So it's been a while!

Tons of stuff has been happening since the last time I wrote- I've been pretty heavily involved with IHOP:Eastern Gate...contending for the emergence of a 24/7 house of prayer in a strategic area as the metro region...and the things that have been happening have been nothing short of wondrous.  Sometimes, with the breakthroughs, signs of favour, "chance occurrences" that occur pretty frequently, sometimes the thrill of it all makes me think I'm in the middle of some sort of movie.  Only, it's reality.  I love what I've been called to do, and all the more humbled that the Lord would mark me and my Intercessory missionary comrades to such a task as this- when He could have picked anyone else.

I traveled to Bethel for much of the month of June coming back in July- had an awesome time there and the Lord marked my heart with some key directives and words in regards to my own life...and when I came back from Bethel I stepped out in faith to jump full-time into IHOP:Eastern Gate.  Life's been crazy busy- but it's been awesome to be in the middle of this season and see God work His power in the establishment of this base.  I couldn't ask for a better work environment with some incredible staff and the light of God's face shining down upon us.

And now, here we are- September.  The cool breeze and the leafy smells of summer receding back to make room for the fall signal a fresh new year ahead of us.  All the more, I've been growing obsessed with the idea of how to move God.  Not just to think about such a romantic concept, but how to really live it out.  This comes, further empowered by an awareness like I've never had anytime in my life before, that the Lord SEES me.  He knows me.  Psalm 139 to the max.  And what I do matters to Him, His heart and His eyes.  And all I'm wanting to do is capitalize on all of that and give myself to be a man after His own heart.

Everytime Fall comes around, so does football.  I struggle with sports.  Seriously.  If the enemy were to draw up a gameplan to bring me down, he would totally hit me in the area of sports.  I'm making a commitment before the Lord to fast this obsession of feeding my flesh and my emotions on the success and progress of a sports team...and to remain singleminded and focused on the pursuit of the knowledge of God.

In the Word, God frequently mentions Daniel and Job- that even if it were for righteous men like them, certain wicked cities could not be saved.  Neverminding the latter, I'm inspired that such men like Daniel and Job walked the earth, to the degree that the Lord pointed them out to future generations as people who have captivated His heart.  I BURN to be in that category.  To live my life as a fragrant worship offering in the secret.  A history with the Lord.

Can I Testify?!!

I confess, I'm being somewhat selfish with this blog entry.

God has done so much in my life the past month-He's been breaking me and making me anew, and He's been more real in the past month as He's ever been in my entire life. And I'm writing all of this down, not because the things that happened are the most amazing things in the world-to which for some, they may be- but really, in thanking God, I just want to see more. So, I'm giving a shout out to God, and wanting to see Him move more in my life. But apart from that, I can't help but shout out on mountain tops what He's done for me. It would be a travesty not to.

So coming back from IHOP, the Lord ordained and set on my heart that I'll be serving at an emerging house of prayer at IHOP: Eastern Gate, to see night and day prayer/worship come to the Metro area (www.ihopeg.org). For those unfamiliar with serving at bases like this, most of the financial support comes through the raising up of partners, who will lock arms with missionaries on the base and support them in prayer and finances. If you're anything like me, the last bit at the end of the last sentence scares the living daylights out of you.

I confess that I am essentially a rather introverted (even though I can appear extroverted at times) , independent, self-reliant type of guy (If you haven't figured that out already). I believe in working hard and reaping from the fruits of my own labor. I DO NOT like the idea that my livelihood in any way depends on other people. I just don't!!!! I like to be in control ALL THE WAY. Can I get a witness?! The idea that I have to appear before people and ask for their "support" is really humbling and repugnant to my proud heart. I would rather just work my butt off and live off of my own means.

So having come to face with the issue of raising partners, I would spend times of agony in the presence of the Lord asking Him to to provide partners if He wants me serving in this capacity as an Intercessory Missionary. I even asked Him to provide ways I can sustain myself until I've developed a partnership base such as tutoring and teaching guitar to work and support myself.

And then crazy things start to happen.

First in regards to tutoring, in a few days my mom somehow connects me with a parent who is looking for a spiritual/english tutor to teach her daughter english and pray for her daily. It's a more than adequate part-time job for me to support myself, while still being able to do ministry. My mom, herself is surprised by all this, because with the economy these opportunities are rare (all the more something that seems tailor-suited in my case), and that it must be the Lord.

On the note of guitar lessons, after I pray and this is just still fresh in my mind, out of nowhere, an old friend sends me an email asking for guitar lessons!!! This prompts me to put up a note on facebook, to which several other people respond back!

In regards to partners,

I start meeting with different people and I'm getting statements like, "Joel, it's better to invest in you than putting the money in a bank". I'm floored when I hear things like that from people. But more than that, I see another reality at work behind partners coming on board- GOD!!! Although people are generous, in my view, there is NO way people say that kind of stuff unless the Spirit is at work bringing that sort of conviction out of a person's heart.

Another partner, even before we meet up, declares partnership. But what gets me is not only that, but that this partner's remarks that although many other worthy missionaries have asked this partner for support, the Lord has brought conviction to this person to support me (I'm floored and humbled)- all the more when I know that this person is not in the greatest economic situation, but still feels compelled to sow financially into partnership. Again, I'm just incredibly humbled.

Another guy, out of nowhere offers to buy me dinner. Meeting with him, we get around to talking about IHOP, and I feel the unction share what I'm doing and my raising up partners. I do this somewhat sheepishly, because I don't know him too well. But the crazy thing is, he then divulges that the Holy Spirit had actually tugged on his heart beforehand to buy me dinner and hear what I had to say (he didn't even know I was getting involved with IHOP). He's not even a full blown charismatic! But upon sharing my vision for partnership, he really felt that our conversation was from the Lord and he's now prayerfully considering partnership.

Another guy I met, whom I barely know- we decide to get together and connect. At this dinner, I don't even intend to bring up IHOP, because i just wanted to get to know the guy, but he breaks in and tells me to tell him about IHOP and how I'm involved and the next thing I know, he's offered to be my partner.

And with all that said and done, I'm about on the verge hitting halfway of my goal- something I was honestly skeptical about from day one. But God's done it, and at this point, it seems like there's no turning back. I even find a note of irony in that, in all of this, my biggest supporters are those that I don't even know too well, or have much relationship with. It really struck me the other day. Because it's not about me trying to leverage "relationship" in raising partners, or trying to be persuasive and make things happen in my own strength. But I think through such partners God has been trying to send me the clear message: It's NOT about you, Joel, it's about ME and I AM the one who is doing everything and making everything happen.

Yes, I wonder with all that has happened and my heart racing, if I'm setting myself up for disappointment and things will slow down. But to be honest, even after all the Lord's done, I can't really ask for more. I tried. This morning, I just couldn't find a way outside of thanking God for His faithfulness and company the past few weeks. But led by the Spirit, I came before the Lord boldly to ask for more and again to finish what He's started. But I'm so grateful for everything that's happened so far. And to think that this is only the beginning blows my mind.

For those who've swam in deeper waters of faith, what I've mentioned may be small stuff. But for me, this is nothing short of ground breaking. It's nice to know that when I encourage other brothers and sisters in Christ, I actually have testimonies to back up the reality that Jesus loves them and desires to bless them. Looking back, I would be lying to you if I said this was all "thrilling" and "exciting", because to be honest it's been nothing short of terrifying. But seeing God come through- I can say I possess a new knowledge and intimacy of Him, and looking back as I share about what God has done, I cannot deny that He has moved. And it redeems the terror of the past into joy, thanksgiving, and yes, excitement. I say this with boldness- I wouldn't have had it any other way!! And although I've still got a long way to go, I'll more than gladly stop along the way, see how far I've made up this mountain of faith, and PRAISE GOD, for HE IS FAITHFUL.

Anyways, to bring it all back- you better believe, whatever the Lord has called you to do- He will be faithful to part seas and move mountains to do it. He is faithful to what He's called you to do. Believe and move forward.

The Hand or The Face? Why not both?!: The Hesitancy in Pursuing Spiritual gifts/Signs and Wonders in the Church

I've been on a book reading craze the past few months. Two books that I read which have challenged me are Mike Bickle's "Growing in The Prophetic" and Bill Johnson's "When Heaven Invades Earth". Both books in particular make great points about the tension and reluctance on the part of many, to pursue spiritual gifts and seek signs and wonders, thinking that we're not called to do this but to just focus on Jesus. I just wanted to share some of their more salient points in regards to this topic.

Mike Bickle in his book mentions that the phrase "Seek God's face, and not His hand" has become somewhat popular in the church today. The phrase refers to seeking the Lord in intimacy, and not His blessings, which evidently would include the full release of His power in ministry. And while this may sound nice and has some truth in regards to higher priority, Mike argues that it is not entirely biblical. The two ideas are not mutually exclusive to one another but are rather active partners. God never says to seek one thing and not the other. But rather, we're called to seek His face without NEGLECTING seeking His hand, or His power in ministry. After all, it's His power that sets people free to fulfill the first part of the phrase-seeking His face, in the first place.

And actually, seeking the gifts is in part, a sign of hunger for more of God. It's pointless and trivial to seek fireworks without the God behind them. And it's not like you can get to that place where you move in signs and wonders without intimacy/uncomfortable lifestyle of faith with God in the first place. So to shirk off the responsibility in pursuing these things just gives us a very convenient reason not to press in to the Lord in a lifestlye of faith and intimacy, as the two aspects go hand in hand. We can just degenerate into blobs floating around as an expression of emasculated Christianity.

Anyways, if we look in the Bible, and at the NT church, it's quite clear that it was a church that was pursuing signs and wonders/spiritual gifts, and were even commanded to by Paul. "But eagerly desire the greater gifts."1 Corinthians 12:31. Nowhere do we find in the NT the opposite witness to this reality. With what we see in the Bible, although it's clearly wrong to seek power first, it's equally wrong to neglect seeking it! It's an entirely unbiblical position to put this stuff on the back burner because it makes you uncomfortable or stretches your faith, or even worse oppose it. That is not NT Christianity and that is not what Paul taught. On that note, although I respect those who hold the cessationist position, the truth is, no one can come to that position while honestly reading the NT. It's something that's been taught. Seeking the greater gifts/signs and wonders was a NT command and frankly, not an option in the dog-eat-dog-world of the early church. The Church could not have survived without the very real flow of the Spirit's movement, especially as evidenced through miracles which happened daily. We see the same reality in the underground church in China where the church has just exploded in growth; much in large measure because of the power of the Holy Spirit, with miracles taking place daily, confirming the message of the gospel.

I've heard of the argument, these are just "signs". "Signs" pointing to a greater reality in Jesus. And yes, Jesus is the greatest reality and without Him, this stuff is meaningless. But to use this argument in advocating backing off, or not pursuing these "signs", doesn't make the greatest logical sense to me. After all, if these "signs" point to Jesus, I want more of them! During my days of college, seminary I used to put up signs in the hallways and doors for various worship gatherings, and I'd put alot of them to make sure that people couldn't miss. And I as process all this, I realize, how much more should we seek these signs when what we have to offer is the most powerful message in the world in the gospel, and has life/death consequences? ... Signs? I want as many signs as possible pointing to Jesus! So that even the most dullest or hard-hearted heart will become broken by the power of God, and as it says in scripture, fall on His knees and "worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!" (1 Corinthians 14:25)

If we speak of a supernatural Jesus who was able to heal and move in wonders, and we believe that this Jesus lives inside of us, I think we need to back it up to the world, or seek to grow in it. This is something the Lord has been challenging me after a season in which I effectively disqualified myself from this chase, thinking out of self-pity that I was only given a small measure of the Spirit and I was consigned to live this way for the rest of my life. But seeing the Lord especially revive a prophetic spirit in me, I hear Him challenging me not to be a cop out, but to ask for more because He wants to give more, not only to me but to all of us as we step out in faith. The world needs it. The world hungers to see a God who is real and active in our midst. No more phonies who preach one thing and live another!

Bill Johnson makes the great point that Jesus Himself said, "Unless I do the works of the Father, do not believe me. Or at least believe me on the account of the miracles themselves". In Bill's words, "Jesus gave people the right to disbelieve it all if there was no demonstration of power upon His ministry. I hunger for the day when the Church will make the same statement to the world. If we're not doing the miracles that Jesus did, you don't have to believe us".

A "Hell" of an experience.

Note: this is somewhat of an intense and disturbing entry, but felt led to write about it. Hope this spurs some thoughts. Bless you!

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A few days ago I had the horror of sitting through a presentation of hell by someone who was supernaturally sent there by God, for a brief time. Usually, when people have been to hell and back through divine revelation, it either falls along the mold of them being an observer (which is bad enough), or actually being a participant (which, obviously, is much, much worse). Laurie Ditto fell in the latter category, and her "testimony" (?) is something I will not soon forget. She was reluctant in sharing it and she shared that she has NO problems whatsoever of saying NO to invitations to speak on it because of its rawness and traumatic content. But she felt God was clearly telling her to speak to our internships about it.

I thought I had a strong stomach to handle this prior to hearing it, and I could not imagine a time past when what was being shared so disturbed me that I literally wanted to walk out of the room, out of the building and just get away, or risk breaking down and having a panic attack- but alas there I was that saturday morning on the verge of breaking down with the fear of God. It was that disturbing. There was such a heaviness in the air. Throughout her sharing, I felt I was myself was exposed to hell, if even in the slightest measure.

I took some notes throughout the testimony, as it was one way of keeping my head while she was just pouring out horror upon horror of the reality of hell. She spoke of being in twisted and contorted positions because of the flames and fire- her skin melting off, eyelids burnt off so that she couldn't even close her eyes. She spoke of demons tormenting her and violating her. She spoke of fire that burned every part of her body, even the areas that "we keep covered". Especially those areas. I mean, it was just horrific and disturbing. And the cries- the screams of people who had no hope because there was "not an ounce of God" in hell. And this sense that she, a sinner, deserved every lick of it-this sense that she was naughty and was being punished rightly and justly.

She shared these experiences back and forth with her own personal traumatic life stories where she's suffered abuse in one way or the other-so as to magnify how much horrible and real her experiences in hell with her experiences of being abused growing up. She shook, paced back and forth, sobbed, as she was sharing all these things often taking a few moments between experiences to just sob. It all amounted to a disturbing and heavy atmosphere that exposed all of us to a degree of hell, although not even the slightest in itself.

This experience lasted for 20 mins in earth time, but in her experience, it lasted 70-80 years in hell time. She was just worshipping with fellow members of the Forerunner Evangelism Institute when all of a sudden "like being sucked up in a straw" she was transported. When she finally shared those comforting words, "Then I ended right back up at Hernhutt apartments", I breathed a sigh of relief that it was over. I honestly didn't think I could bare another moment.

But then she went into the reflection time, which added it's own trauma. As soon as she got back, she cried out to those around her and God, "Please don't send me back to hell, I deserve it!" She had this horror that any moment God could send her back. She shared that she had white diarrhea because her pancreas stopped working, and that no amount of comforting could comfort her- no scripture about her being saved, etc. She needed people to hold her hands non-stop for a weeks so she can re-experience the sense of being touched. She wanted her husband to lay on top of her to impart the feeling of "God" back upon her, because she was so divested of any presence of God or of being human in hell.

She then in anger challenged us all to go and preach the gospel like hell is a real place. In a strange way, her seemingly judgmental anger brought relief and attention away from the rawness of what she was sharing about hell, and although in other situations I would have been offended, I welcome the disconnect. But without a doubt, her memories were stimulus enough to challenge us. That we need to throw away self-consciousness, stop worry about our relationship with people rather their relationship with God. Needless to say, at the altar call the entire rom went up on their knees crying out to God in travail. I was so shaken I went up got on my knees and just tried to keep sane.

After it was over, she came up with Hal Lindhart, the director of F.E.I, and they had to assure everyone of their salvation for comfort and truth. And we even sang amazing grace at the end. However, to me, it didn't bring that much comfort-there was too much fear, and fear of God. I was horrified of it, but at the same time, I felt like I needed it. I needed to be shaken to the holiness and awesomeness of God and His judgments for those who reject and refuse Him. I needed to be shaken in my own complacency in regards to sharing the gospel.

And in the past although I would cry out to God for supernatural experiences like this, after hearing this testimony, my fervent prayer is that I WOULD NOT experience anything like this in my life. I think the Lord allows a few people across the body of Christ to experience the reality of hell to alert and keep us on our toes, as well as to anoint them to be evangelists in special measure, but after hearing this, I'm sorry if I sound selfish, but I DO NOT want any of that!! Their testimony is enough, thank you!!

After this experience, the pain was too raw for me to think or commit any sin, or give into temptation, even to the lightest degree during the entire day. Any thought that wasn't of God, was far from my mind. I guess this is what the fear of God does, and why it's important we experience it- for as the Word of God says, it is the way to life and wisdom. I prayed for it always in my devotional walk, but boy, did God shake me up that day. I can't soon forget about it, and I hope I don't. I pray that when I share the gospel and share about hell, that there's a measure of "experience" and depth to what I say, an earnestness and urgency about it's horror and reality that's all too lacking in the church. Although I'm not too sure if warning people about hell is the best way for our generation to fall in love with Jesus, at least it's reality is motivation enough for us to get out there and share His love because there is no other option. The vast majority of this earth is headed there unless the church steps up and does something about it.

Lord, impress upon our hearts your great heart of love and compassion- that as You say in Your word, You take NO delight in seeing people perish and You desire ALL to come to know You in salvation. How great is Your love that You touch people like Laurie with the urgency to share the gospel in this hour. God, that we would be a courageous and bold witness to Your love, the joy of being in fellowship with You, and the judgments that await those who reject You. God, break off fear of man in Jesus Name, and increase the fear of God, that we would not depart from Your commands and that we would be faithful in love. Do it in my life, Lord, and to those who read this.

Amen.

End of the world OVERLOAD. My final reflections on IHOP endtime theology itself. Part 3. (revised intro)

Hi everyone!

Thanks for tuning in yet again. This is my last post in regards to IHOP endtime theology. Here I actually go into the theology on a very general level and post my thoughts.

This is the longest blog entry I've written. Please take your time to check in and out as you please. This is so long that I think I'm crazy and impractical to shove everything on one blog post. Oh well. Regardless, my goal in sharing my thoughts on Revelation through the IHOP lens is to pull out things in the book of Revelation that would be relevant and beneficial to evangelicals and charismatics alike in our individual faith journeys of loving Jesus. I especially write to encourage and bring new truth to those new to the book and are interested in checking it our further, but are too intimidated with the content of the book.

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Let me first start off- for those wanting to learn and immerse themselves in IHOP culture, there is no way to do it without coming to grasps with their understanding of the Endtimes. The culture of IHOP is founded on it. I only say this because for a long time, I was part of a church that was only really exposed to the intimacy/bridal paradigm aspect of IHOP, and not any of the endtimes stuff. But for those interested in the IHOP ministry, there's no getting around reconciling or coming to a peace with the Endtime awareness that this ministry is founded on. From the teachings, the songs that are sung in the prayer room, the whole "forerunner culture"- everything is based on their endtime theology/awareness. If I can put it roughly, if Intimacy is the fuel, the Endtimes is the engine that IHOP runs on.

Let me also say- I've been warned about the theology of IHOP regarding revelation, having been told that it's a view held by a very thin sliver of bible scholars. But apart from liberal scholars who are mostly from the "anti-supernatural" camp anyway, this view, among the larger body of evangelical, conservative theology eschatologists, I don't find that to be the case. Having learned of the overall structure to Revelation, and IHOP's general interpretation of it all, there is nothing dynamically interesting or different about IHOP's view of the endtimes, that would signal a red flag, as compared to the other beliefs out there. I'm trying to see this with an objectively critical eye.

And on a positive note, I'm actually encouraged Mike Bickle discourages believing in things face value, just because he said it. He encourages the IHOP community to look into the scriptures like the Bereans in the book of Acts, and see for themselves what is truth. For all the ways he gets smeared as being a cult leader, I can respect the freedoms he promotes in being your own independent, critical thinker. After all, you take greater ownership to truth not when you're blindly being mouth fed, but when you, wrestling with your doubts come to see truth for what it is.

Another thing they mentioned in the opening class of Revelation; when you seek interpretations of this book, consider people who have credibility in the lifestyles of prayer and fasting, and have sought with the help of the Holy Spirit and the Bible, revelation. I find that pretty reasonable and actually pretty responsible. Regardless, cultural context and history is very important and responsible- but more important and MORE responsible is taking scripture, living a lifestyle of prayer and fasting, and asking the Holy Spirit to release revelation upon the Word of God. After all, didn't Jesus say, "the Holy Spirit is the wonderful counselor who will lead us into all truth?" I don't think the early church fathers envisioned everyone to go out and get M. Divs to understand scripture, which was written in a way to be accessible to the common man. Scripture was written so that anyone can read it, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, glean revelation. Yea, there's more to it, but that's the meat of it. And the insights and revelation that come from those who walk this lifestyle trump and touch my soul more than those from the academic field, which I've been. Sorry for the brute honesty, but I think it says something about receiving insight from intimacy (with God) and not the ivory tower (with books).

So, anyways, to get off all of that, all this to say- whatever I learn further into the IHOPian theology of Revelation, with the credibility of a culture of fasting, prayer, genuinely pressing into God- I think these teachings are things I can somewhat safely consider with an open mind, without the fear that they've departed from the faith and are coming way off from left field, or that they're trying to control or manipulate me.

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Anyways, knowing Revelation brings a unity to our knowledge of the Bible and God's purposes. While it's great to focus on what God is calling us to do daily as in loving our enemies, loving Him, etc., it brings greater purpose and urgency to practice these commandments KNOWING that God has a plan for it all at the end of the age, as revealed in the Endtimes texts of the Bible and Revelation.

In regards to such scripture, especially the passages in the bible outside of Revelation such as Jesus' own words in regards to the end times-many times, after reading those chapters, I would be completely confused and just move on to Jesus' other teachings. But now having studied Revelation, I find my theology more well rounded and unified, and find that I have a grid now for understanding the words of Jesus and the prophets in regards to the end of the age. A more holistic view of God and His purposes emerges. Again, it's great to focus on the now, but it provides urgency, direction and purpose to know what's going to happen in the future as well.

With that introduction aside, let me just say- Revelation was written for the common layperson to understand. Alot of people panic and get lost in the flurry of signs and symbols thrown all over the place. But let me assure you: Revelation itself is more literal than you think it is. Especially the last section Revelation of the different judgments poured out on the earth and the antichrist.

There are clear portions of revelation in which Jesus Himself defines things as symbolic. E.g the seven stars in His hands, Him amidst the seven lampstands. And He describes the symbolism of that Himself in Revelation. But there are portions of Revelation that we might be tempted to ascribe to symbolism-but should consider taking literally. For example, when it comes to the trumpet judgments, John describes a mountain "all ablaze" being thrown into the sea. For things like that, I think it's a stretch to brush that off as symbolic and allegoric and not accept it literally as to what John probably saw- an asteroid hitting the sea that he didn't have the scientific wherewithal to describe.

Don't get me wrong, there are definitely some aspects of Revelation it's clear to take symbolically (the dragon (satan), beast with 10 horns, 7 heads), but those too, John prefaces them by declaring that a "sign appeared from heaven". So there is some distinction within the book itself of things which should be taken symbolically, and things which should not. My point is, with all that said, Revelation is more literal than you think! You don't need sophisticated master degrees in theology to understand a book that was written for a very simple people, the early NT church, whose extent of higher education was in just avoiding illiteracy.

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So basically, the book of Revelation is split into 4 parts.

Part 1- Chapters 1- John's calling to preach the book
Part 2- Chapters 2,3- The 7 Letters to the 7 major churches of that time
Part 3- Chapters 4,5- Jesus takes the scroll (God's battle plan for the endtimes)
Part 4- Chatpers 6,22- God's battle plan

Again, it's beyond the scope of a single blog entry to detail all the fine nuances of this theology. So the way I'll go about this is not comprehensively nailing every verse and theme, but rather listing some interesting pointers in the distinct 4 parts, in hopes that you get something out of it too. What I'm about to share are things that I agree with-in fact, I found everything taught here to be receivable without me screaming heresy. Surprising, are some of the teachings, but more so it's because I've never been exposed to something already in the Bible, rather than the content itself being heretical.

Part 1, chapter 1- John's calling to preach the book

One thing really big here in IHOP is meditating on the revelations of Christ through scripture. Well, in the 1st chapter of Revelation, we have the biggest treasure-trove-collection of names/descriptions Christ gives about Himself more than anywhere else in the Bible. In fact, just within the 1st chapter are 52 distinct aspects of Jesus on display. "Faithful witness, Firstborn from the dead, Ruler of the Kings of the Earth, Alpha, Omega, First, Last, Jesus, Christ, etc." Jesus shares these aspects about Himself when He reveals Himself to John on the island of Patmos. Needless to say, John's blown away.

My reflection

When I learned of how packed Revelation 1 was, it stunned me. Here, in the first chapter, Jesus is revealing Himself directly, in no uncertain terms. Coming from a school of prayer which is Godwards focused and about proclaiming who God is over our circumstances, this is most practical to apply in my own prayer/devotional life with Jesus. Revelation 1 is a gold mine of truths and aspects in which Jesus DIRECTLY reveals Himself and invites us to engage with Him, and seek greater revelation through fasting, meditation and prayer. It's amazing how much the Holy Spirit will guide you into revelation as you fast, pray and meditate over these terms. This is something that will revitalize our prayer lives as we fix our eyes on the revelation of Jesus, given by Jesus Himself.

Part 2, chapters 2-3 - The 7 letters to the 7 churches

Here are the 7 letters to the churches, in which Jesus encourages, rebukes, and promises rewards to these churches. IHOP believes that the exhortations to these churches can also be applied to the endtime church. In that regard, one thing that's really encouraged around here, is living with a sense of urgency and taking heed the warnings of Christ to these churches. Also, letting the promise of the rewards Christ offers (26 of them in the 7 letters), be a motivating factor in living that way. Mike Bickle exhorts that we'll all stand before the judgment seat in the end, in which we'll be obliged to offer an "offering of love" to the Lord (what we've done with our lives, in love), and receive the rewards He promises us.

My reflection
Here's another nugget of valuable truth that I've never really thought about- this idea that I'll stand before the Lord at the end of my life, for Him to judge what I've done with my life and receive my rewards. The judgment seat of Christ is another one of those theological hurdles that I found uncomfortable to ponder, and thus, put on the back burner of my mind because I didn't like to think and take seriously the reality that at the end of my days I'll stand before the Lord to give an account of my life. It didn't help however, as with Revelation, I've never really heard messages preached on the judgment seat of Christ.

Granted, we'll all be saved...but what will we offer up to the Lord on that day? And what will we receive? Here we're not talking about so much about judgment in the sense of being punished, but what's taught here at IHOP is rather judgment in the sense of an athletic evaluation leading to a reward, as in the Greco-roman context of olympic games. in which before the judgment seat of judges, athletes would win rewards. So if we, the endtime church stay true to the challenges listed out in the letter to the 7 churches (all common threads of discipleship to be found in scripture), there are specific rewards Jesus mentions in these 7 letters, that we can expect to receive, e.g "the crown of life, eating from the tree of life" etc. Thus the expecation of rewards at the end of the age in front of the Judgement seat of Christ is something that motivates us to faithfulness and unhindered love. And these rewards aren't so much hand-me-downs from God's infinite supply of heavenly "reward pencils", but these rewards are the expressions of God's heart and how He is moved by our faithfulness to Him, in overcoming the challenges of the enemy in loving Him faithfully.

Part 3- Jesus takes the scroll

Chapters 4-5 (especially 4), includes the most vivid description of the throne room of God to be found anywhere in the Bible. Jesus, white hair and head, eyes burning with fire-seated on a throne and surrounded by 24 elders, 4 seraphim, an emerald rainbow; all this with an expanse of sea of glass before Him, surrounded by thousands and thousands of angels with lightning and peals of thunder emanating from His throne. You get my point. Read it for yourself!!

My reflection
When I read of the description of the throneroom of God, I have to stop, pinch and tell myself, that what I have on my desk, the words that leer out at me, are activities that are taking place in heaven as I'm reading the Word. This is real stuff. I find that meditating and visualizing this and "seeing" this worship taking place an awesome way of encountering the Lord. Close your eyes in worship, and see yourself on the sea of glass in front of His throne, in full glory with His angels. It'll do something to your heart, to say the least.

Part 4 - ch. 6-22 The Battle Plan

Herein lies the brunt of Revelation. The scroll which Jesus takes in the scenes of ch.4-5 is ultimately God's battle plan in terms of how to take the antichrist and his establishments down, and establish His own Kingdom. This last section goes from detailing the 7 seals on the scroll Jesus receives, to the 7 trumpet judgments, and then to the final 7 bowl judgments. This section is where we see much of the heavy cataclysmic events Revelation has become so famous for such as the earth quakes, heavenly bodies falling onto earth, the earth getting rearranged, many people dying. But despite these judgments, what we need to understand is that in the end, God desires to save the most amount of people, in the least severest way. With all the wickedness that will have abounded through the form of the worldwide antichrist government, these judgments are really to clear and purge the earth of evil, save the persecuted church from the antichrist systems of the world and remove in general, all that would hinder the love of Christ, as the millenial era (1000 year reign of Christ after He returns) inaugurates. What's great however, is that while John is startled at what's about to happen, throughout this section of Revelation angels are present to provide commentary to these events reassure him of God's greater purposes, and that the Church will be protected from many of these calamities, just like the Hebrews were protected from the judgments of God upon Pharaoh and Egypt in the book of Exodus.

Eventually after all this, we see the summation of all things- a new earth, a new heaven, and the coming down of the New Jerusalem whereupon God is now with men and He'll be here forever.

My reflection

Obviously, I can't go through each section, as if this post isn't long enough. But I will comment on the closing movement of Revelation.

In the end, in Revelation 21, John writes, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God."

The chapter goes forward to describe the dimensions of the city. It describes the New Jerusalem as being roughly 1,260 miles wide, long, deep and high. Which means, it's about half the size of the US in length and width, and it's height would stretch into space itself. Imagine that! A glorious and massive golden city descending down from heaven like a celestial spaceship. It's like sci-fi! It's freaky and blows your mind, but it's the truth and it's written in the Bible. With exact measurements. You can't call this stuff symbolic when they have exact measurements. (Just like the tabernacle of God in the Old Testament was described in its exact dimensions, so this NEW tabernacle of God is described.) This city will come down, the tabernacle of God, and we'll get to be with God forever here.

I don't know about you, but this is one of the most bewildering and astonishing truths that I've learned in Revelation thus far. I was never taught in sunday school about a New Jerusalem that's to come down from heaven. I just thought that at the end of it all, we'd all be in heaven with Jesus and that would be the end of that. But according to Revelation, the plan of Jesus is to come back DOWN to the earth to STAY and make all things new, and that this New Jerusalem will come down "as a bride beautifully prepared for her husband". Like Matt Gilman's song, I find myself "longing for the New Jerusalem" now. I seriously can't wait for that day to behold this marvelous continent to descend from heaven, where we'll get to be in the presence of God forevermore. If you thought coming to IHOP was a blessing, wait until you get a hold of this place, where God HIMSELF dwells on earth with men forever. Everyone's going to want to get in.

Ok. Again, realizing the plan of God for the future, helps make sense of life in the now. In regards to our lives on earth, we need to understand that it's just a brief internship for a greater reality- where we get to be priests and kings, ruling with Christ for eternity in the millenial kingdom (a 1000 year span in which Jesus rules the earth right after the antichrist systems and infrastructures are taken down), and then the New Jerusalem.

And this leads me to believe that the way God is moving today-where we're seeing the release of signs and wonders all around the world in ways that rival and eclipse the book of Acts-this is just a first fruit and an appetizer of a greater reality to come- the actual Kingdom of God as described in the closing chapter of Revelation. The ways we're seeing the Kingdom of God break out all around the world- when Jesus comes back, His Kingdom will be manifested in its fullest measure, and with the New Jerusalem, heaven will LITERALLY be on earth, together as one.

Even this whole new renewal and intimacy movement championed by IHOP-this is just a precursor to the church arising as a whole, as the bride of Christ, to a time where Jesus will be loved like He is worthy- the sole owner and receiver of our fascinations, desires and love. In that day, Jesus will have to Himself a people who do not compromise their heart with lesser loves and interests but are wholeheartedly abandoned in lovesickness for Him. So the whole "One Thing" & "Intimacy", this is just the beginning of a church beginning to arise in greater love and devotion to Jesus. This is the direction the church is moving towards, to the final summation of everything after Jesus comes back, and there's no turning back!

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Ok, I think I'm about done. For those wrestling with this the first time-it can be overwhelming and freaky. For me, these concepts were over my head. I had to let my heart and mind simmer in these biblical realities for a while before they made some sense to me. I hope you can see these truths for yourself as you study the Word.

As I mentioned, I'm leaving out SO MUCH of what this book has to offer. And I'm still trying to understand and grasp its content better myself. What I've shared are just some beginner level insights and convictions I've gained from studying the book, knee-deep. But I hope it's tickled your fancy to study and take seriously this book yourself, because this book is relevant to our time. And it's a shame that as a church we haven't studied this book more and espoused the revelations in the book. (no pun intended).

Thanks for taking the time to read. PLEASE let me know what you think!! Whether you agree, disagree, got something out of this. You'd motivate me as well to keep writing these insanely long posts, although I'm not sure if you want that after reading this! ;) Bless you.

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Here are some resources for you to check out in regards to IHOP endtime theology (a view I'm beginning to accept as my own more and more as I do my study, as you may begin to tell)-

1. www.mikebickle.org - this is Mike Bickle's online library of teaching, videos, and some free books. His teachings and videos are all free. You can hear him speak on revelation yourself.

2. "The Book of Revelation Study Guide" by Mike Bickle - this is the entire book of Revelation (NKJV), with Mike's notes. Although it isn't a super thick comprehensive tome, it's a good study guide and roadmap to the book.

How to Accept Praise From People, And Not Have A Cow // Culture of Honor

Ok. If you're anything like me, or perhaps 99.9% of Christian believers, you know it's the most awkward and difficult thing to accept compliments and praise without having to squirm and all of a sudden feel like the temperature just got raised 100 degrees. You just feel so put on the spot, and although you feel good, you wonder whether it's actually ok to feel good about it and you try to cover up the insecurity and show a better side of you by deflecting it onto God- which in itself is a noble and worthy cause, right?

Chris Ferguson, one of the overseers of our class, just LOVES to butter up our guest speakers before they speak, after which the speakers in bashful fashion step up to the mic. But when it came to Ryan Couch, our guest speaker this past week, Chris went the extra mile. He actually had all the small group leaders of the track come up to the front and each person say a 30 second sound byte as to why Ryan was such a great and Godly man. I'm sure it was on everyone's mind, "There goes Chris Ferguson again..."

But in the midst of this spontaneous "toast" that was being assembled, Chris said something that really stuck with me-

"Let's all remember that the best way to receive praise is not as if from men, but from your heavenly Father".

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Not from men...but from your heavenly father.

The profundity of it left me looking for loopholes to this rationale, but after letting my mind and heart digest it further, it just made complete sense to me. God is giving you a gift of affirmation, and it doesn't glorify Him for us to throw it back in the faces of the people who are tenderly sharing their hearts, nor God who may be wanting to encourage and love through them. But when we look at receiving praise through the lens of receiving the love and affirmation of the Father over us, we can wholeheartedly and joyfully say, "Thank you!" I think God is totally glorified through that!

On the other hand, although deflecting praise and giving glory to God in front of people can be genuine, it can also be false-humility. We're trying to appear humble, but deep in our hearts, there's a pride in us that refuses to accept praise and affirmation, because we just think we're not worth it. But then again, who are we to disagree and dispute God's affirmations towards us through people, as if, we knew better?

Last year at IHOP's worship commission event, the instructor Terri Terri (that's her name!!), shared this powerful illustration about what it means to receive praise from people. She used tissues. She had people hand her tissues which represented compliments and affirmations. She then explained that alot of people when they receive these "tissues of praise", they just crumple it up, throw it down and stomp on it in order to "give God the glory". She quipped that you can be sure you'll never hear from those people again. However, when we receive these precious tissues with joy and thanksgiving, not only are the givers edified, but at the end of the day we can stand before Jesus and honor Him by offering these collected "tissues".

I think this kinda stuff needs practice. Which leads me to my 2nd topic-promoting a culture of honor.

I just came back from a dinner with friends where we were discussing this stuff about how to receive praise from people, and once we came to the conclusions of what you just read, we just started to affirm and praise one another. It was a little silly, but it was genuine. I called out people for being so amazing, and vice versa. Sure, our faces were a bit red, but in the end there was a real Spirit of love, joy and acceptance in the place- and profoundly, a sense of humility in the atmosphere once that was done with. It was a culture of honor, where we honor each other. And I think that's God's Kingdom.

Back to Ryan Couch. After his own "toast", Ryan joked around saying this was an ambush for him. But he also pointed something out that this kind of stuff, honoring each other- this stuff should be common place in God's kingdom. And the degree to which he felt awkward about it, perhaps testified to the absence of this kind of culture and it's need at the same time. And then he said this, "If you call a man higher in his identity, he'll usually match it. But if you call a man lower in his identity, he'll match that too." Chew on that for a little bit.

In a culture of honor, we exercise and impart faith in seeing people the way God sees them. And when you're in a culture where you're spoken blessing and identity over your life, lives change, and His Kingdom advanced through love.

Observations On Church Endtime Culture, Or Lack Thereof- PART 2

POST 2 in IHOP Endtime culture "series".

Hey everyone!

Thanks for tuning in. For those following up, I'm just posting my thoughts on the Endtime culture of IHOP. For this post I just wanted to share some observations growing up in church in relation to this topic.

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Having grown up in the church, I always thought Revelation was this wild, crazy (and fun, I might add) book in the Bible, that of all the books in the Bible if they make movies on, I hoped someone would make a movie about Revelation! I mean how cool would that be? I had crazy images of angels flying through the air, fantastic multi-headed beasts and monsters, explosions and fire. Haha, you would think- how did Tolkien end up in the Bible? Sorry if that seem sacrilege. But at the very least, I thought it'd make for a cool 3d movie. As a little inquistive kid during sunday school, I'd find myself doing the only Bible reading I'd ever do during the week- at church, reading of all books, Revelation, because of the colorful and interesting nature of the book.

This aside, growing up further in the church I've noticed that Revelation, or eschatology (study of the end times) is one of the least preached upon topics in the church.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that for many pastors (myself being one), the book of Revelation with it's wild imagery has been kinda left on the proverbial shelf to catch dust, save for a verse here and there taken out of the context of the end times. To most, the book of Revelation isn't unlike that weird cousin you have around in family gatherings- in because he's family, out because he's...weird.

I for one, in my experience growing up in the church haven't yet really seen churches take the initiative to really understand this book. Even in seminary, all I really recall out of the lesson for Revelation is that it's just a colorful book that's part of an apocalytpic genre, and that all you really need to know in the end is that Jesus wins. But in regards to the actual content of the book? Zip. (my honest recollection, or maybe I was a bad student).

Regardless, I really think that's a problem for us, especially if we consider Revelation to be an equal opportunity book in the biblical canon.

Here are a few interesting facts about the background on Revelation-

1. Revelation was written by the apostle John on the island of Patmos.

2. Revelation is actually the short hand for "Revelation of Jesus Christ". YES. The only book in the Bible that can claim to be directly from Jesus Christ Himself. It's a weighty and lofty thing, which I mean, if we were to name the book like that which it rightfully is, I think it'd be more natural for the church to ascribe more importance to it. Which leads me to-

3. For those who are tempted to ascribe less importance to this book than other books in the Bible, keep in mind that this was a major letter sent by John to 7 of the major churches of the time (all less than 100 years after Jesus ascended to heaven). Which means that for this letter to be accepted by the 7 major churches of the early church, with their elders and all, and canonized for millenia into the scriptures we hold now-it's a big deal. I mean, the Judeo-Christian background of the Church didn't make it easy for any book to get in there- granted the vestiges of the strict oral tradition of Jews for cultural preservation, as well as the fact that these now eye-witness Christians who witnessed Jesus dead and resurrected- amid persecution guarded jealously the validity and facts of their faith. The least anyone can say for the book that it deserves more attention and teaching than it traditionally has received.

4. On a more challenging note to, maybe we've fallen asleep to the reality that one day Jesus WILL come back, and if some of us are honest, we secretly hope in our hearts He comes back a little later, after we've experienced the fruits of life. Because that would mean that we as a Church would need to get our act together in living with urgency and purpose?

I'll be brutally honest. I don't know if I'm merely projecting the way I see myself, but there are times in my life when I wish that Jesus wouldn't come back...not just yet at least!! I'm just being honest. I'm a young guy, have yet to experience all that life has to offer, meaning, I still want to experience marriage, raising a family, a dynamic ministry, seeing my kids do this and that. You get the point? I find myself not praying"Come Jesus Come," as the scriptures say, but I find myself praying, "Jesus, can you come back a little later? Maybe after my lifetime? Or maybe when I'm old and wrinkly, and the best years of my life, I've lived already"

In thinking like this- can I get a witness? I don't think I'm alone on this boat? Have you ever felt that way too? I think, if I can safely preconjecture, we've all had moments like that. And the church as a whole- we can easily settle into a comfortable, safe existence as a body of Christ. We want to focus on building our careers, having that dream white house and a picket fence- watch sports on our 50 inch plasma 3d tv screens. I've felt that before! (And I still do, to be honest). Not that all this is bad entirely- but I think we can lose the point why we're here on earth. And if we as believers, are living with the paradigm that Christ is coming back, and He's coming back soon, it places upon the church an urgency in regards to the Kingdom of God that we'd just as much rather shrug off as we focus on developing and situating ourselves in our earthly lives.

Just my honest opinion, and I say all this looking at my own heart and my own desires. Because when you look at the return of Christ as an imminent thing, that He is coming soon, you live in a different mode, have different values, and you just live differently. Just like, if you were told you're terminally ill and have a few months yet to live, you would come up with a bucket list-the same idea. Your great hope in life is not to see the Giants or Yankees with the Superbowl or World Series, but in light of the incoming return of Christ to live a Kingdom lifestyle.

One of the biggest reasons people dismiss eschatology (study of the end times) altogether is Jesus saying "No one knows the day, or time, etc." (Although at the same time He gives a bandwagon load of clues in the gospels, and marks it off saying that nevertheless my followers will see the signs of the times and act accordingly)- but I think the above is an undercurrent in canning any sort of awareness of endtime culture.

Anyways, personally for me, despite some controversies, this helps me have more of an open mind to IHOP culture and theology, to which the very least they're trying to do is be faithful to the mandate of the Church to expect His return.

For the next post, I'll actually go into the End times culture of Ihop as well as a general overview of IHOP's approach to Revelation itself, and if space permits, my own personal views of eschatology.

bless you!