Freedom in Christ #3

 

 

 

You would think I would be better prepared for writing this blog, having had an extra week to garner material but, as usual, I find myself writing this at the 11th hour. Ok, the 9th hour (and it should be the 8th as the clocks have gone forward) but you get what I mean.

So the last session on FIC was entitled 'Choosing to believe the truth'. In a nutshell, we are all putting faith in something (even atheists), It is what you chose to put your faith in that makes it effective. We are only, after all, believing what is already true.

And a very important aspect is that, as the illustration above shows, behaviour follows belief, (your actions reveal what you actually believe)  and feelings follow behaviour.

I found that last bit particularly profound. If I want to see where my faith is really lying I need to look at my behaviour. That was rather frightening. It is so important to not live out of feelings (which makes for a very inconsistent type of walk) but to live out of faith in what is really true.

So it follows naturally that what is at the top of the tree is extremely important. What we hold to be true will define us. There are no shortcuts and the truth is apparent in the fruit we bear.


If you think about how important this is (everything flows from it) the significance of the 'homework' becomes apparent. This time we were reading out of a list of 20 'cans' of success.

Something to say about this is, I have been fine so far, declaring who God is. Declaring who I am 'In Christ', from the week previously, was a little trickier but it was clearly based on the character of God and the enormity of the salvation Jesus acquired for us. I can go there. But this 'success' thing was harder for me. The sense of entitlement that has to come with that is something I really struggle with. In my cultural experience entitlement is something to be shunned. there is even a Christian veneer to my dislike of it. It is more humble to be self effacing and deferential, surely?

But it shows, on reflection, that I haven't really grasped the first 2 exercises. To understand Father completely must mean that we understand what he gives to his children. Not leaving us as orphans, he gives us his spirit, and all the riches that go with that. To be God's child is a truly wonderful experience. To accept, with true humility and thankfulness what he gives us, is a privilege of the highest kind. This boldness of access we may now have, blows my mind.


 I Think that the course is really helping in grounding my understanding in the Character of God. It is raising my expectations and faith levels. The truth is informing my beliefs, which in turn influence my behaviour and, increasingly, I feel good.

I cant wait to see where this is going next. See you in a week.

Satans Upside-down Kingdom

We Christians often use the phrase 'upside-down kingdom' to describe the Kingdom of God. A realm where the rich are poor, the weak are strong and the last are first. A kingdom where you give to receive and surrender to win.

I woke up today to the Kingdom I am living in. Satan is described in the bible as the 'Prince of this World' (John 14:30). His Inverted kingdom has its own hallmarks.

1. Immorality becomes a virtue (Rom 1:32)
2. Slavery (to sin) becomes Freedom.
3. The chosen are ostracized
4. Judgement is passed on the Judge.

C. S. Lewis once wrote about the devils tactic of making people think that he did not exist. The next step in this tactic was to ensure, when he was acknowledged, that he was portrayed he was a cartoon figure of fun. So no one would take him seriously.

In a natural progression to his return to the shadows, he has manipulated the world that you and I inhabit not into the moral wasteland that us saints might have imagined he wanted to create on earth. No. The usurper is cleverer than that. He has carefully fostered a world (in which we find ourselves)  that contains a new kind of morality, one he thoroughly endorses. As he comes as an angel of light, and as the antichrist comes as a man of peace, he has dressed his morality in thoroughly reasonable and compassionate language. It is sweet to the ears. He speaks of equality and fairness. Sweet on the tongue but bitter to stomach. The only equality he really seeks is equality with God himself, the only fairness he wants is what he sees as his due. Last time he tried that, he got kicked out of heaven.

In this new world we see sexual immorality championed at every turn. We see families and communities ravished by divorce, faction and separation in the name of freedom and the search for 'love'. We see Gods chosen berated and attacked from every side. We see the abandonment of Hell, we see Israel vilified and theologically written off, and the people God made sit in Judgement of God, himself.

No wonder James said 'friendship with the world is enmity with God'.

The spirit of the age is everywhere.

This isn't the kind of thing I write about very often. I don't like to think about this kind of stuff. I like an easy life. Maybe I want to stay asleep, but no more.

The problem is that all his new morality is dressed up with arguments that pull on our heartstrings, particularly in  areas regarding homosexuality. I don't think we should ever abandon compassion. But we should never play compassion off of holiness or righteousness. Mercy and righteousness meet at the cross without either of them being compromised in the slightest. That is where we need to be living in all of our dealings, in all our attitudes, in all our beliefs.

We in the west stand on the precipice of a very dangerous time. Everything is poised for Satan to pull the rug out from underneath us Christians. We need to make sure we are not standing on the false security of our soft rug, on the democratic freedoms we have enjoyed hitherto. Time is coming when your allegiance to Christ above all else is no longer tolerated by the government you voted for or the society you live in.

We need to be standing on the solid rock of Christ.

Take me as I am

It was a rare Saturday morning because I had woken up with no responsibilities, no children and no pressing engagements. It was the first morning for about three weeks where I had woken up without any demands on me. I have had a rather exhausting run for the last 3 weeks and I was so looking forward to a lie-in, not that I expected one. My body clock, tightly wound from decades of predawn wake ups, will rarely let me see the far side of 7am.

This Saturday was no exception. I woke at 530am. As far as I was concerned, that was still a lie-in.

I managed to not get up straight away, bar an excursion to flick the light-switch, but lay in bed with my laptop next to me, catching up on social media and surfing you-tube. With a couple of cups of tea, I killed of a few hours in this lazy manner.

It had been pressing on me, for a long while, to spend some quality time with God. Having the whole day stretching out, I was in no particular hurry but I had set my heart on doing it. And it had been ages.
So, it being daylight, I got out of bed and sat in my prayer chair. (There is another story behind the prayer chair but perhaps in another blog).

You know when you are at the seaside and you are reluctant to get into the cold water so you wonder around psyching yourself up to it, or maybe if your bath is too hot and you keep adding water. Sometimes, I just don't know where to begin.

I picked up my guitar.

In my relationship with God my guitar is like the equivalent of buying cheap flowers at a petrol station, on your way to a date. If your date knows you and loves you well enough, the gesture, though pathetic, can actually be quite endearing. I think that is what I am hoping for.

When I don't know how to start, or what to bring, I sing a song.

When I say I sing a song, I mean a song. It is usually the same song I have been using for most of my Christian walk. I sing a song that made a big impression on me when I was a kid. So much so that we sang it at my baptism when I came out of the water. The song; Jesus take me as I am.
So I am sitting in my rather messy bedroom, in the chair of prayer. Scattered coffee mugs and books and cables and plates lie all around. (oh the bachelor lifestyle) I only have one window that is east facing and it is the smallest window in the room. The Sun is up but it is rather dingy outside and the light in the room is at bare minimum.

I play the opening chords and start to sing,

Jesus take me as I am,

 

 I can come no other way,

 

Take me deeper into you,

 

Make my flesh life melt away,

 

Make me like a precious stone,

 

crystal clear and finely honed,

Now my singing is not amazing but I do give it some gusto, as anyone within a ten meter radius of me at church will testify. I don't consider myself a bad singer, just not a great one.....but listen, In my head it's a whole different story. I'm like Jeff Buckley. And as I start to play and sing, my mind starts to wonder off. I am still singing while my thought pattern is going something a little like this;


Yeah, not bad Matthew. I think you're sounding OK today. This is quite nice. A little croaky perhaps, but it is first thing. Maybe you could film this on your lap top?

Yeah, I could, couldn't I?

Yeah, and if the sound isn't too ropey, maybe you can post it to You-tube.

Yeah, right, it'll be one of those really intimate and powerfully anointed worship times, like Keith Green had when he recorded 'thank you oh my father'.

You remember that. That was such a powerful moment in the book wasn't it.

Yeah.

Maybe it'll go viral?


Please be patient with me. I am not a skilled musician and when it seems to go well, I get a little giddy. The funny thing is that all the time, as I am sure you have spotted, my attention is not really on the one to whom I am singing. And the more I think about this potential you-tube clip, the more off the mark my singing gets.

The thing is, I am convinced that the rather ropey performances I always seem to give in public, when leading, say, a Life-group or in a prayer meeting, don't reflect some of the amazing versions I seem to pull off when  I am completely alone. I just want to be able to prove it. just once.

If you've read the last couple of blogs on my page, you will know that I am undergoing something of a renewal in my relationship with God at the moment. And as soon as I spotted the irony of what was going on in my head, I decided, a little reluctantly if I am honest, to stop trying to sing like Jeff (or worship like Keith) and inhabit the words.

The song is one about the process of refinement. It starts, so powerfully for me, with the premise that our blemishes and imperfections should in no way prevent our coming. It is not a take me as I am, because I change for nobody. It is a humble request for acceptance. I can come no other way. I can't pretend with you lord, I can only come in the state I am in.

I think the 'flesh life' pretty much sums up where I was coming from with my dreams of viral worship videos. But the moment I decided to reengage with these powerful words was the point at which I sang;

 Life of Jesus Shining through

And as I sang it, straight to the father, a shaft of sunlight beamed through the window directly into my room.

 

Giving glory back to you

I was gobsmacked. The poetry of the moment was amazing. It was such cool timing. And I gazed up as I sang, and I noticed my little light bulb was still on, even though it was light. And it added nothing to the room, even in the dingy half light of the morning, its effect was negligible. In the light of the full on glare of the sun it was even more apparent. And I couldn't help compare my efforts for my own glory with the Glory of what God had just done when I sang, not for Internet hits or mans accolade, but to him alone and for him alone. My 40 watt bulb, against the power of His sunlight.
The light that he sent bought illumination to all my mess. It bought clarity and I poured all my gratitude back in to my singing for him.

I have thought about that song subsequently. I have always viewed it as my song. But in that intimate time of worship I came to realise that it is OUR song. Mine and the Father's. In the same way couples have a song, Jesus take me as I am is our song.


And although I suspect you will have difficulty believing this. God gave me a gift. In the moments which ensued as I sang to him, God anointed my playing and singing. I sang with such passion and sensitivity. I played, almost skilfully. I swear I did. It was a Keith Green moment after all. Just me and the Lord in intimate and deep conversation. Some things are just private, not for exploitation in a blog, but I tell you what,


It would have gone viral......maybe.

Freedom in Christ #2

After a late arrival at last weeks FIC session, I settled in to listen to the teaching with a considerable degree of eagerness. What new wonders would God unfold this week?

I was not late, as I usually am, because of my tardiness. Not on this occasion. I was late because, during the day my ex-wife informed me that she was unable to be home before 7 (The time the course starts) and could I drop the kids back after 7.

I have found at times, that when God is doing something significant, these little set backs seem to crop up. In fact, it occurred to me during church, that same morning, that this scenario may occur. My immediate feeling was that this was an attack of the devil (and by logical progression, my ex was an agent of the devil). My second thought was if the devil wants to prevent me from going, God must be doing something important. My third thought was that despite the rising sense of indignation, I have been in such a peaceful place, since starting this course and I knew that if I entered into (more than likely fruitless) arguments with her over this I could so easily be sent over the edge and end up ruining any good witness that the work of god is bringing about in me.

I breathed a sigh and let it go.

Freedom in Christ was still attainable, even if I missed half an hour of Steve Goss. In fact freedom in Christ is not attainable, it is already ours (Steve would be proud)...we have to realise it.

I share this with you to encourage you that, yes, this course is bringing about fruit in my life and also that it is significant that the devil should try and disrupt it. It means he is panicking.


So the handover of the kids was actually pleasant (with gratitude expressed at my understanding attitude) and I arrived reasonably calm and able to take on board the teaching which this week is summed up thus

• We are a new creation. The old has gone. The new has come.
• We are not sinners but saints (who sometimes sin)
• We don't have to sin, but if we do 'Our fundamental Relationship with our Heavenly father does not change'
• We are not condemned but have a compassionate God who has made a way for us to boldly approach his throne to obtain grace and mercy  

Now, to a seasoned veteran like me, this is all like teaching Grandma to suck eggs. Like I said last week, there is very little here I don't know but it is the way the truth affects me that I am now concerned with. Not solely what the truth is. But what FIC is trying, and succeeding, to do is to impart the importance of the perception of our identity. If our identity is as a sinner (but forgiven) rather than a saint we are likely to sin. this is important because;

"It's not what we do that determines who we are. It's who we are that determines what we do."


In typical FIC style, simple but so profound. I am finding this subtle shift in perspective, half an inch to the left, is changing how I see the whole picture. And the picture is changing me.

Hence the priority of the first week being on our identity IN Christ. It all seems to flow from there; Significance, Acceptance and Security. Loved utterly. Forgiven completely. Provided for eternally.

But all of this has only sunk in, maybe minutes before I came to blog.

The homework this week was reading out, every day, a list of renouncement's and affirmations of who our Father God is not and whom he is.

For example;

I renounce the lie that my Father God is; absent or too busy to be with me.

I joyfully accept the truth that my Father God is; always with me and eager to be with me

Each of the affirmations of truth carry bible verses and we were encouraged to look one of the personally meaningful aspects up and ask God for insight as we read. The affirmations cover a lot of ground. God being, amongst many other things; warm, intimate, patient, gentle, trustworthy, forgiving and proud of us.

Now, I instantly felt a resonance at the meeting as we all read these out. It has been a desire of mine, for the longest time, to become more intimate with the Father. Unlike the previous week, when it felt almost mechanical, I wanted to proclaim the words as passionately as an Englishman can in public.

I looked forward to the change this was going to bring about. And each day, with only slightly varying degrees of passion, I happily renounced and accepted awful and fantastic things (respectively) and I looked forward to the wonderful blog I was going to write to tell you all about it.

But as each day went by I began to wonder what on earth I was going to write about. As nothing particularly seemed to have happened. I was aware that my perception of God had changed ever so slightly. It was easier to have a handle on his character (in so far as it is expressed in these truths) as I talked about him through the week. No perceptible shift in my prayer life though and I was starting to get desperate. I resigned myself to the idea, instead, of just writing about the teaching we received last week. After all, this is supposed to be an honest reflection of my experience during the course....so cooking it up wasn't really 'on'.

And then today came. During my prayer time something wonderful happened.

Now, writing about the whole Father heart of God thing is rather tricky, not least because my own Father will undoubtedly read this, and it will be read by people who know and respect him.

 I remember receiving a week of teaching in my YWAM discipleship school days, on the Father heart of God. Everyone in the know said 'This is the week when you will lose it'. Apparently their is often deep ministry needed around this area. And, as was the want of YWAM in those days, this meant a lot of wailing and tears. On the last day people went forward for prayer for the issues that had been stirred up by all the teaching. I remember racking my brains for an angle on this. I didn't want to be left out, after all. I figure you can find feelings of rejection and abandonment almost wherever you want, if you look for it. I had prayer. I am not sure what for. It made little impact on me. But I knew that it should have.

I just want to say, about my Dad, that he is not perfect. Do I have any cause for complaint? Are we all human?

I understand now, as a Father myself, that whoever we are, we are lacking in some department. We cannot be everything we would want to be for our children. We certainly cant be everything they would want us to be for themselves. As an adult and a Father, I understand this now. My dad is unable to be all that I am looking for and need. He would be the first to acknowledge that, I am sure.

But, shortly after I read out the renouncement's and acceptances, I thanked Father God with every bit of sincerity in me, for the fantastic man he gave me as a Father. For the Godly example he has been to me, for the provision he has made for me, for the, warmth he showed to me, for the patience he had (and sometimes attempted to have) towards me, for the care and the discipline he gave me, for the faithfulness of him.

Its not the first time I have expressed gratitude to God for him, but it was the first time I had done so in such an extended and heartfelt way.

And then, released, for the first time, I simply sat in the presence of Father God. I sang to him. I listened to him. He made me smile. I felt loved, beyond measure. I came into an intimacy with him in a way that I will not spoil by broadcasting. In short I found something wonderful that I've been longing to find most of my life. There was no need for wailing, just a need to know him.

So yeah. It changed me.


'Oddly', when I was just having a Saturday mooch around on You tube I hit on a Francis Chan Sermon, 'Texting God'. (Look it up, you wont be sorry). I was looking at a clip of Rend Collective that had an appearance by FC and there, in the column next to the clip was his rather intriguing title. I had no plans on watching a whole 46 minute sermon. I just wanted to find out what this texting God thing was. I found very quickly, he was talking about intimacy with God. It was so on point for me that I listened to the whole thing. In it he used an illustration with his children to show How God relates so uniquely to each of us. It was quite beautiful. That fed into my prayer time, in a big way. God had meant me to see that.

 I couldn't find a shortened version of the illustration but then I came across this clip. Its Four minutes and it makes the point just as well. So, I will leave you with this, on the day when I learnt anew what the name Father meant.

See you next week for more adventures in identity in Christ....oh and by the way.....

click.

the.

link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLr9mwfCqSg

Freedom in Christ #1

So, our church have decided to host a Freedom in Christ course. A thirteen week discipleship course for every Christian, by Neil T. Anderson and Steve Goss. I am now an active participant on the course and wanted to blog my responses and experiences, week by week, as I endeavour to work some of this stuff through.

Our church have recently emerged from a time of prayer and fasting in which the word of God seemed to be to 'develop intimacy with him and intentional relationships with one another'. For a long time these have both been things deeply on my heart. It is so easy to be caught up in the activity of the church without really connecting to Christ or our community. I felt I have been a little lacking on both fronts. I would go as far as to say I have been extremely flat and disconnected for  a good chunk of the latter part of last year and the early part of this one.

Almost immediately that the word to the church came, God caused a situation which flung myself and two brothers from church together in an intentionally intimate discipleship group. This has been such a blessing. The word discipleship came up a lot as we began to meet together. All of us realising that this sense of being discipled was largely absent from our experience. So the course sounded almost instantly appealing.

I wanted to be a part of what was going on collectively in our church, despite the apparent irony of a 13 week course on freedom in a rather hectic and (seemingly) over committed life. What is freedom in Christ? Is it more than a doctrinal concept, or a spiritual reality that is seldom, if ever, felt? Are there really varying degrees of freedom in  Christ. If I missed a session would that make me less free than the fellow attendees on the course?

You understand, I was not really sceptical, just a little unsure. The course came with some strong recommendations from people I both respect and trust. I was not at all cynical on that level and signed up, pretty much, without hesitation. But when I read the blurb on the back any doubts that this was something I wanted to take part in were reduced significantly when I saw the words

"Take hold of the truth of who you are in Christ, resolve personal and spiritual conflicts and move on to maturity"

I have felt, in short, stuck, for the longest time. Advances in my spiritual life have so often felt as though they were one step forward, two steps back (or in a good spell two steps forward, one step back). I long for spiritual maturity. I long to be fruitful. I long to be free of internal conflict. Alright, the idea of a course seems a bit mechanical but let me tell you, what I have been doing so far isn't working. If the course even delivers in a small part, some of what it is promising, it is worth a shot, in my opinion.

So the course was beautifully hosted and presented but, last Sunday evening as I listened to the 'videos' I found myself thinking 'but  I know all this!"  And I think the term 'head knowledge and heart knowledge' was used and I found myself thinking 'But I KNOW about Head knowledge and heart knowledge'.

But did I really? Did I know, as my old intercession teacher at YWAM used to say, In my knower?

Didn't Jesus say, 'You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free' And I 'know the truth' and am I set free? Sadly, the answer has to be no. I am more free than I was without Christ but am I actually free.

I felt myself starting to warm through the evening (and not just because I was sitting next to the radiator), just the glimmer of a hope emerging through the clouds of reluctance to change (Yes, I was already fighting it). And when we were asked to read a list, out loud every day, proclaiming that in Christ we were Significant, Secure and Accepted, I felt a little unsure. As we read it out together in the meeting, it felt forced. I had a feeling that it SHOULD have meant more to me. I am God's workmanship, I am free forever from condemnation, I am complete in Christ, etc. These were all truths that I would not dispute for a moment, after all, but it felt like I could be reciting a bus timetable. That isn't right, surely. Have I become desensitised to the greatest truths of my faith?

And then in one little phrase, Aleck, who is co-running the group with his wife Lynda, said something which is so simple yet profound enough to sock me on the chin. Summing up, he said;

"So you see, it isn't exactly intellectually challenging but it IS spiritually challenging".


And I think then, I realised again those well worn truths about heart knowledge, that I had neglected. Did I know in my knower? This was no intellectual exercise, it was heart exercise. It was getting into a space where Gods truth can actually start to change me and become, a means of grace.

I am starting this journey now not cynical but hungry for spiritual reality. I am realistic. I know people who have completed the course. They are not a Christian super species. But They seem to have a better grasp on the truth of Gods word than I do. I want some of that. I am happy to take anything positive that the course that can offer and I am so glad to be going on the journey with dear brothers and sisters from my church family.

Throughout my first week I have been, at times mechanically, reciting all the 'in Christ truths' from the list. I have felt no lightning bolt, I have heard no thundershock, but I have become increasingly aware of the concepts of identity in Christ bleeding into my consciousness and my decision making. I must admit I feel slightly disappointed that it isn't yet some kind of Damascus road experience but the fact that so far it has bypassed my feelings and intellect, I think attests to the fact that God seems to be changing me, not by might, nor by power, but by his spirit. And that gives me hope, and Godly hope, does not disappoint.