A Winnowed Church

Perhaps one of the most significant things to come out of this pandemic and stressful election cycle is the revelation that a wide variety of interpretations exist within the Church of what is actually taking place in the spiritual realm. This is not the first time in history that the Church has gone through a season of winnowing within its ranks. Until the dust settles and we are finally able to discern what God has been doing, we need to guard our hearts. That is the only way to guarantee safe passage through these turbulent waters. 

 

Expanding Our Vision

With the announcement today that both President Trump and the First Lady have tested positive for COVID-19, I was reminded once again how fast events could change on the world stage. Just yesterday, I was lovingly corrected as to what my role and the role of the Church should be in these unusual times.

Yesterday, I sensed something I felt could be a message from the Lord and shared it with Jan. The problem was not what I shared because it could be a real possibility. My problem was that I only saw a spiritual conflict and its possible negative outcome and not the solution offered from Heaven that could override the potential dark victory of that conflict. Jan said, “What you sensed is a call to prayer. You only saw the conflict, not the call to prayer.” I received Jan’s wise counsel.  

 

Apostle Paul said he went to the third heaven and saw unimaginable things. His mention of a third heaven logically infers the existence of a first and second heaven. In my limited insight, I sensed something that could become a real possibility if God did not intervene. What I saw was an ongoing and yet to be resolved conflict taking place in the second heaven. The impression I was struggling with created a form of spiritual tunnel vision because it did not carry the intervention of a third heaven revelation. 

 

What you and I see or sense must come under the authority of the greater works of God that can always intervene in the affairs of Earth no matter how dark the current reality.  Heaven’s insight must be our filter for the events taking place on Earth, or we will see with limited sight – a sight that will always end up in despair.

 

Lord, help us see your plan before we open our mouths in disbelief. Let our prayers be fueled by what you are doing, not by a conflict still in process. 

 

Avoiding Unnecessary Conflict

This is a difficult time in our culture, and it has become a dangerous time as well. People are becoming increasingly frustrated, angry, and prone to violence. Be careful how you respond to the emotional responses of people, even on social media. Your well-being may depend on it.

It was a typical night on patrol many years ago. I was a one-man sheriff’s patrol unit working the streets of Cupertino, California. About midnight, I pulled over a car for a traffic violation. The stop was made in a dark and isolated place at the edge of an orchard. As soon as both our vehicles stopped moving, the occupant of the car I pulled over, quickly swung open his door and charged back toward me on a dead run. 

On each car stop I ever made, I had my door open before my patrol unit stopped rolling.  I was already out of my unit standing by my vehicle when the man began his charge.

 

As he ran toward me, I drew my nightstick and took a defensive stance, anticipating a physical altercation. As he got close, he stopped and yelled at me, “What are you going to do with that, hit me?” I said, “Yes, unless you back off, NOW!” He finally backed off, and after a few moments trying to explain my reaction to his action, he refused to be reasonable. l issued him a citation along with a word of advice should another officer ever stop him. At no point in my interaction with the man did he see the error of his ways. He drove off as angry as when I first stopped him.

 

Tempers are short in our culture, and emotions are thin. Some online and in personal conversations are beginning to look and sound a lot like the angry man who charged me on the car stop. If you are one of the angry ones charging every opinion that is different from yours, you might not realize the jeopardy you are creating for yourself and those you love. Dial it back before it gets out of hand. No opposing opinion will ever be changed by unbridled rage. 

"Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry" (James 1:19).

It's Sad

On Facebook, I have a combined list of friends and followers that number in the thousands. I only mention the number issue for the context of what I want to say. From time to time, in a sea of "friends," someone will become a friend who disagrees with me. They stand out because of the unpleasant nature of their disagreement. I had a person like that who just unfollowed me. Over the years, each time this person confronted me through a negative comment, my first response was, “Did they actually read what I wrote.”  Today, I realized they had enough of me and unfollowed my Facebook page.

Here is the strange thing, I actually felt a bit sad when they left. I was sad that expressing a personal opinion would lead to a dismissal. The person is a follower of Jesus. I always thought the body of Christ could express opposing opinions and still be able to find the way forward, working together to understand each other's viewpoints and grow in the process.

 

What are our relationships going to look like on Wednesday, November 4, the day after the 2020 Presidential election? How about the day after a verdict is issued for a heated trial? Or what about the aftermath of another police shooting when the full video is released, not just a cropped version used to create a false narrative and stir dissent? 

We could make a long list of relationship breakers some people might think are reasons to say goodbye to a person of an opposing opinion. For me, it’s a sad thing because it can announce to the world that people of faith do not have the emotional or spiritual bandwidth to process challenging issues and still remain in a relationship.  It is also sad because if we remove opposing opinions and the challenges they bring to our thinking process, we will create an echo chamber where the only input we receive is the sound of our own voice.

 

Disarming Verbal Snipers

Beginning in late May, someone has been shooting at vehicles traveling on Interstate 5, the main north-south freeway that travels along the west coast. The shootings are taking place on a 70 mile stretch of freeway in the area where Jan and I live. The shootings have only been bullet strikes to vehicles until yesterday when the sniper’s bullet struck a woman in her shoulder. We would appreciate your prayers. This person needs to be brought to justice sooner than later.  

Like all forms of violence, escalation is always possible because violence seeks to increase its presence when not confronted. Just as the freeway sniper has now escalated the deadly potential of his/her acts of violence, so it is with anything in life. Restraint, not the freedom to do whatever an evil desire demands, is the mark of an emotionally and spiritually healthy person.

While a freeway sniper is a real concern for the safety for those of us who live in southern Oregon, so are the contributing words and actions we might add as kindling to the burning fires of emotion now aflame in our culture. Like the progression of the mindset of a sniper firing at innocent motorists, so it is with us when we respond to cultural stimuli without the restraint of the Spirit’s presence.

I understand much of the frustration happening in this emotionally charged pandemic-election cycle-economic downturn social distancing-wear your mask culture. We want to fire off our disgust at someone. We may start by taking aim at the nearest moving vehicle of dissent, but at some point, our unrestrained words can escalate and become a deadly projectile that creates an outcome of harm, not healing. Words do matter. They can be as fatal as a bullet.

 

Today, take a break from what riles you. Walk away from your computer, TV, or smartphone screen and breathe. Bend down and smell a rose, or walk through your neighborhood and say a warm hello to everyone you meet, or simply stare out a window and dream about something you stopped dreaming about when all this craziness first started. 

When we take time to do these simple things, we interrupt the flow of our thinking and our focus shifts. We are able to redirect our thought process and become more willing to put down the weapons of our dissent. This gives the Lord time to speak to our angst and recalibrate our thinking. Under the influence of His love, a renewed sense of hope and trust will come to wash away our need to fire off comments at every passing opinion of which we might disagree. 

Surprises are Coming

Surprises are coming. When they arrive, they will adjust our interpretation of reality and bring correction to our misunderstanding of God's heart and His Kingdom. These surprises will be sourced from God’s throne, not from earthly logic, human reasoning, or our preferred religious history. 

Even the most brilliant thinkers and insightful prophetic voices will bow under the influence of this revelation. The surprises will come as an invasion of love - revelations of God’s heart and His merciful intent for humanity. 

We will all stand corrected under the waterfall of this revelation. As God’s revealed truth flows over our tired and defensive souls, a refreshment will come washing from our eyes the accumulated debris of frustration and angst that has blinded our eyes from seeing the intent and purposes of God.

The Global City Gate

I shared the following paragraph with someone who is substantially gifted in the technology surrounding the use of the Internet, website design, and social media applications.

I wrote, “The city gate is where the business of a community took place in ancient times. The city gate of our time is the Internet and its various applications such as websites, apps, and in some cases, social media. People are no longer limited to a geographic location to conduct business. Our city gates are mobile and widespread. Look at the transition from Blockbuster to Netflix. Even now, new “city gates” are emerging and challenging Netflix.”

The world we live in, whether it be a small village in the heart of Africa or a metropolitan setting in Europe, is immediate, rapid, and connected. Because we all conduct business at a global gate, no longer limited by access to a local and culturally isolated city gate, what we share, read, or transmit is read immediately on a global scale. 

It is wise and compassionate to make sure we are vetting our sources and the condition of our hearts before we transmit information that supports our passionate position on a particular subject. Even the information we transmit in the confidence of its accuracy is not always a full picture of reality. The opinions of other people will help us develop a fuller and more accurate perspective than the perspective we initially brought to the city gate to sell. 

When the cultural pendulum is swinging in such wide arcs as it is doing at this moment, we need to give each other an extra measure of grace as we freely share our opinions. I have friends who hold perspectives that differ from mine, but they handle our differing points of view with honor and decency. We share a mutual respect for each other in our diversity of opinion. Those are the kind of people I enjoy doing business with at the global city gate. 

The Smoke is Clearing Away

The cultural shift some foretold was coming has already taken place. What we see playing out in the streets, courts, and politics of our nation are manifestations of that change. The smoke of conflict is beginning to drift away, revealing what actually happened when our culture made its most recent move. Many of us are now standing in new and unique places. As a result of that change, our faith and worldview have experienced a new focus and clarity. 

Self-control will be seen historically as one of the most significant choices we could have made in this heated social environment. Self-control is not silence, the abdication of responsibility, or relinquishing our duty to live as responsible citizens of our nation and of Heaven. Our dual citizenship creates a unique tension. As citizens of Heaven, our first responsibility is to God and His agenda. Even in our most patriotic moments, we allow the Lord to set the timing and content of our response to what is transpiring in the earthly realm, not our emotions, or the heated relational discord our choices might produce. 

There is so much to say at this time in our developing national history. We must wait for God’s timing to speak, or we will enter the floodwaters of disgust and offense where the impact of our voice will be drowned out because we were the ones who chose the content and timing of what was spoken, not God.  This is the spiritual tension created by our dual citizenship. 

Defining Freedom

There is a great deal of conversation taking place in our culture about the subject of freedom. Today, I took a look at what Scripture tells us about true freedom. It became for me a meaningful personal reminder and a point of clarity. While some may say this only pertains to matters of the Spirit, I would respectfully disagree. It pertains to everything because it is everything. This understanding takes place at the core of our being and will form the substance of our principles and how we choose to live our lives. 

OUR FREEDOM WAS GIVEN WHEN WE FIRST BELIEVED - Once we believed in Jesus Christ, we were set free. To remain free, we must continue to believe and trust in the Lord. “But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 3:22).

OUR FREEDOM IS MOBILE - We carry our freedom with us wherever we go no matter what the circumstance. “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (II Corinthians 3:17).

OUR FREEDOM IS NOT PROGRESSIVE – It took place once and for all and was made available to us by the death, resurrection, and enthronement of Jesus Christ. It is absolute and forever unchangeable by even the most challenging circumstance of life. “He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins” (Ephesians 1:7).

Today, the Lord is inviting us to live and speak like free people. Our words and witness regarding freedom may upset some who still think their freedom is tied to the promise of a nation or a set of cultural ideals. While those can be noble and good, they do not promise the same freedom found in Christ. Nations will rise and fail, and human ideals will change over time. Only Jesus remains the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Until the Lord Speaks

We have become walking and talking encyclopedias offering evidence to support our position for what we think ails humanity. As we stand naively confident in our assumption, we are unaware that soon the Lord will speak. At that moment, all of our best guesses and supporting data will bow in the presence of His revelation. 

Of One Heart

Being of one heart has a greater impact than being of one mind. In a close environment where people work together toward a common goal, hearts that follow after God in love, create a healthy and cohesive work environment. 

The apostle Paul encouraged us in the second chapter of Philippians to be of one mind. That one-mindedness was the by-product of living together in an environment of love. Love is always a matter of the heart.  Many times, we miss what creates a by-product by focusing on the by-product and not what produced the by-product.

If a leader requires all team members to be of one mind, typically, that translates as being in lockstep obedience with the worldview and preferences of the team leader. That requirement actually creates a weakness in the team. It is a false unity and restricts Spirit-led creativity that only comes through a diversity of opinion. It also limits the breadth of expression and insight required to engage greater Kingdom exploits. 

For example, if you are a team leader who releases edicts of how your team should respond to the issues of culture in an attempt to maintain team discipline and portray unity to those outside the team, you are creating followers, not leaders. Work first and foremost at building a team unity around the fruits of the Spirit, not your opinions. If the hearts of your team members are right and expressing love and honor toward each other, even if they say or do something that differs from your opinion, it will all work out in the end because their hearts were right. This is the kind of working environment that creates trust and honor in a team because people know they are loved in their diversity, not only in their conformity.

Stop, Look and Listen Before You Step Outside

This morning, I finally got a picture of our puppy’s morning ritual. Each morning, she sticks her head through the doggie door to see if the way is safe before she goes outside. She does this every day. Ladybug is only six months old, but she is teaching us something.

Our culture is filled with legitimate issues that need our attention. However, those issues have offered some individuals and social agendas an opportunity to lure the undiscerning into places of deception. They are using heartfelt matters as bait to draw people out and prematurely align their lives and resources with diversions and hidden agendas. 

It would be wise to learn a lesson from my dog. Before we charge ahead when our emotions and the culture are wanting action, we need to stop and discern the environment into which we are about to step and unwittingly offer our support. When things heat up, it's too easy to allow our emotions, group pressure, and our desire to do something to cause us to make unwise and premature choices that put us in a place of emotional and spiritual jeopardy. 

Our home is close to a forest. Some mornings, as I sit in the darkness, I can hear the howl of a coyote pack who just made a kill. A few times, we have seen cougars. Our puppy would become an easy meal for these predators if she was not wise enough to stop and discern what awaits her outside the walls of our home, even in the familiar environment of our back yard.

Conflicting Sounds

It’s a bit after 2:00 am. A few minutes ago, I woke up and could not go back to sleep. I had a few things on my mind I needed to deal with so, I quietly got up and went into our living room to talk with the Lord. A few minutes after rising, I started my audio bible program to listen to the book of Ezra while following along with an open bible in my lap.

As I started to listen to the narrator, I also heard a beautiful piano soundtrack that accompanied the reading of the text. The music seemed out of time and confusing, not like what I was used to hearing. It soon became apparent to me the sound engineers made a mistake and placed a flute soundtrack on top of the piano music. It was hard to follow along, listening to the person reading the text with the conflicting soundtracks playing in the background. I was glad Ezra was only ten chapters long.

When I finished reading, I turned off the audio bible. The piano music that accompanied the audio bible stopped, but the flute music continued to play. At that moment, I realized my error. Last night, Jan and I were listening to some beautiful flute music on YouTube. When we went to bed, I closed my laptop but did not turn off the YouTube channel. When I opened my computer this morning to listen to the word, the flute music started once again.  I had two channels playing music at the same time, YouTube and my audio bible program.

Then I realized why the Lord had me get up to take care of some personal business. The day before, I made two decisions that were in conflict with a previous instruction from the Lord. The unresolved conflict did not allow me to sleep. My soul was restless. Just like the competing soundtracks on my computer that made it hard for me to hear the word, I had given the competing voices of human reasoning the freedom to speak. Their sound compromised a word the Lord had given to me previously.

This is a very unusual time in history. We need to be focused and clear in our thinking. We also need to be quick to rectify those things that impede our ability to hear His voice.  The Lord desires clarity in our lives. If we continue to allow outside voices to create a conflicting sound in opposition to the Lord’s voice, we will struggle to hear His instruction just like I struggled to hear the bible text being read through my computer. 

This is a loving warning for all of us from the Lord regarding the days ahead. He has things to say to us that will not be heard if we continue to allow competing voices to obscure the sound of His voice. 

Accelerating the Rights Things

I recently read a term I had not seen before - Accelerationist. The word is used to describe people who live on the extreme edges of the social spectrum, either far left and far right. An accelerationist is someone who uses social causes that might not even be their own as a chance to create disorder and invoke people to respond in violence.

While those of you reading my words would hopefully be nowhere near these radical edges, I want to offer each of us a word of caution. Our voice, if we represent Jesus Christ, must be monitored and disciplined to keep us out of the vile stream of ideologies that motivate the dark aspects of fringe accelerationism. Discernment is not just something we relegate to a religious setting to cast out demons or prophetically deliver a word of hope. It is also meant for the public sphere. God gave us discernment to see through the opinions being offered to discover their motivation and to make sure we are not naively being used to foment angst and further division.

Today, I was impacted by the words of Paul. I have included his words below as a refresher for many of us. Paul wrote the following words in a chapter where he was trying to help people deal with relational disagreements, appealing to them to live in the joy of the Lord and to confront the worry that can rob us of our peace. 

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:8-9).

Our thoughts will either accelerate the goodness of God or accelerate agendas contrary to the values of His Kingdom. Paul used the phrase, “Fix your thoughts." "Fix" is a word in the original language that means “to consider, take account, weigh or mediate.” It is not a reactionary word. It implies deliberation, consideration, and moderation. When we fix our thoughts on God, we will accelerate the kind of actions and conversations that an accelerationist mindset has not conceived in their quest to sow disorder and fear or to prove a point. 

Restraint and Wisdom

The Lord is about to reward your restraint. You have bitten your lip on several occasions as foolish and harmful words have been tossed about without discernment. More than once, you almost spoke, but you did not. Heaven has taken notice of your discipline. You have become a trusted voice. Words of insight, wisdom, and healing will be released through you that will not only amaze those who hear you speak, but it will amaze you because you will know God was the source, not a pool of polluted and indisciplined emotions.

A Change in Direction and an Adjustment in Relationships

This morning, the Lord gave me two different words to share with those to whom they might apply. The first paragraph has to do with seeking direction from the Lord. The second is about coming change within existing relationships.

DIRECTION: You have come this far by wisely evaluating every step along the way. Each time, before you moved, you have waited for the Lord to place a stone to mark your next step along the path. The pause you are experiencing between the last stone, and the one yet to be placed, seems to be taking longer than expected.  There is a direction change coming. What you discerned in the past as a linear and straight-ahead way forward into the future is about to make a turn. The next placement of your time, energy, and resources will be critical.  It will determine the path of your future. Wait for the Lord to place the next stone before you take a step.

RELATIONSHIPS: There is a cluster of significant relationships in your life. Those relationships are about to be tested. It will be tested in the hearts of those who make up the group. Each of you has come thus far in agreement. This unusual time in history has tested some of your previous shared agreements. Nuances are now being discovered. The sounds of a direction change are now in the mix. This is making some in your group nervous. What is taking place is not a work of division. It is a work of clarification empowered by the Spirit. This clarification will make it possible to experience a deeper level of team intimacy and unity. God is clarifying the calling of your group and expanding the breadth of its diversity. He is unifying you in a deeper place than the diverse personal opinions that have recently surfaced. God is at work in the heart of your group. Let Him have His way, and He will make a way. 

Since I Knew It Al;

The title of Jerry Cook's book, "A Few Things I've Learned Since I Knew It All," seems to express what many of us are experiencing as we discover the shallowness of our opinions in this heated time of social unrest. The title of Jerry's book has become an anthem over many of us as we learn how to live with each other in deeper expressions of honor and respect.

Silent Running

God has been inviting some of us to go to a deeper place, away from the overwhelming and never-ending surface clatter we hear in the public sphere. Fear has bullied its way into our cultural dialogue. Some of what is being vented is our unresolved fears – fear of what is happening in our world, fear of a loss of control, or simply a fear of the unknown. God is coming after our fear because fear and love cannot coexist. One will be supplanted by the presence of the other.

In submarine maneuvering, there is a tactic called silent running. It is a stealth mode of operation that allows a submarine to move undetected through the ocean to position itself to gather intelligence or set up a tactical operation.  During silent running, all but the essential systems of the sub are turned off, and the propeller speed is reduced. The crew is told to remain quiet and not make any noise that could transmit through the hull and alert enemy detection systems of the submarine's presence. 

Positions on a variety of important issues have been declared on the surface of our current cultural conversation. We know where most people stand. Maybe wisdom will ask some of us to take a moment to go deep and run silently. In going deeper, we will take our opinions with us to a new depth. In that deep and silent place, apart from the noise of human opinion, the Lord will speak either affirmation or adjustment to those things we thought were so right while we were still cruising on the surface, confident that we saw everything with such clarity. When our voice finally returns to the surface, we will bring with us a new understanding and insight that only comes when we have allowed God to take us deep and run silently in a quiet place.

“In quietness and trust is your strength” (Isaiah 32:15).

God is Commissioning Scouts

As a new season approaches, the life-assignments of some will make a transition.  God is calling a new breed of spiritual scouts who are willing to explore beyond the boundary line that separates the old from the new. Accepting this calling will change everything.

The Spirit is stirring these scouts to explore territory that has opened up during the last few months of the global shutdown. These are scouts who sense something new is now upon us, and they want to go and take a look. Some scouts will discover ancient trails that are overgrown, out of sight, and long-neglected. Others will blaze entirely new trails into the future. 

If you are a scout, you have been sensing something new that exists beyond the horizon line of our current understanding. You are compelled to venture out to explore a way forward for others to follow. This exploration will require that you break camp with any mindset that would hold you back from your mission of discovery. Your decision to break camp with the status quo will not always be understood by those who consider the current encampment adequate. 

If you are a scout, you have been called and commissioned for this adventure. Travel wisely and always carry with you an assurance that God will reveal the way forward when the obstacles on the trail seem overwhelming. The way forward will be revealed as you walk in a moment-by-moment dependence upon God’s Spirit.  

Going Deeper

When something crosses our path and challenges our perspective, our first response is many times crafted from a variety of issues like our unresolved fears, pride, past acts of betrayal, or the pain of relational abandonment. These are surface responses that are reactive in nature. They can hold us captive on the surface until we choose to break free and go deeper. 

This deeper place is where the Spirit reveals truth with greater clarity. It is where we need to go to receive a healthy evaluation of the content of a message that is currently challenging our reality or perspective. This deeper level is where the Spirit brings insight and wisdom that is not crippled by a first-level interpretation fueled by our emotional response to the painful events of life. 

The prophetic voice of the Church is a shared calling for all who believe. It is not limited to a group of people who are known to speak prophetically. God wants to take all of us deeper. The deeper place is where revelation is waiting to be discovered that will shift human hearts and redirect the destiny of nations to align them with the mandate of the Great Commission.

When we finally arrive in that deeper place, we will have an opportunity to humbly allow God's Spirit to counsel us and craft our message. In some cases, we might actually be asked to recraft our message for greater impact.  In that deeper place is where we will discover our prophetic voice, a voice that speaks the truth in love.