I'm excited for what the Lord has in store for today...something magnificent is going to happen.




So I'm back, and "oh man" has the Lord been at work this morning. My time with God this morning was pretty intense. The revelations were so rich, the love so deep, the presence so fresh, and the sincerity so genuine; today is a day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. I finished reading Exodus today (38-40), started reading Leviticus(1-4), and read Proverbs (1-8). I'm excited for reading more later today. Writing down a lot of what I'm learning is also a major priority. Keep me in your prayers. The greatest prayer for me right now is for the blessing of humility. God bless,
DMS

Love the Lord Your God

So...there's this vibe emerging from within and from outside of the Church that has everyone "all anti-church and religious forms and tradition and stuff." Out of this is born the following "theology:"

Loving God and loving people are on an equal plane. That is, if you love God, you must love people. You can't love people without loving God and you can't love God without loving people.

The problem such an understanding of Matthew 22 runs into is the idea of which is penultimate and which is truly ultimate. For instance, the purpose of man is what? Answer: To love and glorify God and enjoy Him forever. How do we go about this? How do we love Him, glorify Him, and enjoy Him forever? Well one way (and a necessary way) is to love people. But - and it's a really huge and important but - what's our purpose again? Therefore, the way we go about living out our purpose, the purpose for which God created us, is penultimate. How about this....the end is superior to the means....does that strike your heart-strings harmoniously?

Think about it...why do we eat? To remain healthy and not starve. What's most important, your health or the act of eating? The means complement the end, but they are subservient to it. Why do we love people, because it's a way in which we go about loving God...we also love God by spending alone time with Him, when no one else is around - communicating with Him...prayer. These are acts of worship through which we can demonstrate our love for God. They aren't inauthentic; they are true acts of love. If this is to be the case, however, they must be focused on Jesus Christ. If we ever take our eyes off of Him we will be incapable of loving as we ought, and therefore not fulfilling our purpose, and actually demonstrating one's lacking love. If God is love and true love can only flow from God's love for us, then loving others is only secondary to loving God.

Now, at this point, some might argue - using my logic - that if God's love overflows into us so that we might love others by His love, God's love is actually the means and loving others is the end. This, however, is bad theology because it places a primary importance upon loving others, when the first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your mind, all of your heart, and all of your strength. The second is like it, to love your neighbor as yourself. But if you truly love your neighbor, your focus is on God so that you can love them in the first place.

I hope this clears up the fog created because of this whirlwind of anti-church rebellion. It's sad that because of such rebellion in the world, the Church has, in many ways, acquiesed to the trends and pastors of all sorts are "condoning" behavior that would have never been able to "fly" back in the day: back in the day when hospitality was a given, back in the day when the United States was actually safe, back in the day when those who were saved were taught to love their neighbor as theirself (because now everyone has an urge to love others across the ocean who they're unable to meet and of which they cannot yet meet the needs.

Now, so that my post is not just a similar rant against the Church, I want to provide some solutions, because the Church succeeds in so many awesome ways, and I'm definitely for myself, and since I am part of the Church and a house divided cannot stand - I am for the Church. What I'm hoping to address through this post is clear up the - what I consider - problematic tendency of our Body to shift in the waywardness of the world rather than stand in the adamancy and strong tower of Christ and His Word. Like the Laodicean Church in Revelation 3 we need to let Christ back into the Church. We need to bring back the message of what He actually did and said. We need to quit shifting from love to truth to love to truth where we end up dizzy, and instead we could combine the two (as they should be and are in their original state...in Christ).

How do we combine truth and love?

1. We have to know what He said - Read the Scriptures often.
2. We have to have the right interpretation of what He said (context is a must here), and so be led by the Spirit in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding to adhere to Scripture scripturally. This also means unifying with other strong believers in understanding...when we're unified with each other in Him, He is with us.
3. As Christ pursues the Church with the Father's love, we should pursue loving others with Christ's love.


How do we go about loving others?

1. Ask God - pray - to show you others in need. Have Him illumine those people who you are meant to love on immediately. Remember there are people in this world who are only able to be loved on by you. You are God's workmanship in Christ Jesus to do the work for which He created you. If you aren't given a passion for people in other countries or on other continents, don't be worried that God didn't have a plan for creating you. Those people might not have a passion for their neighbor in the States (who don't know Christ just as equally as those deep jungle tribes), but you might. In that case, ask God to help you recognize those who are in need of His love, and in what way you are to share His love with them.

2. Be obedient to the calling. C'mon man, quit using all this Church language. Speak English...what's this mean, "obey the calling." It means that if you see someone in need, help them out. If you see someone and you want to give them a hug, then do it, give them a hug (ask them if you don't know them, otherwise it might be awkward and means for a lawsuit).



I'm tired of typing for a bit....I'll write more later (maybe about this, maybe not)

God bless,
DMS

Hey guys, recently, as the result of another's request, I studied the "selah" and it's origins and meanings. I sure have learned a lot, and cleaned up some of my misconceptions in the process. Apparently the idea that it's a musical notation is only conjecture and theory...in fact, if we allow Scripture to interpret Scripture for us, it becomes so much more. I'll post some of my notes that I've written from researching later on :)

It's not about the music, it's about the thoughts...it's about connecting thoughts...it's about parallel understandings...it's about metaphors...it's about Truth. It's about The Truth, Jesus Christ.

God bless,
DMS

Holy Liquid

A newer, finished version (though that's subject to change)

1. A holy liquid, a perfect container,

2. Out of Darkness, brought forth, The Sustainer

3. Packed Himself into thin skin, though infinite,

4. Finite bearing eternal, was such meant for it?

5. How is the Holy God condensed?

6. This doesn't make sense, this logic is thoughtless.

7. I thought this couldn’t be the correct process,

8. My understanding and wisdom went out the door, when my reason-guided believing crashed to the floor,

9. No more faith based on myself,

10. Self-help doesn’t really help,

11. It creates confusion, a delusion that you can really know the depths of God,

12. Not that you can’t, but without His hand, it’s a road no man can trod,

13. Save the Savior Son, who’s a Sun to us, three-in-one,

14. In Himself complete, and yet complete when they’re in unison.

Yesterday was a battle of epic proportions...and I'm pretty sure the fight is not yet finished. I am calm, knowing that I fight not for victory, but from victory through Christ, but there is more to come before I seize what is mine through Jesus. This battle deals with confusion. There are forces attempting to limit me in my relationships with others....there are forces which do not want what the Lord has given me to say to be said, and so they are attempting to confuse my words - which aren't even mine - among my brethren.

Please be in prayer for me. May the Lord increase my love and keep me from fortifying myself from my brothers in Christ here...May our words be clear and the Spirit strike the heart of our listeners with understanding and wisdom to be diligent with such. May we be such listeners as well.

God bless,
DMS

Deep within my chest my heart whimpers and pouts,
Cautious to keep you in, fierce to keep you out,
Wrestling with so many more questions than I can count.

Two short messages

Following are two short messages I've recently prepared. I hope you enjoy.



PRAYER- Shutting the Lion's Mouth

I was mulling over topic of focused-prayer and its implications for us as a Body the other day when I hit a mental wall. I didn’t know what to do or how to go about doing it. (Keep in mind that I’m a task oriented person, and so I’m all about getting things done, well with this message, it just wasn’t getting done and I could just leave it. Therefore I became frustrated and anxious about finishing it all the more….and while I was having a mild mental breakdown – the Lord hit me with a stroke…of revelation… He showed me that once He’d given me earlier ideas as to what we as a Body need to know, I hadn’t since prayed for direction in the message’s development. I’m speaking about focused-prayer and yet I wasn’t praying, let alone for focus. Have you ever found yourself doing the work of the Lord without asking Him how He wants you to go about doing it in prayer?

Honestly, as perfect and as excellent as we want our results to be with all of our work, the Lord desires much more. But the catch is that it’s by His power and that’s why prayer is so important and why we’re not as effective as we could be if we used it more fervently. Let’s take a look at someone in God’s Word who actually got this thing right. Daniel 6 is the story of Daniel and the other administrators of Babylon who were jealous of him. They tried to find fault with him but couldn’t unless it dealt with the law of his God. And so they devised a trap for Daniel and the naïve Darius issued the written decree which forced Daniel to disobey, that is he was praying to the Lord at three specific times a day which was contrary to worshiping only Darius for 30 days. Daniel’s punishment, also placed in writing was to face the lion’s den. Let’s pause to think about our own lives, how often we find ourselves facing lion’s dens of our own because of serving the Lord rather than men.

There is a roaring lion out there that seeks to devour us, and has a track record of being quite successful at what he does, but fear not, there is a solution

First, let’s read on to find out what happened to our friend Daniel…Darius, like us was wondering as well, starting with verse 19 – verse 23. What happened? Daniel was miraculously saved from the lions. Why, because he trusted in His God and served Him continually.

What’s the solution? Daniel was prepared. But how? Daniel was a consistent prayer warrior. He set aside three times each day to devote to God. For he knew, that as an earthly ruler and as a servant of the Lord Most High, he had to stay in alignment with his Master. How successful would we be in getting physically fit and remaining healthy if we decided not to exercise and eat right consistently? The same goes for our spiritual well-being. In that time of trial, will you be spiritually strong enough to trust in the Lord?

What could a revolutionized prayer life do for the Body….think to the message of how to go about eating elephants…now listen to this illustration about the power of focus…

Some guys were playing paintball in a civil war type fashion, having volleys instead of guerilla tactics. As they shot at each others, each group would take steps forward in unison, and when the pain became unbearable, men would concede and this would go on until all from one of the sides had retired from the match. Well one team decided to use the principle of focus – that is they would all focus their shots on one person each time…this in turn destroyed the other team one by one and instilled fear in those who dared stand against them as they moved closer together…Think about what we as a Body could do if we focused our prayer…What if we all dedicated one day to praying specifically for one person together as a Body? For, we conquer obstacles together as a Body. Daniel knew he would be saved because he was in constant communication with his Savior through prayer.

We have the same privilege

2nd MESSAGE

The Authentic Church

Hey, if you were to ask me how I feel today and I responded “great, God is good, rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice! (very solemn expressions) What would you think? Was I truthful in my answer?

You obviously noticed how genuine I appeared just now.

Isn’t it amazing how we can pickup on small – or large – inconsistencies in people’s demeanors? Yesterday, Kent told us how 7% of what we say is communicated, whereas 93% of what we communicate is by how we go about it, body language, that sort of communication

Jesus addresses this sort of authenticity in Revelation 3 – He addresses the Body Language of the Laodicean Church. He addresses their inconsistencies, their authenticity as His Body.

Jesus begins by contrasting their behavior with Himself – that is, he begins by addressing Himself as the Amen – in Hebrew this refers to something fixed, such as His own immutability as the unchanging God

If He is unchanging, how can a Body of Christ, being unstable, be in communion with Him?

Pause

The answer is: They can’t

Jesus, therefore, desires them to be like him, and so He rebukes them of their waywardness, and encourages them toward a more holistic lifestyle, a life lived as Jesus Himself lived.

He knows all and so reminds them of their own situation, explaining their being as lukewarm (teeter tottering between cold and hot), not making a decisive stance. What’s interesting to note is Jesus’ meeting them on their own ground, where they could understand His message. Laodicea was part of a tri-city alliance, its sister cities being Colossea (Co-law-See) and Hierapolis. For instance, the letter to the Colossians was to be read by churches in all three of these cities.

Laodicea was in between these two other cities and was more famous than its sisters for four reasons, one of which I wish to clarify for you today. It has massive implications for understanding the Church’s needing to run back toward authenticity in Christ.

Running from Colossea and Hierapolis into Laodicea are two famous aqueducts. From the fresh Colossian springs runs one carrying ice cold water; another, from the sulpher hot springs of Hierapolis runs one carrying rotten-egg smelling water. Now each water was still distinct and maintained it’s characteristics while in its original location, but as the liquid traveled toward Laodicea, each lost it’s distinctive nature. The cold water warmed and became mild and the sulfur water cooled off, but retained it’s putrid smell.

This is a physical metaphor for the Laodicean Church’s behavior. They were a wealthy group, and they lived by the world’s standards. But at the same time, they went by the Church’s name. Christ, sternly scolds them, stating, in a sense, “be like either of your sister Churches, be refreshing and rejuvenating like your brethren in Colossea, or be passionate and zealous as those at Hierapolis. Do not be as you are, for that is what I do not want.

Be authentic; be true as I am, THE Faithful and True Witness. Do not go be as you are named, for Laodicea means “the rights of the people”

Living for Christ isn’t about living for yourself, it’s about living for Christ, and we can’t understand that until we let go of our claims to rights so that we may to love others effectively.

Pause

Throughout the world, but especially in our own culture – do we not feel this same tension – we all want our piece of the pie – Church becomes more of what we can get out of it than what we can invest into it. Christ died for the Church, talk about an investment, He doesn’t move against the will of His people. But He does wish His people would move into His will, His unchangeable, immutable will, and away from lives lived by their own standards.

Pause

We need to recognize when we are sinning and have a stench of foulness to the Lord but have present ourselves as holier than thou Christians to the world.

I leave you with these two questions

Can we really fool God?

And why would we want to?