Pastortimteague's Blog

May 10, 2010       Luke 24.50

He went to Jared’s!  You have heard this diamond jewelry commercial many times!   Going to someplace special for a short time.   Jesus didn’t take His followers to Jared’s…but He did take them to Bethany.   This is where He ascended to heaven.  You know the story.  The angels asked why they were gazing into heaven.  They made that awesome statement, “He will return in like manner!”  Awesome event!

Jesus took His followers to Bethany for just a short time.  Bethany means “house of misery.”  Was Jesus saying that because of what He had already accomplished and what He was about to accomplish – misery would be short-lived?  Our “Bethany’s” will be short-lived because of what Jesus has done for us.  There are several interesting points here.

First of all, Jesus led His followers there (Bethany).  Second, He would supernaturally disappear from their sight.  Third, there would be a supernatural angelic appearance…something they were getting used to.  Fourth, they would have to go back to the place of promise.  Fifth, they would receive a final supernatural experience – the baptism of the Holy Spirit. 

When they would finally arrive at Jerusalem and receive their experience in Pentecost – it would be a permanent experience.  Bethany was short-lived.  It was a short stay.  Jerusalem would be where they receive a permanent experience.

I think we overlook our “short-term” experiences and down play their importance to the long-term.  Obviously Jesus led His followers out of Jerusalem for a reason.  Was He teaching them something?  Was this another kingdom principle He was teaching?   I really think so.  You see somewhere between Bethany (misery) and Jerusalem – some of the followers decided to lose their way.  There were only 120 followers in the upper room.  Jesus had many more followers than that!   Where did they go?  They got ties up with misery!  They got bogged down with misery!  Maybe Jesus was saying to you and I not to allow those short-term misery moments in our life to keep us from the greater blessing just around the corner.  The same old saying, “Short term pain – long-term gain.”   I want to encourage you to move forward.  Go beyond the misery of your “Bethany” and journey on to Bethany.   Empowerment for life and all of its ups and downs awaits you there!

Mother’s Day

I want to say happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s out there who will read the blog today.  What a special day for all of us to remember our mom.  As most of you know I lost my mom almost two years ago.  She passed away due to a massive stroke.  I lost a not only a mom – I lost a woman who was a prayer partner of mine.  Mom worried about everything but her worry served as a bitter-sweet pill for most of us.  It was her worry that led her to her altar of prayer.  She is missed.  It took me a while to realize that she wasn’t there to answer the phone when I called.  It wasn’t easy.  But time allowed this short-term experience (Bethany) to walk me to Jerusalem.  There I discovered the empowering of the Holy Spirit.  Through His power I am able to accept the fact that mom is gone – but the greater blessing is farther ahead.  Mom is with the Lord and she is waiting for us.   She endured her “Bethany.”   She made it to her Jerusalem.

To all the mom’s out there – endure your Bethany’s.  All the pain, heartache and trial that you may go through amounts to your Bethany.  They are the short term.   The long-term goal here is to listen to the voice of the Lord and make it to Jerusalem.  I want to encourage the moms out there to push forward.  Pursue the promise.  Go for the empowerment of Jerusalem.  Stay there and wait on the infilling of the Holy Spirit.  Your life as a believer and as a mom will never be the same.  Pursue the promise.

April 8, 2010      Luke 24.48

In Acts 1.8 scripture declares that as followers of Christ we would be “His” witnesses.   Webster’s on-line dictionary defines a witness as “one who has personal knowledge of something” and “attestation to a fact or an event.”   The word testimony comes to mind and literally means an “open acknowledgement.”   When you tie all this together for a definition you come close to my definition of the word witness: “having a personal experience with a fact or event that you willingly and openly discuss in public.”

You and I as believers in Christ have a deep responsibility to witness our personal experience with Him.  It is based on facts.   It is based on our personal crisis experience with Jesus.   It’s something we should be talking about publicly.  I have noticed over the years that people are more willing to talk about their church than they are their Lord.  I guess it’s less intimidating or something.  I don’t know.  I think to the degree that we have a personal experience with Jesus is the degree we will share our faith publicly.

I want to encourage you to begin considering sharing your faith with others on this journey to Pentecost.  The root of our faith is in sharing it.  It is alive within us and the only way to keep it going is to share it.  I challenge you to make a strong effort to share your faith with someone this next week.  Talk about Jesus.  Don’t be afraid to mention His name.   Speak it out with a balanced boldness that doesn’t leave any doubt as to who you believe in as your Savior.  Share your faith.

I want to step into my blog tonight and share how proud I am of my wife, Kim.  Tonight she spoke at Victory Hill’s Mother’s Banquet.  I know she was nervous.  I spoke with her several times today and she was concerned about ministering successfully to her ladies tonight.  She just wanted everyone to get something out of what the Lord had laid on her heart.   Kim is one of the most intelligent people I know.  She is articulate and passionate about her vision to see young women “step up” and carry the baton of ministry into the next generation of believers.  She is an awesome wife, mother, grandmother and a true woman of God.  I want to especially thank her womans board for their continued support to her visionary leadership.   Each one of you brings to the table the needed part to make Harmony Women’s Ministries the success it is.   Tonight there over 150 women at her banquet.  For those of you who would second guess Harmony’s place in leading our church forward – this amounts to half of our adult attendance on Sunday morning.  Thanks also to the guys who helped serve and work the kitchen for us.  We couldn’t do it without you.

I listened to the CD of her message tonight.  I was moved and personally challenged.  She brought tears to my eyes as I listened.   We will make copies available for you if you want to hear her message.  Kim personalized her challenge and at the same time made it a relevant challenge.  I am extremely proud of her!  Without a doubt she can be considered a “spiritual mom” to those she leads.  You will have to look far and wide to find someone of her compassion for people and her willingness to labor and sacrifice for the kingdom.

I want to share with you what an awesome mother she has been to my two sons, Brad and Josh.  She is prone to worry…to say the least.   I am so proud of both of our boys.  They have become young men who have developed a rock solid work ethic.  They are bright, articulate and in love with Jesus.   They are young men who respect women.  They are not afraid to express their love to their mother and at the same time stand firm as strong men.  Kim did an awesome job in teaching these two guys some powerful life principles. 

Brad and Josh both exemplifyy chivalry.  Josh treats our beautiful daughter in law with utmost respect.  He is considerate of her and works hard to care for and provide for her and our granddaughter, Bella.  Our daughter in law is a gem!   She is an awesome homemaker, wife and mother.  While not ever wondering what is on her mind she will pour out of her soul in to the lives of others the agape love of Jesus at great personal sacrifice.  She is a woman of faith and is passionate about having a home of faith!  Brad has survived a critical blow to his life as a young husband.  His faith has been a huge part of his survival.  In reward for his faith and his willingness to stand firm in his testimony of Christ the Lord has brought a beautiful young woman into his life.  Chantielle cares for him and presents herself well to our family.  She is in love with Jesus and has a passion to grow closer to the Lord.  We are proud to have her dating our son adn we have all fallen in love with her!

I say all of this because Sunday is mother’s day.  I am going to be preaching on Mary, the mother of Jesus.  The Lord said she was highly favored of God.  She had the unique opportunity to do something no one else in the world will ever have.  She gave birth to, raised and then watched the Savior of the world die.  She was there at His resurrection.  She was in the upper room on Pentecost.   A unique woman who was on the quiet side.  She said little but left an impact on the world that we are still discussing today.  I want to challenge all our mom’s to do what Kim has done successfully in life – leave an impact on others.  You can see Kim’s thumb print in the life and faith dynamics of our sons.   You can see it in others.  What about you?  Who are you impacting?  What legacy of faith will you leave behind?

May 7, 2010   Luke 24.36

He was there – then He wasn’t there.  In and out.  There and gone!  It seemed Jesus was in some ways playing a game with His followers.  Appearing then disappearing.  Can you imagine?  I mean after all these folks are still trying to emotionally adjust to the fact that He is alive.  Then there’s this game of hide and seek He is playing with them.  At first it didn’t make sense to me.  I mean, come on!  As the Savior you have been dead for three days.  You get up and startle the world with appearances.  You scared the wa-bee-gees (my word…don’t try to look it up) out of some people.  They’re already confused, disillusioned and scared for their lives and you have to play this hide and seek game!  I was a little set back by this…until I began to process it through this hard-headed brain of mine.   Nothing’s included in Holy Writ for no reason.  Everything, all the crossed T’s and dotted I’s have a reason and a purpose.  So I began to think this thing through.  Sometimes that can be a struggle within itself – you know…me thinking something through!

Isn’t this the way He is with us?  I understand He is with us and that He will never leave us.  He is with us by taking residence in us through His Spirit.   His Spirit abides with us at all times.  But…sometimes we either are unconscious of the fact He is with us, we have forgotten He is with us or we just simply don’t care that He is with us.  Whatever the reason – it happens to us that there are times He just “appears” to us.  All of a sudden you sense His divine presence.  All of a sudden you “know” that He is there.   I have quoted Dad (Kenneth Sr.) Hagin hundreds of times because he used to say, “You know it in your knower!”  Your “knower” is your spirit man.  We just know He is with us.  There are those special moments.

Like the Emmaus Two He shows up.  He just “appears” by His presence.  He shows up in the hospital ER when life is teetering in the balance.  He shows up when we hit a deer with our motorcycle and shouldn’t have in the natural walked away from it.  He shows up when life’s toughest confrontations visit our homes and families.  He shows up when we are sharing our testimony with an unsaved / unchurched person.  He shows up in a moment of worship as you drive to work.  He shows up when your children are in trouble.  He shows up when the provision for life’s necessities has run dry.  He shows up!  He simply “appears”.  

I can’t tell you how many times I have stepped into a situation blinded by human ignorance and all of a sudden He shows up.  You sense a wisdom that supersedes your natural sense of understanding.   I have been at a loss for knowledge and direction and suddenly He shows up throws supernatural knowledge around me like a warm blanket on a chilly night.  I have felt the weight of oppressiveness with life and or ministry seasons and in a quite time of devotion, walking in park, sitting on a park bench, driving in the country, sitting in a parking lot weeping uncontrollably – I have sensed His presence.  He shows up and He is always on time. 

For a moment it seems He is playing a cat and mouse game or hide and seek.  But He really is just waiting for the right moment.  Then He is just “there.”   He is there to bring light to darkness.  He is there to bring joy to a grievous situation.  He’s there to bring hope to hopelessness.  He is there to bring healing to our pain.  He is there to be a Friend when friends have abandoned you.  He is there to bring provision when the meal barrel is dry.   He is there to manifest Himself when doubt and fear have become our unwanted emotional residents.  Oh yes!  He knows just when to appear and disappear.

I want to challenge you on this journey to pay attention to His abiding presence.  Look back over your shoulders at the shelves of your life experiences and take note of how many times He has been there.   He just showed up.  His presence was manifest in some form or another.  There are times when it seems He may be playing a convenient game of hide and seek – but He is aware of every breath you breathe and every step in life you take.  He is there.   He always has been and always will be.

April 6, 2010     May 6, 2010

The Emmaus Two!  These two men, Cleophas and another disciple were headed out of town.  They were gettin’ out of Dodge!   Things had been rough in Jerusalem.  Jesus suffered at the hands of angry men.  Endured a fraudulent trial.  Suffered a horrendous beating.  Died on the cross which was a cruel way to die.   Then rumor had it that He was now alive!  It was too much for them to deal with.  The path of least resistence was to get out while the gettin’ was good.

Not so fast there Lone Ranger’s!!   Jesus had a different plan for them.  He appears to them on their way to Emmaus.   What was in Emmaus?  The word implies “warm baths”.  In other words they were headed to the Hilton for a warm jacuzzi!   Going to take advantage of a place where they can enjoy the warm and fuzzy side of life.   Who wants to stay in Jerusalem with Emmaus just seven miles away?  Not these two guys.  They were chasing a better path, a different journey!  Something a little less controversial and all of a sudden Jesus is there walking with them.  They wouldn’t recognize it was Him until He broke bread with them and they obviously saw the scars in His hands.   Then they would be overwhelmed with all He had said to them (He had shared all the prophets from Moses to the present day).  They would remark, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as He shared with us?”   Then the unexpected happened. 

They would change direction and head back to Jerusalem.  Oh, Emmaus was the place of warm baths and non-confrontational atmosphere.  But Jerusalem would be the place of promise.  Supernatural promise.  Jerusalem would be the place  of the upper room experience.  Jerusalem would change men and women and men and women would then change the world.  

Is there a difficult place you would rather leave than stay at?  Have you ever considered inviting Jesus into your journey?  Let Him share with you by reading the Word.  Find comfort and consolation in the Word.  And in so doing you will have your heart set on fire.  He will burn within you as you focus on the future and not the past.   The Emmaus Two couldn’t get out of the past and see the promise of the future.  Jesus would change all that for them.   They would go back to Jerusalem.  They would go back to the place they were running from.  It starts with an invitation for Jesus to stay with you through His Word.  Then it progresses to a fire that is ignited by His word.  Then it progresses to going to a place of promise.   The place of promise for the Emmaus Two was the place of receiving the fullness of the Spirit.

I preached this past Sunday on the strategy of Satan to hinder and deter men and women from going to Jerusalem.  As soon as Jesus took in a celestial breath – the enemy started with an opposing spirit to keep His followers from two things.  First, not obeying His word.   He had told them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the promise.  In a nutshell He told them to sit down, shut up and wait.  Second, receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit baptism.   Satan set a plan in motion to keep people from Jerusalem.  

Where is it Satan is keeping you from?  What are you running from?  Are you moving away from an experience in the Spirit of God?  Are you second guessing the need for the fullness?  Are you debating the issue of tongues?  Would it be easier for you to live without tongues and just settle for Emmaus – warm fuzzy feelings that don’t offer power to live?  I want to challenge you to move toward your spiritual “Jerusalem.”   Stop the running and debating.  Settle in and seek the true experience of Pentecost.   Sit down, stop whining, arguing and debating and pray for the Gift.  He will give it to you at your request.  

Trade a warm inner feeling for what a warm external bath will do for you.  The external warm bath is momentary.  The inward heat and warmth of the fullness of the Spirit is eternal.

May 5, 2010     Luke 24.10-11

One of the most offensive remarks that can be made to someone is, “I don’t believe you!”  When we are told this it is a targeted remark at our integrity.   Our testimony, story or recollection of an event has been questioned!  It isn’t a comfortable place to be in.

When Mary and Joanna returned from the tomb and announced that Jesus was alive – no one really believed them!   Before we begin to cast stones at these two women – let’s consider what you and I would have done with testimony.   We would have had a hard time with it.  We would have tested it just as much as Peter and the others did.  No doubt about it.  My mom passed away almost two years ago.  If the morgue had called and said she was alive – I would have had to have gone to the county morgue to see for myself!  The difference is that prophet’s had prophesied His resurrection and Jesus Himself had testified of it.  They just didn’t get it!  If there ever was a time for someone to say, “I told you so!” it would’ve been Jesus nearly two thousand years ago! 

Immediately after the resurrection of Jesus – came the upper room experience.   People were thrust into going from one supernatural event to another.  Unlike anything anyone had experienced before.  Think about it for a moment.  From experiencing the risen Savior to waiting in an upper room for an experience in of which you really didn’t know what to expect.   All that was told by the resurrected Lord was to “wait in Jerusalem.”   Tarry or “sit down” and wait.  Imagine.  You have just witnessed the worlds greatest phenomenon in a resurrected Lord and then you are told to sit down, shut up and wait for “the promise.”  This is a testimony that would be hard to receive. 

Having been slammed for the testimony of the risen Savior – these disciples all struggled with the next step – receiving the promise of the Father.  We read this passage and assume that this group of bewildered disciples just went into this thing without any hesitation.  When you read the “journey to Pentecost” events – you see how they all struggled with it.  

But somehow one hundred and twenty followers shared their unbelieable testimony and obeyed the Lord’s command.   Fighting opposition to the testimony of a resurrected Lord – they found themselves on the receiving end of the next phenomenon to hit the world – the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Once again they find themselves experiencing God in a questionable and an even defiable manner.   How is it that God leads us to these experiences?  Why does He take us by the hand and lead us to experience Him in ways that others have a hard time with?  Why did He choose tongues as the outward, visible and audible evidence of the fullness of the Spirit?  Didn’t He know this would cause us some problems?  Wasn’t He aware people would laugh at us, question our “gift” and mock us?   

These are questions I’m not sure we can answer.  But here’s what I do know.  The resurrection was an unbelievable event for most people.  Even today, there are those who still do not believe Jesus rose from the dead.  Paul said in his writing to the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 15.17-19) that without the resurrection our faith is in vain and we are miserable people.   It could be that the degree of our misery in the earth is equal to the degree that humanity fails to believe in the resurrection.  Maybe the cure-all for human misery is faith in a risen Lord.

The second phenomenon that surrounds the resurrection is the empowerment of the Holy Spirit in the believers life.  This of course has been a problem for the church for nearly 2000 years.   The argument is an ongoing one.  Do I have to speak in tongues to be baptized in the Holy Spirit?  Am I “filled” with the Spirit at conversion?  Wasn’t speaking in tongues an apostolic manifestation that ceased with the apostolic age?   There is an ongoing argument about the testimony of Pentecost.  Denominations have split over this.  Churches have closed their doors over it.  Men have fought doctrinal battles since Pentecost fell in the upper room.  Grown men and women put their theological swim caps on and wade into waters deeper than they can justify with words and literally drown in their theological cess pools.  We have created a theological and doctrinal nightmare that has frightened more people away from Pentecost than we could ever draw into the movement.  We have done this ourselves.

Here is what I do know.  You don’t have to defend Truth.  Truth defends itself.  You only have to defend what breaks the law.  Law breakers have to have a defense.  When the Truth of Pentecost is experienced – it needs no defense.  The scriptural supported experience will defend itself.  You don’t have to debate it, negotiate it or dissect it.  You do one of two things with Pentecost.  Accept or deny it.  The truth of the experience stands on its own.  Because the gift or testimony of it has been abused is no reason to attempt to deny it.  Because we have bad cops doesn’t mean we do away with law enforcement.   Because Corinth abused the gifts and needed instruction in their usage didn’t give Paul license to bring the gifts to cessation.  Because a few people over the last 2000 years has made a mockery of the fullness of the Spirit doesn’t give you or anyone else license to deny its existence.  Because humanity mocked the testimony of Christ – we don’t stop believing in Him.  Trust the Lord and His Gift of the Holy Spirit in a personal way.  Believe and receive.

May 3, 2010     Luke 24.6-9 

At the tomb the angels said to the women – “Remember!”   Oh that we could remember everything we want to remember and forget the things we too often remember that we don’t want to!   Does that make any sense to you?  I hope so.  

When the angels spoke to Mary Magdalene and the others with her he was provoking the gift of memory to engage.  All of us have this special “bank” in our mind that stores information.  We are like a hard drive where information is stored.    Information stored by default.  It is stored automatically.  Both good and bad memories are stored in our memory bank.   From time to time something happens that provokes entrance into this cherished and guarded bank.   It can be a gathering of family where good times are recalled.  Over the weekend our student ministries pastor got married.  Family and friends came in that we have known for many years.  It was good to sit around and reminisce about the years we spent together in Michigan ministry.  We laughed and enjoyed the company and fellowship.   

But this memory bank can also remit memories of events that aren’t so good.  It could be the image of a relative, a place, a business, a person or an event that didn’t go right.  It could be a bad date, a bad accident, a bad marriage…a bad life.  It could a million things but the bottom line is that our mind stores memories.  When this memory bank is provoked – it releases images that can be upsetting.  I can’t tell you the people that we have ministered to over the years that have to deal sometimes daily with memories that serve to haunt as opposed to encourage.    Memories that keep you awake at night.  Memories that provoke tears into the early morning hours.  Memories that keep you from developing relationships with someone due to the pain of a previous relationship gone bad.  Memories that cause physical pain when they pop up.  Memories.  They’re stored in our mind and are waiting to be recalled.  We can only pray we are ready to recall the bad ones as well as the good ones. 

The angels actually were attempting to provoke the memories of these women regarding the messages Jesus taught about His resurrection.   They wanted Mary to reach back into that memory bank and recall the Words of Jesus.  Those words would explain the momentary immediate pain and grief she was dealing with.   Take note of this, please.  The angel could have talked to Mary for hours.  The angels could have attempted to convince Mary with encouragement and relevant dialogue.  The angel told Mary to “remember how He spoke to you”.   Remember His words.  Remember He prepared you for this moment.   Simply remember! 

How many times have we faced issues or events that attempt to empty our bank of memories?  The pain and frustration is hard to bear.  Simon Peter said on the day of Pentecost, “Then remembered I” in reference to what the prophets had prophesied.  He recalled the Word.  To deal with the current issue – Simon Peter’s memory was provoked.  Jesus taught us that the Holy Spirit would bring things that Jesus had said back to our memory.   

John 14:26  “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.  

There are two things Jesus says here.  First of all He references the Holy Spirit as a teacher and then He says that the Holy Spirit will bring what He (Jesus) said to our remembrance.  The Holy Spirit in us will teach us and also bring to our recall the Word of the Lord.   The role of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Son – Jesus Christ.  He glorifies the Son by teaching us and then provoking us to remember His Word.   This combination job description will get us through some tough times.  What an awesome dual role.  Both teacher and provoker of memories of the Word! 

I want to challenge you to ask the Holy Spirit to teach you what you need to know about His role in your every day life.   Ask the Holy Spirit to enable you to recall His Word.  He will get you through the situation, the circumstance you’re going through.  Trust me.  He will.  He will become your teacher and He will teach you by provoking your memory bank.  Out of your memory bank He will bring back the Word.  Embedded into your memory is the Word of God.  Out of your memory bank will come the Word.  Through the work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God  – you will be a victor.  Search the Word.  Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you.  He will take the Word and breathe life in to it.  It will come alive!  It will teach you.  It will bring you through the difficulty you’re facing.  Try Him.  Remember.  Simply let the Holy Spirit help you to remember. 

May 1, 2010      John 21.25

I love to read.  It’s been a hobby of mine for many years.  I can, at times, become obsessive with reading.  I used to read an average of about six to eight books a month.   I am down to about four per month.  I realized that too much of any thing good can get intrusive!  I am a reader because I think there is no other way to keep our minds focused on perpetual challenge.  Rather is academic, spiritual, theological, political, environmental…or whatever – reading keeps our minds busy.   I  am not a fan of fiction.  If I am going to take the time to read I want to read something besides someone else’s fantasies.   But there are some who love to read good fictional stories.  Hat’s off to em’!  They are keeping their minds busy and focused!

Our scripture today teaches us that if men had recorded all the things Jesus had done while on earth – the world couldn’t hold the books!  Consider that library!  Amazing thought for a reader!  I have challenged people and those I minister to for many years to become readers.  First of all we need to become a reader of the Word.  There is no better book to fall in love with than the Word of God.  It definitely is a lamp to our feet and a light unto our path (Psalm 119.105).  The Word is not a complicated book to read.   There are sections that may be…well…somewhat boring to read when you are reading through it.  You know, all the “begats” in the those long genealogical sections.   But they are there for a reason too.  The Word of God is inspired by the Holy Spirit and so every chapter and every verse has significance.  I challenge you to read the Word daily.  Every day take the time, discipline yourself to take the time to read the Word of God.

Second, read inspirational books.  Read as many books as you can get your hands on.  Books are expensive so go to the local library and check out a good book.  Go together with other readers and start a book club where books can be exchanged which enables those who cannot afford them to read them.   Start a library.  Work with others to enable the body of Christ to read books of faith and spiritual significance.  You will be surprised at what will encourage you and challenge your faith as you open up to search the riches of men and women who are gifted to put pen to paper and record their thoughts!

I want to especially challenge you to begin reading Acts chapters one and two.  Read them over and over.  Put the Word of God into your spirit!  If you have yet to experience your personal Pentecost – I especially want to challenge you to read these chapters.   When people need healing they consume scriptures about healing.  When we need deliverance we consume scriptures on deliverance.   When we need a faith charge, we read passages about faith.  When you desire a personal experience with the fulness of the Holy Spirit – read passages in relationship to the promise of the Spirit.  Read Acts chapters one and two.  Read them over and over and over and over.  Read it until it becomes alive in the depth of your spirit.  Ask the Lord to fill you with His Spirit.  Do not be afraid of the manifestation of the evidence of the infilling or the baptism – speaking in tongues.   You don’t have to be afraid of tongues because it is His language being spoken through you.  It may initially sound like gibbrish or broken syllables.  But that’s the beauty of spiritual language – it’s not English!  It won’t be familiar any more than speaking German or French when you don’t know the language. 

Read the Word.  Every day!  Get a Bible reading chart and read through the Word in a year!  Most Bible’s have these charts in the back somewhere or you can get on from the local Christian book store for free in most cases.  I challenge you to read.  Often times you can read a passage and the Holy Spirit will enlighten that word to become alive in your heart.  We call this a “rhema” word.  When the Holy Spirit takes the written word (logos) and breathes life into for your moment in life.  Read the Word of God and let it come alive in you!

April 30, 2010    John 21.23

Have you ever had someone spread rumors about you?  Have you ever had someone take something you said out of context?   It isn’t fun and for the most part it happens for the most part without intention.  I remember a family told me once that on their way home from church they began discussing my sermon.  They all heard me make the same comment but had “heard” it differently.  It almost caused an argument in their family!  They picked up a CD and listened to the sermon again and finally reached an agreeable conclusion as to the context of my message.

There are times when an individual will hear only part of a conversation and make assumptions on the rest of what they “didn’t hear.”   Absolutely amazing how people can annihilate a persons reputation and or character by hearing a partial conversation!  Happens all the time.  And you know what…the church is not exempt from this rumor issue.  Jesus without a doubt was the very first victim of the nasty old rumor mill.  Someone thought they heard Jesus say something that He didn’t say.  Someone assumed Jesus said something about someone else that He didn’t say. All of this could have gotten pretty nasty!  I mean, somebody had the guts to accuse Jesus of saying something He didn’t say!  Imagine that!  Go figure!  We haven’t dropped the ball on this one since then!   People have for nearly 2000 years attempted to teach things that Jesus didn’t say…or misinterpret what He did say!  Is there a difference?

Now then…let’s move forward here to what Jesus was leading up to during His forty day post resurrection journey.  Luke tells us taught the things concerning the kingdom.  He moved people toward Pentecost.  He was leading them to Jerusalem to receive the promise of the Father.  If you were Satan and could plant seeds of opposition immediately after your arch-enemy rose from the dead – choosing the “rumor” weapon wouldn’t be a bad idea.   Remember this, Jesus was pointing His followers to the most powerful empowering moment that world would ever experience.   Jesus was pointing people toward the reception of a personal infilling of the Holy Spirit.  He was pointing them toward being empowered to become the witnesses that would impact the kingdom of darkness with kingdom authority.   Satan was ticked!  Satan had to move fast.  He had to move with precision moves.  He had to attempt to distract people from following Jesus and pursuing the “promise of the Father!”  He had to disqualify the risen Lord.  What better way to do it then to immediately start a rumor that would question the integrity of Christ?  Things haven’t changed since then.

How many rumors, how many lies, how many misrepresentations of truth have been the down fall of sincere seekers of the infilling of the Holy Spirit been told in the last 2000 years?  How may stories have you heard about the baptism of the Holy Spirit have you heard that has dissuaded you from seeking the baptism?  How many people have you listened to that were stretching the truth on the fulness of the Spirit?  What better way to weaken the experience in the New Testament church?  It was one of the most successful attempts that enemy directed toward the Pentecostal experience!  How many people have listened to lies, established opinions, believed innuendo’s and arrived at unscriptural conclusions about the baptism of the Holy Spirit because the rumor mill hasn’t stopped producing rumors about the promise of the Father?

I challenge you to lay aside all you have previously been taught about the experience fulness of the Holy Spirit.  Take out your Bible and read Acts, chapters one and two, over and over again.  Ask the Lord to lead you into a scriptural experience with the Holy Spirit.   Seek the Gift of the Holy Spirit because here is what we know as a fact…Jesus said the promise was for you.   Now then, you can check this out in your own Bible.  This isn’t rumor.  It is established scriptural fact!  You can believe Him can’t you?  After all, you’ve been willing to believe everyone and every false teaching about the Gift up till now haven’t you?  Why not wipe the slate clean and believe His own Words?  Come on!  I double dog dare ya!

April 29, 2010    John 21.20-22

Have you ever had someone make the statement to you, “It’s none of your business!”  I have…on too many occasions.  Depending on the situation and who is around, it can be embarrassing to down right provoking!   You’re kinda left bewildered!  Especially if you think you were in the right with your pursuit of information or dialogue with an individual.  It can catch you off guard.  It can be a little difficult to respond to.

Jesus basically said to Simon Peter when he asked about others following Him, “It’s none of your business!” or “What’s that to you?”  Now then let’s put it all in context.  Jesus had just, as they say in charismatic circles, “read Simon’s mail!”   He told him how he would eventually die and that he would die to glorify God.  There must have been a lot of tension among the brethren at this time (go figure) because no sooner than he finished saying this to Simon than Simon sees John and asked, “What about this man?”   Notice, Simon Peter didn’t ask and reference John by using his name.  He said, “What about this man!”   Seems a little mechanical and cold to me.  These guys knew each other.  They spent time together.  Not calling John by name is significant to where Peter was with his attitude. 

Jesus responds, like I mentioned earlier, and says, “Yo bro!  Ain’t none of your business!”  Well, maybe quite not like that…but close!   The idea Jesus was trying to get across here to Simon Peter was not a congregational one, a corporate one.  He was attempting to make a personal statement to Simon Peter that hinged on him following Jesus.  Before you throw some stones at Simon we need to see how we probably fit into this mold from time to time.  Oh yeah!  Sticking our noses in somebody else’s business when we should be paying attention to ours.

Remember Mary and Martha (Luke 10)?  You recall the story?  Martha is in the kitchen working like a caterer late for dinner for the President!  Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus and soaking in every word He is teaching.  Martha gets ticked off and storms into the family room of the Lazarus and company estate.  Bam!  She unloads on both Mary and Jesus.   Her deal is that she is upset that Jesus didn’t make Mary come in and help her.  She was, as they say, “…all up in Mary’s stuff!”  Jesus handles Martha with a little more patience than he did Simon Peter.  He says, “Marth, Martha! You’re worried about so many things!”  To be honest…she was ticked at Mary more than she was worried about “things.”  But any way, she attempted to get into the business of Mary and Jesus didn’t like it. 

Remember the disciples when they saw a man casting out demons but wasn’t in their “camp” (Mark 9.38-40)?  The Lord said, “He who is not against us is for us.”  In other words, leave him alone.   These guys were always pushing the limits.  We think the church has problems today!  Heavens to Mergatroid!  If the Lord had problems with his gang of disciples – how are we going to be different?  They got into over who was going to sit next to Jesus in the kingdom to come and even dragged their mama into it (Matthew 20).  Jesus obviously again tells them to mind their own business.s

Now then back to the “journey” we’re taking toward Pentecost.  Let’s go to Acts 1.7.  Jesus is abrupt and a little tart with his followers.  Again these guys are not getting the picture!  Focused on something other than what He wants them to be.   I digress.

What is it about Pentecost that we seem to be distracted by?  What is it that Jesus is trying to get across to us that we keep putting up mental road blocks too?  What is it that He would say, “Why don’t you listen to what I’m saying?”  or “That’s none of your business!”   Maybe we allow images of what we have seen intimidate us away from a real personal Pentecost experience.  Maybe we have heard something in relationship to Pentecost that inhibits us from pursuing a genuine Pentecostal experience for ourself.   Maybe the whole idea of speaking in tongues intimidates us and we want to dive into reasoning and rationalizing the experience as for us?  Maybe we have focused on too many “other” issues and the Lord would say to us…”You know what…that’s none of your business!”   What is YOUR business is what I have destined for YOU.  What I have planned for you!   Martha was focused on everything but His will for her life.  The disciples were focused on politics instead of having a supernatural experience with the Holy Spirit.   I think we can get caught up with “stuff” that is none of our business instead of praying “Your will be done in this earthen vessel as it is in heaven!”  

Come on now.  Let’s drop the act.  We do from time to time focus on others instead of what God really wants in our life!  Are there issues you focus on in relationship to His will for your life, His promise of the Spirit for you that hinders your reception of His awesome Gift to you?  Would He be able to say to you, “That’s none of your business!”   If He could maybe, just maybe we ought to move toward our business and not somebody elses.  His Gift was promised to you.  Go for it – regardless of any other issue that could be put on the table.

April 28, 2010    John 21.19

Let’s face it.  None of us are really like Abraham or one of the disciples.  Abraham was instructed to take a journey to a place he didn’t know existed.   Abraham, by faith, went out – not knowing where he was going.  Wow!  Think about that for a minute.  Can you see your son or daughter coming into your room late one night and informing you, “I’m leaving.  I’m going to follow Jesus.  I don’t know where He is leading me yet by I know I have to leave tonight.  See yo later.  I’ll call when I get there!”  Oh, I can imagine what you’re thinking now. 

What about the disciples?  Two words.  “Follow me.”   They sold their vocational businesses or turned in their resignations and wham, bam, slam…they were on a journey to God only knows where.   Is it that simple?  Have we so complicated following Jesus that we need spiritual GPS systems to get where He wants us to go?  Have we moved away from what Paul called the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11.3)?  Are we that difficult to lead?   Really?

The Greek word for follow in this passage means “accompany”.   In other words Jesus was saying, “Come with me.”  “Walk beside me.”  “Stay with me.”   “Let’s go together.”   The idea here is Jesus was saying I will be with you and you will be with Me.   Jesus was making this relatively easy for Simon Peter.   Jesus was creating a partnership.   He was creating a co-op.  He did an outstanding job!

How difficult do we make following Jesus?  How hard to we make it to listen to His words.  When He promised you and I the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a gift – He never intended it to become the debated and argued issue it has become.  He just said, “Here it is.  This is my Father’s promise to you.”  He offered it with the intentions of you receiving the gift as easy as it was for Abraham and or the disciples to follow Him.  Just put yourself in gear.  Engage the promise.  Act on it and receive it.

Let me share something here that I will reiterate again and again for my readers.  The gift of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2 that God gave to the church is not the same operative in the church that is found in 1 Corinthians 12.   The word translated gift in Acts is dorea.   The word for gift in 1 Corinthians 12 is charisma.  Two different gifts – one Spirit.  The gift or the dorea found in Acts 2 was the personal promise gift given to the believer.  Tongues is an initial evidence for reception of the gift as much as getting wet is evidence to being baptized in water.  Tongues in Acts is not the same tongues found in relationship to the charismata in 1 Corinthians 12.   Tongues in relationship to the gift or dorea is receipt of the gift.  It is for personal usage.    Tongues in 1 Corinthians 12 is for corporate usage and manifestation.

When seeking the fulness of the Holy Spirit – approach praying for the reception of the gift out of a hunger for the gift.  Pray that there will be an evidence to your personal reception of the gift.  Evidence to a container being filled or baptized is that the container is wet on the outside and on the inside.  There is an external physical evidence.  When we receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit we are favored with an evidence to gift by the external manifestation of tongues.

Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Follow me.”   The verbal challenge was easy.  The greater challenge we in accepting it.  Don’t make receiving the fullness of the Holy Spirit difficult.  Follow him.  Let Him lead you.  Let Him guide you.  Finally, ease up…let Him speak through you.  Don’t complicate the reception of this gift.  Just receive.  Do what Jesus said to do, “Follow me.”