Antics, Promises, and Productions

I try not to write much about politics and religion, considering those are divisive topics.  However, I’m going to take a few moments to share a few thoughts; not to join in with the general rhetoric, but to encourage others to take a step back and take a good long look at what’s really happening around us.  Media coverage of events over the past 90 days alone has enough negativity to last a year.  What’s even more concerning is how jaded society is becoming, as we rehash racism, political unrest, economic instability, and a general decline in moral fortitude.

This year’s election process is perhaps the messiest that I’ve ever seen.  The political machine is pumping out antics, promises, and productions that are intended to solicit emotional response (hate, fear, frustration) and manipulate the public for its vote.  I am acquainted with many people who are reticent regarding who they will support, as there is no single candidate that is reflective of their moral standard, policy position, or personal concerns.  It seems that even the candidates secretly realize that they offer no real solutions, as the entirety of their campaigns have been communicating that he or she is the lesser of the two evils.  After all, if you’re mandated to eat from the Democrats’ kitchen floor or the Republicans’ kitchen floor; does it really matter whose floor is cleaner?  Shouldn’t the overarching question be “why do I need to eat from the floor at all???”

Honestly, I have my own opinions concerning our political candidates, and I’m yet waiting to hear something that approaches good public policy aimed at real issues and works with resources that we actually have.  The political activities of late have been geared toward making us hate the other candidate so much that it just makes sense not to vote for them.  Have you been hearing that message?  Or are you distracted by the federal investigations, rally fights, name calling, insult hurling, dirt digging and general ignorance that effectively polarizes even decent groups of people who manage to hold it together for three of the four years between presidential elections?

From a Christian perspective, if there is anywhere in the Bible wherein politics is prophesied to deliver us into the land of milk and honey, then I certainly agree with the passion that’s being invested within our relationship with partisanship—that willingness to leverage our integrity for the sake of political party affiliation.  It would seem more beneficial to invest that passion into a real relationship with God—one that informs our decisions in this very polluted political atmosphere.

Consider this, according to Romans 13:1, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God” (NIV). That means that all men and women who rise to power are ordained by God.  Whether good or evil, they contribute to the overall plan of God for man—each one’s brand of leadership advancing a plan that God alone controls.  Doesn’t matter if you love or hate Hitler and Napoleon.  Doesn’t matter if you love or hate Bush or Obama.  God doesn’t ask or require your feelings on his choice of leadership.  What He does require is obedience.  “Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves” (Romans 13:2 NIV).  Perhaps we, as believers, should begin speaking truth to our neighborhoods, cities, regions, and nation, rather than merely joining in with rhetoric that’s not purposed to benefit you in the beginning, at the end, or anytime in-between.  Perhaps, when we couple that with consistent prayer, as God has instructed, we will not have to contend with choosing which floor to eat from, but will actually have a table prepared for us.

Your Personal Significance?

Do you ever find yourself feeling that there’s got to be more than this?  I remember a Micah Stampley lyric that I used to sing under my breath…”Tired of the status quo.  There’s gotta be more than this.”  But it’s more than a beautiful lyric.  It’s actually the unspoken statement within the hearts and minds of many of God’s people.  There’s a yearning—a dissatisfied hunger and thirst that drives us to run to God with reckless abandon.

There’s more to this than salvation; it’s about an intimacy that gives birth to purpose.  It’s spiritual, but it seems to permeate our physical beings.  It seems to isolate, by its experience, those who mature to a place wherein God’s presence is the whole of their desire.  If you can’t relate to what I’m describing, that’s okay.  However, if you can relate to this internal burning that leaves you wanting more, seeking more, striving more and, at times, even wrestling more to overcome the status quo of your life, circumstance, and situation, take a moment to breathe in truth and exhale freedom.

If you think there’s more than this (whatever your this is), you’re absolutely right!  Oftentimes, our day to day routines (work, responsibilities, family, personal ambitions, and even acts of ministry) are allowed to define our individual significance.  However, that ought not be.  Truth is, the very purpose that God has invested within each of us individually positions us into a place of “divine unrest” that awakens our heart from a complacent slumber, so we might realize the larger possibilities that God alone offers.  “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jeremiah 29:11).  It’s within His plans and purposes—His thoughts—that we discover the rich, fulfilling walk that not only defines us at individuals, but validates the confidence that He has in our testimony before men and demonic powers.

Our heavenly Father not only dwells outside of time, He transcends time.  Because of who He is essentially, He alone is able to declare the end from the beginning.  He has planned a work and is working that plan within the realm of time within the lives of men.  Everyone born into time has a piece of that plan—our purpose—invested within; and God is glorified as we fulfill that purpose.  It is that purpose that gives us value; that purpose that our enemy discerns and strategizes to preempt; that purpose that is our significance.

~ Google App

Is Transparency "Being Real"?

I’ve published material regarding believers who feel a call to ministry but are disallowed to participate or exercise their gifts within the church or ministry with which he/she is affiliated.  This was spoken of in the context of rejection by a spiritual leader.  I think of these as lost coins in the house—believers whose value is being overlooked.  However, let’s take a look at the other side of that same coin.

Within Christendom, there is a prevailing philosophy of “come as you are…stay as you are” within the church.  Many have defined their personal relationship with God in a manner that bespeaks their willingness (or unwillingness) to be transformed by a renewed mind.  Scriptural contexts have become subjective; and many have adopted the mantra of “being real”.  How much credit does God give the man who proclaims Christ yet openly sins—all the while publishing their deeds before God and man as an act of total transparency?

Certainly, it would seem that if a spiritual leader discerns or witnesses one of his followers actively living in a manner that not only endangers his own soul but causes him to be a stumbling block to another, he would show forth his responsibility by limiting or prohibiting that man’s ministry before others.

The psalmist wrote, “My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:15-16).  Scripture assures us that God knows us intimately, even if we do not have an intimate relationship with Him.  He knows our make-up physically, emotionally, and mentally, and spiritually from the moment of our conception to the moment of our death.  In the depths of the womb, He planted His purpose—another opportunity for His will to be done within your earth as it is in Heaven.  God always beholds our genuine self; so, any action that sponsors the notion of "being real" is lost on Him.  He knows us better than we know ourselves.

Knowing salvation does not always equate to knowing regeneration.  Wherein is the truth of a life that continues in a mode of sinful living and/or spiritual immaturity?  Doesn’t scripture lead us to know that when we know the truth, that truth sets us free?  Perhaps, the secret is the realization that knowing is doing.  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1).  That reads like a call to action—doing; what one does after one knows the truth.

So, it seems we’ve got to examine the entire concept of transparency a bit more closely.  We don’t want to adopt cultural concepts just because they seem to fit in with our faith—on the surface anyhow.  We must keep in mind that although love covers a multitude of sin, it doesn’t dismiss it.  It merely chooses not to expose it—an act that may offend and cause others to stumble.  After all, your “liberty” ought not ever cause someone else to fall into error.  Rather than allow that to occur, responsible spiritual leaders will hold someone back—even if that someone possesses great value to the Body.

~ Google App

Heaven's Legal Tender

Legal tender:  coins or banknotes that must be accepted if offered in payment of a debt.
So, we commonly think of dollars when the words legal tender are heard.  It’s what we exchange for goods and services.  Without seeing a reserve of gold backing it, the dollars that we present to vendors and merchants are accepted with faith that the money that we present for payment represents or contains sufficient value to settle a debt.  Otherwise, we’d be walking around with bags of gold and silver, risking loss, theft, and inconvenience.

Let’s consider Heaven’s legal tender.  We, as believers, are Heaven’s legal tender.  As we offer up prayer and intercession, manifest God’s love, and demonstrate His power, we present ourselves to the world as spiritual value.  Because of Christ’s shed blood, there is forgiveness of sin—payment of the sin debt and repossession of dominion over our earth.  His blood backs our claim against Heaven’s reserves spiritually and physically; and we draw down upon those reserves to live victoriously, effect change within our world, and be the living epistles read by men daily.

Many within the church experience circumstances wherein their voices are quieted, their gifts are stifled, and purpose is paused.  These God-fearing people are lost coins within the house of God.  [If you’re a lost coin in the house of God, there’s more to your situation than merely being forbidden to sing a song or preach a sermon—you’re being restricted from exercising or putting into action that which gives you value—your purpose!  Anything that distracts or restricts you from fulfilling your individual purpose is ungodly.  If the enemy has manipulated your spiritual leadership in such a way that your purpose is being hindered then you, the lost coin, are settling in dusty areas awaiting an amazing grace to find you.

[What is the significance of dust?   “And the LORD God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life…” (Genesis 3:14).   Snakes use their tongues to “smell” their surroundings. “They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms of the earth” (Micah 7:17a).   By licking the dust, they are able to track their prey.  Spiritually, the lost coin, by virtue of its neglect, is placed in a position to be tracked and consumed by the enemy.  While others may overlook your value, be certain that your enemy never will.  Although he can’t see your future, he is allowed to discern your potential; and he always imagines you at your greatest potential and launches every arsenal available to ensure that you do not become who he has imagined.]

There are those who will read this blog and know exactly what I’m describing, due to their own experiences.  Others may reflect upon others that they’ve known within ministry. It is important to note that lost coins do not lose their value.  They are still legal tender with an inherent value established by the blood of Jesus Christ.

[Excerpt from Sometimes, Man’s Rejection Is God’s Protection]      https://goo.gl/5zcP1t

(Dr. M. Stanley Butler is an author, teacher, and conference speaker.  His contact information and publications are available at mstanleybutler.com). 

Flawed Vessels

How many of God's people are distracted from their destiny by their own flaws?  Weary of attempting to shed those imperfections that seemingly rob God of the glory due Him as He proves Himself mighty within the life of His servant, destiny is shelved in favor of allowing time to work out personal issues.  Truth is, in light of the fall of man and the consequent forfeiture of his dominion over creation, creation is flawed by a God-given curse that is original to all who are born of a woman.  Everyone has issues, and while our issues may vary greatly according to our personality, character, background, and experience, each and everyone graced to draw breath on this side of Heaven has an issue of some sort.   For this cause, we do not seek perfection from the aspect of flawlessness, but we seek perfection from the aspect of Christian maturity, possessing an awareness of our need for God's grace and continually placing our shortcomings under the redeeming blood of Christ. 

A lack of transparency within the Church limits many of God's people to secret-closet confessions of weakness, frailty, and evident flaws.  Cracks and chips within the vessel are hidden to the best of the vessel's ability, for fear of being shelved by men from ministerial works and public visibility.  The enemy gains a toe hold that becomes a foothold when ministerial works take precedence over ministry to the Lord and His purpose, and ministerial titles are thrust upon those who are hurting, those who are broken, and those who are shackled, rather than a pure Word from God that effects change.  God's people are in need of more personal victories that become bold public declarations of the grace and power of God to continually save, heal, and deliver.  It is then the Holy Spirit will have liberty to displace and dispel spirits of fear and shame that have taken residence within the house of God and maintained their presence with awareness and acceptance by church leadership.

(Dr. M. Stanley Butler is an author, teacher, and conference speaker.  His contact information and publications are available at mstanleybutler.com).

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