Musings of a Prodigal Son - Restoration - Part 6 (from an earlier post)

I cannot speak enough about the wonderous Grace of God. Our denial of Christ in our lives is turned by God into a resounding witness as He resurrects in us, as He did in the Apostle Peter, our Pentecost. It is comforting to know that He is always at busy expanding the Kingdom even when we are not.


ALL THINGS (good and bad) work together for good (the advancement of the Kingdom of God) to those who love God and who are called according to HIS purpose (Romans 8:28).




One of my most prized possessions is a throw (blanket) that the church gave me on my fifth (5th) anniversary as their pastor. In  the corner of this blanket is embroidered the above verse (minus my additions of course). Every time that I look at it, it has special meaning to me. It reminds me that Jesus just wants us to recognize our inability to live the victorious life but just wants us to embrace Him and live His Life so that others may know God.

I haven't committed all the sins that you think I have. I have committed more than you think I have. Those people that you look up to every day, if the truth were revealed, are not doing much better than you are. We are all subject to doing the wrong things. We are all subject to omitting the things that we should do. The distance created by those things often encourages us to become numb to them in order to continue living. That is until someone reminds us of those things. The quest of the cross is to become totally aware of those things but to take it one step further and realize that Jesus died so that you can be forgiven and live in communion with God as a result. You never get "good" enough. That is the fallacy of the modern church and the lie that many Christians live in. That if I spend enough time around good people doing good things, I will be good. All the while, we are all bad in our flesh (there is none righteous, no not one). Remember the flesh has to be crucified, it is not redeemable. Jesus died to give us a new LIFE, not to remodel the old. We still carry around that flesh but it is no more good than it was before Jesus redeemed us. It must still be crucified daily, hourly, at every moment. It still exerts itself in our lives no matter how much we try to keep it at bay. The only recourse we have is to "walk in the Spirit". That means living in Kingdom of God reality and not according to the laws of this world. Now before anyone reading this becomes concerned, I am not saying that we are not subject to this worlds laws. Part of Walking in the Spirit is obeying the laws of the land (see Jesus' response to the Pharisee's when they asked Him if it is right to pay taxes). What I am saying is that Kingdom Law applies to our lives. Kingdom Laws are higher laws. They sometimes operate outside of natural laws. They defy the laws of science. How can one operate there? By faith. If we have faith the size of a grain of mustard seed (very small), we can say to a mountain, move and the mountain will move. We could heal the sick, raise the dead, cause blind people to see. I know, I know. That is not our experience. What I am saying is that the Bible teaches that we should bring our experience up to Kingdom living instead of bringing Kingdom living down to our experience. There is one caveat that I would like to mention here. Sometimes, those who want to live in Kingdom of God power fail to remember that it is for ONE purpose only. That purpose is that others may know HIM (Jesus) and also experience the forgiveness of God. Otherwise, when a person comes to know Christ, they would immediately separate from this fleshly body and go to be with Jesus in full Kingdom reality. But we stay here. Why? So that Christ in us can draw others to Him. You cannot access the power without committing to the life. For there to be POWER, we must live for the right PURPOSE. Many people today want to be close to God so that HE CAN BLESS THEM. He has already blessed you by allowing you to come to Him. He wants to be powerful in YOU SO THAT YOU CAN BLESS OTHERS. Therefore, I believe the power of God comes to those who give their life away that others may know Him, live or die, that he may be glorified so that others can come to Him. We are told that even though this type of life may be tough, it is the most fulfilling joyous life imaginable. Jesus wants our "joy to be full." Joy in living is blocked to the extent that we do not live fully surrendered to the life of Christ. I believe this is the reason why many people who don't know Christ often live "happier" lives than many Christians you may see. It is because many Christians live a "divided" life. A divided life is much less joyous than a life lived one way or the other. Much of my life has been spent divided. God is saying to me and to many of you that it is time to step out of the divide. If you know Christ, you will only live joyously if you are crucified daily with him. When you are committed to Him and crucify the flesh daily, you are subject to Kingdom reality and Kingdom Laws which transcend this present realm. To live or die, to be here or to be present with the Lord, can be your reality. This seems to be the reason that the apostle Paul said, "Oh death where is thy sting?" So much of His life was already lived in Kingdom reality that to pass over from this reality and to be present with Jesus was just a step away. Oh, that we all lived there in that reality HERE! How the world would change! We could see things that we don't currently see, we could experience things that we don't currently experience, we could access power that we don't currently access. If only everything we could gain and have gained, we count as loss for the glory of God! What if we all laid down everything important to us and said, "Here am I Lord, send me!"

Musings of a Prodigal Son - Restoration - Part 5 (from much earlier post)

Broken families are neutralized as witnesses of the grace of God. The spread of the Kingdom to all the world (which begins in each families realm of influence) ceases operations. Others are disappointed, friendships and godly bonds are broken, even with friends, and the fragmented troops are often "chased by the enemy of our souls" to cause further individual destruction. A broken individual is seldom equipped to deal with the onslaught of the enemy. This is why the church is SO CRUCIAL at this time in a persons life when the family unit has been destroyed. Prayer and Love, which is often manifested in Love and Godly Counsel, is what is needed at this point. Often times this is the very time when the people of God pick up weapons and begin to shoot fiery darts at the members of the broken family instead of Prayer and Godly Counsel. Remember, you who know Christ ARE THE CHURCH. Prayer and Godly Counsel often times occur as individual Christians and families privately love and help restore the hurting family members to the Hand of God's healing love. This is often not very "churchy" or orderly but is marked by unconditional and sustaining love. I am encouraging all of us to be the "Good Samaritan" here. It is not enough to get the person "off the side of the road" but rather to "nurse them back to health." Judgment must be kept far from the minds and actions of those who are ministering as it is just as dangerous as a contagion is to a person whose immune system is suppressed.


It is crucial to know that marriage is a foundational principle of the Christian life. It is a Kingdom of God principle. When a man and woman join "in holy matrimony", they become ONE FLESH. They are no longer seen as individuals but are seen as a ONE PERSON SPIRITUAL UNIT. Even in the old testament, which is often an object lesson for the Spiritual Kingdom of God ushered in by Christ, when a father sinned, his whole family was often punished and sometimes even put to death. They were seen as one offending unit. The destruction of this unit is far more serious than we often realize in this earthly realm.  As I am writing this I am reminded that not only are the primary relationships destroyed when divorce occurs but other secondary relationships are also affected and destroyed. Once a "ONE FLESH" (husband and wife) have their union broken, their relationships with others are also broken. Nothing is ever the same. People who were once friends with the ONE FLESH have lost a friend because that ONE has ceased to exist. Practically, the unions and bonds of Christian friendship, which are vital to successful Christian living, have also been destroyed. They may be built again but never exactly the same. Spiritually when a husband and wife divorce and a family is destroyed, a Spiritual being (the ONE) has died. There is a grief process for all who knew them. If the ONE was a spiritual mentor to another, then their mentor has passed away. They too have to grieve and search for another. What I am writing to you may seem exaggerated but the spiritual results are exactly like this. The ramifications, when looked at spiritually, are staggering. Children have to adjust to losing the ONE. Their relationships with both individual parents, no matter how well-intentioned are NEVER exactly the same. The children have lost something. They too have lost the ONE.


Thankfully, God is in the restoring business. He takes all the broken pieces and puts them back together again in a beautiful way. That doesn't always mean that the ONE FLESH has been restored in the same way that it was before. God does not discard the broken pieces but rather builds another, and often more beautiful, vessel of honor. He is the potter, we are the clay. He is the author and THE FINISHER of our faith. It is not over until it is over. And once we are born again, it is NEVER over. There is always a purpose, there is always a plan, there is always the unending Love of a gracious Father. But when I was broken, I thought it was over. I had left my first love, I had turned away, I had made mistakes that were seemingly unforgiveable. It is prudent to mention here that when you are broken, when you are at the point of believing that you are no longer useful to the Kingdom of God, that is the point through which God begins to shine the light of grace and mercy into the brokenness of your life. He did in mine. I've seen Him do it in the lives of others. He can do it for YOU. God is not surprised by our Sin. He has already seen it's bitter end. He has already paid the price for it. He is already far ahead of us in this whole process. NOTHING GOOD THAT GOD HAS PLANTED WILL EVER BE WASTED. When I was broken, I believed that the things I had learned, the passion of my life, the purpose for which I was created would never be fulfilled. I was wrong. God awakened things within me (and is still awakening things within me) that I thought had died and would never be resurrected. Jesus ushered in a time when our reality can change. When the Kingdom of God can be "on earth as it is in heaven." Kingdom Life can be so real that it supersedes our current "reality".


I lived for almost 12 years after my divorce from my first wife seemingly "dead" to all the things that brought me joy and were of importance to me during my earlier life that had been given to God. Much of this time was spent with my 2nd wife. When I was out of the will of God, my decisions were out of the will of God. I am in no way speaking ill here of my second wife. She and I met when we were both not seeking God. We are very different people with totally different viewpoints on life. Our goals were/are different. The things of importance to each of us was different. I would like to say that two of the greatest blessings of my life came out of this relationship, two of my daughters. That is also the grace of a loving God. Even when we are far away by our own choices, he is still working for our good when we know Him.
It is important, however, to note that when you make a decision that is out of the will of God, it leads to the next decision that is out of the will of God. Those decisions are not the ones that people see and judge (often fellow believers in Christ are the most severe in their judgment). It is often the decisions that people don't see that are the decisions that are out of the will of God because they usually happen in a very subtle way. The decisions for which people are judged by other people are often just the consequences of the subtle decision to turn from God that happened in another time and possibly another place.  I'll give an example here. I've mentioned this before but I'll reference this again (a conversation that someone had with me several years ago):


(Person) "Where do you live now?"


(Me) "I live in Miami"


(Person) "Was that your idea or God's?"


(Me) "It was mine" (my daughters and ex-wife had already moved there which is why I moved there in the first place. The decision that created subsequent circumstances occurred in a very subtle way in my heart many years before. I was then in bondage to go wherever those consequences took me. The sin took place many years earlier which resulted in me living many places.)


This person had not seen me in many years. Out of the overflow of the heart, our mouths speak. This was what this person had been doing during the interlude of time since I had last seen him. He had opinions about my life of which he knew nothing. Had he been praying for me without judgment, he would have "seen me from afar off, and embraced me with grace." He didn't.  But I also can't judge him. I've done it too. I've judged others instead of loving them. It is a temptation for us all. It is our humanistic tendency in order to feel better about our OWN SINS. We compare ourselves to others instead of looking at the wonder of the sinless one who died on a cross so that we might all be forgiven. When you are "in the snare", you can often tell when someone is judging you just by being in their presence. By contrast, you can also feel the healing love of others. Don't forget that the healing love of others is often what brings a fellow believer THROUGH the pain of a broken marriage, and any broken relationship for that matter.


The point I am making is that when you are in the "snare of the enemy" you don't need someone pointing out to you that you are in a trap. You already know from the pain that you have caused and are currently experiencing exactly what consequences have resulted from your sin. Those of you who are brothers and sisters in Christ, pray and embrace. Don't judge and condemn. (to be continued)

Musings of a Prodigal Son - Restoration - Part 4 (from a much earlier post)

As my divorce from my first wife was occurring, I was beginning a new career working for a Mental Health System in Dothan, Alabama.  I met many good people there. Let me say here that I will always treasure the time spent there and the relationships that formed there. I had some of my greatest joys while employed there, working with some of the most competent people I have ever known. But I also continued down a path that would lead me further away from God. I focused more on the needs of my flesh than on the will of God. I know, I know....it doesn't sound very spiritual and it was not. One thing I have learned is that true ministry is sacrificing oneself for the benefit of others. It is the daily "crucifying" of the flesh (the flesh is not redeemable, it must be crucified daily). The path to the "dark side" of flesh fulfillment seldom begins with sexual promiscuity, which is what we think about when we hear someone say they fulfilled the needs of their flesh. Focusing on the needs of the flesh is the subtle "slip" of changing focus from God to what I want, what I deserve, what I need,.....I, I ,I....you get the picture. It usually leads to the fulfillment of base desire fulfillment such as selfish sex, but doesn't usually begin there. It is significant to me that when we are born again and come to Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are still under the "bondage" of our flesh. Paul discussed this at great length in His epistles as did Jesus in much of the gospels. We are called on to "crucify" (put to death our flesh) daily in order to embrace the will of God for our lives. Without this daily crucifixion, Godly living is impossible. The Holy Spirit, who comes to us as Christ within us at salvation, makes the crucifixion of the flesh possible. However, as a part of the "daily dying", there is a priority to minister to those closest to you. I always heard professors talk in Bible College about putting God first, your family second (because closeness with God makes you a better husband and father), and the church or other things can take successive priority after these two things. This point is crucial. Ministry is supposed to be the "overflow" of the first TWO things (relationship with God and subsequently family). I had a theology professor who told each of us while we were in Bible college that if things were not right in our family to STOP what most of us considered ministry and align with your spouse before continuing on in the pursuit of "ministry". At the time, I didn't think what he said was very "spiritual" but I have since learned that he was very much correct and his advice should have been heeded.


I know that many people may have viewed my leaving the Pastorate as "running from God." It was not. It was actually a step in the right direction. What came next, however, was not the right direction. I needed to take a step away to focus on my primary mission field, my family. I needed to seek God more then than at any other time in my life to that point. I needed to obtain Godly counsel (it was offered from various sources but I did not seek it or receive it). I needed to get on the same page with my wife and daughter. I did not. I am not speaking for every person who has problems in their marriage. I know that sometimes, people make decisions to go another way. Spouses leave with no opportunity for restoration. But that was not the case with me. I had an opportunity to repair "the broken walls."  Day by day, however, I began to "slip" into the abyss of my flesh. I sought others who would counsel me according to the "flesh". Not bad people, just people who were not seeking God FIRST. Scripture tells us to "plant our trees" in good soil and to not sit in the counsel of the ungodly. Ungodly does not necessarily mean horrible or appearing to be "bad", but rather not seeking the will of God FIRST. Many good people do not give Godly counsel. It doesn't mean they are bad. It just means that their priority is not in line with what I stated above (God first, family second, everything else after). Notice that self is not included in the priority of order that I listed. Most humanistic disciplines focus on taking care of self FIRST. God says to SEEK HIM FIRST and all your needs will be met according to his riches in glory (remember the lilies of the field, how they neither toil nor spin yet they are arrayed in splendor). Godly counsel always takes into consideration Godly order of priorities. It is prudent to mention here that unless a person has been born again, they cannot have priorities in the proper order. For many that want to go Godly things, Satan's deception is for the person to focus on what EVERYONE ELSE says is God's will instead of putting things in the order that God has designed for the normal Christian Life. Just as there is a dangerous trend in the church today of "health and wealth" for those who follow Christ, there is also a deception of humanistic psychology that waters down the Christian life by saying that one should focus on their "self" needs first and then they can minister to others. This is not what God says. He says seek HIM first (which means that you must crucify your flesh). The flesh is not redeemable. It must be crucified. This is why relationship with God and putting Him first is so important. However, when a person marries another, they become ONE FLESH. That is ONE unit that must die daily to flesh in order to embrace the will of God. If that is not happening, then ministry should be focused SOLELY on the relationship of the two who are one flesh so that healing and restoration can occur. Until the two who have become ONE can crucify the flesh together, there is no greater "mission field" than the one at HOME. This I believe is one of the most important ministries of the Church. The family unit is the primary unit in God's Army (not church congregations). When Satan attacks, his strategy is usually to attack in the home's of those who are seeking to follow the Will of God. Why? He cannot destroy God, so He seeks to destroy at the next possible level, which is the "ONE FLESH" in the home. Herein lies the truth. When the ONE FLESH is crucified, the power of the cross is resurrected in the family unit in Kingdom of God POWER. The Power of God manifests strongly when family units are UNITED in the "crucifying of the flesh."However, when the ONE FLESH is attacked and gives in to the flesh, selfishness reigns and the family unit is destroyed. (to be continued)

Musing of a Prodigal Son - Halting the Advancement of the Kingdom of God

"Rehum the governor and Shimshai the court secretary wrote the letter, telling King Artaxerxes about the situation in Jerusalem. 9They greeted the king for all their colleagues—the judges and local leaders, the people of Tarpel, the Persians, the Babylonians, and the people of Erech and Susa (that is, Elam). 10They also sent greetings from the rest of the people whom the great and noble Ashurbanipal^ehad deported and relocated in Samaria and throughout the neighboring lands of the province west of the Euphrates River.^f 11This is a copy of their letter: “To King Artaxerxes, from your loyal subjects in the province west of the Euphrates River.12“The king should know that the Jews who came here to Jerusalem from Babylon are rebuilding this rebellious and evil city. They have already laid the foundation and will soon finish its walls. 13And the king should know that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, it will be much to your disadvantage, for the Jews will then refuse to pay their tribute, customs, and tolls to you.14“Since we are your loyal subjects^g and do not want to see the king dishonored in this way, we have sent the king this information. 15We suggest that a search be made in your ancestors’ records, where you will discover what a rebellious city this has been in the past. In fact, it was destroyed because of its long and troublesome history of revolt against the kings and countries who controlled it. 16We declare to the king that if this city is rebuilt and its walls are completed, the province west of the Euphrates River will be lost to you.”17Then King Artaxerxes sent this reply: “To Rehum the governor, Shimshai the court secretary, and their colleagues living in Samaria and throughout the province west of the Euphrates River. Greetings.18“The letter you sent has been translated and read to me. 19I ordered a search of the records and have found that Jerusalem has indeed been a hotbed of insurrection against many kings. In fact, rebellion and revolt are normal there! 20Powerful kings have ruled over Jerusalem and the entire province west of the Euphrates River, receiving tribute, customs, and tolls.21Therefore, issue orders to have these men stop their work. That city must not be rebuilt except at my express command. 22Be diligent, and don’t neglect this matter, for we must not permit the situation to harm the king’s interests.”23When this letter from King Artaxerxes was read to Rehum, Shimshai, and their colleagues, they hurried to Jerusalem. Then, with a show of strength, they forced the Jews to stop building.24So the work on the Temple of God in Jerusalem had stopped, and it remained at a standstill until the second year of the reign of King Darius of Persia. (Ezra 4:8-24)

John the Baptist announced at the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry that the "Kingdom of God is at hand". Jesus explained what this meant as His ministry unfolded on this earth and he talked about a time when the Holy Spirit would come and "greater works than me shall you do because I go to my Father." What works did Jesus do? He performed miracles, healed the sick, and raised the dead. If we are to do greater works than He did during his early ministry, then it means that the The Kingdom of God is already here in power. Why isn't that power manifested on an even larger scale in our world today? Is it that God is silent and this is not a period of miracles? There is no evidence in scripture that miracles have ever stopped or should have stopped occuring. In fact, Jesus taught that they should be occuring on a larger scale and in more places because He has gone to the Father. Why do we not see this in our experience? There are pockets and glimpses of this Kingdom Power in the world today but why is it not more widespread among God's people

In the Old Testament Book of Ezra, we find the Isaelite people being commissioned by Cyrus King of Persia and later Darius King of Persia to go to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. Remember the temple in the Old Testament is where the presence of God dwelt. The power of God resided there. It was such a Holy place that the inner part (the Holy of Holies). could only be accessed once per year by the High Priest of Isreal and he had to go through many cleansing rituals to make himself "clean" in order to enter that place and offer sacrifice to God for the people. This temple was a symbol of the pressence of God and His Power with man. It was the meeting place that allowed man to come into the pressence of God. 

In the Book of Ezra, the men of Israel, each with assigned tasks according to their families, had the opportunity to rebuild their temple which had been destroyed when the people turned away from God and He allowed them to be taken into captivity in Babylon. They could go home. Their period of exile was coming to an end as they could reestablish their "relationship" with God by building the temple and offering sacrifices to Him.

There was a problem. There were others in the land who wanted to dilute their worship and add their brand of "religion" to it. They wanted to mix just enough of their viewpoint in it to change the system of worship and communion that God had established with His people. In short, they wanted to make a substitute that would look like the original in form but have no contact directly with God. God is specific about what must be done for Him to show up in power. The argument of these people was: "We seek God as you do, let us help because we have worshipped him for a long time." When the priests took a stand and said, "no", these same people who claimed to have worshipped God in the land began a concerted effort of trying to eliminate the opportunity for the temple to be rebuilt. They were the enemies of God all along. They appealed to the current government system to halt the construction of the temple. They wrote a letter to the king who was "advised" to read history (select history) to see that this people had been "rebellious" in the past and by alllowing them to reconnect with God, they would refuse to give tribute to the King and the Kingdom. So it always has been when truth is proclaimed. There is always an "authority" that is appealed to in order to suppress the truth because the truth always brings the error of the ruling class and the other classes to light. The "rebelliousness" (which was used as a reason for not rebuilding the temple in the letter to the king) of the city of Jerusalem in the past had consisted of their refusal to give up the worship of God as the only true God, despite the requests of the rulers of the times.
Unfortunately, we see this same trend in the world today. Truth, complete truth, is in danger of being suppressed. It is just not politically correct anymore to speak truth, even in Love. It offends too many people. I heard a pastor ( in a loving way I might add) state that it is becoming more and more dangerous for pastors to speak the truth. We are fast becoming a society where even "legal" action is not far away for those who dare speak truth that may be contrary to the powers that be in an era of political correctness.
There is a growing trend in many larger churches today for security to be hired to protect the pastor and worship leaders from onslaughts by people in the congregation. It has saddened me to see this trend but I have been in services where threats and angry outbursts have occurred, seemingly out of nowhere. This may seem surprising to many reading this but this has been commonplace for many who practiced their faith in areas of the world where Christianity has been suppressed. Often times we forget that this is exactly the environment that many of the apostles ministered in and many gave their lives for.
The only antidote for this problem is the proclamation of the truth of God in Love. In order to proclaim truth, we must know it. We cannot know it unless we are listening to God. We cannot listen to God apart from reading and studying His Word. Does He still speak? Yes. But He never contradicts what He has already said. He does not "change with the times."  Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." Free to what? Free to operate in the greater Kingdom of God. I believe that the key to "greater works" and "greater fellowship" is still communion with God. Communion is spending time with. It is talking, petitioning, and listening. It is seeing what God has to say about situations in this life and acting accordingly. It is time that we "rebuild" our own communion (our temple) with God. There will be many who will attempt to "dilute" your faith and your witness. Push forward. Let us get to know more of God's Truth and put it into practice that the world may know Him (Jesus).