I made that phrase up.  But we were married seven years ago today!  OJ and I wrote vows to each other, said the traditional vows, and wrote a vow to the community…I know, long wedding!  Anyway, we cannot believe how faithful God has been to allow us to live these dreams! Literally, we looked at the words the other day and just were struck.  This is exactly what the Lord has done.

OJ and I were talking about there can be an illusion that “grace” or “anointing” ever substitutes for really hard work.  When we wrote these words, we had very little idea of what we were really getting ourselves into!  Much of these first seven years of marriage were spent in really hard work submitting ourselves to God in our marriage, breaking through in Biblical parenting, and laying a foundation.  There were many moments of…shall we say…REALLY HARD  work.  But the payoff…wow, the payoff.  Jubilee!!    God is so faithful!!!  Thank you, Jesus!!!

Commitment to the Community as One

“Suzanna and I could each give you a testimony of coming to Jesus and finding in Him the treasure that is worth everything.  We have been saved, set free, accepted as the Beloved of the Most High.  Most of you know the commitments we’ve made as individuals to, in the words of Paul, ‘offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable…’  But today, out of two God forges a new thing:  one flesh, individuals no longer.  And so we bring to you the renewed commitment verbalized and declared, personal testimonies become also the testimony of a marriage–from two, one voice.

“This marriage we offer to God as a living sacrifice.  This marriage we commit to Jesus for His use and pleasure.  In unity, we ask for the ministry of Jesus to flow through us, to bind up the wounded, nourish the impoverished, set the captives free.  as one flesh we choose to reject the idols of culture and comfort in favor of the kingdom of God.  We ask of Jesus that He take possession of our home, our marriage, and our children, just as He took possession of our broken souls.

“We commit to you, His beloved church, to live for Him, to seek Him on your behalf, to lean on you for support and love, rejecting independence.  We pray that when you come into our home, instead of finding us in pursuit of vain ambitions, you’ll encounter Jesus with arms open, saying, ‘All who are thirsty, come and drink…’

“We see our frailty, but we rest in the promise of Christ, the guarantee of the Spirit, and the trust that you will offer grace when we fail.”

I love surfing, but I’m not very good at it.  I’ve only done it in really cold water, maybe that’s why.  If you’ve never surfed, let me give you the most amateur possible synopsis.

You pull your board out till the water’s getting kind of high.  You climb onto it, lay down, and paddle out further, till you reach the swell, where you want to catch the wave, kind of as it’s breaking.  You wait for a good wave, the whole time having to fight and paddle to maintain your position.  Good surfers don’t look like they are fighting anything.  I don’t know how they do that.  By this time, my arms are usually pretty tired.  When you see a wave coming, you start to paddle before it reaches you, so it can catch you.

Note:  everything up till this point has been basically miserable, unless you’re one of those “good surfers.”

Then it catches you, and it’s AWESOME.  Even if the wave’s dwippy and cold, which is really the only kind I’ve ever ridden.  And even if, like me, your arms are too tired  from fighting the water to push you up onto your feet, and you just look like a dork on your knees with a big smile on your beet-red face.  Still, AWESOME.

I have a point to make, which I may have ruined by distracting you through the mental images of my awkwardness, but pretend that the above was a really beautiful description of the glory of the sport, written by a “good surfer.”  The essence of the task is still the same, except that you actually can do all sorts of cool things once you’re, you know, surfing.

Here’s my point:  faith is like surfing.  You know something’s coming, so you do a whole lot of work to be ready when it comes, and when it does, you just ride.  All the power’s come from something outside of you, and you just positioned yourself to catch it.

Most people live in unbelief most of the time, and then, when a wave hits them and they’re tumbling around under it, try to rise up in faith and overcome.  When the devastating illness hits, the divorce is under discussion, the child is diagnosed.  At that moment, they work really hard to manifest “faith,” praying desperately for the desired outcome.  And then, the crushing disappointment.  The healing didn’t happen, the deliverance didn’t come, the request was not granted.  Disillusionment.  Why didn’t God answer the prayer of faith?

But here’s a secret about faith:  it’s in the paddling, not the wave.  When we face a moment of trial that requires great faith, the Biblical plan doesn’t say that’s the time to strain and groan and produce powerful prayers that move heaven.  We live at all times believing or we don’t.  If somebody tells you you’re going to win an Olympic medal, if you believe them, you don’t start practicing your platform mount, you start practicing your sport.  Over and over and over, until you ARE a champion.

If you believe the Lord Jesus, you live obeying Him.  ”If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”  JN 14:23  So, if my faith level is such that I live a life that would essentially look the same whether or not God exists (self-sufficient and natural), there’s a whole lot of unbelief.  If I am not concerned enough to hunt scripture to find out what these all-important commands of Jesus are, the ones for which I’ll be held accountable before His throne, I don’t really believe all that much.  If I live in bitterness, unforgiveness, and anger, when Jesus said to love my enemies, I just don’t believe.  If I live storing up treasure for a comfy life here on earth mostly unconcerned about what fruit I’ll present from it, I have very, very little faith.  I’m not paddling.

So when the wave comes, and it’s a time of perceived need, the Christian tries to rise up with faith for the miracle.  They’re desperately trying to plant the mustard seed faith in the ground, water it, and make it grow into a giant tree that can harbor the birds…ALL IN A DAY.  Mat 13:31-32

The Lord loves us so much, He works in those times, hears those prayers, and even often answers them!  He is not seeking to disqualify us.  No, He is seeking to qualify us the way a coach would qualify His Olympic athlete…through steady training day in and day out, challenges fit to the level of development, and strategic building up of weak areas.

So when the huge decision arises and the believer tries to “hear the Lord” for direction, the question is, “Did you believe that you needed to ‘live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God’ and live desperate for the voice of the Lord from day to day?”  Because if so, you’ve paddled, and when that moment brings a big wave, you find yourself lifted up and exhilarated, riding His power, hearing His voice, seeing Him come through.  If not, it feels like a crap-shoot instead of standing on a Rock…am I hearing God?  Which voice is His?  Will He come through?  That’s not the FAther’s will for His kids!

His character is not such that He hides Himself in the desperate, painful hour, snickering at us in our bewilderment.  He is a good Father.  He has made Himself clear in His word, offering everything we need.  He does respond to faith.  But when we do not live obeying, we can be sure that we do not fully believe.  And when a big moment comes and we try to believe even though we don’t, it just doesn’t carry alot of authority.

So…the Father’s plan is this:  Paddle, paddle, paddle.  If we really believe, we’ll do the hard work of learning His commands, and doing them.  We’ll exercise our muscles not in great exploits, but in the hours of training, through submissive obedience to His Word and His Spirit.  Then, when the exploit moment comes, we catch that wave and just ride, knowing all the power is His.

Here’s a scripture:

But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.  Heb 5:14

What’s the class for?  What’s it all about?

Our Freedom class can best be understood in this context:  OJ and I are a couple of church kids hunting backwards for the fire of conversion.  Consider this with us:

• Most believers produce more new converts in the first year after conversion than in the rest of their Christian life combined
• Most believers experience their greatest period of Joy, Faith, and Zeal in the period just after a true conversion
• I remember testimonies of true salvation better than say, all the sermons I heard while in college, because of their power and impact

As church kids, we never experienced a profound conversion moment of transference from darkness to light, dramatic new birth, etc.  But the more we searched scriptures, it became clear that Christian life as described in the New Testament looks WAY MORE like the experience of a new convert than like typical church life.  What happens to the fire of the new convert, we wondered?  And where in the Bible does it say we regular church attenders don’t get a piece of that fire?

We turned to our old friend, the Apostle Paul.  He’d been to the third heaven.  He should know the answer.  Should we do like some friends and attend more conferences to try to find the fire?  Should we fast and pray for a visitation?  What if the right person laid hands on us?  Maybe if we evangelized more unreached peoples?  (All these are great things to do, by the way!)  Paul mentions all these things in passing, but there was one thing he harped on so many times, everything else seemed secondary to him.  Over and over and over again, he used the same word:  Gospel.

Wait a minute.  Isn’t that what you preach to unbelievers?  Why would Paul keep talking about the Gospel if he was writing to believers?  Was he just such a crazed evangelist that he couldn’t think of anything else?  Because, you know, some people are just built like that, right?  It’s their “spiritual gift.”  As church kids, we thought of the Gospel as something that you brushed up on with the help of the four spiritual laws so that you could share it with unsaved folks as opportunity arose.

It became obvious that Paul didn’t share our view.  Searching his writings, we found ourselves in a personal REVOLUTION.   We got to the end of our backwards hunt, and found that the end (telos) of it all, is really right at the beginning.  It’s the GOSPEL.  We found that it contained every answer and every promise, and yet had been relegated to the place of entry…kindergarten in the school of Christianity, if you will.  We began to peer into this mystery that intrigues the angels, and realize that every human need was provided for there.  It was so simple, so complete and perfect.  Our discovery had the same effect on us as it did on the newly saved. We had found the source of that new-convert fire, and it consumed us.  It dawned on us that we never had to live another day without it, if we would, like Paul, not leave that simple gate.

We began to groan inwardly, (and sometimes outwardly).  How could it be?  How can the church be living so broken, so bound, so hungry, so inadequate, when through the Gospel, everything had been provided for?  The years of training in repentance and freedom in Tacoma came into clear focus for what they were.  It was the Gospel, applied to the Christian life.  It was opening up the treasure box that the enemy has kept under lock and key that we might not fully realize what was bought for us at the Cross.

If the Gospel could be likened to a promise of full health, our freedom training had provided us the ability to accurately diagnose the sicknesses that were blocking that health.  It’s a practice in which the remedy is always the same, and always works, but the sicknesses can differ.  In the class we begin to dissect and diagnose not a human body, but a human heart.

So freedom class is central to The Mission because like Paul we are “…eager to preach the gospel to you also…”  In freedom class, we’re pursuing firstly revelation of the Gospel, returning to the zeal of our first love.  From that revelation, application naturally flows the as the Lord faithfully highlights the areas in which we are bound.  We’ll share more about freedom class, as it is something we expect to be doing regularly here, and elsewhere.

You can hear some of the teaching on our website at ojandsuz.com/teaching.

If you are interested in attending a freedom class, shoot us an email!

This is worth your time to watch and listen.  Hope you enjoy!  OJM

I have good news for you, brothers and sisters in Christ.  You are incredibly rich.

This struck me as I was contemplating this post, and how to frame what the Lord’s been showing me about the love of money.  I had an epiphany, in which I realized that the problem is not that we live too well, but that we live far too poorly.  We live sometimes yearning for gold and silver, which at home, is the stuff the streets are made of.  We fork over the cash for more space, but at home there are “many mansions.”  We seek comfort and respite in every possible conceivable way (speaking to Americans, particularly, here), but at home, every tear is wiped away and we have fullness of joy.

When I was growing up in the middle of Chicago, there was something that my mom and dad would try to gently communicate from time to time:  “You’re not from here.”  They’d say it sometimes when we were passing the liquor stores and laundromats that made up the landscape, or when we spoke like our bilingual friends without the excuse of actually speaking another language, or when our bikes were stolen…again.

So they’d try to tell us about where they had grown up, and that we were born by the ocean.  About spending leisure time in mountains instead of on video games, and about the fog rolling off the bay.  About how there are places in the world that aren’t ugly.

They would sigh and say, “We never meant to raise you kids in the city.  You aren’t from here, you know.”  Once I was old enough to catch on, I got a little angry.  So, where “we’re from,” people are well-off, well-educated, and live in beautiful natural surroundings?  What the heck are we doing here?  Our cousins go to tennis camps…for MONTHS!  We kick around half-deflated dodgeballs a couple times a week in “gym.”  HELLLOOOOOO????  Who derailed our lives?  Why aren’t we AT where we’re FROM?

But the reason was because Jesus Christ had rescued my parents from eternal death, and slavery to sin.  They had not found salvation in being comfortably mid to upper class, or in education, or in nature.  They found it in Him.  So they didn’t make their life choices based on “what would be best for the kids.”  They obeyed the Lord, and let Him give us what would be best.  How He’s rewarded that would take a million blogs to describe…how lavishly the Lord has blessed us.  But that’s for another time.

The love of money in Christians shows up like it did in me in my youth:  having no revelation that WE’RE NOT FROM HERE and assimilating, deciding that these few minutes on the earth should feel more like home.  But it’s not home.  Our home is in heaven.  The description is not merely granite countertops and crown moulding.  The description is MAJESTY AND GLORY.  The whole earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.  We are so stinking rich!!!  All the wealth of the universe belongs to our Father!

Well, you ask, why aren’t we AT where we’re FROM?  Why don’t I have my wealth?

1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul…

You’re a stranger here; it’s not like home.  The lowly, measly wealth that this world, under its current administration (Satan–2 Cor. 4:4), has to offer is…money.  Not even real.  For Americans, not even pretending to be real by being held to any standard (e.g. the gold standard).  A number printed on a paper, that acquires us more stuff.  It’s not real.  We’re supposed to see through it, to despise it.  To be wholly UN-mastered by it.  But to master it.

I think of that scene from Schindler’s List towards the end, when Schindler realizes that his ring might have bought him another life.  When he finally understands what was valuable.

From my vantage point, it is obvious that many American Christians will give their energy and focus to the love of money, decorating their prison cell (that is life under the oppression of the god of this age, when sin is rampant and the devil prowls about like a roaring lion), unable to even hear the instructions to let the other prisoners know about the escape plan.

We have a few quick minutes on the earth before eternity with the One we love.  There’s an aspect of misery, dragging around this body of death, and not seeing Him face to face.  The temptation is to comfort, comfort, comfort ourselves…encourage each other to take a load off…buy some more…bigger, better…  But for these few tiny minutes out of eternity that we have to endure being far from our Lord and lover, we are here to rescue as many as we can from eternity totally separated from Him.

Let’s just not love money.  Let’s spend our few minutes on souls, spend our money on souls, spend our energy on souls.  There will be AGES, AEONS, and EPOCHS to enjoy our wealth.  Won’t we laugh at the little funny-faced bills then, with all the congregation that followed us through the gates into eternal life?

Let’s hear Him saying, “You’re not from here, you know.”

I’m taking a break from the Love of Money series for one post because I am so burdened.  This is a little different, a plea from my heart to yours, so please bear with me.

OJ and I don’t watch TV really; we are pretty out of touch.  But last night, OJ was doing his discipleship meeting and I had a ton of folding and dishes to do, so I thought I’d find something.  I looked on a free website that hosts shows and movies and found a show that I’ve heard so many friends celebrate, so I thought I’d check it out.  I read that it was a family show, and the premise sure sounded super fun.

I opened the first one which started with the name “Madonna,” and skipped on to the next one.  The entire plot line surrounded a homosexual high school male who was yearning to draw a (straight) male into his amorous feelings for him.  Within the first five minutes, there had been numerous sexual references, including straightforward propositioning of a married man, an invitation to grab a same-sex partner for a dance, “if that’s the way the good Lord made ya,” and much more.  In FIVE minutes.

FRIENDS, PLEASE, PLEASE PLEASE…this is not an angry letter from a political group or a holier-than-thou sermonette, but please…my heart is breaking…please…what are you doing????  What are you doing???  What are you watching?  Where are you, that you could watch this stuff, and broadcast it as a pleasure, endorsing it publicly???  Do you not know?  Have you not seen?  Are you blind?

When my generation was in high school, the church was battling that we would make it through our teens with our virginity intact.  For most of the church, that battle was lost.  Do you know that for the generation that is now in high school, there is no difference between homo- and heterosexual sex, and it is all available and normal and practiced, often not even in the context of a dating relationship?  Do you understand that the utter destruction of a generation is taking place before our very noses?

The other day a young girl dressed like a man and almost in the j.d. system for violence heard me talking and asked, “What is righteousness?”  PLEASE can you HEAR them???  Asking….”What is righteousness?”  Can there be a greater injustice than to have no concept even that such a thing as righteousness exists?  Can you imagine, not being able to remember having an undefiled mind?  Being innocent?  Can you IMAGINE?  Perhaps you are too numb, because your mind is now so defiled!

Do you not know how such strides of destruction were made against these little ones in such a short amount of time?  The box in your living room!

Friend, please do not mistake my intent!  I am weeping, not superior, in any way!  If you can watch homosexuality among youth celebrated and invited on a screen, if you can welcome it into your home without flinching, if you don’t notice any more when women are half naked and casual sex and adultery and mockery of righteousness are PLOT LINES then I have to tell you, because the world won’t THAT YOU ARE SLEEPING!!!  You may think whatever you like of your spiritual life, but I tell you that the HOLY Spirit is grieved and whether you know it or not, you are hungry, so very, very hungry for His presence, not understanding that you are staving Him off and sending Him away.

Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?  Jas. 4:5

I am astonished.  The world doesn’t astonish me, but friends with whom I have prayed, worshipped, and sought God…this astonishes me.  Please take a moment to be honest about whether you enjoy the Lord’s fellowship throughout your day, about whether when you speak, it carries authority, about whether your prayers are heard.  Please…you do not need to beg God to come near.  He already has but you have sent Him away!

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus.  Acts 3:19-20

Please, I beg of you, give your Spirit CPR…take a one month fast from media and replace it with Scripture and see if you can go back.  See if you don’t come alive.  See if you can swallow what is now normal to you without vomiting.  I challenge you to this!!  I don’t know who you are, I don’t keep tabs, or remember names…I just BEG OF YOU to WAKE UP!  I beg of you.

This will encourage you:

A few verses on compromise:

Rom 12: 1-2

1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 13:12-14 (New King James Version)

12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

1 Peter 4:1-5

1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us^[a^] in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. 3 For we have spent enough of our past lifetime^[b^] in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. 4 In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. 5 They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

Gal 5:19-20

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery,^[c^] fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders,^[d^] drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

James 4:4-6

4 Adulterers and^[a^] adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?
6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

“ God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”^[b^]

JOhn 7:6-8

Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil. 8 You go up to this feast. I am not yet^[a^] going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come.”

Matthew 5:13

“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

The other day I was in a grocerty store and found myself singing a little ditty I haven’t heard in years…you probably know it.  It goes:

“The best things in life are free…

But you can give it the birds and bees…

I need money… (that’s what I want).

That’s what I want…  (that’s what I want).

Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum…”

Are you singing it yet?  Has there ever been a catchier tune?  Anyway, why was I singing it?  I don’t know, maybe it was the song playing, or maybe similar words were in my peripheral vision on a magazine cover, or maybe it was because I was at the checkout…and you know how thrifty people (especially when they can see that there is not sufficient intake to replace the output) HATE to spend money…which means you hate money…right?  Right?  I mean, isn’t it basically holy to hate to spend money?  Because then you… have…more…money…oh.

Do you see it?  No, hating to spend money, especially for something I need, doesn’t mean I hate money.  It means I love money.  It masters me, it makes me feel safe, and I want it.

Here are two verses.  You will probably know both of them, but did you ever notice that one follows directly after the other?  I didn’t.

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Mat. 6:24-25  (emphasis mine)

Note the key word “therefore.”  When we worry about money, we’re mastered by it.  We are enslaved.  It’s a sign:  on some level, we love it.  But Jesus said we CANNOT serve both.  He said we CANNOT serve Him, and be enslaved to money.  He made it very clear.

Worry over money has been a dark cloud that has stolen so many of our sweetest moments of victory and vision.  In some ways, it felt like we launched our fishing boat into the sea of harvest, singing at the top of our lungs, only to be washed over by a tidal wave of WORRY.  We were tempted to blame others.  We could only hear so many times, “How will you…?  What about…?  Is it wise…?”  before we sat down to take stock.  Maybe we aren’t wise.  Maybe the Lord won’t take care of us.  Maybe He’s setting us up for a really big learning lesson.

But it turns out we can’t blame others.  We are the ones who are not free, who are tempted to hear another Master, who are in danger of disobedience, who are enslaved.  No use protesting innocence and pretending to be free, as I approach the grocery checkout singing, “I want money…” cringing as I buy my family food.  Jesus has plenty of funds for me to joyfully buy my family food!  It is taking some serious repentance to extract myself from this attitude where I trust more in a certain income than in Jesus Christ.  Oh, God, that I would despise the other master and be entirely YOURS.

Interesting to note:  this passage is in the Beattitudes.  Jesus wasn’t even speaking to the 70 or the 12.  This provision He speaks of isn’t even spoken of to the “sent ones,” but to EVERYONE.  It’s not conditional even on doing ministry or doing the right ministry.  Obedient children of God need not (must not) worry about provision.

(Note:  obedience will ALWAYS involve hard work with a fraction of time spent on rest, especially in vocational ministry.  Proverbs is clear that someone who is not working hard will face God’s correction.)

This is an interesting phenomenon to observe among moms.  There’s something about a multiplication of little people in the household that brings out a talent for multiplying your funds.  This often brings out references to Proverbs 31, and competition to see how much you can get for your buck.  This value system was pretty deeply ingrained in me when I married OJ, who helped me to see that I was somewhat crazy.  I had so idolized the saving of money, that I was almost completely oblivious to the much more valuable commodity of time, which you can never replace.

I would waste hours of research, driving time, who knows what, to save ten bucks.  But, folks, I seriously thought there was something intrinsically godly about saving money!  Ha!  I really thought it was a kingdom value!  I finally came to see that there was no backing for this whatsoever in scripture.  It was a hidden love of money.

Watching people who are particularly enamored with saving money, especially those who, like myself, think it’s a kingdom value, I’ve been struck by the deception.  I’ve seen people bargain others down or rejoice over a triumph of acquisition in which it’s clear that they have completely forgotten that there is any other person involved in the transaction.  They do not see the  merchant working to care for his family or a waiter who has been on his or her feet, or even that it’s just fair to pay for goods and services.  They think they are pleasing the God of Justice and Generosity by their craftiness.  In their marriages, families, and relationships, they will sacrifice harmony, generosity, and unity for saving money.  It’s love of money.

How many thrifty people did it take to build the Walmart empire?  How much evil do we not know about…how much child labor, destruction of small business, exploitation of resources, especially in poorer nations?  This is the sort of systemic evil structure that is built by love of money, and too deeply imbedded in our lives to extract by the time we learn what it really is.  This is what I was speaking of in the last post.

We are deceived if we don’t realize that Mammon’s temple has as much of its foundation laid in worry as in greed.

(Note:  I’m not saying it’s evil to shop at Walmart, but just using it as an example.  Paul helps us keep our consciences clean in regards to merchandise in 1 Cor 8.)

So…there’s the worry side.  It’s not the only side, though.

Nobody admits this.  Last of all, me.  But the other day, I came across an article discussing the translation of 1 Tim. 6:10.  It’s that funny verse that in the King James, tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil.  But nobody could make any sense of that, because what does the love of money have to do with somebody yelling at their neighbor or committing adultery?  So newer translations say “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”

But somebody turned on the light for me.  He gave the literal translation from the Greek:  ”For [a] root of all the evils is the money-love.”  He talked about the difference between sin and evil.  He defined evil in broader terms, as in systems of widespread corruption that leads to destruction.  Then he pointed out that systemic evil is almost always rooted in the love of money, for example:  prostitution, drug-trade, corrupt politics, even oppressive taxation, and economies based on usury (like ours).

So, for example, love of money is probably not the sin that causes a woman to walk into an abortion clinic, but it is without a doubt the chief reason the evil clinic exists for her to walk into.  And it may not be that love of money is the sin that drove the addict to pawn his wife’s earrings, but it is the reason the pawn shop is conveniently located in the addict’s neighborhood.

Okay, so why am I struck by this fine theological point, other than our general McDowell nerdiness? Here’s why:

One of the principles of breakthrough the Lord taught us during during our years of training was men’s need for God to bring external pressure on our souls to break us through into revelation.  In other words, people don’t naturally want to change or be conformed to the image of Christ.  We are “right in [our] own eyes.” (Prov. 21:2) So in His grace, God would bring pressure in the natural that would parallel the revelation in the spiritual, so we would be willing to change.

Note:  This sounds complicated.  It’s not.  It’s called correction.  All believers’ lives are full of it, as God is a good father, but many of us do not realize it as such, and waste our golden trials on complaining and arguing like rebellious children.

So speak of pressure:  here we have the need for funds to pursue the harvest, starting just with our family’s needs.  There are a bunch of people jumping off this cliff at the same time as we are, and it is a certain kind of pressure that if you’ve never experienced…well, let’s just say it’s a gold mine for revelation!

And I feel the Lord’s been showing me, gently, “You love money.  You are from a people that loves money (perhaps more than any people that’s existed in history on the earth).  You are so steeped in this, you can’t imagine life, ministry, or perspective apart from it.  And you’re blind to the extent of EVIL that’s grown up solidly around your love of money in America.  Most will stay blind until the evil devours them.”  Pretty heavy stuff.

So here we sit…having sold our house (btw, if you didn’t know, when a Gen Y-er says they sold their house, ask them how much that cost ‘em.  We had a to bring a check for 9K.), our cars, much of our earthly goods several times, having given up or sold several profitable businesses, having exchanged the capital of our abilities and educations for nothing on the market but believing for eternal fruit…all of this ON PURPOSE for ministry and the kingdom…how is it that we could be said to love money?  Where have we been blinded?

I’ll get into that in the next post.  How does this break down?  Where is it in our life, and could it be in yours?  In the meantime, look for a recording of OJ teaching on what a disciple of Christ is.  SHAZAM!  All I can say is, wow.  I’m so glad he’s mine.  :)

All God’s best to you!

Suzanna and I recently put together a short teaching on the fear of man for my men’s discipleship group.  The primary goal in this was to produce breakthrough in the reader to A) be set free from fear of man and B) be empowered to produce transformation in discipleship and evangelism.

Breakthrough Teaching on Coming out of the FEAR OF MAN

Scriptural truths

Fear of man is at its worst when tied to a religious spirit.

Mark 11:27They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. 28″By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”

29Jesus replied, “I will ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 30John’s baptism—was it from heaven, or from men? Tell me!”

31They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32But if we say, ‘From men’….” (They feared the people, for everyone held that John really was a prophet.)

33So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.”

Principles at work:

1. The Pharisees did not operate under fear of the Lord or conviction.  There questions were completely self-centered.
2. Jesus uncovered their lack of authority by his question.  If they had any real authority, they could answer straight about John, but they were unable to.
3. Fear of man will always lead to speaking and moving in a way that is conformed to the opinions of men.  It carries no transformational power.
4. When our convictions are based out of receiving the honor and praise of men, we are easily blinded to truth.  The Pharisees missed Jesus because they did not love the truth more than they loved what men thought of them.

Fear of man steals our testimony.

John 12:42Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

Luke 12:1Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. 3What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

4″I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. 6Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies^[a^]? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. 7Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

8″I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. 9But he who disowns me before men will be disowned before the angels of God.

Principles at work:

1. Fear of man affects our relationship with God.  There can be no intimate closeness with someone you will not confess freely.
2. It is hypocrisy to confess that you are living for God but live consumed by the opinions of men.
3. Unbelief about the care of God and His complete control over our lives will lead to hedging out bets in the company of men.  If you are not sure that He counts the hairs on your head, you will not trust your reputation, friendships, and comfort into his care.

God brings justice ultimately.  Our pride causes us to seek justice in the eyes of men and miss the praise that comes from God in the day of judgement.

1 Corinthians 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

23 A man’s pride brings him low,
but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.

24 The accomplice of a thief is his own enemy;
he is put under oath and dare not testify.

25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.

26 Many seek an audience with a ruler,
but it is from the LORD that man gets justice.

27 The righteous detest the dishonest;
the wicked detest the upright.

Four categories or types of people who walk in the fear of man.

1. “Self-protection:  the hard shell”  -
   1. literally afraid of other men.  what they can do to hurt him or can steal from him.
   2. A man’s heart is mishandled from birth, he forms a hard exterior to protect himself from pain.
   3. He prefers to live numb so as to be able to freely exchange in the relational economy of sinful men.
   4. His life is marked by:
      1. religious duty w/o emotional connection
      2. shallow relationships with other men
      3. (for married men) his wife has increasing levels of sorrow and/or distraction from her husband, her heart needs are unperceived, unmet
      4. confusion and inability to hear God’s voice personally
      5. a lack of passion for fathering and discipling, unmoved by plight of the vulnerable and needy
      6. spiritual and emotional boredom

1. “Pleasant” -
   1. doesn’t want to cross anyone’s will.
   2. afraid of other’s reaction to him and perception of him
   3. wants to impact for the kingdom but lives in insecurity and is personally disconnected from God’s holiness.
   4. has not fed himself the fear of the Lord, and so cannot perceive the Scripture’s meaning with depth.
   5. his access to heaven’s resources are limited, so he mainly gives of himself, with limited authority.
   6. marked by:
      1. compassion w/o wisdom
      2. produces little or no breakthrough in the people who follow him
      3. driven by people’s perceived needs rather than their real needs
      4. overly drawn to routine
      5. fears confrontation
      6. wants to lead, but not really (avoid taking responsibility for others’ breakthrough…club mentality “let’s all do this together!”)

1. “Carnal”
   1. wants to enjoy fellowship with other men at any cost.  wants to fit into the systems of men
   2. has conviction that God and Jesus are real, but has not made Jesus Lord.  Wants to win with God and with men.
   3. unwilling to give up the world and men’s opinion of him.  makes an effort not to be perceived as “different” or “religious.”
   4. Marked by:
      1. Spiritual satisfaction and dullness, lack of hunger for God
      2. Self-hatred
      3. Anger and sorrow over life’s direction
      4. defensive over his lifestyle and resistance to anything “overboard;”
      5. fundamentally does not believe in the scriptural principle of cost
      6. thoughts  of serving God are disconnected from personal obedience; more a matter of personal preference

1. “The Fan”
   1. satisfied by men and what men are doing.
   2. easily excited about happenings and activities and schools of thought.
   3. inclination towards spectatorship, but talks excitedly about what others are doing in his “camp.”
   4. He is marked by:
      1. his loyalties, doctrines, and beliefs v. his personal fruit.
      2. devotion to choosing the right doctrines, being grouped with the right folks
      3. head knowledge v. spiritual authority and transformation
      4. escapism, avoidance of areas of defeat, esp in the home
      5. insignificance (stronghold)
      6. preference for talking v. doing
      7. disparity between what he says he believes and the power of faith to produce tangible fruit in his life
      8. team colors (I’m with so and so…extreme personal loyalty to people, even to the point of taking pride in association)
      9. “head in the sand”; this man can ignore God’s dealings with him over personal obedience by absorbing himself in ways God is moving in the body at large

Common thread is FATHERLESSNESS– a disconnect from the fear of the Lord and His personal interest in a man’s life and obedience.  A man who is fatherless is both unloved and undisciplined.

Questions to confront:

• Is the Lord committed to my personal development?
• Is my level of breakthrough reflective of His commitment, or am I blocking His development through fear of man?
• Do I regard immediate, personal obedience as the Lord’s constant requirement, or do I  make the issue of obedience confusing by thinking of obedience in broad strokes? Is my life simple?  (Faith like a child means hear and obey)
• Do I believe that He has greatness for me?
• Do I love correction, or does it make me feel like a failure?

We have been talking about doing an update for so long that the stakes for a really, really good one just kept getting higher and higher. I am going to leave it to Suz to come on in the next few days with one of her brilliant posts. I will just put some of the main things down here.

1. After leaving KC, we visited family and did some ministry in South Carolina.   The Lord opened some doors in new relationships and some future opportunities to bring the restored gospel to my parents church and friends.
2. After about a week in Walterboro, the Lord provided for us to do a short family vacation in Palm Coast, FL! Absolutely wonderful, the kids loved it.

Kids play in sand

3.  After the trip to Florida, we went back to SC, and got to spend some time with my brother’s family.  This was totally GREAT!  The kids had not seen these cousins for 2 years.

Kids and Cousins with Grandpa and Grandma

4.  We left South Carolina and went to Chicago for 10 days.  We helped Suzanna’s parents do multiple projects to help get their house ready to sell and on the market.  It was hard work, but we accomplished a lot.  After the house sells, Suz’s parents are moving down here to KC! HOORAY!!! While in Chicago, we also got chances to see a lot of old friends and minister freedom to them.

5.  We came back here to KC and stayed with Dr. Wendy and Suzy’s sister Amy for over a week before we found a new place to live.  We only planned on staying a few days but it took a while to find the right place and Amy and Wendy were very gracious in allowing us to stay extra long.  The children tried multiple times to wreck everything in the home (not a home well-prepared for 3 McDowell men), but only I actually succeeded in breaking something.  (Wendy, I still owe you a new top for that sauce pan. Sorry!)

6. The Lord led us to a great town home right on the border of Kansas and Missouri.  We live off of State Line Road.  It is a very strategic place to be for us.  We are closer to our church. We are closer to Center High School where Suzanna continues to lead a girl’s discipleship group which has now grown to 6 girls every Friday afternoon. I am still only a few miles away from the men’s discipleship and outreach group that I am leading on Wed nights on the Missouri side.

So we are still not completely moved in and out of boxes yet.  From the time we hit the ground here, we have picked up right where we left off in the lives God has given us to invest in.  Multiple discipleship meetings every week, strategy and prayer meetings over the way forward for Center High School, and we just did a Marriage Freedom Course this past weekend for 12 couples who had attended our prior freedom classes.  The time with these 12 amazing couples was absolutely spectacular.   We are seeing amazing marriage teams raised up in our midst to bring the power of the gospel and of freedom in Christ to the areas of influence that God has given them.

It is such a joy to see reproduction so quickly.  We hear new reports every week of people who have received freedom and ministry doing the same things in their homes.  Taking a friend or group of friends through the freedom book.  Couples sitting down and praying for their friends and relatives and hearing from the Lord powerfully to bring freedom.  Our next freedom course begins on the 23rd and we already have friends of friends of friends registering to come to our next class.

The trip to SC and Chicago was supposed to be a fundraising trip, but for the most part, it ended up being more of a ministry and family trip.  We know that God knows the right people who will be partnered with us long-term and will lead us to come together at the right time.  In the meantime, God has provided for us every step of the way in this journey and transition as many people in the family of God have been led to give us one-time gifts.  We have even had a few people commit to regular giving to this ministry.  Currently, we are at 25% of what would be considered “fully funded” as far as commitments for partnering.  So we do need prayer that God would continue to lead us to the right relationships for those who see the need for freedom, discipleship, and the restored gospel in the church and want to partner with this ministry.

We are so encouraged to be back in Kansas City, doing what we were made to do and actively encouraging the church in being who we all are called to be.  God’s masterpiece, filled up with the hope of glory, Christ himself, our all in all, in whom we live and move and have our being!  A church set apart for the purposes of God, a light set on a hill, boldly living and proclaiming the glorious message of the cross and continuing daily to glory in what Christ has done and accomplished.  Unashamed and filled with joy, living not with our eyes dimmed by the cares and worries of this life, but eyes and hearts set heavenward, gazing on our beautiful, majestic Creator, fully engaged in bringing the kingdom of God to a broken and sinful world.  Not asleep, but awake to the reality that all of eternity stretches out before us and God has given us this vapor of a life to cooperate with His eternal purposes.  What a joy!  What an honor!  Words can not describe the greatness of the God we serve and of the message that we carry inside.