Aku minta kepada TUHAN

Aku minta kepada TUHAN
Setangkai bunga segar
DIA beri aku kaktus yang berduri
Aku minta kupu-kupu
DiberiNYA ulat

Aku kecewa dan sedih
Tapi tetap bersabar

Namun, tak lama kemudian kaktus itu berbunga indah sekali
Dan ulat itu menjadi kupu-kupu yang cantik.

Begitulah cara TUHAN mengasihi kita
Selalu indah pada waktunya

Dying to Live

One by one. I've had to lay down my lofty ideals even the ones I thought were godly and worthy of my love and life. My most precious friendships, my most selfless ambitions, even my childlike innocence; Nothing was spared but each one was taken from me and systematically dismantled and destroyed beyond recognition.

Against my will.
Despite my strong protests.
My pleas disregarded.
My tears unnoticed.

Till I am standing stripped of every thing I treasured and worshipped.
My hands empty.
Till I am bleeding; torn without remedy.
My heart irreparably broken.
Till I despaired of ever being restored.
Drunk blind with disillusionment.

Is there hope for one such as I?

Can God put me together again?

Yes He can. He did not bring me this far to abandon me. His love for me is unfailing and eternal. He will restore this weary soul.

I WILL BE GOOD AGAIN. I KNOW IT.

But not the way I was before.

Minus my selfish pride,
Minus my smug self-righteous ways,
Minus my suffocating self-pity,
Minus my self-reliance,
Minus my need to vindicate self.


You see, Self is the only real enemy.

How will He accomplish this? It's not for me to know.

I only know God ordered this path for me. It was He who escorted me to Golgotha's hill. It was His hands that nailed mine to that cross. It was His spear that pierced my side. And finally it was He that left me there to die.

But I did not die alone. We died together. We suffered humiliating shame and crushing defeat, together. We felt the sting of betrayal and the pain of rejection, together. Together we drank from the cup of suffering and together we swallowed the last bitter drop.

But it was needful. Just as it was needful for Jesus to die on the cross so He could buy your freedom and mine.

In order to heal, I had to hurt.
In order to live, I needed to die.
To greet the dawn, I must endure the night.

I'm waiting for the 3rd day. When the tomb will be opened. And the dead will come alive again. Resurrected by the power of God. Filled with the Spirit of God. Complete and whole again.

But you won't recognize me.

Instead you will behold the Christ. HIS righteousness. HIS Faith. HIS Truth. HIS love. HIS Compassion.

A new creation. Conformed to the image of Christ - God's beloved Son.

All of Him and none of me.
He must Increase but I must Decrease.

God, don't let me interfere with the process. Don' let me tell you what to do. Don't rescue me; don't release me until I am well and truly dead to the carnal fleshly me.

So that I may know what it is to truly Live.

Galatians 2:20-21
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

Matthew 10: 38, 39
and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

An uncomfortable truth - Part 3

The Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus declared to us, is not one that is earthly. It will help if we understood the unique characteristics of this ‘out of this world’ kingdom.

It is not man-made for God alone is the architect.
It is eternal, a kingdom that will endure forever.
It is unshakeable, unstoppable and comes in God’s power.
It is capable of existing in this world but is not overcome by it.
It is not sustained by earthly monetary currencies
It rests in the hearts of the true disciples of Christ.
It seeks the surrender of the human will, not the exertion of human effort.
It is received in the simplicity of a child.
It is entered into by repentance and change of heart.
It is increased in those who submit to God’s government.
It is acquired by giving up everything of worldly value.
It is learnt by heeding the voice of God’s beloved Son.
It is discovered by the revelation of God’s Holy Spirit
It demands the daily discipline of carrying one’s personal cross .
It prefers the least over the greatest.
It is evidenced by the fruit of God’s character.
It is established upon God’s righteousness and truth.
It defies human logic & intellect and acts in opposition to it.
etc

The kingdom Jesus spoke about is no fairy tale. But it exists NOT in the natural sense but a spiritual one. The common mistake we make when trying to understand the Kingdom of God is by naturalizing it to meet our standards of morality and goodness. That's how we have treated much of God's Truth. Treated and tempered it to suit our natural and moral tastebuds.

It is not uncommon to hear God's kingdom referred to in corporate and even political terms at times. But Jesus is not the CEO of heaven neither can we refer to him as a 'leader' (the way some Christian writers like to) . The bible calls him the “suffering servant & lamb of God” which means one who had no special rights or privileges, did what he was told and was dispensable. Jesus himself testified that he did nothing that God the Father did not tell him to do! Now, that’s a follower not a leader! Go chew on that one!!

Jesus challenged the leaders to destroy the physical temple in Jerusalem which took some 40 years to build and claimed he would raise it again in 3 days! Seriously now, was Jesus considering to restore Solomon’s ancient architectural wonder after He reduced it to rubble? Of course not! He was speaking of a different kind of temple. One that had no geographical location. No home address. Not made of brick and mortar. Not built by human hands.

The Kingdom of God is a heavenly one and cannot be compared to any existing earthly model regardless of how ‘biblically ordered’, ‘morally upright’ or ‘divinely inspired’ it is. Even in their most ideal forms, the kingdoms of this world are no match for the Kingdom of God's Son. Heaven does not share our definition of perfection. In fact, Scripture tells us what is most valued among men is detestable in God’s sight (Luke 16: 15b)

Today's Church (or what I call the Organized Religious Institution) has created her golden calves and calls it the Christ. I am reminded of the OT Jeroboam who propagated his own gospel as a substitute for Moses’ law.

Read I Kings 12:26-33 for the story.

Jeroboam made 2 golden calves and presented them to Israel, “ Here are your gods O Israel who brought you up out of Egypt”. He ordained priests who were not Levites and installed them in shrines he built in high places. He offered sacrifices on the altar he built in Bethel to the gods he had made and ordered festivals in the month of his own choosing!

But God had left clear instructions with Moses :
Only one place of worship was allowed ie. the temple of Jerusalem.
Graven images were forbidden and bowing to them was a big no no.
Festivals were strictly during the month of God’s choosing.
Only Levites were qualified to be priests and offer sacrifices.

Blatant disregard for God’s Word led to his downfall.

Jeroboam was afraid the people might return to the rule of David and he came up with his convenient and cost-free option for God’s people. (I Kings 12: 26-27).

Friends, the gospel of Jeroboam IS NOT the gospel of Christ. In fact, the spirit of Jeroboam is dead set against the spirit of Christ. Christ is a threat to its existence and continuing influence because it knows only He is worthy of our complete obedience. Because once God’s people realize they have made their allegiance to a gilded bull, they will repent and begin to follow the Christ who is the head of his Body (the bible calls it the Ekklesia in the original Greek).

In church, there is always a need for volunteers - people are constantly being enlisted to make refreshments, serve coffee, drive the church van, direct Sunday traffic, make announcements, greet visitors, dust pews, host speakers, sponsor flowers, play the keyboards, babysit, arrange chairs, record sermons etc. There is no disgrace in these little things that many humbly and selflessly perform. The real shame is we have glamourized these menial tasks for mass appeal. We’ve got people thinking they are ‘ministering to God’ with their ‘gifts’ and that God is immensely pleased when people ‘serve’ the agenda of the church.

I may be shattering some illusions here but God’s goal for your life is infinitely more sacred and satisfying than passing the collection plate and washing the communion cups.

The point I am trying to make is this.

Christ DID NOT come so we could serve a man-made institution and be subject to her wardens.

Were that his mission, Jesus should have made it his life’s work to

Reform religion
Regulate worship
Revamp theology
Reorganize resources
Replenish finances
Recruit members
Raise leaders
Reduce conflicts etc

(And all the million other things church leaders do before they crash and burn to the ground!)

The blessing of owning land, numerous descendants, having more than enough and being a blessing to all the nations of the earth - This was the proud legacy left behind by Abraham, their founding patriarch. But Israel’s king would seize all of this for himself and his own. What a tragedy! God already knew what His people were capable of when they became a great nation. They would quickly forget the God who delivered them after more than 400 years of slavery in Egypt and reject Him for worthless gods. Freed from one bondage, Israel goes seeking for another.

That’s History repeating herself. And we are guilty of no less!

By faith, we became heirs of Abraham’s promise and citizens of God’s kingdom. But like Israel we reached for the very thing that put us in its power. And before we know it, we’re slaving for a counterfeit kingdom and its self-serving agenda. But as long as Christ is not the King, it will not stand.

The answer is not finding the right church to belong to. Its being connected to Christ who is the Head. St. Paul said WE BELONG TO CHRIST - not an institution (even if it dates back 1,700 years!)

When we are rightly connected to Christ then we are His church!

Don't believe anyone who tells you that you NEED to belong to one. It's a lot of Bull! (pun intended!!)

You cannot fake a resurrection

I like this meditation taken from Chip Brogden's article, 'Back to the Cross.

http://www.theschoolofchrist.org/articles/back.html
"For I determined to not know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (I Corinthians 2:2).

Religion seeks to reform a man; the Cross seeks to crucify him. Religion may fail to bring about the desired result, but the Cross never fails to achieve its end. Mankind will pursue morality, virtue, spirituality, even perform religious works and good deeds, in order to avoid death on a Cross. But there are no wounds, no scars, no evidence of having ever died and been made alive unto God. Either a man has never died, or he has died and been raised again. You cannot fake a resurrection.

I'm a church drop-out

"The social benefits of going to church can no longer compensate for its lack of spiritual life" - Chip Brogden

and the desert rose says, "Amen!"

The Songbird And The Flower
by Chip Brogden

In a land not too far away lived a songbird. According to outward appearances this songbird was no different than the rest. She had blue feathers, a white breast, and a yellow bill. But she also had a very special gift!

Her gift was discovered one day quite by accident. She enjoyed singing to the Lord and worshipped Him at every opportunity. It was her custom to wake up early to see the sunrise and spend time worshipping the Lord. She had done this every morning since she was a little bird.

Her song carried unusually far one morning. Her neighbor, the squirrel, was sitting in his little recliner with a cup of tea, reading the morning newspaper, when suddenly this magnificent song came wafting through the open window! "I have to find out where that's coming from!" he exclaimed. Jumping up out of his chair, he ran through the door and into the field, looking for the source of the beautiful music.

Also, at that exact moment, a deer was walking through the woods and heard the same sweet melody. "What singing!" she cried. "I wonder who it could be?" And she, too, went off to find out where the music was coming from.

The songbird, of course, was oblivious to the excitement she had generated. She was lost in her worship when suddenly the squirrel arrived on the scene, followed by the deer - and about a dozen other animals!

"Where did you learn to sing like that?" they all asked with great admiration.

The songbird shrugged her shoulders. "I always sing like this whenever I want to give praise to the Lord. I hope I didn't disturb you."

"Disturb us?" answered the deer. "We think it is wonderful! How uplifting to hear such beautiful singing early in the morning. You really have a gift!"

"I do?" asked the songbird.

"Absolutely!" said the squirrel. "God blessed you to bless others, and you shouldn't let that gift go to waste. You have a special calling!" And all the other animals agreed.

"I don't want to waste my gift," answered the bird. "What should I do?"

"Come with us to the church service this morning," said the deer. "I'll speak to the pastor about you and he'll let you sing for the congregation!"

The songbird wasn't sure what to do about all this attention, but she didn't want to waste her gift, and she certainly wanted to bless others with what she had been blessed with. So she agreed to go.


* * *
Of course, the congregation of animals were blessed by the singing songbird, and she was such a blessing that they invited her to sing every Sunday morning. The little group began to grow as a result of the songbird's beautiful voice. In no time the songbird became the worship leader. Not only was she responsible for selecting the music and leading the worship service, but she was supposed to conduct the choir practice twice a week and teach voice to the pastor's daughter (the crow) so she could one day sing as well as the songbird.

One Sunday morning a group of eagles arrived, listened to the songbird, and watched her very carefully. After the service, the eagles gathered around the songbird and began to prophesy! "The Lord says that you have a special anointing, and He will give you an international ministry!"

Of course, the songbird was very thrilled about this, because she wanted to use her gift and she wanted to be a blessing. Another member of the church, the fox, offered to record her music and put it on CD. "That way," he explained, "You can reach more animals and be a blessing to God's creatures all over the world. This is what the Lord meant when He said He was giving you an international ministry!"

Before long the CD's were produced, and the fox had promoted them all over the world. The orders began to come in, and everyone said they were blessed by the songbird's music. Then came the invitations! "Is the songbird available to come to our church?" Everyone wanted their own live performance, and the fox took care of everything.

"Congratulations!" he told the songbird. "You're booked up for ministry every week for the next two years, and your CD's are in record stores all over the world. Now you can be in the full-time ministry! The Lord has really blessed you!"

So the songbird took her itinerary from the fox and began flying all over the world to meet the demands of her full-time ministry schedule. The fox even made her a special backpack so she could take all her CD's and ministry resources with her and raise money for her ministry.

The songbird sang in church services, and in retreats, and in conventions, and in concerts. She truly enjoyed meeting all the other animals, and she still enjoyed singing. She was getting a little tired of flapping her wings all the time to get from one ministry event to the other, and her voice seemed to be losing some of its former strength and purity from being used all the time, but she accepted that as part of fulfilling the call on her life. Besides, no one seemed to notice. Everyone loved her, and wanted to hear her.


* * *
Time went by, and the songbird was becoming more and more popular. She had a ministry headquarters, a ministry staff, and ministry partners all over the world. Her next CD was coming out soon, and everyone was looking forward to it with great anticipation. She was a busy little songbird, flying all over the place to keep up with her hectic ministry schedule, but having to carry around all those CD's and ministry resources on her back was a constant strain, and she tired easily.

One day she was traveling to her next singing engagement and found herself flying over a canyon out in the middle of nowhere. Exhausted from her flight, she decided this would be a good place to stop and rest her wings for awhile. Far below her she saw a gorgeous flower of indescribable beauty! So she circled around the flower and landed right next to it.

What a lovely little flower it was! It had round petals of many colors - yellow, blue, pink, and white - and golden leaves. She had never seen anything like it in all her travels around the world. And the fragrance! It was unlike anything she had ever smelled, and far better than any perfume she had ever tried. Yet here it was, growing out of a crack in the bottom of a rocky canyon floor, out in the middle of nowhere!

"Hello little flower!" the songbird said. "I was just flying overhead and admiring your beauty, so I thought I would visit with you for a moment. You are certainly the most beautiful flower I have ever seen, and I don't think there is another flower in the world quite like you."

"The Lord has been very gracious to me," answered the flower pleasantly. "Who are you, and where are you going?"

"I am Rev. Songbird and I'm on my way to minister at a retreat on the other side of this canyon. Maybe you've listened to one of my CD's, or seen me on television?"

"No, I don't believe I have," the flower said. "I'm quite alone out here in the canyon, and I don't have a lot of contact with the rest of the world. As you can see, I don't have wings to carry me anywhere."

"That's a shame," said the songbird. "Because you are such a beautiful flower, and you give off such a lovely aroma. The Lord has blessed you to be a blessing, yet your gifts are not being used as they should! Why don't you come along with me to church, so the other animals can see your beauty and enjoy your fragrance?"

"Oh no, that would never do," the flower said, "Because that would only distract me from my own ministry."

"So you are in the ministry? What denomination are you with?" asked the songbird.

The flower laughed. "I'm not with a denomination."

"Where do you go to church?"

"Oh, I'm not involved with a church, either."

"Do you have some books or tapes out?"

"Heaven's no!" the flower laughed.

"So what kind of ministry do you have, then? Are you in the ministry full-time, like me?" the songbird asked.

"Oh yes, it is a full-time ministry," answered the flower.

"But you are out here in the wilderness, all alone. There are no churches, no one to fellowship with. How can you be in the full-time ministry? It seems like such a waste."

"Oh, but that is where you are wrong," explained the flower. "You see your ministry as being to the other animals, but my ministry is to the Lord Himself! He has planted me out here in the wilderness, hidden from the rest of the world. You believe that is a waste, since no one can see me or smell me. But He can see me! And He can smell me! And the measure of my fruitfulness is not what I am to other people, but what I am to Him."

The songbird was silent for a long time. Finally, she said, "Creatures all over the world are being blessed and encouraged by my music. Perhaps you are called to minister to the Lord, but I am called to minister to the other animals!"

"Who told you that you are called to minister to the other animals?" asked the flower.

"The Lord!"

"Really?" asked the flower.

The songbird thought about what the squirrel had said, and what the deer had said, and what the eagles had said, and what the fox had said, and what all the other animals said. "Well... just about everyone who has heard me sing has told me that the Lord has given me a special gift, a special calling, and a special ministry."

"Yes," agreed the flower. "But all of God's creatures have a special gift, a special calling, and a special ministry. Who told you that your gift, calling, and ministry is to the other animals?"

"I guess the other animals said so."

"Naturally," continued the flower. "But wait! What is that huge pack on your back?"

"Oh, that is my bag of music CD's and ministry resources. I carry these with me wherever I go, because this is how my full-time ministry is supported."

"It looks mighty heavy," observed the flower.

"It is, believe me!" said the songbird. But it's part of being in the ministry."

"For your ministry, perhaps," said the flower. "It's not part of my ministry! Ministering to the Lord is not a burden at all."

(Secretly, the songbird envied the flower, but she couldn't bring herself to admit it.)

"It does sound good," said the songbird. "But I'm not sure I even know how to minister to the Lord."

"Do you remember when you used to sing praises to the Lord in secret every morning, and just worshipped Him for Who He is, with no agenda or vision or plan or crowd of onlookers to minister to? Do you remember when you just sang the songs He gave you, and they were just between you and Him?" the flower asked.

"Yes."

"You were ministering to the Lord! And what was your reward, when no one could hear you sing, and you were just singing to Him?"

The songbird thought. "I didn't get any rewards, or recognition, or applause. So I guess the only reward I had was... Him?"

"That's right," the flower smiled. "When we minister to the Lord then the Lord becomes our reward. So then the question becomes: is Jesus enough for you? Or is the work of the Lord more important to you than the Lord of the work?"

And the songbird had to admit that she never had time to just sing to the Lord the way she used to. With all her traveling and performing she seldom took time to just minister to the Lord, the way she did before anyone knew how gifted she was. Now the ministry had become so big that the Lord Himself had been neglected.

"I see it now," the songbird finally admitted. "I went into the ministry, but I missed my calling."

"That's what usually happens," said the flower.

The songbird and the flower sat together in silence for a long time.

"So what do I do now?" the songbird whispered.

"Just go back to the beginning," the flower said. "The Lord is waiting to meet with you there."

The songbird and the flower embraced, and the songbird flew back to her nest, leaving the burden of her ministry behind on the canyon floor. So from that day forward the songbird devoted herself to ministering to the Lord, just like she used to do. And the Lord gave her some beautiful new songs to sing - just for Him.

©1997-2007 Chip Brogden and TheSchoolOfChrist.Org.

Permission is granted for non-commercial (free)distribution provided this notice appears.

Proverbs to live by

Did you know?

You can get by ...
without a fixed income but you cannot live without His provision.

You can sacrifice ...
the comforts of home but how can one give up the comfort of His presence?

You can listen ...
to the harshest critic but you cannot learn without His correction.

You can cope ...
by medicating your pain but you cannot be whole without His healing.

You can confess ...
your deepest fear but to conquer it you need His unfailing love.

You can bear ...
the greatest sorrow but you couldn’t endure without His promise.

You can answer ...
the hardest question and still be unable to explain His wisdom.

You can buy ...
the most expensive gift but you could never afford His peace.

You can neglect ...
the company of man but do not shun His friendship.

You can dismiss ...
the opinions of others but you cannot deny His truth.

You can go hungry ...
without eating but you will starve without His life-giving word.

You can please ...
all the people in the world and never win His approval.

An uncomfortable truth - Part 2

To answer that last question, we need to refer to the book of Deuteronomy.

This book contains the final sermon Moses preached to his people before they crossed over to Canaan. This was even before they had judges to keep the peace. With uncanny foresight, Moses predicts Israel would ask for a king once they settled in. God knew what His people were capable of and in His wisdom instructed Moses to prepare them for that day.

You have to read this carefully.

Deut 17: 4-17
4 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, "Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us," 15 be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, "You are not to go back that way again." 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

Now, Israel enjoyed a succession of kings. Some good, some not so good, and some plain rotten! Under their leadership, she rose to new heights of greatness and glory. But in spite of all their achievements, not one of them could fulfill Moses' requisites.

Remember King Solomon? His reign brought peace, prosperity, wisdom and worship to Israel such that neighbouring nations sat up and took notice. But even he was a notorious horse collector, a polygamist (700 wives & 300 concubines!) and indulged in opulent exhibitions of gold and silver!

I am convinced this passage of scripture was more than just a rule for royal hopefuls. It was a messianic requirement and only the real Messiah could fulfil this charge in every sense of the word.

Guess what?

Only Jesus, God's only begotten Son made the cut! He

• was a Jew by birth


• only ever borrowed a donkey and its colt (and didn't send his disciples too far to fetch them either!)


• never married &


• died poor.

From age 12, Jesus simply astounded people with his knowledge of the scriptures. He taught with authority unlike the religious scribes of his day. You'd never describe Jesus as a theologian for his was not intellectual knowledge of God but a spiritual intimate relationship with the One he called Father. He fulfilled every letter of God's law and observed the Jewish calendar, but he was NOT religious. In fact, he constantly irked the religious community by healing on the Sabbath, fraternising with‘sinners' and ignoring their tedious ceremonial forms.

Contrast that with today's enlightened ‘spiritual’ leader who strives to be theologically sound, politically correct and ecumenically unified.

God used Israel's monarchy to teach us about the kingdom of heaven. Saul disqualified himself but King David who succeeded him showed us what the coming Messiah would look like. David had many wonderful qualities but the one quality by which all succeeding kings were eventually judged, was his wholeheartedness in following God. The bible tells us it was David who won the title of man after God's own heart.

I Kings 15: 5 For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord's commands all the days of his life - except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.

Acts 13: 22-23 And when He had removed him (Saul) , He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ 23 From this man's seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus—


It's important to note that although King David was God's choice, he was NOT the Messiah. David was a messianic witness to Jesus, the Anointed ONE.

The prophet Isaiah made an amazing prediction;

6 For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9: 6-7

A mere human could never accomplish this. He had to be God and Jesus fit that description perfectly. He confirmed every prophecy spoken of him by complete and total obedience to God the Father.

Nobody could equal or surpass Jesus' achievements. No not one.
Not before. Not after. Not ever.

Who are we to confer such lofty titles on another human soul addressing them your eminence, your holiness, your grace , your lordship, your reverence etc ? Shame on us!

The author of Hebrews exhorts us to fix our eyes on ONE person.

Hebrews 3: 1-6Therefore holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honour than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honour than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.

Here's another challenge for you.

Why didn't Jesus want to be king? After all he was a bona fide blue-blooded descendant of David's royal house. He could have joined the revolutionaries to overthrow the goverment and sent the Romans packing. The Jews had been waiting for more than 400 years since the last prophetic voice had faded. In their mind the coming of the Messiah would mean national unity and end of pagan rule. Israel could then begin her journey to reclaim her former glory.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem (once the royal city of David), he had the crowd eating out of his hand. They believed he was the prophet and were prepared to make him their leader.

Read Matthew 21: 8ff

8 A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Hosanna in the highest!"

Jesus himself never denied he was the King of the Jews. Yet, why didn’t he try to fill the shoes of his ancient predecessor? Isn't that why He came? To ascend David's throne and establish God’s government eternally?

The answer is found in Jesus’ reply to Pontius Pilate.

35"Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?" 36Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." 37"You are a king, then!" said Pilate. Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

Ready for this?


The kingdom Jesus came to declare is literally, I mean literally OUT OF THIS WORLD!


To be continued..

An uncomfortable truth - Part 1

Do you know what was KIng Saul’s greatest sin that caused him to forfeit the throne? Was it uncontrollable sexual passions? Abuse of power? Insatiable greed for gold?

Give up? Dust off that bible and turn with me to I Sam 13.

Jonathan's surprise attack on the enemy outpost had incited the Philistines. They quickly assembled their armies to fight Israel. On seeing the strength of their military line-up, the hearts of Saul's men melted in fear.

Just days earlier, at Saul's coronation, the prophet Samuel had given Saul strict instructions to wait 7 days for him at Gilgal after which he would come and offer the burnt offering. Only after that would Samuel tell him what to do next. You can read this in I Sam 10:8 ff.

With a battle brewing, Saul had to uncover God's plans pronto! So Saul waited in Gilgal for Samuel to offer the burnt offering but when he still didn't appear after the stipulated time, Saul decided to do it himself. But just as he finished, Samuel arrived and chided Saul for acting presumptuously.

Read I Sam 13: 11-13.

Saul blamed everyone else for forcing his hand. His men for their lack of focus. Samuel for his tardiness and the Philistines for their imposing presence. But God did not let him off the hook! As a result of Saul’s failure to keep God's command, his kingdom would not endure and another would take his place as leader of God's people.

Few pastors will readily admit personal responsibility when they know they have failed God ; preferring to pin the blame on members' lack of commitment, leaders' inefficiencies and 'spiritual' attacks from Satan himself!

In this second incident, (Read I Sam 15) Samuel told Saul that God wanted him to utterly destroy the Amalekites sparing nothing and noone. Saul fought and won the battle but told his men to save the best of the livestock and destroy the rest. He also spared Agag, king of the Amalekites. .

Read on.

10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11 "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions."

Meanwhile, Saul traipsed off to Carmel to build a monument to himself before he caught up with Samuel at Gilgal (v12).

When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions." 14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"

Now what was so wrong in destroying the blemished and preserving the best of the sheep and cattle? After all, these were only spared to be sacrificed to God.

When Samuel confronted him, Saul defended his actions.

20 "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."

Well, 2 out of 3 isn't bad. Or is it? After all Saul was only thinking of what was best for everyone. Right?

Wrong.
Check out how Samuel sums up Saul's actions.

OBEDIENCE to God’s voice is better than sacrifice.
REBELLION is equal to the sin of witchcraft.
ARROGANCE is no different from committing idolatry &
Since you REJECTED GOD'S WORD, God also has rejected you as King.

Strong words. What we may consider petty and inconsequential, God regards with extreme gravity. With God, partial obedience is no obedience and delayed obedience is still disobedience.

God's Word is NOT a suggestion or an option to be ignored.

His back against the wall, Saul concedes that he did violate God's command for fear of his men. He begs Samuel to forgive him and accompany him one last time to worship God so he doesn't lose face before the elders. (Yes, It IS possible to resist God and still participate in an act of worship!) Finally, it's Samuel who fully executes God's word. He slays Agag before returning home to grieve Saul until his death.

It's true Saul was anointed king on God's instructions (I Sam 9:16 - 17), but God only gave Israel the kind of king they wanted. They wanted to be on par with the other nations - a worthy king who would lead them and fight their battles just like the kings of the nations around them. They rejected the headship of God for the leadership of man. So God agreed to their demands and gave them Saul.

Saul embodied every proud aspiration of man. A man we're more than happy to have take charge and lead us to glory. Society constantly worships at the altar of good looks, talents and charisma and Saul fit neatly into the mold of this idol. What's more, Saul was anointed of God, empowered by His Spirit and even flowed in the gift of prophecy! Saul was an accomplished leader; an important protagonist in the annals of Israel’s kings. But failure to carry out God's clear instructions, exposed how spiritually bankrupt he really was.

Some pastors are convinced that God chose them for their extraordinary leadership skills. Can you really imagine God saying, “Tom is a true visionary, Dick is a keen strategist and Harry can get people to where he needs them to be (whether they like it or not!) - I gotta have them on my team”?

If this is what God is looking for, then Saul would have been the man after God's own heart. But he was nowhere on that list.

There could be a question at the back of your mind.
Didn't God see this coming? Surely God could have warned His people about Saul?

More to follow....

Blast from the past

God has placed in each soul an apostle to lead us upon the illumined path. Yet many seek life from without, unaware that it is within them. - Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)

Don't underestimate the ordinary

I was worried about the future, wondering what it is I could do to make a decent living now that I no longer worked in the church. I know it was no mistake that I gave up pursuing a career in the corporate sector but what was it then that God had called me into? What should I do? Whom do I see? Where do I apply? So on so forth. And God being God, chose a movie to speak so clearly to me. I was watching the movie Paycheck starring Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman.

You can read about it in detail at this link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paycheck_(film)

The hero had a envelope filled with ordinary items that he did not recognise or recollect but which was crucial to helping him escape from life-threatening situations and finally leading him to the truth.

God said I have already deposited in your life what you will need for the future but you don't recognise them simply because they are too ordinary for anyone to take notice. But I know what your future entails and I will give you the details when it is time. You can try to figure out the what, how, why and when but you won't succeed because only I know what's in store for you. Just learn to trust my leading and at the precise moment, you will understand why I worked in the way I did. You can trust me for I make no mistakes and I cannot fail.

You have to love the way God speaks! No secret codes to decipher, no clues to break and no need for second guessing what it is He is saying to us.

I am still learning what it is to serve an Extraordinary God!

I started writing this post in Nov 2007. It is now Jan 2008 and I am teaching a basic English course in a local college. Teaching is my thing and English is (strangely) my first language! A happy combination for me. I get to work AND enjoy what I do at the same time! The majority of my students are from a home for the handicapped and they are simply precious!

For those of you who didn’t know, I was without a job for 8 months after resigning from the church I was serving in. I was so messed up that I couldn't work even if I wanted to. But God marvelously provided for me - I reconnected with my nephews and nieces in Dubai and then had a wonderful holiday in South Africa. I spent time with family and old friends and even found time to make new ones. I ate well, slept well and spent lots of time just chilling with God and allowing Him to speak into my heart. I had time to de-stress and work on this blog which is fast becoming a hobby of mine.

I just love this God who takes really good care of His sheep of whom I am happy to be one!

Changing Garments

Changing Garments

Christine Beadsworth
South Africa

Fresh Oil releases newsletter
Apr 02, 2006
www.freshoilreleases.com

To all God’s precious sons (be they male or female)

I would like to begin by sharing something I saw in the Spirit this morning. Before me stood a person dressed in long liturgical robes, complete with regalia and signs of office. Then I saw this person begin to remove his priestly robes piece by piece. He laid them aside and handed in his resignation from the priestly order. Then he began to put on fresh robes, supplied by an attendant at hand. These were rich garments, giving the impression of royalty. As he stood there in these new yet obviously ancient garments he seemed to question what he was supposed to do next. The answer came, “ walk in them!” Then a scepter was held out to him. He took hold of it and held it high above his head. As he moved it back and forth and extended it in front of him, the scepter changed to a sword and then back to a scepter during the movement of his arm.

As I pondered what I had seen, the Holy Spirit had me begin to personally pray through and complete the actions I had seen the person do. Then He began to unfold the message in what I had witnessed: “There are many born into the Body of Christ who have worn and walked in the robes of the priesthood. They have faithfully attended to their duties, serving in the temple according to their set times and appointed places. They have done this out of love for Me. They have given of their time and substance. Yet they have failed to understand this one thing. They were not born as priests after the order of Aaron. They were born as royal priests after the order of Melchizadek. One is an earthly order; the other a heavenly bloodline. They were born of an ancient and incorruptible Seed; the Living Word. Because of this misunderstanding as to their bloodline, many have subscribed to a system they are not truly a part of. They are not of this world, just as I am not of this world. They have allowed an earthly religious system to ‘name them and claim them’ as its own. They have allowed themselves to be clothed in priestly garments belonging to an earthly order; an order which in fact was brought to a close when the old order of things passed away and the new heavenly order came into being. They have allowed themselves to be relegated and delegated to different corners of the same religious prison. They have served faithfully in their manmade divisions, receiving the approval, decorations and promotions of a works-based system; year after year offering the same sacrifices. But now the time is coming when I will remove the old dry husks of their liturgical robes and reveal the incorruptible Seed planted deep within. They will rightly align themselves with their blood-bought heritage as priests of the ancient Melchizadek order, after the pattern of the First-born from among the de ad. They will put on the royal garments that have been prepared and waiting in heavenly places for this time and begin to walk in a revelation of their identity as part of a royal bloodline of servant-priests. The manifestation of the sons of God will be after this manner, a breaking forth out of a hard dry seed-case of religious mental restriction into the full freedom of indestructible life working within the sons of the Kingdom. Then shall the sword of My Word become a scepter extended over situations, judging righteously and ruling in the earth; declaring, “IT IS WRITTEN …!”

Beloved, we were not grafted into the fig tree of religion but into the olive tree, where the capacity for continually flowing anointing is stored up. As long as we have the mindset that we are of the Aaronic priesthood, we will never function in the kingly anointing in the earth. The Aaronic priesthood was condemned to going through the same rituals year after year without any lasting deliverance or freedom from sin. We were not born into that family, an earthly family. We were born into an inheritance far above that. In this priesthood, there was no opportunity provided to rule in any way; the priests functioned totally within the four walls of the temple system and had to protect themselves from being contaminated by anything unclean. This meant that only those who were born Jews could receive the benefits of the religious system. Jesus came into the world, not to save only those in the four walls of a man-made building but to save the whole world. The tearing of the veil portrayed a removal of any separating wall between God and man. No longer would another human being have to represent our case before the ark of His presence and bring us word from the throne-room. Yet still there exists within the church a mentality of waiting until Sunday to go and ‘receive’ the Word. This mindset is one of the vestiges of an old religious system. We actually have access to the Father at any given moment and the Word dwells within us and furthermore, we have the Holy Spirit Who progressively leads us into all truth.

It is time for us to take another look at our ‘birth certificates’ and find out whose name has been filled in as ‘parent’. There are some who have been claimed by the religious spirit for its own ends, to have our gifts used for the benefit of a religious system which attaches no worth to the slave-labour it employs. Some of us have voluntarily subscribed to belong to this group, even paying yearly subscriptions to ensure our names remain on the roll and that we receive the indoctrination updates designed to keep us enslaved. Praise God for the light that is being released from Heaven at this time to cause us to truly see, to understand the truth of who we really are in Christ and to be set free.

When one belongs to an organization, one’s name is on their database and they have one’s residential and contact details. This is in order for them to be able to supply one with any information they wish to convey to one as a recorded member of that organization. When one wishes to resign and sever membership, it has to be done officially so that one is removed from their database. Beloved, we need to serve notice on the religious spirit that we will no longer be a part of its endeavors; that we refuse to receive any messages it sends out, be they snail-mail or email; that it needs to stamp across any forms in its possession with our names on, ‘TRANSFERRED’ because we have been translated out of the kingdom of darkness (even the darkness of religious enlightenment) into the Kingdom of Light. Our bloodline is now that of the Lamb that was slain and any inheritance passed down to us will come only from Him, not from any earthly bloodline. We must refuse to serve the goals of a religious system any longer, remembering that we are not wrestling against flesh and blood but principalities and powers.. We must remove every vestige of religious garment that has been placed upon us by any system of man, fold them up and return them. Don’t forget to remove the signet rings representing any authority delegated by man, for we cannot wear both the Father’s ring and that of the earthly realm of government at the same time. The Melchizadek priesthood rules from a seated position at the right hand of the Father. We need to unravel the turban of tight religious mindsets that have formed strongholds in our understanding and take captive every thought to obedience to Christ alone.

This resignation and de-robing is only the first part of our instruction from the throne-room. Secondly, we need to put on our tailor-made royal robes of the Melchizadek order, including the clean turban of a fresh mindset. Then thirdly, once we have clear revelation of our identity as Royal priests, we need to walk in the good works prepared for us.

This whole procedure sounds relatively simple but will in fact be a process of steadily increasing light; first to reveal to us the filthiness of the robes we have worn and secondly to provide light by which we can don the waiting royal garments.

Zec 3:3 Joshua, standing before the Lord, was dressed in dirty clothes.
Zec 3:4 The Lord spoke to his attendants, "Get him out of those filthy clothes," and then said to Joshua, "Look, I've stripped you of your sin and dressed you up in clean clothes."
Zec 3:5 I spoke up and said, "How about a clean new turban for his head also?" And they did it--put a clean new turban on his head.

When we know this truth, we will be set free to rule in kingly authority. When we understand the power invested behind the scepter, then we will confidently raise the sword of the Living Word and declare it over those in bondage and any area of unrighteousness or injustice. The scepter of the Lord will be extended from Zion (ps 110:2).The scepter is the sword and the sword is the Word. It is by the unchanging Word, settled forever in Heaven, that we rule in the earth.

It is time for that incorruptible seed to burst forth from its casing and push into the light of a new Day!

Fact or Fiction?

Christianity began in Palestine as a relationship, moved to Greece and became a philosophy, went to Rome and became an institution, moved to Europe and became a culture, finally it came to America and became an enterprise.” - Richard Halverson

What do you think?

The pain of life

Today I woke up with a dark cloud hanging over my head.

God,I want my day in court!

I want to be both judge and jury over the people who used and misused me. I want them to taste the tears they forced me to drink. I want them to suffer for shredding my hopes and feeding it to the wind. I want them to know how painstakingly long it takes to heal the deep wounds of betrayal. I want them to spend sleepless nights wondering "What did I do wrong?". I want them to grieve the innocence of a childhood lost forever. I want them to feel like the freak I have become. I want to wipe the smile of their faces as they did mine. I want justice and I want it yesterday.

I want.

I want.

I want.

Jesus, please save me from myself.

Worship 101

Another word i think that's worth reclaiming is 'WORSHIP'. Today worship is used to refer to the time of singing we have in our service. We ask, "Where do you worship?" or "Did you enjoy the time of worship?"

Interestingly, the first time we encounter the word worship in the Bible is in Genesis 22

2 Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."

Abraham had waited 25 years for his son and heir and now God was asking Abraham to sacrifice him? How did Abraham respond? Read on.

3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?""Yes, my son?" Abraham replied."The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"8 Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

Wait. There was no worship leader rostered for this worship service. No musicians, musical instruments or back-up singers. No music to touch Abraham's emotions and lead him to peaks of praise. No congregation to chorus the cheerful refrain of joyous hymns. No pageantry and props of a carefully coordinated liturgy. This was between God and Abraham. There would be no spectators.

What happened next?

11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!""Here I am," he replied.12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

Abraham was willing to execute God's command even if it meant the death of his dream. That was his act of worship. And we know his obedience won God's eternal blessing.

But today corporate worship has become a time where we simply render lip service to God. Many sing beautifully and clap enthusiastically but they return home to continue their rebellious existence. How can we say we worship God when we trivialize His commands? Can a musical performance (no matter how flawlessly executed) take the place of true worship which is obedience to God's word? God is looking for worshippers - those who will worship Him in spirit and truth.

'When the music fades

And all is stripped away

And I simply come

Longing just to bring

Something that's of worth

That will bless your heart

Bridge:

I'll bring you more than a song

For a song in itself

Is not what you have required

You search much deeper within

Through the way things appear

You're looking into my heart

King of endless worth

No one could express

How much you deserve

Though I'm weak and poor

All I have is Yours

Every single breath

Refrain:

I'm coming back to the heart of worship

Coz it's all about you

It's all about you Jesus

I'm sorry Lord for the thing I made it

When its all about You

It's all about You Jesus'

- Matt Redman

Back to Basics

Words today have evolved and changed so much so that they bear little or no resemblance to their original meaning. You still spell them the same way but the meaning that was originally attached to it has been replaced by another.

Some words in our christian vocabulary need re-defining too. 'CHURCH' is a good example of a word that got re-invented and eventually took on a life of its own. We say, "I go to church every Sunday" or "Which church do you attend?" as if it refers to a place or activity but it didn't use to be that way.

When Jesus said "I will build my church", he wasn't referring to a building project. He was talking about a living breathing body of Christ believers. He challenged the religious leaders to destroy the temple which He would raise up again in 3 days (John 2: 18-22). They thought he meant the temple that stood in Jerusalem. But He was talking about the death of his physical body and the raising of a body of believers that He would indwell by the Holy Spirit. 'Church' in actual fact refers to you and me. You and I are the living temples that house God's presence and Jesus is the high priest who makes us worthy to come to God.

We do not automatically become His body by simply signing on the dotted line. You can fill in an application to become a member of an institution but to be joined to Christ's body is a different thing altogether.

John 10 makes it clear - please take a moment to read this.

3The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." 6Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them.
7Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
11"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

[Compare this with how western ranch owners cruelly brand their sheep and employ cowboys and sheep dogs to round up their herds. On the other hand eastern shepherds use a unique call/whistle to get their sheep to follow them]

Jesus does not recognise us by our doctrinal position or denominational preference. Membership certs mean nothing to him. He knows who belongs to him by their willingness to obey his voice and follow his leading.

So if Jesus is your shepherd, then you are his sheep. And if Jesus is your head, then you are his body. God entrusted only one person for the task. His One and Only Son. One flock with one shepherd. I read somewhere, that the diverse denominations we have in the world today is more a testimony to our division than it is of our unity. I totally agree.

The answer is not calling for ecumenical oneness - trying to find common ground to agree on. Jesus called people to HIMSELF; not a denomination, movement, community, creed or cause. If you reject His headship over your life, you detach yourself from His body. And we know a headless body is a dead body! The Body of Christ has only one Head.

[Trivia: How many heads does the institutional church have? Lets see...pope, cardinals, bishops, elders, deacons, senior pastors, cell/zone/cluster leaders, ministry heads etc. Friends, there is no hierarchy in God's house.]

Sadly, God has been relegated to 52 days on the calendar (with special mention on Easter and Christmas, of course) and a fixed home address. Once discipleship identified us with our Lord and Master Jesus Christ but today evidence of membership is a worthless certificate. Pledges, decision cards and baptismal certs. These are mere tokens, reflecting a decision we made in the past and by no means are they indicative of our standing with God.

There is a test you can do to find out if you are His disciple. It's found in John 15. Read it and tell me in all honesty. Do you qualify?

You may be surprised to find who God actually has on His list.

No sex please, we're married.

His name is Bill.
Her name is Betty.

He's a high school English teacher.
She's a homemaker by choice.

He pays the bills, mows the lawn and takes out the trash.
She cooks and cleans and does the laundry.

He volunteers at the soup kitchen every fortnight.
She teaches Sunday School every 3rd sunday of the month.

His teenage students feel he's too cute for the classroom.
She can still turn some heads whenever she goes for her evening jog.

When he's not tinkering with his bike, he likes to have a beer with the guys. When she's not baking , she loves to shop or catch a movie with her girl friends.

At dinner, they sit down to a healthy balanced meal which she prepares.He makes sure she knows how much he appreciates her good cooking and she listens attentively while he shares the highlights of his day. And when its time to do the dishes, she rinses while he dries.

He unwinds with Larry King Live while she reads a chapter of Sophie Kinsella. An unspoken ritual that has remained unchanged with the passing years.

As the evening draws to a close and its time to turn in, the couple retire to their beautiful 4 poster bed complete with matching drapes and lush satin covers. When the lights go out, they lie side by side in the darkness with only the sound of their even breathing to break the silence.

That's a page out of the life of a happily married couple.

Except for one tiny detail.

Neither Bill nor Betty have ever had to make their bed the next morning.

Okay I made them up. Bill and Betty are cardboard cutouts. They are not real. But their sham of a marriage reminds me of the cardboard Christianity we practice in our churches today. All of the responsibility and none of the intimacy.

[I extracted these lines from the most passionate book in the bible - Song of Songs (NIV)]

Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
for your love is more delightful than wine.
Take me away with you—let us hurry!
Let the king bring me into his chambers.

His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.
My lover spoke and said to me,
"Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, and come with me.

My lover is mine and I am his;
Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,

His mouth is sweetness itself;
he is altogether lovely.
This is my lover, this my friend,
May the wine go straight to my lover,
flowing gently over lips and teeth
I belong to my lover,
and his desire is for me.

Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.

Do you wonder why church today feels sterile, cold, contained and controlled? Could it be we're so busy being committed, communal, relational, relevant, kingdomic, missional, evangelistic, mentoring, authentic _________ (fill in the blank with the latest christian fad/buzzword that's overtaken your church) etc.

All of Martha and none of Mary.

Do you wonder why you feel hollow and empty inspite of all the good and right things you do? Do you feel disoriented, lost even though everyone looks to you for guidance and inspiration? Do you envy those who talk to God on a first name basis? Does it puzzle you that they know Him so intimately even though they don't belong to a cell group? Worse, do they remind you of who you used to be at one time?

Its not too late, you know.

He's still smitten by you.

Prescription for fruitfulness

1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.

3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.

4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.

The Bible, Psalm 1 (New International version)

A match NOT made in heaven

Abigail and Nabal.

A totally mismatched couple! How they ended up together in the first place is not told to us but there are different ways to tell a story and the bible chooses to begin where David makes his appearance.

David has been on the run for a while now and he makes a stop at the Desert of Maon. Fugitives, David and his men seek temporary shelter on Nabal's property. Nabal is an extremely wealthy man. David sends an appeal for food and other necessities but Nabal's response is typical of the arrogant man that he is. In his own words...

"Who is this David? Who is this son of Jesse? Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. 11 Why should I take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and give it to men coming from who knows where?" - I Sam 25: 10 (NIV)

Interesting.

[Having shaken off the shackles of serving the institutional church, i find i am one of those without valid membership to any recognised fellowship. Which means i am dangerously independent having no accountability to those appointed its leaders. Since i have no spiritual covering, spiritual malfunction is imminent. Its nothing personal. That's how it works. If you don't subscribe to the system, it can't support you. Church membership does have its privileges.]

Back to the story. Nabal sends David's men packing but the servants quickly alert Nabal's wife to the possible consequences of his rash decision. Abigail wastes no time. She packs the necessary rations and saddles her donkey. She manages to intercept David's party on their way to massacre the entire household of Nabal.

She falls to the ground and begs David's forgiveness.

Her words betray a wisdom her husband does not possess.

[Allow me to paraphrase]
"Please don't pay any attention to my husband. Nabal means 'a fool' and the man has certainly lived up to his name. May God avenge you from all your enemies so you need never fight the battle to vindicate yourself. Your willingness to fight God's battles has earned you His eternal favour and granted your family lasting posterity. It doesn't matter that your life hangs in the balance because God is watching your back. Your enemies have already been served the death warrant. It's just a matter of time before you become king. But if you choose to take matters into your own hands now, you risk jeopardizing your excellent track record. While you will be fully justified in your actions, it will continue to weigh heavily on your conscience long after this trial has passed."


The woman's as smart as she's beautiful.

Abigail averts a tragedy and in the process saves David's reputation too.

David is full of praise for her and assures her that he will take her advice. Abigail then returns home to find a very drunken Nabal hosting a huge party. So she says nothing. The next morning, when he's sobered up, she tells him what she's done. His heart turns to stone and ten days later God strikes him dead.

David hears the news and asks Abigail to be his wife. She says yes (clever woman!) to David and marries him.


What is the moral of this story?
There are 3 conspicuous characters in this tale.

Nabal means 'fool', although I'm sure he didn't realise how well his name suited him. I Cor. 1:20 says, God counts the wisdom of this world as foolishness. Sadly, it has crept into the church (disguised as good governance) and much teaching has been influenced by renowned management gurus and leadership coaches. To the point it is hard to discern what is God’s and what is not.

Abigail (whose name means 'cause of joy') had learnt to rise above her adverse circumstances. Although she was married to Nabal, she was his wife only by name. Indeed, she was his 'better half' and refused to be a party to his unscrupulous dealings. She knew God and recognized that David was His true servant. She did not blindly defend her husband but acknowledged that David and his men had been unjustly treated. She used her influence to right the wrong to the end that David and his men received due honor.

My disillusionment with the religious institution is understandable but there are thousands who, while they serve the system do not identify with it. Their faith and conduct are exemplary and often their timely intercession has averted God's judgement on the 'Nabals' of the religious system giving them space to repent. I salute them.

I pray that Abigail has the courage to boldly confess Christ before those who would rather die defending the religion of legalism and works. Her confession will break its power to dominate and enslave her so that she is free to be joined to the One who is full of grace and truth.

For those who identify with David - once the king's favourite but now his sworn enemy; perhaps you too have been rejected by the system you served so well, but do not despair. Jesus too was regarded as an outcast by the religious order of his day. Be patient. God will exonerate you in time. He is faithful and will allow no sin to go unpunished. If you act according to the dictates of the flesh, it will hinder the working of the Holy Spirit who is cultivating Christ' character in you.

David represents the Christ. The failure of the system will make many widows but Christ will make honest women of them because Jesus is our true bridegroom! And just like Abigail, our new found freedom in Christ will release us to run with God's holy purpose. God's kingdom will be firmly established in justicec and righteousness and Christ will be the Head of His Church once more.

A Love Story

Hidden within her frail and worn frame, throbbed the bloody pulp of a pulverized heart. Too many times to remember. But experience had only hardened her resolve to give it "one more try" and try she must, if she was to be whole again.

This stranger intrigued her with his story. He seemed sincere enough except for some audacious claim of being the only one for her. Ever the cynic, she compared him to past suitors who wooed her with tricks and trinkets. Until he showed her the holes in his hands and the scars on his back.

How could she be sure he wasn’t going to be another heart-ache on her list? Another hurt to handle? But what if he was THE ONE? Dare she risk losing salvation? Rest for her oh so weary heart! Healing for the wounds time had forgotten to mend? Her face fixed a smile while her heart weighed the possibilities. She forced the fears out of her head and willed herself to think of sunrise and butterflies.

Timidly, she listened to his assuring voice. Weakly, she let him draw her into his arms. "Has my search for true love ended? Or is this just another game to survive? Where winners take all and losers live to fight another day?" The fears returned but she caught the scream before it escaped her.

Gently he brushed the strand of hair from her face. Such tenderness! The gesture filled her with both pleasure and pain. Clumsily, she returned his caress, mustering all the trust of a little child to make it real. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers. His breath tasted warm and sweet and she closed her eyes to savor the moment. Anticipation was ripe and hope did not disappoint. His lips met hers and he breathed his life into her. The moment was like no other.

For the longest time, she searched his face. His eyes were bottomless pools of mystery inviting her to dive into a abyss of endless secrets to be discovered. She had been afraid to acknowledge it before but now she felt the desire stir within her. A restlessness, an unsettling in her spirit. A holy discontent. She felt the last of her defenses crumble and faith march bravely to the fore..

She took the plunge. Determinedly, she shook her hair free from the cruel grip of domineering guilt and shame. His approving laughter rang out loud and clear. It was music to her soul! She kicked off her shoes of past regrets, skipping and spinning like a carefree child. She wanted to dance until she was lost in his love. The melody was irresistable, calling her to abandon the familiarity of the beaten path to share an unknown destiny with this stranger.

All fear was gone because perfect love had come.

Her conscience washed clean and her innocence reborn. The lightness in her heart testified to the change. Wait. There was something else. Imperceptible at first but slowly growing in clarity and strength until it was staring her full in the face. An intuition supernaturally birthed in her spirit.

“Who I used to be will never matter again. The future has changed because I am no longer the same. I have a new name. His."

A child loved by the Heavenly Father. A bride burning in passion for her King.

Created for His eternal pleasure.

Eager and ready for adventure, she turned to the Son of God and welcomed Him into her world.