-DR
Onward! Into the book!
Not only did the metaphorical key work in this lock, the lock of book reading, but inside this house are billions of rooms for me to explore and play in. The front room had the pillows from my bed when I was seven. The kitchen had the orange tiles from the kitchen of my family’s first house. There was even a weeping willow tree in one room – the same tree in my parents’ yard now. The windows were huge. I could see the Tigris River from most of them.
Page after page Holy Spirit poured truckloads of Legos, Lincoln Logs, and wooden blocks into my hands, around my cross-legged posture; building materials from heaven getting caught in my hair like ribbons, on my eyelashes like snowflakes, and on my feet like glory freckles. God pushed me on a gigantic swing, up through the clouds. I laughed and giggled with delirious joy.
There is something about transforming nations that melts me through-and-through.
All my life this has been the case. When the Holy Spirit talks about bringing nations into wholeness, I get carbonated and shaken, ready to explode.
AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
(Please read this book.)
This is why I read this whole book today. These ideas are precisely what I have been thinking about with more detail and contemplation than ever this last year of ministry school – particularly since March 23 when I was invited to work in Baghdad, Iraq – which I am planning to do after May 2012. I’m learning economic principles as I pray for the Iraqi Dinar to be revalued. I’m watching films on Iraq, learning more about the current war. There is a map of Iraq on my wall and a wooden carving of Iraq on my desk – a precious gift a friend brought me from Iraq. On the top shelf of my closet are 12 paintings for leaders in Iraq – gifts I am planning to hand deliver this fall when I visit Baghdad. And in every crease in my hands as I play guitar, there is hope for Iraq.
I believe Jesus’ words, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)
He wanted His Father’s kingdom to cover the earth. So do I.
I want every single nation to be alive and flourishing. For too long the church has focused too much on the return of Jesus and thus expected Him to bring that reality with Him. He will bring that reality 100% with Him. Until then WE are supposed to be moving toward that reality by making “disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19) Not IN all nations, not merely individuals following Jesus in every nation. Yes, we want that, but ultimately we want WHOLE nations to follow Jesus. We want NATIONS to be discipled. Can you imagine? A whole nation? A whole government devoted to God? Every area of society devoted to the King and His glory?
hahahahahahahahaha! (The delirium is setting in again. I get positively drunk on Jesus thinking about it!)
It’s going to be beautiful beyond anything we’ve ever seen when nations are head-over-heels in love with Jesus!
And this is what this book is heralding: a generation of people with reformers’ hearts and a vision to TRANSFORM nations!
Here are some significant excerpts from The Reformation Manifesto:
“We need to care for our nations like Jesus cares for them. He loves the nations of the earth – He created them! God cares that people are hungry, that babies are being aborted. Not only that, but on the macro level, He has the answers to systemic poverty, the AIDS epidemic, and other massive, mind-boggling problems. He wants to involve each of us in creating solutions and will show us what we need to do to be reformers and revolutionaries in our society.” (36)
“Fear cripples innovators. While we all may deal with it at times, as those called to be world changers we can’t let it stop us. We have to be willing always to speak the truth in love and stand up for the biblical convictions God has put in our hearts.” (60)
“Jesus wasn’t looking for converts to a new religion; He was inviting people into a new kingdom, with a new government and a new King. He was inviting people to live heaven on earth.” (63)
“Another example is Almolonga, Guatemala. Almolonga was a disaster area at one time. Alcoholism was rampant,a nd it was a center of idolatry. The indigenous people of the village were in despair. Few had more than a sixth-grade education. Then a few brave souls got a hold of God’s Word and took on the process of the spiritual transformation of the area.
One of the miraculous signs that the city was changing was in the land itself. Once dry and unyielding, it became fertile and started to produce giant vegetables. I have been there myself, and all I have to say is whenever the tourists want to get their pictures taken holding the broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots, you know they are huge!
The villagers started selling their vegetables all across Central America and became wealthy enough to afford to buy – for cash – Mercedes trucks to haul their produce! The jail shut down and became a restaurant. The idol worship center closed down because of lack of participants. Ninety-five percent of the population is now born again!
As you drive through Almolonga today, you see street signs with names like Glory to God. Mike and I know some of the leaders of that movement, and they are genuine and wonderful believers. What is happening in Almolonga gives us great hope for what can take place elsewhere if we would just apply prayerfully the principles of God’s Word as the foundation for our societies.” (76-77)
“God has a plan for the nations; we need to care enough to find out what it is.” (100)
“one quality I have found to be a hallmark of reformers – perseverance. Sometimes we think we need a massive amount of faith to function as change agents; however, I am convinced that faith comes to the faithful. While ‘the just shall live by faith’ was the cornerstone verse of Luther’s Reformation, to me, that means ‘the just shall live by faithfulness.’ Great faith is best exemplified by the simple act of getting out of bed every morning and obeying God no matter how our bodies feel, what emotions we are battling, or what people are saying about us. The great reformers – Wilberforce among them – kept going even though they were terribly tempted to quit at times.” (140-141)
“In fact, the last letter written by John Wesley, in 1791, was to Wilberforce, supporting his anti-slavery campaign. Here is a portion of the letter the famous revivalist wrote to encourage Wilberforce:
‘Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils; but if God is with you , who can against you? Are all of them stronger than God? Oh, be not weary in well doing. Go on, in the name of God and int he power of His might, till even American slavery, the vilest that ever saw the sun, shall vanish away before it. That he who has guided you from youth up, may continue to strengthen you in this and in all things, is the prayer of
dear Sir, your affectionate servant
John Wesley (24 February 1791) ‘”
(142)
“We as Christians also know that scarcity began with the curse of poverty that was released by the fall. However, Jesus paid the price to redeem us from the fall, so we have been delivered from the curse of scarcity into abundance. Abundance is the antonym (or opposite) of scarcity. Thus we live according to a new principle in Christ: ‘Everything in our lives and the society we represent should produce increasing abundance.’”
(165)
“I believe it is possible to see the kingdom of God so manifested in a nation that there is no need for a welfare system at all – especially for any believer!”
(175)
“The Creator has not run out of ideas or solutions, and there are people whom God has especially gifted with the ability to tap into supernatural intelligence to start the reversal of the Genesis curse. God will help us to ‘steward the house’ by releasing His anointing to give supernatural solutions.
This will be done by those who have their minds renewed through God and receive the calling of God to be economists. A mind anointed by God sees things through the belief that there is nothing impossible to God. A challenge is only an opportunity to see the power of God move in a supernatural way.”
(176)
“The good news is that a new generation of Josephs, whom God has anointed to be monetary scientists, will connect with the Daniels – God’s political scientists – and work together to change the earth.”
(179)
“While most evangelicals still keep the light of Jesus Christ bright in the area of preaching salvation, many no longer see it as their Christian duty to extend that saving grace beyond the four walls of their church. For the most part they opted out of the civil rights movement, remained silent about domestic abuse, and rushed to the suburbs.”
(203)
“Another area in which the church could help is adoption. On July 7, 2007, a Youth Prayer Day was held here in the United States called The Call Nashville. One of the speakers challenged people to be willing to adopt children who were born to mothers who are involved in drug abuse.”
(204)
“Here are some things you can do to make a difference:
1. Ask God whom you can personally help.
2. Don’t be silent when things are wrong and you see God’s laws broken in your culture.
3. The world will try to conform you to its pattern – don’t let it!
4. Study God’s Word diligently and regularly.”
(205)
“The call to become a reformer is about living your life each and every day in a way that God’s will is done ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’”
(211)
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.”
(Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 213)
(Rod Parsley, 213)
I heard this song for the first time yesterday and it was like eating Ritz crackers as a six year old with a tummy ache:
calming, strengthening, and reassuring.
And so to all who are called to blaze new trails through thick terrain, take heart. The reason your journey is irresistible is YOU WERE BORN FOR THIS. The world needs you to take your place in history and in the future.
You can do it! And with great glory, you will. The world awaits the revealing of the sons and daughters of God.
As a friend recently wrote,
“Cynicism is the language of cowards – always think the worst, you’ll never be disappointed.
And as the psalmist wrote, “I would have despaired, but I know I will see God’s goodness here on earth” (Psalm 27:13)
HAVE HOPE!!!!!!!!!
Jesus is the HOPE of the nations. How can we not have hope when the embodiment of hope lives inside us?
Make that new path. Pave that road. Believe change is possible. Believe Jesus. Generations to come will be grateful you did.
| “In order to attain the impossible, one must attempt the absurd.” | |
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- Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (Spanish writer, author of the masterwork ‘El quijote’, 1547-1616)
“Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility; for it thinks all things lawful for itself, - Thomas Kempis |
My friend and Central Asia travel partner, Laura, assembled a DREAM BOOK consisting of the dreams of students at Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, where I am currently finishing my second year. I suggest browsing our dreams here:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/2167122
Be inspired. Write out your own dreams. Smash boxes. Dream the “impossible” dream. : )
- Rumi
Some of the most defining and determining moments in our lives are the moments when we decide how to deal with disappointment. We either get weary and leave open the doors of our souls for dissatisfaction and unbelief to come in OR we resolutely shake off the experience, close the doors, and move forward DARING to hold on to hope.
In these pivot points we set the tone for the rest of our lives.
Sometimes the discipline of choosing belief is excruciatingly painful. Eustace says in the latest Chronicles of Narnia film, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, when describing how Aslan (the God-figure) brought him in an instant from the transition of a dragon-body back to his human state, “It was really painful, but in a good way – like having a thorn removed from your foot.” It is in the choosing, despite the cost of comfort, that the great sloughing off occurs. It is in the yanking through a narrow spot that the refining happens.
It is in the conviction toward joy when it is expensive, that heavenly habits are formed.
I like heavenly habits. And really, I’m much too smitten with the Holy Spirit to hop out of the reformation-mobile and establish a “healthy” distance from the Holy Spirit. Yuck. That sounds entirely horrible.
The last few months ripe in growth, have also contained backroads of *ouch* and *aaaaaaaargh!* I’ve had thyroid disease since I was seven and though it is normally stable with medication there have been times – like when I moved to Israel in 2006 – that my body goes out of whack. I’ve been prayed for dozens and dozens of times. I know God heals. I know healing is easy from heaven’s perspective and healing is our inheritance on earth. In the journey of the last few years I’ve seen hundreds of people healed through my own hands. I rarely felt bitter that my own healing hadn’t come. I just love seeing people healed and happy; and I know my own healing is en route. Well, in the last several months I have really focused on healing for my thyroid and I’ve seen measures of breakthrough. I’ve also had powerful encounters with God: I’ve been tackled in my bedroom; I’ve spent hours on the floor outside the healing rooms at church after going out in the Spirit; I’ve had people approach me with profound words of knowledge and pray for me; I’ve collapsed under the power of His Presence here and there and everywhere. And the healing has yet to show up on earth. In the interim I’ve walked through lethargy, facial swelling, intestinal issues, slow metabolism, and a litany of other not-so-pretty symptoms. In time a doctor’s appointment, a blood test, and a fresh prescription have brought balance and removed most symptoms, but I am still really excited to be healed one day soon.
I’m not sharing any of that for pity. I hate pity. Compassion is fine, but pity is unhelpful. I prefer advocacy and a heavenly perspective. I’m sharing because there is a long-held awareness in my life that in my honesty others find strength and inspiration. I’m sharing because as the New Year pokes through the sky tonight, we need to choose to let GO of the old and grab a hold of the new. We need to issue a rally cry to everyone that JESUS IS GOOD ALL THE TIME!!!! And we will flourish as we let go of unanswered questions, confusion, and fear; and dive into the syrupy Presence of the One who understands ALL. What an honor to have a best friend who knows everything, sees outside of time, and LOVES beyond measure!
Right now we could choose to focus on what is not. We could stare at lack. We could grumble. We could be self-focused. We could be fearful that we will be terminally disappointed. And we could miss the opportunities to love and transform the world around us. We could miss out on the great masterpiece our beautiful Creator is making.
Or we could celebrate every victory, no matter how small. We could fast negativity (as in commit to not say and think negative things). We could speak the truth of God over our lives daily: I am powerful, I am seated with Christ in heavenly places, circumstances are under my feet, sickness flees in my presence. We could make every day a party. We could let loose the shoelaces of our love, toss off our hindrances and dance barefoot!
I have to choose the latter. My heart must have closeness with God. Nothing else will ever persuade me of a greater worth. He’s it. haha. No need to search for the next best thing. He is the always best thing.
So, whoever you are, wherever you are. Shake it off. Whatever you negatively fixate on about 2010, blink it away. Stop thinking about changing your ways and just change them. Be YOU. You can do it. You were born to succeed! You were designed to live an outrageously wonderful life so full of love and power that the whole universe awakens in awe to your beauty.
Ezekiel 16:9-14 paints a gorgeous image of us redeemed and beautified by our Husband,
“I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD.”
We have been lavished with salvation and beauty – so much beauty the nations are in awe. We have a choice of what to do with that beauty. In Ezekiel, the woman ( Jerusalem), squanders the love by throwing her attentions and her affections other places. Let’s be the woman who shows the nations their own beauty and lavishes them with the same love that brought us into salvation and wholeness.
Let’s stretch. Let’s grow.
hahahaha!!!
I love all of you (even the internet wanderers who followed the yellow brick road here that I don’t know personally)!
I recommend listening to two teachings in the box.net on the left side bar of my blog: parts 1 & 2 of “Living Un-Offended at God” by Bill Johnson. ENJOY!!! Get radical with HOPE!
You have a destiny and a purpose!
p.s. As my sister Dori is going to India in 4 days to work in a restoration house with survivors of the sex trade for 3 months, this form of slavery is on the forefront of my mind.
(Her blog: http://pinkdor.wordpress.com/ )
We must be courageous and set the captives free. How about Isaiah 61 as a New Year’s Resolution!?! Let’s eradicate disease, slavery, and darkness from the planet! As you link with heaven’s faith, here’s music to believe by: http://www.exoduscry.com/ I especially like tracks 3 & 10. )
