Freedom Blog

Well, I am gearing up to head over to Southern Tanzania, Africa for two months (January & February 2011). I will be travelling with a non-profit organization Global Family Rescue (GFR). I can’t tell you how excited I am about this opportunity to help apostolically shape GFR’s humanitarian aide work over there with the Gospel. God has placed a growing burden to not only care for the sick, poor and hungry, but to also confront the demonic oppression over their lives that perpetuates injustice and keeps people in bondage to poverty and sickness. When I read about the Way Jesus lived while He walked among us, I am always confronted with how He moved both in love and in power. Jesus met people right where they were at and released the presence of God into their lives where people experienced God’s unconditional love and His radical forgiveness for sins. But, Jesus also released the power of the Kingdom of God into their lives as well which set people free from sickness, demonic oppression and bondage.

This growing passion to follow in the footsteps of my Saviour King both challenges and empowers me all at the same time. But, if I step back from my life and give a prophetic eye to the journey Jesus has had me on since He saved me, this leg of the journey is right on time. Now, I’m not saying that I am fully ready for this, but I am not afraid. Though I am anticipating that much is going to happen along the Way while I am in Tanzania, at the end of the day I am going agenda-less. There are some things that I sense the Holy Spirit has placed on my heart to be prepared for, but what is most pressing is that above all else I need to just make myself, with the help of the Holy Spirit, fully available to Jesus and the Kingdom agenda that He wants to accomplish both in and through me. This means I will need to be consciously dying to myself, rather than trying to preserve myself (Luke 9: 23-25). So, please remember me in prayer over these coming months. I’m not sure on how much Internet access I will have while in Tanzania, but I will make an effort to keep you all posted. Also, if there is anything I can be praying for you all please let me know. I love praying for and with people and would be honored to join with you in prayer. 

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

One of the hardest things for a person to do is to submit and wait on God or on the flip side of this is to admit that we actually need help and then ask for it. In both instances, it’s our pride that gets in the way. I believe that God loves it when His children actually ask Him to provide for them because when we do, we admit that we actually need Him. We need to remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:9-11 “Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

But, we when ask, we need to check our motives in why we are asking, as James 4:3 warns us, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” It’s not that God doesn’t want us to enjoy life, God loves to celebrate. But His concern is broader than just us. He is also concerned about the people around us, those in which He is calling us to be salt and light to by loving and sacrificing for them for the sake of the Gospel. God is all about raising up for Himself a people after His own heart which means followers who are concerned about loving and caring for those around them. James does gives us a good warning, but don’t ever let this verse stop you from actually asking God for what you need. Don’t let this verse stop you from acknowledging your dependency on God by telling Him what your needs are because the whole point of the passage that this verse rests in is about submitting to God and understanding that we need to humble ourselves before Him by embracing the reality of our dependency on Him.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

For most Christians today, there’s way too much hesitation, even resistance and apathy in making that transition from seeing a need to fulfilling that need. I believe the problem is that we live lives that are far from a Gospel lifestyle. A big reason for this is that a lot of our lives are defined by something else other than Jesus. Remember Jesus is the Gospel without Jesus there is no redemption, no forgiveness of sin because it’s only through Christ’s shed blood on the Cross that the entire debt for sin was paid in full. For the disicples, their whole lives were defined by Jesus, every aspect of them. They lived and breathed knowing that Jesus, their Savior and Friend was the Lord of Lords and Kings of Kings (2 Tim 6:15). The One who raised people from the dead (Matt 9; Luke 7; John 11) and washed their feet (John 13). The One who they saw resurrected from the dead and then ascended into heaven. The One who breathed the Holy Spirit on them (John 20:22) and sent tongues of fire to rest upon them (Acts 2:3). 

What is it that is defining your life?

     – Is it your job?

     – Is it money or material things?

     – Is it your family and friends?

     – Is it the affirmation and praises of others?

     – Is it the attention of the opposite sex?

     – Is it your fears?

¹ One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. ² Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. ³ When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. ⁴ Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” ⁵ So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. ⁶ Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” ⁷ Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. ⁸ He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. ⁹ When all the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰ they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. (Acts 3:1-10 NLT)

The more a person’s life reflects that they are completely defined by Jesus, the more quickly they will be able to act redemptively in any given situation. Everything Jesus did was redemptive and the more a believer’s life is defined by the Gospel, the quicker they will act to address a need as Peter and John did in the lame man’s life. They will be able to move right from seeing a need to fulfilling that need by acting redemptively with the power of the Gospel. There was a fluidity that Peter showed as he moved from seeing the lame man, to healing him in the power and authority of Jesus’ Name. We don’t read any hesitation. Peter didn’t have to spend time thinking about what to do. He didn’t have to talk to John about it or they didn’t invite the man to the temple with them. No, Peter just looked at the man and did what needed to be done.

I believe that when believers are completely defined by Jesus, they will be able to move fluidly in the power of the Gospel, in the power and authority of the Name of Jesus. But, too often, I hear and see people not acting or hesitating; myself included. But, the more my life has become defined by Jesus, meaning the more I’ve begun to live a Gospel lifestyle, the more Jesus has included me in His ongoing ministry of redemption here on earth. I’ve literally, seen people set free by the power of God. It’s one thing to watch miracles happen, but to actually be involved in that process takes it to whole other level.  

Now how a Gospel lifestyle is lived out is going to look differently from believer to believer. But, at the core of a Gospel lifestyle will be these characteristics:

     – Faith                  – Love             – Peace              – Self-sacrifice

     – Forgiveness        – Prayer          – Goodness         – Kindness

     – Redemption        – Joy               – Hope               – Self-control

Now, this list is neither exclusive nor exhaustive. Maybe you’d add a few other characteristics to the list. The point here is this: The more a believer’s life is defined by Jesus, the more their lives will reflect these core characteristics of the Gospel. But, in order for these elements to be more tangible in a believer’s life, there needs to be surrender and submission to God. We are all in process with the Lord and His desire is to glorify Himself in every aspect of our lives by bringing us into the fullness of His grace and redeeming everything in our lives. This means we need to be daily positioning ourselves to be transformed by God, so that more areas of our lives will be integrated with the Gospel. This means we need to be actively surrendering to God. The more we surrender, the more God establishes His rightful place as the Lord of our hearts and the more fully Gospel integrated we become. Jesus needs to be sitting at the throne of every part of our lives. Make it your mission today to begin living a Gospel lifestyle! 

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Over these past few months Jesus has been challenging me to really wrestle with this question: “Am I truly submitting to His lordship over my life and His headship over the church?” For me when I think lordship what immediately comes to mind is trust. When I am living a life submitted to the lordship of Christ, it means that I trust Jesus knows what’s best for me. Now, I’m not saying that I need to be at a place where I immediately accept and embrace everything Jesus brings into my life (if that were true, I’d probably be sporting a halo and have wings). No, what I am alluding to here is the resistance and doubt that I have in my heart when it comes to believing and waiting on His plans for my life. It’s when I try to circumvent or even try to answer my own prayers that I reject Jesus’ lordship over my life.

It’s the same with submitting to Jesus’ headship over the church. I was just talking with a fellow brother about his church back in Australia which is a “Presence” driven church. This resonates with me. A “Presence” driven church actively moves in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and allows Him to orchestrate the flow of the service.  I do feel like part of the process of submitting to Jesus’ headship over the church is to be more “Presence” driven. My only concerns are (and this is what I am wrestling in my heart about) “Am I fearful of giving up control of the Sunday gathering because I want to be in control?” Now this can flesh out in a variety of ways: 1) I’m afraid of chaos happening; 2) I’m afraid that the Word will get lost; and 3) I’m afraid of what may happen (supernaturally). Now what these three concerns have in common are: mistrust and control. So, again I am drawn back to submitting to the lordship of Christ (trust) and headship of Christ (control). Of course both of these issues could be interchangeable with control being at odds with lordship and trust hindering headship.

So, where to from here? I’m still in process, but, bottom line, I know that these are good wrestlings. And no matter how long I wrestle, I know that I am growing and maturing in this process. A friend said to me once, “Struggle is good, it’s when there’s no struggle that we should be concerned.” Now, how I’ve always interpreted this is: Struggle shows that I am either in the process of transformation or that I have been transformed by God and am now in the process of walking in that transformation by struggling to not revert back to my old ways of living. It’s when I’ve either grown complacent where I am completely uninterested about being transformed by God or when I have given into my carnal selfish desires which hardens my heart and makes me indifferent and unresponsive to God’s movements of redemption that struggle ceases. This is when there needs to be concern. But, when there’s struggle, this means I am actively joining with Jesus as He fights for my freedom.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!