When God Speaks

I've been reading "The Spiritual Secrets of George Muller." He was an amazing man of prayer in the 1800's in England. He started an orphanage and only ever prayed for God's provision without ever asking people for anything. He is known for being a man of prayer, yet read what he said about the Bible: "When we pray to God, we speak to God; but when we read the Scriptures, God speaks to us; and THIS is what we so much need."

It is the Bible that is the living word of God and supernatural as it works in our hearts.

Here are two tools I would encourage you to consider. 1) A Bible reading plan that gets you in the OT, Gospels, Epistles and Psalms/Proverbs every day. 2) Waltzing in the Word--a plan for how to APPLY what you read.

http://www.navpress.com/product/9781576839744/The-Discipleship-Journal-Bible-Reading-Plan-Discipleship

WALTZING THROUGH THE WORD
Repent:
Is the Spirit exposing a heart attitude through the text that I need to repent of?

Is the Spirit exposing a wrong behavior through the passage that I must confess?

Is there something wrong that I’ve thought, said, done that is revealed in the text?

Is there something that I’ve left unsaid or undone that is revealed by the passage?

Is there some area of unbelief that is being pointed out by the Spirit?

Is there a heart-change and/or life-change God is calling me to make I’m resisting?

Is there a “fruit” sin exposed that is leading me to acknowledge a “root” sin in life?


Believe:
Is there some element of the work of Christ revealed in the text I must believe?

Is there a present value of the blood of Christ revealed that I must apply to my heart?

Is there a promise of God related to the gospel which I need to appropriate?

Is there a work of the Spirit revealed which I need to hope more fully in?

Is there a revelation of grace that I need to relish revealed by the text?

Is God’s love revealed to me in a fresh way that I need to rest in?

Is there a goodness, kindness or mercy of God that I need to thank Him for?

Is there a revelation of the law as my highest delight that I need to embrace?

Is there a prohibition that I need to acknowledge as a warning against a nightmare?


Fight:
After appropriating the power of the blood, is there a command that I need to obey?

After appropriating the power of the blood, is there a prohibition that I need to heed?

Is there a means of grace that I need to engage in?

Is there a ministry activity that I need to carry out?

Is there an act of love or mercy that I need to follow through on?

Is there a temptation that I need to struggle hard against to overcome?

Is there a battle wit h the world, the flesh or the devil I need to take more seriously?

Is there something revealed about my life for which I need to be held accountable?

Levitate...Lift me Up!

There are some REALLY GREAT SONGS on U2's special release, Medium, Rare & Remastered. U2's aim to intelligently and subtlely weave their Christian faith into lyrics actually loses some of the subtlety on several songs. Levitate is one of those songs.

"It's in your voice, I can feel it, I can tell. It's in your voice, Has me ringing me like a bell"--it seems quite likely that Bono is singing about the Holy Spirit...and getting in tune with the Spirit so that we hear His voice. the voice of the Lord is a common theme in Scripture.

In Genesis 22 Abraham is told that he will be blessed because he listened to the voice of the Lord. In Exodus 15 God calls His people to listen to His voice. In 1 Samuel 15:22 we learn that the Lord takes great delight in those who obey His voice. All through the Psalms we sing of the voice o the LORD--Ps 29:4--The voice of the LORD is poweful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty; and in the next verse, in a tie-in with the new album, No Line on the Horizon, the Voice of the LORD breaks the Cedars of Lebanon! In the Song of Solomon, the great LOVE SONG of Scripture, the one loved hears the voice of the Beloved...and the poetic language there somewhat parallels Bono's lyrics that the voice has him ringing like a bell.

The same theme continues in the New Testament: In John chapter 10 Christ talks about being the Good Shepherd and the sheep hear His voice and follow Him.

As we listen to the voice of the LORD, there will be peace: Bono continues: "Peace of mind; Peace comes dropping slow; I'm in the mind to let go of control." Romans 8:6--The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace! In Galatians 5:22 we learn that one element of the fruit of the Spirit is peace...peace dropping upon us because the Spirit is from above. We receive that peace as we yield ourselves up to God (Romans 6:13ff); as we let go of control and allow the Spirit to fill us (Ephesians 5:18).

Spirit come on down, No I'm not coming down--This could be taken two ways: 1) As Bono prays for the Spirit to fall upon him, he has the Spirit saying "No, I'm not coming down..." meaning, the Spirit is wanting Bono and us to know that the Spirit's intention is to lift us up with Him, not for Him to come down to us...thus, LEVITATE!

But a second option is that Bono is believing so firmly that the Spirit WILL come on down that the subject of the second line is Bono (and every believer) and there is confidence that since the Spirit is coming down as promised, we can say to our enemies, no matter what you do or what I face, "No, I'm not coming down." An interesting side note here is that on NLOTH, on the song Moment of Surrender, during the verse involving riding on the subway "through the stations of the cross" the official lyrics say the next line is "counting down to the Pentecost." Pentecost, of course, being the time when the Holy Spirit fell upon the disciples as they waiting in Jerusalem for the Gift Jesus said He would send...and the church became filled with a love that was unstoppable...and it turned the Roman Empire right-side-up!

In the chorus: Who can stop us now, It's much too late; Can't slow us down, We can't hesitate. I want a love that's hard, As hard as hate...Levitate. Once Christ-followers are filled with the Spirit, they can not be stopped. As Jesus taught, "the gates of hell will not prevail against the church" (Matthew 16:18). Also in Romans 8, a chapter filled with thoughts about walking in the Spirit, the chapter is filled with thoughts of victory! No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Then the line--"I want a love that's hard, As hard as hate. Levitate!" When people hate, that hate is so deep, so passionate, so uncompromising...it's all-pervasive. Bono says he wants a love that has those same qualities. Only the Spirit of God can grant such a love...so Levitate! Bring us into the love of the Trinity...the love shared between Father, Son and Holy Ghost! Jesus said that the world would know we are Christians by our love for one another. As we hear the Voice of the Spirit and our hearts resonate with His voice, we will be filled with a love that can change the world and NOTHING AND NO ONE can stop us!

In the last verse we see a line that Bono has used on How to Dismantle and Atomic Bomb, in Miracle Drug:"Freedom has a scent/Like the top of a newborn baby's head." Here in Levitate, Bono sings: When freedom comes, Freedom has a scent; It's like the top of a new born baby's head. On NLOTH there is the theme of being born and reborn...Bono knows that the work of the Spirit is to renew us after the character of Christ on a daily basis...Christ being the new born Baby that brings freedom; but also, the Spirit is the Spirit of freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17-18) and makes us reborn daily by His grace and power.

Who can stop us now, Who could make us wait; Who could slow us down, Make us hesitate. I want a love that's hard, As hard as hate. Levitate! Lift me up!

So, we are to sing out in prayer to be filled with the Spirit, the Spirit of love and peace. We are to yield ourselves and our lives over to the Lord so that He lifts us up out of our brokenness and self-absorption and we will be released to go into the world, "arms stretched out" to serve and love the world in which we live! Who can stop us now!

The Exciting Adventure of a Supernatural Life

I try to cry out constantly that the Christian life REALLY IS supernatural! As we battle the world, the flesh and the devil, however, we are constantly having to face the temptation to de-supernaturalize the Christian life...or, at least, to minimize the supernatural nature of our daily lives as Christ-followers. If we truly believed every moment was lived in touch with the supernatural, we would love God enough, as Francis Schaeffer says in True Spirituality, to say "Thank You" even in the difficult times and we would love each other enough to not envy.

In the account of the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt 17), we are reminded that the supernatural we often do not see is entwined with the natural that we see. At any moment the veil could be lifted and we can see the supernatural "break in upon" what we perceive as merely the natural. The Supernatural is not some "far-off" place...it is where we are, even though we don't often "see" it.

If we "buy into" the supernatural view of life, then seeing Christ bear fruit through us (John 15--abiding), or understanding Numbers 21 and the "look to the cross" that releases transforming grace, is no longer a problem. Understanding Luke 1:38 and Christ being formed in us as we believe and saying "Be it done TO me according to Your Word" is no longer hard to grasp in a supernatural framework. The issue is not merely understanding this concept, but living in light of it on a daily, moment by moment basis.

Too often we get so caught up in the moment, we live as though the supernatural were not there. In a word, we all struggle with unbelief. We resort to human effort rather than believing the gospel (Galatians 3:1-5). Schaeffer gives a GREAT illustration in True Spirituality, chapter 5, when he writes about the place called Mahanaim from Genesis 32:1-2 (p59). Mahanaim means "two camps" and it was the meeting place of the natural and the supernatural for Jacob...WE TOO live in Mahanaim...the junction of the natural and the supernatural. We perceive the natural world; the supernatural world is just as real, just as valid, just as near at hand.

In 2 Kings 6:16-17 we learn through Elisha's servant that the supernatural world IS NEAR, but we just don't see it...we are to believe that the supernatural is present even if we don't see it or feel it. Faith doesn't MAKE it there...it is ALREADY there and we are to believe it is there and LIVE in the reality of its presence.

The Spirit-filled life, the life of transforming grace through faith is supernatural...LIVE that way TODAY!!

The Spirit-filled Life

I'm studying one of my all-time favorite works with my men's group: True Spirituality, by Francis Schaeffer. This week we are in Chapter 4--In the Spirit's Power.

What Schaeffer writes about in this chapter is what Oak Mtn is ALL about! When we talk about the Waltz (the Three Step Dance with Christ--Repent! Believe! Fight!...see other Blog Posts on the Waltz), we are really talking about the HOW of the Spirit-filled life. The terms are interchangeable.

Whether you go to John 15 and read about Abiding in Christ; or you go to Romans 8 and read about the Spirit-filled life; Or whether you go to Numbers 21 and read about Looking to Christ in faith...they are ALL the same thing as the WALTZ. We are talking about the Christian life as it is meant to be lived...the Christian life where the primary issue is continued FAITH in Christ...

The reason many believers and churches have lost their first love and have grown stale is because what began as a life of faith has morphed into a life of performance and moralism. True Spirituality is God, through the Spirit, raising the dead in us on a daily basis as we go to Him in repentance and faith. We become aware of sin, we go honestly, humbly, helplessly to Christ and we trust the Blood of Christ to crucify us to that sin...we trust the power of the Spirit to mortify/crucify/kill that sin in us.

As Schaeffer puts it, We ARE BEING "Transfigured" on a daily basis by faith~ It's not make-believe...it is grounded in the time and space in which we live!

True Spirituality is NOT picking ourselves up by our own bootstraps...it is entering into the Promised Land of the Gospel by appropriating land that is ours, but must be taken by faith! We are changed the same way we were converted...by looking to Christ and the promises of the Gospel to do for us and in us what we can not do ourselves...

We can no more change ourselves than Mary could produce the Child of Promise in her own womb...our only recourse is to believe the promises the EXACT SAME way Mary did (Luke 1:38)...and the SAME CHRIST will be formed within us...not in a womb given to men, but in our hearts!!

WOW! WOW! WOW! If you're not smiling right now...check your pulse...you may be dead!

Grace for the Religious AND the Irreligious

This is an email that was just sent to me by one of my elders. Man, I am so glad I have men surrounding me and leading our church who are gripped by the truth of the Gospel!!

Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace (p. 19):

Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God’s grace.

And your best days are never so good that you are beyond the need of God’s grace.

And from pp. 22-23:
Pharisee-type believers unconsciously think they have earned God’s blessing through their behavior.

Guilt-laden believers are quite sure they have forfeited God’s blessing through their lack of discipline or their disobedience.

Both have forgotten the meaning of grace because they have moved away from the gospel and have slipped into a performance relationship with God

Your True and Best Friend

I was forwarded an email the other day that focused upon one of the greatest issues in the Church today...how much emphasis to give to the Third Use of the Law...the Use that informs Christians of what God means by calling us to an obedient and holy life. It is an important use of the law, for sure...but is THAT what is primarily wrong with the Church today...I personally do NOT think so.

What follows is a letter from Jack Miller, Westminster Seminary professor and founder of World Harvest Mission. It is found in a book of his letters, called Servant Leaders...pp 59-60. It is a letter from June of 1988 to a friend (named Richard) in which he (Dr. Jack Miller) was talking about how vital faith dried up in the English Puritan tradition...

"Your sharing about your (Richard's) burden for the church helps me (Dr. Miller) to pray for you. I'm glad for what God enabled you to emphasize - that God has a gracious heart toward us in our sins and that sanctification as well as justification is of grace. You would think that would be self-evident, wouldn't you? But obviously the response you received to your emphasis in the 'long-range plan (of the gospel)', indicates that something is awry in Reformed circles.

One irony that strikes me is that so often people who emphasize the third use of the law are really not great law-keepers themselves. For example, I have noted that sometimes church members given heavy doses of the third use of the law have little idea of the inner nature of the law as a delighting in God. I have also noted a tendency to exclude the tongue and a critical spirit from consideration as well, so that you can get the irony of believers defending the law with a harshness that itself breaks the law! What sinners we can be!

But I do think that the Heidelberg Catechism and the Belgic Confession have an excellent emphasis on faith and sanctification. It is also interesting to see that (as best I can recall) the Larger Catechism (of the Westminster Confession) speaks of the third use of the law and relates its role to breaking us and driving us to Christ. Add that emphasis, and grace follows.

Anyway I suspect that Reformed people, especially in the English Puritan tradition, have been especially prone to nomism. You know, I have often wondered why English Presbyterianism died so quickly in the 17th century, and maybe this was a factor. I am thinking of excellent men like Richard Baxter (who wrote the Reformed Pastor). Baxter drifted in an Arminian and nomist direction in his later life.

For what it is worth, here is how I see the theological emphasis of English Puritanism. 1. Know your enemy - sin, the flesh, the devil; 2. Know your personal limitations - your own particular fleshly characteristics and habits; 3. Know your Friend - the grace of God in Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Personally I cannot deny that sometimes churches need that order and such an emphasis has led to revival. Still, I find myself overwhelmed when I pick up a 320 page book by John Owen and find 308 pages devoted to points 1 and 2, and only 12 pages given to point 3, grace and gospel. Owen, of course, doesn't always do this, but it seems pretty typical.

My own heart likes this order better: 1. Know your Friend; 2. Know your enemy; 3. Know your personal limitations. And I would keep the controlling theme of point 1 even when talking about points 2 and 3.

At the same time I do not think that an emphasis on grace leads to a soft ministry on sin and the severe demands of the law. Actually, it seems to me that such grace teaching makes it possible for sinners like us to hear the hardest things said about our sin patterns, and that can lead into a healthy sorrow which then leads back to sanity, i.e., repentance."

The Right to Appear Ridiculous

On U2's new album, No Line on the Horizon, in the song "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight" we hear Bono sing the lyric: "The right to appear ridiculous is something I hold dear."

I find it farily significant that the line follows the lyric: "Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear," a line that is pulled from the New Testament Scriptures, where the Apostle John, in his First Letter to the Church, writes: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not been perfected in love" (1 John 4:18).

John is writing to weak-kneed believers who need to, as Bono sings in Stand Up Comedy, "get out from under their beds." Bono, like John, is saying, "Come on, ye people, stand up for your Love." Stop being afraid of what others think, stop being enslaved to the approval of others, and be willing to appear ridiculous.

The fact is, Christ-followers will always appear ridiculous to those who exercise their freedom to not believe. It's ALWAYS been this way. I'm reminded of a story of King David when the Ark of the Covenant was being brought to Jerusalem. We read in 2 Samuel 6 that as the Ark came into the city, King David was leaping and dancing before the LORD. We also read that his wife, Michal, saw David doing this and she despised him for it. When David returned home, Michal disgustingly told David that he made a fool of himself...he appeared ridiculous!

Christ-followers will always appear ridiculous in the eyes of those who exercise their freedom to not believe. It is foolish in their eyes to put our hope in the words and promises of a book that is thousands of years old...it is foolish in their eyes to believe that One Man born supposedly 2000 years ago was the Very Creator of the Universe come to live in the flesh as a human being...it is foolish in their eyes to believe that all humanity will one day give an account to the One True God based solely on what they did with the claims of Christ...and on and on.

As a fellow Christ-follower, I think I know what Bono means when he sings, "Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear? The right to appear ridiculous is something I hold dear."

Of course, the right to appear ridiculous applies, at times, equally before the Church as well as before the unbelieving world...for many in the Church have created their own particular brand of following Christ, which, if one ignores, one is considered ridiculous by them as well. So...what to do?

Allow perfect love, God's perfect, never-ending, never diminishing, never-changing unconditional love to you in Christ to drive out all fear...and be willing to be considered ridiculous...as a matter of fact, hold that right dearly! It was a right that the Apostle Paul held dearly...In 1 Corinthias 4:10, Paul writes to people who thought him to be ridiculous, "We are fools for Christ's sake."

Some years ago I was on the staff of a well-known campus ministry. The leader of the organization was though to be foolish by many people for his commitment and vision. One day he was even told by another: "You are a fool!" Without missing a beat this Christian leader said, "Ok, I'm a fool...but if I'm going to be a fool, I'd rather be Christ's fool...who's fool are you?"

"...it's not a hill, it's a mountain as you start out the climb...but listen for me, I'll be shouting...we're GONNA make it all the way to the Light."

Oh, but a change of heart comes slow.