I’m a movie person. Well, at least I was a movie person in high school. Back before my life got better than the movies. Now if you talk about the latest hit around me I will look at you with a blank stare. I have never heard of it.
I still like movies, I just don’t have time to watch them. But the reason I love movies so much is… you know… the drama… the passion… the suspense… the emotion… it makes me feel more alive than regular life.
But I am no longer living a regular life. I think that our love for drama is innate. I think we were created for a life of drama. But so that we are on the hero’s side, and even though there is suspense and moments of tragedy, we know who’s going to win in the end. Hollywood style. Always a happy ending. The kind of ending like in a sports movie where in the last scene the loser kid is getting carried on everyone’s shoulders for saving the game.
Life with Jesus is way better than any movie. And I’m talking badass movies like Bourne Identity. Yeah no contest. Life with Jesus is better.
This is how the story goes: Every once in a while in our walks with Jesus we will receive a grace to reach out for greater things, a hunger for more of God. The challenge was always there waiting on us. But we never had the revelation of the power of Jesus within us to meet the challenge, to take it on. But then we get this epiphany of who we are in Christ, Ephesians 1 style. And with our eyes fixed on the prize, Jesus our Lord, we are exceedingly strengthened to rise up and take what was always ours. As we move forward, our eyes never leave him. He is our source. He is our everything. We are lovesick for him. And so an epic journey begins.
But a journey without conflict is lame. So in order to increase his and our glory, God allows the enemy to think he can take us out and to pour out his wrath. There are moments when we realize in sincerity that he, the enemy, is ruthless. That he is deceptive. That he is persistent against us. We find ourselves in a raging battle. Not against other people. But against the invisible powers of darkness.
He strikes and we are wounded. We turn to God in desperation. We turn to him in weakness. We cry out to him to save us from despair. He responds with a quick work that is more immediate than we would have dared to think. He responds with a strong arm that is more powerful that we would have believed. All of a sudden we don’t feel that we are in battle anymore. We are not struggling or striving. We are just gazing into his face. And getting drunk on his love. And walking in peace that we cannot understand. And even feeling an irresistible joy. And in the back of our heads we know, that at the sound of our prayers, legions of angels have been sent out to fight on all sides. We are on the winning side. It is suddenly all so clear.
Our eyes don’t see the victory yet. In fact the circumstances seem to be getting worse. Based on what our eyes can see, we should be in complete despair. Anyone else would have given up hope by now. But we walk by faith, not by sight. We look ahead to things that we know are coming whether we seen them now or not. They will come. There is no question. And ultimately Jesus will return. Then the victory will be fully manifest.
There are certain moments when I think we are the craziest people in the whole world. Either that or God is truly at work within us. Like when a month-old believer looks the division and the darkness in the face and laughs. He knows who his God is. Or when at the moment of greatest attack, the confidence and joy within us as we pray is at a greater level than ever before. It’s not because we’re strong. We all admit our moments of intense weakness. It’s because Jesus has overcome. It’s because Jesus loves us, and love is stronger than death. It’s because the Spirit of Jesus that raised him from the dead lives inside of each of us. And we are amazed most of all at the miracles he performs and the mountains he moves on the inside of our souls. These are the strongest testaments to his resurrection. Stronger than all the physical miracles we have been seeing lately- legs are growing out, broken bones are being restored, mental ailments are no more. But the glory that is in these miracles does not compare to the glory of a soul once in anguish now in peace. It is inner resurrection at work. And when he returns our physical bodies will also follow and will rise up to be with the Lord forever.
Jesus will be glorified at that time. And if we have anything to do with it, he will be glorified before that time as well. He will be glorified in our generation. He will be glorified in America. The kingdom is already coming. Nothing can quench his increasing glory. Brothers and sisters, hold on tight, because something’s about to rumble!
Friday, April 2, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Who Can Explain It?
Watch this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30rWm84z-zg
On February 12, 2010, the president of Haiti, President Preval, called the nation to 3 days of fasting and prayer in place of the celebration of Marti Gras. Over a million people showed up in the main square. From 6am to 6pm they cried out to God to heal their nation and repented of their sins. The Prime Minister came but could not address the crowd; he could only weep for an hour. Then President Preval came and the pastors laid hands on him and prayed for him. Over 3000 people were saved, and 101 of those had been voodoo priests.
I can imagine someone who doesn’t know God watching this video and thinking, what is this? These people experience a devastating earthquake. They lose friends and family members. They lose houses, jobs, and possessions. The whole nation is in upheaval. Why are they worshiping God? Why are they praying to the God who allowed this to happen? Why are people coming to faith in Christ? Why are they not enraged at God?
I can imagine this person who doesn’t know God thinking maybe these people are acting out of fear. They are afraid God will do it again and send more natural disasters, so they are praying to avoid his wrath. They are praying to appease his anger. But if you watch the video, you know that cannot be. There is no fear in their faces. There is Love. Hope. Desperation. Reverence. Brokenness. But no fear.
I can imagine a theologian thinking these people are worshiping God because they know he is worthy to be worshiped. The heavens are his, the earth is his, he can do as he wishes, and no matter the circumstances, he is worthy to be praised. Maybe that is true in some cases. And it is certainly true about God that he is worthy. But I don’t that’s why the people worship…
The reason they worship him is because they love him. They cannot help but stay in his presence. They cannot help but raise their arms in praise. I bet their arms were about to fall off after three days in the air. But I doubt anyone noticed or cared. They have to praise him.
But why do they love him when such horrors have come upon their people?
When all your physical comforts are taken from you in a second, and you are left without shelter, without food, without hygiene; when all your emotional comforts are taken from you and you are left without family, without home; when all that you have left is your own physical body keeping your soul on this earth, and even that physical body is perhaps broken and hurting, what will you turn to? What will you do with the next second of time when there is nothing that can be done, to undo the horrors, to go back to how it was before? What can you do but worship God? What can you do but cry out to him? Where can your soul turn but straight to where it always belonged, in the hands of your loving Father? What can you think to do except what was always inherent within you, to lift your eyes to God, and rend your heart bare before his eyes? And when his presence meets you in that moment, when repentance breaks off the bondages of many years, when you hear his Spirit weep along with your groaning soul, yet adorn you with an unknown shelter, an unknown strength, an unknown love, what will you do but worship him more, and resolve in your heart to never leave this place? Where else can you go? And what else can you do? And why, now that you are in his arms, would you want to go somewhere else or do something else even if you had everything back? There is nothing better than him. It is clearer than ever before. They love him because they cannot help but love him.
And so these people that have been broken, that have lost everything, that have suffered much devastation, have only this now. That God is still their God. And that God loves them. And strangely, they find that that is more than enough. That is life itself.
Beneath the peaceful blue skies, one million people are soaked in the rain of the Holy Spirit. In the midst of the silence, two million arms lift the weight of God’s glory. At a loss for words, their hands wave praises to the only God. The seconds feel like hours worth of revelation. The hours feel like only seconds have gone by. By the time the sun sets, the legs are shaky, the arms are numb, the eyes are falling into sleep. But the spirit says not enough. I’m satisfied, and it’s not enough. More of the presence of God. More time doing nothing but gazing. Doing nothing but worshiping. Doing nothing but waiting on him to speak. I cannot leave this posture of worship. It is what I was made for. It is where I belong. It is at once ecstasy and rest. Like nothing else in the world.
So the onlookers will marvel. They will guess, they will theorize, but they will never understand. Until they taste the presence of God for themselves. And then they will look at this earthquake, they will look at this revival, and they will say, GLORY BE TO GOD! FOREVER AND EVER! And no explanation is needed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30rWm84z-zg
On February 12, 2010, the president of Haiti, President Preval, called the nation to 3 days of fasting and prayer in place of the celebration of Marti Gras. Over a million people showed up in the main square. From 6am to 6pm they cried out to God to heal their nation and repented of their sins. The Prime Minister came but could not address the crowd; he could only weep for an hour. Then President Preval came and the pastors laid hands on him and prayed for him. Over 3000 people were saved, and 101 of those had been voodoo priests.
I can imagine someone who doesn’t know God watching this video and thinking, what is this? These people experience a devastating earthquake. They lose friends and family members. They lose houses, jobs, and possessions. The whole nation is in upheaval. Why are they worshiping God? Why are they praying to the God who allowed this to happen? Why are people coming to faith in Christ? Why are they not enraged at God?
I can imagine this person who doesn’t know God thinking maybe these people are acting out of fear. They are afraid God will do it again and send more natural disasters, so they are praying to avoid his wrath. They are praying to appease his anger. But if you watch the video, you know that cannot be. There is no fear in their faces. There is Love. Hope. Desperation. Reverence. Brokenness. But no fear.
I can imagine a theologian thinking these people are worshiping God because they know he is worthy to be worshiped. The heavens are his, the earth is his, he can do as he wishes, and no matter the circumstances, he is worthy to be praised. Maybe that is true in some cases. And it is certainly true about God that he is worthy. But I don’t that’s why the people worship…
The reason they worship him is because they love him. They cannot help but stay in his presence. They cannot help but raise their arms in praise. I bet their arms were about to fall off after three days in the air. But I doubt anyone noticed or cared. They have to praise him.
But why do they love him when such horrors have come upon their people?
When all your physical comforts are taken from you in a second, and you are left without shelter, without food, without hygiene; when all your emotional comforts are taken from you and you are left without family, without home; when all that you have left is your own physical body keeping your soul on this earth, and even that physical body is perhaps broken and hurting, what will you turn to? What will you do with the next second of time when there is nothing that can be done, to undo the horrors, to go back to how it was before? What can you do but worship God? What can you do but cry out to him? Where can your soul turn but straight to where it always belonged, in the hands of your loving Father? What can you think to do except what was always inherent within you, to lift your eyes to God, and rend your heart bare before his eyes? And when his presence meets you in that moment, when repentance breaks off the bondages of many years, when you hear his Spirit weep along with your groaning soul, yet adorn you with an unknown shelter, an unknown strength, an unknown love, what will you do but worship him more, and resolve in your heart to never leave this place? Where else can you go? And what else can you do? And why, now that you are in his arms, would you want to go somewhere else or do something else even if you had everything back? There is nothing better than him. It is clearer than ever before. They love him because they cannot help but love him.
And so these people that have been broken, that have lost everything, that have suffered much devastation, have only this now. That God is still their God. And that God loves them. And strangely, they find that that is more than enough. That is life itself.
Beneath the peaceful blue skies, one million people are soaked in the rain of the Holy Spirit. In the midst of the silence, two million arms lift the weight of God’s glory. At a loss for words, their hands wave praises to the only God. The seconds feel like hours worth of revelation. The hours feel like only seconds have gone by. By the time the sun sets, the legs are shaky, the arms are numb, the eyes are falling into sleep. But the spirit says not enough. I’m satisfied, and it’s not enough. More of the presence of God. More time doing nothing but gazing. Doing nothing but worshiping. Doing nothing but waiting on him to speak. I cannot leave this posture of worship. It is what I was made for. It is where I belong. It is at once ecstasy and rest. Like nothing else in the world.
So the onlookers will marvel. They will guess, they will theorize, but they will never understand. Until they taste the presence of God for themselves. And then they will look at this earthquake, they will look at this revival, and they will say, GLORY BE TO GOD! FOREVER AND EVER! And no explanation is needed.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Redefining Revival
The other night I had to re-ask the question, what is revival? In some ways, we are experiencing revival here in Austin. God has stirred up extravagant prayer, and we are encountering God together on a daily basis. The spiritual atmosphere on campus has shifted. People are open to receiving prayer when before they just thought it was weird. People have faith to be healed when we tell them Jesus can heal them. And those for whom we never thought it would be possible are seeking to learn about Jesus and to learn about the Bible. Artists and hippies and new-agers and tree-huggers and homosexuals are wanting to know about Jesus and read the Bible. All the churches, all the ministries are suddenly purely hungry for God and willing to do whatever it takes to have him. We have seen on a daily basis brothers and sisters laying down their theologies and religious barriers and being willing to receive the Holy Spirit and everything that comes with him, just because they want more of God. People are hearing about our prayer time and bringing their friends to come and receive the fire, the baptism, the blessing, the spirit of intercession, the healing, the encounter with Jesus. A Muslim guy is coming to our prayer time. And it’s not just our prayer time where things are blowing up- almost everyone I talk to has a similar story about their ministry or gathering. The body of Christ is uniting, and we have stopped caring what ministry we are a part of or what doctrine we follow. We have seriously stopped thinking in those terms and when I do think about those things it just seems weird, because those walls are falling down.
Everyone smells revival in the air and everyone is expecting something big to happen. People are even trying to rent out the Texas stadium in anticipation.
Now let me say I don’t have any problem with expecting something big to happen, and it’s like a dream come true to rent out the stadium for a revival meeting. I’m all for it! I say come on Jesus! I think huge outpourings of the Holy Spirit are biblical- Acts 2, Acts 3 style!
But the other night when we were talking about the move of God and sharing stories, I felt uneasy in my spirit. I felt like something was horribly wrong. I felt we were not aligned with Jesus, but were falling astray into something else… something that wasn’t Jesus. I spoke up, and two others agreed they were feeling the same thing. We had to refocus our eyes on the Lord.
What was it that happened in that moment? We were doing good things- sharing testimonies about what God was doing, sharing truths about gifts of the Holy Spirit, laughing together, dreaming together, getting excited together. And these are good things. I love these things! But we were doing these things under the influence of a spirit of idolatry.
That was when the Holy Spirit began to speak to us about love. And he spoke strong. His word was sharper than a two-edged sword.
He spoke through 1 John. How can you claim that you love God if you do not love your brother and sister? Sarah shared that loving God and loving others are not two different things. They are the same thing. They are equally important to Jesus. If we think we love God but we are not loving our brother and sister, it’s not because we just lack that part of love- the loving others thing- it’s because we lack love period. Love for God and love for people are married. They are one. They are the vertical and horizontal expression of Love. Having only one of these and claiming to have love is like having only one of the wooden boards for a cross and claiming to have a cross. It’s not a cross anymore. It’s just a wooden board. The definition of a cross is two boards intersecting. The definition of love is our relationship with God intersecting with our relationship with others.
He spoke through Philippians 2. We are supposed to be one in Christ- having one mind and one love. We are to have the mind of Christ Jesus who humbled himself, going from King of the universe to death on a cross.
So we began to pray for love for one another. And we realized it all comes down to love. It’s all about love, and it’s always been all about love. God is love, and it’s all about God.
That’s when I realized that our definition of revival is seriously flawed. Revival is not an event. It’s a lifestyle. Revival is not one big dynamite blast. It’s the flame of the Holy Spirit spreading from person to person. Revival is not about power encounters. It’s about love.
We, or at least I, have been taught this idea that there is ordinary church life, and it is good and fun and Jesus is in it, but it is life with Jesus on the mediocre level. And then….. only once every century….whenever the people of God pray really really hard…GOD SENDS REVIVAL! Boom! Dynamite blast! Yesterday we were trudging along the dirt of the earth, but today we have been blasted into outer space! Yesterday we were fruitless, burnt out Christians hanging our heads in despair, but today we are superheroes riding the winds of God’s manifest presence! And the word spreads across the states, and everyone hears about it and buys last minute plane tickets to go experience it, and they broadcast it on God-TV. And for weeks, sometimes for months it continues on, and everyone is talking about it: Is it real revival or is it fake? Will it last or will it fade? And where will the revival comet crash next?
Then eventually, everyone who is coming to the meeting realizes that they are about lose their jobs and flunk out of school and are forced to start living everyday life again. Either that or the star, the revival celebrity gets corrupted by all the attention, and when he falls, the revival falls, because he is the face of the revival. And we always have some deep interpretation for what went wrong, and how we broke the code of the revival formula. And because we broke God’s revival code, he got mad and he took the revival away. Then we all study revival more diligently so that when it happens again we will go by the code and make it last.
Last night I was thinking about the way we view revival, and then I started thinking about the Chinese church, and I just started to cry. Our brothers and sisters in China, our precious family connected to us by his blood, are not holding grand revival meetings. Yet they are experiencing the greatest revival in all of history. When a Chinese sister decides to gather with believers, she must wait until dark, and then walk many miles in the pitch black so as not to be seen. When she gets to the location, she will find the family of Jesus huddled together in a house, weeping, weeping, weeping. Weeping because they are feeding each other the body and the blood of Jesus. Weeping because they are being freed from their burdens through the power of the Holy Spirit. Weeping as they pray for their nation to be saved. Weeping as they cling to Jesus with everything they have, their only answer in the face of brutal persecution. When they leave for home the next morning, the floor is slippery because of the tears. Nobody knows who started this revival. Nobody knows who the leaders are. Nobody knows where this revival is located because it hidden away, and yet it is everywhere at once. Nobody travels to specific meetings to study the revival and figure out how it happened. Because it is obvious to everyone how it happens. There is no question. They just follow Jesus and it happens.
Seeing this shames me and silences me. I lay down all my philosophies and strategies and formulas about revival, and I realize deep inside that we just need Jesus and we need to experience his love together. We need to pray for one another and minister to one another, not to show off our spiritual gifts, but to give freely to the body whatever gifts we have been given freely by Jesus. We need to serve and honor one another as if each one was that great revival celebrity. And I imagine that one day we will wash each other’s feet with our tears. Life in the power of the Holy Spirit is not showy or grand. It is humble and simple. It is the way we interact one to another on an every moment basis.
There is really no such thing as revival. There is simply normal Christianity and perverted Christianity. What we call revival is actually normal Christianity. It is the body of Christ being what it is. We don’t want to admit this because the blame no longer falls on God for whether or not he sends revival. The blame falls on the body. A revival lifestyle will follow those who walk the way that Jesus walked. And that is what we are all called to do (1 John 1).
This should actually come as a relief. All that pressure to make revival happen, all the pressure to preserve it when it comes, all the pressure is released. All the burdens leave. We have only to be faithful with what we are called and to be obedient to the Lord. If he blows up a meeting on campus, if he brings the whole campus together to worship in the stadium, and if healings are broadcasted on the screen, hallelujah! That freaking pumps me up! But what happens the next day?
We see it in Acts 2. On one day thousands get saved, but that is not the end of the story. The following days, they are meeting in the temple to pray and receive teaching and break bread and love each other. And they are meeting in their homes to do church. They are having all things in common. The word is spreading from house to house. And the harvest is still coming in as people are added to their number day by day. And then a few days later everything blows up again when the crippled man gets healed. But one day is no different from another. Each day is the day of salvation, each day is another part of God’s will being done on earth, each day is a chance to praise the Lord and be a living sacrifice in his hands. Each day is a day of love.
As I realized these things last night, I felt deep sorrow because I knew that this supernatural love was not flowing among us, and I knew that it was so rare the times I had experienced that extent of love in my heart for others, that pure, genuine love that feels like Jesus manifesting on the inside…that makes you just want to do something… to lay down your life and die for the person….or something.
As I looked into why that love is not there inside of me, I realized that it was being blocked by the idol of individualism. And he showed me that we have embraced a half-truth in the church. There is a movement in the church that teaches people who would normally never think of themselves as being powerful ministers of God to realize their identity in Christ and to walk in it. I honor this movement because it revolutionized my thinking and helped me go so much deeper with Jesus. I realized that I was no longer defined by my sin or called a sinner, but as a new creation in Christ I am defined as holy, beloved, and righteous. I am seated with Christ in heaven. I am called to reign with him there. I am royalty and I have authority to unlock and loose the kingdom of heaven, to heal the sick, to cast out demons, to raise the dead, and to trample over snakes and scorpions. I am called to do works greater than the works that Jesus did. I am his representative, his temple, his ambassador, his light, through which his presence will touch people. Through the power of the cross, every spiritual blessing and heavenly treasure is available to me and he will give me whatever I ask for. I should go after spiritual gifts, and I should go after greater intimacy with him. All these things are true and transformational in my life. But that night I realized that they are only one half of the truth. Because they are all about the individual. They are all about getting my breakthrough, receiving my gifts, becoming my own great person of God.
Christ offers us these promises, but he offers them collectively to the church, with the intent that we would seek them collectively, attain them collectively, and use them to build one another up. Yes I am a personally a priest and a queen, but that verse in 1 Peter 2:9 actually says we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. This whole identity in Christ thing was never meant to be individualistic. Together we find our identity, not separately. Together we are a picture, we are a manifestation, we are a revelation of Jesus. And yes it does say in 1 Corinthians 14:1 that we should eagerly desire spiritual gifts, but Paul is talking to the body. We are so focused on getting all of our spiritual gifts, that we have forgotten 1 Corinthians 12, where it says that together as the body we have all the spiritual gifts. After listing the spiritual gifts, verse 11 says, “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” It goes on to give a picture of the diversity of the body, the diversity of the gifts, and how they all come together for mutual building up. If one person had everything he would not need the other members of the body. But somehow we have come to think that nothing can get done for the kingdom unless there is some superstar who has everything. It is because we don’t know how to function as a body, so this is our only option.
From now on when I pray for revival, I don’t want to pray that God blasts a meeting (though I will pray for that as well of course); but to really pray for revival would be to pray that the body begins to be what it is, to function as it was made to, that God would redefine to us all what it means to follow Jesus, and that he would show us all what it means to live in harmony with one another. It all comes down to love. That is the most supernatural thing we will ever experience.
Everyone smells revival in the air and everyone is expecting something big to happen. People are even trying to rent out the Texas stadium in anticipation.
Now let me say I don’t have any problem with expecting something big to happen, and it’s like a dream come true to rent out the stadium for a revival meeting. I’m all for it! I say come on Jesus! I think huge outpourings of the Holy Spirit are biblical- Acts 2, Acts 3 style!
But the other night when we were talking about the move of God and sharing stories, I felt uneasy in my spirit. I felt like something was horribly wrong. I felt we were not aligned with Jesus, but were falling astray into something else… something that wasn’t Jesus. I spoke up, and two others agreed they were feeling the same thing. We had to refocus our eyes on the Lord.
What was it that happened in that moment? We were doing good things- sharing testimonies about what God was doing, sharing truths about gifts of the Holy Spirit, laughing together, dreaming together, getting excited together. And these are good things. I love these things! But we were doing these things under the influence of a spirit of idolatry.
That was when the Holy Spirit began to speak to us about love. And he spoke strong. His word was sharper than a two-edged sword.
He spoke through 1 John. How can you claim that you love God if you do not love your brother and sister? Sarah shared that loving God and loving others are not two different things. They are the same thing. They are equally important to Jesus. If we think we love God but we are not loving our brother and sister, it’s not because we just lack that part of love- the loving others thing- it’s because we lack love period. Love for God and love for people are married. They are one. They are the vertical and horizontal expression of Love. Having only one of these and claiming to have love is like having only one of the wooden boards for a cross and claiming to have a cross. It’s not a cross anymore. It’s just a wooden board. The definition of a cross is two boards intersecting. The definition of love is our relationship with God intersecting with our relationship with others.
He spoke through Philippians 2. We are supposed to be one in Christ- having one mind and one love. We are to have the mind of Christ Jesus who humbled himself, going from King of the universe to death on a cross.
So we began to pray for love for one another. And we realized it all comes down to love. It’s all about love, and it’s always been all about love. God is love, and it’s all about God.
That’s when I realized that our definition of revival is seriously flawed. Revival is not an event. It’s a lifestyle. Revival is not one big dynamite blast. It’s the flame of the Holy Spirit spreading from person to person. Revival is not about power encounters. It’s about love.
We, or at least I, have been taught this idea that there is ordinary church life, and it is good and fun and Jesus is in it, but it is life with Jesus on the mediocre level. And then….. only once every century….whenever the people of God pray really really hard…GOD SENDS REVIVAL! Boom! Dynamite blast! Yesterday we were trudging along the dirt of the earth, but today we have been blasted into outer space! Yesterday we were fruitless, burnt out Christians hanging our heads in despair, but today we are superheroes riding the winds of God’s manifest presence! And the word spreads across the states, and everyone hears about it and buys last minute plane tickets to go experience it, and they broadcast it on God-TV. And for weeks, sometimes for months it continues on, and everyone is talking about it: Is it real revival or is it fake? Will it last or will it fade? And where will the revival comet crash next?
Then eventually, everyone who is coming to the meeting realizes that they are about lose their jobs and flunk out of school and are forced to start living everyday life again. Either that or the star, the revival celebrity gets corrupted by all the attention, and when he falls, the revival falls, because he is the face of the revival. And we always have some deep interpretation for what went wrong, and how we broke the code of the revival formula. And because we broke God’s revival code, he got mad and he took the revival away. Then we all study revival more diligently so that when it happens again we will go by the code and make it last.
Last night I was thinking about the way we view revival, and then I started thinking about the Chinese church, and I just started to cry. Our brothers and sisters in China, our precious family connected to us by his blood, are not holding grand revival meetings. Yet they are experiencing the greatest revival in all of history. When a Chinese sister decides to gather with believers, she must wait until dark, and then walk many miles in the pitch black so as not to be seen. When she gets to the location, she will find the family of Jesus huddled together in a house, weeping, weeping, weeping. Weeping because they are feeding each other the body and the blood of Jesus. Weeping because they are being freed from their burdens through the power of the Holy Spirit. Weeping as they pray for their nation to be saved. Weeping as they cling to Jesus with everything they have, their only answer in the face of brutal persecution. When they leave for home the next morning, the floor is slippery because of the tears. Nobody knows who started this revival. Nobody knows who the leaders are. Nobody knows where this revival is located because it hidden away, and yet it is everywhere at once. Nobody travels to specific meetings to study the revival and figure out how it happened. Because it is obvious to everyone how it happens. There is no question. They just follow Jesus and it happens.
Seeing this shames me and silences me. I lay down all my philosophies and strategies and formulas about revival, and I realize deep inside that we just need Jesus and we need to experience his love together. We need to pray for one another and minister to one another, not to show off our spiritual gifts, but to give freely to the body whatever gifts we have been given freely by Jesus. We need to serve and honor one another as if each one was that great revival celebrity. And I imagine that one day we will wash each other’s feet with our tears. Life in the power of the Holy Spirit is not showy or grand. It is humble and simple. It is the way we interact one to another on an every moment basis.
There is really no such thing as revival. There is simply normal Christianity and perverted Christianity. What we call revival is actually normal Christianity. It is the body of Christ being what it is. We don’t want to admit this because the blame no longer falls on God for whether or not he sends revival. The blame falls on the body. A revival lifestyle will follow those who walk the way that Jesus walked. And that is what we are all called to do (1 John 1).
This should actually come as a relief. All that pressure to make revival happen, all the pressure to preserve it when it comes, all the pressure is released. All the burdens leave. We have only to be faithful with what we are called and to be obedient to the Lord. If he blows up a meeting on campus, if he brings the whole campus together to worship in the stadium, and if healings are broadcasted on the screen, hallelujah! That freaking pumps me up! But what happens the next day?
We see it in Acts 2. On one day thousands get saved, but that is not the end of the story. The following days, they are meeting in the temple to pray and receive teaching and break bread and love each other. And they are meeting in their homes to do church. They are having all things in common. The word is spreading from house to house. And the harvest is still coming in as people are added to their number day by day. And then a few days later everything blows up again when the crippled man gets healed. But one day is no different from another. Each day is the day of salvation, each day is another part of God’s will being done on earth, each day is a chance to praise the Lord and be a living sacrifice in his hands. Each day is a day of love.
As I realized these things last night, I felt deep sorrow because I knew that this supernatural love was not flowing among us, and I knew that it was so rare the times I had experienced that extent of love in my heart for others, that pure, genuine love that feels like Jesus manifesting on the inside…that makes you just want to do something… to lay down your life and die for the person….or something.
As I looked into why that love is not there inside of me, I realized that it was being blocked by the idol of individualism. And he showed me that we have embraced a half-truth in the church. There is a movement in the church that teaches people who would normally never think of themselves as being powerful ministers of God to realize their identity in Christ and to walk in it. I honor this movement because it revolutionized my thinking and helped me go so much deeper with Jesus. I realized that I was no longer defined by my sin or called a sinner, but as a new creation in Christ I am defined as holy, beloved, and righteous. I am seated with Christ in heaven. I am called to reign with him there. I am royalty and I have authority to unlock and loose the kingdom of heaven, to heal the sick, to cast out demons, to raise the dead, and to trample over snakes and scorpions. I am called to do works greater than the works that Jesus did. I am his representative, his temple, his ambassador, his light, through which his presence will touch people. Through the power of the cross, every spiritual blessing and heavenly treasure is available to me and he will give me whatever I ask for. I should go after spiritual gifts, and I should go after greater intimacy with him. All these things are true and transformational in my life. But that night I realized that they are only one half of the truth. Because they are all about the individual. They are all about getting my breakthrough, receiving my gifts, becoming my own great person of God.
Christ offers us these promises, but he offers them collectively to the church, with the intent that we would seek them collectively, attain them collectively, and use them to build one another up. Yes I am a personally a priest and a queen, but that verse in 1 Peter 2:9 actually says we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. This whole identity in Christ thing was never meant to be individualistic. Together we find our identity, not separately. Together we are a picture, we are a manifestation, we are a revelation of Jesus. And yes it does say in 1 Corinthians 14:1 that we should eagerly desire spiritual gifts, but Paul is talking to the body. We are so focused on getting all of our spiritual gifts, that we have forgotten 1 Corinthians 12, where it says that together as the body we have all the spiritual gifts. After listing the spiritual gifts, verse 11 says, “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” It goes on to give a picture of the diversity of the body, the diversity of the gifts, and how they all come together for mutual building up. If one person had everything he would not need the other members of the body. But somehow we have come to think that nothing can get done for the kingdom unless there is some superstar who has everything. It is because we don’t know how to function as a body, so this is our only option.
From now on when I pray for revival, I don’t want to pray that God blasts a meeting (though I will pray for that as well of course); but to really pray for revival would be to pray that the body begins to be what it is, to function as it was made to, that God would redefine to us all what it means to follow Jesus, and that he would show us all what it means to live in harmony with one another. It all comes down to love. That is the most supernatural thing we will ever experience.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
I'm Confused, But I'm Not Budging
Where is your hand, God? I don’t understand.
I want to be different than what I have seen growing up. I want to believe the Bible. Not just with head knowledge- that doesn’t do any good. What’s the point of believing something if you don’t believe it for your own life? I will not just say, “Nothing is impossible for God,” without contending for the impossible. I won’t say, “God is love,” and not expect to be captivated by him. I won’t say, “I believe that Jesus rose from the dead,” and not expect to see the power of his resurrection. This is how we prove we have faith that our God is the God of Israel and God Almighty and he did everything that was recorded about him in the Bible, if we expect him to do it again in our lives. I haven’t seen the waters part yet. I haven’t seen the dead raised. But I don’t base my faith on personal experience. That would be dumb. I am just one person.
I think Zechariah had the same problem many of us do today. God has been silent for 400 years. 400 YEARS! I bet he and the other priests just assumed that God was done talking to people and doing extreme miracles. Yes, he believed the accounts that he read about angels of the Lord appearing to people, and Sarah having a baby in her old age. But it just didn’t happen anymore. He had never heard of it happening to anyone in his lifetime. If someone were to claim these things, they would be crazy! But then he went into the temple one day, and there appeared an angel of the Lord! The angel told him his wife would have a baby even in her old age. But Zechariah didn’t believe the word that was given to him. So my question is what is faith? Is it simply believing in your head that something happened? Belief becomes faith when it is acted upon.
I don’t want to let the devil remind me of past failures. “Remember that time you prayed for a sick person and nothing happened?” My faith should not be based on experience. I want to believe the Bible. Jesus said that it is pointless to hear his words if we don’t do them. It is like building your house on the sand. I want to do the words I read. I read a lot of words of Jesus that I don’t see happening in western Christianity. “When you give a feast, don’t invite the upper class, but invite the poor, the blind, and the lame.” When was the last time you saw someone do that? “When someone steals something from you, don’t demand it back, but give that person even more of what he took.” How great the influence would be if we actually did that!
And just like the hard-to-do commands, I want to act upon the hard-to-believe commands. “Keep asking and you will receive. Keep seeking and you will find. Keep knocking and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7. But Jesus I asked you for breakthrough, and I didn’t get it! “Keep asking and you will receive.” But Jesus I wanted to walk in love and I kept failing! “Keep seeking and you will find.” But Jesus I was trying to walk in the supernatural, and all I felt was really really natural. “Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” OK.
Or how about “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12. If this verse is true, then not only will we see paralyzed people get up and walk, food multiply, people walk on water, and dead people come back to life, but we will see greater things than these! Even greater than water turning into top-notch wine!
Apparently Jesus knew we would have a hard time believing these commands and putting them into practice. He told us “Ask and you will receive” like 500 times (ok that’s exaggerating), and added a bunch of “truly, truly” to the beginning. He must have known that 2000 years later, people would rise up and say, “It doesn’t mean what it says. It means we will receive only when we happen to ask according to God’s sovereign plan.” Yes! How exciting! I’m really motivated to pray now! NO! It means what it says, that’s why he said it so many times.
So here is my question. Why doesn’t my experience match up with this whenever I act in faith? I don’t understand. I went to visit a friend last week because she had a high ankle sprain and was in a lot of pain. The week before as I prayed, I heard the word “sprained leg.” That is so random- I have never heard of a sprained leg- so when I heard about how my friend sprained her ankle from heel to knee, I knew that this was God. I went to her dorm and shared about how Jesus loves her and wants to heal her. I prayed for her. I commanded the pain to leave in the name of Jesus. The pain didn’t leave. I don’t know why.
I’ve also witnessed a lot of tragedies the past year. When each of these crises would come up, I would spend much time on my knees interceding with groans and weeping, and much time interceding with others. The doomful prediction of the circumstances came about anyway. This is serious. This is not just, “Oh boo hoo I didn’t get my breakthrough.” This is people’s lives. This is people’s families. This is indescribable pain. Why Jesus?
Maybe I’ll know why some day. Either way, it doesn’t change how I’m going to live. If I cry out for the kingdom my whole life and never see it, I will not stop crying out for it until I’m dead. I prefer to live that way than to live without any hope. I will not just accept things. Even if I see 100 people die from cancer, the next time I see someone suffering from cancer, I will believe for a miracle. Even when I see the same strongholds pin down my family over and over again, I will cry out for transformation in my family over and over and over again! Can you imagine if Hannah had given up hope and stopped praying for a son? There would be no Samuel! Can you imagine if the Jerusalem church had just accepted that Peter was going to die in prison just like James? There would be no great jailbreak by the angel of the Lord! If I don’t seek the impossible, I’ll never know what could have been.
Even when I say to myself in frustration, “I am never going to step out in faith again,” as soon as I see the face of Jesus, I change my mind. Whenever I look on the glory of Jesus and worship him, I CANNOT HELP but believe he will do remarkable things!
So where is your hand, God? I’m not sure. But I’ll be ok as long as I can see your face.
I want to be different than what I have seen growing up. I want to believe the Bible. Not just with head knowledge- that doesn’t do any good. What’s the point of believing something if you don’t believe it for your own life? I will not just say, “Nothing is impossible for God,” without contending for the impossible. I won’t say, “God is love,” and not expect to be captivated by him. I won’t say, “I believe that Jesus rose from the dead,” and not expect to see the power of his resurrection. This is how we prove we have faith that our God is the God of Israel and God Almighty and he did everything that was recorded about him in the Bible, if we expect him to do it again in our lives. I haven’t seen the waters part yet. I haven’t seen the dead raised. But I don’t base my faith on personal experience. That would be dumb. I am just one person.
I think Zechariah had the same problem many of us do today. God has been silent for 400 years. 400 YEARS! I bet he and the other priests just assumed that God was done talking to people and doing extreme miracles. Yes, he believed the accounts that he read about angels of the Lord appearing to people, and Sarah having a baby in her old age. But it just didn’t happen anymore. He had never heard of it happening to anyone in his lifetime. If someone were to claim these things, they would be crazy! But then he went into the temple one day, and there appeared an angel of the Lord! The angel told him his wife would have a baby even in her old age. But Zechariah didn’t believe the word that was given to him. So my question is what is faith? Is it simply believing in your head that something happened? Belief becomes faith when it is acted upon.
I don’t want to let the devil remind me of past failures. “Remember that time you prayed for a sick person and nothing happened?” My faith should not be based on experience. I want to believe the Bible. Jesus said that it is pointless to hear his words if we don’t do them. It is like building your house on the sand. I want to do the words I read. I read a lot of words of Jesus that I don’t see happening in western Christianity. “When you give a feast, don’t invite the upper class, but invite the poor, the blind, and the lame.” When was the last time you saw someone do that? “When someone steals something from you, don’t demand it back, but give that person even more of what he took.” How great the influence would be if we actually did that!
And just like the hard-to-do commands, I want to act upon the hard-to-believe commands. “Keep asking and you will receive. Keep seeking and you will find. Keep knocking and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7. But Jesus I asked you for breakthrough, and I didn’t get it! “Keep asking and you will receive.” But Jesus I wanted to walk in love and I kept failing! “Keep seeking and you will find.” But Jesus I was trying to walk in the supernatural, and all I felt was really really natural. “Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” OK.
Or how about “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12. If this verse is true, then not only will we see paralyzed people get up and walk, food multiply, people walk on water, and dead people come back to life, but we will see greater things than these! Even greater than water turning into top-notch wine!
Apparently Jesus knew we would have a hard time believing these commands and putting them into practice. He told us “Ask and you will receive” like 500 times (ok that’s exaggerating), and added a bunch of “truly, truly” to the beginning. He must have known that 2000 years later, people would rise up and say, “It doesn’t mean what it says. It means we will receive only when we happen to ask according to God’s sovereign plan.” Yes! How exciting! I’m really motivated to pray now! NO! It means what it says, that’s why he said it so many times.
So here is my question. Why doesn’t my experience match up with this whenever I act in faith? I don’t understand. I went to visit a friend last week because she had a high ankle sprain and was in a lot of pain. The week before as I prayed, I heard the word “sprained leg.” That is so random- I have never heard of a sprained leg- so when I heard about how my friend sprained her ankle from heel to knee, I knew that this was God. I went to her dorm and shared about how Jesus loves her and wants to heal her. I prayed for her. I commanded the pain to leave in the name of Jesus. The pain didn’t leave. I don’t know why.
I’ve also witnessed a lot of tragedies the past year. When each of these crises would come up, I would spend much time on my knees interceding with groans and weeping, and much time interceding with others. The doomful prediction of the circumstances came about anyway. This is serious. This is not just, “Oh boo hoo I didn’t get my breakthrough.” This is people’s lives. This is people’s families. This is indescribable pain. Why Jesus?
Maybe I’ll know why some day. Either way, it doesn’t change how I’m going to live. If I cry out for the kingdom my whole life and never see it, I will not stop crying out for it until I’m dead. I prefer to live that way than to live without any hope. I will not just accept things. Even if I see 100 people die from cancer, the next time I see someone suffering from cancer, I will believe for a miracle. Even when I see the same strongholds pin down my family over and over again, I will cry out for transformation in my family over and over and over again! Can you imagine if Hannah had given up hope and stopped praying for a son? There would be no Samuel! Can you imagine if the Jerusalem church had just accepted that Peter was going to die in prison just like James? There would be no great jailbreak by the angel of the Lord! If I don’t seek the impossible, I’ll never know what could have been.
Even when I say to myself in frustration, “I am never going to step out in faith again,” as soon as I see the face of Jesus, I change my mind. Whenever I look on the glory of Jesus and worship him, I CANNOT HELP but believe he will do remarkable things!
So where is your hand, God? I’m not sure. But I’ll be ok as long as I can see your face.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Mary Magdalene
I have undergone a very significant life change in the past week.
I am graduating this coming May. God willing.
I switched from the 5-yr architecture degree to the 4-yr architectural studies degree. The reason being I know I am not supposed to do architecture whenever I graduate. I have been feeling this for quite some time but it was very hard to go through with this decision. It does not make any sense in worldly logic. I just spent 3.5 years of my life working toward something- becoming an architect- and now I am giving it up. If you were Judas watching me make that decision, you would probably say, "What a waste of 4 years! Why didn't you go through with your plan and earn a lot of money to give to the poor?" But the poor I will always have. The more important thing is having Jesus.
I know that he wants me to travel for his kingdom. And find work on the side as I go. This is exciting to me- I will probably have a whole range of unusual jobs! Hopefully creative/design jobs.
Life is weird. I feel the weight of change. I am not living on campus anymore... doors have not been opening... I feel like I'm not doing anything... except hanging out with Jesus.
He said I'm in a "Mary Magdalene" season. Breaking my bottle of oil and pouring it over his feet and just adoring him. It feels amazing having something costly to give him. Jesus keep giving me costly things so that I can keep breaking them at your feet. I break my "archtiecture bottle," and it is not a waste.
For the most part I am just wanting to be with him. But every few days I get these random energy shoots all through my body that are shouting, "Share the good news! share the good news!" This is how I like it. I am not living to share the good news, I'm living to know him. But then again I can't help sharing the good news.
But I had this realization. He doesn't want my service. He doesn't want my ministry. He wants my heart. And he is doing everything he can to get all of my heart. Including discipline.... persecution.... he is revealing my depravity...like a laser cutting through a diamond, making it pure, refining with fire... he is revealing the depths of my heart... because he wants it all.
Let all the glory go to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is coming soon. I feel it. I feel his kingdom coming soon. This world is nothing. It is passing away. Seek the things that are above... where Christ is... seated at the right hand of God. Seek the kingdom of God because it will never fade away!
I am graduating this coming May. God willing.
I switched from the 5-yr architecture degree to the 4-yr architectural studies degree. The reason being I know I am not supposed to do architecture whenever I graduate. I have been feeling this for quite some time but it was very hard to go through with this decision. It does not make any sense in worldly logic. I just spent 3.5 years of my life working toward something- becoming an architect- and now I am giving it up. If you were Judas watching me make that decision, you would probably say, "What a waste of 4 years! Why didn't you go through with your plan and earn a lot of money to give to the poor?" But the poor I will always have. The more important thing is having Jesus.
I know that he wants me to travel for his kingdom. And find work on the side as I go. This is exciting to me- I will probably have a whole range of unusual jobs! Hopefully creative/design jobs.
Life is weird. I feel the weight of change. I am not living on campus anymore... doors have not been opening... I feel like I'm not doing anything... except hanging out with Jesus.
He said I'm in a "Mary Magdalene" season. Breaking my bottle of oil and pouring it over his feet and just adoring him. It feels amazing having something costly to give him. Jesus keep giving me costly things so that I can keep breaking them at your feet. I break my "archtiecture bottle," and it is not a waste.
For the most part I am just wanting to be with him. But every few days I get these random energy shoots all through my body that are shouting, "Share the good news! share the good news!" This is how I like it. I am not living to share the good news, I'm living to know him. But then again I can't help sharing the good news.
But I had this realization. He doesn't want my service. He doesn't want my ministry. He wants my heart. And he is doing everything he can to get all of my heart. Including discipline.... persecution.... he is revealing my depravity...like a laser cutting through a diamond, making it pure, refining with fire... he is revealing the depths of my heart... because he wants it all.
Let all the glory go to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is coming soon. I feel it. I feel his kingdom coming soon. This world is nothing. It is passing away. Seek the things that are above... where Christ is... seated at the right hand of God. Seek the kingdom of God because it will never fade away!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
He showed up at SCPx Austin
I must say Student CPx Austin far surpassed my expectations. I always hear people say, "If you're vision seems possible to accomplish, than you're not dreaming big enough." Real visions should be so extreme, so ridiculous, so unlikely, that only God could do it. What happened at CPx was so extreme, so ridiculous, and so unlikely, that looking back I know it was all God who did it. I'm like, God I couldn't even dream that up if I tried.
So this is how I measure fruit- not by how powerful the worship was, not by a number count of how many people came to Christ, nor by how many people came to the training.... real fruit = personal transformation. And that's exactly what we saw.
Short memories pass through my mind of moments that are hard to think about without crying. The tears that came from a simple prayer breaking off generational curses. The intense freedom and joy that released God's children into dancing as two students got baptized, not as a ceremony like the first time, but as a celebration. Guys, yes guys, weeping at the effects of the church coming together in genuine care, relationship, and fellowship; the profound contrast between being used in order to advance someone's ministry... and being loved... in order to be loved. I remember Jesus baptizing some students in ways that we couldn't... with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And the grateful response to being healed... by the One whose favorite activity is to heal every type of sickness and disease. Students leaving with new outlooks on life, with testimonies bound to be repeated, with a vision that chills the flesh, and a hunger that cannot be satisfied. Three teams forming, one that will shake and transform Joplin, Missouri, one that will fill TCU with God's glory, and one that will usher in the long-due revival at UT. And we will never forget that night of prayer when we lingered in the presence of Jesus together till our bodies demanded sleep. "His presence is life. His absence is death." We heard it from Brian, but we learned it from experience.
I can't handle the history. I just freak out. Two students named Joshua and Caleb begin to pray and preach, longing for a move of God they never saw with their eyes... but something was shifting the spiritual realm. Simultaneously Lee Myers begins to bring the kingdom of God to earth, walking in faith and healing the sick... before disease attacks back and takes his life. God marks the students. And then He calls forth fathers and mothers. They all begin to see the vision that was in His eyes... all at the same time... and by destiny they find each other and start the first Student CPx. One year later, there are three Student CPx's. And two of those who attended were the firstfruits of the first CPx. The story continues. The weave of divine appointments continues to tangle, and the tree that started as a tiny seed continues to grow, until soon all the birds of the air will find shelter there. Sam Lee said at the first CPx, "If we were to witness the glory of God's plan, we would die." Just a glance into a fragment of it, and I'm feeling sick. All I can say is, prepare the way of the Lord.
There is nobody who can do what our Jesus just did. I can hear Kirk Franklin calling..."Can I get a witness in the house?!"
So this is how I measure fruit- not by how powerful the worship was, not by a number count of how many people came to Christ, nor by how many people came to the training.... real fruit = personal transformation. And that's exactly what we saw.
Short memories pass through my mind of moments that are hard to think about without crying. The tears that came from a simple prayer breaking off generational curses. The intense freedom and joy that released God's children into dancing as two students got baptized, not as a ceremony like the first time, but as a celebration. Guys, yes guys, weeping at the effects of the church coming together in genuine care, relationship, and fellowship; the profound contrast between being used in order to advance someone's ministry... and being loved... in order to be loved. I remember Jesus baptizing some students in ways that we couldn't... with the Holy Spirit and with fire. And the grateful response to being healed... by the One whose favorite activity is to heal every type of sickness and disease. Students leaving with new outlooks on life, with testimonies bound to be repeated, with a vision that chills the flesh, and a hunger that cannot be satisfied. Three teams forming, one that will shake and transform Joplin, Missouri, one that will fill TCU with God's glory, and one that will usher in the long-due revival at UT. And we will never forget that night of prayer when we lingered in the presence of Jesus together till our bodies demanded sleep. "His presence is life. His absence is death." We heard it from Brian, but we learned it from experience.
I can't handle the history. I just freak out. Two students named Joshua and Caleb begin to pray and preach, longing for a move of God they never saw with their eyes... but something was shifting the spiritual realm. Simultaneously Lee Myers begins to bring the kingdom of God to earth, walking in faith and healing the sick... before disease attacks back and takes his life. God marks the students. And then He calls forth fathers and mothers. They all begin to see the vision that was in His eyes... all at the same time... and by destiny they find each other and start the first Student CPx. One year later, there are three Student CPx's. And two of those who attended were the firstfruits of the first CPx. The story continues. The weave of divine appointments continues to tangle, and the tree that started as a tiny seed continues to grow, until soon all the birds of the air will find shelter there. Sam Lee said at the first CPx, "If we were to witness the glory of God's plan, we would die." Just a glance into a fragment of it, and I'm feeling sick. All I can say is, prepare the way of the Lord.
There is nobody who can do what our Jesus just did. I can hear Kirk Franklin calling..."Can I get a witness in the house?!"
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Amazing Opportunity in Austin! Student CPx...
I can't believe it's happening in Austin.
Last year, I "accidentally" went to a missional experience in Lawrence, Kansas, put on by Campus Church Networks, called STUDENT CHURCH PLANTING EXPERIENCE. Student CPx.
It was an accident because I really intended to go to a different program called Antioch Forerunner Foundation, which was more geared toward the Asian nations than toward college campuses. I knew about Student CPx, but I didn't want to go because I had already been to all the simple church conferences, and had heard all the top speakers and read all the top books, and was honestly feeling like an expert on the topic. An expert in the theory part that is- I had never actually done this stuff. Well, they ended up combining the two programs, so two weeks of AFF was spent at Student CPx.
Turns out, Student CPx was a lot more than I imagined it would be. A lot less in terms of physical grandiosity, but a lot more in terms of spiritual riches. I expected a grand conference room in a big building. I found myself in a small lounge-size room, with blank walls and old mismatched furniture. This is where we met together. I expected 500 students. But by the end of the experience, I could call all 50 students my close friends. I expected to applaud and admire gifted speakers. I did not expect to hang out with them and partner with them in evangelism. I expected to work among cool, i-Pod cladded, status-quo American college students. I was suprised to be sent to a tiny college for Native Americans, working among the overlooked, the rejected, and the forgotten of this nation.
It wasn't broadcasted on God TV. It didn't break attendance records. And it was not known about or talked about in Christian circles. But I'm pretty sure the devil will never forget it.
We lived in a dorm building called Pocahantas Hall. I thought that was pretty cool, being a Disney princess fan and all, until I realized that every student we told acted shocked that we were staying there and let us know that it was haunted. A century earlier, 100 or so sick Native American children were sent to Pocahontas Hall as their hospital quarters, but they were not looked after properly, and many of them died there as a result. It's not a legend. It's a fact. Sure enough, many of us started getting dreams and weird encounters with what looked or sounded like children in the night. To add to that, we went down to the basment and found all sorts of monuments and idols for witchcraft and Satanism. We exposed of them all and prayed over the area.
So we started off with spiritual warfare. As a community coming together in agreeance, we repented on behalf of the children who were left to die in that very building, and we repented for our nation's wrongful treatment of Native Americans throughout history and currently. We cried out to God for mercy. We asked him to rebuild these people with the restoratational power found in the good news of Jesus.
Our prayers then led us to action. Every day we went out on campus and ate meals with students, played sports with them, and started to get to know them. We were not slow to bring up the gospel because we knew we only had two weeks with them. Whatever we learned from speakers and teachers in our meeting room, we would go out that very day and apply on campus.
I remember one day, we learned about finding the "person of peace," a principle found in Luke 10. The next morning I went out with some friends to pass out snacks and water bottles to students for finals week. This guy named Bear stopped to talk with us, and I knew that I needed to say something to see if he was hungry for God. I asked him about his name, and he said he wished he could live up to it by being more courageous. I told him I had a Scripture for him. I showed him 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind." He seemed really appreciative of this. So I asked if he would like to read more of the Bible together with me and my good friend Harold. We met with him that night and spent hours going through Bible passages and talking about the call of God on his life. The next day I met with him again, along with my friend Kelly. I was learning about the importance of going with a partner.
On the last day of CPx, we put on a dinner for the students, and Bear and some other students came. One of my precious friends Priscilla asked Bear if she could pray for him. Priscilla has a strong prophetic gifting and everything she prayed I knew to be true from my conversations with Bear, but she had only just met him. As she spoke into his family situations and even mentioned some of the Scriptures we had discussed the night before, he began to break down and cry. I realized the power of people with different giftings working together for one cause with the same love.
After dinner, we left to have a time of prayer and commissioning. Two students asked if they could come with us- Bear and Tabash. As we prayed over one another, the Spirit began to fall on us powerfully, and we prophecied over each other. The whole time, in the back of mind, I was wondering what Bear and Tabash were thinking. Were they freaked out? When we had finished up, Erik announced to us, "As we were praying, Jesus spoke to Tabash, and Tabash asked him to come into his heart! He wants to get baptized!" I was immediately reminded of 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 "But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you."
As we headed upstairs to baptize him in the community bathroom bathtub, Bear made the decision to follow Jesus and get baptized as well! We baptized them, saw them filled with the Holy Spirit, and prayed into their destinies as Native Americans walking in the love and power of the living God.
There was great rejoicing in heaven on that day, as those who were lost were found again and brought back to the open arms of God their Father. All these church planting theories were not just theories anymore. They were not just dry information. This was the living, breathing, reality of the kingdom of God arriving in the lives of college students with the transforming power of Jesus! It caused me to see church planting in a new way. It is not about the strategies or the visions or the methods. It's about encountering Jesus. And there is nothing like it.
This summer, Student CPx is coming to Austin, August 10th-20th. For more info go to http://campuschurch.net/empower/stucpx/austin/. Don't miss the chance to encounter Jesus and his kingdom together.
Last year, I "accidentally" went to a missional experience in Lawrence, Kansas, put on by Campus Church Networks, called STUDENT CHURCH PLANTING EXPERIENCE. Student CPx.
It was an accident because I really intended to go to a different program called Antioch Forerunner Foundation, which was more geared toward the Asian nations than toward college campuses. I knew about Student CPx, but I didn't want to go because I had already been to all the simple church conferences, and had heard all the top speakers and read all the top books, and was honestly feeling like an expert on the topic. An expert in the theory part that is- I had never actually done this stuff. Well, they ended up combining the two programs, so two weeks of AFF was spent at Student CPx.
Turns out, Student CPx was a lot more than I imagined it would be. A lot less in terms of physical grandiosity, but a lot more in terms of spiritual riches. I expected a grand conference room in a big building. I found myself in a small lounge-size room, with blank walls and old mismatched furniture. This is where we met together. I expected 500 students. But by the end of the experience, I could call all 50 students my close friends. I expected to applaud and admire gifted speakers. I did not expect to hang out with them and partner with them in evangelism. I expected to work among cool, i-Pod cladded, status-quo American college students. I was suprised to be sent to a tiny college for Native Americans, working among the overlooked, the rejected, and the forgotten of this nation.
It wasn't broadcasted on God TV. It didn't break attendance records. And it was not known about or talked about in Christian circles. But I'm pretty sure the devil will never forget it.
We lived in a dorm building called Pocahantas Hall. I thought that was pretty cool, being a Disney princess fan and all, until I realized that every student we told acted shocked that we were staying there and let us know that it was haunted. A century earlier, 100 or so sick Native American children were sent to Pocahontas Hall as their hospital quarters, but they were not looked after properly, and many of them died there as a result. It's not a legend. It's a fact. Sure enough, many of us started getting dreams and weird encounters with what looked or sounded like children in the night. To add to that, we went down to the basment and found all sorts of monuments and idols for witchcraft and Satanism. We exposed of them all and prayed over the area.
So we started off with spiritual warfare. As a community coming together in agreeance, we repented on behalf of the children who were left to die in that very building, and we repented for our nation's wrongful treatment of Native Americans throughout history and currently. We cried out to God for mercy. We asked him to rebuild these people with the restoratational power found in the good news of Jesus.
Our prayers then led us to action. Every day we went out on campus and ate meals with students, played sports with them, and started to get to know them. We were not slow to bring up the gospel because we knew we only had two weeks with them. Whatever we learned from speakers and teachers in our meeting room, we would go out that very day and apply on campus.
I remember one day, we learned about finding the "person of peace," a principle found in Luke 10. The next morning I went out with some friends to pass out snacks and water bottles to students for finals week. This guy named Bear stopped to talk with us, and I knew that I needed to say something to see if he was hungry for God. I asked him about his name, and he said he wished he could live up to it by being more courageous. I told him I had a Scripture for him. I showed him 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind." He seemed really appreciative of this. So I asked if he would like to read more of the Bible together with me and my good friend Harold. We met with him that night and spent hours going through Bible passages and talking about the call of God on his life. The next day I met with him again, along with my friend Kelly. I was learning about the importance of going with a partner.
On the last day of CPx, we put on a dinner for the students, and Bear and some other students came. One of my precious friends Priscilla asked Bear if she could pray for him. Priscilla has a strong prophetic gifting and everything she prayed I knew to be true from my conversations with Bear, but she had only just met him. As she spoke into his family situations and even mentioned some of the Scriptures we had discussed the night before, he began to break down and cry. I realized the power of people with different giftings working together for one cause with the same love.
After dinner, we left to have a time of prayer and commissioning. Two students asked if they could come with us- Bear and Tabash. As we prayed over one another, the Spirit began to fall on us powerfully, and we prophecied over each other. The whole time, in the back of mind, I was wondering what Bear and Tabash were thinking. Were they freaked out? When we had finished up, Erik announced to us, "As we were praying, Jesus spoke to Tabash, and Tabash asked him to come into his heart! He wants to get baptized!" I was immediately reminded of 1 Corinthians 14:24-25 "But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you."
As we headed upstairs to baptize him in the community bathroom bathtub, Bear made the decision to follow Jesus and get baptized as well! We baptized them, saw them filled with the Holy Spirit, and prayed into their destinies as Native Americans walking in the love and power of the living God.
There was great rejoicing in heaven on that day, as those who were lost were found again and brought back to the open arms of God their Father. All these church planting theories were not just theories anymore. They were not just dry information. This was the living, breathing, reality of the kingdom of God arriving in the lives of college students with the transforming power of Jesus! It caused me to see church planting in a new way. It is not about the strategies or the visions or the methods. It's about encountering Jesus. And there is nothing like it.
This summer, Student CPx is coming to Austin, August 10th-20th. For more info go to http://campuschurch.net/empower/stucpx/austin/. Don't miss the chance to encounter Jesus and his kingdom together.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
