Author Archives: Brian

Adventures in Prayer Part 3

Back in 2002, I helped plant a church in Simpsonville, SC.  Betsy and I were recently married and were choosing a place to live.  We chose to live in an apartment.  During our time there I met some very interesting people, and had a crazy experience I won’t soon forget.

We were on the bottom floor in a corner with neighbors above, beside, and behind.  My goal was to make relationships there and evangelize.  I figured it would speak for itself as the Kingdom would change a dangerous place into a community of love.  That vision was sorely tested.  The neighbor next to us was a soft-core porn photographer of high school girls.  He would try to show me his portfolio when we talked, no clue why parents brought their daughters to him.  I would steer our conversation to Jesus and to my neighbor’s trike, of which he was very proud.  Above us lived drug dealers and behind us chain smokers who would fill our apartment with the love.

One day the drug dealers were in an argument with the porn photographer and they both came to me to help them figure it out.  They all knew who I was and why I was there, plus I had long hair at the time which made me the apartment hippie preacher.  I remember talking about how we all were living together and had to have patience with each other, etc.  They kept a tenuous peace from then on, till the cops came.  Late one night the police surrounded the building we were in and raided the room above us.  It was pretty exciting till I looked at all the guns and noticed where I was standing.  I quickly ran back to the bedroom which was further down and out of the line of fire.  I woke Betsy up and we watched as the drug dealers were brought down and forced to the pavement, hands behind their heads.

I don’t know what happened to those guys, but for a moment they gave me an authoritative role in their life that I wouldn’t have had without Jesus.  It wasn’t the answer to prayer I was looking for but I still am believing seeds were planted, Mark 4:1-9.  Now whether they were fertile soil or not isn’t for me to say.  And though the parable doesn’t speak of soil having the ability to change its character, knowing as I do the story of Paul, Acts 9:1-19 and that of many other friends of mine, I know it does and can.

Adventures in Prayer Part 2

Another physical manifestation of the spiritual incarceration was when just after midnight one of my neighbor’s big Rottweilers started barking at the partiers next door to it.  The dog was just two or three doors down from me, but between the barks and the partiers yelling back at it, there would be no sleep till something was done.  So I waited and prayed then felt a leading to take one of my dog’s rawhides over to it.  

When I walked out there, I saw the poor huge beast barking fiercely but I could tell it was scared.  The partiers, drunk, drugged up, or just cruel yelled and threw stuff at  it.  I walked up calmly to the pup and spoke softly to it.  It barked at me suddenly as if it didn’t know I was there.  I reached out to it and held out the rawhide.  The partiers quieted down a little and no longer seemed interested in the dog, either that or they were waiting to see if it would eat me.  The pup ran back toward the garage door, and sat with its back to it while continuing to bark at me.  I kept my distance and tossed it the rawhide.  It quickly and quietly started chewing on it.  By then the partiers had gone and silence returned.

I went home reflecting on what just happened and it occurred to me that the way to treat the beast was not to scream and shout like the partiers, but to show it love.  It reminds me of the Gerasene Demoniac in Mark 5:1-20.  Jesus freed a tortured man who was possessed by demons and had been put in chains till he broke them apart.  By casting the demons out He gave the man true freedom and returned him to his right mind.

I knew the way for this revival would be through love, and I was determined to not let fear bark my prayers away.

We got to know an older lady neighbor of ours who we began taking to church.  She filled us in on so much:  from the neighborhood cat lady (every place has one) to the stories of the other neighbors.  I told her of my prayers for the area and it brought tears to her eyes.

I witnessed people in black robes walk the street.  No matter how people could explain them, they were menacing and carried with them a dark demeanor.  I would wave at everyone, even the black robers and mostly got shocked looks in return.  As I prayed freedom from the works of Satan for my street, I didn’t see the black robes anymore.

I only witnessed one gang fight that was brewing as we tried to drive by.  No guns thankfully but baseball bats and broken bottles were held in their hands as they marched toward each other.  A young girl was yelling obscenities at the incoming group, she seemed to be the instigator.  I began praying for peace, the girl shut up and the fight broke apart before it even started, amen.

As I was beginning to see, it looks like we have two choices in life when things get dark- we can be either victims or victors.  I’ve heard that before, but in my own journey from fear for my family to faith in what He was guiding me to do, living in fear was just too hard and oppressive but trusting Him and His Holy Spirit brought me life and power.  Fear would have kept me inside with no sleep.  Going out revealed a better and greater way.

Freeing the “demoniac” of my neighborhood through the love of Christ was not any goal of mine, but it became one.

Adventures in Prayer Part 1

Wherever we move to, I’ve begun to see it as Kingdom placement. For almost two years we lived in a place that was rated as having a 300% above the state average for rape and various other illegal activities including b&e, aggravated assault, larceny, etc. I prayed daily against fear and for protection every time I’d drive down the street.  I prayed over my wife and daughter and kept an eagle eye over anything that moved. After a while of that my heart grew for my neighbors as I got to know them. I began to pray over their lives as well, but I never stopped having an eagle eye.

Then some of the history of the area came out. I found out that my neighbor had killed himself in his garage which was in easy view  from our backyard. During his life he had illegal dog fights in his basement. I don’t know why he killed himself, just that he did.

When I came to this place, it was not one I wanted to live in. We had many difficulties with the house and then my own physical disabilities also kicked in making me feel even more trapped and in danger. We had followed His leading to this place, and daily I struggled with Him about it, and in that struggle was born a desire to pray and see things change.

Down the street, there was a drain that got plugged with leaves whenever it would rain. This was to me a physical example of the spiritual condition that I was confronted with. No one did anything about it. That part of the street flooded so much you’d have to go around the block to get in from the other side. Everyone knew what part of town we lived in and they all stayed inside because of fear. I drove my car up to it, got out and unplugged the drain. The homeowners on that lot let their dogs out first who charged at me, but thankfully they were behind a fence. It was the part of town where people had chain link fences all over their property, no one cared how it looked. Chains and locks were everywhere. When I unplugged that drain, the water rushed down so fast it scared me and I backed up. The homeowner must have figured out what I was doing and called his dogs back, but he never came out to say “Hi” or “Thank you”.

God spoke to me through that, He pointed out as it happened that all that needed to happen was to unplug it and the drain would take care of the rest. Likewise “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14.  If I prayed, He would do the rest.

I began to pray for revival for everyone on my street, and on the next one and the next and so on everyday we drove by for those two years. If the drain was stopped up for the presence of the Lord then I considered my prayers to be a plumber, and I was excited for such an outpouring of the Spirit that would scare me.

After the two years, a door to move opened and we took it. I looked up the crime in the area of the place we were leaving one more time. I may not have seen the Revival I prayed for, but the map that was full of illegal activity two years ago was totally clear save one drunk driver on the outer edges of the mile radius.

Millennials from a Gen X’er’s viewpoint

Some of you, so tragically few, who are awake know that from school shootings to the sex slave trade, from cutting to abortions, (our two generations have had millions murdered, they could have been our best friends, we’ll never know), from beheadings to narcissism beyond apathy, porn- the biggest industry it’s ever been, homosexual marriages to the transgender movement, definitions being rewritten, and the Church’s voice getting drowned out with shouts of “Bigot!”, many are lost in the noise.

A mindset is growing that religion is the cause of all hate. It’s just like Satan to want the only source of love and salvation, the only hope for any of us, to be discarded as something evil. And yet, Jesus continues to love. He still walks on top of the waves and through any prison doors. He still rescues the drowning and sets the captives free. But what if an entire generation commits the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? Are they all damned with no hope of rescue? Do we write them off salvifically with thoughts so akin to Hezekiah’s, “At least we know we’re safe.” It is so easy to write people off, or is it? Or even worse, do we ignore the obvious and pretend everyone is fine?

Love itself suffers at our inaction, they don’t know its power. So much greater than tolerance, love has always been about sacrifice. Tolerance rescues no one but lets them suffer as we tolerate their agony. They redefine love from the perspective of abused children making what would actually save them into poison and poison into life preservers. Sacrifice makes us turn our boats back to the sinking Titanic. Sacrifice means we may not make it, and others less deserving of this life do. Were any of us any better when Jesus gave His life for us? Were any of us deserving His sacrifice? He thought so.

So what? Well, they learned apathy from someone. They want to live as if they are entitled to an easy life, but as violence escalates and atrocities abound, the only thing we are entitled to is breaking out all around us. Doing nothing is tantamount to the actions of the vilest tyrant in these final days. Let us join together and give a better picture, a better definition of the love that Jesus came to give. One that isn’t divisive, competitive, and self-destructive. John 17:20-23 is so radical and prophetically amazing.

In the words of Bonnie Rait, “Let’s give them something to talk about.”

The Signs’ Convergence

Psalm 23

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”

I love the book of Psalms, it contains both the depths and the heights of following after God through this fallen world. While reading them we travel along with the psalmist as he wades through the swampy mire of desperation grappling with the harsh realities of life. Then often within the same Psalm we are brought up to the tops of mountains amidst the clouds catching glimpses of the heavenly courts above as the psalmist gives praise to the only One who can help. And it is there that we witness signs of the path from which His help would come.

Psalm 23 brings us on a journey with the psalmist as he envisions the depths of the providence of the LORD. He begins by considering himself as a sheep and the LORD his Shepherd. Like a Divine Realtor, this Shepherd brings His sheep to beautiful riverfront properties. These places provide such refreshment and tranquility, they restore the soul. A sign was then set in place, for an even greater water was to come and whoever drinks from it will never thirst again, John 4:13-14.

He then showed the psalmist paths that lead further into His presence; further into where restoration can truly begin. Like a Cartographer of the soul, He lead the way to places deeper than what can be experienced outside; for one can be surrounded by beauty but if peace is not within then even the most tranquil of places cannot be enjoyed. When followers of this Shepherd align their lives with His will, He leads them to paths that refine as they teach, paths that lead to where Wisdom dwells; they find that there is indeed a right way to live. Another sign was then set in place, for One was to come and bring fulfillment to these paths so that His followers might become what they could never otherwise achieve: the righteousness of God, 2 Corinthians 5:21.

The psalmist then followed the Shepherd into a darkened place; it is there that we are brought face to face with evil and death. We notice though that the psalmist did not stumble, lose his step, or even slacken his pace. Confidently he marched onward, noticing it with as much attention as one would show to an interesting historical landmark. We are told what gave him such boldness. One cannot simply pass by a lion that is devouring people left and right, one cannot so casually dismiss an incoming tidal wave or an erupting volcano, unless that is, you walk with One who is stronger than the lion, Daniel 6:22, mightier than any wave, Psalm 93:4, and can make mountains skip away or melt like wax, Psalm 97:5. Like a sheep trusting in the shepherd’s rod and staff for safety while it follows Him through a valley, so the psalmist depended on God, his Vanguard, in the face of fear. A third sign was set in place for though the psalmist was to walk through this valley, another was to come and conquer it. For Death is doomed to be swallowed up in victory, 1 Corinthians 15:50-57.

The path opened up ahead; it had taken on a festive livery and the psalmist was greeted with a curious sight: a table with a seat prepared just for him. The Shepherd, that Divine Realtor, Cartographer, and Vanguard, turned into a Maitre D’ as He escorted the psalmist to his table. Others were also present but they were not there to join in with the merriment. They were the enemies of the psalmist and God had something He wanted them to see. In their hunger, they witnessed the psalmist seated at a table and presented with a bountiful feast. They watched as he was honored in kingly fashion anointed with oil. And in their thirst, they watched as his cup overflowed with drink; it splashed on the table and fell to the floor. A fourth sign was then established, for One was to come and give His followers an even greater seat in the heavenly realms, Ephesians 2:6, and even greater power over the enemy, Luke 19:10.

With a toast to his Host, the psalmist concluded his journey with a raise of his goblet and said,

“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.” Psalm 23:6

It is at the house of the LORD that the signs converge. He gave to the world His Son who would fulfill all things written about Him in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, Luke 24:44. His Son Jesus was the One who opened the door for it is He who offers living water, He who gives His righteousness to those who enter in, He who defeated death and rose again, and it is He who seats us with Him in the heavenly realms giving us power over the enemy. Goodness and love came down and is the Savior of all mankind, Titus 3:4, and by Him we are ushered into a greater celebration, a greater feast:  the supper of the Lamb, Revelation 19:9.

Jesus is the depth of the Providence of the LORD, Ephesians 3:17-18. Wide are His arms and long is their reach. High He lifts us from no matter how deep. May His goodness and love lead you to salvation in Him for He is the Good Shepherd who did not run from danger; He laid down His life for all of us. Come and join Him at the table, He has a seat waiting for you.

 

 

No Frankensteins

Lord, people say that sometimes the idea of something is better than the real thing, but not with You.  You alone know the beginning and the end, for You are the Alpha and the Omega.  There are no Frankensteins with You; no ideas that begin with a virtue and end with a curse.  When we trust in You, we are putting all of life into alignment.  Future generations centuries from now can experience the blessings from what You are doing at this very moment.  You alone tie up all loose ends from the beginning of time to the cross to when Jesus comes again.

You know the plan, You know my heart, You know I’m Man, You know my part. 

May I play it as I am able, beyond my reckoning, its all on the table. 

May You reveal to me my daily portion, not too much or I’ll forget my lines, not too little or I’ll lose focus and try to play parts I was never meant to.  For when I come to a door that is shut, its not enough to simply knock, it never is.  I knock, then knock, then knock again.  If knocking doesn’t do it maybe forcing it will.  Might as well call me Abraham and the door Ishmael because when I break through, a mess I will make.  Thank You for the grace that teaches me to wait.

Tell the Future

Are there dreams yet to be fulfilled?

Is there a problem we can put our efforts into solving?

A frontier yet to be explored?

That is the lot of each coming generation.  Working to dream it, solve it, explore it gives us meaning, it gives us purpose.  Solving it fulfills our dreams, our imaginations, and proves our worth.  Exploring it opens the door to new possibilities and gives us new dreams, let alone provides the plot for a tv show.  Who knows what could be behind that door?  Will we finally achieve something that will be a self-sustaining continual victory?  Or will there be just another problem for the next generation to solve?  If there isn’t what will become of them?  If there is no problem, if we have finally achieved nirvana what will be our fate?  Who knows, maybe success will become the problem and someone will want to turn back the clock and start over.  But how far back do we go?  We know so much now, but if we don’t tell our kids how will they know?  The future still depends on us playing our part, that we tell the ones to come what has happened, what we have done about it, and what is still needing to be done.

Only one thing has been done that’s effects will reach to the end of time, and only one thing has been done that will reach even further.  Both are complete with nothing left undone.  Adam and Eve’s sin cursed all mankind, Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection lifted it from us.

May future generations be told of You Lord, told of Your love for them.

Towns of Refuge

Numbers 35:15

“These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites and for foreigners residing among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.”

Accidents happen all the time, from spilling a glass of milk to tragic and deadly car accidents. It is a part of life some are all too familiar with.  In the Old Testament, “cities of refuge” were designated as places you could flee to if you killed someone by accident.  You would find protection there from what was considered legal vengeance- a family member of the victim acting as executioner, called the Avenger of Blood.  If you stayed in the designated city, they weren’t allowed to kill you.  If you left it, they could.

What happens if you accidently killed your own child?  What happens if in warfare you accidently shot and killed a fellow soldier, a friend?  What if the Avenger of Blood lives in your own mind trying to find a way to blame you for living while others died?  Roberta D. Calhoun described this as “Survivor’s guilt”.  In her article called “Survivor Guilt: What Long-Term Survivor’s Don’t Talk About” she states that it is a “common experience”, a mental state of those trying to find the path to continue living after surviving tragedies that claimed the lives of others.

American author Darin Strauss wrote of such a tragedy in his life that has haunted him for 23 years.  As a young man of 18, he was driving his car with friends when a young girl of 16, named Celine Zilke, swerved her bike out in front of him.  She was killed instantly.  At her funeral, Celine’s mom came up to Darin and gave voice to his “survivor’s guilt” that stayed with him for decades.  She said, “Whatever you do in your life you have to do it twice as well now.  Because you are living it for two people. Can you promise me, Darin?”  Years later after living his life to fulfill those words he wrote describing the futility, “Regret doesn’t budge things; it seems crazy that the force of all that human want can’t amend a moment, can’t even stir a pebble.”

Lieutenant Colonel Charles R. Shrader in his article “Friendly Fire:  The Inevitable Price” describes the psychological toll experienced by survivors as a “lingering fear”.  It effects every decision afterwards; avoidance because of distrust becomes the modus operandi.  Shrader closed his article with a quote by Major General Matthew B. Ridgeway following the worst incident of friendly fire in WWII, “Deplorable as is the loss of life which occurred, I believe that the lessons now learned could have been driven home in no other way…”

As Christians, we celebrate the death of an innocent man who died in our place, but instead of living under Survivor’s Guilt, which some describe as slow suicide, we now live under our Savior’s Grace and are freed as it states in John 8:36, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  We trade regret for faith; exchanging an inability to stir pebbles for that which can move mountains, Mark 11:23.  And much like the lessons of friendly fire, the lessons that came from His sacrifice of love “could have been driven home in no other way” than on the cross.  Colossians 1:19-20, “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him,  and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.”  And it is through faith in Jesus that we are ushered into the Kingdom of God, a place of far greater deliverance than the cities of refuge, 1 Corinthians 4:20, “For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.”

Everyday we come face to face with a world where accidents happen, lives are lost, and tragedies never seem to tire.  But even greater than the stubbornness of this fallen world, there is a Love that keeps singing songs of everlasting peace beyond this grip of pain.  For those of us who are given the opportunity of another day, another day of, as American poet Gregory Orr puts it, the “terror of existence”, we can either live it in “lingering fear” or join in with the song.

To Be Alive, by Gregory Orr

To be alive: not just the carcass
But the spark.
That’s crudely put, but…
If we’re not supposed to dance,
Why all this music?

Talitha Kum

Mark 5:41

“Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, ‘Talitha Kum’!  (Which translated means, “Little girl I say to you, get up!”)

So much of this life is based on timing.  If you don’t time it just right, you will burn your meal.  If you don’t make the play before time runs out you will lose the game.  Relationships are formed and destroyed because of timing.  Jobs are lost and plans fall through, billions are made and wars are too all because of timing.  Or as in the case of Mark chapter 5, if you don’t get help in time, you will die.

Jesus had just come off the boat after rescuing a man from many demons on the other side of the sea.  As soon as He landed, people surrounded Him including a synagogue official named Jairus who in verse 23, fell to Jesus’ feet with a desperate plea, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.”  So He went with him, however in verse 27, a woman with her own problem intercepted Jesus.  She reached out and touched the hem of His robe for she thought, verse 28, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.”   Immediately, it says, she felt in her body that she was healed.  Jesus felt that healing power had gone out from Him; He turned and asked who had touched Him.  The woman came forward and though she was scared, told Him her whole story.  And Jesus said to her in verse 34, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”

Things had finally worked out for this woman who had spent 12 years and all she had going from doctor to doctor with no cure in sight, but as Jesus was speaking to her, someone came from Jairus’ house with the sad news that his daughter was dead.  We understand why, she died because help didn’t come in time.  Even if you don’t believe Jesus is who He says He is, you can feel the pressure in this story.  We become caught in the same place as Lazarus’ sisters, saying “If only…”, and we feel the weight of our common slavery to Time, that faceless oppressor.  But as in Lazarus’ story, it doesn’t end there, for like Mary and Martha, God had more in mind than letting us suffer as slaves to anyone, even to Time itself.

Jesus said to Jairus in verse 36, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.”  Jesus then said to those who were mourning Jairus’ daughter’s death, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.”  When they heard Jesus say that, they laughed at Him.  We all know time shows no mercy; there is no forgiveness in the tick of the clock.  What’s gone is gone, and this girl’s time had come.  To all those that were present, they knew there was no way to get her back.  But Jesus went in to see her; He told the girl to get up, and she did.

There is freedom from time, freedom from the wages of sin, but it can only be found in the One who conquered it for us.  It is because of Jesus and His death and resurrection that we can say:

“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”
1 Corinthians 15:55

For as it says in Romans 6:23, its through Jesus that we’ve been given the free gift of God, eternal life.  And this eternal life begins now for all those who will “not be afraid any longer, only believe.”  Believe in Jesus the Son of God, believe in the mission for which He was sent as in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Talitha Kum, such a short phrase, but said by the One with the power to change everything.  With it, He broke the bonds of death, bonds so strong they inspired laughter at the very idea that it could be done.  Jesus says it to you, do you laugh because of your fear or do you wake up and believe?

Valley of Bones

Ezekiel 37:11

“Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone…”

You may have heard the phrase “skeleton in the closet”, it means to hide something regretful, something someone did that they are ashamed of, or wish to forget and keep secret. Well Israel had a whole valley full of them. Israel had lived wickedly before God. They were the chosen people, the example of God to the rest of the world, and as such when they chose to live like they weren’t, they replaced the life they were supposed to have in them with death.

Ezekiel, a prophet of God, was brought to this valley filled with dry bones. Though they represented Israel’s failures, God wasn’t finished with them yet. He wasn’t going to let that be their end. He asked Ezekiel in verse 3, “Can these bones live?” God wasn’t interested in letting the past be the past, letting bygones be bygones. If He did, He would’ve buried or simply destroyed the bones, not let them fill up a valley exposed to everyone. No, He had something greater in mind.

God told Ezekiel to speak life into the bones. God wasn’t interested in some sort of ‘live and let live’, ‘laissez-faire’ type of life which would have invariably lead to more bones in more valleys. He wanted to take what was dead and bring it back to life, restoring tendons, attaching skin and ultimately breathing the breath of life in them once again. More than restoration, resurrection was His aim and it all began in verse 7, with a word and a rattle.

God finished his work with the bones, and instead of there being a valley full of shame, regret, and lost hope, there stood before Ezekiel as it says in verse 10, “a vast army”.

No person did it, no one was out there gluing the bones together wrapping them with skin like a taxidermist in reverse. Beyond Lego’s, this Master Builder did more than just put the pieces together. It was the work of God. Only He can take what was once dead and bring it back to life, only He can make it a source of blessing restoring hope.

Whatever you may have that only reminds you of failure, shame, or regret, trust it in His hands. He changes what was once dead and brings it to life. What was once a pile of loss, in His hands became a vast army of blessings. Likewise, through His Son Jesus, what was once a curse as in Galatians 3:13, became a door to eternal life. Call on Jesus today, make Him your Lord and Savior. Listen for the rattle when you do, for that’s His work begun in you.