Prayer meetings

Matthew 21:

¹² And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
¹³ And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.
¹⁴ And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.

I have been considering what it would take to start a regular prayer meeting at our church. I am a fairly new member there, so I am trying to do things in the approved way. I am not always successful.

Since I am the children's Sunday School teacher, and my wife is the pianist, we have a key to that building which is used for both Sunday School and choir rehearsals. It would be a small thing to just start having a prayer meeting the hour before Sunday School. I mentioned it to one of the men there, and he expressed a desire to come! My wife also will be coming, so we are off to a roaring start.

Of course, what will be the point and what will we be doing? The point is to submit ourselves to God's will and to invite Him to interfere in our lives and in our gathering. Our hope is that the Holy Spirit will be manifested in power to save, heal and deliver from the power of the devil. That means that we will not only have to pray, but to act. 

James5:
¹⁴ Is any sick among you? 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:
¹⁵ And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

If the sick come to our meetings, we will certainly pray for them at that time. But if they do not, we should pray prayers of preparation, so that the power of God is available during the service. How often do we see Jesus or the Apostles simply command or declare healing and deliverance without much prayer in evidence? I believe the prayers occurred before the event, just as Paul wore cloths on his body and was prayed for so that the cloths brought healing where they were sent.

Acts 19:
¹¹ And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
¹² So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

If your church does not have a prayer meeting, consider starting one. If you cannot have one at the church, try doing it at home. Then be faithful and tell us what happens!

Lifting the blog blackout

I cannot believe I have not posted on this blog since around Easter, but there is something to be gained from that fact: the devil opposes prayer and those who pray.

Shortly after my last post, we sold our house, moved, changed churches, and generally went through a lot of turmoil. And it was not too long after a couple that I have known for many years warned me, "You have to be careful when you get into spiritual warfare. You will come under attack."

I had found that pretty negative and discouraging; the kind of thing I distance myself from, but was well worth heeding. But it's important to take notice of the fact that slacking off on spiritual warfare did NOT cause the devil to leave me alone. So, this only brings me back to the fight. And I will do all in my power to let the Lord be my strength.

I have read a couple of books recently. My wife got me into reading, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, by Jen Hatmaker. We got seriously involved in streamlining our lives before we read it. We now live in a two-bedroom, two bath apartment with out two Chihuahuas. Our last house was a big one with two rental units downstairs. We did not do all the "7" experiment, but it did cause us to look at our default habits and means of consumption.

I am about halfway through, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, by Shane Claiborn. It's both inspiring and provocative in some ways that I am having a hard time with. He's more political than I think he is aware, but I believe he still has some important things to say to us right-wingers. We're all wrong about something, but he is actually bolstering my courage to be more radical. I strongly recommend it.

Cindi and I are also volunteering with Child Evangelism Fellowship. We have been stunned to learn that there are Bible clubs in our public schools! I did not know this was possible, but just a couple of weeks ago I prayed with a little boy to receive Jesus in his school. If this excites you and you want to get involved, please call Steve Carlson at 352-378-0949. Or email them at cefofncflorida@gmail.com.

So, please pray for us, and please leave your comments and let us know how we can pray for you!

Forgetting God

Yesterday I read and article titled, "In Nothing We Trust," and I just had to comment on it here.

The author takes great pains to show how people in Muncie, Indiana have been failed by their institutions. Banks, schools, politicians, churches, business; all take a hit. Muncie is used as a microcosm of America, and a lot of these things hit home here in Gainesville as well.

Since 2002, all our major institutions have suffered a loss of confidence, according to polling data, except for organized religion and HMOs. But their gains were so paltry, and they started from so far down, that it could scarcely be considered a "win."

Conspicuously missing from these polls is God Himself. I would love to have seen how the Almighty fared in comparison to the rest. After all, you can think little of your church leaders while still loving the Lord...I think.

This could be a great opportunity to reach the lost, who are running out of human options. All around us the case is made that mankind is sinful and self-absorbed. But they now have to make the leap that they are no better, and that they need a Savior as well.

May 3rd is the National Day of Prayer. One of the things we need to do is to examine ourselves, and make sure we are worth listening to. After all, if we don't walk the talk, we are just another class of hucksters who don't use our own products.

2 Chronicles 7:13“If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, 14and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

The Easter Tebow

I heard that Tim Tebow was preaching at a church in Texas this Easter Sunday. I was not surprised. And I was not surprised by many of the comments. They were mostly positive. Some of the negative ones had to do with the people who were just coming to church to see a celebrity.

I have to admit that I wish I could be there and hear his message. I recently read his book, and I find him to be a very inspiring young man. There are a lot of Christian athletes in the NFL, the NBA, and in Major League Baseball. But there is something special about Tim. He just seems so GOOD.

I am not casting stones at other famous people who believe in Jesus, but they seem like most Christians: decent enough people, but only in an above average kind of way. I think of myself this way, too. I am a good man, but I am good in the way of most decent people. Tim Tebow seems to be transcendentally good. He's not perfect, but he is so far above most decent people, that it's noteworthy.

If you are a gifted millionaire athlete and you "give back to the community," that is the decent thing to do. But Tim Tebow has been doing good, ministering to the poor in the Philippines and visiting sick kids in hospitals since he was a teenager. He seems to have no skeletons in his closet.

Today, he is loved and hated, lauded and criticized in public, and scrutinized as no other athlete, or celebrity, that I can remember. And he never complains. He does his job. He is a great sport about all of it.

He is not only gifted in ways that few of us are. He also cultivates that Fruit of the Spirit that few of us do. If you are unfamiliar with it, here it is from the 5th chapter of the Book of Galatians:

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

All Christians will claim to have love, and that can be manifested in many ways. But as you go down the line, it starts to get specific, and some of us end up settling for 4 out of 9 or some other fraction. And some of us say, "Patience just isn't my gift."

But patience is not a gift. It's a FRUIT of the Spirit. It is evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. Likewise, faithfulness, which we may also call reliability, is not a gift of the Spirit. It is evidence of your relationship with Jesus. And He said,

^{Mathew 7:16} You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

What follows is sobering...

²¹  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²  On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ ²³  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

 So, you can have gifts, but bad fruit. It would be a good idea to examine the fruit in your own life. I have been doing this, and it is leading to some active pruning. I complain too much to have joy. I am too critical to have kindness. I get angry too easily to have peace. I could go on.

The good news is that the Fruit of the Spirit is available if I will repent and change my ways. I have to stop stifling the work of the Holy Spirit, and start letting Him teach me how to respond to life. And if I do that, I will be different. I will be transcendent. And my prayers will carry a lot more weight than they do now.

Have a Happy Easter. Prepare to begin your walk with the Lord, again.

Praying: Is that all?

People want to do something that matters. I understand that. We all want to do something that makes a difference. But when someone says that they will pray for you when you need help, it is natural for the recipient to be a little disappointed. It reminds me of the day that Peter and John met the beggar at the gate called Beautiful.

Acts 3:1Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

I can imagine the lame beggar going from glad to sad when Peter told him he had no silver or gold.  But he was over the moon with what the disciple of Jesus had given him: a miracle of healing.

Of course, this is an easy call. Obviously, this was better than doing a simple bit of charitable giving. But what about the prayers of the saints that are for something less flashy, or something that is deferred. We probably roll our eyes and say, "Thanks for nothin," under our breath.


Doing good works is important. So are miracles. And I wonder how much of either takes place without the anonymous intercessor doing battle with the forces of wickedness in the heavenly realms, or those prayers that have been stored up in heaven like the great bowls in Revelation 5:8.

"And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints."

God does want us to act. But I want God to act even more.

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Psalm 127:1

So, is God really pleased with a bunch of praying do-nothings?

 John 6:28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

People who desire to know God and follow Jesus are always wondering what sort of deed will please the Father. It is so hard to understand that God already loves us, just as we are. And it's even harder to grasp that He wants to provide for us even the things we want to give to Him as an offering.

I must confess to you that I have been a feeble prayer practitioner for many years. I have spent a lot of time trying to glorify God with my own goodness and cleverness and sincerity. And now He has my attention. I get it. I can do nothing without Him. I can produce nothing outside of Him. Everything I do is vanity. I must humble myself and ask Him to pour out His Spirit and then simply declare how amazing He is.


And so, it is hard to get people to pray and seek God because it means that we really don't have anything better to do. Of course, when He tells us to do something, like when He told Ananias to pray for Saul that he might receive his sight, you jump right on it. But I will bet you that God spoke to Ananias because they were in the habit of communicating.

Acts 9:10Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” 11And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” 13But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” 15But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” 17So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19and taking food, he was strengthened.

You be the judge. Ananias was a praying man.

The Leap of Faith

I got this video from another Vineyard church in another city because I was trying to get up to speed with what my own church is doing. Even though my wife and I have a small group, and our church is doing the Leap of Faith through its small groups, I was still sort of distracted and not quite grasping what this was all about.

Well, it seems to me like it's similar to Operation Rolling Thunder in that it's a plan for creating revival in your city through prayer and outreach, except in the Leap of Faith, the outreach seems a little better defined. Therefore, I am for it!

For a look at what it is we are doing here at the Vineyard in Gainesville, FL, go to our website and give the user manual a quick read!

Pray for Dads, and the people who need them

Last week I watched the movie, Courageous, with people from my small group, and we were all impressed. Although it was a clarion call for dads to step up and be Godly fathers, it also makes us aware that good dads are in short supply.

Over the years I have been involved in children's ministry, and we always had a few kids with absent fathers. Although I know I was probably a good role model for those kids, I really don't think I gave enough of myself to them. They needed me more than a couple of hours per week on Sunday.

Of course, I was still raising my own kids. Isn't that more important? Am I really the dead-beat dad's child's keeper? Well, now my kids are raised, they need me a little bit less (maybe). And as I walk my dog around the block every day I have to pass a house with a bunch of kids, a mom, and a revolving cast of men. It looks complicated, and like a lot of work. I am praying about this.

Anyway, we all see these situations and just walk by. Is this what we are called to do? By all means, get your own house in order. But then what? Let us pray for these broken families that are leaving wounded children behind. We all know some.

The state of our souls

A few weeks ago, when the President gave the State of the Union address I did not watch it. I follow the news pretty closely and did not anticipate learning anything new. And, I must confess, I thought it would only make me mad.

I really struggle with my attitude toward our national leaders, and our local leaders. The Bible tells us, "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

So, when my wife and I were in our car, listening to the local Christian radio station, I was quite arrested by the radio announcer praying for our country and its leaders, with all sincerity. In spite of my dissatisfaction with our local and national state of governing affairs, I was struck with the idea of how much worse things might be without those who are praying. Who knows what evils are being held back by the relative few who are carrying this burden of prayer?

According to Paul's letter to Timothy, the goal of those prayers is, "that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity." Our godliness and dignity are particularly tested because we, as citizens of a democratic republic, share the burden of governing through our own Constitutionally protected participation. After all, Ephesus and Palestine were not "red states" that voted for Caesar. You couldn't harbor ill will toward your neighbor for voting for a particular bloody dictator.

For this reason, we are not just praying for our leaders here in America. We are also praying for our neighbors, who we want to be saved. We must keep our own souls from becoming soiled with a bad attitude toward people with offensive bumper stickers. On the bright side, at least our fellow citizens are wearing labels that may help us to pray for them while they are in traffic!

Let us be able to report that it is well with our souls, regardless of what is going on around us. It makes us able and likely to pray in our nation's time of need.

Praying and speaking out

In this past week, an organization that raises money to fight breast cancer was publicly ridiculed for withdrawing funding from Planned Parenthood, and called "bullies" for doing so. In other words, they were bullied into putting that money back.

Right on the heels of this story, it came out that Catholic hospitals will be forced to offer abortions as part of their employees' health care coverage. The Catholic Church, however, is digging in and promising to fight this to the end.

Let us pray for out Catholic brothers and sisters, that they will remain steadfast. And let us also consider doing what we can do to help in a tangible way. We should also speak out against this government hostility to our values and against the lives of the innocent.

If any of you are ambivalent about this issue, please take the time to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help you clarify the difference between right and wrong, good and evil.

If you think that someone should help pay for abortions for "poor" women as a part of "contraception" or "family planning," ask yourself a question. Would you give money in an offering taken up to pay for Sister Lulabell's abortion?

As horrible a thought as that is, keep in mind that when the government decides to do these things, it does so without your permission. Nobody is "asking" you to do this. But the politicians who run this grisly machine will be asking for your vote in November.

Law and Grace

This past Tuesday was election day for our city commissioners, and it was another depressing low turnout. The newspaper touted it as the third highest turnout since 2004, but when you consider how bad it usually is, this is nothing to brag about. Out of 71,961 registered voters in the City of Gainesville, only 12,172 bothered to vote for a city commissioner in the At-large race. Another 947 voted in the Republican Primary and/or the District 1 race but opted out of voting for an At-large candidate.

In spite of my disappointment in my fellow citizens, people do have the right to opt out and let a small minority choose for them. It may be wrong, or it may be ignorance, but God makes us free to make bad choices. We will have to answer to Him for them someday, but for now we have the Grace to make that call.

What if we weren't free to do that? What if not voting were a punishable crime? Then your obedience would be under the law. There would be no virtue in it.

What about any other act that we deem to be a good and moral thing to do? What about charity? Many Christians practice tithing, although most don't. There is no penalty under the law for not tithing. Should the church be given the power to tax? If it were, it would no longer be the church. It would be a man-made kingdom that was masquerading as the Kingdom of God.

This is what I thought about when I heard the President say that it was his faith in Jesus that compelled him to want to raise taxes on the rich. I shuddered. It was not only that I thought it was a bastardization of Biblical principles that made me cringe. It was the lack of Christians calling him out on it. Yes, there were comparisons like, "George Bush caught grief for letting his faith guide him in matters of state." But that is mere hypocrisy. What the President is declaring is heresy.

God does not force us to be moral. But He does define morality. The President is trying to do both when he defines morality as taking even more of a few people's money to spend it on a giant, onerous, bankrupt bureaucracy, he forces them to do so, AND tells us that Jesus says so.

In many of our workplaces, we are not allowed to talk about Jesus. But if you are the President and you are trying to get re-elected, you can use His Name like a club. There is truly no hope in our system of government apart from prayer.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12

Greed and envy

Before I begin, I just want to thank Countryside Baptist and Oak Park Baptist for covering this city with 24 hour prayer.

My recent labor of love is reading St. Augustine's "City of God," which was written after the sack of Rome by the Visigoths. I am still under the 200 page mark. The early part is Augustine's defense of the church against the charge that Rome was sacked as a punishment for leaving pagan idolatry.

Perhaps 100 years from now, this time will be remembered as the sack of America: spiraling debt, public and private, leading to economic collapse. At this time, some of us have sense enough to know it is coming. Wherever we end up, our current leaders are arguing over who is to blame for it. No one wants to accept responsibility for the possible collapse of civilization.

This is an excellent time to repent. The vast majority of Americans are to blame for what has happened. Rampant borrowing and demand for more and more goods and services at less cost came while we were less and less inclined to invest in prosperity by teaching and disciplining the young. The next generation will be less prepared to repair our country than we are willing to do it.

Instead of being angry because someone else has more than we do, or hoping that simply making more money will fix things, it is time to look within and accept that we are all a part of the lust for things that has caused our dissatisfaction and despair.

It is time for us to find our joy in God, because before long, it may be all we have.

Participating in Politics

Back in the days of Samuel the prophet, the people of God asked for a king. They wanted to be like all the nations. Samuel brought this before the Lord, and He said,

“Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. ⁸ As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. ⁹ Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”1 Samuel 8:7-9

The people of Israel had the Law of Moses and a form of self government before they had kings. God was their only king, and that made them unique. But they wanted a man like themselves to be their king. And God gave them what they wanted. But it came with a warning:

“This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. ¹² Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. ¹⁶ Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle^[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.” 1Samuel 8:11-18

In America, we have had a system of self-government and a Constitution. More and more, Americans are discarding the Constitution and demanding a strong executive who will go around the Congress, the representatives of the people.

If Christians do not participate in our form of self-government, they will lose it. That seems to be Ok with many believers who think it's beneath them. It is unworthy of their attention. It is worldly and unspiritual. It is nasty and unpleasant.

It is not going to get any better if we stay out of it. If we decide that it is just too risky, we are like that servant who buried what God gave him instead of using it. He played it safe and did nothing. But it wasn't safe. He answered to his Lord for it and lost everything.

We have a city election coming up, followed  by local and national elections this year. You are needed to weigh in. Choose sides. Volunteer. Ignore this at your peril.

Conflict of interest

I was reading an article yesterday about the upcoming playoff game between the Broncos and Patriots and in the comments section, someone said that although he was a Patriots fan, he was pulling for Tim Tebow. Another commenter told him that if that was how he felt, he was no Patriot fan.

Even though football is a silly and inconsequential thing compared to others, we care about it. I think it's because of what the teams and player represent that is important. Even if we don't realize it, I think that we admire and support someone's values on the field, whether it's work ethic, intelligence, faith, or even amazing luck. And I believe we also attach negative values to players and teams because of their reputations and actions both on and of the field.

But now place yourself on the field. You are in the world, but if you are Christ's, you are not of it. Why should you care about anything?  Consider Abraham:

Hebrews 11:8By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; 10for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

He was in the land of promise, but lived like he was an alien. He was looking for a divine place, made by God. So, why did he bother going anywhere? Because he was obeying God. He didn't know where he was going, but he went. He was like Noah, building a giant boat in the desert, doing something transcendent, but doing it in the world for everyone to see.

The reason we do anything in this world is because God said so. Whether it works or not, or whether we win or not. We just do it. That is why we pray, and why we make an impact on the world. Because God said so.

"If you serve, I will lift you up!"

Isaiah 58 does not exactly put it that way, but that was my takeaway after this Sunday's sermon from Pastor Arty Hart at the Vineyard. This chapter is almost always used as a reference on fasting, but I believe it is much broader than that.

In my last post, I used a YouTube video of Lance Wallnau describing the 7 Mountain idea that could serve as a template for taking over your city for the Kingdom of God. But God is not interested in feeding our desire to rule when we will not serve.

I don't know about you, but I have been under the rule of men of God who were more interested in their authority being honored than in my well being. It is tyrannical and something to be escaped. I don't believe it converts anyone to Christ.

It takes a real trust in God to put down your ambition for the good of others. And we must make sure we are not deceived by spiritual busyness, like God's people in Isaiah 58. If we are not helping the oppressed, we are just going through the motions.

So, who is the oppressed in America? Is everyone who complains or demands more actually oppressed? Probably, even if it's just a spiritual oppression that leaves them constantly dissatisfied. They need to be set free, and only the power of God can do that. If we have that power, we have something to give.

More about the 7 spheres, or mountains...

First I want to thank Oak Park Baptist for having our city covered with 24 hour prayer! My God richly bless them!

I found another video on YouTube that is much better than mine. I see it receives a lot of negative comments, but that is OK. We need to deal with hard questions and dispel the doubts that they may cause.

For instance, someone brings up that the devil had tempted Jesus with ruling the kingdoms of this world. Well, what he asked Jesus to do in return for that was to WORSHIP HIM. We are certainly not teaching THAT.

Another commenter asks why Jesus and the Apostles didn't teach this, and I would say that they did. I believe that the Bible is being taught to apply it to larger, more complex societies.

What say you?

Competing Utopias

Wow. It's been a whole week since my last post. Some of that time was spent out of town with no internet, but the rest of the time I was just swamped with the holidays. I want to thank everyone who stayed on assignment with Operation Rolling Thunder. Yesterday, it was Servants of Christ covering us with 24 hour prayer. Today, it's Harvest Bible College.

We are seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We are praying against principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world and against spiritual wickedness in high places. We are praying for God to intervene in the affairs of human beings to the end that He changes them into His likeness. This is at odds with the world's Tower of Babel. Today, many people are looking to the power of government to change their world and fix their problems. If government just had enough power, we could fix everything!

Today I was reading Acts chapter 7, in which Stephen is giving the people who would soon stone him the Cliff's Notes version of the history of the Jewish people. God had promised them a land from Abram's time, and yet they found themselves in bondage to the Egyptians for 400 years. Nonetheless, God was with them the whole time! They did not yet possess what was promised, but they belonged to Him who promised.

This is why we must pray with patience and never give up. God is with us while we are on the way to our goals. He pursues them with us. We are not alone. And just because it seems that we are surrounded, outnumbered, and oppressed by those who have all the power to make our world as they want it, they do not. Our Kingdom already exists and our King is able to deliver us now, even in the midst of a world system that overwhelms us. But we must cooperate with our deliverer and not compromise with our oppressors.

Download the prayer list now, and start praying with us as we set our hearts toward the Kingdom of our God.