Culturally Irrelevant

Our Pensacola family goes to the park tomorrow to join Jesus as he casts a really big net over thousands of hearts. Gang members, prostitutes, homeless, at-risk teens, children, city officials, police, firemen, business owners, church goers. The park will be full of people who are going to hear the Gospel of Jesus and feel the love of God in a new way. Join us in prayer over the next two days. God is doing the work, and we can cooperate with him as we declare his love over the city, pray for people’s hearts to be softened, and take authority over the strategies of Satan to keep people from coming, to keep them from hearing while they’re there, and to steal the seed of the truth after they leave.

I can’t tell you how hard it is to be here in Tulsa and not there. I miss my Pensacola family so much that most days it physically hurts. There’s Kingdom work going on there, destruction to the kingdom of darkness, and we’re all a part of it through our encouragement, prayer and support. I can’t wait to hear the reports from Saturday. And I can’t wait to see what God is bringing to pass in the city of Pensacola, in the church as a whole there and in the lives of tens of thousands of people who are lost.

She was new to the group and struggling with depression, feelings of not being good enough. She knew in her head that God loved her, but she was fearful about the future. She was supposed to be baptized in a few weeks, but she was unsure if she should go through with it. She needed clarity, answers, a sense of peace and assurance in her heart. Finally, she asked us, “What’s going on? Why am I struggling with all of this stuff?”

I felt led to ask her about her salvation experience, so I said something to the effect of, “Describe the moment you encountered God personally and felt the presence of Jesus in your life.” She blinked twice and just sat there for a second. “Well,” she started, “I’ve always known God loves me, and I’ve tried to be a good person. I believe in God and I pray.”

“Tell me about your relationship with Jesus. Give me some specifics about how you’ve experienced him.”

She couldn’t. I realized she was confused about her own salvation. You see, God is a God of specificity and detail. Just look at nature or the Bible. Everything God does is full of exquisite detail. He’s no different in his relationship with us. When he reveals himself, it’s not vague or general.

I didn’t tell her she wasn’t saved. Honestly, I didn’t know where she was at, except that she needed to hear the gospel again. So we started in Romans 6-8 and I shared a very basic gospel message. What it means to know Christ, to be baptized with him in his death and united with him in his resurrection. About sin and grace and the cross. When I finished 10 minutes later, she sat back and said, “I’ve never heard that before. It’s so clear.”

The group prayed for her at that point and God began to melt away fear and insecurity in her heart. She cried and cried as different group members prayed and encouraged her. Months later this woman left town and moved back home. But before she moved, she was filled with joy. She was a completely different person.

I’ve seen this over and over, and I truly believe the church needs to hear the gospel as much as the world does. If we don’t know what we have in Christ, how will the world have a clue? If there’s not a clear sound on the trumpet, how will the army know it’s time to line up for battle?

Katy and I are walking through this foundational truth with a small group in our home. Last week I wrote them a letter to encourage them in their salvation. I’ve posted a link to this letter below. Perhaps it will encourage you or be helpful to someone you know who is struggling in their faith.

What does it mean to be saved?

Katy and I took the boys to Lake Eufala Thursday to join up with Katy’s family and then on to Richland Chambers in Texas for a weekend with the Watts clan. We had a great time by the water with my siblings and their families. Man, Texas is so hot right now. I couldn’t find a better photo that so aptly captured blissful relief from the heat. Yes, that’s my oldest brother Steve with two ice cold cans of beer. What else can I say?

There’s nothing quite like sunset on the lake. It’s worshipful, peaceful, rejuvenating. I was able to capture a shot of Jack’s silhouette over Lake Eufala.

Right after this we noticed a little creature in the water about 30 yards out. Looked like a beaver to me, but Katy thought it was an alligator, so we were quickly herded back into the golf cart so Uncle Jason could drive us safely home.

I’m so thankful for my family. With all of the changes in life, everyone still travels to be together. We’re different in some ways, but there’s still a sense that God is in the middle of it all. Before my Grandpa passed away a number of years ago, he used to say that he didn’t talk much about his family at work or around his friends. He’d get teary eyed as he explained how so many of his friends’ families were broken and full of strife. He didn’t want to make them uncomfortable by talking about how healthy and full of life his family was.  He’d go on to remind us of what we had and to remember not to take it for granted.

Maybe you come from a broken family. Maybe there’s divorce and strife in your past, or simply unhealthy relationships. If that’s the case, I want to encourage you. See these people in the ladder? They’re my natural family, and I’m so thankful for them. I see them a few times each year, but in the meantime, I’m surrounded by so many brothers and sisters and spiritual moms and dads. Especially over this past year, Katy and I have found ourselves surrounded by more “family” than we could ever imagine. One way or another, God can restore what you’ve lost, and he will as you continue to lean on him.

If your natural family is broken and dysfunctional, there are moms and dads and grandparents and brothers and sisters in Jesus’ body all around you. They won’t be perfect, but ask God to show you family, to surround you with people who can help you. Get plugged in and be faithful. God can restore relationships you’ve lost. Don’t let the hurt of the past steal healthy relationships God is offering you today.

And if you need a miracle in your natural family, don’t give up. Lean on the Holy Spirit, pay attention to the boundaries he gives you, follow his directions and pray. God can work such forgiveness and love in you through Jesus that many relationships can be restored. Maybe not to the place they were before, but they can definitely enter a new season of life and health. Don’t give up!

A couple mornings ago I was up early praying for the nation and the realization hit me that, like individuals, cities and nations have root to fruit connections. What I mean by root to fruit connection is that there is an undeniable link between the symptoms we display and the deeper roots that nourish those symptoms. Jesus said “you’ll know them (the root falseness of self-proclaimed prophets) by their fruit (outward symptoms of speech and behavior). I began to learn about the personal significance of the root to fruit connection from Bethesda, Dominic Herbst’s relational healing model that I blogged about a while back.

It really clicked as I started praying about some of the policies and bills being considered right now in Washington D.C. I suddenly realized that these issues are just the fruit of so many roots we have as a nation: epidemic fatherlessness, rejection and hatred against minority races, and millions of mothers of aborted babies who are filled with guilt, fear, and the pain of abandonment. Millions of our neighbors and friends and countrymen have nurtured deep rejection and bitterness in their hearts. As people hold on to these wounds, they fester and lead to rage, abuse, suicide, rebellion and even mental and physical diseases.

I’m sure there are more root issues, but these are the major ones I thought about as I prayed for the people in our country. Could it be that this is why the socialistic philosophy gaining ground in our government doesn’t alarm many of the public in our nation? It makes me wonder. I mean, what abandoned child doesn’t want someone big and strong to take care of them and fill that void? But where does the healing come from? What is our responsibility as the church to the lost and hurting people in our nation?

As I began to think about all of this, I remembered being told one time that this is exactly why Hitler’s regime was so overwhelmingly accepted. He rose to influence at a time when so many of Germany’s young men (and women) were fatherless due to WWI. His charisma, power and strong vision met a deep need, in a way, that everyone had. I can see the same thing happening in our nation, but in a much more subtle way. Not because so many Dads are dying in war, but because they’re gone, checked out, distracted. I bet at this point fatherlessness is one of the deepest, if not the deepest, root issue in our nation. (Go to http://fatherandson.org for one ministry that is addressing this problem head on). Afterall, how can we as a nation come to the Father if our idea of a father has been so beat up and twisted?

Needless to say, my prayers are changing from surface issues to deeper issues. It seems like this is valuable information for intercessors. What do you think? What are you sensing and hearing from the Holy Spirit as you pray for America? What needs to change in the way we’re doing ministry in order to address these deeper issues? One thing I’m thinking a lot about is Malachi 4:5-6. Reconciliation to the father’s heart seems key to ministry in the Last Days, and I believe it’s happening.

The other day I was walking by a new housing development and noticed a builder laying stone for the exterior of a house. It was really cool stonework, so I took the sidewalk that ran along the site. As I got closer, I was surprised and shocked by what I saw.

Actually, it was what I heard that first caught my attention. It looked like the builder was talking to someone, so I assumed there was another worker behind the wall that I couldn’t see. But then I began to hear several other voices. As I listened, I realized there were a number of conversations going on, but the only person I could see was the guy laying stone. Out of curiosity, I managed to take a few steps closer and get a better angle.

Then I saw it. There were no other workers around, just the builder. And he was definitely talking…to the stones in the wall! And they were talking back to him. More precisely, they were carrying on conversations, with him, with each other. I couldn’t believe it! I looked everywhere for a hidden camera or a van with tinted windows to make sure I wasn’t the object of some elaborate practical joke.  OK, no mysterious van nearby. What’s going on?

Looking back towards the house, I was transfixed. Within seconds I began to notice that it wasn’t just the stones. It was the entire job site. Boards, nails, stacks of re-bar, tools, piles of hardware…all talking and interacting. I began to feel like I was in some kind of sci-fi-twilight-zone.

The job site was typical, kind of messy but with a general sense of order and process. And here was this man by himself just working away, carrying on conversations with all of the stuff around him. He was sweaty, smiling, obviously enjoying his work. I could hear a dozen different conversations going on as stones and timbers were laughing, encouraging each other, making sure they were lined up and staying connected.

Every now and then a couple stones would get into an argument about which of them should be above the other, and then that would set off similar arguments among other stones and even some of the tools. I saw one stone actually throw itself off the wall onto the foundation. There was a loud crash and dust went billowing as the builder went over to inspect what had happened. The little rock was badly chipped on one corner and groaning quite loudly as the builder bent down to pick it up. I couldn’t hear everything it said, but it sounded like it was complaining about where it had been placed on the wall. Something about it wanting to be on the front wall next to the main doorway rather than the side wall. The builder just listened and nodded his head while the little rock talked, quietly dusting it off and holding up the piece that had been broken off. He set the stone off to the side, said something inaudible, and then went back to work.

I stood there for a long time, watching the builder and listening to all the conversations going on. As the sun began to set I knew I had to get home, but it was hard to tear myself away. The one thing that impressed me the most was how all of these materials had minds of their own, free to do as they pleased and go wherever they wanted, yet they were content, for the most part, and even happy, to be where the builder placed them. Many of the older tools were encouraging the newer tools and giving them tips. The bigger, more visible pieces were congratulating and honoring parts that were hidden or less noticeable. And, for the most part, everything stayed where it was placed. I began to wonder if certain sections of the wall had ever agreed to split off and do their own thing, or if any of the tools ever went on strike. I mean, how could a builder work with tools and materials that had a mind and will of their own? It was a wonder that this work was even standing, yet there it was!

Finally, I watched a perfectly good piece of lumber get covered up with a stone and some mortar. I can still hear its muffled little voice laughing and carrying on about how great the house was looking from his perspective. As I walked away, his voice trailed off. I think he was telling the builder how excited he was about everything getting finished so the owner could move in.  I didn’t see the builder’s response, but I’m sure he was smiling as he wiped the sweat from his face.

1 Peter 2:5 “…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.”

The apostle Peter said “Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus is revealed” (1 Peter 1:13). Set your hope fully. I’ve been chewing on this for a while now, letting it go deep. I keep coming back to this basic question of hope. Have I really put my hope completely in the salvation that I will receive through Jesus in eternity, or am I putting my hope in other things, like my job, the economy, stable people in my life, the fulfillment of a temporal promise, a healing, my understanding of God in the season I’m in? Where does my hope truly rest? I know I’m saved and I’m thankful, but my “hope” is a living, active, daily thing. Is my salvation something I’m living daily, or is it something that happen-ed? How does the song go?

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.

Tiger Woods hits hundreds and even thousands of practice balls each day. He spends hours practicing little movements, just fractions of his swing, over and over to build muscle memory. He makes millions each year, has unprecedented success and still works on the fundamentals of his game. Why? Because he knows that he can never get away from those basic principles. Just because he mastered them at one time doesn’t mean he can quit working on them. The fundamentals of golf are a way of life, a daily thing that he can’t get away from without compromising his effectiveness and skill.

I love the movie Pistol Pete. It’s one of my wife’s favorites, especially because she grew up with a passion for the game of basketball. One of the main impressions I got from the movie was Peter Maravich’s constant focus on the fundamentals of the game of basketball: dribbling, shooting, passing. Everywhere he went as a boy, he was constantly dribbling a basketball. He slept with his ball, ate with his ball. When people saw Pete, they saw him dribbling or shooting his ball. Pete and the ball were synonymous in people’s minds. And did Pete mind? Nope. Where did he learn all of this? From his Dad. Press Maravich was a former pro player who taught his son the basics starting at the age of 7. The result? According to Wikipedia and Dale Brown’s calculations, a career average of 57 points per game.

Most of my life the promise of salvation has been a “foundational” element more than a fundamental, daily necessity. You know the foundation under your house is there, but you don’t have to look at it or think about it much because it’s hidden and it just works. You enjoy its benefits, but you don’t really talk about it or draw attention to it because it’s…well, foundational. It’s a good analogy for salvation, but incomplete (as all analogies are). But something that’s fundamental is daily, constant, something you think about, build from, interact with and always come back to. Like Tiger Woods and range balls or Pistol Pete and dribbling.

Maybe it looks like I’m getting hung up on semantics, but personally it’s a pretty big shift in the way I think and how I begin my relationship with the Father every day. Any day that I don’t get up and thank the Father for what Jesus did on Calvary is a day I’m already off track. There’s no way you could hang around with Pistol Pete or Tiger Woods and not know about their passion for basketball and golf. It would be all around them, even if they didn’t say anything about it. In the same way, can the people around me easily pick up on my passion for Jesus by my life?

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. These (trials) have come so that your faith…may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. …for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.  (taken from 1 Peter 1:3-13)

This was a sad morning at the Watts house. Today we had to put Duke to sleep and send him to heaven. Our 4 year old boxer came down with Lymphoma a few months ago and has had a rough road this past few weeks with late stage symptoms. The good news is that he was able to walk out of the house by himself, the kids got to hug him and say goodbye, and Jack knows he’s in heaven, playing with Grandpa Chip, Cindy the dog, and baby bird. Jack says he’s looking forward to petting him anytime he wants when we get to heaven.

We’re gonna miss Duke. He has looked out for us so many times and been a good friend for walks, playing in the backyard, road trips to the lake, and lots of nights when Mom had to be home with the kids while Dad was away on business. Out of everyone, I know his Mommy is going to miss him the most because he was a constant companion and “popcorn buddy” through so many ups and downs and seasons of life.

Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good.  (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21)

What does it mean to put a prophetic word of insight or encouragement “on the shelf”? Someone gives you a “word” about your life or situation or future. Maybe it falls in line with what you already know, or maybe it sounds new. What do you do with it?

I used to think putting a prophetic promise “on the shelf” meant to file it way in the back of my mind to see if it ever comes true. But the Bible doesn’t say to put promises or prophecies “on the shelf” at all. We’re supposed to test every spirit, test prophecy against scripture, and look into the character and lifestyle of the person speaking to us, but we’re not told to put it on the shelf or forget about it until it comes to pass.

God promised Abraham that he would have a son, that he would be blessed and father a nation of countless people. Did Abraham put that prophetic promise “on the shelf”? Romans 4 says that Abraham became stronger in faith as he waited for the promise of a son. His confession got stronger, not weaker, during those years of waiting. He grew more hopeful with time and got more excited about having a son, not less. That doesn’t sound like someone who put the promise “on the shelf”.

In verses 19 and 51 of Luke 2 we read that Mary treasured the events and prophecies surrounding Jesus’ birth and growing up, and “pondered” all of them in her heart.

I like the way these two people treated the prophetic promises and mysterious developments with which they were surrounded. They treasured God’s promises, pondering them in their hearts, rehearsing the details and allowing themselves to get excited about what was happening or would soon happen. Because they operated in faith, trusting God and believing the promises, they grew in excitement. And when things seemed to take a while, they only got stronger. Rather than questioning God, they knew they were getting that much closer.

I believe some promises have to be fought over. When I was born, I was premature with underdeveloped lungs. God promised my Mom that I would live and not die. That was confirmed to her in a card from a friend with a scripture out of the Psalms. But the doctors came in and said I wouldn’t live through the night. Instead of collapsing into tears of doubt and fear, she warred over what she had been promised (I’m not saying she didn’t cry, but that she ultimately rose up in faith). She didn’t just wait to see what would happen. If she had, I probably wouldn’t be here (thanks, Mom!). The promise had been “given” to her, but she had to own it, steward it, rest in it and fight against doubt and fear for it. Can the enemy come in and steal the promises? I believe he can if he can get us into fear and doubt and out of agreement with God. We’ll stop believing, stop trusting and stop letting ourselves get excited about the future we’ve been promised.

This is a big deal for parents of small children, me included. Babies and little kids don’t have the ability to believe for themselves, so it’s up to parents to stand in faith for them. As stewards, it’s our responsibility to cover them in faith at a time when they can’t cover themselves, just like we do in the natural. Whatever we settle for or let into their lives, they’ll have to struggle with later because we didn’t deal with it appropriately. This happened with John’s excema. Katy and I knew he would want to be healed of it later on in life, so we began to stand in faith for his healing as a baby. In a way, we simply applied the faith we knew he would have as a believing teenager or adult. I’m happy to say that because of some practical insight and God’s healing touch, John is free from excema today!

Ultimately, I’m discovering that prophetic promises are something that don’t belong on the shelf. I think that’s an excuse for not operating in discernment. We need to be able to discern things right away, spit out the bad and keep the good, and then stand on what God is telling us. For myself, I’m determined to keep the promises in front of my eyes daily. I’ve forgotten them before and had them ripped out from under me. I’m not going to let that happen again.