Author Archives: Brian

Spirit Fire: Crushed Spirit- Proverbs 18:14

For Spirit Fire last night we looked at Proverbs 18:14. It got heavy as this “Coin” proverb talked about having a crushed spirit.

“The human spirit can endure in sickness,
but a crushed spirit who can bear?”

I remember wondering as a kid why people become alcoholics. Back then I thought it was merely a consequence of party living. I thought you would just love the flavor so much you’d get addicted to it like candy or something. However, life and actually tasting it, taught me a different tale.

Loss, disease, death of loved ones, shame, regret, these and other burdens can’t be shaken but can be forgotten for a short time in the bottle. These burdens crush the spirit, who can bear it?

We talked about how in the Holy Spirit we meet the Comforter, (greater than the southern kind), John 14:26, and His peace that endures. This life is so hard at times, and yet He meets us there. He lifts us up and gives us renewed strength when we have none, Isaiah 40:31.

Its an honor to teach my children the Book of Proverbs and to show them its fulfillment in Jesus. Who can bear the brokenness and sorrow of this world? Only Jesus, He did it for us and He gives us hope.

Spirit Fire: It Got Real, Proverbs 17:26

Spirit Fire got real tonight, unexpectedly to me, (I didn’t read ahead):

Proverbs 17:26 “It is not good to punish an innocent man, or to flog officials for their integrity.”

We talked about the laws of reason that God placed in our minds to explain why it doesn’t make any sense to punish the innocent. Then we talked about Jesus. If ever there was an innocent man, it was Him. And we spoke of the good that God planned for mankind through His punishment, our salvation.

His ways are higher than ours. Such a glorious mystery!

By Your Word

Thank You Lord!  
 
By Your Word we are protected from heresies, from false teachings that would hijack our faith replacing our confidence in the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with unsustainable manifestations of fantasy.
 
By Your Word we are reminded of what Rock we are founded upon. It is not some weak sandstone that could crumble at a touch, or shale that would cut and fail those who depend on it. It is not some type of chalk that can be washed away with the tide, but He is Jesus, the Rock of Ages, the Living Stone.
 
He is not shifting, He is immovable. He is our foundation and what He has written has been done so by His blood.  
 
By Your Word we are not mislead by the wolves, we are not like lambs lead to the slaughter. We are lead by Jesus, our Good Shepherd, who was the Lamb slain for us.
 
By Your Word we do not succumb, we overcome. We are not bedazzled by someone’s personal charisma, but we were bought, saved, and redeemed into Your undeserved favor by Your Gift of grace.
 
Upon this Rock we stand, this Rock that is higher than I or any other. A stumbling block for the lost, a stepping stone for the found. By Your Word we are confronted with Jesus, greater than a capstone. He is the stone rejected by men that has become the Chief Cornerstone in the house of God.
 
Thank You Lord!

Day After Easter

This life is crazy loaded with all kinds of pitfalls and traps. How furious is His love to reach us here. How unrelenting is His resolve to deliver and redeem us.

Our minds even now writhe and twist in the mire of pride for gain grabbing at lesser things meant for destruction. They are meant for destruction, not us.

You never tire to tell us You love us. The only way not to know is if we plug our ears and close our eyes. Even then You find a way.

Guide us LORD, like You did for Israel even though every step of the way they looked back to Egypt. It is so tempting and easy to do even while we are in the midst of You. Even while You are moving the seas and making paths where there are none, we look for what our hands can do, for we are so afraid.

Trust? In this life? People are too afraid to get married so instead they play the part. They’ll live together, have kids together, but to make it real when everything falls apart here, the only question is “Why?”

You have so much more for us than we will ever know or be able to see on our own. Give us Your vision.

The deceitfulness of wealth distracts many and gets us to look elsewhere for our hope. We live in the cult of self though we don’t know that the membership dues are our soul. We all live here, we all know how it is here.

Though our acceptance is already assured bought with an eternal covenant in blood, we would trade it for the momentary acceptance of those we can manipulate. Oh, to have a god we can fashion in our own image. One that we can control by committing the necessary acts we determine.

But that god wouldn’t die for us, we wouldn’t die for us. We’d need that god to perform and build confidence in our ability to appease it so that others recognize our importance and our necessity. They need us, or our god will send them to Hell.

But Yours was a different plan, a different path. You made the definition of love, something everyone needs, beyond our grasp. Even Jesus did not grasp it, but He became the fullest form of it. And He gives love’s inheritance to any and all who believe in Him.

No one has the monopoly on Your Love, there is no other mortal man whose favor determines our worth. The Son of God, the only One who is beyond bribing, the only One who can not be persuaded by lies and deceitfulness, the only One who is out of our reach to control looks upon us with Love unconditional.

The only question is “Why?” He died and rose again for what? He fulfilled prophecy, what does that mean to me? He lived a sinless life to become the perfect sacrifice to conquer sin and death’s grip on me. He provided a way through the traps and pitfalls of this life to bless me beyond my days. But “Why?”

That was His plan,
because He is love.

Now there is Hell, but from what I know it is chosen everyday by those who turn away from His free gift of love. In fact it is because of love that allows us the choice.

What do you choose?

No One Knew

No one knew what was going to happen.  They witnessed the incredible for 3 years as they followed Him.  People left their homes and jobs on the spot just because He called or merely walked by.  They knew that whatever they knew about life just didn’t matter or apply to Him.

Oh some were jealous, and they were filled with hatred for the One who with a few words tore down their palaces of oppression.  They worked hard for their positions, they had authority and control over others that was unquestionable, “God ordained” even.  And yet, here was this man who did what no one has ever done.  The miracles He did and the teachings He gave shook everything and everyone to the core.  He questioned them and claimed a position of authority no man ever dared to claim.

Scandalous.  Could it be that the jealousy of the fallen drove them to it?  Having the perfect One in the presence of the twisted only reminded them of their evil?  That the perception of their own inabilities to ever be allowed to taste of the Tree of Life that He said was in reach if they only would stretch out their hands and believe gave birth to the evil that awaited them in their hearts?

They showed Him a different tree and nailed Him to it.  The sheep scattered as the wolves killed their Shepherd.

But no one knew.

No one but the Father.  His plans shattered everything even death itself.  For three days later, Jesus came forth from the tomb and revealed the Father’s plans to those He had chosen.

Scandalous.  Though sin had created the thrones of man, thrones that bound their kings to them and any who would bow before them to the grave, Jesus’ death and resurrection broke every chain and set every captive free.

The power of Sin and Death was broken and the grip of this world could no longer hold those who followed Him.

No one knew the depths of His love, no one knew how great and complete were His plans.  When Jesus came forth from the tomb, He set us free from ours.

His work continues today, will you step away from this world into His embrace?  This ending world with thrones of the grave for His eternal home with crowns that will never fade?

No one knew, but now you do.

Spirit Fire Ch. 7: Share the Fire

It started out from watching a Darren Wilson movie that shared about a woman named Heidi Baker who evangelizes in Mozambique, Africa.  She travels from village to village calling the people there to bring forth their sick and blind.  She then invites children to pray with her, and God answers.  Now I’m not saying to get healed you must get prayed over by African orphans, but it stood out to me that if you open your kids up to experience God at such an early age it sets them up for an even greater awareness of Him.  When I think about my own children, I know I want that for them.

This world has been dark ever since the Fall, but Jesus came to be THE Light.  The Bible says some pretty amazing things about what we get to be a part of as children of Light:  Spiritual Gifts, healings, resurrections, demonic deliverances, and other signs and wonders.  Every generation thinks it’s living in the last days, and with the constant barrage of violent and tragic events all over the globe, it’s not hard to see why.  But along with the people in Darren Wilson’s movies, I want more of Him in midst of the chaos.  I don’t want to sit and try to find meaning in how we are doing it all wrong or try to find creative ways to kick a dead horse, but I want to be a part of what He’s doing now.

I want to be so familiar with His presence that when people look at me they see Him.  I want for my wife to be blessed with the opportunity to help others gain His Beauty that she has more than any other woman I have ever known.  I want for my children to have the opportunity to be a part of something more than simply going to church on Sundays and playing video games the rest of the week.  So as I walk this path with my amazing family, we began to go out and “Share the Fire”- the “outreach” version of our Spirit Fire times.

We go out, grab a few $5 gift cards and hit a shopping store.  We have our kids pick the person we are going to bless and off we go.  Betsy is the lead talker and after we give them the card, she asks if there is something we can pray for them about.  Responses have been pretty wild from tears of thankfulness to smiles of joy.  It gives my kids the opportunity to see His power at work through them for others.  To the people who say, “No thank you,” they are free to keep the gift card.  We still pray for them as they leave.

God has given Betsy and I many opportunities all over the world to share His love with people from Mexico to Africa to Hong Kong.  Since our days at Great Lakes Christian College we’ve felt lead to be missionaries, and though we wait for His call to go elsewhere we know for now He has us here.  We seek to live always for Him no matter where.

Spirit Fire Ch. 6: “No Longer A Slumdog”

A couple of months ago I saw an ad on Facebook for a free book about children in Asia titled “No Longer A Slumdog”, written by K.P. Yohannan.  I thought it would be an interesting read because I know people who serve the LORD there, plus it has a forward written by Francis Chan, so I ordered it.  When it finally came in the mail, I set it aside on the shelf next to where I sit for our Spirit Fires, and truth be told, I forgot about it.  Till one day I saw it sitting there and thought to give the first chapter a read.  Boy, I’m glad I did.  As I read the stories about the hundreds of millions of children that suffer in this world, and about the work of the Spirit and the light God brings to such places, I quickly thought about my own children and how invaluable it would be for them to learn and hear about it.  Most of the children mentioned in the book are around their age of 7 so it seemed even more appropriate for my kids to hear about them during this stage of their lives.

In our beginning prayer time, we talk about our Treasure Rooms which are filled with all kinds of riches from God.  When reading Yohannan’s book, I spoke to them of a rare jewel of Wisdom called Perspective, and each page of his book was loaded with it.  Perspective provides for us an opportunity to value others and ourselves, and it is something every child and adult in every culture needs.  With it we take a step out of our own shoes with our needs and wants and step into another’s and hear of even greater needs and in that trade off, a new need awakens, a need to help and do something about it.  A need to love.

Yohannen’s book provides a personal view into the dark streets of cities like Bombay and what daily life is like there for the Dalit children and communities.  Children who don’t know the love of God, let alone the many who don’t even know the love of a parent.  The harshness of dealing with a pimp who knows a maimed child makes more money begging than a healthy one is contrasted by the blinding glory of God’s redemptive love as the life of a violent child changes to that of a loving child becoming a blessing to his community.  Yohannan shares many stories of hope and joy amidst the dark, each one of these stories is a seed for my children; a seed I know that will grow in the garden of their hearts, souls, and minds.

Last night we had our recap discussion time.  Honestly, my kids couldn’t follow many of the questions I asked like:  “So what did we learn about the Jewel of Perspective?”  But when I asked them about specifics in the book, they couldn’t stop talking about the children we read about.

I know this almost sounds like a commercial, but to get the info out plain and simple here it is:  “No Longer A Slumdog” written by K.P. Yohannan was a perfect book for my family to read and talk about together.  I look forward to the ways its seeds will impact my kids and myself in the days to come.

Spirit Fire Ch. 5: Who wants to pray with Sunny?

In our family devotions, we’ve had times where it feels like we’re in a rut.  Times when you can almost feel the burn of the exercise and discipline that it can be.  Like the other night, since we alternate nights between Spirit Fire and Night Show, my kids asked which one we were doing.  They asked me with that hopeful ‘Dreams come true’ tone, “Is it Night Show night Dad?”  That got my wheels turning.  I thought about the cartoons we’d watch compared to what our devotions were like.  Staring at me while I read from the Bible seemed pretty bland in comparison.  It’s all about their attention, what will grab and keep it.

About 15 years ago or so while down in Tennessee, my wife and I visited a toy shop thinking of presents for our nephews and nieces.  It was there that I saw a puppet I couldn’t ignore.  “Sunny” was its name.  It looked biblical and wise and just spoke to me of adventures.  I’ve never really been interested in puppets before, but in the years we’ve had Sunny, I’ve witnessed how using one can break all kinds of barriers including cultural and linguistical ones.  Years ago I had the opportunity to take it to Hong Kong and entertain the children there.  I carried it around in my backpack with its head sticking out and anyone I passed by or sat next to on the train, boat, plane or bus was instantly interested in it.

I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to use it during Spirit Fire, but once my kids demonstrated their lack of enthusiasm for reading the Bible, it was on.  And now my kids ask for Sunny every time.  It has become a highlight which is what I’ve been wanting to create for them.  Sunny has white plastic strings for hair on its head so I’ve tried to give it an old man’s voice.

“Who wants to pray with Sunny, who wants to pray with Sunny, who wants to pray with SUNNY!!!” is the song I sing with it to call the kids to prayer for Spirit Fire.

Using Sunny has opened up a whole new kid-friendly level to our family devotions.  It has helped to keep everyone interested even if/when I’m the tired one.

You Are The Only

LORD thank You! Nothing is hidden from You. There is no place to hide from You. None can trick or deceive You. There is no mass media that can jade Your understanding. No politician can persuade You. No amount of reward can bribe You.

Your Word separates between bone and marrow. You know us completely, You are the only One who does.

And You love us.

Psalm 139, Hebrews 4:12, John 3:16

A Note to Followers of the Way in our Digital Social World

Dear Digital People in Christ,

I know it’s tempting to look at and read what others are saying, or shouting even, but look instead at what He’s doing. Breathe it in.

But they are killing babies! He knows. Shouldn’t we do something? Yes, mourn and love.

But they are saying God doesn’t exist and that we came from monkeys! He knows. Shouldn’t we do something? Yes, teach in love.

But they are making it ok to do what most animals don’t even do! He knows. Shouldn’t we do something? Yes, pray and love.

But… He knows. Shouldn’t we…? Yes, follow Him.