Planted for a Purpose

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Earlier this spring I was out walking with my dog Tusk in the early morning when I noticed a tiny seedling that had just sprouted and was growing upward out of a crack in the pavement of the road. The tiny plant had popped up in what has to be the most plant-unfriendly place possible in my mind. I stopped and stared at it for the longest time, amazed at what I thought was a waste of life since the end result would most certainly be death. The chances of that lone sprout surviving in its present environment were slim and none. It would either be crushed by an automobile, eaten by a critter, or fried to a crisp in the heat of the Southern sun.

Yet what I was seeing was an invitation to a conversation with God since He often speaks to me through what I see in nature. And this evocative scene would prove to be an ear full. Here I was, concentrating on the tiny plant, while God wanted to change my focus. His desire, in this moment, was for me to be introspective, to take a deep, long look within me.

It seems I had been struggling over the last few months in my spiritual walk and with the lack of results in my ministry. I knew there was more, but for whatever reason, I could not seem to get over the hump. I could see the top of the mountain I was climbing, but I could not crest the summit. I was discouraged about not accomplishing what I had dreamed of and frustrated at where I was at this juncture in my life. As I gazed deep within, I realized I was having a pity party and I was the only invitee who had RSVP’d to the old serpent’s invitation to this “Feel Sorry for Yourself and Whine” gala event.

That’s when I felt I heard God speak clearly to my spirit. And this is what I heard, “Stop worrying about where you are. Grow where I planted you. Relax and do what I tell you, the results are up to Me, not you!”

In that moment, I realized that little seedling and me are not a lot different. God, not chance or accident, had sown this tiny seed in that crack in the pavement. God had sown this seed for His glory and nothing else. That seed was fulfilling what it had been designed to do, sprout into a plant. It was not concerned about being crushed, or eaten, or even being fried to a crisp. At that moment, this tiny plant was doing all it could do to reach upward and outward toward God, without any thought of where it had been planted or why. It was not straining or struggling; it was relaxed and growing in a tiny crack on Bethel Road. By the way, “Bethel” is Hebrew and means “the house of God.” That little plant was growing in the driveway of God’s house. Think about that for a moment!

God plants us where He chooses, which is not always the place we might have chosen. But then God is sovereign, eternal, and omniscient, which are attributes none of us enjoy. Our only responsibility is to be obedient to what He calls us to do. Therefore, it would do all of us a great deal of good if we would relax and grow. Let’s be honest, apart from God none of us can do anything anyway. That tiny crack in the pavement where God has planted me is different from the one He’s planted you in. But, the results of our plantings are totally up to God and the grace He has poured out on each of us. The responsibility for results does not rest on your shoulders or mine. It rests with God and God alone.

As I finished my walk with Tusk, I made a decision to relax, obey, and grow where I’ve been planted. How about you?

To Explain or Experience? That is the Question

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There is a hunger, a craving in all of us for something more. Something we can’t explain or describe. This longing is a desperate need that can’t be satisfied with facts, figures, or fickle fantasy. It won’t be met with any of the alternatives we, as desperate human beings, have attempted to substitute throughout our generations of habitation on this earth. No—power, position, prestige, money, sex, food, drugs, idols, and a thousand other endless, empty pursuits simply lack the power to quell the gnawing pangs of an internal hunger generated from the very genesis of our DNA. Blaise Pascal, a 17th century mathematician and Christian philosopher, summed it up this way: “What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are…”

 This is not a “me” or “you” problem—this is a human problem. This satisfaction, this craving and helplessness as Pascal calls it, is etched in the primordial memory of our consciousness. The problem is no created thing can scratch this infernal itch and we can’t seem to remember what or perhaps who can.

That is—except God. Pascal provides the solution to the unanswerable question and the insatiable internal appetite: “…Since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”  This abyss in our soul and spirit needs far more than you or I can cram into it—we need God.

We were created by God for God. Let that sink in for a moment. God needs nothing so he did not create us out of a need. No, he created us out of desire. A desire fueled by an unconditional love he longed to lavish on created creatures made in his likeness and in his image. God desired that his heart be experienced—that is known intimately.

Sadly most of us have spent our entire Christian life in an attempt to explain God in a way we can understand. We demand rational explanations, deductive arguments, and laboratory experiments, which are finite at best and flawed at worst, to explain the infinite. We preach three point sermons with revelation, application, and illustration on things we cannot comprehend, or teach in-depth, perhaps inept lessons on things we have no real clue about, or worse, we write endless articles, papers, and books with seven steps to this and twelve steps to that when we are totally out of step in our flawed, yet limited approach. Yes, God did give us a brain to think with, but he also gave us five senses, an impassioned soul filled with emotions, and a spirit that can only receive communication on God’s personal frequency. God is not looking to be explained. He never explains his omnipotence, his omnipresence, or his omniscience. He simply declares it or demonstrates it. So why should we think we can explain him. No, God is intent on our experiencing him.

Perhaps this kind of thinking frightens you to death. Perhaps it sounds dangerous—you know that right brain stuff oozing into good, solid theological thinking. Perhaps you have been trained not to trust your emotions, and because of this, have shut them off completely in your pursuit of God. Instead you have chosen to be dependent on rational, intellectual, and cold, hard objective facts and figures to gratify that voracious hunger. So how is that working for you? Have the fangs of your ravenous soul stopped gnawing? Has your heart stopped longing for something more? Are you still cramming things that don’t fit in that God-shaped vacuum?

Stop the explaining and begin the experiencing. You can use your brain, but realize you are far more than a brain—you are a spirit, soul, and body with a brain, not vice versa. Psalm 46:10 (KJV) says, “Be still and know that I am God…” To paraphrase this powerful statement—stop cramming everything you can into an infinite abyss and allow an infinite and immutable God to satisfy that ravenous desire he’s hard-wired in you.  Be still—stop explaining! And know—start experiencing!

Come Run With Us! (PART 2)

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God never calls a person or a people to a vison He has not already imprinted in their personal or corporate makeup and purpose. In essence, the vision exists already in our spiritual DNA, put there by God as we are formed in our mother’s womb. It must be discovered through our relationship with God. As that relational aspect deepens, a partnership flourishes and reveals the vision, giving us a way to fulfill our purpose. We can only discover it—we don’t devise, develop, or design it. It is a prophetic seed planted in the cracks and the crevices of our soul and spirit awaiting the divine moment of disclosure.

When the vision is articulated clearly there is an apprehension of God’s revelation for our existence and address in whatever location we find ourselves. We are not here in our present location as a church accidently, nor are we, as individuals bound together in this local body by chance. We are here corporately and individually for a specific reason—to do something no one else can do at this precise moment in this particular place. This is the sovereign choice of an omnipotent God.

To comprehend and embrace that vision is our responsibility. If we do so—God will supply the provisions for us to apprehend what He intends. And in the process of capturing God’s corporate purpose we set into place the foundational qualities required for a local church (a body of believers in a specific location) to sustain healthy growth and life-changing impact. The vision fulfilled is the destiny of Eagle’s Wing Church—a God-given dream that becomes an on-going God-guided reality. Without a vision there is nothing to drive the dream and it soon disintegrates like a child’s fantasy—an imagination without application.

Vision brings clarity and definition to our purpose— it’s the “who we are.” It reveals our identity. Vision fleshes out our purpose—it’s the “why we are here.” It reveals our giftings.  And ultimately this vision creates strategies and structure to fulfill our purpose—it’s the “how we accomplish what we are here to do.” It reveals our destiny. We cannot reach our destiny unless we recognize our identity and release the giftings the Holy Spirit has deposited within each of us.

A vision believes the future now by focusing on it through God’s eyes. The Bible calls that faith, and without faith, it is impossible to please God. Therefore a God-given vision, discovered and implemented, is indispensable for achieving God’s prophetic purpose for our existence here on the third planet from the sun in the Orion Arm of the Milky Way galaxy.

Come Run With Us (Part 1)

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God often speaks through prophetic words at the most unexpected times through the least likely people, or at least he does when he speaks to me. I happen to believe God still speaks and He uses people just like us to deliver life-changing or life-affirming words from His heart through their lips to our ears. The ability to hear what God is saying and share it word-for-word is the essence of the New Testament gift of prophecy, which according to the apostle Paul, we are to “…desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you might prophesy” (1 Corinthians 14:1). This is something God gives all of us permission to pursue.

This past Thursday I received such a word while meeting with a prayer group at the “There Is More” Conference. I was not expecting it. If fact, I was overwhelmed by it. My prayer-partner for the morning, an unassuming gentleman, opened his mouth and out tumbled a genuine word of affirmation and direction from God. He didn’t know me from Adam. All he knew was my name, state, and country of residence—only because that information was printed on my conference badge. God’s prophetic declaration, filled with power and authority, began to reverberate deep within my spirit. I saw William’s lips moving but I heard God’s voice. I have chosen to share the totality of this word with you, even though some of it is very personal to me.

 “I see a hard shell like a turtle shell on your back. It is not a bad thing—it is a good thing. This shell protects you. You are a free-thinker—a rebel, but you are not rebellious. You are focused and know where you are going, but you have been wounded by groups in the past. You have a group that is following you now, but there are many others who will come. You know where God is leading—the pathway is clear to you. Write it down, so others can read it and follow.”

Yes, God has given me a clear and distinct vision for Eagle’s Wing Church. From the beginning, we have tenaciously pursued this blueprint, confident God had called us to plant a different kind of church.  Different meaning what most believers would call unconventional, one that refuses to conform to the codes and conventions of what has become modern “church as usual.” I believe with all my heart God has called us to be a “church unusual”—one that operates with kingdom codes and conventions thus creating a kingdom culture where King Jesus dwells in the fullness of the Holy Spirit.   

It has not been easy. In fact, every inch of ground we have gained has been taken at great expense. This territory God is calling us to claim, re-conquer and occupy is not cheap or worthless. No, it’s our heritage as sons and daughters of God. This priceless birthright has been lost, stolen, and/or given away down through church history, but God is now calling out a people to fully take back what the Lamb of God purchased with his blood on the cross. We are part of that people.

If not us—who? If not now—when?

Yes, I am a rebel, if a rebel is one who refuses to settle for less than everything God has promised. Yes, I am a rebel, if a rebel is one who believes the promises of Jesus like the one found in John 14:12—that “…he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.”

Therefore, I choose to obey the word God gave me last Thursday on August 15, 2019. I choose to write this vision down over the next few week and post it publically so anyone who wants, can read it and follow it. I am doing this in full faith believing God will bring those of like spirit and heart to join us. I am doing it because those of you who are currently a part of Eagle’s Wing need to know where we are going, so that you might count the cost and decide if the destination is worth pursuing. And, I am doing it to obey God’s word, because full obedience always brings God’s blessing and the fulfillment of that word.  God says, “Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets that the one who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal, and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:2-3).

Come run with us!

Religion or Relationship?

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Jesus came to make the heart of God visible, knowable, and experiential to all humanity. If you want to know what God thinks or how he feels, just explore Jesus. He is the heart of God turned inside-out.  Jesus explains or exegetes the Father according to John 1:18. Absent from the Gospel narratives, which clearly portray Jesus, is any attempt to start a new religion. That’s not why Jesus came. His was not a new spiritual movement, but rather a fleshed-out example of what genuine relationship with God looked like.

Religion has a way of sucking the life out of relationship. The Old Testament is rife with relationship gone bad resulting in religion. Relationship is the practical outworking of being connected to heart-to-heart with Jesus. Relationship requires a 100% buy in with spirit, soul, and body. It requires all. On the other hand, religion is a cheap imitation filled with rituals, rules, and rote behaviors. All it requires is going through the motions. It is a “form of godliness, but denies the power of God.”

Religion is relationship without any heart. It is a check-list of do’s and don’ts, a psuedo belief that a human being can somehow be good enough, gain enough merit, or somehow deserve God’s love. The very thing most people are trying to earn, God has freely given to us in Jesus Christ. The cost of religion never satisfies the hunger of the human heart. It promises what it cannot provide and promotes what it does not possess.

Relationship reveals God’s heart little-by-little, moment-by-moment. It is far more than a glorious destination; it is an eternal journey into the heart of God’s infinite love. We tend to fall into religion, almost by default, but relationship is a passionate pusuit that results from a continual choice.

Religion or relationship? It depends on what you really want.

Happy Birthday America!

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Happy birthday America! It’s been 241 years since you were birthed in the revolutionary belief that all men (and women) are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What an amazing experiment our founding fathers began when they agreed on the Declaration of Independence in the summer of 1776 and the Continental Congress ratified it on that first 4th of July.

What a grand experiment indeed! Their decision sparked a war of independence against the most powerful nation in the world at that time. A skirmish outside Boston became a shooting war that bloodied the soil of thirteen individual colonies and galvanized these sundry immigrants into one single nation. Blood may have purchased their freedom, but great wisdom and amazing cooperation secured it for the following generations.

That cooperation has failed occasionally along the way, yet that great wisdom has righted the wrongs and found a way to regain the cooperation. This is nowhere better seen than in the issue of slavery, which ultimately resulted in a great Civil War—a war between those united, yet divided states. Yet somehow, someway—the cooperation was regained and the nation endured and grew.

This nation has readily endured sending her young men and women to foreign nations to fight and even die, so that freedom would not be thing only we enjoy. We have cooperated with allies and have withstood dictators, megalomaniacs, and armies intent on world domination, refusing to turn our head to the plight of those who were weaker. Great wisdom and cooperation have been the resources that have galvanized this nation in the aftermath disastrous events like Pearl Harbor and 9/11.

Yet today, 241 years later, it seems partisanship and utter selfish stupidity has supplanted wisdom and cooperation. We are a nation divided by beliefs, political parties, morality, news media outlets, and a thousand other things. We can’t even agree to disagree. Instead, like little children who can’t get their way, we’ve taken our toys and gone home. Intent of getting what we can, canning all we get, and shooting anyone who gets close to our can. Our laws and our government are not working because neither side is willing to use wisdom and cooperate for the good of the nation. Instead, what’s good for a few tends to overrule what would be better for all.

And in this morass, we have turned away from our Creator. Our founding fathers never envisioned a country without Jehovah God. They understood he was source of the freedom they were willing to die for. He was the fountainhead of liberty that birthed this nation into existence. It is true they wanted no state church to dictate their worship, but read history and you will find they hungered to worship God Almighty. Yet, the wisdom of this age has defied his laws, in a  foolish attempt to legislate him out of power and existence. We have embraced the idols of multi-culturalism, perversion, hedonism, relativism, and socialism—and called that which were never gods, our gods. And in doing so, we have called good evil and evil good.

And wisdom and cooperation have become about as rare as the dinosaurs. The politicians of Washington, the financiers of Wall Street, or the media moguls who broadcast coast-to-coast and around the world have no answer. That’s because the answer is not found in “what I want or the group I represent wants” but rather in wisdom (which can only come from God) and cooperation (which can only come when each of us are willing to see someone else as more important than we are).

Will this nation survive and stick 250, 300 or 500 candles in her birthday cake? I hope so, but this I know—it will not happen without wisdom and cooperation and “me the people” must once again become “we the people!”

Want Ad: Servant Leaders Needed!

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One of the greatest paradoxes of leadership is: The greatest leader will be the greatest servant. There is no dichotomy between leader and servant, in reality they are synonymous. A real leader is a genuine servant.

There are many who have assumed the title “leader” today in business, media, and political America. They’ve spray painted it on the choice parking spots, stenciled it on doors, plastered it across websites and Facebook, and embossed it on letter heads and calling cards, but they are the only ones who think they are leaders. A leader has followers. If you can hear clearly the chirping of crickets as you march through your achievements pursuing your goals, it is likely no one is following you. And—if there’s no one following you, regardless of what your card, website, or signage says, you are not a leader.

Leading is an honor that is earned by serving others regardless of whether or not those you serve ever follow you. Leaders serve regardless of whether their service is received, appreciated, or acknowledged. Service bends the knee and the back, joining those who grease the gears, shovel the nasty stuff, and sweat genuine sweat. True servants, who lead, are not afraid to bend low, wade through the muck, or lift up a fallen comrade. And in their service, they rise to leadership.

Leaders are not born—they are developed over time as they grow through their willingness to serve others. Leadership is not a gift or a talent—it is earned through serving. If you are unwilling to do what you would ask or expect another to do—you are not fit to lead!

Titles are sold cheap and positions often go to the bidder willing to pay the asking price. Honor, respect, and trust are not commodities bought or traded on the market. They are the warp and the weave of the invisible fabric that protects and promotes a true leader. High character, strong morals, and unwavering beliefs are the enduring resources of a genuine leader. Standards don’t change when the cultural or political winds do. Leaders don’t lead by checking the wind—they lead by drawing strength from who they are and what they believe. Leaders are not swayed by the wind—they stand fast in the face of the wind.

We desperately need some leaders, men and women, who are more interested in serving others than achieving their personal agendas or the agendas of those who’ve paid for their offices and appointments. We don’t need Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals, black or white, male or female, or a thousand other things competing for dominance in a country slowly swirling its way down, around and aroun in the toilet bowl of history. We need leaders who will serve. When the servant leaders arise, rest assured—the rest will follow. Otherwise, we will disappear and fade into pages of history along with all the other causes, groups, and nations who were led by “leaders” who would not serve!

Show me a person willing to serve anyone at anytime and I will show you a man or women destined to lead!