Sunday evening after church and nice nap, I wonder down the mountain to a “Kingdom Theology for Reluctant Charismatics” meeting at the Vineyard Boise. The meeting was for those folks who are feeling a tad apprehensive about the move of the Holy Spirit – either because of past hurts, abuses, being a afraid of the unknown, theological misunderstandings or simply because it is new.
The meeting was powerful! One of the pastors shared his testimony about the being unsure about the whole Holy Spirit deal – not because of theology (for he recognizes that God still does miracles today), but because of past abuses and hurts. Having grown up in Pentecostal/Charismatic churches, I can relate to this pastor’s story as I have seen more then one person get beat up and thrown to the wolves due to their lack of ‘faith.’
This is the dark secret of the Pentecostal/Charismatic world. If God’s healing and blessings are contingent on your faith, then when you are not healed or you do not get that ‘thing’ or ‘ministry’ you prayed for – then you must not have enough faith. Therefore, you must somehow build up your faith so that God will answer you prayers. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work, meaning that people are left feeling like losers and second-rate Christians.
Yes – I know that this doesn’t happen at every Pentecostal/Charismatic church in the world. I know I am making a strawman – but I am doing so on purpose because it is a large strawman build on facts that needs to be talked about and addressed.
But, alas I am allowing my fingers to go off topic – back to Sunday evening. Continue reading Seeing Kidneys; Healed Emotions
I just finished preaching this morning about the Holy Spirit being upon us to be witness of Jesus to the world. I was a little nervous today considering the topic and some other items…but God showed up and granted me peace during worship. Peace that carried through the sermon. 
The main text of the sermon was Acts 1:1-11 – today was the first day of a series going through the book of Acts. It is kinda of strange as we have tried to go through the book of Acts two or three times over the last 4 years, but we keep getting distracted fairly early on. I pray that this time will be different. Besides, God must have something for us if we keep getting directed back to Acts.
Anyway, today I focused on the three adjectives of the Holy Spirit: Continue reading Power With A Purpose
I just finished reading Bill Johnson’s book “When Heaven Invades Earth” and, well, quite frankly, I have mixed feelings about the book. But before we go there, let us take a quick look at Johnson’s background.
Bill Johnson grew up in the Assemblies of God church as the son of a 4th generation pastor (making him a 5th gen pastor). In 1996, Bill became the senior pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California (a church started by his father in 1968). This church has about 3,000 members and is home to the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, which has about 1,500 students. In 2006, the members of Bethel voted to withdraw their membership in the AG – allowing them greater freedom to network with churches outside the AG.
Knowing Johnson’s background, you can really see a lot of AG theology within the book. You can also see elements of the Word of Faith movement that arose out of Kenneth Hagin’s ministry in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Swirling around in between those two streams of theology are various concepts from John Wimber and the Toronto Blessing.
Got that? Ok. Now we can move into the book. Continue reading Bill Johnson and Mathematical Proofs
Much happiness – and lots of burp rags.
Scott Sabin “messed up”.
Yep. I think he should have titled his new book “Thinking UpStream: Fighting The Causes Of Poverty” instead of “Tending to Eden: Environmental Stewardship for God’s People“.
Why? Because Scott’s book isn’t just about being good stewards of God’s creation – it is a book geared towards getting past the [...]
It is no secret that I am a bibliophilia (i.e. a lover of books). It is a strange thing as I used to hate books – that is until 4th grade when my brother and his best friend turned me onto Louis L’Amour. The rest, they say, is history.
Recently a friend was asked what where the top 10 influential books in his life – a task that proved to be very difficult. So much so that he decided to limit himself to 22 books. Today I have decided to follow his example and list the top ten most influential books in my life (and yes, I have kept my list to 10).
The Short List (i.e. this is my running list of books that have had the most impact on my life)
1) “From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya : A Biographical History of Christian Missions” by Ruth Tucker (1989)
This book fueled my love of following the Goose to the crazy parts of the world. It also started me on the journey of enlarging my view of the Global Church.
2) “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs” by John Foxe (1563)
A faith builder for sure. Oh to have a faith like these saints! May the Lord grant me the strength to stand firm each day.
3) “Breakthrough: Discovering the Kingdom” by Derek Morphew (1991)
Kingdom Theology 101: Probably the most influential theological book I have ever read. Continue reading What are the most influential books in your life?
I have wanted an iPod for the last three or so years – yet, I’ve never bought one as they are a tad expensive.
Yeah, I could buy a cheaper knockoff brand, but since I run iTunes on a iBook – I figured it would be better if I stayed in the family and [...]
This past week was the 2010 Northwest Vineyard Region conference this week in Boise. It was a wondering time full of God’s refreshing waters.
The timing of the conference was amazing as we entered into the week pretty beat up. Yet, God continued to show up and met us where we were at.
I’m [...]
Every once in a while I need to listen to something with a beat – something a little faster then Amazing Grace (ok – a lot faster!!! And with some crazy electronic tunes thrown in for fun!)
Accordingly, I was listening to the local R/B radio station when they started soliciting break-up revenge stories [...]
I was watching the neighborhood cows and birds with Jadon yesterday when a thought crossed my mind: why would someone trade an active, dynamic God for a book?
Or, to be more precise, why would anyone adhere to the regulative principle of worship?
For those who don’t know, the regulative principle of worship is [...]
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