Processing salvation and fishing

A colleague recently invited me to go fishing with him.  So, we scheduled a time to walk around and talk and pray with folks.  We have done it several times now, and I think we had several encounters that were encouraging to the folks that we spoke with. 

Before our most recent outing, my colleague showed me a pamphlet and asked if I would like to hand them out to the folks that we spoke with.  I respectfully declined because it almost exclusively focused on avoiding eternal punishment.

In the church culture that I grew up with, I was prepared with several ways of explaining the Good News, for which I am thankful.  Unfortunately, I think many of those methods implicitly centered on avoiding eternal punishment instead of embracing the mercy, grace, and restored sonship of a Good Father.   While I agree that justification is an important concept, unfortunately, I think too many think of "justification" as a conversion from "sinner" to "sinner saved by grace", whereas Jesus's parable of the merciful and gracious father reveals that by faith, our sins are forgiven, and we are restored to sonship.

I was taught that salvation has three aspects, like the three aspects of a mathematical ray: justification (the beginning point, when a person begins faith in Jesus), sanctification (the finite period until death, growing into the image of Jesus), and glorification (the arrowhead that symbolizes continuation to infinity, fully restored to God after death).  Much attention has been spent on the topic of justification, and I think there is a tendency to drift towards religion. Moving forward, I would like to focus on sonship.

So, I am still trying to figure out what I would like to provide as a printed resource with spiritual information about sonship.

Father, you are a good father, and you have given us wonderful promises.  Jesus, thank you for showing us what it means to be a son.  Holy Spirit, thank you for leading me along in sonship.  I love you.

Replaceable versus irreplaceable

Yesterday, I spoke with Caleb on his drive home from work.  He made a great point that it is ironic that we work so hard at our jobs in which we are replaceable, and that limits our engagement at home with our families with which we are irreplaceable.

That statement resonated with me.  

Father, help me focus on spending my limited time making the biggest impacts.  My life is yours.  I love you.

Repentance, holiness, and intimacy with God

God is holy.  Definitions of holiness include moral purity, wholeness, and being set apart.

Revelation 4:8 NIV

Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: " 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,' who was, and is, and is to come."

And He calls us to be holy.  The word is also translated as "saint".

1 Peter 1:15‭-‬16 NIV

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

However, sin/sinfulness separates us from God.  It is the elephant in the room, so you sit there silently looking at your feet instead of gazing into His eyes.  It sucks the air out of the room so that you can't say anything in His presence, and all you can think about is how you want to step away to catch your breath. 

So, repentance is necessary to return to unhindered fellowship/communion (i.e. intimacy) with God (i.e., holiness).  Repentance begins with a humble admission of responsibility of being the one who stepped away from the relationship, and it includes a God-given emotional sorrow for messing up the relationship, hurting Him, hurting others, and hurting yourself.

It is like the son who asked for his inheritance from the father (before he died) and ran away and wasted it.  But then he realized that he had messed up, and he decided to humble himself, return to his father, and admit that he was wrong.

And the Father forgives.  His character is fundamentally good, and He always forgives when we repent and return to Him.  Then He restores us to that place of intimacy, and He throws a party.

Father, thank you for making a way for us to return to intimacy and holiness with you.  Thank you for your compassion and love.

Lent 2022

Several quotes from Day One of 

40 Days of Decrease: A Different Kind of Hunger. A Different Kind of Fast by Alicia Britt Chole and Dr. Simona Chitescu-Weik:

"Lent, in kind, is less about well-mannered denials and more about thinning our lives in order to thicken our communion with God. Decrease is holy only when its destination is love."

"God seems more interested in what we are becoming than in what we are giving up."

"I invite you to consider Lent as less of a project and more of a sojourn. A sojourn is a "temporary stay at a place." And a "stay" is about presence, not productivity."

"Spiritual disciplines do not transform, they only become relational opportunities to open the heart to the Spirit who transforms." — JOHN H. COE

"Why [fast], indeed. My annual fasts, seasonal forty-day fasts, and weekly twelve- to twenty-four-hour fasts are more love offerings than disciplines, though it certainly requires discipline to maintain them. In short, I ache. I ache for my Bridegroom. I ache to live every waking moment conscious of His presence. I ache to live aware of His past and present suffering. I ache to live unattached to what man counts and measures."

I have decided to fast from sugar/sweets during this Lenten season.  I have also decided to give up self-criticism and criticism of others (hopefully, permanently).  And as I focus on the fruit of kindness in 2022, I want to focus on the kindness of God through the life of Jesus during Lent.

Father, I want "to live every waking moment conscious of your presence".  I want to decrease the rocks and thistles in the soil of my hear to make more room for your zoe life.  Jesus, thank you for your suffering and sacrifice.  Holy Spirit, thank you for your presence and power.  I love you.

Growing in sharing the Gospel and baptizing

On Wednesday evening, Shaun and Realene came over, and we debriefed and processed the events on Tuesday.

One of the things that I realize now is very important before inviting people into faith in Jesus is a frank and personal conversation about sin and repentance.  I have also come to see that baptism is more than a symbol; it is the Red Sea in which the enemy's attacks are crushed.  I have also come to realize that we need to cross the Jordan into fullness by being baptized in the Holy Spirit, just like Jesus.

Wednesday evening, Shaun also showed me an engaging Gospel presentation method using about a dozen cards with conceptual images on them (produced by TLR), telling the story starting from the Garden, sin, Israel, Jesus, Holy Spirit, and the disciples waking in the fullness.

I had the opportunity to practice that presentation with Santos and Rene yesterday afternoon after our gathering.  After going through the presentation, I asked Santos where he was in that story, and he said that he was baptized, but he hadn't been filled with the Spirit.  Brandi and I shared our experiences, and then I asked him if he wanted that.  He said yes, so we all gathered around, and he was filled and spoke in tongues a little bit!

While I was presenting to Santos, i could see that Rene was tracking, so after we praise for Santos, I asked Rene where he was in the story.  He said that he has know that he needs to be baptized for seven years.  So, we encouraged him, and Derek read several Scriptures with him, and he decided to go ahead and be baptized.  So, we rinsed out an empty fish pond in the back yard, filled it up with a garden hose and added some boiling water, and we baptized him and prayed for him to be filled with the Spirit!

Father, thank you for these Brothers and Sisters who have encouraged us to walk like Jesus.  I believe that Jesus is the prototype, and as your son, filled with your Spirit, I want to walk in the fullness that Jesus demonstrated.  Jesus, thank you for your example and for making a way for us to die with you through baptism and receive the powerful anointing of your Spirit.  Holy Spirit, you make me glad.  I love you.

TLR in El Paso

Last night, Torben Sondergaard and a team from TLR stopped in El Paso on their way back east for a one-noght kickstart.  

Torben shared his story of putting his faith in Jesus but being unsatisfied with the typical church-atrendance model.  He even became a pastor of a typical church, but he was still frustrated that his life didn't look more like the stories we read in the New Testament.

After that, we had the opportunity to pray for people, and I prayed for an older gentleman who had hip pain.  A pastor who knew him was delighted to see him walking around without as much pain.

Later, people were given opportunity to respond by repenting, believing, being baptized, and being filled with the Holy Spirit.  Brandi and I participated in assisting a number of the baptisms, commanding demons to leave them, and inviting the Holy Spirit to fill them.  It was amazing to see the power of God flow.  And I look forward to hearing testimonies of their transformed lives and multigenerational discipleship.

Father, thank you for the opportunity to experience a kickstart.  Jesus, thank you for your example for us to follow.  Holy Spirit, thank you for your presence and power and leading us in making disciples.  I love you.

Five-day fast

As part of our final week of the 2022 January Daniel fast, I wanted to reach for more.  Brandi and I went to dinner together last Friday, and then fasted from food (only water and herbal tea) for five days, breaking the fast with dinner on Wednesday night.  Generally, I felt like I had more strength than I remember having last year, until day five.  Starting around the middle of day three, I felt like I had a greater sensitivity to spiritual things.

I shared these verses with our church as we finish the corporate fast this week.

Hebrews 11:6 TPT

And without faith living within us it would be impossible to please God. For we come to God in faith knowing that he is real and that he rewards the faith of those who passionately seek him.

One of the main realizations that I had during my five-day fast is that we are gaining by fasting is eternal and infinitely more valuable than the temporary things we choose to fast from.

2 Corinthians 4:17‭-‬18 TPT

We view our slight, short-lived troubles in the light of eternity. We see our difficulties as the substance that produces for us an eternal, weighty glory far beyond all comparison, because we don't focus our attention on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but the unseen realm is eternal.

Father, thank you for your promise to be found by those who seek you wholeheartedly.  Thank you for the opportunity to pursue greater depths of your love and goodness.  Jesus, thank you for your example of living.  Holy Spirit, thank you for your constant presence and the opportunity to be more attentive to your presence through fasting.  I love you.