The past few weeks have been some of the best few weeks of the race so far…
In these past few weeks, God has revealed a lot of truth and real perspective on who He is and what Scripture says… A lot of this came from the stir that was inside my soul for hunger for the truth… I believe that stir inside of me was (and is) the Holy Spirit. The Spirit inside of me was longing for me to know more of Him. God was ready to give me more… And I shouldn’t have been surprised, because well… I’ve been asking for it.
One of my teammates (Baylee McDivit) and I went over to talk to the Kumars (our Malaysian host family) about some questions we had that we found in Scripture… And the questions derived from reading and going trough the book of Acts.
Why does the Church today look so different?
Why is the Church today so divided?
Why is the Church content for not having all that they could?
Why has the Church seemingly lost her power?
Why is there such a difference?
And am I missing something, have I been taught wrong?
Why am I not capable of all that the early Church was doing?
Where have I and the Church gone wrong?
What’s up with this baptism of the Holy Spirit?
What’s up with being promised fire? Where’s the fire?
So, I wanted to make sure I truly had the Spirit inside of me, for if I’m longing for unity within the Church, yet I don’t have the Spirit in me, I’m not only deceiving myself, but all the people I’d be ministering to…
For I now have complete peace hat God has called me into full time ministry, and I’m eager to start this education process when I get back to the States.. For I’m ready to start the ministry that’s ahead of me (I’m not overlooking what’s right here on the race, God has just made some thing quite clear). And I am pumped to preach and reach out to our great nation. But I also know there is so much growth and learning to be had throughout, not just the next few years, but for the rest of my life.
So these questions are pretty important.
And after a four in a half hour discussion, we went through some of John, Acts, Romans, and Genesis…. and a lot of other stuff. But throughout our time together, I’ve never come to know God the way I do now.
And part of the results was this:
Where there is God, there is fire.
Jesus promised that we would receive the Holy Spirit AS WELL AS fire.
When you believe in Christ and receive the graceful gift of salvation, you receive the Holy Spirit.
The Church in acts was experiencing a MANIFESTATION of the Holy Spirit.
Fire brings manifestation.
So, add this up…
Jesus promises the Spirit and fire.
We receive the Spirit when we believe in Christ (Truly believe).
With the Spirit comes fire.
With fire comes manifestation of the Spirit.
With manifestation of the Spirit, you get the early church.
So, Church…
We have the promise.
We do truly believe in Christ.
We have received the Holy Spirit (As a guarantee I might add!).
But… Where in the heck is the fire.
Because without fire, there can’t be a manifestation.
And without manifestation, there can’t be fire.
They go together…
So the answer to a lot of my most important questions is this:
We look nothing like the early church, because people that have a manifestation of the Spirit look a whole lot different than people who don’t!
When a person has GOD living inside of them and producing a manifestation of who He is, don’t ya think that that person might look a little more like… Oh I don’t know… Jesus!
And don’t ya think that Jesus looked a little different than… Oh I don’t know… Every other human being to ever walk the earth!
So, this is my encouragement to me, myself, and I, and to you… Let’s receive this fire. And let’s not ever stop receiving this fire.
How do we get it?
We get it through the manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
How do we get the manifestation of the Holy Spirit?
We get it through fire.
And with that full circle that leads to nowhere, know that all of this came in Gods timing… BUT. Even though it truly did come suddenly, without the knowledge of when, these people knew Jesus. They walked with Jesus. They believed Jesus. They received the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. And they were ready for this fire. They were “witnesses” (which this word actual translates from the original language as people who are willing to die… Being a witness actually meant being a person who wiold die for who Christ was and is)
So, pray for this fire. Pray for this manifestation. Seek after the Lord like you’ve never done before. Be willing to do anything and go anywhere, no strings attached. And if you’re not truly willing, then pray for a willing heart. And if you don’t want a willing heart, then pray that you’ll pray for a willing heart. Give your lives to him, completely, pick up your cross, and see what happens… For the only reason we ever got fire in the first place was because Jesus himself had to endure the punishment (that He didn’t deserve) on the cross. And through the death and resurrection of Christ, came the Holy Spirit to dwell in man and manifest inside of anyone and everyone who believes.
And let there be no mistake!
Fire is no new concept of reality.
Read the Old Testament. You remember the pillar of fire? What was that? Actually, more accurately, who was that?
That… was God
Through the entire Bible, God Is Fire.
The Spirit was always here, and He was even upon some of the people in the OT… However, the Spirit never dwelled in people. And now that the Spirit dwells within (which only came because of Jesus), now we don’t just get a fire to be in fear and awe of, but that fire is actually living within us! It’s not just amongst us, it’s in and through us! As Gods people, He has given us fire!
So don’t ya think that these people who claim to be “Christians”, who are promised fire, should look a little different!
And that’s what I’m most passionate about… The Church setting ablaze. For that’s how she’s always been designed. A world without fire is a world that’s without the Church. You get one, you get the other. God has had no other design.
I pray that God may continue to bless me in walking in true humility and compassion.
I pray that this fire my be received in me as well as the entire Church. Especially the American Church.
And this leads me into spilling out a few words about what’s currently going on back home in the United States of America.
Let me introduce to you an idea… Maybe not really an idea, but a new or different way to see what’s in front of you… And quite frankly, us.
And know that everything I just said previously goes right into this subject, and that’s why these aren’t two separate blogs…
So… Here it is:
Look at the division within our country’s politics… Watch these debates. I will admit that the Democratic Party seem to be a little more united and respectful towards each other than the Republican Party. However, it’s attack after attack, even in their own party! (Mainly Republican… and mainly because of Trump) Put the two together, do you honestly see any unity?
Now look at the American Church… Go to different churches, talk to different people. Have a discussion on theological matters like salvation, spiritual gifts, the Holy Spirit, baptism, and what not.. Have a discussion on social issues like poverty, abortion, same sex marriage, divorce, and what not… Put the Church together. All the Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Nazarenes, Lutherans, Mennonites, Non Denominational’s, and what not… Tell me, do you honestly see any unity?
The Church is just as divided as this country… So tell me… As the Church, how are we to change the world around us when we’re just as divided (if not more so) than the rest of the people in this country.
Does what John Calvin or John Wesley say matter so much that you’ll take their theology over Gods Word Himself? And Jesus has prayed and called for His people to be unified… to be one, just as Jesus and the Father are one… to love one another the way Jesus loves us.
Part of what manifestation of the Spirit brings, is unity.
For if we’re all having the same Spirit manifest inside of us, don’t ya think we’ll all start to think alike, act alike, talk alike, and be alike one another… And only then is when the world will get to see what God truly looks like… I mean, what do you think manifestation means! It’s God showing himself through us… So when the Spirit’s manifesting in us, and people see us, they’ll see…. JESUS!
So, politically, speaking… Our minds are now wired differently than the rest of America’s. The way we see this stuff is different. You can still have your opinions… But remember… The more you walk with Christ, the more fire you receive, the more your opinions will be Jesus’ opinions…
And the biggest thing we can do, right now, is pray! Just imagine if this fire got in the White House…
So. If you’re thinking that these debates are ludicrous, and this election has already become chaotic (especially thanks to Trump… Let’s be honest), look at the Church… For we have no room to talk… So, let’s make some room to talk.
We talk a lot. People recognize that… But until we start doing what we say, we are no different than every presidential candidate that’s running right now… Until we actually put Jesus’ words into action, who’s honestly gonna take our God seriously…
All of this is inevitably pointing to one truth that the Church must recognize…
It’s time for the Church to awaken, and receive this manifestation of the One True Living God.
And with this, we will change the world. We will change this country!
