Abba Father

Lately I have been pressing into a greater understanding and experience of Father God's love. Recently, I've come across a helpful quote from Henri Nouwen in his devotional book "Bread for the Journey" that is helpful in describing the meaning of the word "Abba" and how we should approach our "Abba," in Heaven. He says,  

"The Spirit reveals to us not only that God is "Abba, Father" but also that we belong to God as beloved children. The Spirit thus restores in us the relationship from which all other relationships derive their meaning. Abba is a very intimate word. The best translation for it is "Daddy." The word Abba expresses trust, safety, confidence, belonging, and most of all, intimacy. It does not have the connotation of authority, power, and control that the word Father often evokes. On the contrary, Abba implies an embracing and nurturing love. This love that includes and infinitely transcends all the love that comes to us from our fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, spouses, friends, and lovers. It is the gift of the Spirit." (emphasis mine) 

In reading this, I hope and pray the Spirit of God would open your heart and mind to a fresh understanding of the Father's love for you as Your Heavenly Daddy and that you would encounter and experience Him in deeper and more intimate ways. I've always been drawn to and often do soaking prayer to the song "Abba" by Jonathan David Helser. Here is a version that I feel God has anointed for your enjoyment.  

Jesus > Religion (What is the Church really about?)

Jon Jorgenson nails it as he compares religion and Jesus (relationship). The sad reality is that in many churches today, a person can get so easily distracted and sidetracked from the basic truths and motivations of what it means to be a Christian. A term that has been coined recently is "churchianity" where there is a greater focus on the church, rather than on Jesus, where there is a greater focus on building the church, rather than being on mission with Jesus and making disciples, where the emphasis is on doing for God, rather than being with God. Please don't get me started on this. The sad reality is many churches are better at making religious people, than true disciples of Jesus. 

There needs to be more prophetic voices that rise up, like Jon Jorgenson, who are bold enough to challenge the status quo of religion for the sake of Jesus, for the sake of the Gospel. Listen, be challenged, but enjoy these words of truth.  

Weakness is the Way (J.I. Packer)

J.I.Packer is a modern day Reformed Evangelical theologian that I've come to appreciate. And though I lean towards a more charismatic theology, I am still committed to pursuing good solid biblical exegesis and humble Spirit led hermeneutics which I believe J.I. Packer embodies. I take to heart Jesus' words "Yet a time is coming and has now come when true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth" (John 4:23-24 NIV).

In watching the video, there is something magnetic about his words that not only draws me in, but also deeper in greater reverence and awe of the Lord. I think it's because I see a man who has walked humbly and faithfully with Jesus for over 60 years and I can see the Lord's humble gentle heart behind his words. "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:29 NIV). Without a doubt J.I. Packer has taken Jesus at His word and taken His yoke upon himself and learned from Jesus and through this he has found rest for his soul. I believe it is from this place of rest that we can all begin to truly learn to embrace our weaknesses and learn from Jesus who desires to place His humble and gentle heart within all of us. 

I hope you were as blessed as I was with this short yet profound teaching on embracing and accepting our weaknesses. Sometimes less really is more...

Soaking Prayer: Leaning into and Resting in God's Presence

The end of the year can be a very busy season which is why it is also a perfect time to intentionally and actively lean into and rest in God's presence. Something that I have practiced over the years has been soaking prayer. Soaking prayer falls into the category of Christian mysticism and focuses on the manifest experience of union with Christ. Soaking prayer is simply positioning oneself to behold the beauty and majesty of Christ and be loved by Him. It is not uncommon for a person to receive visions & revelations and encounters & breakthroughs while soaking in God's presence. Soaking prayer makes room for God to move and bring deeper transformation to us. 

"Because God's presence is always with us, He is the answer to the spiritual warfare we face. The peace of having Him overshadow our lives gives us a powerful weapon. Many times in Israel's history, God told the people to do unconventional things: sing, march, shout, wait. "you don't need to fight," He whispered to them "because this isn't about you, it's about Me. I'm not asking you to strive and pull down things, I'm asking you to make room for Me too act." (Graham Cooke, "Beholding and Becoming" p.16). 

Soaking prayer also involves actively embracing the rest Jesus offers to a person. "Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30 NIV). 

• Resting is the act of quietly and confidently allowing yourself to be in the presence of God. Resting is the absence of work, worry, fear, even performance. Resting empowers us to learn from Jesus in how to be with God. Rest is a gift from Jesus to us.

• Soaking in God's presence is one way we can learn to entering into God's rest. When we soak in God's presence we learn to switch off our souls and allow our spirit to be attentive to God. Resting helps us become more aware of His love, care and purposes for us. 

• When we learn to rest in God, we learn how to receive and respond to who God is for us. Resting removes both the inward and outward pressures we feel and opens us up to the person of Jesus. In a place of rest our heart, our inner man, becomes accessible to God. It is in rest that we receive ministry from the Holy Spirit. 

• Rest is a form of freedom from work, from human striving and acquisitiveness and from worldly preoccupations. It is the relinquishing of human self-assertion and an embracing of greater trust in God. The willingness to rest is a sign of peace and faith in God because rest is a form of letting go of human control. 

Hebrews 4:9-11 (NLT) " So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God's rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world. So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall."

• This means we must make the time to actively enter into the rest God has already allocated to us. The best image I can think of in terms of soaking prayer is that of laying on the sandy shores of an ocean and letting the waves continually and consistently wash over you again and again. So when soaking, it is best to physically lay down while listening to various worship songs and allowing the love and presence of God to wash over you like ocean waves. 

• This can mean meditating on the Word of God and allowing the biblical truths about God Himself and His Kingdom shape and define us in deep and significant ways. This can include listening to the names of God being recited over and over again, letting them wash over you until the truths about who God is sink into and shape your heart and mind towards God.

• This can mean listening to worship music that focuses on the love and peace of God over and over again, allowing the Spirit of God to manifest and release His rest upon your heart and soul until you open up wide to receive the flow of God's love and peace into the deepest parts of your being.

• This can mean listening to prophetic words and songs that help to position your soul to receive the ministry of the Holy Spirit in searching out any dark and lonely places that need the light and gentle touch of God's presence.

If you have never experienced soaking prayer, give yourself time to learn to rest and receive from the Lord. Oftentimes, it takes time for us to learn to slow down from the busyness of life and allow the Spirit of God to declutter our minds and unburden our hearts. Here are a few links to some songs that I myself enjoy during my times of soaking prayer and that also help me to lean into and rest in the presence of God. 

What is good biblical leadership?

What is good biblical leadership? This is a question I've been asking myself lately. Oftentimes, I see Christian leaders referencing books that spiritualise worldly business structures, systems or strategy techniques or books about changing behaviours by forming better habits. Occasionally, I'll see books that focus on inward motivations or deeper character concerns, but these seem to be less emphasized. My conclusion is that people are more interested in how they can act like an leader, rather than actually becoming a leader which on the surface may look very similar (at times) but in reality are quite far apart from each other. I am saddened by Christian leaders who only focus on outward actions, behaviours and appearances but lack true inward Christlikeness. 

A question I've been asking myself lately is this: "If Jesus were in my position or in my circumstance or speaking with the person I am talking with at any given moment, what would He be feeling in His heart and how would this influence Him in both His words and actions?"

Too often, what I see lacking in Christian leadership is the failure to reflect the heart of God or reflecting a distorted understanding of God's heart. What I have witnessed in churches and what seemed to be emphasized more is being an effective skilled leader, rather than a compassionate good shepherd. This means driving and mobilizing people, supersedes caring for their heart and inner life. Most Christian leaders would rather motivate people into doing things for God, rather than inspiring them towards intimacy with God. Now hear me on this, I am not against people serving God, but my concern is for people serving with distorted motivations or out a religious spirit where they are trying to earn favor from God, rather than out of love and devotion towards God with the understanding that they already have everything from God. No need to earn.

If you sit under a leader long enough, you will begin to see their inner motivations. This is a given. No leader can hide their true intentions from those following them for very long and a good biblical leader will embody humility and an openness and transparency about their life. In my journey of what I've learned and reflected on in my life so far in sitting under various leaders has been: "If a Christian leader is not driven by love for God and love for people, the only thing left is their ambition." Here is a good sermon on this by J.R. Vassar. I love this video because it goes right to the heart of the matter. 

I hope you take to heart the main points from the video that, 1) Jesus is primarily concerned about our love for Him, and not our usefulness to Him and 2) Jesus is concerned about our love for His people, and not their usefulness to us. All that we do needs to be rooted in love and we need to be actively checking our hearts and asking the Holy Spirit to be continually checking our hearts for any and all loveless (selfish and sinful) motivations. And when we find or are confronted with these, repenting and crying out for more of God's love to fill us (Romans 5:5) and fuel us (1 John 4:19).  

Here are a list of books that have helped me (and hopefully will help you) to focus more on leading from a place of love, humility and dependency upon Jesus with the understanding that we can't do anything of any eternal value in His Kingdom without Him going with, even before us. These books don't try to cover up our weaknesses and limitations, but rather show the better way of inviting Jesus into these and allowing Him to transform and empower us from the inside out as we learn to continually abide in Him. These books will inspire and challenge you to become the lovingly humble and compassionate good shepherd leader that Jesus was and is.

• "The Selfless Way of Christ: Downward Mobility and the Spirit Life" by Henri Nouwen
• "The Wounded Healer: Ministry in Contemporary Society" by Henri Nouwen
• "The Emotionally Healthy Leader: How Transforming Your Inner Life will Deepen Your Church, Team and the World" by Peter Scazzero 
• "Under the Unpredictable Plant: An Exploration in Vocational Holiness" by Eugene Peterson
• "Leading with a Limp: Turning Your Struggles into Strengths" by Dan Allender 

Something Greater

We are currently on the brink of war. The Middle East is churning with all sorts of turmoil. But, this shouldn't be a surprise. ISIS has been recruiting members for years. In this past year I have been reading more and more stories of young men and women joining ISIS (the Islamic extremist group). In one article a young man states, "We need the engineers, we need doctors, we need professionals. Every person can contribute something to the Islamic State" (emphasis mine). In another article, another young Australian man told a Mosque worker, "he wanted to make something of his life." This is just a snapshot of two individuals, but collectively the general consensus is the same, people are searching for purpose and meaning. 

I believe what the world is desperately hungry to see is real genuine faith in action. People like these two men are looking for something greater than themselves to believe in and to give themselves to wholeheartedly. As Christians, we hold something greater. When is the last time you reflecting on this truth? I mean think about it, Christian have the Holy Spirit living within them. Wow! This is an almost too good to be true truth. But, it's true! Not only this, but Jesus has inviting us to join Him on the ultimate mission of loving and serving all peoples of the world by sharing the greatest news ever! The Good News of salvation. How awesome is that?

But the sad reality is that most Christians haven't either fully embraced these amazing truths or don't actually see them as amazing truths. Rarely are they actively engaging in relationship with the Holy Spirit and so many do not see the mission Jesus sets before us as truly fantastic and marvelous. Rather, the Holy Spirit has become this impersonal force not to be engaged and the mission of Jesus has become optional. 

This is my prayer: that the Almighty God of the universe and of love would grip your heart with the amazing truth that HE has something greater for you. 

Waking Up (Amanda Cook and Hunter Thompson)

This song reminds me of the great need for Jesus to wake us up from the dullness of our hearts and minds, from the deep deathlike slumber we are all in, oblivious to the reality that we were created for so much more than this world has to offer. Everyday we are bombarded by gigabit after gigabit of media that instead of actually energizing us, all it does is overload us to the point of pacificity. 

God's Word gives us great hope and calls out to us and says "Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead and Christ will give you light" (Ephesians 5:14 NLT). This is why I love this song because it reminds me that in the Person of Jesus we find both resurrection power (Ephesians 2:6) and a vast almost incomprehensible perfect love (Ephesians 3:17-19). 

John Paul Jackson: Taking Pride in Humility

First off, I know the quality is poor, but the message is amazing. John Paul Jackson has gone to be with the Lord this year, but thankfully because of technology we can still glean from his incredible wisdom. There are so many good points here. Enjoy!

Honesty: the key to Genuine faith and relationships

Lying must always be traced back to the Devil, for he is the father of lies (John 8:44). Did I get your attention! This is why I believe honesty is a non-negotiable characteristic of the Christian faith. Without real honesty I would say that a genuine faith will be difficult to live out and genuine relationships will be difficult to have. If there are lies operating in our lives than anything that is influenced by or built around or on a lie can never be 100% genuine because the very nature of a lie is falsehood and whatever is false can never be 100% true and real. 

I've come across a definition of lying from an article which I appreciate: "Saying something false to someone who is entitled to know the truth is the very definition of lying. This includes misrepresenting or distorting facts in order to mislead a person. Omitting information to deceive someone, and exaggerating the truth in order to give a false impression also fall under that definition." 

The reason I appreciate this definition is because it encompassing the full spectrum of lying. Oftentimes, many people will internally justify distorting the facts, omitting information or exaggerating the truth for all kinds of reasons and motivations. But, at the end of the day, we lie because of fear. We are afraid of the responses of others. If we couldn't care less of what others thought of us, we could and would be completely honest with them all of the time. This is why little kids always tell the truth because they haven't been conditioned yet to be afraid of what others may think of them. They live in a place of freedom from the fear of rejection. 

I believe when we stand before God and have to give account for these situations, He will ask us why we didn't just tell the truth? And if there was information we were not comfortable in sharing why didn't we just say "There is more but I am uncomfortable in sharing this with you right now because..." Again, probably because of fear. But, the Good News is that God has given us His perfect love to drive out all fear from our lives (1 John 4:18). I know this is easier said than done, but it is still the truth we must allow into the very depths of our being and let it shape all that we are. 

I have done my fair share of spiritual direction, mentoring and counseling others and something that I repeatedly encourage in others is to share their heart. If you share your heart, you can never go wrong. Oftentimes, miscommunication and misunderstandings happen because instead of honestly sharing our hearts with others we end up giving excuses or lying (as defined above) which will always give others the wrong (and often false) impression because that is in essence what we are doing if we are not honestly sharing our heart with someone. 

Now, some of you may be thinking "well, people can't be trusted" and my loving response will always be "yes, I agree, but our trust isn't in people because they will (maybe not always but) at times let us down. No, our trust must always be in the Living God who holds our lives in His Almighty Hand (John 10:28-30). It is in Him we must place all of our trust." 

It's when we begin to shift our faith from God and begin placing it onto people, that fear will creep in and we'll be tempted to withhold truth and honesty from others. But, honesty must always begin with ourselves. If we cannot be honest with our own self, then we will never be able to be honest with others, let alone God. I can't stress this enough. So, my question to you the reader is, "How honest are you with yourself?" On a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being completely (brutally honest) and 1 being not so much (where lying, minimizing or exaggerating is an everyday thing you do with yourself): What number would you give yourself? 

What empowers me to live out a genuine faith in genuine relationships has its roots solely in God's love and care for my life, period.

If you are struggling with fully embracing God's love and care for your life, here's a wonderful video (3:54) which illustrates well what living in the security of the Father's love and care looks like.

This is my prayer: that the Almighty God of Heaven will release greater revelation to you about His perfect love and care for your life and that you would have many experiences and encounters with His love. In Jesus' Name, Amen. 

Good Good Father: Chris Tomlin (written by Housefires)

I just can't stop listening to this song over and over and over again. It is such a powerfully true song about who we should understand God to be towards us. If I've learned one thing in the last 15 years of walking with Jesus, it's been that everything in the world both visible and invisible comes against the goodness of God. But, this is nothing new, it is one of the oldest stories every recorded.

After God created the universe and everything in it (Genesis 1-2), we read in Genesis 3 of the exchange between the serpent and the woman:

1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?" 2 "Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden," the woman replied. 3 "It's only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, "You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die." 4 "You won't die!" the serpent replied to the woman. 5 "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." (NIV) 

At the heart of this exchange, the serpent is attacking the goodness of God. What the serpent is trying to do is make the woman believe that 1) God has lied to them "did God really say... you won't die!"; that 2) God doesn't have their best interest in mind for them "God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as..."; and that 3) He has been holding out on them "you will be like God, knowing both good and evil." All of these come directly against God's goodness towards Adam and Eve.

The serpent of old has not changed his tactics. I can recall countless times where I have had the same kinds of thoughts float through my mind (maybe you can relate), that:

1. God has lied to me: "Did God really say He loves you?" or "Did God really say that He will never leave nor forsake you?" or "Have you really been forgiven by God?" Each of these questions is trying to get me to not trust God, to doubt His goodness towards me. 
2. God doesn't have my best interest in mind: "God didn't heal you because He wants you to suffer" or "God doesn't think you deserve to be blessed" or "If God really cared about you He won't have let that happen to you." Again, each of these statements is trying to get me to question God's care for me, to again doubt His goodness towards me. 
3. God's been holding out on me: "You see how God helped that person, but not you" or "God loves that person more than you" or "God is intentionally withholding His blessing from you." Each of these accusations are all trying to paint God as a moody and stingy God who doesn't want to bless His creation, to once again get me to doubt His goodness towards me. 

This is why I love this song so much and listen to it over and over and over again, because it reminds of the truth of God's goodness towards me in the midst of a world that would have me believe that God cannot be trusted, that He doesn't care for me, that God is a moody and stingy God who is not good. But, what I've come to know and believe both through the reading of Scripture and from my own encounters with the Living God is that He is good, that He is extremely generous, that He does care for me immensely and that I can trust Him completely. Because He is a Good Good Father.  

This is my prayer: Jesus, You tell us that "no one truly knows that Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him" (Matthew 11:27b NLT), So, Lord reveal the Father to us. In Your Name we ask, Amen. 

Here's the story behind the song:

Jesus I Come: Elevation Worship

I am just coming out of a long season of busyness and I've come to realize that this busyness has been slowly robbing me of my deeper passions and longings of 1) growing in deeper intimacy with the Lord and 2) reaching out to the lost children of God. Now the good work that I have been busying myself with has been within the walls of the church which like I said is good work. But, each day I take in breath and walk in the world, what I am confronted with the reality that there is much more urgent good work to be done outside the walls of the church.

Now don't get me wrong, I love serving the local church and ministering to the found children of God. But, we are living in precarious times with so much pain and brokenness happening all around the world. Everywhere I go, the Holy Spirit highlights to me the loneliness and lostness of those around me and their desperate need for faith, hope and love. In the past months, I befriended a neighbor who has been battling depression for 30+ years. To hear his story of pain and suffering pulled at the strings of my heart. I prayed for him in that moment and invited him to come to church which was all the time and energy I had at the time. I know that I need to be Jesus to this man, but to pursue a deeper relationship with him will take time and energy which is a scarce commodity.

In the past few weeks, I've made the decision to intentionally slow down and begin seeking to be simply present with Jesus.This will mean clearing my schedule and saying no to the many expectations that others may place on me. A word that a very wise and insightful person spoke to me recently which has helped to bring some reorientation to my disorientation was: "People's expectations for us are often much higher than God's expectations." If I'm honest, in this last season of busyness I regretfully got tangled up in trying to live up to people's expectations, rather than checking to see what God's expectations were of me.

Thankfully, Jesus is faithful and has begun to break me out of this. I know that it will take some time to shake off all the baggage and poor habits that come along with living in busyness, but I know that the Holy Spirit is Almighty and that He is passionate about drawing all of God's children into the rest that Jesus extends to us: "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light" (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT). If you are in a season of busyness, then receive Jesus' words with faith and know that this is His heart and will for you.

This is my prayer: Lord Jesus, I pray your words would come alive in me and whoever else needs them. In Your Name I pray Jesus. Amen.