A Poem, An Answer, A Dark, Remedial Solution

Sport and Jest, Sport and Jest, Sport and Jest
The Thrice cup of lightness drink down
And splosh the laughter all around
While babies' blood wails from the ground

Sport and Jest, Sport and Jest, Sport and Jest
Continual parties for your ales
But you ensue your own driven nails
On coffins for young, sturdy males

Sport and Jest, Sport and Jest, Sport and Jest
The Games are played in arenas
Yet are won by blood thirsty hyeanas
Whose stripes always bleed through

Progressive Seasons of Lent on the forehead
Will light shine through?
Will light shine through?
Will light shine through?

A Judgment, An Council, A Dark, Remedial Solution

Testing the Spirits......

The church needs more pairs of eyes to see the obvious. The eyes I have in mind are spiritually discerned in nature. In charismatic circles many unusual things in times past have flown under the radar to the forefrunt. The Lakeland "Revival" was a disaster because men chose to believe hype instead of testing claims or the spirit behind the event. If we are to see true revival today, men and women will need to be equipped by the Spirit in order to test the spirits in our churches. If testing the spirits is a higher gift from the Holy Spirit, it has almost been completely neglected today. Those who may have had the gift in these circles have been pushed aside to push the agenda of men or fallen angels at worst.

I have in mind one human activity that could have three different entities on it. The human activity is laughing. Laughing could represent much either for righteousness or unrighteousness. In Zecheriah 9:15-17, we see the people of God rejoicing as if drunk with wine. I would have to say this would imply laughter. It reads as follows-

"The LORD of hosts will protect them, and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones, and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine, and be full like a bowl, drenched like the corners of the altar. On that day the LORD their God will save them, as the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty! Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women."

In Genesis, I believe we get three different vantage points of spirits behind the activity of laughter. Three different events of laughter are recorded in the testimonies of Hagar and Sarah.

Laughter in unbelief/flesh
Gen. 18:11-15
Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?" 13The LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son." 15But Sarah denied it,[saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh."

Laughter given by God in the birth of promise
Gen. 21:6-7
6And Sarah said, "God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me." 7And she said, "Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age."

Laughter of the enemies of the promise and perhaps demonic?
Gen. 21:9-10
9But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing. 10So she said to Abraham, "Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac."

The laughter of Hagar is seen as a laughter of mockery or provocation. Hagar's spirit of laughter provoked Sarah to despise Hagar and her child Ishmael.

I believe these three texts cast their light on just one human activity, and the spirits associated behind each event. The question that needs to be asked more often would have to come from the Lord Jesus himself. When he saw the disciples inquiring to call fire down from heaven to kill the Samaritans, he told them, "Ye know not what manner and spirit are ye of." (Luke 9:55)

And that would be the issue and question still to this day.

Sickness and Sin?

The first thing is first. I will say that not all sickness is directly associated with personal sin in one's life. This was the mistake of the Pharisees in the gospels. They associated the cause of one man's ailment with a personal sin or the sin of his kindred (John 9:2). Not all disease is due to sin in one's life, but the purpose of this particular entry is to show some passages that teach a direct link between sin and health. My assesertion is that the Bible teaches the Holy Spirit has a direct affair in managing the church, and that he brings about some illnesses in order to refine/discipline His church. The illnesses are brought about because of sin.

Here are two passages. The first is explicit of my point and the second is implicit in nature.

1 Cor. 11:27-31

"For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died."

James 5:14-15

"Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven."

Unfortunately these passages don't directly correlate to modern day church affairs. When is the last time you saw someone fall ill due to sin when taking communion? The presence of God in the person of the Holy Spirit cannot tolerate sin in His church. This is most evident in the book of Acts. When He really shows up, He may have to take some names (Acts 5:5-11). Look at Ananais and Sapphira.

It is not a matter of debate. When the Holy Spirit really comes to refine His church, He will not tolerate sin. Little white lies have no room in the inn. We are left with trivial sin management in the flesh if we don't have the Holy Spirit actively working. Churches in America have the former and not the latter.

Tolerance never used to be a virtue until this present crooked generation was born.

Two Kinds of Believers?

Luke 10:38-42

"Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? tell her then to help me.' But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her'. "

Jesus does not want a domesticated woman. He wants a worshiper, even though He loves both the same. The nature of this passage is not so much about the object of worship, Jesus, as it is about the worshiping subjects. The subjects are the recepients of the blessing of gazing upon the face of Christ.

The minds of Mary and Martha were in two different places. Martha's mind was busy about the mundane. She thought she was assigned the all-imporant task of preparing the room for the Kings of kings. The problem is she thought she was assigned the chores for the kingdom, and she even wanted this perceived assignment to come upon Mary. Martha wanted Mary to share in her burden. The characteristics of Martha's frame were worry, fear, anxiety, and many such things. She thought her will was the perfect will of Christ. She was wrong.

I can only picture the placid nature of Mary opposed to the worry of Martha. Mary was simply loving the best she knew how at that point. Martha thought she was loving God and doing the best for the kingdom. She was missing out on the face of God promised to the ancient Hebrews in which many righteous men yearned to look.

I believe this passage as far as I know in part is revealing something critical in part. It reveals a type of temporal loss to the sincere believer. The paradigm in the flesh is service for the kingdom. Doing, doing, doing, when Christ calls us to be, be, be, a worshiper. Mary reveals the tranquil nature of the one gazing upon the face of God. The perfect will of God is so simple, yet we complicate it.

The Lord pity the domesticated ones of which I have been apart.

The Discipline of the Father

Heb. 12:5-7

"And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

'My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives.'

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons."

By the Holy Spirit I was revealed the worst form of discipline God could give a son. It is simply the deprivation of the light of His face, the thing His people need and want the most.

The background to this illustration was provided on a summer vacation I went to with my family. We arrived at a theme park. The theme park put on a dog show where we caught the tale end. The trainer saw there was an extra crowd that came so he decided to acclamate some of his more inexperienced dogs to a smaller crowd. As the trainer was throwing his frisbees around for the dogs he began telling of how he trained these dogs. He loved his dogs. You could see it in his eyes. He picked up some of the dogs from abusive situations as puppies. Those puppies were a wreck in terms of performance at first. They were frightened, scared little things. He explained that his method of punishment wasn't to physically hit them as nuisances nor harm them by wiping their noses in their own doo-doo so to speak. If they did something wrong especially while in training, the trainer would then turn his back, withdraw his face and ignore them. The dogs would then go frantic. Their master hid his face. They were desparate.

The master trained the dogs by teaching them relationship. He did not whip them in to shape or even bark orders. He did not simply have them do things, he was training them to be something. The dogs performed gloriously in front of a crowd because the master dealt with them most lovingly and shrewdly. These exploits were totally based off of a relationship.

The worst part of all this is that we can be the frantic little dogs and not even know it. This method of discipline is an art form that only God can lead us in. The one whom He sets His love upon will be familiar with His discipline and the methods of His frowing providence in a hidden smile.

The Lord bless you and cause His face to shine upon you.

Spirit's Judgment vs Flesh's Judgment, Part 2

Rom. 12:3 "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned."

This verse is critical to give us a proper understanding of introspection. Paul without grace as Saul definitely did not have the authority to judge himself properly. He was what he himself described in this verse as qualifying for elitism. A good definition of elitism is given in this verse, "to think of himself more highly than he ought to think,". This is the flesh's condition. The flesh does a brilliant job of puffing itself up even while making a pretense of humility.

The gift of grace is the ability to properly judge oneself given the measuring rod of faith. This is a sober reality to the true Christian. This must drive us to true humilty. Do I have faith? That is the question. I contend if we understand the nature of this grace and this measure of faith, the Lord will have use of us in His kingdom. Until there are righteous jugments given by the Spirit we are guilty of wallowing in unbelief and autonomous pride. We need to realize our lack of faith, and repent to the Lord that He may fill us afresh. Lord forgive us for our pride and unbelief. Wash us in the blood of Christ.

May the body of Christ begin to function again in God-given authority like in the days of old.

Spirit's judgment vs flesh's judgment

What we need in the Christian life is righteous distinctions. In a sense we need a measuring line that righty divides truth from error. Taking part in a righteous judmgent is what this generation needs.

As Christians we are called to take part in the righteous judgment. The disciples were promised to judge the twelve tribes of Israel, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Christians are promised to judge fallen angels. 1 Cor. 6: 13-"Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!" Righteous judgment is an intricate part of our destiny. It is even a commandment in this life from the Lord Jesus,John 7:24- "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment."

Unregenerate flesh only judges matters skin deep. The Lord calls us not to judge with the world's judgment. The world boasts of numbers, stature, and charisma. This judgment does not go far enough with God. The wisdom of this world is foolishness to Him.

Matters relating to spiritual concerns are impossible without the illuminating Holy Spirit. Without Him we are left with the shallow depths of the world's judgment, a world that puffs itself up in pride. Judging matters rightly is a gift from the Spirit that only He can provide in His infinite brevity. He humbles the proud, and calls into existence humility when it did not exist before. Look at Nebuchadnezzar.

Romans 3:27-28- "Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law." Humility is exercised in a dependant faith, and our faith is perfected by the Spirit to teach us and lead us into all truth. We have nothing to boast in or offer God. The gift of righteousness is provided in His Son. We are left with closing our mouths, falling on our faces, and worshipping in His presesnce. He is working this in His people. Only He can do it. No flesh may boast before Him.