Whom The Son Sets Free….

Lately I’ve been reflecting on the issue of freedom as it refers to the life of the believer under grace.  When you really understand freedom in it’s fullest form… it is really quite scarey.  Just think of it.  God sets you free, not so you can do stuff for Him but to set you free PERIOD.  That means you are free to rebel if you want to… you are free to return to your sin if you want to.  But that also means that you are free to obey Jesus and walk in the light of relationship with God.  It also means that you are free to walk in continual freedom by God’s grace.  You are truly free to do whatever you want.  So… here is the truth of how it works out in everyday life.  Are you ready?

Everything You Do In Life, You Are Doing Because You Want To Do It

Now… you might be saying that’s not true!!!!  I’m forced to do all kinds of things that I don’t want to do…. and guess what… you’re wrong.  Everyone of us have been given the power to choose.  However, many do not want the responsibility that comes with this power and so we are willing to surrender our freedom to someone or something else rather than take responsibility for our choices – no matter how difficult they may be.  This goes all the way back to the garden of Eden when Adam pointed the finger to Eve and says to God – it’s the woman you gave me.  I don’t want to be responsible for the free choice I just exercised to do what you commanded me not to do – so I will blame it on the woman.  Truth is… Adam wanted to eat the fruit.  He did.  You want to live the life you have and so you do.

Grace removes the power to blame by setting the believer completely and utterly FREE.  Now I can no longer blame my mom, my dad, my circumstances, my job, my boss, my church, my pastor, my enemy, my… fill in the blank.  Because in Christ I have been liberated from everything that holds me captive and I am now free.  Does this mean that bad things will never happen to me?  Not at all.  Bad things do happen.  We live in a dangerous world.  It’s a world that is fallen from grace.  God is not ruling and reigning as He did before man gave himself over to sin and death.  We see in part.  We don’t see clearly.  War, hatred, death, strife, all the works of the flesh are in full force.  People violate other people.  Evil does exist.  But those who are in Christ do not need to be controlled or ruled by the evil that occurs in their lives.  There is grace.  There is Jesus who takes every circumstance that others mean for harm and turns it around for our benefit and God’s glory.  He makes beauty out of ashes.

This is where choice comes in.  You can choose to be bitter over the circumstances of life or you can choose to be better and surrender to the work of the Spirit as God makes all things beautiful in His time.  Is it easy?  Not at all.  It’s nearly impossible at times.  But, God does give strength and mercy in our times of need.  This is where the responsibility to walk in freedom comes into play.  This is where the responsibility to live by our choices comes into play.  This is where we face the reality that our choices will be judged – wood, hay and stubble or pure gold.  Now, I don’t know about you… but that scares me alot.  Mostly because I know my own heart.  And knowing what I know… I wonder what else is down in there that I don’t know about!!!  I wonder what else is down there that has not been surrendered to Christ.  That hasn’t been brought into the light of conversation with God.

Here’s the big question… what keeps you and I from walking in the freedom that we have been given in Christ?  Are we afraid that we will fail?  Are we afraid that we will find ourselves somewhere else and we like where we are?  Are we afraid that we won’t have the resources we need?  Are we afraid that we’ll make a mistake and waste time?  Are we afraid that our relationship with God isn’t real enough to handle it?  Are we afraid we’ll loose friends?  Are we afraid that we’ll be misunderstood?  Are afraid that we will be seen as selfishly ambitious?  Are we afraid that we’ll come under extreme criticism?  Are we afraid we won’t be cared for.  What is it for you?

When I was on staff with Jon Courson at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa he was a great encouragement.  He was always pushing me to go further than I wanted to go.  He was encouraging me to step into roles that I didn’t think I could do.  He was ordering me to be unique and to not copy any one else’s ministry.  He was challenging me to not conform to the status quo, but to be free to walk in obedience to whatever God was speaking to me through His word and to my heart.  In other words, he challenged me to walk in the freedom that Christ had given to me.  I want to challenge you to do the same.  I want to challenge you to walk in the freedom that Christ has given to you.  Whatever that means… wherever it takes you.  Fall in love with Jesus, fall in love with His Word and walk in the freedom that He died to give you.  I wonder if perhaps the world would be turned upside down if Christians really did live this way.

Legalism Versus Grace in Worship

Romans 8:1 tells us that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  We are also told that righteousness has been imputed or bestowed upon us who believe through Christ as a result of the work of the cross.  This is such a critical area for us to understand… especially for those of us who minister to others through worship or the preaching of the word.

Why is this a concern?  Because one of the things I see creeping in through worship conferences especially is a subtle emphasis on holiness and purity that leads to an undercurrent of legalism and results in relationships built on arrogance or fear.  For instance… if you are focusing on pure worship, that presupposes that God has a standard in worship and that within that standard of worship there is worship that is average worship, above average worship, terrible worship, worship in the flesh or worship in the Spirit, worship that is impure (tainted love) or worship that is pure.  The truth is – in God’s economy no such standard exists for the believer.  To the pure, all things are pure… meaning we have been made perfectly pure by the blood of the Lamb and therefore we as believers are now pure in the sight of God… so our worship is pure according to the scriptures.

Now there are some who teach a standard of worship that is built on guilt and spiritual manipulation.  The truth is… this kind of teaching works.  You can fill conferences and sell lots of books by making people feel guilty or by manipulating them spiritually to be a part of your club.  The pattern is easy.  You make them feel bad and then you offer them a solution.  Be like us and you will be okay with God.  This is where is all falls apart in the realm of God’s Kingdom.  No where are we told to BE LIKE US.  We are told to BE LIKE JESUS.  Some groups will even confuse the two – if you are like us then you are like JESUS!!!  This is when spiritual manipulation becomes spiritual abuse because you can now create the IN crowd and the OUT crowd.  Those who are like us and those who are not like us or less recognizeable… those we like and those we don’t like.  Those who are like us… those we like are in the Spirit.   Those we don’t like… those who are not like us are in the Flesh.  This is a most dangerous philosophy.

Maybe the emphasis isn’t purity but holiness.  And really the issue there isn’t holiness, but behavior modification whereby the topics are focused on the kinds of behaviors that we like and dislike (of course using scripture to back up our opinions).  It’s really a subtle form of psychological and sociological indoctrination.  Usually, these messages key in on being the kind of leader that doesn’t lead or make waves but is more like an obedient dog or a human jukebox.  It robs worship leaders and musicians of their God given individuality and creativity and leads them to a path of spiritual bondage and blindness (much like the Pharisees did in Jesus’ day).  I am deeply grieved when I see this because it takes the huge gift that God deposits into creatives and shrinks it down to a small, powerless, subservient role.  How often do you see situations where a creative has been held down, held back and then their art somehow gets out and people see how big they really are – then one of two things happen…. (1)  Amazement… I never knew!!!  How cool!!!  Do more!!! or (2) Attack… You are selfishly ambitious!!!  You are competing against me!!!  You are rebellious!!!  You just want to be noticed!!!  How sad.  What is really sad is that the body of Christ is left holding the empty bag because the Spirit and the gift of God is being quenched.

Why do leaders work this way?  Because it’s easier to control people through the manipulation of legalism than it is to influence them through relationship.  It’s faster and more efficient to tell people I’m the boss and you will fulfill my every desire because I hear from God and you don’t than it is to spend time with people and pour into their lives in such a way that they not only catch your vision, but your passion and your heart for ministry and people.  It also prevents leaders from taking the scriptures and twisting them to fulfill their own personal ambitions rather than point people to Jesus.

I do have a dream.  Amos tell us – how can two walk together unless they are agreed.  This agreement happens over time through relationship.  Great leaders are not born… they are mentored.  I have a dream that great leaders, huge leaders… each with different roles can come together and be big and powerful for the Kingdom of God…. without anyone feeling insecure or in competition with each other – but true partnership where there is agreement that comes through relationship, friendship and fellowship.  I have a dream that leaders drop the highly successful tactics of spiritual manipulation and teach believers to have grace filled relationships where they can be free from the tyranny of evil and encouraged to be as big and as powerful as they can possibly be – even if it means being bigger and more powerful than the leader.  I have a dream that leaders would recognize that their position in the body of Christ is secured by Jesus Himself and that they recognize the value of relationship and friendship.  Is it more messy?  YES.  Does it take more time?  YES.  Is it in-efficient?  YES.  But in the long run it produces a team of men who will stand the test of time and effect culture the same way the disciples did in Jesus’ day.

Can Someone Help Me Understand?

I recently came across an article that has me baffled.  It was basically informing parents to take action against a series of sexually explicit books that are being placed in public libraries that are aimed at 2nd graders.  Now… this is where my brain doesn’t understand.  We claim to be a nation governed by law… and to my understanding there are strict laws governing the protection of children and child pornography.  However, to remove the books is considered censorship by the library system.  Check out this quote…

“We are a library and we have to serve all the citizens,” he said. “We don’t act in the place of the parent. Whether I personally agree with an item or not is besides the point. It’s about having access.”

Tim Wadham, library assistant director of youth and community services, told the newspaper he felt the library system is under attack by anti-porn groups and the harassment is “continuing to escalate.”

So apparently it is illegal to promote child pornography on the internet, on computers, in magazines, etc., but it is legal to promote child pornography through the public library system because it’s about making these books available.  Apparently to ask for responsible management of access to minors is considered harrassment from anti-porn groups.  Does this freak anyone else out?

It seems to me that we as believers need to exercise our rights under the law to call for the replacement of public officials, librarians, library managers, etc. who promote illegal activities especially when it conflicts with the laws that protect the safety of our children.  It also seems to me that if authors are creating sexually explicit material for minors that this falls under the laws that deal with adding to the delinquency of a minor and the authors themselves should be addressed from a legal standpoint as well.  Personally, I think this should apply to teen pregnancy.  If a minor gets pregnant, it’s obvious a felony has occurred.  Why aren’t the laws enacted?  Otherwise… what is the use of having laws if we do not wish to abide by them.

This is simply a confirmation of the scriptures that say in the end times there will be those that call evil good and good evil.  It’s good to promote child pornography in public libraries, it’s evil to remove those books according to the laws of the land because that is censorship.  Since the libraries claim to not be exercising parental guidance, then maybe it’s time for parents to rise up and call for the removal of sexually explicit books from minor sections and placed in the adult sections where they belong.  If parents can exercise parental rights to limit access on the internet through filtering, etc., then why can’t we do the same in public libraries?

In case you are wondering what authors should be banned here is a partial list…

Phyllis Naylor

Jason Rich

Alex Sanchez

John Green

Adam Rapp

Stacey D’Erasmo

Kris Gowen

Sarah Palin…

As a leader in the church I have to be careful to not push a political agenda because I serve another kingdom – the Kingdom of God.  God is not a Democrat or a Republican or an Indepdendent – so I have to be careful to represent my King accurately and well.  Having said that… I do want to highlight when I see God’s Kingdom represented well through our United States public officials.  So… with all that out of the way, I want to highlight a video of Sarah Palin, the Republican Vice President Nominee, speaking and giving a word to students at Wasila Assembly of God.  Here it is…. Sarah Palin

5 Questions With Holland Davis

Recently I was invited to participate in an ongoing series called 5 Questions… The editor is Bridget Willard and here is a link to the entire article….

Written by Bridget Willard

Wednesday, 03 September 2008

Name:  Holland Davis Gender:  Male Location:  San Juan Capistrano, CA. Age: 47 First the important stuff… Holland Davis is married to Roxie Davis and has three kids – Austin Davis, Chase Davis and Madison Davis.  Holland says, “This year marks 25 years of marriage with my wife.  I’m really one of the most blessed husbands in the world to have a wife who has stood the test of time and is a great mother to our kids.  I love my wife today more than the first day I met her.  She is a source of strength and inspiration to me.  All of our kids are presently walking with the Lord which is a huge blessing to us.”  Speaking of his relationship to the Lord… “I met Jesus at a Young Life meeting at a Marine Corp Air Station in Iwakuni, Japan when I was thirteen.  Jesus became so real to me that I simply surrendered my life to following him all the days of my life.”  For those that know Holland, that is the central passion of his life… to worship and teach others about the God who so generously pours out his love on us. TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE CLICK HERE…