Wow! God Really Showed Up Like He Said He Would!

I often wondered what it would be like to just show up with no agenda but to seek God; I mean with no plan, no notes, no songs selected, no set time to wrap it up, and no one in the driver's seat - except for the Holy Spirit that is.  Who would want to join me for a moment like that?  What if we all just sat there and nothing happened?  What if we all just looked at each other for a while, got bored, then packed up and left?  Worst yet, what if one person decided it was his time to take the stage and it became an out of control, prideful fiasco?  But what if God showed up and rocked our world, then what?

Over the past few months God has led me to a number of people who were hungry, I mean REALLY hungry for God.  They wanted to get past the routines and the man made protocols and go to into the inner sanctuary.  They were people who would call me at eleven PM sounding like they just won the lottery and when I ask what all the fuss was about they would share "an amazing scripture that God opened up" to them that night.  They were people who would talk to me about grace and not be able to finish because they couldn't stop crying.  They were people who would give up nights, lunches, and free time to talk about Jesus.  They were people who went to Cambodia, Haiti, and homeless shelters here in the states because they realized when they were saved that they were now not there own but were bought with a price.  They were people who wanted to worship God in Spirit and truth.  God wanted me to gather them together.  For what I wondered?  That's right.  That wasn't my issue.  So I sent out some emails:

“Dear _ _ _ _ _ ,

God has placed it on my heart to gather this group of people together on Sat. March 6th and seek his face.  I don't have any idea what this means or what this looks like.  I have no plan or agenda.  I hope you can make it.  

Peace, David”

That wasn't the exact Email but it was close.  I sent it to 16 people that God put on my heart.  They were from 21 to 80 years of age.  They were black and white.  They were Pentecostals, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, and Non-Denominational Christians but they were all believers.  There were eight men and seven women.  There were married people and single people.  There were 16 sinners and 16 saints.  Most people knew one or two others and no one knew everyone but we were all brothers and sisters with the same father.

As we gathered in an urban warehouse turned photography studio (Thank you so much Bob, Julie, and Rob) tears began to flow as one man began to pray then share how God turned his life from one of hostility and anger to one of love and gentleness.  God opened men up to share their previous lives of porn addiction, drug addiction, adultery, and abuse and then turned the power of their testimonies into songs of praise.  Papa Stokes (a wise and Spirit filled, eighty year old, pastor) shared some things God put on his heart but later said with tears in his eyes, "I learned something today...  I was humbled".  We laid hands on him, anointed him with oil and prayed over him as another was led to do.  We were in the Word and grew in the knowledge of God.  We started at 10 AM and when we looked up it was 1PM.  No one was tired, bored, or ready to leave.  Some wanted to stay.  God was glorified, people built up, and I was humbled.  As we were ready to leave it was said that while we were gathered to grow in our faith it was in preparation to "Go" out. The church was never meant to be "in" but to always be going "out".  

I have said this before and I'll say it again, "I love the Church!"  I mean the bride of Christ, the redeemed, the Body of Christ, the Born Again, the Children of God.  I also love those who don't know God yet, those still dead in their sins, those still weary and heavy ladened.  Jesus said, Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy ladened and I will give you rest."  Are you weary?  Come  

Please, Please, Please, if you need prayer, if you aren't sure about your salvation, if you have done some religious activities but have never known the power of God then drop us a note.  We'd love to listen to your story and help you along your journey.  

As always, Grace and Peace,

David

The God of the Universe Can Live in You! How Cool is That?!!

I've had some pretty deeply moving conversations lately with people who are broken, tired, afraid, confused, guilty, hopeless, lonely, and addicted, and just don't know where to go or how to break free. I've heard some of them say that they believe in God but can't feel him, can't find him, or simply can't surrender to him. Some of them have even looked in church but can't seem to find him there. They have a sense that what the pastor is teaching and what I am sharing holds a key to that freedom so they stay near but not too near. They hold onto their lives and at the same time reach out grasping for hope. It's like a person in a burning building who is leaning out of the window, stretching out their hand to the fireman on the ladder truck but can't let go of the window frame with their other hand. If you're reaching out or even if you are lost but haven't yet reached out I want to invite you to begin to see the dwelling place of God. How amazing would it be to find Him?! Where is he? God, where are you? Help! We're dying down here!

A good friend of mine recently told me that her daughter wanted to be married in an outdoor ceremony. She wanted to say her "I do's" under the canopy of God's creation. However, after speaking with church authorities she learned that this wouldn't be possible because the ceremony had to take place in the church since the building was "sanctified". Really? I want to show you a bit of the character and truth of who God has revealed himself to be and even more so to help you to draw closer to Him to understand where he truly resides. Not from my thoughts but from his Word.

OK, I know this sounds ridiculous because even little kids know that God is "Everywhere". The theological term for this attribute of God is his "omnipresence". And, that is true in the sense that God is outside of the confines of time and can be "over here" and "over there" at the same moment as we experience it. I know that bends your mind a bit but that is how big God is! But God has also shown us in his Word that he has give man more tangible expressions of his presence over the course of history. For instance, in the Garden of Eden, he actually fellow-shipped with Adam and Eve walking with them in the cool of the day but after the Fall he no longer was approachable. As the Jews wondered in the desert the manifest presence of God (called his Shekinah Glory) resided in the tabernacle, specifically in the holy place where the Ark of the Covenant ( a gold box that contained the two stone tablets of the ten commandments, the staff of Aaron, and a pot of manna) was housed. This same presence of God was present later in the inner chamber (the Holy of Holies) of the temple built by King Solomon. Bottom line: God had a manifest presence on earth but he was not approachable because of man's sin. The Holy of Holies was "sanctified" or set apart for the presence of the living God. Did that mean the God wasn't everywhere? No, just that he chose to reveal himself to man in this way.

Fast forward to a small stable in Bethlehem where a cry is heard coming from a woman giving birth to a child. Not any ordinary child but God made man (Emmanuel - God with us). The fullness of God was now among men and would soon walk with them and talk with them and touch them and heal their blind eyes. Was God now not everywhere? No. But he chose to manifest himself in the flesh to mankind.

Now here is where I want you to draw near and listen closely. Jesus sits with a Samaritan woman at a well as she draws water. He talks to her (quite against the rules for a Jew to speak to a Samaritan, especially a woman!). After Jesus gives her reason to believe he is something quite special the following dialogue takes place:

"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."

Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

Jesus was telling her that God was doing a new thing. God was no longer unapproachable behind the curtain of the temple's inner room. It would no longer be necessary to travel to Jerusalem to worship him. She was, at that very moment, sitting with, talking with, and being freed from their sin and death by God in the flesh.

Now hold on because here is where it gets even more crazy!! After Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose from the dead on the third day, his disciples didn't want to let him go again. But Jesus told them that unless he ascended to the Father's right side, the Comforter couldn't come. Who was this "Comforter"? It was the Holy Spirit of God, the third person of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). So where exactly did the Holy Spirit come to abide when Jesus ascended to heaven? A tabernacle? No! A church building? No! The Holy Spirit came to dwell WITHIN those who believed.

Stephen ( a disciple) said these words before he was stoned to death:

"However, the Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says:

" 'Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool.

What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord.

Or where will my resting place be?

Has not my hand made all these things?"

And right before he died, the Word says:

"But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the Glory of God . . ."

When we come to the cross, repent of our sin, and look to Jesus and believe that he died in our place, took the shame and guilt we carried, that he paid the penalty for sin for us, that he rose from the dead and forever conquered death for those who trust in his name, then the Holy Spirit comes to take up residence in us. How amazing is that?! We are now the tabernacle of God.

In 1 Corinthians 3:16 Paul says, "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?"

In Galatians 2:2 Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Last one! In Romans 8:11 Paul says, "And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."

Look closely friends. "Sanctified" means to be set apart for God's use and you can be set apart and can become the dwelling place of the Spirit of God by faith in Jesus Christ. He can dwell in you if you are in prison, in rehab, in a college dorm, in your bedroom, or are getting married in the woods. He is not confined to a church building. (remember that the Apostles and the early followers of Jesus did not have fancy and ornate church buildings). I love to gather at the "church" with fellow believers and worship God but in reality the "Church" is body of fellow believers! If you are broken, lost, scared, lonely, guilty, hopeless, addicted then ask God to open your eyes to see the truth of his Son Jesus and the freedom and life he has come to share with you by faith!

We love you guys!

In Him, David