You Can’t Go Home Again (Part 7)

Supposedly David was around seventeen years old when he fought Goliath. If so, that means Saul had been king over Israel for nearly twenty-eight years at the time.

What was King Saul doing during those twenty-eight years?

The Bible is silent about most of that period, but we can glean a few things from scripture and therefore make some speculations.

Samuel said, “This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you…he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen…he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties…he will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks…He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants…He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants…He will also take your male servants and your female servants…He will take a tenth of your flocks and you yourselves will become his servants. (1 Samuel 8:11-17)

Although the prophet Samuel pointed out how a king reigns over a nation and its subjects, those powers would not have been immediately assumed by a new king without a government set in place. The process would have evolved over the years.

Israel, at the time of Saul’s coronation, was a loose confederacy of twelve tribes. Each tribe had its own unique tribal government and elders as leaders. The tribes were then further broken down into families, with each family having a leader. This political structure had been used for four hundred years.

The prophet Samuel was the judge of Israel and he spoke the words of the Lord to the twelve tribes of Israel, but he did not preside over a governmental system. He was asked for advice on many subjects, but governing was left up to each tribe.

So, during the twenty-eight years, I would guess that Saul learned how to become an adept politician so he could hold onto some national power over the twelve tribes. Yes, he used men from his own family (Abner) and the tribe of Benjamin, but he also had to have strong representation in each tribe. And to effectively do this, he most certainly had to work deals and make compromises. This is the age-old art of politics and every politician knows that leaders do not give up their powers easily, especially without receiving something in return.

For me, it is not hard to visualize Saul making different deals with each tribe and important families so that he could raise a national army, receive finances and hold governing power.

But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw the the people were scattering from me… (1 Samuel 13:11)

Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. (1 Samuel 15:24)

What do politicians care about? They are always concerned about what people think because what people think will then determine how they react to government’s actions. A skilled politician constantly needs to stay ahead of the curve.

Now, if you look at the above scriptures from the angle of Saul being a pragmatic politician, you can better understand why he was worried that the people might scatter or why he feared the people. His governing power was dependent on appeasing the people.

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay. (Acts 13:36)

It was not that David was not a skilled politician himself because after all he sent gifts to the elders and his friends in Judah. Obviously, his reasoning for doing so was to stay in their good graces. But even more importantly, throughout his life, David wanted to please God and do His will.

Not only that, but David had fifteen years of training and waiting on God before Judah anointed him their king when he was thirty years old. His training consisted of fighting to stay alive against King Saul and Israel’s enemies. He was constantly between a rock and a hard place and his only hope for surviving and  fulfilling his calling was hearing God’s voice and obeying Him.

David absolutely knew his governing power and authority came from God and that it was not dependent on the whims of men.

Once again, how can this contrast between Saul and David help the church?

(Continued in Part 8)

I Like My Packages Tightly Wrapped With Ribbons, But God Doesn’t!

“Nor do I hear in my imagination the parts successively, but I hear them, as it were, all at once.  What a delight this is! All this inventing, this producing, takes place in a pleasing lively dream.” (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)

Wolfgang Mozart (1756-1791) composed over 600 classical works – symphonies, operas, choral and chamber music, piano etudes and so forth. Yet, unlike most creative geniuses, Mozart’s amazing abilities were recognized during his lifetime. A contemporary of Mozart, Joseph Haydn, who was called the “Father of the symphony,” wrote: “Posterity will not see such a talent again in 100 years.”

Haydn was wrong. So far, 220 years later, no one has stepped forward as an equal to Mozart.

Now, when we consider composers, we usually think of a person sitting at a piano. A pencil in one hand, his other hand playing a few notes, his hair all frazzled and his eyes glazed over from lack of sleep. After a while, the composer turns and quickly jots down notes in his notebook. He then returns to play a few more notes on the piano, shakes his head in disgust, turns to erase what he wrote earlier in his notebook and writes new notes on the paper. His notebook paper resembles a smudged and scribbled kindergarten fire-drill.

The composer continues this tedious process over and over until he has finished the musical work on the piano. If it’s a symphony or chamber music, he then has to arrange the music for other instruments.

Composing is a time consuming, laborious task. That is, unless you’re Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Mozart would sit down, with an ink pen in hand, and write the whole musical piece as if he were copying it from a book. He could carry a conversation or get up and walk away and then return to finish it later. It mattered not if it were a piano solo, a complete symphony or an opera, he wrote it all without a struggle. His first copy was his last copy, no matter how many instruments or arias were involved.

Okay, when it comes to writing, I’d prefer to be a Mozart, but sadly, I’m not. I’m that bedraggled, frazzled composer with glazed over eyes who struggles through every sentence, dangling participle and verb tense.

And when I’m finally done writing my article or novel or whatever, I’d like to finish it off by writing: THE END.  And never, ever look at it again.

Yet, that’s not how God works with me.

After I’ve finished writing, and it’s been rewritten ad nauseum times, along comes a new revelation which forces me to rewrite the whole piece again. Does this happen often?

My novel, Jonah, has been rewritten almost 60 times. New Wind Blowing is nearing 40 times. Then, if you toss in the four other works I’ve been writing and rewriting for years,  you get a good glimpse of who I really am: God’s hack.

Guess what?

I have just received a new revelation which has to be dealt with in a few of my so-called finished works, the ones which I thought were ready to be published. So, it’s back to the keyboard.

I will continue on with Part 7 of You Can’t Go Home Again in late January. See you then, okay?

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Just to Let You Know, Okay?

The door burst open. Lei stood in the doorway, his face red with rage. “Next time, you better have a baby boy or I’ll send you back to North Korea. They’ll put you back in prison and this time, you’ll die,” he screamed with his fists clenched, ready to strike.

Twenty year old Soo Jin lifted her arms up, protecting her face from the expected blows by her much older Chinese husband. She said nothing, knowing her excuses would only provoke him to greater wrath.

“And don’t think about your baby,” Lei said, “she’s dead.”

“How? Can I see her?” said Soo Jin, looking up at his pockmarked face, but not revealing any emotion in her dark eyes.

“I told you if you had a baby girl I’d throw her in the river and I did,” he said as he partially closed the door. Then he added, “Tomorrow, you’ll clean out the barn. You’re such a loser.”

This story in its entirety appears on my other blog here: Remember the Prisoners.

If you’re interested stop by, it will take about two minutes to read the whole article.

 

You Can’t Go Home Again! (Part 6)

The moment David stepped onto the battlefield against Goliath, all of Israel should have known an important fact.  What was it?

Let’s review how Saul became king of Israel:

The era between Joshua’s death and the crowning of King Saul (about 380 years) was known as the Period of the Judges. In this time period, Israel was not really a unified nation, but rather a confederation of twelve individual tribes. The leaders were the tribal heads.

Most of Israel, under Joshua, was conquered and occupied, except for a few strongholds.

Now these are the nations which the Lord left to test Israel by them (that is, all who had not experienced any of the wars of Canaan; only in order that the generations of the sons of Israel might be taught war, those who had not experienced it formerly. (Judges 3:1-2)

During the Period of the Judges, Israel suffered through recurring cycles of approximately forty years, or a generation. Israel would have peace, followed by Israel turning its back on God, followed by Israel’s enemies attacking and enslaving the nation, followed by Israel repenting and crying out to God and then followed by God raising up a Judge (or deliverer) who would lead the nation against their enemies, bringing peace to Israel once again.

The judges (Deborah, Samson, Gideon, Samuel and six others) were mainly military leaders or prophets. Each had a lifetime anointing from God to lead, but there were no family successions and no passing of the baton after the judge died. The next judge was then raised up by God when Israel eventually repented and cried out to Him in the down part of their next forty-year cycle.

Now, when the prophet Samuel was old, he decided that his two sons should succeed him as judge. His sons had character flaws and the elders of Israel demanded a king. The people were tired of the forty-year cycles and believed a king was their answer.

Samuel was heart broken and explained to the people the problems a king would cause them. The people refused to listen and said:

“No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like other nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. (1 Samuel 8:19-20)

The man chosen by God to be the first king of Israel was the best looking and tallest man – by about a foot – in all the tribes of Israel. His name was Saul and he was from the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe especially known for its fierce warriors.

By all accounts, Saul should have been the perfect human specimen to be crowned king of Israel.

Yet, when young David stepped onto the battlefield against Goliath, there was more to the battle than David just stepping up to be a hero. You see, King Saul abdicated his kingly responsibilities. It was his duty to fight Goliath. It was also his duty to lead the army into battle.

And at that precise moment, all of Israel had to know King Saul was a cowardly failure as a king. After all, their stated reason for having a king was that a “king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. 

Nineteen years passed by before all of Israel admitted that David should be king, and not Saul or his family. But sadly, it took a horrible defeat by the Philistines, the death of Saul, a civil war and the loss of many good men before it finally happened.

How can the contrast between Saul and David help the church reach unity?

(Continued in Part 7)

You Can’t Go Home Again! (Part 5)

Recently, an unused interview conducted by Edward R. Murrow for his TV program, Person to Person, was discovered in the CBS archives.

MURROW: “Good evening, I’m Ed Murrow. And the name of the program is ‘Person to Person’. It’s all live – there’s no film. Tonight’s guest is David, son of Jesse. We are at the cave of Adullam, in Eastern Judah, near the Philistine border. Good evening, David.”

DAVID: “Good evening, Mr. Murrow.”

MURROW: “David, the last time I talked with you was a year ago when you were still seventeen years old. You had just killed Goliath, had been promoted to being a captain over a battalion of a thousand men and had married Michal. So, bring us up to date with your life since then, okay?

DAVID: “Things were going quite well for me at first but then some women sang a song about Saul and me. The song really bugged King Saul …”

MURROW: ”How did you know it bugged King Saul?”

DAVID: “He threw a spear at me.”

MURROW: “Why?”

DAVID: “I think he knew.”

MURROW: “Knew what?”

DAVID: “Three or four years ago, the prophet Samuel anointed me with oil and told me I would be the next king of Israel.”

MURROW: “Well, did you tell King Saul about this experience?”

DAVID: “No sir, I did not. But Samuel told me he blurted out to Saul that the kingdom would be given to his neighbor. So, I think Saul put two and two together when he realized I lived next door to his house.”

MURROW: “What’d you do next?

DAVID: “Michal eventually convinced me to flee to the wilderness.”

MURROW: “You went straight here, to Adullam?

DAVID: “I stopped off in Nob for some bread and a sword. Also, I stopped in Gath, but that was pure craziness on my part. Then, I came here.”

MURROW: ”Who’s here with you?”

DAVID: “Dad, Mom and my brothers were the first to arrive here. They believed in me and knew Saul’s rantings were wrong. But for safety’s sake I moved my parents to a stronghold in Moab.

MURROW: “It looks like there are quite a few more people here than just your brothers?”

DAVID: “Yes, there are about four hundred other men here.”

MURROW: “Four hundred men! Are they soldiers from the battalion you used to command? I’ve heard they were quite loyal to you.”

DAVID: ”No. None of my soldiers I used to command, none of my friends in Judah and none of the people who thought I was the next best thing to canned Spam came here to help me. Not one!”

MURROW:  “Then, who are these men?”

DAVID: “Let’s see now. There’s Adino the Eznite, Dodo the Ahohite, Shammah a Hararite, my nephew Joab, Joab’s two brothers: Abishai and Asahel, Uriah the Hittite and four hundred others, whose names I haven’t learned as yet.”

MURROW: “Are they good men? Men you can trust?”

DAVID: “Well, they have a few issues.”

MURROW: “Issues? Like what?”

DAVID: “Well, they’re all stressed out, unhappy and have major financial problems, not too many happy campers among the crew.”

MURROW: “They sound like losers to me!”

DAVID: “Maybe, but then again, maybe that’s a good trait to have here at Adullam.”

MURROW: “Explain your thoughts on that statement.”

DAVID: “My friends, former soldiers and people who adored me had reputations, homes, businesses and whatever to lose, so they did not want to jeopardize anything by associating with me. But these men, because they are losers, have nothing much else to lose.”

MURROW: “What are your plans?”

DAVID: “I’ll train them, renew their attitudes and get them to work together as a team. Four hundred focused men with nothing to lose are better on the battle field than thousands of double-minded men who have lots to lose.

Murrow: “David, our time has run out. So, maybe we can do this again sometime in the future, and to all of our viewers, good night.”

Okay, okay, what does this have to do with unity, right?

(Continued in Part 6)

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. May we all learn to live like the Apostle Paul learned how to live his life.

Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. (Philippians 4:11- 12 NLT)

You Can’t Go Home Again! (Part 4)

How do we Americans start new churches?

We look for and find a few like-minded believers who agree on certain doctrines. Our doctrines will usually be centered around traditional evangelical beliefs, reformed beliefs, charismatic/Pentecostal beliefs, progressive social justice beliefs, worship music beliefs or some other tightly held beliefs. Our agreed upon doctrines will be the glue which holds our group together.

Our group of like-minded believers, along with a pastor, will then be the core group and foundation for the new church.

Depending on the size of our core group, meetings will at first be held in homes, rented rooms, school gymnasiums or wherever space can be found for our group at little or no cost.

Twitter, Facebook, blogs, web sites, door to door campaigns, advertising, word of mouth and whatever will be used to let others know about our new church.

Being a Christian church, we will tell all newcomers the cross is the reason for our church, but in reality, the actual reason will be our agreed upon doctrines.

If we are successful and attract enough new members who agree with our doctrines, we will buy a building which will then be where our church holds meetings on appointed days.

This is the way 99% of the new churches are started in America.

And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros--a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra--a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it]. (Matthew 16:18 Amplified Bible)

In this scripture, Jesus explains how His church will be built on just one doctrine. And this one doctrine, or revelation, will be enough to build His church so strong that all enemies will fail in their attempts to overthrow His church.

What is the one doctrine?

…You [Jesus] are the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16:16)

Twenty-five years later, the Apostle Paul affirmed this scripture when he wrote:

Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, “I am of Paul,” and “I of Apollos,” and “I of Cephas,” and “I of Christ.” Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians 1:12-13)

Am I delusional? Do I really believe we can melt 250 denominational groups and thousands of splinter groups and offshoots into one church, based only on the belief that Jesus is Lord?

No, I’m not delusional; and yes, I believe that soon there will be just one church in America, based solely on one doctrine: Jesus is Lord.

Now, I base my premise on looking at what’s happening in China and North Korea. There the persecution is so fierce  against Christians and churches that Christians look for ways of uniting themselves together, rather than dividing themselves apart. Their strength is in unity and crying out as one to the Lord God of Hosts.

This type of heavy persecution will soon be happening in America.

But for now, the biggest stumbling blocks for us American Christians are our churches. The idea that we can assemble together because we agree on certain doctrines, but disagree on other ones is not biblical. But instead, it is a strategy of Satan to keep us divided, weak and beggarly.

How can we unify ourselves before it is too late?

(Continued in Part 5)

 

Sometimes I Can’t Write Piffly Pooh!

 

Working with frustration is a key factor in turning our potential into something actual. I like frustrated people. They are one of the hopes of the Church. Most people are frustrated because they care about something. However, they have a distinct responsibility to the Holy Spirit to use their frustration for the correct purpose. It is sent to provoke them into intercession. They must allow the Holy Spirit to direct their frustration into meaningful prayer and waiting on God. In this way, by the Spirit, frustration is turned into passion, which releases the prophetic to empower people before God.

If people abuse their relationship with the Holy Spirit, their frustration is used by the flesh to sow discord, strife and division. They become a dissenting voice rather than a positive prophetic utterance. Frustration will reveal our true heart and release an impartation that is either negative and destructive, or positive and empowering.

…Frustration is sent to change us, to make us into the image of Jesus; that is cause and effect, stage one. Stage two occurs when we allow frustration to cause us to stand in the gap and intercede for others, the effect of which is a release of impartation that empowers and inspires. Stage three occurs only through the success of the first two stages. That is, we arrive at a place of trustworthy servanthood after having passed the test of unselfishness.

…Part of our frustration too is that we cannot see where our lives fit into the current circumstances unless they change…Be assured that the significant test in frustration is to determine whether we will sacrifice what is close to our own heart in order to serve God. Can we lay our desire and our hope for significance on the altar of God and trust in Him alone to fulfill it? (Permission Granted by Graham Cooke and Gary Goodell, Destiny Image Publishers, 2006, pp. 160-161)

I have been so frustrated the last two days and no matter what I have tried  through prayer or study has helped me one bit in writing.

But what’s really frustrating is that I know there is a prophetic stirring within me to write. Yet, I can’t write.

So, tonight, the Holy Spirit reminded me of Graham Cooke’s words about frustration. They help a little…but I’m still frustrated.

You Can’t Go Home Again! (Part 3)

Politics have no relation to morals. (Niccolo Machiavelli)

In the late 1940′s, Choi Ja-shil had her spiritual eyes opened by the Lord to the ungodly direction South Korea was heading. Her heart was broken by the nation’s sin and paganism and knew something had to be done. So, for the next ten years, she interceded eight to ten hours each night for South Korea.

One of the results of her prayers was the conversion of an ex-Buddhist named David Yonggi Cho, who was led to Jesus by a twelve year old girl as Cho laid on his death bed in 1955. Cho was then miraculously healed.

A year or so later, through a chance meeting, David Yonggi Cho met Choi Ja-shil. Together, the two started a church in the woman’s home. The power for their ministry was that the two, along with others, spent five or six hours per day praying in what they called prayer tents.

The first church quickly grew to one thousand members. David Yonggi Cho then started a second church which grew to ten thousand members. And along the way, David Yonggi Cho married Choi Ja-shil’s daughter.

In 1973, Yoido Full Gospel Church and Prayer Mountain were built. Today, Yoido has 1,000,000 members with prayer meetings numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Prayer Mountain is a Christian retreat which has facilities for 10,000 believers to spend time in prayer and fasting.

 South Korea is now home to six of the world’s largest churches, ranging in size from 47,000 to 1,000,000.

And all of this came about because one woman devoted her life to prayer and intercession.

American Christians chose a different direction.

In the late 1970′s, some conservative Christian leaders saw the decay of morals in American and felt something had to be done. Unlike Cho Ja-shil’s call to prayer and intercession, these leaders decided to lobby and be advocates for political change in federal, state and local governments.

After various struggles, the Moral Majority emerged in 1979 with Jerry Falwell as the founder and leader. At its height of popularity, the Moral Majority claimed 6.5 million members and $69 million raised for conservative politicians.

The Moral Majority’s organization was instrumental in electing President Reagan to office in 1980, but after Reagan’s second term, the group’s strength and finances dwindled. The group disbanded in 1989.

In the late 1990′s, Dr. James Dobson picked up the baton for Christian conservative political causes through his Family Research Council. Dr. Dobson is now considered one of the most influential evangelical Christians in politics.

Rev. Pat Robertson began the Christian Coalition in 2001. It has handed out over a hundred million voter guides, showing how politicians vote on issues.

So, after thirty-two years of Christians being committed to change in America through politics, what have we accomplished with our efforts?

Little, if anything at all, would be my analysis.

But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” (Matthew 16:23)

In my estimation, politics has become a major stumbling block for us American Christians. It has divided us into groups which then accuse differing groups of being  unlike Jesus or unbibiblical or intolerant in our political beliefs.

Yet, who is the accuser of the brethren? It’s Satan!

I believe we Christians need to repent of our dependence on politics for change in America and join back together in unity to pray and intercede for our nation.

What other stumbling blocks are hindering us Christians?

(Continued in Part 4)

You Can’t Go Home Again! (Part 2)

You Can’t Go Home Again (a novel by Thomas Wolfe)

Over twenty years ago, I had a quick visionary glimpse of the battle going on between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. It played out as a football game in my mind.

But unlike normal football games, we believers always seemed to play defense. Satan and his team always seemed to be on offense. The whole game was played inside our five yard line, with our backs constantly against the goal line and in the shadow of the goal posts.

Somehow, we believers deflected Satan’s passes and stopped his running backs just short of the end zone every time, but it always took one amazing defensive play after another to stop them.

After four downs of stopping Satan and his team, we believers would take the ball over on downs. On our first offensive play from scrimmage, we would invariably fumble it back to them. Satan and his team would then resume their offensive onslaught against us. On and on the game continued in this manner.

From my short glimpse of the battle, I realized we Christians are good on defense, but lousy on offense.

Sadly, this still rings true today.

You shall not curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind… (Leviticus 19:14)

Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! (Matthew 18:7)

The number one reason we Christians are lousy on offense are the stumbling blocks the world has placed in our paths. We keep tripping over them and fumbling the gospel’s message.

For instance, let’s look at how we Christians have fumbled the homosexual issue over and over again so that today we are afraid to ever go on the offense against the sin.

On the one extreme of Christianity are believers who think all homosexuals are going to Hell. Period. End of discussion.

At the other end of the spectrum are Christians who believe homosexuals should be allowed to marry because God Himself created them to be homosexuals. And therefore, since God created and loves them, homosexuality can’t really be a sin. Period. End of discussion.

I’d guess these two extreme views are held by about 10 – 15% of Christianity and it would be almost impossible to move them from their cemented positions. They’re both blind guides leading blind people on this particular issue. So, let them alone!

The rest of us, the 85 – 90% of believers, do not have to side with these extreme views nor do we have to trip over the world’s stumbling blocks.

You see, the world has decided for everyone that the words homosexual and gay are nouns, even though the words were first created as adjectives to describe characteristics of people. Hello!

Thus, when we are asked, “How do you feel about homosexuals or gays?”

Our answer should be: “I love people because God created and loves people. But as an ambassador of Jesus Christ I hate, loathe, detest and abhor the sin of homosexuality because the King feels this way about the sin. And as an ambassador, I can only speak the King’s words on this particular subject.”

Notice, there is no hemming and hawing with silly little ditties like, “I love homosexuals, but hate their sins.”

Will feelings be hurt? Yes, of course, but the gospel always offends our minds to reveal our hearts to us.

We need to trust that the word is a two-edged sword and then allow it to work on people.

What are some other stumbling blocks which need to be handled before it is too late?

(Continued in Part 3)