Needed: Government Change or Revival?

Many believers are probably reeling from some disappointment from the election results, as many conservative values were thrown under the bus in the name of progress.  I am not talking about being Democrat or Republican, for Obama or Romney.  Many of the values represented in the current government movement are not righteous values.  Whether you agree or not is not what is important but I believe our response in this hour is critical.  If I put my hope in the government system, economic system, health care system, or any other human system, we will be disappointed at some point.  As believers we are called to put our hope in the Kingdom of God and the returning of our Messiah.  In Isaiah 60 it points to the light shining (Christ in us- He is the Light and now we are children of Light) when deep darkness covers the earth.  No one can argue that with global economic recession, instability in many Muslim governments, inflation, high unemployment, many natural disasters, human rights violations, Iran enriching Uranium, and many other things that this very much looks like some darkness covering the earth.  I am not for doom and gloom, I think it is important that we be like the sons of Issachar discerning the times and seasons we are in.  Our church recently had a revivalist, Sean Smith, who has studied the great revivals of history.  What is amazing is that what precedes a great rival or awakening is not just fervent prayer, desperation by believers, a uniting of believers for this purpose, repentance but really the darkening of the society the people are in.  Thus he listed several things, like a rise in violent crime, economic problems, etc..  It was his conviction and belief not that revival is coming to America but that it is already here.  This may be shocking to some American Christians but look across the globe at what God is doing:  there is documented outbreaks of revival on every continent on the earth, there are more Muslims coming to Christ in the last 50 years than all the other previous times, there are more Jews coming to Christ than in past history, there are more outbreaks of divine healings, there is incredible growth in people coming to Christ in emerging or developing nations, there are documented resurrections from the dead in over 80 countries, and there are many new countries being opened to the Gospel.  Could it be that in these times that seem so dark, we could be on the edge of one of the greatest outpourings of God's Spirit on the earth.  I have seen in my little world that there is more revelation from the Word of God being shared about our identity "in Christ" and the fullness of God's grace through Christ than I know has been released in the past.  As much as the generations behind me (younger than 40 years old) are often some of the most unchurched, somewhere around 4%.  There also I believe is a rising spiritual hunger where people are genuinely searching for something more than they are currently living and experiencing.  I believe it is time to turn to the Lord and seek His face for what He is looking to do in our nation, our families, and our own hearts.  God is not shocked by the recent election, Jesus Christ is still on His throne and God is still sovereign.  If we are reeling, maybe it is because we don't see it from God's perspective and this is an invitation to wake up to Him and wake up to our destiny as the Bride of Christ.

To see an Outpouring of Father's Love,
Bret

Faith, Hope, & Love

I seem to often perceive things in the Lord while I am riding my bike, it sounds like I just like to ride my bike (which I do) but I like to believe that Father likes to meet me in a place I enjoy.  As I have listened to international speakers who travel the world ministering the Gospel, I was struck by one of my favorite themes Father's Love.  Our pastor who recently went to a national gathering said Father's love was spoken about by each speaker.  As I was riding I sensed the Holy Spirit showing me that the "word of faith" movement was obviously based in faith, while there were abuses in this move of God it also ignited the church to move out in faith declarations that brought some amazing fruit.  There also has been a move of God through the Church that has brought healings, signs, and wonders.  This move has brought hope to the hopeless, with many with terminal illnesses getting healed.  There have of course been abuses, controversy, and difficulties in this move.  It seems the only way to stay safe from those is to have a gospel that does not transform anyone, change any circumstances, but be in Word only.  I personally refuse to believe this is a Gospel that Jesus spoke about and demonstrated, the Gospel of the Kingdom including healings, signs, and wonders.  In 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, it ends with saying these three remain Faith, Hope, and Love but the greatest of these is Love.  Could it be that in this hierarchy of revelation that Faith and Hope are precursors to the greatest revelation, which is the revelation of God's eternal, everlasting, and powerful love in Christ.  As I have been reading a book "The Gift in You" by Caroline Leaf who is a believer and a Neuroscientist she speaks about the two trees, one is based in Fear and the other in Love.  She connects our negative emotions and their consequences to this tree of Fear.  Fear really is simply the absence of love, there was no fear in the Garden of Eden before the Fall because perfect love (God) was connected to Adam and Eve.  The Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5 really is love, all the others flow out of love (like peace, joy, etc.).  This makes sense when you think that Jesus says He gives peace but not like the world, the world gives it through favorable circumstances but Jesus gives it from relationship with Him.  There was an author, speaker, and head of a ministry Jack Frost who spoke of an upcoming Agape Reformation, where the Love of God would sweep over the Body of Christ.  Most people know of the doctrine of God's love but I have found that people's experience of God's love falls far short of the doctrine.  There are often many ungodly beliefs, hurts, disappointments, and pitfalls that keep people from the actual experience of God's love in their lives.  I find that much of ministry is dealing with people's barriers to receiving love because in receiving love (God's love and the love others) people begin to experience transformation and more wholeness.  It makes sense to me that what is missing in a performance-based, striving, self-sufficient, competitive, and restless world is LOVE.  In order to receive love you must be vulnerable, humble, and even needy while our world celebrates the strong and independent. 

One of the marks that will make the Body of Christ stand out to the world is what 1 John 4:21 says, "And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also."  John is repeating the one of the most important commandments Jesus taught them and a mark difference from trying to obey the whole Law.  Could it be that when the Body of Christ gets a revelation of Father's love that touches the deepest areas of need of the human heart, that we will be transformed to actually look like the Bride of Christ.  It is not going to be through our human effort, religion, more cognitive Bible Study, but actual encounters with Jesus that change us into our new identity as sons and daughters.

In Father's Extravagant Love,
Bret