Guilt free living

Last night in the wild goose workshop we got into a discussion about the difference between guilt and conviction of the Holy Spirit. That discussion drifted into some wrestling about grace and the misuse of it. It is good to wrestle sometimes because we need to know what we believe and the scriptural premise for that belief. I made the statement that Jesus is perfect theology. That little statement brings light to questions that we find hard to answer. I can't fathom all the depths of God's grace upon us or when in His holiness our abuses of His grace are confronted. But this I know, when Jesus came in the guilt went away. When it comes back, I take it to Jesus and He is enough to silence all the accusations the enemy can muster. And what is the scriptural basis for such an experience? One of my favorites is Col. 2:6-15. In that passage it says, 

"And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way having nailed it to the cross." vs 13,14. 

Our sin, guilt and shame is dealt with completely and in no other place than the cross of Jesus. On the cross the decree against me that contained an accurate listing of all my sin was nailed to the cross where the blood of Christ stains that spiritual document.  What freedom, thank Jesus forever, we are free. Free to enter into the destiny that the Father has for us as sons and daughters. Free to co-labor with Him in fulfilling His agenda in the earth. Free to look in the mirror and see a work of God's grace. And even freedom to come to a resting place in the midst of the difficult questions of life - for in Jesus we can find perfect theology.

To see something more, you just have to look up.

I take you now to the wilds of Africa in the middle of the night in the bush of the Massai Mara. Hey Monie, I have to pee. "Me too" she says as she reminds me of the warning from the tribesmen who guard the tent compound. "Dont come out of your tent, lions and hyenna's come to the compound, it is not safe to be outside in the night. But like good Americans, we ignored the warning of the experts for the great cause of pain relief. As we crawled out of our tent, I was taken back by what I saw. It was so amazing that I could never describe what I saw with any sense of accuracy. I saw the stars for the first time in my life. Oh, I had been out west in Montana and northern Idaho and had seen the great vista in the night sky. But this was far beyond any demonstration of stars I had ever seen. In this case, the tent was like a womb- as we emerged we were born into the middle of a celestial light show.

Mark Batterson, in chapter 4 on breaking out of the cage of our assumptions, reminds us of God using the stars to shatter assumptions. In Genesis 15:5, Father God took Abraham outside of his tent to see the stars and present a greater reality to him. My paraphrase is : "Count them if you can, but I know you cant. You wont be able to count the number of your decendants either". This promise to a childless old man of his future family had to transcend his own reality. Inside the tent, he could only see his own little world, by looking up at the innumerable stars in the desert. He got a look at God's perspective and decided to believe God's view more the his own- that is called faith.

We are confronted often with contradictions between what God has said in His word and what we have assumed to be the right way to see it. Just like Abraham, we have a choice to make.

And by the way, the next night when we had to pee again, we stayed in the tent because I heard a large animal outside of our tent. That noise, so close, changed our perspective and our priorities.

Is the Goose chasing us or are we chasing Him?

In our book study, "Chasing the Wild Goose", it reminds me of a cute story I grew up hearing my Nanny (Grandma) read to us kids. It was the story of "Little Black Sambo". In the story, several tigers chase each other around a tree to get a piece of clothing they wanted from the other tiger. They were being chased and chasing the one in front of them at the same time. Eventually they all turned into butter and Little Black Sambo and his family ate pancakes and put the tiger butter all over the hotcakes. Since I love pancakes, that was my favorite part of the story. So what is the point you may ask? Like each of the tigers, we are chasing and being chased by the Holy Spirit. He is relentless in expressing the Father's desire to form us into the image of His First-born Son. Let us remember that in our pursuit of the Holy Spirit, He has been chasing us too - and probably much more focused and dedicated in the process than we have been.

Personally, this is a comforting thought. Having seen some junk surface recently that I was unaware of in my attitudes- it is good to know that the Holy Spirit is forever committed to seeing us be transformed. Holy Spirit thanks for chasing me while I chase you. I don't think we will turn into butter- but I still love pancakes. Blessings to all, John

Are you dead yet?

In the Goose book we were challenged to live out our God-ordained passions until the day we die. Mark Batterson said that most people die long before the date on their tombstone. I'm pretty sure I know my God-birth, God-fueled passions and the gifts He has deposited in me. But my issue is what is identified as the "responsibility cage". I cant tell you how much I feel that paper, phones, management duties, personal finance and yes, even leadership responsibilities divert me from my passion and gifts. This chapter is such a challenge to me and short of an administrative assistant coming into my life, I feel somewhat stuck. I am so alive when I get to do what I love and kind of ticked off when all the other things bury my passion under an avalanche of paper and stuff. So Lord, help me fly with the Goose. How is chapter 1 or 2 messin with you?

More adventures in 2009

Hey friends, we have crossed the line into a New Year and with it hope flourishes. Mistakes, miscues and times of missing the bull’s eye in 2008 are over. Let's learn from them and let them go. Successes, new understanding, victories and fruitfulness of the past year help create momentum for our next run at life in 2009.

I have declared 2009 the year of new levels of expectation for experiencing the Lord's joy, glory, love and fruitfulness in my life. As one of the son's of God, it is my destiny to walk in such things. Yours too! What a new paradigm it is to look at life as a son (daughter) of God. I spent most of 2008 learning to put on such a mindset and much of that was in the context of meeting around my kitchen table with a small group of guys, which made the adventure that much better. I found that before I could truly embrace the “new”, I had to take off some of the “old” thinking that was in conflict with son ship. I am sure this is part of the process of any transformation.

Early in this New Year part of what the Lord will use in my life, maybe yours also, is Mark Batterson’s new book, “Wild Goose Chase”. The wild goose is the ancient Celtic term for the Holy Spirit. We begin this book study at South Gate Church on Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights for six weeks. This book calls us to the next steps forward in the journey into God’s favor and purposes as we relentlessly pursue the Holy Spirit. Ramona and I are excited, challenged and very expectant by what I have read.

On Wednesday nights at 7pm beginning this Jan 7th – Feb.11th, Ramona and I will facilitate a workshop and discussion around the meat of this book. We are really looking forward to it. We want to step into the adventure the Lord has designed for us to walk in. Want to join us? See ya this Wednesday at 7pm.