, He will mystify you by what He does in your heart, in your mind, in your relationships, and in your surroundings. Search for: The Joy Of Early Christianity.
The greatest hindrance to the body of Christ worldwide is the exchange of the direct, active leadership of the Holy Spirit for the dominance, divisiveness, and dysfunction of human leadership. It’s easier to follow a pastor than it is to follow Jesus. The body of Christ needs wise, humble and kind overseers (elders–mature believers) who will gather people and focus them on the presence and direct leadership of the living Jesus, not a one-man leader who will program and control the meeting. Spend your life becoming one.
It’s openly acknowledged that Christianity has lost and continues to lose multitudes of people in the West. On Sunday morning the church program is Lord. It’s handed out at the door and precisely followed. But Jesus said: “Follow Me!” For centuries Christ’s ekklesia has been held in captivity to church programs, rituals, sermons, traditions, etc. O for freedom to follow God’s Spirit! Perhaps it’s time to exchange programmed Christianity for Spirit-led Christianity.
The Pharisees in the Bible had an institutionalized approach to Jesus and look how they treated Him. From their negative results, we can successfully learn not to treat Jesus the way they did.
Seeing church as a place to receive religious services stunts spiritual growth. Christians need interactive, Spirit-led community where they can connect heart-to-heart with Jesus and with one another.
It’s hard for humans to surrender — to intentionally give full control of our life to someone. Here’s how Jesus Christ states that challenging goal. “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.” I believe that self-denial, embracing the execution of our hopes and desires, and faithfully and consistently obeying the living Jesus is the hardest goal that can ever be set, but that it paradoxically produces life’s greatest joy.
The most exciting part of my life is my interaction with Jesus. Nothing else can compare to having a close and continuous relationship with Him.
True Christianity isn’t about what you do. It’s about what you allow Jesus to with you. To open your heart and let the living Jesus work in and thru you (although very difficult) is to step into the greatest adventure on earth. Christians are supposed to be led by God’s Spirit (“Christ in you,”) not by their personal desires, feelings, and choices. (See Romans 8:14.)
Christians need to listen to Jesus, obey Him, and express adoration to Him, more than they need to hear another sermon about Him.If you aren’t aware of Jesus prompting you to do something, then saying, “Yes, Lord,” doesn’t really mean anything.
What Jesus did in history opened the door so that His followers can surrender to Him to experience and be led by what Jesus is saying and doing today. Jesus is continually amazing me by what He’s doing inside of me. When I first encountered the risen Jesus, something instantly happened deep within me, and I was forever changed and continually connected to Him heart-to-heart.
The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee (where I live) was built by a rich riverboat owner whose life was transformed when he surrendered to the living Jesus. He wanted a place in Nashville where Jesus could be proclaimed without being controlled by a particular church. Although it became the internationally known home of Country Music, the original intent was to proclaim the love, power, and presence, of the living Jesus.
Are you ready to embrace the truth of my short poem and to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow and obey the risen Jesus?
Thoughts, feelings, And desires Can be accepted Or rejected; Selected Or neglected; Reflected Or deflected; Collected Or ejected.
My favorite artists are passionate Christ-followers who care more about pouring out their heart to the risen Jesus than they do about making radio appealing religious music. I love the early “Jesus Music” of the 1970s before it was taken over by companies with the primary goal of making a profit and then turned into Contemporary Christian Music. We need more artists who belt out their sincere love for Jesus the way Andre Crouch, Love Song, and Larry Norman did.
I love the “crazy for Jesus” artists that Contemporary Christian radio rarely plays, artists like Rick Pino, Jesus Culture, and Sela. I have trouble listening to “Christian radio” because I can’t find a station that isn’t full of silly trivia. After a song of praise that is directed toward Jesus, a man and a woman come on and tease each other about what color of socks they are wearing. Then they play another worship song. Their nonsense gives me spiritual whiplash. Instead, why don’t they share a powerful testimony or a Scripture or a word of encouragement about the risen Jesus?
Be a courageous listener like Ananias. When your conscience, Christ in you, or the Bible tell you something that you don’t want to hear, hear it. “Love your enemies.” “Bless those who curse you.” “Repent.” “Consider others better than yourself.” “Humble yourself.” “Draw near to God.” “Resist the devil.” “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” “Whatever He (Jesus) says to you, do it” “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.”
To help Christians be more effective at hearing and obeying the living Jesus it would be a great help if churches would shift away from one man on a platform or in a pulpit controlling everything from the front. Instead, we could meet like the fully participatory, ancient Greek town hall meeting where anyone present is allowed to speak. (Jesus said that He will build His ekklesia and that just so happens to be the name of that Greek town meeting.)
This would give Christ-follows hands-on training in hearing and obeying God’s Spirit in a safe environment with spiritually mature believers serving as overseers (elders/bishops) to keep the meeting aligned with the living Jesus and with the Bible. Christianity has focused on religious programming for many centuries. It’s time for all Christ-followers to shift our focus and obedience to the living, resurrected Jesus.
In the body of Christ, all members can report to and receive their instructions directly from the Head. Today we desperately need churches that will train, empower, and release people to listen to, trust, and directly obey the risen Jesus! When Jesus is allowed to call people to the mic and they are free to speak what He puts on their heart, that’s revival! Try it and see!
To not allow Jesus to take full control when believers gather as His body is to ignore His direct Lordship over His people. I don’t have hope that contemporary churches can release a Spirit-led awakening. My hope is that people will begin to look to and obey the risen Jesus instead of institutional churches.
(Since Jesus prayed that His followers be one, there’s a good chance that He’s not happy that we have divided ourselves into tens of thousands of independent denominations and churches.)
When conflict Leads to killing, It’s chilling. It shows how much Human hearts need healing From bitterness And violent feeling, By the revealing Of the Prince of Peace.
Here’s the story of Ananias as recorded in Acts 9:10-19:
In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized,and after taking some food, he regained his strength.
Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.
The sounds that strike our human ear drums are often stressful. Negative words frequently bring us bad, threatening, and depressing news. It’s hard to listen for the sounds of hope in a world that overflows with negativity.
My favorite hobby is to train myself to hear hope and to tune out despair in both the words I hear with my physical ear and the words, desires, and feelings that appear in my mind, will, and emotions. I really enjoy savoring the hopeful words that I hear within me and then posting them on social media and also pulling them together into a blog post.
Some words Need to be said. Some words Need to be read. Some words Need to be Left for dead.
I don’t have hope that contemporary churches can release a Spirit-led awakening. My hope is that people will begin to look to and obey the risen Jesus instead of institutional churches.
Is Christ in you? Has your life Been made new? Are you being Led by the Spirit In what you Think, say, and do? “As many as are Led by the Spirit Are the children of God.” –Romans 8:14
Hear Jesus here, there, and everywhere. When Christianity is presented as mostly just listening to one man lecture, it causes many people to reject it. Many Christian leaders have been well trained to and are very experienced at quenching the Holy Spirit.
A preacher’s mission is to present Jesus to non-believers, an overseer’s is to help keep a Christian gathering under the direct and personal leadership of God’s Spirit. Where are the overseers? The body of Christ desperately needs more Spirit-led, Bible-aligned pioneers. Be one! Christ-followers need to radiate the presence of the living Jesus, not simply sit thru another weekly sermon.
Traditional Christianity says: “Jesus is alive so come here and hear a weekly talk about Him.” But let’s use some logic here. If Jesus is alive and present when we gather in His name, then we can hear directly from Him. Right? If Jesus can talk to a preacher, He can talk to you. Go directly to the Source!
Members of the body of Christ are not and never were intended to be an audience! Let’s get out of our chairs and run with Jesus! “The gates of Hell” haven’t overcome the church, but making people passive spectators has sure taken the wind out of its sails. Churches that lecture but never train their members to boldly hear and obey the living Jesus will be full of mostly passive people.
Why should a preacher be the only person in a church who is considered to be able to hear from Jesus? There’s nothing in the Bible to justify that idea. Christians don’t need more sermons, studies, conferences, and courses. They need to be released and empowered to effectively and powerfully live out what they already know.
People need Jesus more than they need sermons. “Just give me Jesus.” How many sermons will it take till we learn that too many people have substituted sermon hearing for hearing Jesus?
A preacher’s bias and opinion can easily twist the Bible. Otherwise Jesus wouldn’t have warned us about false prophets. So why not read the Word ourselves so that it isn’t filtered thru a man’s opinion?
Rely on risen Jesus. Put your trust in Him, not in one of the tens of thousands of divisive, mutually independent religious organizations that call themselves churches or denominations. The answer to cruelty, oppression, bullying, name calling, hatred, violence, and war is the risen Jesus–the Prince of Peace! I’m in awe of Jesus when I see nature’s beauty and when I see His image in people’s heart (even in people who don’t acknowledge Him).
Western society proclaims that feelings are Lord–that a person’s feelings and desires define who he is and what he does. True Christianity declares and demonstrates that the living Jesus is Lord–that the resurrected and ever-present Jesus Christ defines who a person is and what he should do.
For me, listening to most formal sermons drowns out the voice of Jesus. I went to a church this morning and felt so distracted from Jesus that I had to leave half way thru the sermon to get focused on Him again. Given the choice, I’d rather hear directly from Jesus than from a preacher. How about you? If churches won’t train people to daily listen to Jesus, who will?
Hope’s in Christ, not in sermons!
Christians are sitting Week after week To hear the same man Give a religious lecture In a hope-starved world. But the Bible says, The hope of glory Is “Christ in you.”
I’m learning Spanish and the grammar displeases me, but if I change it to fit my desires, I miss it up. The same is true with love language. True love language isn’t uncomfortable when people disagree with or disapprove of each other’s behaviors and beliefs.
Love language speaks with an open heart in order to kindly guide people toward truth and to turn them from error. It never calls people who kindly disagree with each other “haters.” Love language doesn’t retaliate (or “retali-hate”) when it feels like it has been wronged.
Unconditional praise and approval aren’t the language of love. True love language doesn’t speak approvingly when people are causing harm to themselves or others.
Love language is sometimes encouraging and sometimes corrective. If you see me about to be blindsided by a bus, please tell me.
Love language isn’t always sweet and tender. Sometimes it’s strong and straightforward.I don’t always like the love language that people who care about me use when they lovingly correct me, but I need to hear it.
Pride is not a part of love language, but humility is essential to it. Dishonesty and deception disrupt love language. Love language never demands people’s approval or respect.
The best book about love language is the Bible. Read it like a love letter from God, not like a theological textbook.
As humans we all have possessions that no one and nothing can take away from us. We may surrender those possessions, but they can’t be taken away from us. What are those possessions?
Love is one of them. People can disappoint you. They can hurt you, but they can’t make you stop caring about them.
How about hope? Life can be discouraging. Your life might even appear hopeless to you, but you can still choose to hold on to hope.
No one can steal your joy. Joy flows from the heart. You can abandon joy, but it can’t be taken from you.
Don’t let anything or anyone repo your faith. Even when all seems lost, keep the faith!
Inner peace never needs to cease. Even if external peace collapses into chaos all around you, you can keep the peace within you.
Nothing can steal your kindness if you refuse to surrender it. Even in this unkind world with name calling and insults streaming online and blanketing social media, you can choose to be kind.
Never give up your power to make wise, life enhancing choices. To give up your power to choose your attitude is the only way that you can lose it all.
Free Gas for Your Think Tank -- Short Reflections, Lasting Encouragement 