Ada Pathway @ Prayer - January, 2012

"I don't care what the devil plans to do. The Great Commission puts me on the offensive. I've got the ball. And if I carry the ball effectively, his plans won't matter." (Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth)

Jesus made an amazing promise concerning the church. He said, "the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt. 16:18). I've always understood that verse to mean that, even though all the powers of hell will attack the church, in the end those attacks will fail and the church will still be standing.

I missed one important aspect of this imagery: Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against the church, not that the gates of the churchwould successfully stand up against the attacks of hell. It's a shift in perspective, but a necessary one. We are not on the defensive, we're on the offensive, and we've been promised that the gates of hell won't hold up under our advances. The gates are under attack - but not the gates of the church.

We pray from a position of strength. 

We pray out of victory. 

We pray from the high ground. 

January was another "high water" month for the prayer group at Ada Pathway. Here are some highlights:

• We held our first healing prayer service of the year, and God made His presence known
• We prayed for a man with dementia who had been experiencing a lot of inconsistent "normal vs. abnormal" periods; a week after the healing prayer service, he reported that he'd had "a string of 'normals' that would make anyone shout"
• A man in the prayer group went out to visit a friend who had just had her tonsils removed; after praying for her, she reported that her throat felt a lot better
• We prayed for spiritual reconciliation for the daughter of a man in our prayer group, and he reported two weeks later that she has expressed a desire to come back home
• We prayed for a young woman with sepsis (due to kidney stones) whom the doctors said probably wouldn't live - less than a month later, she returned back to work
• A man in our prayer group told us about a friend who had been in the hospital suffering from a kidney infection, and she was unable to leave the hospital until her fever broke; he asked another woman in our prayer group who had also recently been through a kidney infection to pray, and his friend later reported that on that same day, it was if "a light switch turned on," and the fever left her
• We've been praying for reconciliation and restoration for a family in the church, and we've heard reports of progress being made
• A man in the prayer group was teaching his young daughter how to hear God's voice; she had been having pain in her thumb, but while she was practicing listening for God, she said she "saw" Him touch her thumb, and the pain left immediately
• Last, but not least, our prayer group has continued to grow this month - a strong indicator that God is continuing to strengthen our church body

All of these answers to prayer (and there are many more than I have recounted here) are fulfillments of Jesus' promise: the church is advancing the Kingdom, and the gates of hell are giving way.

A final thought: it's easy to get caught up in the "evil reports" of our time. The headlines are full of bad news, and some Christians get lulled into the mind-set that things will just continue to deteriorate until Jesus comes back. But that's not the nature of the Kingdom, and that's not the promise of Scripture. The promise of God is this: "Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end." (Is. 9:7) It's the nature of the Kingdom to always be advancing, and it is our privilege to be the agents of advancement as we pray and demonstrate the power of the Kingdom in the territory around us.

"O great and powerful God, whose name is the LORD Almighty, great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds ... You performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, both in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours." (Jer. 32:18-20)

Jacob

Jesus and Religion

You've seen this video, right? The one where the guy recites his poem about how Jesus is greater than Religion?

Check it out, if you haven't already.



Apparently it resonated with a lot of people, because the video went viral and, as of the time of this writing, has over 15 million hits. Everyone is talking about it, including the Washington Post blog, the Huffington Post, and even Yahoo! News.

Most of the reactions I've seen have been in support of the video, but I've seen a few "rebuttals" here and there as well.

The whole thing comes at an interesting time for me. I just heard a message about a month-and-a-half ago that pretty much said the exact same thing (links to highlights from that sermon are at the end of this post). Inspired by that message, I posted a comparison chart on Facebook that showed the difference between living life "on the way to the cross" and living life "on the way from the cross." That chart, in turn, became the focal point of discussion for two consecutive Sunday School lessons this month.

I think there's a lot of truth in this video, and I really hope it isn't the last word on the subject. What I mean is this: there may be some major discrepancies between Jesus and "the church" (or "religion," if you will) at this point in history, but that rift can be healed. I'd love it if a video like this had no link to reality 20 years from now, if the majority of people in the world could honestly say, "I actually don't see a huge difference between Christianity and Christ, except for maybe in one or two off-the-beaten-path groups here and there."

Healing that rift has to start with individual Christians and how they understand themselves in relation to God, how they understand what the New Covenant really is, and how much they grasp the revelation of the Father's heart.

We're not there, as a church-across-the-world ... not yet. There are a lot of Christians who have stepped into the New Covenant, but never left the Old Covenant mindset behind. Christianity is just a super-polished version of the Old Covenant in a lot of peoples' minds. My creed says I'm following after Jesus, but my life says that Moses is my traveling companion.

In "Moses Christianity," I acknowledge that my heart is "deceitful above all things and desperately wicked," but in Christ I am conscious of the fact that I am a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17) - and that new creation did not include a desperately wicked heart. (If it did, then the new creation isn't much better than the old creation, and Jesus should probably come back to earth and give it another try.)

In "Moses," I am conscious of my "sin nature," but in Christ I rejoice that I am a participant in the Divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4).

In "Moses," I try really hard to obey God's laws so that He will bless me, but in Christ I remember that the requirements of the law have been met (Rom. 8:4), and I focus on simply receiving my inheritance (Rom. 8:17).

In "Moses," I see crises and tragedy in my life and I assume that God must be punishing me for having done something wrong, but in Christ I know that I am unpunishable (Rom. 8:1) because God doesn't play "Double Jeopardy."

In "Moses," I think God causes bad things to happen to me sometimes because He wants me to repent, but in Christ I know that it is the Enemy who does the stealing, killing, and destroying (John 10:10), and when God wants me to repent He employs the remedy of His goodness (Rom. 2:4), not the remedy of destruction.

In "Moses," I think of myself as an unworthy servant, but in Christ I know that I am a beloved son (Rom. 8:16, 1 John 3:1) who is worth everything to my Father.

In "Moses," I try to get a greater revelation of God's love and grace by focusing on my sinfulness, but in Christ I get a greater revelation of God's love and grace by focusing on God's love and grace.

In "Moses," I think that I have to hang my head in "humility" (which is really shame) in order to get God to move on my behalf, but in Christ I lift up my head in order to see the King of Glory come in (Ps. 24:7).

In "Moses," I try to content myself with what I have because I don't expect God to give me much, but in Christ I realize that God supplies my needs according to His riches (Phil. 4:19), not according to the limitations of my needs.

In "Moses," I work hard at becoming more righteous by obeying the law, but in Christ I know that I am already the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21), and my obedience comes from love, not for love.

In "Moses," sorrow and tears are the trustworthy signs that the Spirit is working, but in Christ I know that the fruit of the Spirit is joy (Gal. 5:22), so when He moves in my life I experience rejoicing.

In "Moses," I think of repentance as beating myself up and wallowing in shame before God, but in Christ I know that shame was completely dealt with at the cross, and repentance is renewing my mind so that I can be transformed (Rom. 12:2).

Healing the rift between religion and Jesus starts with healing the rift in ourselves, where we're living with one foot in each Covenant. When we embrace the full reality of the New Covenant and our own identity as sons and daughters of God, we start reflecting more Jesus and less religion. When we stop focusing on what we were (dead, depraved, sinful, miserable) and start focusing on what we are (alive, righteous, co-heir with Christ, dead to sin, unpunishable), we position ourselves to be conduits of God's love and grace to the world. When we get really good at focusing on our "sin nature" and our struggle to be righteous, we get really good at focusing on everyone else's sin and failure as well, and we position ourselves to be accusers.

When Christians start stepping, en masse, into their full inheritance, then churches across the world will start preaching (and demonstrating!) the extravagant goodness of God, which leads to true repentance. And when that happens, there will be no more distinction between Jesus and religion, because the "religion" practiced by the church will be nothing less than a continuation of the life and work of Jesus.

Enjoy the videos!

Jacob

WWJD?

"Repent [metanoeite], for the kingdom of heaven is near." (Matt. 4:17)

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Metanoeite: present-imperative verb, from metanoeo: "to change one's mind, i.e. to repent -- to change one's mind for better." (Thayer and Smith, New Testament Greek Lexicon)

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Jesus made a promise in the presence of His disciples, and the words of that promise show that it was meant for every believer in every age: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father" (Jn. 14:12).

Just to get a clearer picture of what Jesus was saying, take a look at the preceding sentence: "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves" (Jn. 14:11).

Line it all up, and we get this: Jesus says "believe that God is in me and I am in Him, at least on the evidence on the miracles I've been doing - and anyone who believes in me will do the miracles I've been doing, and will do even greater miracles than I've been doing, because I'm going to my Father."

The original Greek text makes it really clear because it uses the same word repeatedly, hammering the point home: Jesus says "believe me on the evidence of the erga [works] ... anyone who believes in me will do the erga [works] I've been doing, and will do even greater [meizona, "stronger"] than these, because I'm going to the Father."

It used to seem to me that it was almost borderline blasphemy to think that I could do the miracles of Jesus, because Jesus was God, and I'm not. The problem was in my head, in my thinking, which is why I needed to experience metanoeite-repentance - a change of mind.

The New Testament suggests in several different places that Jesus performed miracles by letting God work through Him, by the power of the Holy Spirit, not that Jesus did what He did by the power of His own divinity. Luke says in his gospel that as Jesus was preaching to the crowds, "the power of the Lord was present for him to heal the sick" (Lk. 5:17). Reflecting on the works of Jesus, the Apostle Peter said that they were "miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him" (Acts 2:22). Jesus Himself said, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing" (Jn. 5:19).

If Jesus performed all of those mighty works and miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit, by being completely dependant on His Father and becoming a vessel through which His Father could work, then you and I can do the same. That's why He said what He said: "anyone who has faith in me will do the works I have been doing."

There was also a time when I used to think that, just as Jesus uniquely did miracles because He was divine, so also the Apostles were unique in their ability to work miracles, because they were specially authorized by Jesus to do so. In other words, Jesus did miracles because He was unique among men, and the Apostles did miracles because they, too, were unique among men.

But the Apostles themselves point us away from this line of reasoning and tell us that it's a faulty way of thinking. After Peter and John healed the cripple at the temple gate in Acts 3, they (understandably) attracted a crowd of curious onlookers who wanted to know what had just happened. Notice what Peter says about himself in his explanation of the miracle: "Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? ... It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see" (Acts 3:12, 16). Peter denies that it was own unique power that healed the cripple. He even denies that it was his own unique level of godliness, or righteousness, or holiness that accomplished the miracle. He entirely denies that it had anything to do with him at all, and confesses that the healing miracle came through the name of Jesus.

I'm not sure why I used to insist on contradicting Peter's own words about himself. He says "it had absolutely nothing to do with me or who I am," but I kept thinking "well, he could do those things because he was an Apostle."

Jesus paid the ultimate price to obtain the "all authority in heaven and on earth" that His Father gave to Him. That was the inheritance that He received, as we see in the Psalm: "You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession." (Ps. 2:7-8) It makes me sad when Christians embrace the attitude reflected in a comment I recently read on an Internet forum: "Since Jesus has all authority, then there is none left for anyone else. Everyone else is a bond-servant."

Oh, but the good news is so much more beautiful than that! The inheritance of Jesus was "all authority" and dominion over the nations and kingdoms of this earth, and Paul says "if we are children" - and we most certainly are - "then we are heirs -- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:17). I am a co-heir with Jesus. Yes, He obtained all authority in heaven and on earth, but He obtained it to share it. The prophet Daniel saw a vision of the future, in which the Messiah "was given authority, glory and sovereign power," and he saw that "his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed" (Dan. 7:14) - but the next thing he saw was that "the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever" (vs. 18), and that "the sovereignty, power and greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven will behanded over to the saints, the people of the Most High" (vs. 27).

Let that sink in! The "power and greatness of the kingdoms" which Jesus won at the cross were "handed over to the saints."

I share in the inheritance of Jesus, and I share in His dominion, because that's just how generous and good He is. Contrary to the opinion stated in the comment which was quoted above, I am most certainly not a "bond-servant" in the kingdom of God. Jesus says that I am no longer a servant, I am a friend (see Jn. 15:15). 

We've got to experience greater metanoeite-repentance, the kind that sees us changing the way we think! Did you know that God wants to share His glory with His children? I used to read this passage in Isaiah, "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another" (Is. 42:8), and I would get this picture in my head of an all-glorious God who was completely distant and light years away from me. He was the all-holy God, and I was the lowly worm, and that's how He wanted it: "I will not give my glory to another."

I needed metanoeite. I had to correct my thinking and get a greater revelation of my Father's heart, and of my identity as His son, and that's when I understood that, while God says "I will not give my glory to another," as His son I am not "another," I'm a privileged member of the divine family. Jesus shows us the heart of the Father when it comes to His glory: "I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one ... I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one" (Jn. 17:20-22). Isn't that awesome? God gave Jesus glory, and then Jesus turns around and says "I have given them that glory, so we can all be one."

Here's the good news: if you have faith in Jesus and possess the Spirit which causes you to call God "Abba, Father," then you are a co-heir with Jesus, which means you've inherited with Him the authority, power, dominion, and glory that He won through His victory at the cross. And as a co-heir with Jesus, the promise is yours, "anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing, and will do even greater things than these."

What would Jesus do? Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the leper, drive out demons. Restore the lost, bind up the broken-hearted, bring reconciliation and peace.

You're a co-heir. Go out and do what Jesus would do.

Jacob