The Fire Next Time

The Vast and Deep

2012-01-14T03:13:00.000-08:00

Living on Turkey's Mediterranean coast makes you aware of how long the wheel of history has been turning over the world. The same violent winds blow in every winter under magnificent skies, blowing over and around so many archeological sites the government has no time to excavate them. Peoples and civilizations come and go. You and I are a little drop of water in an ocean that will still be there when we are gone.

Myndos Gate in Bodrum, where Alexander's army fought (Source: Sunsearchinfo)

God has, well, God's view of history and human life, which is only partly knowable to us. We know that his general grace brings rain and good harvests to Turkey (Acts 14:17), a place where Turks perceive God's blessing but Christians and Jews perceive as infidel. Dates, olives and tangerines fall like rain here. The food is awesome and cheap.

There are time periods, even in Israel's history, where God doesn't seem to be doing much. People just live, enjoy life as best they can, perhaps feel after God, and pass on.

In Turkey, one can feel as if one is living in an insignificant way "between the times," in a place filled with so much history that only God is vaster and deeper. Feeling small can be a good experience, if it leads to much prayer and engaging scripture.

Rottweilers in the Orchard

2012-01-05T04:59:00.001-08:00

Sometimes you realize the hard way that you're not in Kansas when traveling, that it isn't your backyard.

Ben, Liz and I had twice visited our landlord's orchard with his permission. He is a Cambridge grad who teaches computer science in Istanbul. The orchard is off an ancient village road close to the old chapel, and is full of tangerine, orange, grapefruit, and lemon trees. Great fruit, great location, almost romantic.

It was so cool to fill up backpacks with fresh fruit for free, then climb the hill to our house and pork out on nourishing food. We bragged about it to the rest of the family when they arrived, and took them to the orchard as soon as we could.

There were a couple of loud rottweilers in the adjoining lot, safely behind a big fence.

Until they joined us in the orchard, eager for some action of the toothy kind.

Well, it wasn't quite this bad, but they were acting aggressive and looking for provo- cation, so I did my best to sound in control and sent our four youngest up separate trees, instructing everyone else to keep picking and not pay attention to the dogs at all.

The rottweilers tried to get a rise from us for 10 minutes, then started looking confused and milled around at the back of the orchard. We quietly got the children down from their perches and slowly walked out in a tight band, only to have the dogs gallop at us and try again to get a response. We ducked low branches, cowpies, and barbed wire, finally getting on the road back to the chapel.

Once is enough. The children will never see that orchard again. There are other great sights in the great nation of Turkey.

Fun and Faith in Turkey

2011-12-21T21:17:00.000-08:00

In the West, Turkey might still be thought of as the land of scimitars, bazaars, and fez hats - mystical and maybe a little dangerous even if a NATO member. Well, the bazaars are great, full of cheap good food and spices; we haven't seen any weapons here; and Ataturk got rid of the fez hats 80 years ago.

The Turks are polite, helpful, and hospitable. Christy and Elena spent 2 hours yesterday drinking tea and eating cookies with a newly minted friend of Zdravka's.
I've been bumbling around town getting assistance from lots of guys. And everyone is patient with our very bad Turkish.

There are houses of prayer everywhere, - Muslims model serious mindedness about a prayer lifestyle.

Oldest Christian House of Prayer on Earth?

2011-12-07T09:24:00.000-08:00

The afternoon of our second day on the Turkish coast, fighting jetlag with the energy only raw excitement can produce, Ben, Liz and I descended an old road which cut through tangerine orchards like an ancient dry waterway. Immediately to our right loomed a small, unattended Byzantine chapel dating back to maybe the 2nd century.

The apostle John would have been dead 100 years, Polycarp his disciple maybe 50 or so years. The chapel was poorly maintained. It was moving to stand on its tiled floor depicting dolphins, which were popular at that time and appeared on the earliest Byzantine coins. The faith of the early Christian movement would have been raw and real to whoever knelt there 1800 years ago. See the mosaic below.

The Cold Steel of Pure Theology

2011-11-08T07:17:00.000-08:00

Some scriptural truths are inconvenient, in fact so distasteful that teachers today either explain them away or ignore them altogether. Depending on our disposition, they can feel like the kiss of cold steel and provoke a strong reaction.

Like the existence of hell and eternal judgement, where things don't go right for religious people and everyone else who doesn't repent, submit to God, and embrace a Matthew 5 lifestyle.

Like the mandate and priority of male leadership in the injil (New Testament) (way uncool in missional and prophetic/intercessory circles).

We are in the middle of a generational error, where we have reacted against mean preachers who love hell more than people by creating a romantic Sky Fairy who would never break things and reject the wicked. Where we have embraced the complaints of modern feminism by going further than the Bible and insisting on women leading men and boys.

We know that men are screwups. Do we know that women are screwups, too, and God's solution is complementarianism, where men and women are equally important but have different roles?

We get what we make room for. If we insist on promoting female leadership, we'll get more women and girls, while the guys sit still like good church boys or else head for the exits.

If we've never engaged the teachings of Jesus on the rigors of hell, or else believe and promote the idea that the Lord is going to save everyone in the end, especially those who have never heard the good news, then we've occupy ourselves with cool stuff while the folks next door as well as the folks in Bosnia, or India, or (name your country) head for a very unhappy eternity.

Reread Jesus. He's shocking with razor clarity while exercising the most merciful ministry in history.

Prophets and the Cult of Risk

2011-09-29T04:41:00.000-07:00

Since the first time I went to a meeting where people believed in prophesying, I have heard it said that one speaks by faith and gets out on a limb to deliver a prophetic word or "move in the spirit." I've watched hepcat Morningstar and IHOP musicians do this, old guy Latter Rain and New Testament revival dudes (like me) do it, and big gun prophets too.

Seems right to me. On a few rare occasions, I have been helped by someone who took the risk and gave me "a word." On even rarer occasions, someone has said what I shared with them prophetically was helpful. I believe in contemporary expressions of prophecy because Saint Paul said I should.

But after 35 years of observing and participating in the prophetic movement, it is clear that most prophetic words, impressions, and experiences are soulish, which is to say that the one receiving them either got them from himself or - worse - from a demon. Prophesying is biblically mandated, and we'd better not despise it, but I've hit a checkpoint in life where I am absolutely convinced we need a prophetic reformation so we can get more of the real thing. There aren't enough checks and balances these days on prophesying to keep us safe. The lack of transparent, clear accountability at all the major prophetic ministries is alarming. There needs to be a culture where we are free to raise our hand, stand up, and say "that's not the Lord" without fear.

At a mini conference a couple summers ago, I watched a religious spirit in a lady take over the floor and prophesy unchecked for 45 minutes. I realized we had a deep problem when the pastors attending stood up and raised their hands toward heaven to "receive" all they could of the demon's nonsense. When I left the meeting, she was still prophesying, in complete control of the agenda. There were several mature men there who should have known better.

I've had prophetic leaders in my home, sat in front of their stages, and listened to them and their approved "prophetic ministers." I've set up and administrated prophetically vibed meetings myself. My assumption is that every prophetic person is as sincere as I am, and as hungry as I am, for genuine revival and a genuine move of God. Within the prophetic movement, there are undoubtedly a number of dreams and "words of knowledge" which are stunning for their accuracy. It is fair, however, to ask about the fruit. The NT is full of admonitions to beware of deception and to test all things. For all the claims of "encounter" with God that are regnant among people who want to be prophetic, it is fair to ask about the biblical fruit of such alleged encounters. It is not only fair: we must ask. Noone gets a pass on this within the prophetic movement. Not me. Not the leaders. Not anyone.

Is there a deeper desire to engage the teachings of Jesus and his apostles?

Is there a growing burden for making disciples among lost people who don't know the good news?

Do those who regularly say they are getting impressions and experiences from God actively care for the poor, for orphans, and widows?

I live up the street from a ministry said to be ground zero for the prophetic movement. It is surrounded by the carnage of many broken lives who haven't been shepherded by those who make their living from prophesying. Love, reconciliation, and kindness weren't the portion of the kingdom that the people received from those who held the mike and told them how things really are.

Sometimes a tipping point comes unexpectedly, where you buy something you wouldn't of a year ago, or you make a life change and shock your staid relatives or friends. For me, my tipping point on the profound need for prophetic reformation came at a meeting when I gave the mike to a hepcat Morningstar guy, and he proceeded to lead the congregation in an absurd exegesis of the color Red. It didn't help that he was publicly disrespectful of me.

Over time, the pieces slowly came together. God is inviting his people into the real thing, but we have to clear the threshing floor first.

Copyright 2011

Religion

2011-09-20T05:47:00.000-07:00

Religion, when the day is done, makes us a little meaner and a little prouder than we were when we were children. Jesus of Nazareth brings us to God and makes us glad. Whether it is Islam, Christianity, or Judaism, religion can't save anyone. Neither can the prophetic movement, the musical worship movement, the knock on doors movement, the Gaia earth movement.

It's so simple, a child can get it. Follow the man from Galilee, and do what he says to do. It's the add on stuff that confuses our soul if we take it too seriously.

We Just Don't Get It

2011-08-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

One of my daughters was very negative when I told her she would need to stop doing something; this changeup would cost her social capital on the short end but on the long end would be beneficial. The distance between us was palpable.

After we talked, I thought of my wonderful journey with her precious life - holding her as a baby, playing with her as a toddler and little girl, watching her grow - and I thought of the love I have for her and all that I have invested in her. Probably our Father in heaven experiences something similar when he tries to direct us into something lifegiving but we just don't believe it is good for us. We don't see the profound love in all His dealings with us. We just don't get it.

Out of the Whirlwind at Carolina Beach

2011-08-20T13:16:00.000-07:00

It was one of those laidback days at our surfcamp on Carolina Beach, with three of my oldest grabbing waves and the outdoors being too fun to be true. The afternoon before, the police came by with a shark warning, but hey, that was yesterday (turned out a girl had been bitten 2000 yards away).

A storm system seemed to be moving in, but the forecast from the day before had been a mere 30% chance of rain. We had no clue we were now under a tornado warning.

Ben and the twins came out of the water looking over their shoulders. A long white waterspout soaring into the sky was forming and moving a mile offshore. Then, a cold fierce rain started. In less than 15 minutes we were huddled in three (recently cleaned) portajohns, riding out a major storm while our gear on the beach was pummelled. We watched the waterspout become darker and thicker as it came ashore, picking up sand and debris. Watch it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76_tGrabSrY

Thankfully, it lifted before much damage happened, leaving behind it streets under water and four soaked Wornoms beating a wet retreat home to Fort Mill.

God's finger in nature continues to amaze me.

Of God and Men

2011-07-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

Any time a French film wins the grand prize at Cannes, I'm sure it is one I better not let in the house. Wrong this time.

Of Gods and Men presents a prayer community in Algeria which functioned in the midst of great pressure. A true story from the 1990s, it is the most faithful presentation of kingdom discipleship I have seen on film in recent years. See it. Redbox has it for a buck.

Fender Guitar, Silent Guitar

2011-07-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

Guitar music (well, electric piano too) has been the driver for America's prayer movement over the last decade, along with prophetic singing. It needs to keep happening. I like it. Mostly.

I'm finding that there is also something to be said for silence and solitude in encountering God, searching scripture, and meditating on it. In trying to love God with my mind as well as my heart, I think better if a loud Fender playing repetitious cords isn't dominating the atmosphere, and if singers repeating the same phrase over and over for 10 minutes aren't within hearing range.

Don't get me wrong. The musical focus has its important place. But a quiet place with the "still small voice" can be very powerful too. I think of John the Baptist in the wilderness with no guitar. Or Jesus. Or the desert fathers.

I hope expressions of the prayer room continue to emerge where silence is welcome, along with "voices only" intercession. It's cost effective, easily multiplied, and eliminates a stage hero worship culture.

Shouting at an Oak Tree

2011-06-24T07:33:00.000-07:00

Things happen at a certain pace no matter how hard we pray and believe and try to budge God's timetable. Sovereignty always trumps willfullness, especially when we don't have the complete picture, which is most of the time.

Shouting at an oak tree won't make it grow faster.

But the Sovereign Lord likes to hear the faith in our prayers nonetheless. He is interested in relationship.

Rhythms

2011-06-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

There is a going in and out of God's presence through prayer,
scripture meditation, and musical worship which is an unquantifiable,
powerful lifestyle that informs everything you do.

There is also a rhythm of work, rest, and fun which counts in a big way, too. I am dad to a large family, which means both rhythms have to be aggressively pursued, or they don't happen much.

We're getting ready to go to Carolina Beach to set up a surfers' camp and chill out in God's big back yard. In the economy of resting in the creation,there is no tension between nature and grace - if we're thankful.

A Strange and Helpful Friend

2011-06-01T07:06:00.000-07:00

Bad news can be a friend, if you are leading something. It is a feedback loop which if listened to can help us adjust what we are doing.

But we want to shoot the messenger. Far better to ask the messenger for more information. Remember the disciples finally casting their nets on the other side of the boat?

How the Prophets Lost Their Chariots of Fire

2011-05-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

People and neighborhoods change when the kingdom comes. Not just in a building where someone strides a stage and says great stuff. Why is it that the prophetic movement of the last 20 years is fading, and the congregations which participated (and their surrounding neighborhoods) don't seem better off?

Someday books will be written which dissect the movement. But some things seem obvious. The movement didn't lead the charge for the widows, orphans, the poor. Its prophets didn't form humble communities of kindness. They thought that words of knowledge from a stage were the real game & became rock stars flying from city to city dispensing "words," some of which were actually helpful.

But they can get their chariots back. They are under the same rule as the rest of us: go low, be in authentic biblical community, have people who can tell you "no" and you have to listen.

Eurotrash

2011-05-05T19:09:00.000-07:00

There was a standard look in Europe when I was there years ago. Short leather coat, dull pants and shoes, everyone dressed the same on the street. Some call it the Eurotrash look.

So I took it up, wanting to blend in, be with the people, you know, in their sidewalk cafes, in their small euro homes, drinking their expresso, eating their food, inhaling their secondhand smoke.

I experienced a lot of Jesus in those days.

Stone Age

2011-04-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

With Financial Crisis Part II around the corner, some voices with big platforms to opine from think that America is about to get blown back to the Stone Age.

Cars parked and people walking. Kids eating rice from bowls donated by UNICEF and their parents bartering computers for lanterns and candles. Man.

From what I've seen of financial collapses, it takes a few years to fully unfold, and most people still do normal stuff, except they don't have as much work.

A big slowdown, though, could be a good thing in some ways. Jesus taught his men while walking between villages. They could think about what he said without having to pause to take a smart phone call or check their email.

They had time.

Running to the Storm

2011-04-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

My friend Tim had a profound thought recently in reference
to the political uproar and violence in many Middle Eastern countries.

"We should run toward the storm," he said. What a place to serve God!

What an attitude. Sounds right to me.

What We Want

2011-04-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

Raising seven children has many advantages and sends a lot of good my way. But there is one disadvantage.

Finding time to think, to meditate on scripture, to pray and study, has to be done on the run instead of being able to spend long hours in these beloved activities. It's okay. Children never get in the way of what is important. Mentoring and caring for them is a God-given job.

But if I were given the time to do something else for a few days, I would grab my Bible and a few history books and find a desert hideaway.

What do you want?

Peace Making With Muslims

2011-03-21T03:51:00.000-07:00

Speakers on the church circuit can make good money these days going around warning against the so called Muslim threat. Lots of venues open up if you want to criticize Islam.

That there is a radical threat from a small group of Muslims in America is true. But they are very few in number. It is unfortunate that in conversations among Christians these days, there is a tsunami of anxiety about how Muslims are trying to "take over" in America. Never mind that they will remain less than 2% of the population over the next 20 years.

Most Muslims are winsome people who cook great food and try to live upright lives. They don't worship a moon god or think Mohammed is divine. They pray to the God of Abraham. And they think evangelicals and charismatics hate them and want to persecute them.

That's pretty bad. Once again, the American church has gone off mission and defined itself by spreading unjust fear and being known for what it is against, instead of what it is for. What happened to those Jesus values of being a peacemaker and loving "enemies"?

It's time for America to rethink its foreign policy, and for charismatics and evangelicals to get off the fear bus and start talking with Muslims.

Jesus the Decontructer of Routines

2011-03-02T15:28:00.000-08:00

The red tile roofs down below mixed with the view of newer high rise apartment blocks a half mile away. They reflected the less prosperous lives of the Turks and Kurds who hurriedly built houses there before the government could kick them off the land.

I looked around Ankara below me from the castle which dominated the old part of the city - a city of 4.5 million with maybe 400 followers of Jesus - and the Lord seemed to say, "Here am I, here am I."

What was that bit about following Him into the harvest, if we really want to follow? Way easier to do the conference scene with folks like us. Jesus has strange values, like hanging out where we wouldn't.

Lots to think about back here in the States.

Beggars

2011-02-17T12:59:00.000-08:00

I'm in Ankara today, a modern city with an engaging, colorful old world feel. But two things grabbed me.

A muslim lady sitting on the sidewalk begging, her pleas unpracticed and desperate. And the story of a man so moved by the plight of refugee children wounded by war that he started a wheelchair factory up the street from where I'm staying. He has persisted for 25 years despite beatings and other afflictions.

And I've only scratched the surface.

High Praises

2011-01-29T03:49:00.000-08:00

Congregational singing will make a comeback and soar into high praises that will touch heaven and capture the lukewarm for Jesus. But worship teams will first have to move beyond getting off on their cool loud music that dominates the room, and let the people be heard. The time for Christian existential jazz is passing rapidly, as is the place for rock concerts masquerading as worship.

Rome & America, & His House of Prayer

2010-12-30T13:56:00.000-08:00

The higher birth rate outside the Empire, and the higher standard of living within it, made immigration or invasion a manifest destiny for the Roman empire then as for North America today. - Will Durant, in his "The Age of Faith."

When Rome succumbed to its economic, social, and moral problems, and was sacked by the barbarians, Christians were shaken in their faith, since Rome was revered as a bastion of Christendom. Saint Augustine spent his last years explaining that what happened didn't discredit Christianity.

In the not-so-distant future, American Christians are in for a faith test of goliath proportions when the wheels come off America. Disorientation and fear will rule the day for many people. God's answer will be the same as always. Obey and worship and trust; and love one another. As in the 4th & 5th centuries, He will build His house of prayer.

Making Memories That Stick

2010-12-22T16:40:00.000-08:00

Christmas, however it's celebrated, forms indelible memories for children. We've been working at it for years and have noticed that the little things impact the children, too. Here are a few we do.

* Bible reading with parental commentary the night before Christmas.
* Hanging out together, then watching "The Nativity."
* A big can of Walmart popcorn by the hearth that we open Christmas eve.
* Pancakes, maple syrup, and eggs Christmas morning, after which we unwrap presents.

Kind of simple, but the little guys particularly love it. The list goes on of the little quirky traditions we have that everyone likes. Intentionally plan some of your own if you are a young dad or mom building your family life.

Saving Civilization

2010-12-02T06:23:00.000-08:00

We probably know more about tribes in the Amazon jungle than we do about the real nature of power in the United States. - Tom Ferguson, Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts

Americans are waking up to the fact that Congress and the President don't really control the nation. Sarah Palin's recent appeal to reorganize the Federal Reserve bank reflects the growing awareness that a powerful, secretive elite profoundly influences US policy, not to mention our economic life, and that this elite is closely connected to its European counterpart. It is no friend to followers of Jesus.

With the Eurozone about to blow up and put more millions of Europeans out of work, and a planned collapse of the dollar around the corner along with all the social and economic problems it will create, a read of How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill is worth it. 1600 years ago, Europe was becoming a wasteland when bands of devoted people responded by forming faith communities and worshipping, memorizing scripture, planting gardens, practicing hospitality, and caring for the poor.

They found the path of life for their day. My bet is that in our day it will be a path of life again, or something like it, centered around the Man from Heaven.

10 Points of Discipleship

2010-11-09T06:27:00.000-08:00

In the '80s a couple guys from the National Prayer Breakfast movement were teaching some practical things about following Jesus to my friends and I in a discipleship house.

David Coe and John Croft would spend many weeks instilling in us 10 principles we could use our entire lives. Things like putting God before self, even before others. Being a man of the Scriptures. Being a man who bears much fruit.

But the first principle was being a man of unity. David & John taught how Jesus was one with the Father, and wanted us to be of one mind, contending for the same thing, being peaceable and avoiding
strife.

Now that I have three teenagers and seven children, I've dusted off my notes from those teaching sessions and am teaching the
"10 Points" to my tribe at home. There are a number of gifts I want to leave my children: one is the memory of me loving my wife, and another is a good foundation in Christ.

Spirit

2010-11-01T05:04:00.000-07:00

Friendship is spirit. God's kingdom is a family of friends. Sometimes we trade this birthright for preferring ourself and our oh-so-important ministry or job.

A native American chief once said that you have to sit around a fire a few hours with someone to really know them. He thought that technology was well on its way to killing authentic relationship in America. Twitter, texting, Facebook et al.

Judging by the strife among believers, I'd say he got it right.

Is Your Vision Worth It?

2010-10-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

Is it? . . . No, really. . . Is it? Maybe it is one of those hard days & the questions are swirling around like dry leaves in the wind. You're annoyed by the fact that your friends seem to be doing well and their vision is different.

You need a Jesus moment, but what you are experiencing is more like a cage match where something is trying to finish you with a punch and an arm bar.

Who thought up your vision?

The questions are the advance guard of a Jesus moment, where we own our weakness, say "yes" again, and sign up for another day. Saying yes gives us back His vision.

The greater the test, the greater the testimony, is what the previous generation used to say. It's one more thing they got right.

Not That Way

2010-10-15T03:50:00.001-07:00

Jesus freely corrected lots of people, and many of them liked him for it. When the disciples were (wrongly) sorting through how to lead
the people and each other, Jesus said the right way was to serve the brothers like a common slave, doing the lowly things.

Go low. Be meek. The way of telling others what to do like a magisterial Roman? Not that way.

Mosque

2010-08-23T18:29:00.001-07:00

The debate on the Ground Zero mosque location is heating up like that cup of water I forgot in the microwave. It touches a lot of nerves and raw memories.

My family accepted a public invitation from the local mosque here to join them for a Ramadan feast last night complete with a tour of the mosque and some Q & A. The folks were warm, genuine, humble, and authentic seekers of God. I was reminded that it is easy to love friendly people, but hard to love what seems mysterious, dark, and dangerous to us.

If it were possible to believe that every single Muslim is our enemy - which they're not - then we're supposed to be kind and loving and meek toward them. Even the ones wanting their Ground Zero mosque. If you don't like that idea, go argue with Jesus.

Sojourn

2010-07-20T19:29:00.001-07:00

Three nights in three different motels on a recent business trip made home look real good. No motel ever feels like home. The extra clean sheets and nice furniture can't do the trick.

It's the same with life: we've just sojourning for 70+ years no matter where we stay. It's the way of Abraham, the way of friends of Jesus. Getting too comfortable is really a spiritual trap.

Overhead and Glassy

2010-07-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

My son Ben and I lived in a tent for 3 days at Carolina Beach, right on the ocean, accessible only by 4-wheeler (unless like us you dragged your gear down the sandy strand). Catching fish, staying up to stargaze, getting sunburned swimming and riding the waves, eating Dinny Moore beef stew from our makeshift kitchen - it was pretty good, and exhausting.

Our companions on the strand ranged from special forces guys and surfers to typical families and the homeless. Everyone was super friendly and helpful. I wanna go again. Nothing like sunup or sundown from your tent door in God's backyard.

Iran and the Quality of Mercy

2010-07-03T09:33:00.001-07:00

Anyone know the only Muslim nation which had pro-American demonstrations after 911? Yep, Iran. They want democracy, cooperated heavily with intelligence sharing after 911, but are now apparently in our military's crosshairs.

Years ago, before Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power, Iran asked America for something like permission to build a nuclear reactor for domestic electricity needs. But America's administration has been finding every reason to treat Iran as a terrible enemy. True, Ahmadinejad has been finding every reason to threaten Israel with annihilation, but there is much more under the surface in Iran than meets the eye.

When we fear something, it remains dark and mysterious and we dislike it. It's impossible to love what we fear that way. But we're caught in a Jesus trap. He said to love our enemies. Love liberates us from looking at a person, people or a nation through the wrong lens.

Markets & Prophecy

2010-05-28T06:13:00.000-07:00

In the money markets, "excessive liquidity creates fraud," meaning too much dough sloshing around tends to create investments that harm the buyers.

It's the same with prophecy. Excessive prophecy or too much reliance on "impressions, visions, words" eventually releases false hopes. It's interesting that Jesus & the apostles were extremely prophetic but always deeply anchored in scripture. As for the apostles, as best as we can tell from the text, they had way fewer "encounters" after the Ascension than many prophetic people currently say they have on a regular basis.

Sand

2010-05-27T12:18:00.000-07:00

It's possible to get excited about something - a business opportunity or ministry we identify with, for example - and walk out a journey with it, only to find out we've been building on sand. If that's happened to you, go find the Rock.

If we've come to love something good more than we love the King, He might grant the severe mercy of letting that good thing go sour.

Jesus, Prayer, & the Secular Prophets

2010-04-27T07:09:00.000-07:00

Someone once said the prospect of death wonderfully clarifies the mind. In following Jesus, the prospect of serious trouble or major opportunity wonderfully clarifies our prayers.

Routine intercession takes an edge of sharp urgency when major news hits, like the Haitian earthquake or - years ago - when the Iron Curtain came down and millions of people were allowed to hear the gospel of Jesus.

Everyone is hip to the fact that our nation is in trouble, but it is rare to find a person in the prayer movement deeply burdened by the spirit of God for the opportunities and challenges just around the corner.

The secular prophets are trumpeting in their own way what is coming to America. If you still aren't feeling the sharp urgency of potential calamity and spiritual harvest, check out the understated, excellent documentary beginning at around the 1 hr 4 minute mark and following at http://geraldcelentechannel.blogspot.com/ . The big boys are worried.

Just Jesus

2010-04-14T05:33:00.000-07:00

His life, his teachings. Him. That's the message. Just Jesus. The fact that "unbelievers" say they like him and hate the church is a major clue.

Psalm 74

2010-03-26T06:52:00.000-07:00

The poet worshipper Asaph pictures God's people beset by oppressors, sometimes with no end in sight. Given the happenings in my neighborhood the last 2 years, this psalm speaks broadly to me & could be quoted in its entirety, but here are just a few excerpts.

v.10 How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
v.11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!

v.12 Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth...
v.14 You crushed the heads of LEVIATHAN; you have him as food for the creatures of the wilderness...

v.16 Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.

v.20 Have regard for the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
v.21 Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame; let the poor and needy praise your name.

Day of the Woman

2010-03-11T05:38:00.001-08:00

Shout out for my wife and all moms devoted to raising their children and caring for their homes. International Woman's Day was observed this week, with much praise for the accomplishments of career women like Melinda Gates and a review of women's economic, political, and social achievements.

Women have had a lot to overcome. I can still remember the line from the theme song for the woman's liberation movement in the '70s, "I am woman, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore, until I make my brother understand" (Helen Reddy).

No praise from the pundits, though, for MOMS who focus on raising the sons and daughters who end up with the economic, political, and social accomplishments which journalists can write about. No praise for the hardworking mom at home who puts in 18-hour days caring for her little ones and her household.

I guess this should be expected from the organizing folks bringing us International Woman's Day, since the expression of their elite talents in media, the arts, and politics have done much to damage the family over the last few decades. Not to mention their advocacy of abortion as a solution for women.

So here's an expression of gratitude to all you ladies who give yourselves to raising your children in the face of a culture which thinks you're uncool. Stay the course, and your children will rise to call you blessed!

7 Ways to Know if You're Prophetic

2010-03-05T05:09:00.000-08:00

With 17 years of hubbub about the prophetic movement now under our belts, what really is being prophetic about? Here are 7 ways to know if you are.

1.) You care about widows and orphans and the needy of the earth - no, even more, you are taking practical steps to show your concern.

2.) You are biblically focused and meditate on scripture often.

3.) You make room to watch and pray, and feel lack when you are absent from sustained prayer for more than a day. In short, you seek to encounter God and minister to Him.

4.) You listen to what Jesus has to say about people and situations.

5.) You don't have enemies, even those who speak against you, since you live by the Sermon on the Mount.

6.) You speak the truth in love, and are willing to bear the stigma of being wrong.

7.) You are devoted to Jesus, his gospel, and his people.

Cheerios Prayer

2010-02-17T06:23:00.000-08:00

Mornings are predictable at the Wornom household. My kids swarm into the kitchen for breakfast like locusts, grab cereal out of the pantry and load up their bowls, then retreat to their favorite chair to eat. Stray cheerios and wheat flakes lie scattered around the floor.

In years past, Zdravka would bake something awesome every morning - a scone, cinnamon raison rolls, pancakes - but this got to be too much work day after day. So we went conventional and started serving cereal.

Problem is, an hour later everyone is hungry again. Cereal isn't a rib-sticker. So one by one, the children drift back into the kitchen, ready for another go.

Prayer feels to me like that. It's both profoundly satisfying but always leaves me hungry for more, which is a way of saying it leaves me yearning for more encounter with Him.

See Them as Normal

2010-01-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

Are most Muslims terrorists? Great short video:

Lessons from 2009

2010-01-02T18:50:00.000-08:00

I stopped making New Year's Resolutions a long time ago, but, looking backward, here are nine things I learned in 2009:

1.) A family of nine produces a heck of a lot of trash.

2.) The prospect of losing everything wonderfully clarifies the mind.

3.) It's good to have a spouse who watches your back.

4.) Tuesdays at Carmella's is best before 5:30 pm.

5.) An ounce of authentic friendship is worth a pound of exciting stage ministry.

6.) Responding to enraged critics is like stepping in dog doo.

7.) Having young children is like watching the Sermon on the Mount.

8.) The faithfulness of Jesus has saved my skin.

9.) We're all natural screwups who start things that go nowhere and stop things that are working, but somehow God helps us bear fruit anyway.

Extraordinary

2009-12-24T07:03:00.000-08:00

It all started with a poor couple giving birth to a poor baby in the dirty straw of a stable. It smelled like a barn that night and it was cold, but the stars were glorious. He grew up to make all of us rich who say Yes to Him with our lives.

It started in the Middle East among the poor and grew as a movement among the poor. Before the story reaches its conclusion, it's going back to the Middle East and the eyes of the world will be on what's happening. Fire and blood and Jerusalem. The still point of the turning world is going to stand up from His throne. He's coming back with angel armies and will hold a feast after he deals with His enemies.

People get ready.

Peace in the Hood

2009-12-05T09:04:00.000-08:00

We have a rumble in the jungle in our house almost every day. Our four year old is pushing back the boundaries to establish himself in the way all youngens do at his age, right on the heels of our six year old, and they irritate our older children at least once before supper.

Our teenagers meanwhile have their own intraturf battles going on which at times look like cat fights in the making. These things are part of growing up but remind me of the turf wars and relational disruption which have been features of the extended Christian community in our neighborhood ever since we moved here. At times it has been hard not to conclude that believers behave worse in relationships than non-Christians.

In looking up a verse on "peace" last night, my concordance laid out a boatload of NT references that kept me thinking and praying for a while. God of peace. Pursue peace. Perfect peace. Jesus is even the prince of this amazing commodity called Peace. It must be pretty important. It reminds me to guard my heart from resentments and any sense of injustice. Peace and resentment mix like oil and water.

When It Gets Hot

2009-11-30T17:57:00.000-08:00

Sometimes life transitions get hard. There is much incentive to dial out of what matters and set the cruise control button for our comfort zone. Except the comfort zone keeps acting like a slippery bar of soap. Then all you have left is ... to ... press ... in ... to ... God ... and ... pray.

Focal Point

2009-11-24T12:41:00.000-08:00

Our time is a currency we constantly spend while having a limited amount, & sometimes we're not fully awake to where it is going. It's easy to imagine I am praying more to Jesus, and giving my family more of myself, than I really am.

How are you relationally focusing your time, even if unmarried? What relationships are you supposed to give time to, and steward, for the next 25 years, even if you (or they) move?

Job and "ministry" easily escalate as focal points, but my wife has only one husband, and my children only one dad. And I have only one redeemer. Time to drill down and spend wisely.

Prophetic Posture

2009-11-16T09:07:00.000-08:00

Verbal communication may be clear, true, and helpful. But what does our nonverbal communication say? I think about the way I give advice to my wife or children. I can give them accurate direction but posture myself as a big boss know it all, making my words hard to receive. My leadership in the family goes better if I dial down when I talk, value my listeners by listening to them, and allow that I could be wrong.

Same thing goes for prophetic ministry or trying to counsel someone.

That Incredible Man

2009-11-11T18:24:00.000-08:00

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider quality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant..

Phil. 2: 3 ff

Lessons from Football

2009-11-03T10:02:00.000-08:00

Last night, my QB son Ben & the Wolverine team tried so hard in their peewee playoff game. Good crisp passes (at times), breakaway runs down the sideline, smashmouth defense - it wasn't enough. The lads gave up two big plays to the Longhorn offense, and lost.

Ben was devastated for at least an hour. He hates to lose. Long months running at the local high school track, then three months of football practice and games - all ended in getting bounced out of the semifinals.

QBs have to lead & inspire hope, even when things start going dark. Same thing for platoon leaders in Afghanistan, dads and moms under the gun, or believers caring for believers when things aren't working out. It takes inner strength and mental resolve. Ben is learning some life lessons from America's game.

Dialectic

2009-11-02T03:47:00.000-08:00

I love the happy dialectic of living amid wife and children, prayer and study. The potential for expansive good via a believing loving family is greater than all the organized projects of organized man.

Most organized projects are trying to clean up the fallout from families that failed to love.

They Make Me Laugh

2009-10-06T09:47:00.001-07:00

My children crack me up, they are way better than Comedy Central.

Addy: "Gabe threw something at me."
Me: "Gabe, is that nice?"
Gabe: "No, I missed."

If parenting is a reflection of the divine family, then Father God must get a good laugh out of when we tell it like it is instead of spinning it.

A Cure

2009-10-01T05:48:00.000-07:00

Clarity has more patience than I do: it comes slowly sometimes. When I get confused on direction the way forward presents as just showing kindness to someone and serving Jesus in people. A long prayer walk doesn't hurt either, finding the rhythm of going in and out of his presence and getting intercepted with a divine appointment or two on the slow path down the road. I can see why Jesus chose a period in history where he walked everywhere.

Canary in the Coal Mine or Public Dancer?

2009-07-30T07:38:00.000-07:00

Outstanding comments & video link by Alan Roxburgh of Allelon on whether church leaders are struggling against & suspicious of culture, or are they leading those they care for as dancers in the public places of culture.

The images he uses are the canary in the coal mine warning of dangerous gases, versus daring to dance publicly where maybe you shouldn't. Made me ask myself, are we in the prayer movement mainly canaries, or mainly freed-up dancers? Can we be both at the same time?

If you perceive yourself (or are perceived) as called to leadership, you should check out Roxburgh's comments as well as the video.

See the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MufOPJI0lA as the dancers are first thought of as weird & out of place by others in the Belgium train station, then accepted as the music continues and the atmosphere changes.

Violence in the House

2009-07-29T05:39:00.000-07:00

"I will set no base thing before my eyes." King David encountered heaven and it taught him to be careful on earth.

Are we as careful? Violence is trendy on the movie screen, where numerous perverted movies like Wolverine and its ilk even attract people in the prayer & justice movements. Not really . . . right?? Can this kind of stuff really be attracting folks who say they love a holy God who hates murder?

Entertained by violence? Hard not to think this is going to be dealt with in the house of the Lord. Our mind can tell us the carnage and weirdness aren't real, but our spirit is still being fed by the wrong thing.

The Hurt Locker Part II

2009-07-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

Feeling under-employed?

The Charlotte Observer ran the local unemployment numbers for June. It's pretty bad. I add in the U6 number (for York & Mecklenberg), which is considered more accurate & was the government's standard unemployment figure before 1994. Add 7% for Chester & Lancaster too for a shock.

York, S.C.: 14.6 percent, U6 21.6% (home to Fort Mill)
Cabarrus: 11.7 percent
Catawba: 15.5 percent
Gaston: 15 percent
Iredell: 12.8
Lincoln: 14.6 percent
Union: 11.3 percent
Chester, S.C.: 21.9 percent
Lancaster, S.C.: 19.1 percent

Mecklenberg is at 11.5 percent, U6 is 18.5

Fad?

2009-07-23T07:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after collecting my early morning hugs from my youngest children, I turned on my laptop & went over the morning news. My pupils dilated in surprise while I chugged my coffee and read something from an English newspaper.

The Telegraph UK had posted an article suggesting a global banking crisis this autumn, joining the conga line of writers (including yours truly) concerned about the threat of a near-term tsunami blowing the doors completely off our banking system and economy.

Either this is getting faddish or the clouds on the horizon are becoming more obvious.

I need to ask a question. Where is our anguish in the prayer movement? Everything authentic in God's kingdom is born of anguish. The world just outside our front door is arming itself with more firearms than the entire Chinese military and preparing for an American version of Yugoslavia, while a small army of families are moving into charity housing and becoming best friends with Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, and Johnny Walker. Unemployment is headed for the moon.

Where is our anguish for broken people? For a broken nation? We're sincere but immature, interceding sincerely and grooving on the spirituality of our harp and bowl, enjoying God's grace but not grasping the weightiness of the hour. We like the idea of "eating the scroll" but we barely encounter the real God who wrote it. Jesus has pain in His heart over what He is about to do on earth. He told Ezekiel he takes no pleasure in the death of anyone.

Every day we inch closer to devastation of the late great nation of America. But we don't get it -- yet.

A Kingdom of Friends

2009-07-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

I used to interact a lot in the 1980s with a group that got slammed on NPR earlier this month - The Fellowship. Whatever their faults, the bros in the Fellowship love Christ and are authentic to the core. They modeled servant leadership, accessibility, love of scripture, and unselfishness while they discipled hundreds of men. They run the Presidential Prayer Breakfast in D.C.

Dave Coe, Tim Coe, and Marty Sherman (not to mention Doug Coe) showed us how to drill down on being a disciple while walking out longterm relationships as friends. This looks more and more unique the older I get, since we believers are skilled at putting up a good front and hiding the pain until the wheels come off, at times jumping in and out of friendships faster than riders out of a taxi.

The Coes were always looking for a chance to affect nations for Jesus, whereever that might lead, and one time in the 1980s it led them into the recesses of Mongolia. They had a contact in the Mongolian outback, so they went there & made new friends in a big Mongolian tribal tent. According to David Coe, the youngest Mongolian boy in the meeting had more relational discernment than all the American pastors who attended with the Coes. He had grown up in a tribal "family" if you will, and had learned to listen, to discern character, when to speak, etc by being in a closely knit multigenerational context.

David used the story to illustrate the value of prioritizing authentic longterm friendship over the types of relationships which seem to flourish in the evangelical and charismatic subcultures. He and Doug used to often say that "a family of friends" is the best paradigm for kingdom life in God.

As I watch people come and go in their loneliness around the prophetic movement, the Coes' wisdom still shines.

The Hurt Locker *

2009-07-06T14:04:00.001-07:00

The foreclosure data for this past April is stunning, pushing a legion of families into charity housing. 342,000 homes received notices in that one month compared to 273,000 for all of 1932, during the Great Depression. And the unemployment IED is still blowing up, with the latest numbers catching experts by surprise.

Here in Charlotte, more children are moving to cheap motels or sleeping in cars with their frazzled parents, who are trying to hope in a land of hurt. And we haven't hit the tipping point yet.

This past Saturday I was downtown at an event in the park, and as I was leaving, I steered around a homeless guy in a wheelchair who was mentally impaired and trying to talk to me. The table I was carrying was awkward, and I needed to go. Busy, you know. I needed to be arrested. Arrested by the love of Christ. God, help me care about what is happening.

* title from the new war movie about a bomb squad in Iraq

Gabriel

2009-06-25T06:16:00.000-07:00

My youngest son Gabriel is a poster child for why children are fun to have. He thinks life is an awesome experience and smiles from sunup to sundown, always hunting for a wrestling match or a hug or some fun. He radiates joy.

One day when he was three, we were riding home, just he and me, and he asked out of nowhere "Dad, do you like the people of the earth?"

I'm always learning from him. To such as these belong the kingdom.

Being in Time

2009-05-18T16:00:00.000-07:00

Years ago when I was taking philosophy classes, we used to talk about how our minds shape the realities we experience/see/hear. The same is true for revelation even though it is God's spirit communicating with our spirit - it still gets processed by our minds, even though it normally takes us beyond our limitations and shows us something we didn't see as clearly before, if at all.

I think this is why people react to revelation differently. The alarm is going out that we are in not only a deepening economic crisis but an eschatological revolution as well - yet few are able to
hear this. Even those who seem to agree with the alarm keep business going pretty much as usual. My guess is that 1.) everyone processes time horizons differently, based maybe on their age (for people under 40, 5-10 yrs is forever), and 2.) the amount of displacement the coming changes indicate will happen is too extreme for the comfortable American spirit, so a certain cast of mind turns off the message preemptively.