Category Archives: Holy Spirit

Short Attention Span Theater

30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught. 31 Many people were coming and going, so there was no time to eat. He said to the apostles, “Come by yourselves to a secluded place and rest for a while.” 32 They departed in a boat by themselves for a deserted place.

33 Many people saw them leaving and recognized them, so they ran ahead from all the cities and arrived before them. 34 When Jesus arrived and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.

35 Late in the day, his disciples came to him and said, “This is an isolated place, and it’s already late in the day. 36 Send them away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy something to eat for themselves.”

37 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

   But they said to him, “Should we go off and buy bread worth almost eight months’ pay and give it to them to eat?” (Mark 6:30-37, CEB)

They had just returned from a successful ministry trip. They had laid hands on the sick, cast out demons, proclaimed the gospel, and they excitedly told Jesus everything.

Then… POOF! Their memory is gone.

Jesus turns to them when this huge crowd shows up and says, “Well, go to it, guys!”

And they freak.

We have short attention spans when it comes to incredible blessings of God. We watch God come through in some powerful way and then the very next obstacle we hit we’re panicked all over again.

It happened to Elijah. He takes on the prophets of Baal and wins, then runs for his life when Jezebel threatens him.

Don’t live in the short attention span theater. Get the long view. Recount what God has done for you.

We used to sing out of this thing called a hymnbook in church when I was growing up. (It was a bit of a misnomer since many of the songs were really gospel songs, not hymns, but that’s another issue.) And in this hymnbook was a song called “Count Your Blessings.”

Name them one by one. Count your many blessings and see what God has done.

Take the time. Remember. Recall. Thank God. And get after the next miracle he is asking you to do!

My Name is Legion, Pt. 2

Mark 5:1-20 is the story of Jesus delivering the demoniac. The first challenge out of this story I posted here.

The second challenge I have is the response of the people.

14 Those who tended the pigs ran away and told the story in the city and in the countryside. People came to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who used to be demon-possessed. They saw the very man who had been filled with many demons sitting there fully dressed and completely sane, and they were filled with awe. 16Those who had actually seen what had happened to the demon-possessed man told the others about the pigs. 17 Then they pleaded with Jesus to leave their region. (Mark 5:14-17, CEB)

They begged Jesus to leave. The maniac who had made their lives miserable was well, but they asked Jesus to leave.

Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM, had a great message I heard many years ago called, “Choosing Swine Over the Savior.” It was from this story, and I still think of that title every time I read this passage.

What is it that causes people to want a raving lunatic in their midst rather than the power of the Kingdom of God?

Perhaps it’s control. Even though the maniac was painful to deal with, they could manage that pain. With Jesus they came face to face with Someone they couldn’t manage. This Man had crushed demonic spirits. A lot of them.

What did that mean for them?

We often will tolerate a lot of pain in our lives. We will tolerate things that are often considered intolerable because we fear the pain of change. When the pain of change is less than the pain of staying the same, then we change.

The people of the area feared change. They feared what they could not control, or at least manage.

Setting people free is messy and it’s hard work. Often we’re just not up for it. We like the manageable God we have come up with and any sense of something new can really put a jolt in us.

But people are bound. The gospel sets them free. And we are the instruments of change.

My Name is Legion

2 As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out of the tombs. 3 This man lived among the tombs, and no one was ever strong enough to restrain him, even with a chain. 4 He had been secured many times with leg irons and chains, but he broke the chains and smashed the leg irons. No one was tough enough to control him. 5 Night and day in the tombs and the hills, he would howl and cut himself with stones.(Mark 5:2-5, CEB)

There are several things in Mark 5:1-20 that challenge me.

In this passage it is the horrible torment that a man is going through. Society couldn’t handle him any more. There weren’t enough ways to deal with him in their own strength and knowledge. It had come to just dealing with a man like this.

The torment that was outward was also something that challenged me. As I was praying through this passage yesterday the thought was this: “It’s not just the torment that is outward. There are many who face that same intense torture inwardly. No one knows.”

Lent prepares us for the Resurrection. The resurrection is power. The same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead dwells in us. All around us we may encounter people facing intense battles. Some are outward. Some are inward. And the resurrected Christ has sent his Spirit to empower us to deal with people in bondage. People that no one else can see changed… this is where the Kingdom of God touches. No one is beyond Kingdom blessing. No one is beyond the powerful touch of the Kingdom of God.

“Spiritual”… Not “Religious”

For those making that claim, my contention is that the best way to be “spiritual” is to understand where real spirituality is found.

4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4-5, NIV)

We may think we know “spiritual.” But we don’t know a thing until we know spiritual. ;)

Passage and Thoughts Challenging Me Lately

11 He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. 12 His purpose was to equip God’s people for the work of serving and building up the body of Christ 13 until we all reach the unity of faith and knowledge of God’s Son. God’s goal is for us to become mature adults—to be fully grown, measured by the standard of the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we aren’t supposed to be infants any longer who can be tossed and blown around by every wind that comes from teaching with deceitful scheming and the tricks people play to deliberately mislead others. 15 Instead, by speaking the truth with love, let’s grow in every way into Christ, 16 who is the head. The whole body grows from him, as it is joined and held together by all the supporting ligaments. The body makes itself grow in that it builds itself up with love as each one does their part. (Eph. 4:11-12, CEB)

I need to get my mind wrapped around the call of ministry again. There are areas of ministry we are heading as a church where I need to clearly hear from God. We need to move in the power of the Spirit. Not our own power.

Demons and Authority

In Mark 1 there is the story of Jesus casting out the demon in the synagogue. While we focus on the power encounter, Mark focuses on the authority. Twice in the same story he mentions the authority of Jesus to teach.

22 The people were amazed by his teaching, for he was teaching them with authority, not like the legal experts.

27 Everyone was shaken and questioned among themselves, “What’s this? A new teaching with authority! (Mark 1: 22,27, CEB)

When we walking in the authority of the Kingdom, the enemy recognizes it. Jesus never went hunting for a power encounter. Power encounters found him.

The apostles never went hunting for power encounters. So it is with us.

When we are walking in the authority of the Kingdom, our priority is Matt. 6:33. Whatever happens after that is something we are truly prepared for. We need not worry or fear. The tools have been given.

When the people of God show up and are walking in authority, just know that sometimes that means the spiritual waters stir. Don’t seek it out specifically. And don’t shy away from it when those waters stir.

The Leading of the Spirit

12 At once the Spirit forced Jesus out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness for forty days, tempted by Satan. He was among the wild animals, and the angels took care of him. (Mark 1:12-13, CEB)

The Spirit did not lead very softly. The same Greek word for “force” is the same word used to talk about Jesus casting out demons.

We may not always understand that “force.” I have met many who do, and the stories they tell are amazing. When there is a compelling of the Spirit they know it.

One missionary I knew was under the direction of the Spirit to go to a village hostile to the gospel for several days. Every day he went they would physically harass him in some way. He would often come home bloody. The next day the Spirit would compel him to return to that village and stay at the task.

In so many ways we are just too soft in our culture. It is so hard to rise up and sense a compelling Spirit leading us into hard areas to go through something so necessary. Jesus was “forced” into a wilderness experience that empowered him for ministry.

Where are those areas in our own lives where the Spirit is truly compelling us… driving us… to move into a whole new realm of spiritual depth and insight?

A Little Dab Won’t Do Ya

There was an old hair product for men called Brylcreem. The slogan was “a little will do ya.”

When it comes to the anointing of the Spirit, too often we are too careful. As Pentecostals, we talk about the “anointing,” but it’s often equated with a little dab of anointing oil. When it comes to the anointing of the Spirit, a little dab WON’T do ya!

Being Truly Spirit-Filled

One of my main thoughts from my message from Philippians 2 today:

As a Pentecostal believing in the power of the Spirit, I will confess that all too often it is easy to see the true “power” of the Spirit in the manifestation gifts like healing, deliverance, prophetic words, etc.

What we need to start seeing is the FULLNESS of the Spirit and that surrendering our egos to serve the margins of society so that the gospel to come to EVERYONE is just as Spirit-filled. We need just as much of the anointing of the Spirit to do THAT as we do to see healing flow into broken bodies. 

 

The Rage of the Prophets

I am off for a few days of vacation with family. Our attempt is to do as little as possible, which may be aided by a couple of days of storms.

As I enter into a very short period of “rest,” my reading for the week will actually be JEREMIAH. What a combination!

In this time of rest I am reminded of a stirring of the Spirit I have sensed all summer long. As we approach the tenth anniversary of 9/11 I have a greater sense of urgency in my spirit that a radical shift is happening for the Church again. It is something I believe the Church in America largely ignored after 9/11. The sense of urgency in my own heart is even stronger this time, though I don’t know exactly why.

But I do know this: It’s not about “America coming back to God”. It’s about the Church being the Church… finally. Regardless of political games, regardless of who is in political power, regardless of whatever else this culture is doing, the Church is failing to be the Church. Subversive. Powerful. Light.

And I turn to Jeremiah, the rage of the prophets, to hear once again. Walter Brueggemann helped me with this. He refers to them more as “poets.” But the pictures of the Old Testament are meant to show us the disruptive power of God. He is just not who we think he is at times! (The gospels certainly show us that, too, but the prophets paint much more vivid pictures!)

So, in my “rest”, I am out to have the disruptive power of the prophet stir me once again. I fell down on the job last time (ten years ago). I have a sense in my spirit I do not want to fall down on this again!