Christmas is coming - has come!

It suddenly dawned on me last week that we are in the run up to Christmas! No, it’s not like I didn’t know, after all at church we’ve been preparing for weeks, but rather in the busyness of life I hadn’t realised it was that close – I mean, that close!

I wonder whether it was a bit like that that first Christmas, everyone was going about their daily routines as one day followed another, even as one year followed another. Of course it hadn’t happened yet, so it wasn’t on the annual calendar, nevertheless they had the prophetic promise, a promise that had been passed on from one generation to another, the promise of a Saviour. And O, how they longed and prayed for that day when he would come. But hey, life goes on, living and hoping, hoping and living, and you can get lost in it and not realise where you’ve got to, or what’s going on.

Now I’m guessing that they really didn’t have that much idea either on what that would look like as they had no previous experience, so when the promise finally came to pass they were just going about the usual business of the day, and then….. when he does turn up he looks like the rest of us, a vulnerable little baby, dependent in every way on his mother and father.

I mean, in many ways it was so ordinary, too ordinary – could this be God? In fact it was so ordinary it needed angels to announce the fact that this was not just another child just like every other one, but the Child, the promised One, the prayed for and longed for Saviour. Life didn’t pause or wait for everyone to get all spiritual, feel right good and ready, no, suddenly in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Eastern life he made his appearance, he was born – fact. Not in a synagogue, or at the Temple, or some other religious setting, not even the comfort of a home, but a simple stable. I mean what a way to wrap a present!

I wonder how many today are going about this Christmas, not realising where they are at, and missing the fact that he has come – not as superman or some powerful macho all conquering hero, but as a vulnerable little baby who cried (Yes, I don’t think ‘Away in a Manger’ is correct on this point!), and was as dependent as we were on those around him when we first entered this world. Nevertheless he is none other than the Promised One, the longed for Saviour and we don’t need to wait for another. He has come, and he came ‘veiled in flesh.’

Strange Fire and Prophecy

The recent Strange Fire conference (and book) has attempted to restate an old argument of cessationists re the gift of prophecy, that there was only ever one type, and that it was inerrant and totally authoritative and the basis of the Word itself, and therefore all other prophecy is false and such prophecy and people should be rejected.

The problem with this view is that it totally ignores the fact that there was prophetic activity of what might be called a secondary nature in the Old Testament. Such prophecies didn’t find there way into Scripture (apart from the mere reference to it’s activity), and they weren’t considered inerrant and totally authoritative, i.e. the Spirit coming on the 70 in Numbers 11: 24–27 with the result that they prophesied, plus the two who weren’t in the right place (Moses response interestingly was that he wished that all of the Lord’s people were prophets); the schools of the prophets mentioned in Samuel and Kings, and Saul’s particular experience, and then we have Joel’s prophesy (inerrant and authoritative and part of scripture) that the Spirit would be poured out on all flesh and they would prophesy.

Turning to the New Testament we find second level prophecy as a very real and necessary part of church life. It’s there in the book of Acts, and in the letters we find Paul writing to the church in Corinth and strongly encouraging them in it, and again in his writing to the Thessalonians he tells them not to despise it.

Though it is to be encouraged and not despised nevertheless Paul makes it clear that all prophecy is to be weighed, meaning that it may not all be of the Lord, but in doing so, in no way does he suggest that if turns out not to be of the Lord and therefore not to be accepted should the person giving it be rejected or stoned. And even if it were accepted as from the Lord, the individual still had the choice as to their response, i.e. Paul’s response to the word not to go up to Jerusalem, but he went.

Even so the fact that it is ‘second level’ doesn’t mean that when it occurs it is any less ‘of God.’ This is truly an activity inspired of the Spirit and is to be treated as such, and for this reason Paul writes, “Don’t stifle the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies,…”

In my own personal experience I have been blessed, encouraged, helped and guided by the prophetic word, churches that I have been involved with likewise, and I can’t imagine a Christian and Church life without it. Hearing God is vitally important. Taking heed to the prophetic word is as well. Too many churches are living in the past because they are not willing to hear God today.

If you are someone who has been thrown off course on the things of the Spirit due to Strange Fire (the conference or the book) I would encourage you to go back to the Word to see whether these things are so, and also to find out and talk to those who are experienced and have integrity in these things. Please don’t allow the enemy to rob you of the gift(s) that the Father gives through his Spirit for the benefit of his people.

Have you ever been blessed by the gift of prophecy?

Have you ever prophesied?

How seriously do you take prophecy?

When was the last time you responded to such a word?

Strange Fire and the Corinthians

Reflecting on the Strange Fire Conference and Scripture one can’t help but wonder how John MacArthur would have written to the church at Corinth.

Here was a church where things were out of order – here was charismatic chaos! And what is Paul’s answer, what you are doing is of the devil? Or/and, I don’t think any of you are saved? No, his answer is to recognise the Spirit’s activity among them, and their responsibility in it.

And so he speaks to them about the fact that you can only confess that Christ is Lord by the Spirit, of being members of a body and everything being done for the benefit of the body – not selfish edification or enjoyment. About God being a God of peace and not of disorder, and of the spirit of the prophets being subject to the prophets – that even though they are moved upon by the Spirit they are responsible for the when and how – but one thing he just doesn’t say is that it’s not the Spirit and that they are not saved.

Rather he goes on to stir them up for more, not to hold back, or stop it, just make sure you do it well, in a way that honours God, and blesses all, and is not a stumbling block to the lost.

Strange Fire - Further Thoughts

Well the Strange Fire Conference has certainly stirred something up, let’s pray that all sides benefit from the continuing conversation.

Having been brought up a cessationist I have been for many years a scripturally and experientially convinced continuationist, though I must confess I did have a spell where because of the abuse of spiritual gifts I was tempted to go back to cessationism – it would be safer, easier and less painful.  I questioned their authenticity, and whether we could really know what was of God or not (interestingly this is a question raised at this conference, how can we know that tongues are the same today as in New Testament days, yet we could also ask how do I know or you know that our born-again experience is exactly the same as in the New Testament?!). But then I began to realise that if I were to do that I would have to deny scripture, and I couldn’t do it. I realised that abuse mustn’t lead us to non-use, or even the the denial of gifts, that’s exactly what the enemy wants, but rather we needed to learn how to use and manage them correctly.

That journey has opened my own heart and life and ministry more directly to the dynamic of God’s presence and the hearing of his voice, and there is no way I could go back on it. Yes there are those round the edges who discredit the movement through excess and bad teaching, but lets not cast the baby out with the bathwater, or throw all our money away simply because of a few forgeries – Paul didn’t write off the faith and experiences of the Corinthian church because of what was going on, rather he wrote to establish a proper understanding and order to the exercise of the gifts!

If there’s something that I’ve observed having been in pentecostal and charismatic churches, old church and new church, it is that we are not pentecostal/charismatic enough!  Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said many years ago to those who were cessationist, “Got it all? Well, if you have ‘got it all’, I simply ask in the Name of God, why are you as you are? If you have ‘got it all’, why are you so unlike the Apostles, why are you so unlike the New Testament Christians?” The same could be said of some pentecostals and charismatics today, only they know the doctrine, but not enough of the experience.  There is indeed the very real danger of following generations arising who do not know the experiences their forefathers had – something that history documents in other movements/denominations, where over time form and the way things are done take over, professionalism becomes the order of the day, cold orthodoxy sets in and seats empty, until a generation arises that asks afresh, where is God? Where is he in all of this?

In the same way that we need to keep preaching the gospel and calling people to Christ or we end with a church full of religious people, so also we need to be making sure that they receive the gift of the Spirit, and encouraging them in the gifts, otherwise we’ll have a generation in pentecostal and charismatic churches with none of the life and power of their forefathers.

The fact that Paul has to write and encourage the believers to earnestly desire and stir up the gifts that God has given implies that they don’t automatically perpetuate themselves, rather we have a responsibility to keep them alive among us. More is what we need, not less. Doing it right is what we need, not quenching the Spirit for fear of getting it wrong. Paul’s strong desire was that all would speak in tongues, and even more that they prophesied.

What about you?

Strange Fire

This week has seen the Strange Fire Conference in the United States hosted by John MacArthur, a conference accusing those in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement of being in error, of wrongly dividing Scripture and encouraging experiences and ministries that are false and so leading the church of God astray.

The big questions being asked and answered are, should people be experiencing the baptism in the Spirit today? Should they prophesy and speak in tongues today? Should we lay hands on the sick and expect healing today? All answered in the negative, because it is argued Scripture says so, and they want those who believe otherwise to know and be corrected.

The fact is, it doesn’t, you have to draw lines where there are non, read things into rather than out of Scripture. Yes they may call Calvin to their defense, but please Calvin’s word doesn’t have the same authority as Scripture. And yes they may call the lack of such experiences at some periods in church history as evidence, but that is not to argue from Scripture, but experience or the lack of it.

I was brought up a cessationist, I know the arguments, I encountered Pentecostals, was impacted by their life and witness. They spoke in tongues and believed God heals today. I wrestled with the Scriptures. Was encouraged to believe that it was of the devil. But I had never seen such devotion and passion for Jesus, such a desire to know him and witness to him, such passion in worship and prayer, and no they weren’t speaking in tongues all the time and neither were they swinging from the chandeliers!

Yes, frequently the stories and objections were based on hearsay, frequently generalisations – yes there are some that do the movement no good, but please that applies across the whole church. Such arguments are false and misleading and sadly this seems to be the approach of this conference.

Praise God I came to see that I was reading Scripture through the lens of my own tradition, and my, how tradition can be blinding. Praise God for the witness of those I encountered. And oh, I wanted God, not just words. I wanted reality, not just form. Praise God I met him, I was powerfully baptised in the Spirit and suddenly my Christian life took on a whole new dynamic, a dynamic that was rooted in Scripture itself.

Acts 29

Yes, I know there isn't one and it finishes with chapter 28, but reading through Acts you can't help but notice the abruptness with which it end - you are left high and dry, you want to know what happens next.

And there's the point, it's not supposed to end, the story continues right down to today, and right around the globe!

The Acts of the Holy Spirit through God's people are still being done and told. God is still using ordinary people, filled with his Spirit to accomplish extraordinary things.

People are being saved and added to the church, delivered from the power of the evil one and set free to be who God wants them to be, healed from all kinds of sickness whether physically, emotionally or spiritually. Baptised in water; baptised in the Holy Spirit. Speaking in tongues, prophesying, seeing God's miraculous provision.

Yes, God is still on the move, moving by his Spirit, fulfilling his purposes, bringing his Kingdom in.

Do you know it?
Are you part of it?
What part are you playing in Acts 29?

Hearing the Prophetic

Last time I wrote about being open to the prophetic and it’s importance. In this blog I want to raise the challenge as to how we can hear the prophetic.

Having grown up in a cessationist church with no expectation of hearing God except through a Scripture and the preached word, then getting saved in a Pentecostal Church and experiencing the baptism in the Spirit, followed by involvement in a charismatic denominational church, then independent charismatic, followed by new church charismatic churches/streams I’ve been on a journey of what it means to hear God.

Two or three years ago while leading a church open to and committed to the things of the Spirit, I found myself provoked as to whether I was really as open to the prophetic voice of God as I thought I was. It wasn’t that anyone said it, in fact it had more to do with someone who struggled with the whole idea of prophecy, and it set me on a journey. A journey that was to have a dramatic twist.

I’ve heard and responded to God over the years, I thought I was doing it, but there are situations and circumstances that can make us blind.

I began to read, study and reflect afresh on what it means to hear God.

Then I went to a conference and while there attended a seminar on the gifts of the Spirit in a worship service – something I’ve always been keenly interested in. Little did I know God was setting up an ambush! Following the teaching we were encouraged to get into groups, preferably with people we didn’t know, then wait on God and see what he might say. When people began to share, a lady shared a simple picture about a father and son walking on a beach, the boy had a balloon in his hand, but he had lost it, and was now upset.

Simple, but loaded!

We had been encouraged to discuss what any word might mean and pray for any who it might apply to. Strangely we focussed on what wasn’t in the picture, then prayed. As I left that room I found myself thinking about what had just taken place and in a  matter of moments, God spoke to me saying I was the boy on the beach, the balloon I had been holding was gone and it wasn’t coming back. Then the thought, what would you do if you were that father, and this was your son? I found myself responding that I would get him another balloon, and with that God I felt God say that’s what I’m going to do for you!

The balloon represented who we were connected with and a change in relationship.

Over the next few weeks as I shared with fellow elders we felt that God was clearly leading us to merge our church with another in another ‘stream’ – in fact it turned out that God had already dropped the idea into the mind of one of the elders. Over the next few weeks we began to explore it with the church. Again we found God had been preparing people. Time and again we found God speaking and confirming. In just over six months we had processed the detail and merged the church, and it has been proven over and over that it was of God – PTL!

Had I not felt challenged as to how willing I was to hear God through the prophetic, we would not be where we are today. If I/we hadn’t, would God be blessing? I think he would. Would it be God’s best? I don’t think so. God had something else in mind and he was working to get us there, and I’m so glad he did.

Over the last few weeks my wife and I have been reading through the Acts of the Apostles and we have been reminded again and again of the dynamic of the early church, and dynamic that needs to be recovered and maintained.

Through the journey I learnt again the need to hear the prophetic voice; to not dictate how God should speak, and to be willing to respond to it.

Was there risk? Yes, but if you want to serve God’s purpose and keep engaging with his will that will always be the case.

How willing are you to hear God? How open to the prophetic? Are you as willing as you think you are?

Open to the Prophetic

As people and churches we need not only an ongoing experience of the Spirit and the ministry of the Word we also need the prophetic – the now voice of the Spirit speaking expressly to us as God’s people.

Several times in Scripture we are exhorted to hear what the Spirit is saying – in Revelation it wasn’t the same message to every church.

When those words were written there was no completed Canon of Scripture so it can’t have been hearing what God has to say through scripture, though certainly there is a place for that.

The early disciples and church were very much led by the prophetic voice of the Spirit. As they worshipped the Spirit spoke and they responded. The result was a constantly developing and flexible movement that would impact the nations.

Today, as much as then, we as God’s people both personally and as churches need to be open to and willing to hear that voice, and when we hear it not quench it but respond in obedient faith.

It is the willingness to hear that voice that will save individuals and churches from religious formalism, stereo typing, inflexibility and stagnation.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is there is abundant life and glorious liberty.

Whoever has ears to hear let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Cataclysmic conflict or glorious hope

For many Revelation is about a cataclysmic conflict somewhere in the future - maybe ours. As such it holds out a gloomy prospect - things certainly aren't going to get better, in fact quite the opposite. But is this really so?

The end of Revelation takes us back to its beginning, with reminders of the immedicy of the prophesied events: ‘quickly take place’ (6), ‘coming quickly’ (7, 12, 20), and 'don't seal the words' (10) - something that Daniel was told to do as the words that he had written were for another generation hundreds of years later, but John is told not as they were for his generation. That doesn't mean they can't speak to us, after all, all of scripture is God breathed and profitable, Old Testament and New Testament, the Gospels, letters and Revelation, and there is much that has helped the church down through history in Revelation to stay strong and true in the face of difficult and trying circumstances.

In the last chapter (22:6-21) it reminds us that these are prophetic words (4 times) - words of diagnosis and remedy that needed to be taken seriously and act upon them.

It reminds us too that there is no grey area, or halfway house to the things of God (Let the unrighteous.... let the righteous... (11) outside are .... (15)). Nevertheless God is patient, and the gospel is offered right up to the end with the invitation to 'Come...' (17) but his patience will not last forever.

Revelation spoke to its generation and speaks to every generation since, that God is sovereign and utterly holy, and his purposes will come to pass, and as such he cannot be trifled with.

It tells us that Jesus has conquered, he has already won - there's not another battle up ahead he's got to fight and win to be sure of his crown. He is already heaven's conquering hero, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Earths empires rise and fall, but he is the King of an unshakeable kingdom that will outlast them all.

It tells us that the things that were passing away (something that was a real hindrance to some of the Hebrew Christians because they appeared to be remaining), were indeed about to, and with them the physical end of the Old Covenant - the Temple with all it's ritual and the place of relationship to God, the priests as intermediaries, and the continual offerings as the basis of that relationship.

It tells us the devil has been bound, the gospel can now be preached effectively in all the nations of the earth, and God will bless it to the extention of his kingdom among all peoples.

It also means that we as God's people can be active in society for the increase of the common grace of God among all peoples, and not simply abandon it to whatever under the pretext that it's all going to burn up anyway.

Heaven's Perspective

Perspective
Perspective is everything, if we don’t have it we are in trouble.

In Revelation we encounter a persecuted and suffering church, and things are not going to get better. From their perspective it doesn’t look or feel good, later on we will hear the cry, “how long, O Lord?”

Following the messages to the seven churches we see heaven’s door open and we are immediately launched into heaven, “Come up here,…” (Rev.4:1) was the summons – an invitation into the very presence of God, and my what a revelation.

A Throne
This word will be repeated numerous times. Yes there is a throne in heaven upon which God sits, and from that throne he reigns. He has the first and last word.

John says that before it was “something like a sea of glass” – nothing can disturb, or trouble the throne of God. God is not thrown into a quandry by what’s going on on earth. In fact in the words of the psalmist, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs” (2:4 HCSB) at the schemes of man.

God is Trinity
“One was seated on the throne…. seven Spirits of God or the sevenfold Spirit of God….. A Lamb…” God is Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that blessed (happy) community of eternal fellowship that exists at the heart of the universe and is the cause and creator of it.

God is holy
The thrice holy – utterly unique One who is so much more and other than we are. How frequently we bring God down to our level, and then wonder why our Chrisitan experience is so feeble and frail.

The forever God
God who was.
God who is.
God is to come.
No beginning, no end. He reigns for ever and ever. Hallelujah!

Worship
We see him praised and worship:
1. For who he is (4:10).
2. For his work in creation (4:11).
3. For his work in redemption (5:9, 10, 12, 13).

How often our worship starts with ourselves – feelings: I don’t feel like it; self analysis: I don’t feel good enough; or with what we are going to do: “I will …”, “We will …” and then we wonder why we never get airbourne, why it seems hard work and little more than the old genie in a bottle trick.

When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, worship came first, “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name…” it’s about two thirds of the way through that we get the confession, “Forgive us our sins…” Maybe your prayer life is taken up with too much of yourself – it’s all about you. That’s whirlpool worship, it sucks you in and leaves you exhausted.

David stirred himself up, spoke to himself, “Bless the Lord O my soul…” Psalm 103:1. Worship involves a looking away from ourselves to Another who is worthy in himself, and secondly for what he has done.

We need to get God’s perspective
Getting into God’s presence and get his perspective makes all the difference.

Yes life for the churches John was writing to was tough and going to get tougher, but God was on the throne, and he reigns. Satan and those he works through will not win. The world is God’s, he has wrought salvation, and his people can have every stong hope in him.

Perhaps your perspective has become skewed, fear has become your consellor, and you are on a downer - It’s time to get into the presence of God, to see him on his throne, to know that he commands your destiny, to get his perspective on your life.

Jesus Loves and Speaks to the Church

JESUS LOVES THE CHURCH
Jesus loves the church for which he gave himself. John said “To him who loves us…” (1:5). It is out of that context that Revelation chapters 2 and 3 flow. It is out of that context that he speaks to the church sometimes hard and difficult words as well as words of comfort and strength. Some would like to say these letters represent church ages, others that being seven it represents the total sum of what God says to the church, neither of which is adequate. These were written to specific churches at particular time for a paricular reason, and in no way do they cover all of the problems we might find in the church. In fact while revival is taking place in one area, a church may be dying in another.

DIVINE DIAGNOSIS
In chapters 2 and 3 we have seven letters to seven churches. Each of these letters comes out of the context of Jesus as the ascended Lord of the Church, who walks among them. The church in Revelation was going through a difficult time. Persecution was on the increase. It was tough. Nevertheless that doesn’t rule out other aspects of life and in these letters Jesus addresses each of the churches with a divine diagnosis.

These are prophetic words. The argument is raised that preterists empty Revelation of it’s prophetic content, but that is to limit prophecy to futurism. The fact of the matter is that much of prophecy in the Bible is of the nature of divine diagnosis and remedy, and that is what Revelation is about. How we need that divine diagnosis today, and the remedy God provides – Something to be noted here is that he doesn’t say the same thing to each church, a mistake that seems to be commonly made today where all churches are put in the same boat, and the same diagnosis and remedy applied.

In each of the letters we read, “I know…” That God knows can be both comforting and disturbing, comforting about the struggles and trials we face as Christians and churches, but disturbing when it’s about the things we thought we could hide, and get away with. We may feel we can make a good impression, but there is nothing, absolutely nothing that is hidden from him – he knows. What does he know about you?

Nevertheless the “I know…” here is redemptive, he knows and he reveals his knowledge of us not to condemn, but to change. So often we are blind and don’t see clearly. We are also very good at justifying ourselves – “Yes, I know, but you don’t understand…” Such arguments don’t stand a chance with God.
I wonder if such a word were to come today what would God say of you and your church? And would you be willing to hear it?

HEAR
Which brings me to the recurring words, “If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches?” Listen is probably a better word as we know all to well we may hear but not listen – we heard what our mother said, but we didn’t listen! Are we listening. Yes the Spirit speaks today, the prophetic voice can still be heard – if we are willing to stop ad listen. Perhaps the churches in Revelation thought they were doing OK given the circumstances, but God’s voice cuts through all of that and diagnosies their real condition, and reveals every situation for what it is.

REPENT
Repent occurs in six of the seven letters. Repent is not a word we like to hear, as it involves admission of guilt – being in the wrong. It’s a humbling word, but with God it also becomes a lifting and saving word. The word to six of the seven churches involved a call to repentance, a recognition of what was wrong and a change of direction/action.
What do you need to repent of? Don’t delay, thats the devils way – it can wait til torrow. No, do it today, and be a recipient of God’s geart mercy and grace.

HOLD ON
For one church there was no such call – Philadelphia; the challenge was to hold on. That’s what some need to hear. God knows the difficulty, the trial, he is with you and he says ‘hold on to what you’ve got, don’t let let anyone take your crown.’ Earlier John had spoken of the people of God as a “kingdom, priests” or ‘kings and priests,’ (1:6). This is not about the heavenly crown, but the crown of life, their reiging in life (Romans 5:17).