ANTIESTABLISHMENTARIANISM

“Antiestablishmentarianism (or anti-establishmentarianism) is a policy or attitude that views a nation’s power structure as corrupt, repressive, or exploitive.

Antiestablishmentarians adhere to the doctrine of opposition to the social and political establishment. Their purpose is to subvert from within. This doctrine holds that establishments lose connection with the people and have their own agendas which frequently destroy the things they blindly don’t address”

–Wikipedia—The Free Encyclopedia

There are a lot of groups today that were birthed from uprisings against the establishment of authority.  And, there are both social and political governments that are corrupt—many of them.  Some are corrupted by their leaders, some by their advisors, some by the people themselves.

It has become common, if not popular in the last 10 years to publicly challenge authority.  Unfortunately, what began as talk that led to action, has settled into nothing but talk.  One reason is, that so few want to actually have the responsibility and take action.  They just want the right to criticize those that do act, especially if what they do or say doesn’t perfectly line up with their ideas or opinions.

As it was in Biblical times, most countries are run by leaders that the majority in those countries chose.  They weren’t necessarily chosen by popular vote, but by the will of the populace.  Even today in the U.S., there were approximately 46% of the people that DISAGREED with the ability of Barack Obama to serve as President in 2008, however, the actions and true desires of the populace gave them the “King” they deserved.

It has become most popular to challenge God’s authority, and reject it.  And just like in Adam and Eve’s decision to go against God’s will in the garden—those that reject God’s authority are saying, I reject YOUR power, YOUR authority, YOUR rule over my life.  But in that rejection, they don’t all realize that they are also rejecting HIS provision, HIS protection and HIS direction for their lives.

The truth is, if people don’t submit to God’s authority, they will be submitting to another authority.  If they won’t bow down to God’s will, they will end up bowing down to the will of another.   The choice of Adam and Eve to reject God’s will was the same decision to bow to satan’s will.

I have never personally understood people’s unwillingness to yield to God’s authority, either the 10 Commandments or the summary of the book—Love God, Love Others.  What specifically do they disagree with, their ability or God’s authority?

God’s Will and Wisdom is set and judgment has fallen on even kings, priests and prophets for their rejection of it.  He allows all people to have their rebellious way if that’s what they choose.  But in so doing, they are also being allowed to eat the fruit of their ways.

Ultimately though, if you want your government—personal government, family government, workplace government, city government, education government, state government or federal government to change, no amount of complaining or fussing or fighting is going to make lasting change.  You need to pray and then follow up your prayers with appropriate speech and action.

The fact is, YOU create your world and your reality for YOU.  Whatever you are living, praying and speaking is EXACTLY what you will be receiving in your life.  It may not be the case for ANYONE ELSE around you, but it will be so with you, because YOU made it that way with YOUR own mouth!

And, if you are having trouble bending YOUR will to God’s will, you need to truly get to know Jesus, then you will naturally want to follow Him.  It’s not a religion or book of rules, it’s a relationship.  Perhaps you have never had one, or maybe you have, but you have drifted from Him.  Sometimes when we spend time away from someone we know, we could forget what they are like, and what we are like when with them.  Either way, come to Jesus now, ask God’s Holy Spirit to reveal to you what He is really like.  Let Him help you become familiar with His ways.  Then you can follow Him and have HIS WILL for your life.

New Age Seekers

Have you heard people refer to certain clothing styles, art, music and religions as “New Age.”  What is New Age anyway? I don’t think it’s new at all.  I think that it is an old belief system that has been brought back into popularity by people seeking alternatives to “the basics” that others seem to be accepting.

This alternative belief system has infiltrated and consumed today’s churches and has been given a new label—it’s called “seeker friendly.”  It refers to churches and entire faiths that are being “adjusted” to meet the needs of those seeking a new way of “righteous” living and a new system of worship that better conforms to their modern lifestyles and humanistic beliefs.  It reminds me of the offer the serpent gave Adam and Eve—trading the opportunity to have a relationship with The Creator and become like Him, for the power of self-rule.

However, instead of creating their own paradise like they envisioned, for this group of seekers, it has become just another work, another man-made  “religion.” You can see it in the lives of those that are in these churches, instead of discovering a better life and a new relationship with God, they are instead inventing new ways for God to have a relationship with them.  They are, in truth, inventing new gods—limited by their power and their knowledge.  The good news is, they have not found THE ONE TRUE GOD, and so they are still seeking.

Like today’s “new age”, there was a “new age” during the book of Acts.  It was an age of reason and intellect.  The music reflected it, the art reflected it, it permeated every area of people’s lives, including their religion.  The Greeks had hundreds of idols or “gods” that fit their idea of how the universe was created and governed. Yet, as Paul discerned by looking at one of their idols, aptly named “The Unknown God,” the bottom line of their seeker friendly belief system was that, like today’s seekers, they were still seeking.

Instead of arguing the foolishness of their quests and questionings, He took the opportunity to explain that the God they were seeking, this “unknown god,” was actually THE Creator—of the heavens and the earth and of man.  He told them that this God had set the boundaries of space and time that they were feebly attempting to reach.  Then He told them “God has done all this [referring to creation itself], so that we will look for Him and then reach out and find Him.” Though, “He isn’t far from any of us.” (Acts 17:27-28, CEV)

Isn’t that amazing, God created this massive universe with all of its mysteries so we will search for the ultimate answers. And in our seeking, we will ultimately find HIM, though He isn’t far from us at all.  More vast than we can even imagine, yet as individual as our choice to put our faith in Him, present in the furthest star, yet as close as our hearts and mouths (Romans 10)—He is THE ONE TRUE GOD!

Rather than having a victim mentality concerning the massive numbers of people flocking to these seeker friendly churches (i.e.” They’re stealing our people”…”We should have changed our service times”…”They have a valid complaint against us, we’re still doing the same music as we were 10 years ago, look at our pews, our decor, our technology.”), let’s instead have the mentality that Paul had.  Let’s continue to reach out to people on an individual level and let them know that we have what they are ultimately looking for—a relationship with The One True God.  Let’s be concerned with showing others how to truly rise above what we think we know and are capable of, and reach out for and embrace the God Who was willing to offer us the Ultimate Sacrifice just for a relationship with Him.

He sent Jesus Christ to show us His love for us and to demonstrate that faith in Him and obedience to His instructions IS the way to Him and the life that He meant for us to have from the beginning.   His torturous death (for our sin & rebellion) and glorious resurrection (because of His innocence & perfect obedience) opened the way again for us to have the intimacy with the Father that He always wanted—not only sharing the secrets of the universe, but teaching us rulership of it—starting with our own lives and our own world.  (P.S. Let’s not blow it this time!)

Emotional Revelation

I don’t remember if I was like this in the beginning of my Christian walk, but I don’t recall ever being very emotional when considering the crucifixion.  I recall being deeply grateful, especially when I learned that when people said “Jesus died for you” it actually meant that He died “instead of me.”  I have been exposed now to nearly every portrayal of the crucifixion out there appropriate for kids to view.  But I don’t think  I ever was moved to tears.

When I watched the Passion of the Christ movie, which was rated R for it’s graphic portrayal of the beating and crucifixion, I almost felt guilty because I didn’t cry.  I didn’t know what was wrong with me, even grown men cried during that movie, but I didn’t.   I am a girl, after all.  I would say it’s in my genetic makeup to be emotionally weaker than most.  I do cry—I won’t reveal what can bring me there—ask my husband, he knows where all my buttons are.

I can say that, as a Christian, revelation is one thing that can often bring me to tears. I’ve seen revelation as having two main ingredients—knowledge and understanding.  Knowledge can come from a depiction, but understanding comes from the Spirit of God’s explanation to your heart…and it overwhelms every aspect of you and your life.  This year, while in the process of planning upcoming Children’s classes on the death and resurrection of Jesus, I was moved to tears.  Not just for the revelation that I have received, but for what the Preschool through First Grade children of my church were about to experience.

During a meeting with my Pastor, we were discussing the curriculum for those areas of the Childrens Ministries for March.  Since Easter was the first Sunday of April, I had been planning in March to cover all the traditional stories leading up to Resurrection Sunday—the last supper, Palm Sunday, His stripes/our healing, Judas’ betrayal, prayer in the Garden, etc.  She wanted to keep the original format and make the month leading up to Easter the “Month of Miracles” instead—we would cover stories of Jesus’ growth and His great ministry of miracles, especially those that dealt with children.  Then we would immediately go into the crucifixion and resurrection just in time for Easter.  And so we did.

What a great month it’s already been—stories of Jesus’ trip to the temple, His miracle of raising a little girl from death, an old woman being healed by just reaching out to Him in faith, the loaves and fishes, Jesus’ blessing the children…it’s been wonderful.  From observing the services and just listening to the teachers telling the stories, there has been a special sweet anointing in every class time.  Every session has been just as it should be—filled with His presence and like we’re right there with Him.  Thank God for anointed Pastors and teachers that seek God’s heart for their ministry.

The verse that was given for this month’s memorization is  “…God loved us and sent His Son…” 1 John 4:10.  It seems so simple, and perfect for the theme—the miraculous love of God shown through His Son, Jesus Christ.

And the best part about the kids experiencing all these stories is that, well, it makes everything they will learn about at the end of the month, and on Easter Sunday concerning His death and resurrection, so much more meaningful and powerful.  The children will have seen all the wonderful things that Jesus did and they too will wonder with the disciples, why did people want to crucify Him? Then in answer to their sincere questioning and heartfelt grief, we will add, as Paul Harvey used to say “the rest of the story” and, the rest of the verse…  “…God loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10.

Imagining what it would be like for them to hear how the Jesus that they have come to know and love in a deeper and more meaningful way, was terribly beaten and killed in their place…and knowing what that revelation would cause in their hearts, made me cry.  God’s love is so overwhelming.

Please understand, I know that Childrens Ministry is not about evoking an emotional response.  In fact, we try as much as possible to avoid teaching kids to be led by their emotions in any decision, especially those involving their commitment to Christ.  But take a look back at what God has done in the past to illustrate truth to His people.  He wanted His people to actually see that sin brings death and separation from the goodness and blessings of God and there must be a sacrifice given in order for us to experience restoration, so what did He do?

• He had the Jews keep the sacrificial lamb with them for 3 days prior to killing it on that very first Passover. They knew the lamb was THEIR substitute and they could personally experience the seriousness and separation as the time drew near for it’s slaughter.
• Later, as the true Passover lamb, He had Jesus developing very close relationships with the disciples for 3 years prior to His death on the cross.  They personally felt the pain and injustice of His crucifixion and then the intense gratefulness when they realized that He was THE substitute for all mankind.
• Any Biblical “sacrifice” is a literal offering of oneself, one’s livelihood, one’s living.  It has to be something that you will literally feel the pain of loss over, whether brought by command or freewill expression.

God knew it was necessary that the sacrifice be meaningful and this Easter will truly be more meaningful to these kids.  The sacrifice will no longer be just a story, it will be an experience. It will be a personal revelation of, “God loved me and sent His Son to die for my sins.”  WOW!  It makes me want to cry, again.

Making Disciples

I was recently reading a helps sheet that came with a curriculum from Bill Wilson’s Metro Ministries in New York.  They were detailing the difference between a “training” approach to classroom instruction and a “learning” approach.  It brought to my attention the difference between the Mark 16 “Go ye” verse and the instructions in Matthew 28:19.  In Matthew it didn’t just say go into the world and preach the gospel, it said to go “MAKE DISCIPLES.”

The essential difference between just teaching/preaching kids and discipling them is…relationship!  Jesus was able to preach to and teach many, but the goal was to make disciples—those that would stay with Him and pursue a relationship with Him (there were actually more than just 12 by the way).

A preacher/teacher is necessary for the Word to be heard and understood!   A preacher/teacher can make believers that do great works as we see in Matthew 28 (driving out demons, speaking with tongues, laying on hands, supernatural protection).  But although being able to do great works may draw others to the gospel, it doesn’t necessarily cause them to continue in the Gospel.  In fact, YOU can do great works and still have no ongoing relationship with Christ (see the sheep and goats story in Matthew 25).

A child discipler will go beyond teaching and preaching, they will make it their goal to effect a relationship between the learner and the Source of the wisdom and knowledge. That way the child not only applies the knowledge and wisdom to their lives, but they can continue in the relationship with the Source of it.    In children’s ministries, our goal is not just to gain a number in our “audience” so to speak, nor is it to simply make “believers.”  Our goal is to introduce children to their own personal, ongoing, committed relationship with Jesus Christ Himself.

What is required to be an effective teacher/preacher/discipler?…

1.  You must know Him—His personality, His desires, His needs, His ways.

• That requires that you have a consistent, ongoing relationship with Him yourself.   Think of this, you are representing the God of the universe and you are going to portray Him to others.  You wouldn’t take it lightly if someone were going to represent you and your family, why would He take it lightly?  You must have a heart to accurately and fully express Him.

2.  You must love Him—enough to surrender your whole self to Him.

• Not hard at all if you know Him.  He IS love!  Think about what you do know of His personality, His desires, His needs, His ways and tell me that if everyone knew this about Him, they wouldn’t love Him too!  It’s a no-brainer and yet, even our brains are capable of telling us that this God of ours has always had only our best at heart and has done all to prove it.

3.  He must know you—your personality, your desires, your needs, your ways.

• Your commitment and consistency is required for God to trust you as well.  He’s obviously not looking for a clone, simply a good representative that will carry forth His best.  That should be someone that He can rest assured will continue with Him and consistently carry forth His heart as a faithful friend.

4.  You must love others—regardless of their personality, desires, needs or ways

• You must make a decision that YOU want the best for others and that you want them to live the life that He sacrificed Himself for them to have.  He has always been and will always be “all about us” so that we can be “all about others”!

Now don’t put undue pressure on yourself, we all GROW in our knowledge of Him, our love for Him, our commitment to Him and our love for others—IF WE STICK WITH IT!  The amount of time that you have been with Him is NOT the main factor—check out the people that Jesus sent out to ministry, some of them had a ONE DAY turnaround.  He healed their bodies, hearts, minds or spirits and then sent them out to tell others what they knew.  Anyone that has been in ministry for an extended amount of time will tell you:

The more you know, the more you grow,
The more you grow, the more you flow,
The more you flow, the more you know,
and so on…

Children’s Ministries is obviously a big decision, to God and to us.  But don’t just look at your past and what you know of yourself to determine whether you qualify, because it’s the relationship [with Him] that does the work!  That will always be true—for us and for the kids!

Have a blessed week!

The Power Is In The Word

Luke 17:7-10 (King James Version)

⁵And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
⁶And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.
⁷But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?
⁸And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?
⁹Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.
¹⁰So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.”

O.K. so here’s the scene.  Jesus just told the disciples to do something they considered hard to do. The disciples are telling Jesus, “Increase our faith.”v5 or basically: ”It’s just too hard, we’re weak and tired and need help”   But instead of putting His arm around them and encouraging them with soft, comforting words, He basically tells them straight up: “Just do what I’ve shown you and told you.”

Jesus had proved to them over the previous three years that the power to live the Word of God is IN the Word of God.  He taught them to:

1.  Sow the Word in your heart (Like the grain of mustard seed, it must be planted.  It starts small but it grows and prevails.)

• Look up scriptures that pertain to your need, whether it’s provision, character, strength etc.

2.  Speak it out your mouth (He tells them to speak to the tree in verse 6 and to the servant in verse 8),

• Speak the Word to your heart and circumstances (Just like God did—He spoke the entire universe into existence)

3.  You obey the instructions in the Word and the Word will do its work as well.  (That Word in your heart and mouth brings power to your mind, body and soul and it changes things, inside and out.  Also, it will do what it’s told to do, like the servant & the tree in verses 6 and 10.)

• Instead of yielding to the temptation or circumstances or even your desires—do what the Word says, God will empower you in your obedience.

That’s the way God’s Word works!  That’s the way it always works and it doesn’t require some huge effort on your part, the Word just does what it’s commissioned to do in you and through you. Again, all you have to do is put the Word in your heart and speak it out your mouth.  As you do it, the power will be there–the power is right there, in the Word!

So, recently someone was telling me that they were frustrated with themselves for not going forward for an altar call. It’s not necessary to try to figure out who it was because when you read this, you’ll see, many of us could have been and currently are in the same situation as this person.  Actually, I knew their situation and I knew that there was no ‘altar call’ for what they were dealing with.  What they were feeling is what just about every Christian could complain of—being nailed on every side by every kind of temptation, circumstance, frustration, rotten personalities, personal failures and fears that make you feel overwhelmed and want to lay down and sleep for a hundred years in hopes that it will all go away.

I wanted to give them several sweet exhortations and prayers of encouragement like I had in the past, but some kind of strong indignation rose up in me at that moment and instead of sugar-coated comfort I heard myself say, “No amount of healing hands, words of wisdom, words of knowledge, prophecy or any other kind of spiritual exercise or exhortation is going to make you make the right choices. The Power of God is in the Word of God!  Little Power comes from Little Word…No Power comes from No Word.  It’s as simple as you making the choice to put His Word in your heart and mouth on a daily basis and then yield to It’s power in your life.”

Their head went down and a quiet “I know, that’s true” escaped them.  I started to feel badly for being so hard, and seeing that they acknowledged the truth made me want to reach out and give them a hug, but the next thing I said seemed harder:  “You know, even though you think that you are simply being lazy and avoiding making the effort to do what you know is right, actually, you are putting out a tremendous amount of effort, enough to make you tired no doubt, because you are literally, purposely resisting God and rebelling against His plan for your life.  And I want you to know, once you do yield to Him, you will find all of HIS strength behind you and IN you to carry out what He desires you to do.”

O.K., so need I say any more?  Well, as King James would say, “I trow not.” (see above—Luke 17:19 KJV)

Have a  blessed day!

The Key to God’s Heart

1 Corinthians 13:13 (The Message)

“¹³But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.”

So there it is—the key to intimacy with God Himself.  And it makes sense, doesn’t it?!  The same things that would mark the deepest intimacy with another person are the 3 things that go directly to the heart of God and create the deepest intimacy with Him.

1. Steady trust—Always believing in the inherent integrity of the other person.

• We must believe that God’s Word is true and that He is a Man of His Word.

2.  Unswerving hope—A constant sense of expectation of the best from the other person.

• We must expect God’s Word to come to pass exactly as He tells us it will.

3.  Extravagant love—A overflow of sacrificial giving that comes from your heart and is exactly what they truly desire and need.

• We must be willing to do what it takes to please God, even at our own expense.

The wonderful thing about God is, He has done all the hard work for us.

1.  He has first chosen us (even when we lived as His enemy).

• All we must do is say yes to Him.

2.  He expects His Word to do It’s work IN us (It’s His Word in our hearts that changes our desires, our minds and eventually our behavior). 

• All we must do is put His Word in!

3.  He expects His Word to do It’s work FOR us (His Word was given to us to speak and it is alive and powerful!  The Bible says that the power is in the Word to make ITSELF come to pass).

• All we must do is speak His Word!

4.  He expects His Word to work THROUGH us (He is with us, signs DO follow the Word). 

• All we must do is DO what His Word says!

God is beautiful, I love Him more than ever!….(more on that next time!)