According to Taxpayers for Common Sense, the US government now has 31 Czars, more than the entire Romanov Dynasty of Russia had over hundreds of years.
“The perfection we do not have, Jesus provided. The judgment we do not want, Jesus bore.”
- John Piper, Finally Alive (Scotland, Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications, 2009), 74.
Happy Independence Day, everybody. God Bless America!When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
J. Lee Grady at Charisma Magazine has concluded that The Charismatic Movement is Dead. I agree with him."I am not a coroner. But I do believe the historic period we call the American charismatic movement ended a while ago. By making that pronouncement I was NOT saying that (1) the Holy Spirit isn't moving today; (2) the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit aren't available to us any more; or (3) people who are associated with this movement are all washed up.On the contrary, we could be on the cusp of one of the most dynamic spiritual awakenings in history, and it will most certainly be accompanied by the supernatural work of the Spirit. Yet if we want to shift with Him into the next season we must lay aside old mindsets and worn-out religious paradigms that we picked up during the past 40 years. When God comes to do "a new thing," as Isaiah promised He would (Isa. 43:19, NASB), we must embrace new priorities, recalibrate our spiritual values and set aside the baggage of the past.
New wine requires new wineskins. New growth only comes after pruning. Change is often painful."
The Holy Spirit is always active. The gifts of the Spirit continue; God's Kingdom is breaking through all over the place. However, the ministry models and styles of the movement of the 60's and 70's are passe and DEAD. No more "one man ministry," big hair, white suits. No theme parks, limousines and private jets. No more worship of mammon. No more exaltation of ministers above the people. No more "don't touch God's anointed" immunization from criticism or correction. No more misuse of prophetic ministry or chasing after more exciting prophecies. And no more exalting gifting over character.
What we need today are true openness to the Spirit balanced by sound scholarship - both/and not either/or. What we need is decentralized supernatural ministry models where leaders equip all believers to pray for the sick and hurting. We need ministers who serve rather than seek to be served. We need leaders who follow Jesus with towels and wash basins rather than acting like dukes or kings. We need ministries that serve the poor and renounce materialism rather than fleece the flock for big offerings.
The Charismatic Movement must die- had to die - in order that the Spirit movement can be resurrected. Death and resurrection is God's way, not triumphalism and splendor.
That is what I believe God is doing. That is what I believe God is creating. And I am grateful and hopeful.
Update: Comments at Charismatica comparing the Charismatic Movement to the Reformation - worth reading.
Last week I wrote about spiritual disciplines acting like a cast on our souls, for broken souls to heal properly. Been thinking more about that, and asking myself some questions.The first commentator on his post said "Just be prepared for the loneliness." Ouch!I’ve come to realize that it’s really hard not to become part of some kind of subculture. The problem is that many of the clichés become accurate. I’ve noticed lately that it takes someone else to point out my own tribe, because I sometimes don’t even recognize the quirks of my particular group. I don’t mind being idiosyncratic as much as I mind being oblivious.
It’s why I am appreciating my friends who are not part of my subculture. I need to make a point of having lunch with them and enduring their gentle mocking when they see the quirks of my tribe, just as I’ll gently mock them right back.
To my friends from other tribes – you know who you are – thank you.
It’s also why I need to read widely so I don’t get trapped in just one way of thinking. And it’s why I continue to enjoy being part of a denomination that isn’t comprised of people just like me.
I don’t have to like everything about the other subcultures, but I sure need them to save me from my own.
In Hebrews 12:1 we are admonished to "lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely" (ESV). Can that weight refered to there be something that is not sin? Can it also refer to good things that also hinder us from our calling in God? Michael Spencer speculated on this at his IMonk site - The Weight May Not Be A Sin: A Thought On Hebrews 12:1:I think he is right. I know that there have been things in my life that, although not necessarily sin, have held me back. I can also see many things in various churches and groups I have known - traditions, structures, prejudices, attitudes - that take us off mission.The central insight I’m going to be bringing in my Sunday morning sermon tomorrow at the local Baptist church is an optional reading of Hebrews 12:1. Specifically, I want to suggest this: the “weight” that holds us back in the “race” is not always a “sin” as specifically defined by scripture.
Someone could legitimately say that “weight” and “sin” are a parallelism, and I would agree, but the parallelism may be because of the effect of hindering our ongoing life as a follower of Jesus.
There is no doubt that we are called to lay aside, i.e. repent of, sin. I would contend that we are admonished, with just as much authority, to lay aside whatever may hinder us that is not a matter of repenting of sin, but of giving up what is not necessary, what distracts us and what makes it difficult to carry out the calling and mission of the church.
What if your WAY of doing church is a weight. Not a sin.
What if your way of living the Christian life is too comfortable, too predictable, too safe and too “in the niche” of a tradition that answers all your questions?
What if your schedule is so full of things that aren’t sinful that you can’t do anything new this week for the Kingdom? What if your life at church is so full you already know everything you are ever going to do for Jesus? What if your life is so full of your current friends you could never make a new one?
What if you are investing so much in what is good that you can’t sacrifice or joyfully give away money for the Kingdom?
What if your good life, good morals, good witness are the reason you don’t have a life of discipleship filled with risk, impact and Kingdom adventures?
What if your problem isn’t the sin that clings so closely, but the weights you are so easily and comfortably carrying around in order to be a “good Christian?”
Ouch!
“The gospel, God’s free gift of grace in Jesus, only works when we realize we don’t have it all together. The same is true for prayer. The very thing we are allergic to—our helplessness—is what makes prayer work. It works because we are helpless. We can’t do life on our own.Thank you God, for hearing my feeble selfish prayers. You hear me because of Jesus.
Prayer mirrors the gospel. In the gospel, the Father takes us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of salvation. In prayer, the Father receives us as we are because of Jesus and gives us his gift of help. We look at the inadequacy of our praying and give up, thinking something is wrong with us. God looks as the adequacy of his Son and delights in our sloppy, meandering prayers.”
—Paul Miller, A Praying Life
We have been trained to think of legalism as being stuffy, outwardly religious, judgmental, traditional, etc. But any time the thrust of our message is --
"do better"
"try harder"
"reach your potential"
"do good works"
"help God help you"
"follow these steps"
"improve your life"
"succeed at life"
"achieve victory"
-- or anything of that sort, we've made works the center, which is antithetical to the gospel and therefore is legalistic. Even if it's not judgmental, even if it sounds inspirational, even if it's kicked off with a killer video and capped by a rockin' band. Just because it feels good doesn't mean it's good news.
The gospel must be the center. Always. The star player. The feature piece. The answer and the antidote.
The proclamation of the gospel must take precedence over exhortations to "do good;" otherwise, we will find ourselves beating upon people's wills. The gospel is the power of salvation. The gospel is of first importance.
The gospel of Christ's finished work is the towering pinnacle of God's practical glory shared with us, and all else must take a subservient place in its universe-spanning shadow.
Justin Taylor at Between Two Worlds reminded me this week of C.S. Lewis' words about Seeing Everything Your Enemies Do as BadSuppose one reads a story of filthy atrocities in the paper. Then suppose that something turns up suggesting that the story might not be quite true, or not quite so bad as it was made out.
Is one’s first feeling, ‘Thank God, even they aren’t quite so bad as that,’ or is it a feeling of disappointment, and even a determination to cling to the first story for the sheer pleasure of thinking your enemies are as bad as possible?
If it is the second then it is, I am afraid, the first step in a process which, if followed to the end, will make us into devils. You see, one is beginning to wish that black was a little blacker. If we give that wish its head, later on we shall wish to see grey as black, and then to see white itself as black. Finally we shall insist on seeing everything — God and our friends and ourselves included — as bad, and not be able to stop doing it: we shall be fixed for ever in a universe of pure hatred.
- Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis. page 118
