Sound Bites from Charlotte 24-7
February 4, 2010
“I can sing good. I’m not being prideful, I mean I didn’t create me.” ~ Mark
“You can’t un-hear something.” ~ Smitty
Believe That
February 2, 2010
Matthew 8:32-34 The Message
32-34Jesus said, “Go ahead, but get out of here!” Crazed, the pigs stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned. Scared to death, the swineherds bolted. They told everyone back in town what had happened to the madmen and the pigs. Those who heard about it were angry about the drowned pigs. A mob formed and demanded that Jesus get out and not come back.
It’s amazing how we dislike the supernaturalness of Jesus. Maybe dislike is too strong of word, maybe for us it’s more like discomfort. We have a tendency to avoid teaching about it, we avoid our call to participate in it. Someone is dramatically sick, and instead of laying hands on them with faith asking for complete healing, we shy away. Sad, because Jesus said, “The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me.” (John 10:25). Jesus wants us to ask Him to do miracles through our hands. So that He will be recognized, and so that our testimony will have validity.
“Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.” (Acts 2:43)
“These are some of the signs that will accompany believers: They will throw out demons in my name, they will speak in new tongues, they will take snakes in their hands, they will drink poison and not be hurt, they will lay hands on the sick and make them well.” (Mark 16:17-18)
Believe That…
The First Two…
January 31, 2010
Discovered two major attacks that are currently affecting the body of Christ as I know it. Not sure when this outbreak began, all I know is that I can smell it among the body most everywhere I go, and I don’t like it. I don’t blame any person, for our battle in not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers.
1. Evangelism Attack: to discount and de-emphasize the importance and effectiveness of any and all evangelism. This attack is most prevalent in those who would otherwise be most effective in sharing the gospel. Seemingly by the effectiveness of this attack it would seem that every adverse force is focusing on this one attack.
2. Unity Attack: to remove the strength from the body by separating the people of God by emphasizing the differences of thought. Moreover within each separate sect of Christianity, competition and pride exist hindering the ability for unity and therefore strength to exist even within small groups.
Military Chaplain Repents ~ A Must Read
January 30, 2010
Click here for entire Article.
Here’s an excerpt to wet your appetite:
“Zabelka: I am old now. Soon I will go to meet my God. When the invitation came to join this peace pilgrimage, I felt that God had offered me “a great grace,” as we used to say. So, I accepted.
Q: What do you mean, God has offered you “a great grace” by an invitation to join a peace walk?
Zabelka: I do not mean to quibble about words but I did not experience the invitation as a request to join a peace walk. The invitation entered into my soul as “pilgrimage” not “walk.” A pilgrimage is a journey one undertakes to holy places for holy reasons.
Q: But what holy places are you going to visit in Japan? My understanding was that you were going to Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
Zabelka: Calvary, the place where Christ suffered and died at the hands of the civil and religious politicians of His day, is the holiest shrine in Christianity. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are Calvaries. For here, Christ in the bodies of the “least” was again tortured and put to death hundreds of thousands of times over by exactly the same dark and deceitful spirit of organized lovelessness that roamed Jerusalem two thousand years ago.
Q: But Calvary is where Christ suffered. He did not suffer in Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
Zabelka: God, Christ, lives in every human being. Our Lord tells us that what is done to the “least” is in fact now done to Him (Mt 25). I believe that! That is the only kind of God that I could adore and love, a God who lives in human history and suffers with people. I could only fear a god that sat as a depersonalized king above the anguish of humanity. This is part of what the Incarnation is all about. Christ suffers and dies at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Therefore to condone or support war is to condone or support the call to “Crucify Him.” To kill in war is, in fact, to be a “Christ-killer.” I’m sorry I can say nothing else – if Calvary is a holy place, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are holy places.”
The Catalyst?
January 30, 2010
I have a new word in my vocab, CATALYST. Been using it frequently to refer to the ministry we do in the city.It could refer to Christ himself, pentecost, revival, a ministry, a person, or maybe EVEN A BLOG! Yep, changed the title of this thing for the first time since it’s conception. Hope it lives up to the name.
Catalyst
| 1. | Chemistry. a substance that causes or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected. |
| 2. | something that causes activity between two or more persons or forces without itself being affected. |
| 3. | a person or thing that precipitates an event or change: His imprisonment by the government served as the catalyst that helped transform social unrest into revolution. |
| 4. | a person whose talk, enthusiasm, or energy causes others to be more friendly, enthusiastic, or energetic. |
Getting Back to the Basics
January 30, 2010
Worship had been electrifying. The room was charged with the presence of the Almighty. Everyone had a gift to bring, no one was exempt. It’s just funny we even went there, but somehow it was like we accidently ran over the right road marker that showed us we were on the right path.
The road marker was Acts 2:44 “All those who had believed were together and had all things in common.” Never had those words took on such meaning. All that each of us had, all of our resources that had value, were proverbially thrown into the center of this room for the building up of the body. Whatever we had experienced, whatever our spiritual gifts were, were not our own but were for the benefit of the body. This meeting that was spawned from prayer seemed difficult to follow to me. It was nothing like I’d ever seen or been a part of. I was asked as the leader to refrain from preparing information. Each week I fight the urge to wrangle down a word from God; sometimes I even go to Him getting a kind pat on the head and a reiteration of instruction. I see now that what we have going is good, real good.
Where had we gone wrong before? How had we drifted so heavily from this map of church? I’m not one to bash traditional models of church, but I’m assuming that what we had accomplished by having church this way, was the most traditional way possible, Acts style. I guess that Solomon was right, there is nothing new under the sun.
Moreover, why fix something that’s not broken. This model is not broken, I assure you. Wanna see it in action? Come bring your gifts to The KILN Thursdays at 6:30 at Charlotte 24-7.
Psalm 34:1-10 The Message
1 I bless God every chance I get; my lungs expand with his praise.
2 I live and breathe God;
if things aren’t going well, hear this and be happy:
3 Join me in spreading the news;
together let’s get the word out.
4 God met me more than halfway,
he freed me from my anxious fears.
5 Look at him; give him your warmest smile.
Never hide your feelings from him.
6 When I was desperate, I called out,
and God got me out of a tight spot.
7 God’s angel sets up a circle
of protection around us while we pray.
8 Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him.
9 Worship God if you want the best;
worship opens doors to all his goodness.
10 Young lions on the prowl get hungry,
but God-seekers are full of God.
“Faith looks at God. Fear only sees the impossible and the impossible becomes the reality.” - Beni Johnson
