The Lighthouse Prayer Furnace

On Congregational Apathy & Demonic Paralysis

2011-07-01T19:31:00.002-04:00

Any publication citing the demonic tends to be received with varying degrees of reservation. That’s if it’s read at all! So as to not mince words, this is an exhortation to all of our congregations to come to terms with the inevitable reality of the ever-present darkness.

Churches who authentically claim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior must stop ignoring the unquestionable influence & manipulation of satanic forces within their respective faith communities. Principalities and powers seek to do nothing short of destroying the people of God and annihilate the abundant life, joy and hope guaranteed by God to all those He calls His own through His Son, Jesus.

I am convinced that there is something dreadfully wrong with the Church in America. This is true across denomination lines. Regardless of traditions and theologies, our congregations need to be truly excited about proclaiming the message of the Gospel; yet, there is social indifference, an individual/consumerist mindset and overall spiritual ennui.

Our districts, archdioceses, dioceses, conventions (and entire denomination, for that matter) need to be obedient and diligent forerunners involved in the planting, growing, revitalizing and healing of Christian congregations – even beyond those we call our own tradition. We are ordered by Christ Himself to make disciples from all nations, baptizing them, washing their feet and blessing all people through our selfless service to our neighbor for the sake of Jesus Christ. This is the Gospel and it is our heritage, too. Yet, we find apathy in abundance, comfortable pews and believers who willingly remain “out of season” and blind to the prize.

An unquestionable indolence has crept into our churches causing communities to whither, passion for being about our Father’s business to extinguish and proclamation of the Word diluted into safe, unsalted and so-called “practical” lessons for living rather than invigorating and deep exhortations for developing saints’ perseverance for long-suffering.

The third parable of the Shepherd of Hermas reads:

“The present world epoch is wintertime for the righteous. Just as it is winter all the trees are alike and, once they have shed their leaves, it is not easy to tell which trees are dead and which are still alive; in the same way in this world-age, it will not be easy to tell the righteous from the evildoers. They all look alike. Those budding trees are the righteous that shall live in the future world-age. The future age will be summertime for the righteous; but certainly for the evildoers it will be winter. Just as in summer the fruits of each individual tree appear, and one can tell to which species it belongs, in the same way the fruits of the righteous will appear. They will all be visible when they blossom and ripen in the world to come. . .”

In our present world, it is genuinely difficult to distinguish those claiming to be followers of Jesus from those who are not. There is no difference among those who claim to have “died to self”, for the fact remains that most members of the Church, regardless of tradition, are as caught up in the superficial and carnal day-to-day rat race as every non-believer is. From the way we dress, to the way we function as a family, to the way we pursue ambition, to how we live all around . . . distinctions between the sheep and the goats are truly hard to find.

Postmodern culture has invaded every school and every family living room through media, curriculum and all manner of programming. Relativism, skepticism and good, old-fashion doubt, plague the Church in the America which has – for the most part – turned its back on the supernatural dimensions of our faith, embracing science as the true measure of our beliefs… and ultimately of our faith.

We have also lost our ability to persevere in wintertime. Despite our reading of Scripture, we have lost our sense of childlike faith, preserving conviction and long-term commitment to a long obedience in the same direction in, through and for Christ Jesus. The message of the Kingdom of God, as presented by the Church of the Brethren, is refreshing and for many, unlike anything they’ve ever been exposed to before. And yet, how will they be ready to become co-workers in the fields – engaging in the leitourgia of the Church, if we who are in the body are exhausted, disillusioned or confused?

I intentionally chose exhaustion to express the fatigue of the body, of the physical. Disillusionment to refer to the emotional crisis many may be undergoing and confusion to the spiritual crisis which a substantial number of our brothers and sisters may be struggling with.

Why would Satan take advantage of exhaustion? It seems perhaps an elementary question to ask, but too often we theologize basics away into oblivion and loose the kernels of truth along the way.

Exhaustion makes you lose your sense of obligation, responsibility and obedience. Imagine this attitude as the “standard” for a life in Christ. Seems completely incompatible, but it may be the only life you know of the life of the church you are covenanted to. You rage against the apathy, but to no avail. Things continue to be – just as they are.

As exhaustion sets in, we begin to lose ground and our solid footing begins to lose any sense of its integrity and security. The solid ground is transformed into shifting sands underneath us. Jesus warned us that the cares and troubles of this life can suffocate us and cause to lose heart, i.e. we become disillusioned. When we are set spiritually adrift, confusion sets in. Be advised, confusion is the rudimentary mental condition Satan wants to unleash in each of our hearts. It is his mission to cause every single believer to drown in confusion and to be at the mercy of its offspring: fear, apathy and doubt.

When apathy sets in, congregations grow complacent. The radical Christian life & true disciple-making becomes an impossible aspiration . . . tragically Christianity becomes Churchianity. It becomes racially & ethnically driven, worldly and diluted of the supernatural. As Satan causes us to grow preoccupied with the cares of this world, we become less willing to give of our time, talent and treasure, as we lose faith in the promises that God will, in fact, provide for our every need and for every occasion. As churches metamorphose into insecure and insular communities, they are unable to take ownership of said promises and thereby begin to operate on their own devices. This is due to what is genuinely within the collective and individual hearts of the body - fear.

Fear grabs the congregation in a death grip, leaving the people gasping for air and unable to fend off the attack. In this brutal state of spiritual paralysis, the inability to see beyond the present situation is virtually impossible. Myopic and dominated, churches grow evermore ineffective, irrelevant and unfaithful.

How do we ever get out of this spiritual “near-death” experience?
Our leaders must become prophets. They must reclaim the priestly-prophetic tradition, rooted in Scripture and take on the God-ordained responsibility of shepherding & feeding His flocks – all under His ever-watchful eye. We may have lost sight of this. We may have grown so “used to church”, that we have lost our way and no longer operate as Christians beholding the fear of God.

No sooner do we give up on the first step toward divine wisdom that Satan is there ready to confuse us and set us adrift toward wastelands of empty promises and dreadful living.

There is no other way. This issue is not going to be addressed through an annual conference or by some iconoclastic mandate from the national office of the Church of the Brethren. Districts can only set the example by embodying the passion of the prophets, the intolerance of the saints before evil and a childlike trust in the supernatural personhood & economy of God. Anything short of this is a recipe for the “same-old-thing”, dry bones and much ado about nothing.

The vehicle through which the prophetic voice is reintroduced into our churches is by a heartfelt call to prayer and fasting. Here lies the unquestionable crux of the problem… we are not praying people. Satan knows this all too well. With the exception of a small, faithful number of believers, we no longer believe that prayer has the supernatural power promised to us – and guaranteed in the name of Jesus Christ. Therefore, we feel the need to lean on our own understanding & to trust ourselves and our “know-how”. No wonder the darkness is all around us, the conditions are prime and perfect for satanic mold to grow all around our hearts and minds, contaminating the Body of Christ. We grow ill and lose our ability to run the race and remain healthy – spiritually, emotionally and physically.

I beg anyone who reads this essay to challenge your community with the following proposal:

(1) Call a fast and a time for prayer immediately.

(2) Pastors, take your call as prophetic and promise the Lord God and your congregations to proclaim the Good News with the passion, authority and freshness the Word of God demands and deserves.

(3) Trust God and live as a community of Christ followers in the End Times … Here’s what I mean, regardless of when Christ returns, we should live as what we are . . . we are the Church in a post-Nativity, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost and Seven Letters world. As believers we have no excuse to claim ignorance or to live as passive, unengaged bystanders. If we chose to do so, we also chose to forfeit the inheritance He so desperately wants to give to us.

Our cities, towns and municipalities need churches filled with brutally honest Jesus followers who are not afraid of calling themselves broken, recovering sinners. We are these sinners and we are the saints Scripture claims us to be as long as we are not ashamed of our spiritual DNA and remain faithful to the Master who has healed us. We must endure the hardships that come our way with gladness and singleness of heart, faithfully sharing a testimony that is contrary to how entire generations have been taught as a prostituted, twisted new version of the so-called American Dream. So many Americans claim prosperity to be the quantifiable, tangible proof of faithfulness to God.

Satan seeks the “me”-centered, the disillusioned and the superficial. He seeks to compel pride, simulate want and suppress the fear of God. It is precisely for this reason that we cannot afford to fall prey to the snares, trials and tribulations of this world when we know we are more than conquerors. I am certain that when we seek greater intimacy with the Lord, we will suffer relentless attacks and we will have to endure hardships because of Him whom we claim to be Lord over all. This was proclaimed; we were put on notice and warned to count the costs.

Now it is time to pray with contrite hearts and act with unrestrained faith.

It is my prayer that you do.

Intentional Intimacy

2010-08-09T19:39:00.005-04:00

One of the gravest errors any Christian can ever make is to assume that their walk with Jesus (to grow in intimacy with Him) depends solely on the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t. We must be accountable and deliberate disciples seeking to intentionally live out our professed faith in Jesus. Some may believe this is addressed if we are involved in the care and service to the disenfranchised. However, I believe this is a skewed view of intentional living in Christ. Why?

Although mandated in Scriptures, the care for the poor and disenfranchised is essential to the Christian life, but in order for us to be accountable and deliberate disciples we must first start with ourselves. It begins with me; with you. We must first delve deep within each of us and pray that God rips out intimately personal planks, before we can ever reach out to take the splinter from another’s eye. We must be brought to our knees and experience the humbling transformation of self before we can ever genuinely profess it to others. This is how we experience genuine intimacy and fellowship with the Light. If not, “we walk in darkness and do not practice the truth,” as it written in 1 John 1. And if we walk in darkness, we then serve ourselves as we “serve others”, while actually exploiting their situation in order to veil our brokenness and to increase our sense of pride.

It begins with deep, prayerful introspection wherein we find the root of the issues that cause strife, conflict, anxiety and insecurities in our lives. When we choose to address these aspects of our self before, during and after they spring up; we will then begin to live an accountable life, i.e., accountable to others (couples/marriage/family/friends/colleagues).

As we embrace this new way of living in Christ, we also choose to seek to heal from these sources of brokenness. We address them with heartfelt tenacity, turn them over to God with a contrite spirit and heart and seek to sever their power over us by praying for their removal in the name of Jesus Christ.

In the end, the Spirit will always provide the power, endurance and cover for us to grow closer and closer to God through Chris Jesus; but the Christian must run the race… and running is never a passive exercise.

If we choose to get on the track and run the race in earnest, we must re-examine what is to be understood as God’s calling for our lives. "To be called", is a phrase most often is associated with ordained ministry, and yet, Scripture clearly shows that as we are members of the Body of Christ, we are called to serve as members of a royal priesthood. Therefore, we are ALL called to serve God in, through and because of Jesus Christ. Whether ordained or not, ALL Christians have been given this holy task. We have all been called into an active life of prayer, intimacy and service in this world as followers of Jesus.

Persistent Blessings

2010-05-16T21:23:00.005-04:00

What if God has shelved blessings He had every intention of bestowing upon us?

What if our lack of trust in His character has caused these aforementioned gifts from the Lord to remain out of our reach as we've delayed their delivery due to our hardness of heart?

Here's a quick anecdote for illustration purposes. . .

This afternoon I had a great conversation with an amazing sister-in-Christ. In the midst of our talk, she mentioned how a ministry we share in common causes her to remain uncertain about our response to God's guidance and plans. In other words, have we somehow grown uncertain about God's ability to provide for us and, in turn, do we doubt His faithfulness? Do we somehow veil these sentiments and attitudes by "waiting for God" or claiming that we need to spend more time in prayer, but in fact we're just stalling or avoiding the inevitable confrontation with our true feelings?

Some of us feel that the only way that we can ensure that something really comes from God (notice the control issue) is if we ensure that we take no action. We remain bystanders. If we do take some kind of action, then it leaves the door open for questioning whether what has taken place, or has been given, is actually from God.

Then there's the possibility that we exerted just enough influence to get what we wanted and in essence, it's not from God at all. We forced something to happen.

But again, what if God has, in fact, made all sorts of provisions available to us and even after all of our inaction and delay tactics; God continues to afford us with a way to return to Him and harvest the blessings He's made ready to turn over to us. . . what then?

Is "waiting for God" justifiable? Or, in this case, is waiting upon the Lord actually a veiled way of burying our talents, of ignoring them and allowing fear to entice us to turn our backs on God's mission for us and for the city?

I believe that we often worship a god that is too small and is counterfeit. The God of the Old & New Testament is beyond our ability to comprehend. His ways are definitely not ours and we must begin to re-experience awe, fear, wonder, mystery and trembling before God. When we struggle so much with disbelief and with a sense of spiritual ennui, I figure that it's because we just don't feel we can deposit all of confidence into the hands of a God, which if we're honest, like the line from The Script's hit pop song, Breakeven, we seem to "pray to a god I don't believe in. . . "

After all God has done for us, it is fitting that He upbraids us for our hardness of heart and disbelief. How can we ever expect to be ready and truly used by God, if we don't believe He is worthy of our trust. How can we pray and expect any answer to come, if we're not even sure God is available, listening to us or, for that matter, capable of addressing our petitions?

I believe we must risk everything for God. I believe that when we begin to act as if God is truly capable, then we will begin to see the signs and wonders promised to accompany the Church wherever it is and wherever it goes. Until then, we're not going to see anything remotely close to what Jesus promised us during those post-resurrection days.

In a great book by Jim W. Goll entitled, The Lost Art of Intercession, Goll passionately tells readers that the Lord told him, "I will restore Pentecost," (pg. 119). I have no doubt that God speaks to us and can reveal His plans and purposes to whomever He chooses. I do believe, though, that Pentecost happened and that the power unleashed on that day isn't going to be restored. It is already here and ready to be reclaimed, not restored.

That power is latent in the Church. It is asleep. It remains dormant due to growing distrust in God's character and as a result of worshiping science as the oracle of the enlightened and educated. A substantial part of the Church in America has chosen to follow the guidance of business pundits and adopt measures that extinguish faith in Jesus Christ and dismantle any belief in the supernatural nature of our faith. How? Through idolatrous self-reliance and introducing cost-benefit analysis as means of making "sensible" financial decisions as Christians seek to "serve Christ" in trying and uncertain times - just to name two reasons.

At the moment we return to the Lord and repent, God will bless us with the power He has already set aside for us in Jesus Christ. It is collecting dust due to our disobedience and neglect. As soon as we begin to pray to God with fervent contrition and trust, we will literally move mountains. But, of course, if we believe this to be scientifically impossible, it will remain so unmoved and no other option will be available to sensible people. What if God is asking for everything that runs contrary to all sensible decisions and in turns, He expects our undivided fidelity and complete trust? What if those are the two things we must have in order to see the power of Pentecost once again?

Are you in? Are you game? Are you willing to let go of all sensible attitudes, advice and guidance and embrace becoming a fool for Christ?

If you want to see the power of Pentecost, if you want to receive the blessings already designated for you since before time began, then begin to underestimate the power of the dollar, stop depositing confidence in people to be the answer to problems that only God can be and begin to live an unrestrained life in Christ. Decide with faith, act with trust in His character and pray with the certainty that the petitions have already been answered as He wills. Desire nothing more than His will for your life and crave nothing short of being one with Him.

Do these things and watch the Kingdom unravel, unfold and unveil itself before you. May this be so, even now -

For the sake of Jesus Christ.

Danny+

God-Saturated Words

2010-04-15T22:25:00.008-04:00

* With thanks to IHOP Orlando for the pic . . .

Some of the most engaging and thought-provoking introductions to the Old Testament Prophets are found in Eugene H. Peterson's translation of the Bible, The Message. His description of the prophets' purpose and place in salvation history centers on their God-inspired speech. At times incendiary toward the religious establishment and at other junctures supplicating the people to return to a collective, personal & passionate devotion for the Lord, the prophets sought to bring the people back to God. They faced all sorts of seemingly insurmountable odds such as confronting a nation, who like ours, "... are accustomed to 'fitting God' into our lives, or, as we like to say, 'making room for God,'..."

Consequently, the prophets, Peterson continues, "are not 'reasonable,' accommodating themselves to what makes sense to us. They are not diplomatic, tactfully negotiating an agreement that allow us a 'say' in the outcome. What they do is haul us unceremoniously into a reality far too large to be accounted for by our explanations and expectations. They plunge us into mystery, immense and staggering," (Peterson, 962).

The major resource available to the Prophets were words. Just as the Lord God created the universe through the Logos, the Word, the prophets used their Spirit-given, God-saturated words to redirect the people's hearts and minds toward God. Their cry for repentance - on behalf of a broken, miserable and sin-ridden people, would eventually take on flesh as the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came into the world so that the words of the prophets would be vindicated through their fulfillment before the eyes of the generation that witnessed Jesus' life, death and resurrection.

Words are so powerful. . .

They express love, they nurse wounds, they nourish souls and they edify us. Words also transmit indifference, sow the seeds of fear and hate - and they can and do hurt. Words are agents of combustion that cause & effect chain reactions in people, across communities, nations and the world over.

Prayer is to be, as the great Charles H. Spurgeon wrote, "conspicuous" in our everyday life. As it is ordained throughout Scripture, we are to pray at all times, constant and unceasing. The words we utter bring us into conversation with God. However, unlike our interactions with humanity, our thoughts also are unhidden before God. So, the words that spin around in our thoughts, memories, feelings, images and attitudes are as actively a part of our prayer life as are the words we ultimately use to encode our praise, worship, petitions and intercessions.

They are the words that we utter in everyday life. In language, there are no sacred or secular words. That difference, if it exists, is to be found in the imagination. The imagination either propels us into the heavens, or they oppress us into spiritual slavery - iron clad and double ironed - like Marley's Ghost.

It's been said that we are masters of our thoughts and slave to our words. In Christianity, the mastery of our thoughts is quickly vaporized when we acquire the mind of Christ. Likewise, we are emancipated from our words when their master is love and judged before the Mercy Seat.

Peterson argues for Christians to live by the radical and unapologetic standard of the prophets. Their God-inspired words are to bend our will toward love and service and toward the pursuit of radical personal definition in God through Christ.

As we seek to live out our faith, we need to be ever cautious that our religion does not grow lukewarm, inauthentic and fat on the sin-curds of self-interest, power and ecclesial authority (Peterson, 1330). To that end, our lives are to be humbly submitted before God in contrite reflection and unceasing prayer. The standard of our words may, indeed, be the Prophets, but the life we are to embody is that of Jesus - the Word made Flesh.

Be @ Peace

2010-04-10T22:07:00.004-04:00

Christ shows us His wounds. His wounds are His promises fulfilled and carved into His flesh. The tortuous piercings’ are not veiled. They are scandalous & repulsive to this world. Christ’s wounds are before the disciples’ to physically behold. The scars cannot be ignored, hidden or disregarded.

And they remain to this day invoking the same deeply visceral and acute feelings among believers and non-believers.

His wounds remind us that His sacrifice & suffering was necessary and never forgotten. Human history was never the same after the Lamb of God was nailed to a tree.

All the same, His wounds are perfected through His glory, grace, mercy and power. The fear, shame, guilt and indifference are all transformed when we see that the torture was received and endured for love of God for us and for His entire creation.

(Verse 20:21) Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."

Here the disciples – as any one of us – need God’s continued reassurance and provision of peace, protection and power; and He will surely give to us said provisions freely and in great abundance. As He comforts us, He equips us as well – so that we may be prepared to live out His example as we go through this life.

In fact, we are ALL missionaries. Being a missionary is not contingent on the location we find ourselves in.

In Keith Miller’s classic book, “The Taste of New Wine,” a controversial perspective on mission is provided. I find it to be refreshing, provocative and therefore, the most biblical view on our living out the great commission.

“As I began to read the New Testament accounts I saw that Christ almost never ‘went out of His way’ to help anyone. He seems to have walked along and helped the people in His path. He was totally focused on doing God’s will and going where God led Him. But He never failed to help the people He met along the way while going where God directed Him. This made for an amazing steadiness and spiritual economy in His direction and ministry. This one change in my perspective made witnessing not a program but a way of life.” (p.93, 1965).

As He went before us, we are called to follow.

The hardest charge is for us to live out the ministry of Jesus in our own lives. For this we need to wear our scars and to show them before all who are without Him on this life journey. The quintessential ingredient we must be in possession of is lack of fear.

Fear distances us from God. Fear handicaps the spirit and opens the door to the enemy to his deceptive and destructive ways. In this day and age of positivism and scientific arrogance, it is way too easy for the darkness to oppress cities, people and churches. As we turn our backs on the sick, distorted and violent campaigns of Satan against God’s people, we fall victim to the great deception and in essence, are accomplices to his destructive agenda.

So, fear isn’t addressed spiritually. We have terms such as phobias, anxiety and other clinical vocabulary, but ultimately, the question of fear – requires a spiritual diagnosis as well. Fear incapacitates people and enslaves them. Once oppressed, the individual is no longer capable (in their hearts and minds, they are convinced) to pray, worship and serve the Lord. Paralysis is the end the enemy seeks to achieve.

As the disciples were hidden because of fear, they were not proclaiming the Gospel, they were not witnessing to others about Jesus’ resurrection. Fear has incapacitated them.

We’ve discussed brokenness and pain before. As in the case of our Lord, our wounds are healed and they undergo the healing process of Resurrection. They are no longer sources of spiritual death, but they do leave scars. It’s often said that one of the most difficult issues concerning forgiveness is whether it is possible for us to forget the transgressions we’ve have committed or those done to us.

I don’t think it’s about forgetting anything, actually. These scars are also physically carved into our flesh – into our hearts. Yet, they no longer possess any power over us. We are free and no longer enslaved by the sources of the injuries. The scars are now sources of power and remembrance of God’s healing power and of His promises. In essence, we are free from the consequences of this profound life transformation, fear. In the absence of fear, we are no longer silenced and defeated – seemingly unable to proclaim His praises, because our healing is the direct result of His death & resurrection.

When we forgive, there is no longer any need to forget the past for it has lost all its power over us. From that moment onward, the past acquires a place in our lives sourcing inspiration and testimony – for we see then that God was, in fact, always with us – even when He seemed to be on mute - distant and indifferent to our needs.

Scarring is an integral part of a wound’s healing.

The tribulations we undergo are seasons of being put through the fire. As we go through the fire, we are purified and tempered. We are strengthened and reinforced for greater things for the sake of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God.

Interesting enough, the word scar was derived from the Greek word schara, meaning place of fire. . BTW, it’s no coincidence, my friends.

(Verse 20:22) When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.”

We receive the Holy Spirit and in doing so, we are no longer a broken, scattered and fearful minority. Because of the Spirit, we are more then conquerors. We are on fire for the Lord and alive; empowered to proclaim & live out the story of salvation in our lives as living sacrifices.

(Verse 20:25-28) So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe. A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you. Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe. Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"

Doubt. This is a topic of discussion that causes all sorts of heartache among Christians. In some circles, doubt is absolutely unacceptable. To so much as suggest the possibility of doubting brings harsh consequences so many believers, just keep their doubts to themselves. Ironically, instead of feeling comfortable with sharing these dry seasons with other Christians, many are hesitant to do so. They feel the non-Christian crowd may actually be far more forgiving. Another irony, eh?

Traditionally, Thomas has been given a real hard time because he doubted. I sometimes feel inclined to say that he was probably one of the most sincere in his present state of confusion and disbelief. Thomas doubted that Christ could actually disarm once and for all the unfathomable powers of death, oppression, illness, injustice and brokenness on this planet. To Thomas, how could one poor, solitary life change the universe on a desolate and damned hill outside of the city gates and then defeat death once and for all by physically walking out of a stone cut tomb on Resurrection Sunday? How?

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that there are some of you reading these lines that are currently in a dry season overshadowed by doubt and disbelief.

Thomas was not excluded or excommunicated from the group of disciples because of His doubt. Rather Christ came to Him and revealed His wounds so that he may come and see for himself.

Thomas wanted to believe, though. And I believe that makes all the difference. When we want to believe & trust God, God seeks us and reveals His wounds so that we may come and see as well.

Fear and doubt are inextricably related. Once we fear, we doubt possibilities are available to alter the reality we are facing. Once we are taken over by fear, it becomes harder and harder to see anything beyond what is currently undermining our lives. God seems farther and father away and our ability to communicate and be heard by Him seems to be less likely and we have less desire and intention to pursue it any further.

Once we are in that state of spiritual disarray, we are once again paralyzed and ineffective. We are where the enemy wants us – hidden and afraid.

Christ offered Thomas His peace before he offered His wounds to him. As Thomas, you are able to receive that same peace as well. You are not excluded from the comfort God affords anyone who struggles and wrestles with faith and disbelief. In fact, I would suggest that it is during the state of crisis Thomas underwent that he was most effectively equipped to minister to others and to be a source of peace, companionship and compassion while taking the Gospel to where tradition suggests he ended up in – India. Why?

Humility – plain and simple. Humble recognition that the dry seasons will come and when we are in those times of spiritual famine, we know that our God does not leave us to starve. All we need to do is ask to be fed and to be willing to receive what comes from God with thanksgiving and open hearts.

How do wounds, scars and fear all measure up to a message? Jesus’ peace is Shalom. It is total healing. It is holistic. Every single aspect of our lives is transformed when we receive the peace of God. The peace of God surpasses all human understanding because it transforms the human mind to entertain and behold the things of the Spirit. Those things cannot be appreciated by minds seeking to debunk the things of the Spirit – and seeking to intellectualize their understanding of God. Those activities – rooted in the need to control God and hubris cause estrangement from God. The outcome is that there is no peace, no healing, and no revelation - nothing. Apart from the vine, we can do nothing.

The fulfillment of Jesus’ ministry and incarnation is consummated in the Resurrection. The resurrection initiated the chain reaction of witness and proclamation that is culminated in the birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost. The Church’s mission begins with Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances, though. Here is where they receive the great commission to make disciples, not converts of men and women of every nation and every tongue.

How can a broken people – scattered, afraid and without a sense of future be the forerunners of this body of believers? Through the peace and healing that comes in Christ. These first Christians would face challenges they couldn’t even begin to fathom. Their legacy would be left to a remnant that would remain faithful even when much of the outward expressions and inner workings of the Church was as rotten as the whited sepulchers our Lord spoke of in the Gospels. And so it today, that the remnant of believers continues to pray, worship, serve and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ in the midst of ecclesial corruption, denominational apostasy and hierarchal inefficiency and irrelevance.

The wounds of Christ were the physical, bodily expression of His sacrifice; forever recorded in scars testifying to His limitless love for all humankind. Through these wounds, we are healed. Through our healing, we too rise from spiritual death and enter the Kingdom of God.

As sons and daughters of the Kingdom, we are enjoined to testify to what we have seen, heard and experienced in our own lives; in short, to show how our scars tells a story as well of recover, redemption and resurrection. As others doubt, we can have others come and see for themselves that God in fact is present, in our midst and reconciling all things to Himself through Jesus Christ. In this story, we are also like Thomas, at times doubting and in need of a physical encounter with Jesus. As fear sets in and seeks to destroy our love for and trust in God – peace is offered and peace is given. The Spirit is imparted and we can in fact, come and see, touch and realize that Jesus is our Lord and our God.

When we live in the Spirit, fear no longer has a deathgrip on our hearts. We are free to serve God in Spirit and in Truth. We can walk out of caves, rooms and hidden places to meet our neighbor and love him/her. No longer are we afraid of consequences for we serve a living God – creator and sustainer of all things and in full control of all things – including me. We risk everything for God in the trust & knowledge of His faithfulness and goodness.

The humility of our falls and lack of faith reminds us of our total dependence in God. As Paul wrote about the thorn in his side, we too, have our own thorns that prick, stab and pain us – at times quite deeply. May we worship even when our hearts are cold. May we pray even when our minds rage against the things of the Spirit. And may we know that God is always eager to grant us the privilege and the blessing to see Him – all we need to is to ask and to receive His peace.

Daniel+

Prayer - the "do nothing" ministry

2010-04-08T15:57:00.006-04:00

In the past few weeks, I've experienced a revival of sorts concerning my attitude toward prayer events. In the last year, I noticed a remarkable nonchalance concerning prayer - especially among Christians who described themselves as "social justice" oriented.

I find that absolutely ironic.

I also find the hesitation action-oriented Christians sustain as they address issues concerning prayer to represent the greatest obstacle to the achievement of their agenda and sense of mission and ministry. Underneath it all, however, lies an attitude affording pride to sabotage what they would want to see happen in their local communities and globally as well.

I know this post will upset, anger and urge some readers who have never entertained the intention of posting a response to do so - and that's a good thing. You see, I believe - without reservation whatsoever - that as Christians, we will NOT change the world. We are called to SERVE the world.

The transformative power of the Holy Spirit will CHANGE the world - we won't. If we genuinely commit to loving our neighbor through serving all - especially the least of these - then change will come. BUT, the change that will most certainly come will not be like we envision it. It will be sustainable - not temporary, as it conceived and birthed in Jesus Christ. Unlike the world's thirst for the latest drama, it is not a fashionable cause so many choose to jump on the bandwagon and support for a season. We will be witnesses to true change when it is unequivocally rooted in God's will and purposes for this world - not our own. When this happens we will also come to realize that the true spiritual stamina and endurance to love comes from the Spirit - the source of all transformation.

To suggest that we ourselves change the world is NOT rooted in a careful reflection of the Gospels (or of the entire Bible). It is self-centered in character, western in its strategy, politically motivated and a market-based approach to understanding the Church & Christian ministry altogether. So much so that prayer becomes the most commonly discarded ministry as it suggests idleness or limited opportunities for social action. Malnourished and erroneous as these perspectives may be, they truly inspire all sorts of advocates suggesting "prayer" is a personal affair. Too much ado about prayer may be seen as living out of touch, or at odds with, the assumed militancy the Church should be characterized as being in possessing of and demonstrating "leadership" in the areas of justice, politics, economics and the environment.

We must face up to the reality that the Church MUST be a praying community prior to any action and that prayer must be the foundational ministry of the Body of Christ. The Church MUST be constantly dying to self seeking to have its collective will crushed and in its place, filled with a heartfelt passion for its will to be perfectly aligned with God's. The only way we can ever hope to truly live our call as sons and daughters of the Kingdom of God is if we are willing to listen to God's direction, to receive God's purposes as our very own and refuse any and all temptations to taking any action predicated on what we "believe" the Church should be doing instead of what God "expects" the Church to be.

We MUST seek to divest ourselves of intentions to make of our churches extensions of political parties and of their respective platforms and/or programs. We represent the Kingdom of God. ALL political parties - be they right, center or left, must bow down in contrite obedience before the LORD and seek His will & purposes.

We MUST refuse to make of prayer a passive activity to remove "guilt" as we pray to get it over with before we really "get-down-to-business" at the next church meeting.

We MUST repent for having introduced our desires veiled as "discernment", "confirmations" and/or "guidance" acquired from God through prayer.

We MUST stop believing that there are some people with a "gift" of prayer making their petitions far more effective and successfully sent toward God than others. According to Scripture, everyone can pray and ALL who love the LORD God and seek His will & righteousness are effective prayer partners.

Jesus has called each and everyone of us to the ministry of intercession. We have our prayers commingled with our Saviour's intercessions before our Father - always! How is it that we relegate - shamefully relegate - the mystery of prayer to the fringes of Christian living, ministry and proclamation. Our Lord was in constant prayer. How can we not be?

I urged each of you to reflect on the place prayer holds in your life. How many excuses do you have for not praying? How are we able to fill our days with senseless activities and in superficial conversations while remaining incapable of directing our slightest attentions to the One who gave everything so that we might live?

It is my prayer, that the entries to come will invite reflection, controversy and a deeper conversation about prayer with yourself, with others and above all else - with the Lord Himself. Through these posts, I pray that you'll be engaged in the activity whose purpose exists above every other - to seek intimacy with God and to reveal our love for Him in service to our neighbor for the sake of His glory.

May you find no greater joy that to get lost in God's embrace...

In Christ,

Daniel+

Taking the Gospel Too Seriously. . .

2010-04-03T00:11:00.004-04:00

This phrase is taken from an essay written as part of an obituary for a radical Anglican priest of the 20th century. The Rev Alan Ecclestone was described as, “. . . possessed of a brilliant mind and endowed with outstanding pastoral gifts. But he took the teaching of Christ too seriously – some would say too naively – to be preferred for high office in the Church.”

Ironic isn’t?

And yet. . . these are two distinct characteristics that every committed Christian must embody, endure and excel to be in constant possession of. Why? Because these are the very same character traits demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ during His entire earthly, itinerant ministry. He was deemed to be radical; embodying the teachings of the Law of Moses before the people while simultaneously exhibiting all manner of blasphemy toward the very things the Law sought to safeguard against – or so it seemed to the religious authorities – those that determined, or rather judged, that Jesus was, in fact, a naïve, blaspheming Nazarene whose death would ultimately save an entire nation.

And so it is with us – as we celebrate the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ – or at least I hope it is with us. Today is a celebration leading to a greater awareness of how we have fallen short of living our lives in a full, unapologetic commitment to emulating our Lord and Savior.

In 1 Peter 2:24, the disciple wrote, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.”

It is by the sacrifice on the Cross that we are redeemed, healed and made right before God the Father. The end of the whole cosmic affair of the Cross and Resurrection was to make humanity right before God. The freedom from the curse of sin corrupting every human life, every intention & purpose under Heaven was & continues to be made available through Jesus Christ alone.

This is the inevitable consequence of Jesus’ death on the cross. It is singular and it is unique. Nothing compares to Him and to His ultimate sacrifice. It is exclusive, unpopular and not moved by, influence or compelled by polls or pundits.

Now comes the part that makes us cringe. . .

Again, 1 Peter 2:21 – “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”

How dare God expect or even tacitly suggest that we “owe” Him something for what has always been taught (and expected as entitlement) as a “free” gift from God. Why should I somehow feel “guilty” or “committed” in having to choose to suffer and to live a life that is equated with sacrifice and with constant association to this man of sorrows; well acquainted with grief?

This leads us to the ultimate question of love. For love is the underlying message and purpose of all this. In our day and age where love is most often equated to sex and to instantaneous gratification, it almost seems absurd, if not altogether outrageous, that an individual could possible view love as (1) a choice (2) a life of sacrifice, in pursuit of healing and embodying forgiveness (3) an expression rooted in God and perfectly expressed in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

Nothing that we do for someone we love – if we genuinely love them; that is to say – in freedom and in truth – is ever viewed as a necessity. It is viewed and experienced as a desire to make the other happy, comfortable, remain confident in our love for them and to enjoy their pleasure as if it was our very own. This is the love God has for us and it the love He desires for us to have toward Him. As it was freely given, it is desired to be received in Spirit and in Truth.

How?

Through our devotion, through our sorrow, through our brokenness, through our holding on for dear life, through our giving over to Him all of our control and through the ultimate expression of selflessness – giving Him the coveted first priority over everything else that we worship over God – our family, our lives, our comforts, our pursuit for money, status, appearances & pride – just to name a few gods. . .

What I have found is that this isn’t sufficient for many. The sense of repulsion and indignation people feel at the thought that somehow they are responsible for the death of a prophet – a good man who taught great things 2000 years ago is inconceivable and in the face of a postmodern, scientific worldview – totally unacceptable. There is no way to rage against this position for it is born out of the resistance and rebellion all human beings face when confronted with the reality of the human condition.

And so, this is where the parable of the Prodigal Son performs the miracle it has been doing for the last 2000 years.

[Insert Luke 15:11-32]

You see, my friends, coming to Jesus on this day isn’t about the guilt of having somehow contributed to killing Jesus, but it is about coming to terms with the reasons for why we are not able to free ourselves from the spiritual quicksand our ancestors threw us into eons ago. In this case, we’re guilty by nature of our humanity and by the consequences of our being human.

So, yes, Christ did, indeed, die for you. That is a non-negotiable of cosmic proportion. He died for me, and for every single person on the face of this planet – past, present and future. He took upon Himself the sins of the entire world – past, present and future.

Christ died so that you could be free from the slavery to sin – from being estranged from God in the here-and-now and of having to meet the inevitable consequences of sin – death. In more theological terms - estrangement from God in the afterlife. You see, to follow Jesus means that we follow Him forever. It means that the spiritual dimensions of our humanity become the centerpiece of our purpose on this planet – every single thing we say, do and think of is inextricably rooted in the nature of our spirit. This is why it is an inaccurate & malnourished understanding of Christianity to be so preoccupied with death and with the end of all things, for our eternity is secured in Christ and our attention should therefore be on the things of this world that need to be transformed by the Gospel.

But let’s go back to this issue of sin – past, present and future. . .

All too often the emphasis is on what we’ve done as the cause for Jesus’ death on the Cross. However, there are some of you who will receive these words, or listen to them and as you consume these paragraphs, you will struggle with the consequences of the sins that were transgressed against you.

Yes, we’re all sinners, but there are those out there who are victims of rape, sexual abuse, drunk driving, domestic violence, war and of crimes and injustices that boggle the mind of every conceivable stripe. What about the victims then? The death of Christ on the Cross heals those brutal and inconceivable transgressions. The sins waged against you are not forgotten in the divine economy of God’s mercy, purpose and grace. All the contrary… the blood and wounds of Christ are available to heal the indescribable pain victims struggle with in silence and often without any measure of advocacy or solace available to them.

The death of Christ was to redeem us from being lost. It occurred so that we, like the prodigal son, could come home to God the Father and be reintegrated into the Kingdom of God. It happened so that we could be forgiven and healed. It took place so that we could be transformed from transgressors to healers and from victims to more than conquerors. This is why the offense we feel at the scandal of the crucifixion becomes the celebration of the sacrifice of the King of Glory - and of Life - itself on Resurrection Sunday. Truly, He makes all things new and doesn’t leave any stone unturned.

And what about the stone of the tomb? What does that invite us to pray, reflect and/or consider?

Do not be afraid. . .

The Gospel According to Matthew 28: 1-20 provides a vivid and compelling description of the those early hours of Resurrection Sunday.

[Insert Matthew here]

For me, the most engrossing part is found starting at verse 11 to verse 15. More specifically, “… Tell people, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were sleep.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.”

This day will end and we will return to the regular course of the days, weeks and months to come. I am reminded of how the disciples that were with Jesus on the day of the transfiguration wanted to build booths and remain before the majesty and wonder of the clouds, beholding Jesus, Moses and Elijah. As soon as the desire to remain in the moment of glory, avoiding the necessary travails of the Passion, became the desire of the disciples, the cloud dissipated and the opening to Heaven was – for the time being – no longer within their ability to see.

This is the problem with days like today. Within the 24 hours, many experience momentary glimpses of glory. It’s as if they were watching Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ and walked out of the cinema humbled, quiet and “not-the-same”; remember? Did it happen to you? Remember after 911, the churches were filled with “the faithful” - what happened after approximately 6 months? The numbers returned to as they were prior to the attacks.

We must be weary of those that will slander the Cross and seek to undermine the Truth. It is going to be attempted often in sophisticated and elegant ways. Reasons and explanations will be offered in order to destroy the joy you may feel at this moment. The fire you may feel at this time, others will seek to overtake with water and sand.

Do not be afraid. . .

Trouble will come your way and circumstances in your future may be referred to as a Calvary of sorts. Too often, Christianity comes across as triumphant and the notion of “favor” sets many on the course to emotional and spiritual suicide.

Do not be afraid. . .

11 disciples went up a mountain with the Risen Lord and worshipped Him. 11 disciples and others, I’m certain, who would be on the front lines of this revolution stood on top of a mountain and were witnesses of the authority, glory & reality of God. The Jesus I preached about on this occasion is the very same that Scripture speaks of and testifies to. For 2000 years, every imaginable war has been waged against Christ and His Gospel and yet – here we are today – rejoicing in the absolute, unquestionable Truth – Christ has risen, He has risen indeed.

When you close your computer or this leave this place of worship, prayer and proclamation– made holy because He lives and because of the Holy Spirit’s overwhelming power and purpose, you will be challenged. Days of famine will come when you will feel weak and distracted. You will feel deflated at times and confused. You may think I am referring to non-believers. Sadly, I speak of all of us – do not let this collar fool you. Here is where the message of the Resurrection transcends the possible superficiality of the day. The Resurrection is my proclamation and in the truth of the event, I live. It transforms my entire life. . . in the midst of the death of my sense of purpose, God resurrects me. When I feel weak, He strengthens me and gives me rest. When I feel dead in spirit, He resurrects me, inspires me and sets me ablaze with His Spirit. I am never alone. He is with me and He will always be with you. No trial or tribulation will ever be in vain again. For His wounds have healed you and in your suffering you will be used to heal others – for His glory!

If you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior today – you will never be alone and you will see His presence, glory and grace embrace you – now and forevermore. All authority was given to Him and He has given that to you – if you receive Him into your life today. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ breaks the bonds of death and releases you to savor and experience true life – and you don’t have to die to start living it today.

Receive Him – today.

Amen.

Taking Risks

2010-03-31T18:46:00.009-04:00

Are you a risktaker?

Futures, stocks & bonds require a certain amount of risk, don't they? Some readers may be willing to take a risk on a relationship, on picking an exciting paint for a room or on riding an attraction at some theme park. . . You get the point.

What about God, though?

Are you willing to take a risk - any risk - for God? In the world of investments, a certain amount of risks are taken as being necessary for the sake of the possible returns an investor may yield, gain, etc. With relationships, the old axiom, "what if", tends to boggle the mind and encourages people to make decisions that may - in fact - turn out to be wonderful for the risktaker, but in some cases, risks mean certain death - HIV, for instance. You may have found an exciting photograph in a magazine that inspired you to go to your local "do-it-yourself" store and buy daring hues of paint to add spunk and "new life" to a rather dreary and shabby looking room. Theme parks are filled with risk-taking possibilities - many of those opportunities are recorded on camera & ready for purchase at the exit of the ride. These "stare-death-in-the-face" moments become priceless moments for families & friends.

Jesus asks us to count the costs before we embark on following Him. His life and ministry are the prospectus that we are to pray about as we discern investing every shred of our spiritual, physical, mental and emotional capital into a life - that according to the world's pundits, with some notable exceptions (and these are becoming rarer and rarer over time), will not yield any worthwhile dividends.

This leads to the next issue - relationships. . .

What are the "expectations" you have about having a relationship with God? Does God need to satisfy you? What are your expectations for yourself toward sustaining a relationship with God? Do you have any?

Funny thing that I've often heard women and men talk about having an "ideal" person in mind when it comes to a relationship. What's your "ideal" god like? The Bible teaches us that we are to divest ourselves of these pretensions and self-serving attitudes, but they are present and they do influence are choices and actions. So, instead of acting as if we don't have these expectations for God, let's face up to them and ask how do they measure up to the God of Abraham, Ruth, Elijah & Deborah, for instance?

As words like sacrifice, suffering, humility, forgiveness and reconciliation continue to become more and more offensive and to demonstrate a measure of vulnerability most people are not willing to entertain for anyone (or for God, for that matter); words like b!$%h, f*&k, s$#t and other crude vulgarity become commonplace vernacular demonstrating individualism and defiant attitudes apt for song lyrics, primetime TV & video games. This new "liberating", "in-your-face" & "whatever" diction is even used by some teachers addressing their students and for some parents addressing their kids.

It's no wonder we grow more violent as a society, less altruistic as a community and surely less willing to experience vulnerability in relationships.

As all things work against loving one another, we find more and more examples of how we should do things for "ME" rather than for someone else. We begin to reconfigure and "paint" the town with a new sense of being and purpose that is singluar, rooted in individuality and unwilling to bend for others - unless it benefits us. The selfless life of faith in God doesn't seem too attractive or - even worse - FUN. This is especially true when we consider Brittany Spears lyrics, ". . .livin' in sin is the new thing . . ." Where has she been? Consider a 9-year-old singing "3" by Spears... get the picture?

Our masks, our attitude and our beliefs, are the paint we use to present ourselves; our masks before society - and in vain we choose to do the same before God. We seek to veil our shame, guilt, insecurities and feelings of emptiness, just to name a few.

So, as we stare this reality squarely in the face, and take time to acknowledge the nature of our mortality - what risks are we really willing to take? Are we going to risk focusing on ourselves alone and remain estranged from God? Are we going to risk only what we can control and manage? Are we seeking a god we can control? A god that agrees with us and serves our ends?

Will we concentrate on making memories that will ultimately cause us to reflect on a stagnant and selfish existence? How far are we really willing to go to love without conditions or expectations? Do we have limits to forgiveness?

Only God and you know the answers to these questions. The tragedy also lies in the fact that not only are these questions directed to non-church goers but to believers as well.

I challenge you to divest yourself of as many pretenses as possible. Ask the Holy Spirit to take total control of your life and to convict you to do away with the "me first" attitude. Ask God to bind all those thoughts that suck the life of your prayers and passions for God. And if you happen to not have passion for God, ask the Spirit to engulf you in holy flames for Him. Risk your life for God's life in you. As you die to self, the Lord will save you from spiritual suidice.

Speak to anyone who seeks love in clubs and in the world. An honest conversation will surely unveil the emptiness and desire to find something better. What limits the possibilities for so many are the assumptions that most have that the Church is morally and spiritually bankrupt. Consequently, there really isn't any other way to survive in this world . . . so, . . . You do your best, try to live a "good" life, don't hurt anyone . . . Have you heard this before? How many people do you know who have this so-called "philosophy"? Have you had a cup of coffee with them? You may want to. Ultimately - a theme and a pattern will become more familiar to you as you have more and more of these cups of coffee with others - discouragement.

Risk everything for God. Everything. Ask others to tell you what their lives are like and then ask yourself if you agree that living for anything other than God is really living at all.

Re-Connected

2010-03-12T15:40:00.006-05:00

I met with an old friend yesterday afternoon. We've been discussing, reflecting, arguing and conceptualizing post-seminary education for at least 4 years or so. As of yesterday, I feel comfortable in saying we're out of the drawing room and heading straight to implementation.

I honestly didn't think we'd ever get to this point! To be frank, I had given up on him and on the whole affair.

A lot has happened in the last two years. For those of you who know me well, you know it's been an emotional Kingda Ka. It has also been a time of unquestionable spiritual growth and reflection. I remember sharing with another dear friend how I felt I "missed" God - something that was inconceivable for me in the past.

Between the inconceivable and the incalculable, exists the insurance of God's direction, protection and provision. These may seem to be trite statements often shared with co-pilgrims along the narrow road, but I confess that in my case, they are refreshing and a genuine testimony of where I've been and whence I come.

Throughout this journey, I was disappointed by Christians, especially those in the "prayer" movements. I figured they'd be different and I was sadly mistaken. Prayer movements don't transform, prayer does. Prayer movement folks aren't any closer to God than those who pray under their breath but with greater sincerity struggling to connect with a God who they feel is light years away - but what if. . .

Throughout this journey, I was moved to tears by the sincere struggle of Christians seeking to live the faith in the midst of judgement, pressures of the Christian clique and the "expectations" of perfection from other Christians.

Throughout this journey, I saw my ministry transformed. I thought I was at the top of my "game", surveying the theological landscape in Miami, and in the midst of the climb, I was beaten down into the mire and brokenness of my own life. From the muck of my life, I can see clearly. . . isn't it ironic?

Advent : How not to $ell Christmas

2009-12-05T19:22:00.005-05:00

I'm here tonight at Waters of Life, a locally owned Christian coffeehouse and bookstore in Miami. My friends are doing their sound check and I'm here thinking about Advent, the Old English Church, Elwin Ransom, helping a friend out in English and writing this blog entry out.

You might suggest or conclude that there is a certain peculiarity to starting out an entry on Advent in this way. But, . . . the thing is that the notion of Advent isn't about compartmentalizing the season to brief, usually ill-prepared, candle-lighting moments at the commencement of Sunday worship services across America.

So, if it's not about chocolate Advent calenders, then . . . what's the point,already. The shopping frenzy is in full vigor, where the money is coming from, I don't know. There are no limits to where you can find trees for sale, either. Let me share an extreme and disgusting example: Driving to visit a friend last night, I passed on US1 a strip club selling Christmas Trees on it's property. I might add, there's no fear of God, whatsoever.

Anticipatory Penitence. That's what Advent is about. . .

It about being humbled at the magnitude of our sin, our folly and our pride. In short: our brokenness. Despite the weaknesses of our flesh and our inexplicable ability to negate the undeniable presence, power, purpose, plan and provisions of God on a daily and faithful basis, God is among us and fasted for 33 years from the incomprehensible holiness of Heaven in order to pitch His tent among us and redeem all creation - not just our spirits, but our flesh and all that God called good so long ago.

Anticipatory Penitence. That's what Advent must be. . .

It must be a commitment to decrease our protagonism in our lives so that God's will and presence can take center stage in our lives. It is mandatory that we acknowledge how we dilute the Gospel message and massage it to fit our whims, needs and desires. As we face the weeks leading up to Christmas Day, we choose to address our pride and desire anew to turn our lives over to our Lord and Savior - not for a season - but once and for all. As the sacrifice on the cross was a one time and perfect sacrifice, we turn our every aspect of our lives - ALL of it - to Him as a living and contrite sacrifice. No part of our lives remains ours to control, dictate and choose what is best.

Anticipatory Penitence. That's what Advent will always be . . .

It's about asking the Spirit of God to reconfigure our minds and our hearts so that our greatest desire is to be humbled, willing to be taught and willing to forego the easy life of church for the hard life in Christ. We anticipate the sacrifices with joy, count the losses and pain as gain and look forward to the day our Redeemer returns. In the meantime, we anticipate seeing Christ in the least of these, not in theory, but in everyday practice. We look forward to seeing the Kingdom break into, and break through, hardened hearts and seemingly impossible situations. We anticipate Heaven by living in peace with our enemies, friends, families and angels unaware.

Anticipatory Penitence.

Wait for the Light tonight. Look forward to God's breaking into your life and your hearts. In these hopeful states of heart, mind and soul will we truly make room for the Babe of Bethlehem in the filthy stables we call our hearts. It is only then that we will see all things as genuinely redeemable - especially me, you - all of us - only then we will "get" the incomprehensible love of God.

2009-11-20T20:01:00.003-05:00

This evening, I read the following words written by a gifted and truly insightful brother-in-the-faith, Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick:

From this saint's life we understand that language is truly a gift from God, passed to us primarily in tradition through our parents but also sometimes more directly from our Maker. In the ancient English literary tradition, poets came to be understood in two sense: as blessed and as makers. Their blessedness is a result of God's gift to them, not only in terms of His common gift of language to all mankind but also in terms of a particular gift of eloquence that He has given to certain people. As a maker, each poet is called upon to be a shaper of words, with his incarnate being to work out the sense of his blessing into words fit for their subjects. Therefore, the Orthodox Christian writer must understand himself both as one who seeks the blessing of God for his work and also as a diligent craftsman who perfects what he is given.

The whole passage is absolutely beautiful. In thinking about the Church, I found the singular source of inspiration for me to be rooted in the fantastic notion that each of us, as members of the Body of Christ, are called to, "to be a shaper of words," with every single one of us as, "...incarnate being[s] to work out the sense of his blessing into words fit for their subjects."

To paraphrase the great contemporary songwriter & author Nick Cave, language is a means to access the divine imagination; and in doing so, we are in communion with God. In others words, though language, we are able to abide in Him; opening ourselves to be dispensers and conduits of the Holy Spirit in the culture we happen to find ourselves in. Additionally, it is through this outpouring of the Spirit that we access God directing His words, power and purpose toward the target of His perfect will and pleasure.

Although I risk stating the obvious, the spoken or written word are not the only means of "communicating" available to us as human beings and as Christians, to be sure. All thoughts are inevitably "transliterated" into a language of body, music, literature or other avenue with the final end of "manifesting" a belief, attitude, feeling, worldview or motivation.

What does this mean for each of us?

First, have you taken inventory in the manifold ways which God has blessed you?

Ask yourself:

How has God equipped you as a person, worker, member of your community and ultimately, as a member of the Body of Christ?

Have you ever seen yourself as being equipped to be employed by God is the unfolding and unveiling of His divine purpose and plan?

Second,

Are you ready, as a member of Church, to work out the sense of the talents, gifts and graces which Our Lord has invested and deposited in you for the purpose of "manifesting" His intentions before all humanity in the corner of the Kingdom you happen to currently be sojourning through?

If the answers to these questions exhibit longing to serve Him with gladness and singleness of heart . . . If the results of your reflection reveal heartfelt obedience and anticipation of being used by God in the aforementioned ways, then you are ready to be a poet of the Logos, a wordsmith for the Kingdom. As a picture is usually greater than the description of the episode, event or thing we witness with are eyes, our actions are greater that a picture. They are the animated icons of the everliving Word ever-present in our lives. Therefore, proclaim His great works before the assembly and before all the nations.

Now and Always -

Daniel

A Friday Prayer

2009-08-21T13:15:00.003-04:00

Most gracious and ever-loving God.
Author of our healing,
Champion of the oppressed.
We thank you for your immeasurable mercy & love.

We adore you Savior and Lord.
You only are worthy of our praise and worship - now & forevermore.

In earnest petition - with contrite and thankful hearts,
Heal our broken hearts.
Mend our souls and grant us shalom.
Protect our lives - from temptation & from ourselves.
Redirect our paths - so that they may lead to you.
Rekindle our passion for you - again & again.
Burden our minds to love like You - neighbor & enemy alike.
Bring us out of the desert of our comfort zones.
Disturb & disrupt our lives into complete surrender.
Drive us toward full dependency in & for You.
Take all control away from our hands, hearts and minds - for you alone are our Sovereign God.

Transform our lives.
Transfigure our countenance.
Transcend our pettiness and direct our eyes toward your majesty.

On this day, grant us the revelation of your will, absolute confidence in your promises and the undeniable witness of your presence.

On this day, come Holy Spirit -

Come...

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Homesick for God

2009-08-19T22:20:00.003-04:00

I believe God answers prayer in four ways: (1) Yes (2) No (3) Wait (4) My grace is sufficient for you. Prayer, according to Dr. Robert Crouse, is being homesick for God.

St. Augustine wrote in his Confessions, “It is thou, O God, who dost rouse mankind to delight in praising thee, for thou has made us for thyself, and our hearts are restless, until they find their rest in thee.”

In the Epistle to the Romans 8:26, a loving expression of God’s providence, lovingkindness and care is described. The passage is about living for and in Christ, not prayer. Says St. Paul to the Romans, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you, (Romans 8:11, RSV). So the passage is as much about prayer as it is about making Christ Lord of one’s entire life. It is as much about prayer as it is about dying to one’s self and being raised up in the Spirit of Christ and living for and in to Christ. In this case, certainly one’s communion with Christ is so intimate that the Spirit leads the believer and does, at times, initiate, direct and respond to prayer.

Marjorie Thompson, Presbyterian minister and author writes, “Prayer involves freely entering a relationship of communication and communion with God, for the sake of knowledge, growth, and mutual enjoyment,” (34). Accordingly, the 1979 Book of Common Prayer (BCP), The Holy Eucharist: Rite II, the Celebrant prays, "Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen."

The revelation, given to each Christian, through faith alone, that God knows us and knows our innermost needs, anxieties and desires, is an expression of God’s majesty, not of God initiating prayer. We worship and praise God because he is God. Prayer is the quintessential expression of praise and laud. It is worship and we initiate it. In an Outline of the Faith, commonly called the Catechism, prayer is defined as, “responding to God, by thought and by deeds, with or without words.” Christian prayer is then defined as, “response of God the Father, through Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

One method for waiting and for listening to God is journaling. I’ve elected to write my journal entries on my blog and post them. It is a prayer exercise which really does afford me with a vivid opportunity for growth and contemplation. If another person wishes to comment or just read my thoughts, it is both encouraging and humbling.

Prayer is about thanksgiving and about total dependence on God. God is not my errand boy. He is not some celestial whipping boy for me to do with as I see fit and only acknowledging him when it is profitable or otherwise convenient. Prayer is humanity's opportunity to commune with God and to render all honor and glory to him. In faith, we can petition for others and for ourselves. But let us not forget, if Christ is Lord of our entire lives, then even if we kick and scream when a prayer is answered in a fashion we consider unsuitable, we also know God is in control and we should be grateful to him for it. God's providence, mercy and grace are expressions of an unconditional love which is absolutely unfathomable for any finite being, regardless of formal education, natural intuition or genuine brilliance. No one under this sun, never has been able to attain such a level of comprehension about God's will and purpose as to render the mystery of God's perfect plan solved and revealed in its entirety.

So, prayer is worship. Prayer is praise and adoration. Prayer is the ultimate expression of intimacy between creator and created. As created in the image of God, prayer is a magnet of sorts compelling us to move ever so closer and closer to him. There is no need to be homesick. Come home already, PRAY.

Incomprehensible

2009-08-17T23:11:00.006-04:00

Incomprehensibility - the precursory state of mind necessary for the leap of faith.

I've been thinking about God as incomprehensible. I'm almost sold on the idea that seeking to "understand" God is actually an impediment to trusting Him. Unlike human relationships where the need to comprehend & communicate with one another is paramount to fostering positive, edifying and sound interactions, it is the absence of comprehension that avails us to greater dependency on Him. This dependency - rooted in trust, not evidence of any kind, promotes intimacy. This is the "knowing" that God desires for us to have of & for Him. It is love, not comprehension. It is a knowledge rooted in the heart, not the mind.

I don't recall where I read the following, but there's this notion that human relationships work upon a natural sort of faith that is independently exercised by all regardless of any particular belief in God. So, for instance, if I see examples before me that demonstrate I can trust you - chances are I will. Seeing is believing. This is natural faith.

Following this train of thought then, if we try to make God comprehensible, then we seek to reduce God to a manageable "in-the-box deity" which we can then proceed to control & command. How so? It may be more about our human insecurities & innate inability to trust what we cannot see. It may be that in "understanding" how God works we can control God and then, through some measure of rationalization, we can convince ourselves of our power to convince or exert some degree of influence over Him.

On the other hand, there is supernatural trust. That is to say - trust that intentionally defies human nature and believes in God despite what is before us.
We believe even if we do not see. This is the faith Jesus equates with that of a child. Children do not usually understand the "how" and "why" that causes loving parents to do what they do as parents. Usually, unless they're exposed to the tragic and unsettling realities of broken homes, for instance, in most cases they believe their parents - without question. This, then, is the closest example to supernatural faith that we have on this side of the Jordan.

If we only seek to trust God's person & character - then we choose to surrender any "empirical" need to comprehend God and we begin to live in the knowledge of sovereignty over each of us and over the entire cosmos. This is a knowledge grounded in love, strengthened by faith and sustained by the Holy Spirit.

It is through the sustenance of prayer & God's word that we will be nourished and thereby moved to seek greater trust and love for God, rather than a need to know Him philosophically so that we can trust our knowledge instead.

An Afternoon Prayer

2009-08-03T14:15:00.002-04:00

Lord, fill us with peace.
Fill us with confidence when we feel weak, anxious and scared.

Lord, listen to our prayer.
That by day's end we've seen your hand break into our situation to calm the storm.

Lord, grant us wisdom.
Grant us the ability to discern the signs. Choose our words, Abba, and help us to surrender all our needs & fears to you.

Lord, embrace us with your arms and cover us with your mantle of protection.
May we feel safety beyond understanding. Your secure arms will cause us to smile and rest in the midst of chaos.

Lord, never let us go.
Never let us go down to the pit of despair. Never let us go into the darkness. Keep us faithful to you. Never let us be . . .

Without You.

Miami Music Ministry Training Heralds and Forerunners for the Kingdom of God

2009-07-28T15:18:00.003-04:00

“Now comfort me so I can live, really live; your revelation is the tune I dance to.”

Psalm 119:77
The Message

At a Starbucks halfway from each of our respective homes, Richard Aspinwall, A-list producer in Nashville & Co-Founder/Director of the Miami Music Ministry, and I share what God’s doing in our lives - and in South Florida through the music ministry that he started with his wife, Heidi Aspinwall, 13 years ago.

As we sip coffee and enjoy the background music selections which include Miles Davis’ unmistakable So What, Richard tells me how together with Heidi, National Director for Volunteers for Discovering Opportunities for Outreach and Reflection (DOOR), they headed down to Miami, Florida, from Nashville, Tennessee, thirteen years ago to start what they felt was a clear mission from God – to establish a place for youth across all social, economic, racial and ethnic lines to gather in community and have their musical interests & gifts nurtured all the while providing the conditions to mentor them toward a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.

Since then, God has brought countless youth to the Miami Music Ministry. For just a dollar a lesson, kids ranging in ages from 8 to 18 are paired with a skilled musician and receive 30 minutes of individual instruction in their instrument of choice. Students can choose from voice, guitar, bass, drums & percussion, piano and organ. Kids come from across Miami-Dade County and some from all different churches throughout the community. For those dealing with demonstrable financial hardship, “the ministry will make every effort to provide students who cannot afford their own instruments with loaned instruments [and/or] other music materials for free.”

According to their website, “The Community Music School is an innovative approach to the transformation of young lives through private music instruction, high levels of expectation, evaluation, and the development of personal relationships between students and instructors.”

The dollar a lesson is a way of introducing responsibility to each student. Kids become stakeholders as they invest in their music education. The dollar also represents the actual reason for why the Miami Music Ministry exists – it’s about God and not about material wealth or so-called “success”. The teachers, most of them having gone through the music school themselves, are now in a position of modeling servant leadership and mentoring each student in the areas of music, discipleship and community.

This is the spiritual component to the program. Students are prayerfully nurtured to offer up their gifts and talents to God for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. They are presented with the central life lesson in the long obedience following Jesus - He is the first priority. At the Miami Music Ministry, it’s not about going somewhere and being told you’re going to be a great musician, but rather, it’s about learning to devote themselves (and their craft) to the glory and greatness of God Almighty. In the beginning, the younger students may not grasp this radical concept, but they’re taught by their teachers who model the ministry’s ethos.

As the students demonstrate proficiency, they are grouped into bands. Here they learn to perform in community and to listen to each other. Here is where they learn to groove together and accompany one another. Here is where all the different parts of the “body” are recognized as essential.

On August 29, 2009, the new Miami Music Ministry year will begin. Each Saturday, from 1 PM to 5 PM, students meet with their individual teachers. Along with the one-on-one instruction, all students are taught to read music and music theory in a classroom setting.

The program follows the Miami-Dade County Public Schools school year calendar, including breaks and holidays. The music school commences on the Saturday after Miami Dade County Public Schools open. Consequently, the music school ends the year on the Saturday before public schools close for the summer.

Interested parents, guardians and church communities can call (305) 479-6132 and leave messages expressing their interest and/or requesting further information. Toward the middle of August, calls will begin to be returned in order to place students with teachers for the upcoming music school year. Please visit the Miami Music Ministry website at
http://www.miamimusicministries.com/.

The Lighthouse Prayer Room has Reopened!

2009-07-27T15:20:00.002-04:00

Dear Friends in Christ -

After a few months of raw reflection on the many lessons learned as a result of previous prayer events, it's my privilege and joy to announce that The Lighthouse Prayer Room has reopened.

Was it ever closed per se?

What does that mean?

How soon can we start praying there again?

Let me try to answer these hypothetical questions in the following manner -

It means that the ministry will continue - no matter what. It means that as a direct result of prayer - not all of them my own - we've changed some of the methods we were using before to address events and get people involved. I'm confident that in the future, more participants will eagerly join us in community worship, intercession and in personal adoration of our God through our Lord & Savior via the Lighthouse Prayer Room.

How soon can we start? I believe God is reconfiguring some things - He's working on relationships within the body; in turn, members of the body are pouring into one another and finally - we've come to embrace the blessed reality that trials & tribulations are a wonderful way of measuring the success this ministry is having in the lives of many in the local Church.

So, I begin this new kairos in the life of the Lighthouse Prayer Room asking for your prayers for the ministry and for every single person involved.

Please stay in touch, tell us how this ministry is serving you, submit prayer requests and please - let others know about this ministry. Stay in touch with me, let me know how I can serve you and how we can serve one another in Christ.

Know of my prayers for each of you -

In Jesus,

Danny

Elegantly & Lovingly Challenged

2009-07-15T15:55:00.003-04:00

About two years ago, I read a book entitled Unchristian. Authors David Kinnaman & Gabe Lyons presented an extremely sobering account of the perceptions, impressions and views those outside of "The Church" have about those who claim the title of "Christian". Last night, an extremely dear and brilliant friend unwittingly challenged me to reflect upon these very same attitudes & perceptions.

I asked myself, "How have I contributed (directly or indirectly) to feeling & perceptions that Christians are:

Belligerent
Exclusive
Judgmental
Close-Minded
Self-Righteous
just to name a few . . .

As we go on our way "doing church", are we perpetuating among those who would consider themselves outside of the Church - or as it may sometimes come across - "outside of being religious" - to hold fast to their views that Christians are in fact living far from the adjectives that should be automatically thought of when the word Christian is mentioned? What are those adjectives? Here's a hint - they are all the antithesis of the aforementioned ones.

Friends, I do not think we can just simply ignore any of these epithets any longer. If the Church wants more than anything else to incarnate, transmit, enact and extend Christ, then there's no way we can simply dismiss these terms and suggest that those who feel that way are going to simply have "to deal with it", "go to church and see how it isn't that way" or "go out there and get a better education on what Christianity is all about". Let's face it - we got a lot of work to do.

It is our call to bless and receive all God's children. We are enjoined to be available, accountable and to love.

Maybe it's as simple and as powerful to take responsibility, as a member of the Church universal - claiming the heritage and mystery of our faith, and ask for forgiveness. Maybe it's about listening to why others feel the way they do, acknowledging and valuing their views - wholeheartedly and genuinely. And whatever we do - let's not excuse what isn't - regardless of "historical" ramifications - pardonable. We can argue until our faces turn blue, but the tragic truth is - the Church was not united against slavery, it wasn't unequivocally united for civil rights, for peace and for justice. Consequently, this means many people have been hurt, abused, ignored, marginalized and disenfranchised - on our watch.

Brothers & Sisters, we have two choices to make - we either begin to take the perceptions with heartfelt interest and with an intentional desire to seek restoration, healing and peace; or we can choose to ignore them. We have already seen the brutal and irrefutable price of ignorance. May we be the generation that breaks the chains of passivity and embrace a new era of accountability.

With heartfelt love and humbly offered -

In Christ Alone,

Daniel Medina

Break Out of Captivity

2009-06-29T13:03:00.003-04:00

The Next Evangelicalism is mandatory reading for any member of the Body of Christ. This is a gross understatement, but it is sometime necessary to state the obvious nonetheless. In the midst of all the publications concerning issues of Church & Race, Church & Culture, Missions, Emergent/Emerging Church, Church Growth and the future of the Western Church, Soong-Chan Rah's book directly challenges most, if not all authors and "authorities" of said areas of "Church studies". His heartfelt love for the Church is undeniable. Yet, Rah unapologetically indicts the captivity of the Western Church by the dominant white culture as the elephant in the room which can no longer be ignored by leaders in the Western Church.

Chapter after chapter, Dr. Rah's book provides multiple cases, examples and references marking the manner in which the captivity of the Western Church continues to galvanize and suffocate the true mission of the Church of Jesus Christ. He describes how, "... our movie-theater sanctuaries (to appease the consumer looking for an hour's worth of entertainment on a Sunday morning) and our mall-like church buildings reveal our captivity to the materalistic and consumeristic culture of American society," (p. 53). As our individualism contaminates our understanding of community, the Western Church continues to transmit a distorted theology and warped sense of life in Christ. Spiritual marketplaces where we can try on churches, compare ministries as if they were products, goods and services, is a sobering reminder of how we - for I believe we are all to some degree held in captivity - seek, "... programs that came in a nicely packaged, preset curriculum. . .," without having to deal with the, "...relational messiness of the primary culture," (p. 102).

There's more to come as I continue to reflect on this impressive and thought & spirit-provoking book. It is my prayer that Rah's book becomes a source of humble, loving, but uncomfortable conversations among members of the Body of Christ. I pray that Rah's pain and tears are shared in Christ-centered communities across the West for the sake of addressing the good, the bad and the ugly of living together (or not) in the Western Church.

Prayer Room Update

2009-06-02T12:06:00.003-04:00

"Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end - it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it - it will surely come; it will not delay."

Habakkuk 2:2-3

Dear Prayer Room Friends:

It's time for an update.

After four prayer events, we've seen what works and what doesn't. God's been loud and quite clear, to say the least. Regrettably, some of the support we thought we would get wasn't extended to us. On the other hand, this allowed us to see where God is actually taking the Lighthouse's prayer room ministry.

We hope many of you can commit your support through prayer and attendance at future prayer events. We thank you for all of the prayers and kind words so many of you have shared with us along the way of this amazing journey.

Please know that we covet the privilege of praying for each of you. Please feel free to use this site to share your prayer requests with us. We will lift them up in prayer!

Thank you for reading this note.

In Christ,

Danny

A Viral Gospel

2009-05-22T10:59:00.004-04:00

In St. Luke's, The Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 8, we encounter St. Philip the Evangelist spreading the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ in the midst of the murder of his brother-in-Christ, St. Stephen, and of persecution as recorded in the aforementioned chapter.

The chapter begins with the brutal stoning of Stephen and ends with the conversion of Saul. It begins with one of the most severe persecutors the Church ever knew and ends with his transformation into the greatest evangelist the Church has ever known. These are the consequences of a viral Gospel, a message that is contagious and rather than sapping life, health and hope from those contracting it's effects, it regenerates, transforms, heals and is life-giving.

Like a virus, the Church was also forced to spread through the neighboring regions of Jerusalem as a result of persecution. As they were scattered and spread, Christians, "went about preaching the word" (v.4). In the midst of dispersion there was declaration. As they were scattered by force, Christians scattered the seeds of love that propagated into new believers. Instead of destroying the Church, it grew and became - indestructible.

Philip was one of the seven original deacons of the Church. Along with Stephen, Philip was selected because he was a man, "of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom" (Acts 6:3). He was reliable and faithful. He was full of the Holy Spirit, therefore equipped with every good thing necessary for the ministry. And he was wise. His wisdom, to be sure, was not his own. It was from God. Without Him - he could do nothing. In the midst of turmoil, seemingly insurmountable challenges and fear, Philip was a faithful servant of the Lord. He continued to serve despite the manifold reasons available to hide, put the ministry aside or give up all together.

We are called to be a virus. We are called to spread, disperse and scatter across our city, nation and the world over. To spread the Gospel is to spread a life giving condition that will never cause death, only life and in unfathomable abundance. May we also experience in the midst of turmoil, opportunities to spread our praises and proclamations of the goodness of our King of Glory.

Paramore: Born to Scream Hallelujahs

2009-05-19T14:00:00.005-04:00

I just wrote this article for The Good News, a local Christian newspaper. I wanted to share it with all of you as the theme is, in my opinion, relevant to how Christians view the role of other Christians in the arts. It's controversial thing, to say the very least. As a high school student, I never imagined these bands would ever exist, or for that matter, be embraced to the amazing extent they've been. Being that the Miami Music Ministry is all about bringing Jesus discipleship alongside musical training and development, it's only a matter of time before one of our own is before the limelight. May it always be for His honor and glory.

Here's the article:

Paramore is a band you want to keep your ears peeled for! Multiplying its fans by the hour, Paramore has continued to blow the minds and musical expectations of fans and critics alike. That’s not all, though. Here’s the best news: Paramore is a band comprised of young, talented and unashamed Christians.

In their thank you notes on the “RIOT!” album, all four band members thanked Jesus Christ. Their lyrics speak of misplaced faith, brokenness and of screaming “hallelujah.” A number of sideline observers of the buzz worthy emo pop “punk” band from Franklin, Tenn., are looking for more information on what the band thinks about the so-called “Jesus issue.”

“I try to talk about struggles and imperfections,” says lead singer Hayley Williams about her Christian faith, “and even questioning your faith at times. I don’t have anything figured out that the next kid doesn’t. It’s the people who shove their faith down people’s throats who create the stigma against artists with religious backgrounds.”

Formed in 2004, Paramore has been supported by top notch producers and record gurus. In 2005, Paramore got their first “big break” when they were practically signed “on-the-spot” by John Janick, founder of the record label Fueled by Ramen. Janick, “… was instantly struck,” the official Paramore website cites, “by their presence and their dedication, he immediately signed the band to the label.” Williams adds, “Fueled By Ramen has been amazing to us. So many kids started checking us out because our name is on their roster. It’s like a big family. We all share such a massive unit of fans.”

It seems that current commercial success and touring hasn’t eroded Paramore’s testimony. As musicians, Paramore’s presence, hard work and music is worthy of all the recognition they’ve been duly given. From a Christian perspective, perhaps many who didn’t know Jesus before may now consider Him as they realize that “we are broken” and in need of being restored.

This is particularly true when one reads the very personal blog entry by Williams regarding the controversial use of God’s name and the phrase, “Once a whore you’re nothing more,” in the song, Misery Business. The song, as Williams explains, “… is a true story... written at a time in my life that I felt very bitter towards a girl, who I still haven't forgiven, for a lot of things that she did a few years ago.”

In July 2007, as concern grew for her and band members over the lyrics, Williams decided to write a moving and apologetic Buzznet blog entry on the story behind the song. “I’m ashamed to say that, although I’m a believer in Jesus Christ and I claim him as my God, when I wrote those lyrics I wasn't addressing him. I was using his name casually. In vain, to be blunt. if you know much about the Christian religion (which I’m not too fond of addressing my faith as), you'll probably know that one of the ten commandments is "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain"... it goes on to say, "...for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." As a believer in Christ, that last part scares the hell out of me. I don't want to be held accountable for being the cause of so many people using his name in vain. you don't have to believe in what I believe and no one in Paramore is ever going to go around forcing our faith into people's lives... but believer or not, I might have led some of ya'll to believe that I take my saviour lightly. and I don't.” Williams continues, “God brought me through everything that I say in "Misery Business". I believe that I am a stronger person because those things happened in my life. through that situation, I learned so much. when I sing that song now, I’m not the same person I was when I wrote it. when I sing those lines that I used to sing in vain, I mean them in a different way. I don't want to opportunity to be held responsible for causing a lot of people to use my God's name in vain. so, whether or you not you believe in Christ. whether or not you care if it means something when you say God. just know that as for me, when I am singing those lines, I’m telling God that it feels good to stand up for myself and be victorious after long months of confusion and pain. I don't hurt the same way anymore.”

Paramore will perform in West Palm Beach on Wednesday, June 3, at the Cruzan Amphitheatre, opening up for No Doubt.

Being Jonah

2009-05-05T11:07:00.004-04:00

On Saturday evening, I had two great friends share how they enjoyed listening to the story of Jonah as it was read from Eugene Peterson's The Message. The occasion was my preaching at The Lighthouse and the focus of the lesson was on our seemingly inexhaustible way of running in the opposite direction whenever God calls us to do His will - His way.

We often feel called by God to do what we claim He has disclosed to us to do. Most of us would say that there is a sense of collective agreement in that. I'm sure there are those who would disagree, but I confess that I do hear that kind of talk often and without much reservation. We get into the dicey stuff when we start to "count the costs" to doing whatever God intends for us to do. Here is where rationalization comes in. Here is where we may start crumbling a piece of paper during our prayer time and tell God that we seem to be having a bad connection and we'll just have to call back. In my heritage, sometimes the wrong, but popular thing to do was to claim limited to no language proficiency (Spanish) and say "no English" and hang up the phone. We can do that to with the language of angels, too.

So, back to Jonah. . .

Jonah was a prophet that continues to brazenly exhibit the quintessential weakness of most, if not all, of God's servants: Pride. Pride gets in the way of our doing what is genuinely God's will & pleasure. Jonah was angry at God because God was merciful to a people that had caused Jonah's people great pain and hardship. It was brutal. Jonah was adamant about the promises God had made to His chosen people, but he would have nothing to do with God's unfathomable grace and mercy, which surpasses our understanding and ability to love - if we are ever truly capable of love - but that's for another day.

We hear so many brothers and sisters talking about their ministry. In light of that, I suggest we rethink the ownership of ministry. If all that I have is God's, including the blessings and privilege of doing ministry on God's behalf, then how is it possible that any ministry I'm involved is in all actuality - mine? It's not you see, that's the problem. Pride convinces otherwise. At the moment that we claim ownership over God's ministry, then we take on a distorted sense of ownership that brings along with it all manner of wrong conclusions, controls and worldly concerns that are actually antichrist. All these things seek to weaken, undermine and misdirect the purposes of the Kingdom of God. I'm not saying we always do this wittingly. I figure that most of us are shocked at the very thought! But, my friends, that's what we do - and this is what Jonah did. Jonah wanted to tell God - and He did - who He needs to save, how He needs to do it and who He shouldn't save. We often tell God how we are going to run His ministry, when and who should benefit from it and why we're subject matter experts on His character, universe, plan and purpose. Pretty arrogant, eh?

May we pray for God's mercy on each of us. May we pray for God to divest us of all pride and to infuse each of us with His Spirit. For only in the Spirit can we be moved toward a greater sense of humility and holiness in our lives. It is through holiness that we begin to see ourselves as Jonah and strive to live in the reality of our reluctant and rebellious attitudes toward God.

Get Lost in Jesus

2009-04-08T14:03:00.003-04:00

Spiritual mapquest.

I've had many friends tell me how they used one form of Internet based directions or another and instead of arriving at their destination with zero-to-no stress, they ended up getting to their place by way of Tokyo.

I think many of us like to use some form of spiritual "mapquest" in the hope of arriving to our desired destination. We don't want to be prompted by the Holy Spirit and make these "unnecessary" u-turns or stops along the way.

A good friend in Immokalee, Florida, mentioned how we need to get lost in and with Jesus. So often we want to set the directions and request the path of least traffic and discomfort. How different is that to the committed Christian life, eh? In the truest sense of submission to the sovereignty and Lordship of Jesus, we relinquish all control, expectations, demands or sense of direction. We just go. We "follow" Him.

Jesus knows the direction - we don't. Then why do we seem to always want Him to take the passenger side and we do all the driving? I'm reminded of the famous Depeche Mode song, "Never Let Me Down Again", where the lyrics are just about right. But there's that unfortunate line in the song- I hope he never lets me down again. . . Is that how we feel? That Jesus has let us down before so turning over the driving to Him is difficult for us? We need the Holy Spirit to search our hearts. Do we need to ask for forgiveness from the Lord for something we haven't let go of yet? Are we holding any anger, resentment, fear or doubt toward God? Is it possible that we've let Him down before? Over and over again?

Do you know anyone who tends to lower the volume on their radio when they're looking for an address? It's not a perfect example as it's not a universal reaction to being lost, but I'd say this for it, though . . .

How many of us turn the volume of the Spirit's voice down (or turn it off altogether) when we're lost or looking for directions? We count on ourselves and rely on our abilities to find the way. We try to "remember" the path or the route we took. We look to our past as a measure of the present and as a means to discern the future. Only Jesus takes us and sets us on a course where the past is no longer the true north of our lives - we now set our eyes on Him.

I'd encourage each of you to give into Jesus. Turn over the keys to Him, roll the window down, lift up your arms into the wind and the let the Spirit run through your hair & your heart . . .

Where is God taking us?

2009-03-20T13:24:00.002-04:00

Recent events have made having to address where is God taking us (and me) an unavoidable and extended meditation - for weeks - if not months.

Let me provide some context and background, though. Last night, I had the privilege of meeting with college students from Elizabethtown, KY. This theme came up - again! This time, though, the emphasis was on the challenging practice of discernment.

Discernment isn't about guessing where God wants to place you or how He wants to use you. Discernment isn't divination. Discernment is more about dedicating oneself to trusting God. See, discernment is one of those "words" that if not handled with care, it will surely become all things to all people.

For some, discernment is about "seeing" where God is leading them. For others, it is "listening" to God for directions as to where He is leading and taking them. And yet for another group, it may be a question of "obeying" God. I believe God can call us - so we should listen. I believe God can reveal His plan for our lives and ministries - so we should have eyes to see. As for obeying, we only need to live in the Word and we will come to see that listening to the words of the scriptures with our hearts compels us to live in steadfast obedience - out of love and fear of the LORD.

One brother shared his plan to evangelize those he came into contact with in Miami. Another student mentioned how he expected to come and build things while on his mission trip to South Florida. In the natural, they didn't do either. The one with evangelism laying heavy on his heart didn't get to talk to anyone about Christ. He prayed over someone and did all sorts of chores at the agencies he was serving at. The other student felt idle at times as he was told to slow down and not rush through the tasks - once again menial - he was expected to complete.

I can sound cliché and that's fine, but the fact IS that they both had their hearts' desires met. They couldn't see that they were enacting the Gospel, so they both evangelized. They couldn't see that their completed tasks, possibly going unnoticed in the middle of the melee typical of major urban homeless ministries at local shelters, was, in fact, noticed by the One for whom they did serve the least of these. To find peace and purpose in this truth is the practice of discernment. It is the practice of removing our agenda from the Master's table so that we can truly embrace His pleasure and will.

Discernment is distilling our thoughts, attitudes and intentions so that a separation can between that of the Spirit and that of flesh can take place. We discard that which is of the flesh and live in what is of the Spirit. With the eyes of our heart, we can see, we can listen, we can obey and we can discern in with the steadfast confidence that what our Lord desires for us is all that we need, all that we should desire and all we should live to be and do.

So, where is God taking us? The location doesn't matter. It never did - and it never will. His company is all that matters - forevermore.

Lead on LORD . . . lead on.

Last available 72 Hour Prayer Event Time Slots

2009-03-06T21:54:00.002-05:00

UPDATE - REMAINING 72 HOUR PRAYER EVENT TIME SLOTS

SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2009

6 AM
7 AM
9 AM
10 AM
3 PM

SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2009

7 AM
8 AM
1 PM
2 PM
3 PM
4 PM

Don't Be Afraid. . .

2009-03-05T23:59:00.005-05:00

"Don't be afraid. . . Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia." Daniel 10: 12-13

How often do we consider what's behind an unanswered prayer?

How often do we stop to reflect on the battle being waged on behalf of us by God and the angels of the Lord?

I don't honestly think we do - often.

We can draw all sorts of conclusions for why we experience unanswered prayers. I invite you to consider that many of the perceived unanswered prayers are not going to remain unanswered - rather our petitions, intercessions - the desires of our hearts are being fought for by God and His angels.

Just imagine Daniel lifting up his prayers to God and behind the scenes, God immediately hears him and no sooner as the prayer is even prayed, God commands the heavenly armies into battle for His servants.

Spiritual warfare is discounted by Christians across all sorts of traditions and persuasions. I confess that much has been said and done to "discredit" the notion that there is a darkness that is present, intent on deceiving and ultimate annihilation of God's purpose and people. I believe the darkness is real. It is here to achieve the ends for which it gave up any and all hope of everlasting communion and restoration with God.

The enemy has NOTHING to lose.

God knows this. He is here to protect us, fight for us and save us from the onslaught of the darkness. But do we know this? Do we pray with the genuine sense that what we pray for and to who we pray to and to what we pray into is real? God is real beyond our wildest imagination and most sophisticated intellectualizing. We pray into another realm. We just say "Lord" or "Almighty God" - anything that calls, praises and honors God and we're transported into the presence of God and transported before the throne of God.

In the midst of our turmoil and tribulation - God is waging war against the darkness. He is sending His agents, messengers and celestial warriors to invade and defeat the evil one and his legions. Daniel was told that for 21 days the battle with the prince of Persia waged on - on his behalf. The delay wasn't at all about God's silence.

I'm not suggesting that all unanswered prayer is due to battles in realms beyond our capacity to imagine. But I believe many are. I believe that if we pray considering the reality of the dimensions of war between the angels of the Lord and the legions of demons, we'll achieve a greater awareness of Paul's message to us all concerning Spiritual Warfare -

"Finally, be strong in the LORD and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

Are we ready to put on the armor of the Lord? Are we ready to pray as intercessors and as warriors? As God broke into human history through Jesus Christ - are we ready and willing to pray into the realms of light and darkness? For 21 days the battle raged on Daniel's behalf. Perhaps your battle will take on one year, perhaps it will take less . . . or more . . . I don't know. Those that stormed the beaches of Normandy back in June 1944, didn't know World War II would be over by April 1945 in Europe and August 1945 in the Pacific. The Allied forces invaded Nazi occupied Europe with all their strength, power, minds, weapons - but above all - with hope. Hope in what they couldn't see, but believed would come - and it did. In the fullness of time.

LATEST PRAYER ROOM SLOTS - 72 Hour Prayer Event

2009-03-05T20:53:00.001-05:00

Dear Friends:

Here's the latest update for the 72 Hour Prayer Event -

FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2009 (Slots Still Available for Prayer):
4 PM
5 PM
6 PM

SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2009 (Slots Still Available for Prayer):
6 AM
7 AM
9 AM
10 AM
3 PM
4 PM

SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2009:
5 AM
7 AM
8 AM
1 PM
2 PM
3 PM
4 PM

The Lighthouse Prayer Room - Daily Noontime Prayer for March 1 - March 7

2009-03-01T22:25:00.002-05:00

Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise His holy name.

Praise the LORD, O my soul;
and forget not all His benefits –

Who forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases, who redeems my life from the pit and crowns me with love and compassion, who satisfies my desires with good things so that my life is renewed like the eagle’s.

The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

This is what the LORD almighty says:

“Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.”

Forgive me Father for all my sins and for my failure to love others as you have called me to love them – as I love myself.

“Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”

I WILL rend my heart and not my garments.
I WILL return to the LORD my God, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and He relents from sending calamity.

Consecrate me, Lord Jesus.

I WILL fast and offer my life as first fruits to you, O my LORD.
I WILL call upon you – I will pray.
I WILL seek you – and I will find you.
I WILL open my heart – and receive you.

Take me out of captivity and make me free, Lord Jesus.

(Pray the Lord’s Prayer)

Amen.

72 Hour Prayer Event - UPDATED LIST

2009-03-01T21:25:00.003-05:00

Dear Friends -

This is CURRENT time slot list for the 72 Hour Prayer Event. PLEASE confirm any time NOT present on this list. These are slots already TAKEN by others. The event starts this upcoming Thursday - please confirm your time & date. Let me know if you're coming alone or with others.

Thank you so much -

In Christ,

Danny

THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2009:

7 PM
8 PM
9 PM

FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2009:

1 AM
11 AM
2 PM
4 PM
5 PM
6 PM
9 PM
10 PM

SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2009:

1 AM
11 AM
12 PM
1 PM
2 PM
5 PM
6 PM
7 PM
8 PM
9 PM
10 PM

SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2009:

1 AM
9 AM
10 AM
11 AM

Update - Time Slots (72 Hour Prayer Event)

2009-02-22T00:33:00.007-05:00

72 HOUR PRAYER EVENT NEWS:
THE FOLLOWING TIME SLOTS ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE -

THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2009:
7 PM
8 PM
9 PM

FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2009:
1 AM
10 AM
11 AM
12 PM
1 PM
9 PM
10 PM

SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2009:
1 AM
11 AM
12 PM
1 PM
2 PM
5 PM
6 PM
7 PM
8 PM
9 PM
10 PM

SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 2009:
1 AM
9 AM
10 AM
11 AM

New Noontime Prayer

2009-02-21T23:55:00.002-05:00

Dear LHPR family -

Here's the noontime prayer for us to use in community from Feb 22 - Feb 28. It reflects tonight's message at the Lighthouse. Thank you for joining us for noontime prayer. Please tell me how it has made a difference in your daily life.

Grace & Peace to all -

Danny
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Lighthouse Prayer Room
Daily Noontime Prayer
for
February 22 – February 28

The word of the Lord came to me, saying,
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
before you were born I set you apart. . .”

Praise you, Abba.

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me in my
mother’s womb.

Thank you, LORD.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful; I know that full well.

Bless you, Father.

Love the LORD your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind
and with all your strength; and ‘Love your neighbor
as yourself.’

I will obey, O my God.

Lord Jesus, reveal yourself to me today. Set me apart,
change my heart and touch my lips with your hand.
Use me to reveal & glorify yourself to my neighbor.
Help me to love others – as you love me.
Help me to forgive other – as you have forgiven me.
Help me to serve others – as you served me.
Help me to die to myself – as you died for me.

In your name, Jesus, the name above all names –

Amen.

Lighthouse Daily Noontime Prayer

2009-02-13T22:55:00.002-05:00

Dear Sisters & Brothers in Christ:

The Lighthouse is a praying community.

Although we can pray anytime & anywhere, we feel called to encourage one another to intentionally pray as a community:

* at the same time
* at least once a day

Some of you may feel some concern about this request. I'd like to speak to that possibility in the following manner:

If we read Revelation 2:2-5, we will surely see that although God knows our works, patient endurance, our bearing up for His name and of our not having grown weary. . . the LORD still holds one thing against us - we have abandoned our first love."

In the middle of everyday life, we take and make telephone calls to family, friends, supervisors, clients, organizations, companies, agencies - you name it. We make the time. Let us - as a praying community - make time everyday, every high noon, to join in together in prayer - transcending the location and distance we may have between us physically, so that we many go up before His holy throne - together as family.

Bearing this in mind, I humbly ask all of you to join us everyday at noontime for prayer. Set your phone alarms, watches, clocks - anything for noon. At that time, just stop what you're doing, if possible and safe, of course - ask God to clear your mind and lift the following prayer up to the LORD:

O LORD, our Lord,
How majestic is your name in all of the earth!

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and His faithfulness to all generations.
Amen.

Lord Jesus,
Help me be true to you,
Kind to people,
and take the Gospel to the nations.
In Your Name we pray,
Amen.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you dear friends in Christ. Please let me know if you intend on joining us for daily noontime prayer. This is biblical, historical and intentionally given so we can grow in intimacy with our Father, through our Lord Jesus and through the power of the Holy Spirit. Please, join us in making holy our daily lives and business.

Just send me a quick note telling me your in!

We start tomorrow.

Grace & Peace to all -

Always In Christ,

Danny

About the 72 Hour Prayer Event

2009-02-08T22:33:00.004-05:00

Dear Family in Christ,

I want to ensure I clarify certain misconceptions about the 72 hour prayer event:

First, the event is not about any one person praying for 72 uninterrupted hours. This is how it works - a person commits to praying for half an hour, an hour or for as many hours as he/she feels lead to sign up for. That's all. You are only responsible for the time slot(s) you signed up for.

Second, you do not need to pray alone. We encourage you to bring family and/or friends to join you in prayer during the time you've selected. Choose this time to pray for healing, discernment, wisdom, resolution, power, grace, calming of anxieties, answers, direction - you name it. Pray for others, for the world, for those seeking God and for those rejecting Him. Pray for your enemies and all the brokenness, needs on this planet. Pray for deliverance from the darkness. Pray for the Church.

Third, you can pray -

A. On your knees

B. Standing up

C. Writing a letter to God

D. Composing a poem or song lyrics

E. Singing songs

F. Playing an instrument

G. Listening to music

H. Meditating

I. Journaling

J. Through centering prayer

K. Through lectio divina

L. Through painting, sculpture, graphic design

M. Alone

N. With a group

O. Sitting down

P. With eyes wide open or closed

Q. Prostrated

R. Through hip hop

S. With spontaneous words - telling God what's on your heart & mind

T. Using a Prayer Book

U. Using the Rosary

V. In tongues

W. Through dance

X. Through Jazz, Blues - the Psalms

Y. Anytime

X. You can pray

Fourth, we need all of you to commit to making your appointment with God to pray at the Lighthouse Prayer Room. We do not hold to any theology or doctrine suggesting you can only pray from the Prayer Room. What we are saying, though, is that we are a society not willing to break from our comfort zone - not even for God. We challenge ourselves and others to intentionally drive, carpool - find some way to co-journey to the Lighthouse and pray. We are building an altar of living sacrifices (The Church) making a statement about our lives. We are joyfully choose to go to the House of the Lord and pray. We are intentional about sacrificing our time, gasoline, money, comfort and sleep, if need be, to join a community of fellow Christians in prayer for 72 hours. This is a protest against our manifold expressions of "Churcianity".

Fifth, pray about this event. Pray for discernment, protection, provision, direction and grace. Pray for all the planning, coordinating and preparations that go into this event. Pray for all prayer rooms across more that 75 countries & for the staff of 24/7 Prayer UK & USA.

Please feel free to contact me if you need any further information. Please keep this ministry in your constant prayers and know of my prayers for each of you -

Always In Christ,

Danny

Praising God Almighty, Praising God, indeed!

2009-01-24T23:17:00.004-05:00

Ever heard of a 49 hour prayer event? We did! God not only blessed the Lighthouse with a 48 hour prayer event filled with life changing testimonies and miracles, but just for good measure, He sent one more saint to join us for prayer right near the end of the event!

Healing occured, parents were called, people walked out feeling the unquestionable presence and embrace of our Father in heaven. Man . . . you had to be there, and you can. The next event is already being lifted up in prayer. As soon as we see God's confirmation, you'll know the time, dates and locations. Locations? Yep, that right . . . locations? You see, God also blessed us with another prayer room - now there's two! One at the Lighthouse in downtown Miami and the other on the campus of the University of Miami in Coral Gables. All thanks and praise be to God and to His amazing servant, Desiree' Kameka.

Ask God to wake the sleeper inside! Ask with faith, joy and thanksgiving!

Join the army on it's knees as we pray for God's love, forgiveness, salvation, healing, provision, creation, protection, power, grace and mercy.

Pray without ceasing with faith and thanksgiving.

Be a Watcher.

TO WHAT END?

2009-01-23T09:50:00.006-05:00

"His intent was that now, through the Church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers & authorities in the heavenly realms, according to His eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom & confidence."

Ephesians 3: 10-12

It seems almost impossible to grasp the wonder and power of a prayer event. Externally, the chapel seems to be as familiar as ever. But, as sisters & brothers walk out of the prayer room, they express joy, intimacy, encounters and wonders. You see it on their faces - smiles, fresh tears, peaceful & hopeful countenances.

Amazing.

A dear mentor of mine challenged me to ask of the prayer room events - "To what end?" To what end do we come together as the Body of Christ to intentionally pray in one accord, in the Spirit, with unity and compassion for the needs of others. To what end do we intend to lift our own petitions to the Lord? Are we mistaking God for an idol? Do we take God for a pseudo-Santa Claus who seems to receive requests, honors the lists of those who have been nice, yet hides from those very same kids he seeks to reward with gifts? By no means! God wants to engage us and through prayer establish lines of intimate communication as we would have with a lover.

God wants us to pray with confidence, thanksgiving and without anxiety - however, He just doesn't want us to pick up the phone, call in our order and hang up the phone. He wants us to listen to His voice - often still & small - but always powerful, awesome and overflowing with lavish and immeasurable love.

Prayer Slots are still Available - SIGN UP TODAY!

2009-01-20T10:29:00.003-05:00

Good morning, sisters & brothers - Here's the updated list for the 48 hour prayer event. PLEASE keep this event in your prayers and PLEASE, if you haven't signed up yet, consider joining us for prayer by signing up for one of the available time slots. You do not have to pray by yourself, bring family, friends, members of your community, etc.

All we ask is that you COMMIT to joining this movement - TODAY! Thank you so much, my friends, thank you. Please know I keep all of you covered in prayer -

IN Christ,

Danny
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
AVAILABLE time slots for the 48 hour prayer roster (UPDATED):

Friday, January 23rd:
4 AM
7 AM
8 AM
9 AM
12 Noon

Saturday, January 24th:
1 AM
2 AM
3 AM
4 AM
5 AM
6 AM
7 AM
9 AM
11 AM

JOIN THE ARMY - EZEKIEL 37:10

2009-01-19T11:57:00.005-05:00

All we ask is that you COMMIT to joining this movement - TODAY! Thank you so much, my friends, thank you. Please know I keep all of you covered in prayer -

IN Christ,

Danny

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

AVAILABLE time slots for the 48 hour prayer roster (UPDATED):

Friday, January 23rd:

3 AM

4 AM

7 AM

8 AM

9 AM

12 Noon

Saturday, January 24th:

1 AM

2 AM

3 AM

4 AM

5 AM

6 AM
7 AM
9 AM
10 AM
11 AM
12 Noon

From Walter Wink . . . About the Kingdom of God

2009-01-15T10:43:00.003-05:00

Actualizing the Kingdom
Walter Wink

The early church did not seek to formulate a theory of illness; instead, it healed the sick. It did not attempt to explain how the demonic could exist in a good world made by a good God; instead, they cast out demons. They had no hypotheses about how prayer works. They simply prayed.... Their attitude was not anti-rational or anti-theological, but merely concrete. They looked, not for adequate ways to conceptualize the Kingdom, but for ways to actualize it.

Source: Engaging the Powers

http://www.walterwink.com/

2009-01-14T23:23:00.004-05:00

The Lighthouse 48 Hour Prayer Event STARTS @ 6 PM on, Thursday, January 22, 2009 through 5 PM, Saturday, January 24. The event ends with a community meal at 6 PM & worship @ 7 PM.

AVAILABLE TIME SLOTS for Thursday, January 22:

10 PM

11 PM

AVAILABLE TIME SLOTS FOR FRIDAY, January 23:

5 AM

6 AM

7 AM

8 AM

9 AM

10 AM

12 Noon

1 PM

2 PM

3 PM

4 PM

6 PM

7 PM

8 PM

11 PM

AVAILABLE TIME SLOTS FOR SATURDAY, January 24:

1 AM

2 AM

3 AM

4 AM

5 AM

6 AM

7 AM

9 AM

10 AM

11 AM

12 Noon

1 PM

2 PM

3 PM

4 PM

5 PM

THE LIGHTHOUSE PRAYER ROOM 48 HOUR PRAYER EVENT

2009-01-14T23:21:00.003-05:00

The Lighthouse 48 Hour Prayer Event Join us for the Lighthouse 48 Hour Prayer Event! It STARTS @ 6 PM on, Thursday, January 22, 2009 through 5 PM, Saturday, January 24. The event ends with a community meal at 6 PM & worship @ 7 PM.

Jeremiah's Reluctance

2009-01-10T16:42:00.012-05:00

If you happen to read the Student Bible NIV introduction to the book of the prophet Jeremiah,

the following description of Jeremiah's insecure attitude is offered - I think it's amazing - "Jeremiah felt frightened and insecure - but he burned with a message". Isn't that most of us? It's me, I'm afraid - no pun intended. But really, aren't we often anxious about the message we carry within us? Certainly some of us aren't among other self-disclosing Christians, but "out there" I mean - where we've been told all sorts of things about the "world".

Jeremiah experienced all manner of worry, fear and reluctancy as he obeyed God. There's that wonderful passage in the book of Jeremiah where he admits - well, actually, he complains. . . "But if I say, I will not mention him or speak any more in his name, his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot," (Jeremiah 20:9).

That's the paradox . . . we feel fear, anxiety, feelings of insufficiency, but simultaneously, we have the call to proclaim, serve, minister and BE the body of Christ. Here's where the dependency on God is everything. The power to be, "servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God," (1 Cortinthians 4:1b) - can only come as a result of the Holy Spirit's empowering and guidance. It may also seem to us that God's has "wooed" us or has pulled the rug from right under us. Jeremiah utilizes a much more drastic term - "deceived" (Jeremiah 20:7a). God deceives? The complaint is visceral and unexamined, but nonetheless - very real.

God, however, will always be with us - even in the midst of the storm. It seems to me, though, that the nature of the storm will never be easy to ignore. We will most often be subject to the emotional roller coaster ride evident in our reactions to life's deep challenges and profound difficulties - in short - tribulations. The NIV introduction provides the following reflection - "...no one, not even his chosen messengers, will escape suffering. God's presence will make them strong enough to face it."

So, how does this inform our sense of call and our prayer ministry? More on this in part II . . . I'm off to the Lighthouse.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2009-01-09T22:24:00.004-05:00

It's Epiphanytide. C'mon, how many out there actually know what that means, eh? Technically speaking, the "Christmas" season begins with four weeks of Advent, 12 days of Christmas and Epiphanytide - beginning on January 6th all the way through to February 2nd, Candlemas. The secular Groundhog Day, of course, is the unfortunate winner (even among Christians) claiming the day as the litmus test for more weeks of winter (or less)...

How are we demonstrating to the world that we're an alternative society? So often there is an antagonistic approach to how the Church must somehow be countercultural - I do comprehend the intention, no doubt, but I would suggest that an alternative society creates culture and offers an option to the rat race and the emptiness with which the "world" sadly handles "holidays" (Holy days) such as Christmas. You see for all the talk about countering the dominant cultural values, the Church in the U.S., for the most part, seems to go along with the flow and embraces the "Christmas-is-over-on-December 25th" attitude, too. In fact, you may know of Christians who will throw their Christmas trees out on the 26th of December. We embrace the culture and yet, we somehow seem to think that we can provide an alternative to the world's despair and emptiness.

It would be too easy to submit a blog entry during "Christmastime" and retell the story so many have grown to superficially hear, but not listen to attentively as what it was, is and will always be - The Good News - and as far as this writer is concerned - the beginning of the End Times. So instead, I wait until today - January 9th, to suggest that we are nowhere close to the end of the observation of Christ's birth. IN fact, January 7th, according to the Julian calendar, is the Orthodox (Eastern) Church's date for the Observation of the Nativity of the Lord. These are our brothers & sisters in the Christian faith. While we're "getting back to normal" with the hustle & bustle of "life after the holidays", the proclamation of Christ's birth is still a new song in the air.

I see such radical and amazing power in reclaiming all of Christmas - from Advent all the way to Candlemas. I can only imagine how "church" communities, by intentionally gathering, celebrating, observing and praising God for the unfathomable gift of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, would shake the foundation (in the very least) or just absolutely undermine Babylon's "market" goals & mammon generating "cost-effective" strategies.

As a Prayer Room, I invite all to pray about this very issue. How can we - as individual & corporate witnesses of Christ's first coming and as "prophets" of His second coming - testify to the world that the celebration isn't over? How can we continue to live an "alternative lifestyle" where we do not simply get back to the grind, but rather celebrate that the chains of sin are forevermore broken and no longer hold any power over us? How?

I ask you to pray and find ways to keep Christmas all year round. Live out the message, but not just within you - proclaim it to the world through your churches, parachurch organizations and other fellowship gatherings. From Christmas Eve through Februrary 2nd, play the music of the season, gather and continue to pray, worship and celebrate the birth of the new born King - in the midst of worldly routine, continue to tell the world to prepare Him room! Keep the Christmas lights on, keep the trees & wreaths up, sing carols and make it clear - we follow Christ, not the market, we are of the Kingdom of God not the government of men and neither do we pay allegiance to this nation's extremely limited & hypocritical "toleration" of any open celebration of Jesus Christ's birth. I'm not saying to keep your kids from going to school or to not go into work, BUT you can surely ask the Holy Spirit to adjust your attitude, outlook and purpose so that you may be blessed with the privilege to see the world through God's worldview. To see this world supernaturally. To live in seasons and not in chronological enslavement.

"Glory to the Newborn King!"

Epiphanytide 2009

Advent as Hospitality

2008-12-12T23:08:00.005-05:00

I wrote this reflection during the 2006 season of Advent. At the time, I was a member of a religious-based organization for worker justice. We were at the brink of a new Sanctuary Movement. Consequently, I saw a need to articulate Christian Hospitality as a Spiritual Discipline due to its centrality in both the Jewish & Christian faiths as well as a singular characteristic of Christian identity. Living in the city, I saw a need to emphasis a pressing intentionality to live out the spirit of radical hospitality in all expressions of Christian ministry - especially as it relates to serving the "other".

Here's the origin piece:

It is through table fellowship, and when we welcome the stranger, that we are entertaining the least of these. In essence, we welcome Christ into our homes, churches and yes . . . into our countries. Hospitality is the way of Love. To be sure, hospitality is the quintessential expression of table fellowship, of Christ’s love and His commandment that we love one another. Christian hospitality is an act of profound grace. In contemplating the Advent season and preparing for the coming of Christ, I consider hospitality as the ultimate expression of Emmanuel. As the church, we are "God with us" to the world. Therefore, we, as the body of Christ, are called to offer ourselves and our churches as “dwelling places” for strangers and for our neighbors. In looking at hospitality in the neighborhood, I suggest we look at the greater neighborhood as our city, or our county.

As we look at the local labor crisis many of our neighbors are facing which result in low wages, wage theft, no medical insurance or benefits and intimidation, “How can we provide hospitality?” Hospitality as “doing justice”. This is certainly the case as we fight for better wages, dignity at the workplace and safe conditions for workers. One classic example of this selfless hospitality is the legacy of Jim Corbett. According to Davidson, “Corbett and others began helping refugees to avoid capture, yet he insisted that what they were doing was not “civil disobedience.” He argued instead that it was “civil initiative” -- they were upholding laws regarding treatment of war refugees that the U.S. government refused to enforce. On March 24, 1982, Southside Presbyterian became the first church in the country to declare itself a sanctuary for Central Americans fleeing persecution . . . the movement,” Davidson continues, “quickly gained attention and acceptance. At its height, more than 200 religious orders and congregations nationwide, several universities and municipalities, and more than 600 religious organizations, including the National Federation of Priests’ Councils (representing more than 33,000 Catholic priests) declared themselves in favor of sanctuary. In 1984, Corbett accepted the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award on behalf of the movement.”[1]

Through hospitality we enact our faith. It is the encapsulation of unconditional love (agape) as demonstrated by Corbett for the “other”; “Christian hospitality is a risk taken in faith. It is an act of sacrificial joy offered in the full light of the risen Christ, a light that transforms our perspective on everything.”[2]

Miriam Davidson, “Corbett Offered Sanctuary to Refugees,” in National Catholic Reporter, Sep 14, 2001, http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/091401/091401j.htm; Internet; accessed December 10, 2006.

Hope

2008-12-12T11:32:00.003-05:00

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

It is common for Christians to wish one another “good luck” when events, challenges or important circumstances are faced. Now, some readers may remark, “Well, but that’s not what I mean when I tell someone, ‘good luck’”. But really, what do we mean? I would venture to say that in some cases, we actually mean that we “hope” things go well. What are we hoping for, though, and in whom are we depositing that hope in?

To write about hope is usually easy when things are going well. As long as we are on top of our game or things seem to be fine, we can agree that hope is an easily attainable outlook. In addition to the ease that favorable life situations present, the ability for us as human beings to distance ourselves from the needs others, helps us to buffer our hearts and minds from our neighbor and it makes hoping easier. At least we hope so.

For Christians, hope should be defined as the diligent expectation in the faithfulness & trustworthy nature and sovereignty of God. It is faith in God that nurtures and nourishes the hope I address here. If He is faithful to His word, we can trust Him, no matter what. Throughout human history, God has been faithful to His children even when we have abandoned Him for other idols. He will keep His promises and never forsake us.

The issue of sovereignty also needs to be understood. Without entertaining long and cumbersome theological language, let me say that sovereignty is understood as the unquestionable power God has over all creation. In Matthew 5:34-36 (NIV), Jesus says, “But I tell you, do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.” The earth is God’s footstool. We know that the universe is His and He controls all things. Therefore, we know that God’s power covers all of our circumstances. His care, protection and favor, are indisputable.
We may know these things, but do we believe them? We may have heard of God’s faithfulness and sovereignty, but do we believe that He can take our situations and care for them in good ways we cannot even imagine? Hebrews 11:1 speaks of faith as what propels us into the heavens of hope. The certainty that God is who God is will not come through intellectualization or blind faith. Rather, it is measured by the intimacy we have with God. Only then can we live in faith, hoping in the certainty of God’s goodness and love toward us.

One final item of consideration, though. What about those times when God doesn’t seem to answer? What about those times when it seems as if God didn’t answer us in the manner we prayed for? Our hope will falter. It will be bruised and battered at times. Yet, God doesn’t sleep or slumber. His promises are eternal and steadfast, even when life seems to drop the entire dead weight of the world upon us. He will be there to take on the entire weight on His shoulders for us. Yet, none of this is easy or should ever be taken lightly. There are many Christian men & women burying there children somewhere and lifting up holy hands to heaven asking why. The issue of hope isn’t about whether we do lose it on occasion or not. It’s the mystery of hoping in spite of what we see. It’s about hoping in spite of hope, knowing that even though all things seems to be in darkness, God’s light will breakthrough at the perfect time.

That’s faith.

Holy Hands

2008-12-08T16:36:00.006-05:00

Zechariah 10:3-5 (The Message)

God-of-the-Angel-Armies will step in and take care of his flock, the people of Judah. He'll revive their spirits, make them proud to be on God's side.

God will:

Use them in his work of rebuilding . . .

Use them as foundations and pillars . . .

Use them as tools and instruments . . .

Use them to oversee his work. . .

They'll be a workforce to be proud of, working as one, their heads held high, striding through swamps and mud, courageous and vigorous because God is with them, undeterred by the world's thugs.

Speaking to several sisters & brothers in Christ about the prayer event left me thinking - "Why did we wait so long to do this?"

The conversations pivoted on God's unquestionable presence in the prayer room. Some felt God closer than ever before.

Amazing.

The Lighthouse will never again be what it was after the prayer event. That's not because of anything anyone did. It's all about Jesus. It's all about the Holy Spirit invading the hearts of each and every one of the participants. That's because we opened our minds and hearts to God's voice, direction and purpose. Now there's an excitement that has propelled Lighthouse into a new era of prayer, praise, worship & service.

We've opened ourselves up to the mystery, power and Will of God for each of us and for this beloved community we call the Lighthouse.

Through this community:

We've been called to rebuild relationships, strengthen existing ones and dream dreams of those we may have in the future - in the fullness of time.

We've been called to serve as foundations and pillars in the lives of youth and walk alongside them as they develop into strong, Christian leaders eager to serve the kingdom of God with gladness & singleness of heart.

We've been called to be used by God as His tools and instruments. Praise God that we are only vessels and His work will glorify Him and Him alone. As conduits, we are used to serve a living God who loves unconditionally, restores what seems to be lost and broken beyond hope and transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary.

We've been called to oversee His work. This is both exciting & unnerving. How can it be that He should consider us for these tasks? How can it be that He loves us so much that He has imparted to us the responsibility to watch, care & supervise His work on this earth?

The prayer room event revealed something about these questions -

So real was God's presence & power that we've decided to continue to pray individually as never before and to do the event again - this time for 48 hours . . .

Next time, join us if you didn't experience the prayer room. Join us as we praise, worship, petition, cry, ask without ceasing and simply remain still in His arms . . . Join us and you'll find how powerful it is to lift up holy hands . . .

Who's in there now?

2008-12-06T07:02:00.005-05:00

A common question asked as people come in to pray is, "Who's in there now?" Wanting to know who is currently in the prayer room seems to be just like us, isn't it? I mean, we need to know that we're not alone in this whole praying affair after all, right? It is a combination between good ol' human curiosity and a subtle anxiety. Let me focus on the latter . . .

I can only imagine what must've been going through Daniel's mind as he returned home and, ". . . urged [his friends] to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning [Nebuchadnezzar's dream], so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon." (Daniel 2:18). For me, pleading is a gross understatement. Yet, Daniel was the quintessential example of the persistent and faithful prayer warrior. Three times a day, he knelt before his God and praised Him, interceded for others and asked for his own welfare as well. Knowing God would never fail him, he urged his friends to pray. The NRSV provides the following translation of Daniel 2:18, ". . . and [Daniel] told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven. . . " Wow! Go and pray, my friends, and seek the mercy from the God of heaven. Most of the world looking into what we're doing would consider this to be an exercise in futility wrapped inside of a pipe dream. This just happens to remind me of "matryoshka" or Russian nesting dolls. Anyhow, I feel certain most of us can relate to being in a situation (perhaps we're currently going through one) were the urgency to get others to pray for something to happen is very, very real.

Despite claims of the "usefulness" of prayer by medical journals, I hope what fuels our urgency to get on our knees is due to the unquestionable belief each one of us holds that to pray is to literally stand before Almighty God's presence. In doing so with humble hearts, we can ask for His intervention with reverent audacity as we are, through the blood of Jesus Christ, sons & daughters of the King of the Universe.

As a 24/7 Prayer USA information pamphlet reads, "God reveals Himself in Isaiah 62 as a God who never ceases to be silent. He is always active, and we want to partner with Him as a Church active and vocal in prayer, day and night." We partner with God. How can we wrap our minds around this idea? I mean honestly? Isn't this just amazing? We partner with the living God, with the King of the Universe, with the Alpha & the Omega.

In partnering with God, we acknowledge God's power and ability to alter, intervene, transform, control, manifest, resolve, restore, heal and resurrect, anything in this world and in the cosmos. We partner because of His grace, mercy and immeasurable love for us - not because we have anything really to offer.

The prophet knew this. Daniel knew that he and his friends we seeking the mercy of the One who held them in His hands and knew everything about them, Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar and the dream Daniel would ultimately decipher, through God's help. The Ancient of Days had (and has & will always have) everything under His loving & perfect control. Maybe that's why we're curious about "Who's in there?" Who's in there partnering with God - gaining wisdom, knowledge, revealing deep & hidden things, granting power and setting into motion changes in time & seasons . . .?

Who IS in there?

Are you?

Watch

2008-12-06T00:22:00.005-05:00

There's a certain beauty to early mornings. Often, areas of the city that seem to be so mundane at midday, seem to acquire a particular elegance and otherworldliness at 1 AM, for instance. I seem to feel that this is how others see us when God is working within us - transforming us into the new creations Jesus told Nicodemus about and Paul wrote of.

The ordinary becomes extraordinary and the overlooked becomes a source of marvel and admiration by others who see Christ in us.

1 Thessalonians 1: 7-10 (The Message) - ". . . The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master's Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don't even have to say anything anymore - you're the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead - Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom."

Let us pray that we are stripped of everything that clouds another's ability to marvel at what God is doing in our lives. May He divest us of all manner of attitude, actions, thoughts and beliefs which serve to hide the Christ in each of us.

God Shows Up

2008-12-05T20:46:00.004-05:00

Job 42:5-6 (NRSV) "I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

Through prayer we crossover from hearing to listening to God's voice and guidance. Through prayer, we experience our brokenness. In our naked state, we discover the futility of our attempts to control this life and the circumstances therein.

Through prayer can invite God in and let go of our lives . . . through prayer we surrender . . .

Get On Your Knees and Pray!

2008-12-05T12:36:00.004-05:00

Dear Lighthouse Family -

A lot has happened since our initial plans for the first ever Lighthouse 24 hour prayer event.

Honestly, it seemed for a season that we would never get this event off the road. We didn't - GOD DID!

Within a month of having determined that the prayer event would take place for a total of 24 hours from Friday, December 5th to Saturday, December 6th, several members of this precious community began to take on huge chunks of responsibility in order to make this event possible. I'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks for the amazing support and prayers!

So, here it is . . . December 5th. Tonight at 6 PM the Lighthouse 24/7 Prayer Event begins. We'll run through tomorrow with our last prayer time slot scheduled for 5 PM. At 6 PM we'll have our community dinner followed by worship at 7 PM. There are still some available time slots. Send us an email and we'll ensure to get you in. Thanks again Lighthouse -

Praise God people! For His grace, mercy, provision and love endure forever and ever . . . Amen!

Fasting: A Recipe for Community with God

2008-10-26T18:16:00.001-04:00

“You know, don’t you, that I’m the One who emptied your pantries and cleaned out your cupboards, who left you hungry and standing in the bread lines? But you never got hungry for me. You continued to ignore me.”

Amos 4:6 (The Message/Remix)

Upon a first reading of this text, we can certainly see a possible interpretation as having something to do with trials. As God “empties” our pantries and cupboards, He leaves us empty and without. The taking away of provisions and blessings is intentional in order for us to “realize” our utter dependency on God.

I want to suggest an alternative reading, though. I’d like to suggest that this is a passage about fasting. Now, I’m not naturally inclined to fast and I would venture to believe that most of us aren’t by nature.

Yet, I see God telling me through this portion of Scripture to emulate Him and to make the emptying out of my own pantry & cupboard, an intentional & daily discipline in my life. The intended purpose is to remind myself of the One who genuinely provides everything in my life - no exceptions – no matter what.

What about hunger?

The word “hunger” most often prompts us to consider the physiological dimensions of the need. However, there is psycho-emotional, spiritual & relational hunger caused by a life devoid of purpose and meaning. It is paramount for each of us to recognize how our hunger (whether caused by spiritual, emotional, physiological and/or psychological needs) substantially dictates our actions. This is especially true as we seek to remove the discomfort, pangs or pain associated with hunger.

Clark Hull suggested a theory which has a significant lesson for us to learn as Christians. The Drive Reduction Theory, as he coined the term, suggests that we act in accordance to the needs are facing. We are driven by our needs to temporarily satisfy (reduce) whatever the “hunger” is in our lives – be it sexual, financial, relational or spiritual.

You can see the danger in living a life driven toward providing only conditional satisfaction to the presently insatiable areas of our lives. Here is where idolatry comes in. In essence, “junk food” and “poor eating habits” come in. Here is where persistent hunger (in either physiological or psychological form) drives us to sinful measures sometimes due to uncontrollable urges and sometimes due to desperate circumstances. However we arrive at this point in our lives, hunger determines our actions and can ultimately lead us to ignore God as we come to believe that He has failed to satisfy any or all our needs.

Malnourished Churchianity

In Amos’ lifetime, back in the day (c. 755 BC), God called him to rally against the abuses of religion as it was used to abuse God’s people. Religion was often used (and continues to be, I’m afraid) to undermine, exploit and oppress the people of God. Of course, this led to people falling away and growing ever more obstinate and incredulous toward the right relationship God desired (and commanded) to have with the people of Judah and Israel.

Although the divine mandate is tragically distorted, we remain hungry for some kind of spiritual fulfillment. In the “apparent” absence of God in our lives, we are still going to take necessary action destined to satisfy the void causing us pain, discomfort and in severe cases, malnourishment, famine, even death. This is where counterfeit religiosity and spirituality, like so many diets out there, never live up to there intended purposes. And yet, the diet industry is a booming one as is religion, spirituality and self-help markets.

There are many sisters & brothers hungering for God or for something to satisfy their unquenchable thirst and insatiable hunger for a new life, healing, peace, restoration, deliverance, change and for new opportunities. There is an unprecedented epidemic of malnourished or famished members of the Body of Christ sitting in so many of our pews across America or already having “given up” on the Church altogether.

These children of God are still subject to hunger for something bigger, something greater. Ironically, they find themselves unable to accept that God’s insatiable hunger for relationship with His creation and especially, for each and every one of His children, also include each and every one of them, too.

Often these individuals are driven toward all manner of destructive actions against themselves and/or toward one another. As they continue down a spiral of unending despair, anger, shame, guilt, angst and/or confusion, just to name a few of the countless feelings which can overshadow and eventually take our lives hostage, their hunger, sadly enough, will more than likely be for things other than God. Although we will still desire to be satisfied, fulfilled and ultimately digest something that will enliven, invigorate and nourish our spirit, malnourished people living within malnourished Churchianity will be encouraged to choose from a smorgasbord of spiritual options rather than to nurture a lifelong hunger for the only true bread and for living water.

So, what about Fasting?

Amos 4:6 challenges us, although I believe it commands us, to fast from all the things that keep us from God. All too often we have harbor excuses for not praying, reading scripture, participating in some kind of Christian community and for not pursuing God with our entire being. We fast from prayer, so we slowly loose our connection to God and we begin to rely more on our control and on ourselves. We fast from scripture, so the narratives of salvation history seem to grow dim as we substitute those narratives with stories that reveal the cynical, vain and worldly dimensions of this shadow world. We fast from community and we experience loneliness, anxiety and depression. We fast from God and we entertain the notion that life just is what it is. Consequently, we will then fast from joy, hope and from genuine love.

To purposely keep ourselves for a time from individuals or things that keep us from God will reveal to us how much we are dependent on everything but God. In experiencing this state of emptying out, we can begin the process of being filled by the Spirit of God. The emptying out our pantries and cupboards removes all manner of clutter which keeps us from living Christ-centered lives.

It isn’t that we are to fast choosing those items which contend for the path of least resistance. We are to intentionally choose those idols which cause us to choose between God and them. We when fast from food, the Internet, iPods or from people, we are essentially seeking to reconfigure our lives and to put all things under God’s Christ. In that way, when we do finally come back to turning our computers on or calling a friend, we now do so acknowledging the blessing, but not without recognizing the power our hunger and desires have over us. We, therefore, fast from things that enslave us so that we may live as free people. Free from all things that challenge our faithfulness for our first love, which is Christ.

The purpose of emptying out ourselves is to recognizing how easily we can become subject to our ego, desires, ambitions, pride, shame, guilt, pain and other needs, hurts or “dreams”. It is a daily reminder of our sinful and unfaithful predisposition being willingly subjected, in humility and obedience, under the sovereignty of God.

Finally, there’s a profound lesson for us to learn from this – our dependency is not fully on God. We are double minded and ignore the God who is here, there and everywhere; the God who willingly and lovingly provides everything – even the bread of life.

See you @ Bible Study -

IN Christ,

Daniel

Kingdom Scraps

2008-10-19T21:58:00.005-04:00

I never thought of abandoned blessings. Have you?

In The Message translation of Matthew 15: 27, Jesus replies to the Canaanite woman, “It’s not right to take bread out of children’s mouths and throw it to dogs.” The woman answered, “You’re right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master’s table.” If we continue to read we find Jesus heals the woman’s demon possessed daughter as a consequence of her faith. Later on, we find in Matthew 15: 34-39, that from a small amount of food (seven loaves plus a few fish) Jesus is able to feed over four thousand people. They ate to their hearts content and there were leftovers and in some cases, to be sure, scraps.

This is so like the kingdom, it is from discarded or insignificant remnants that we find God breaking into human history, overturning oppressive circumstances and bringing healing to brokenness. It is in the leftovers & scraps that we find hope. Perhaps we desire God to provide us with fresh, out of the oven opportunities. If we conceive of our ministry as being unconventional and in some fashion challenging the status quo of “Churchianity”, then we would arguably pray for God to present innovative and “prophetic” avenues of ministry for us. However, I believe that it is in finding kingdom scraps, the discarded blessings God presented to other servants which somehow they felt weren’t going “anywhere” (or God took out of their mouths), and see them as the exact opportunities God intended for us to gladly receive and prayerfully work with satisfied and contrite hearts. If those pieces of bread taken from children’s mouths happen to fall on the floor underneath the Master’s table, then it is for us – in humility and obedience – to get on our knees and be content with all but a foretaste of the kingdom. For if we are willing to receive only but the leftovers of what God’s intended for others, then we will be ultimately blessed with results beyond our wildest imaginations.

The other day, a friend shared her reflection on this same passage. She suggested the following, “The children who the bread was meant for did not consume the bread as real hungry children in some third world country . . . They could afford to let crumbs fall. . . Like those children, there are many that God has blessed who have not hungered for the total bread and have not utilized the God given meal to the fullest. When we abandon ourselves at God’s feet we will not only be able to benefit from abandoned blessings that others have not used fully for the glory of God - blessings that now fall to us, but we will be elevated to equal and even higher positions because of our humility and submission.”

How have we been humble, obedient and diligent stewards?
How have we appreciated the meal God so lovingly prepared for us? Have we shared this meal with others to such an extent that the dishes are clean and there are no leftovers? Let us pray for God inspired leftover recipes and let us share the meals with all who hunger for justice, healing and righteousness.

See you @ Bible Study. . .

In Him . . . alone,

Daniel

Take the Red Pill

2008-10-19T21:53:00.004-04:00

Based on Luke 14:25-34 (The Message)

25-27 One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, "Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one's own self!—can't be my disciple. Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple. 28-30 "Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn't first sit down and figure the cost so you'll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you're going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: 'He started something he couldn't finish.' 31-32 "Or can you imagine a king going into battle against another king without first deciding whether it is possible with his ten thousand troops to face the twenty thousand troops of the other? And if he decides he can't, won't he send an emissary and work out a truce? 33 "Simply put, if you're not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it good-bye, you can't be my disciple. 34 "Salt is excellent. But if the salt goes flat, it's useless, good for nothing. "Are you listening to this? Really listening?"

In the film, The Matrix, one of most engrossing scenes is that of Morpheus' meeting with Neo. The famous proposition - to take the Blue or Red pill - has become the source of all manner of philosophical and spiritual conversations, books, etc. What I find most compelling about the entire exchange between the two characters is that most of what Morpheus is telling Neo about the life he knows is actually, quite accurate. As Christians, however, the pills only point to a greater reality. They're signs directing us to a choice we must make, namely, genuinely following Jesus signifies turning our back on how things used to be in our lives. It means giving everything over to God and that includes what we hold most dear to us.

The notion of pills is a fascinating one. The blue pill suggests we are living a life of habit. A life without purpose or, in the best case, superfluous purpose. Doesn't it seem as if most human beings in the United States live out their time on earth enacting a series of rote behaviors and perfunctory actions that are woven into a rationalized existence? Despite socio-economic factors, I see this as a reality of our contemporary existence that truly transcends all financial circumstances, levels of education, race, ethnicity or gender. All levels experience angst, feelings of stagnation and wonder about tomorrow as being typical & mundane. How are we living and ultimately, for what? What are we living for? I’m afraid that the answer is not that distinguishable between a Christian and a non-Christian. All of our lives are affected by these circumstances and by the sense of complacent routine.

Ironically, there is safety in the typical and a sense of superficial comfort that tends to limit or discourage living out our full potential. I believe that the Gospel of Jesus Christ, if faithfully lived, challenges everything we know about life. In fact, I am convinced that the nature of living for Christ alone will disarm and dismantle all of the trappings and insecurities we have about living as God desires us to live. To live for Christ is to live in genuine freedom. It is to embrace our brokenness, embrace our humanity and find that in the process of becoming whole, we become family. We become everything that typical families tend to shield, hide or rationalize. The shame, guilt, interference and loyalties so often associated with blood and family ties are forfeited so we become a family by the blood of Christ.

In this new society, in this new “Matrix” of community, we disregard all that is about us - we dies to self in order for us to receive life in its abundance, in its fullest expression. The blue pill is the security we have in the tangible and in the now. It is the pathway of excuses for why things are and the rationalization for they need to continue to be the way they are. Whether its family, ministry, work, school or other inter/intrapersonal exchanges, we can continue to live through them – making due and getting by – or we can be transformed in such a fashion so as to become all that God desires us to be. That’s what the red bill is all about, I think. I’ll take some license and suggest that it’s pretty amazing that the pill that causes all of the scales to fall from our eyes and sees things for what they really are is red like blood. All too cool.

After you take from the cup and drink his blood. After you take the red pill, my friends, all of your inter/intrapersonal experiences will be altered because they will no longer be about you. They’ll be about Him. About Jesus. It’s when we begin to live for him, that our lives become sincerely noticeable to us for the first time. We’ll notice our hearts for the first time, for they will begin to beat for others and break for others – for the first time. It’s when they begin to break for others, that we begin to live as fulfilled and purposed brothers & sisters. No longer as singular entities trying to make sense of it (the blue pill), but rather, as members of a body seeking to live out the purpose that He instills in us (the red pill). Once He notices you, you’ll notice yourself as one of His children. Once you realize what God intends for you, you will proclaim it from the top of the roofs and from the highest mountains.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t warn you. It seems all too appropriate as Morpheus warned Neo about the uncertainties of his future journey should he wish to take the red pill. The problem with many messages proclaiming the transformative power of life in Christ is that seems too romantic. In fact, it is false advertising. The truth, as Morpheus, offered Neo, comes with a price. Scripture clearly promises that trial and tribulation will come to those who seek the kingdom with all of their hearts & minds. At some point in time, you’ll be taken through the valleys, the wilderness and experience suffering of some kind. It’s only right and sincere to share this “full disclosure” with each of you who may seek to renew (Neo) your commitments to Christ. It may be that you're just about to take the red pill for the first time - a brand new (Neo) start to your life; it's great to read all the fine print before you choose.

So, now that the terms & conditions have been laid out before each one of you – before me as well, mind you, we need to consider this. . . If we are to be the dynamic, living and organic body of Christ in the city and to one another, then we need to figure the costs. We need to make a conscientious decision to follow him – no matter what. That’s the red pill, people. Only truth is offered. Truth that will lead to healing, forgiveness, freedom, wisdom, grace, peace and above all else, God’s immeasurable love. But like Christ, we will experience hardships, division, challenges and confusion. If we tell Jesus that we’ll go wherever He goes, then we need to be ready to rough it. Count the costs, follow Him anywhere He goes, no matter what. Seems a bit harsh when compared to the comfortable routine we called life. Perhaps that what’s so scandalous of our faith, we die to self in order to live. Once we’ve crossed over to the other side, the red pill, we will encounter a joy, purpose and life unlike anything previously imagined. All I offer is the truth. It’s up to you. Which pill will you choose?

Daniel

Uprising!

2008-04-24T21:27:00.002-04:00

Welcome to your Lighthouse Prayer Room Blog!

This is such an exciting time for all of us at the Lighthouse. God is definitely in the house!

On Friday, May 23rd at 6 PM, we will kick off our first ever 24-hour Prayer Event. The idea is to have all of us - every single member, friend & guest of the Lighthouse - sign up for an hour of prayer between the hours of 6 PM on Friday the 23rd to 6 PM Saturday, May 24th. Our
24-Hour Prayer event will conclude with breaking bread (dinner & fellowship) followed by our weekly worship service at 7 PM.

This is an international event. Please check out the 24/7 Prayer website at:http://www.24-7prayer.com/. The site is amazing and filled with incredible testimonies, reflections and updates on this international prayer phenomena which we are now a part of. In fact, just click on "Find Prayer Groups" and search the list. You'll find us identified as The Lighthouse Prayer Room Miami. We will have Christians around the world praying for us and providing support along the way. Let's all start praying for this event - TODAY! A Prayer Pledge sign-in sheet will be available after every Saturday worship service starting on the 26th of April through May 17th. Be a part of this ministry. Your life will never be the same!

Please keep this campaign in your prayers. We want to expand to a week of 24 hour prayer, later to a month and eventually, reach the goal of 24/7 prayer for 365 days. Can you imagine the impact our prayers will have on the city, on the Lighthouse, on family, friends, on our communities, on children, education, ministries, healing & reconciliation - both locally and globally? Can you imagine?

Read Ezekiel 37:1-14 over the next few days. Read it over and over and pray. Pray that the Spirit of the Lord comes upon each one of us and opens our hearts & minds to being brought out into prayerful ministry, set down in the midst of our city and led to pray, prophecy and be a presence - radiant, peaceful and powerful. Let's us ask the Lord to use us so that he may be glorified and those that were once dead, may receive the Holy Spirit . . . and live.

Finally, send us email. What are your prayer requests, praises & testimonies? If you'd like to share them with us, email us at: lighthouseprayer.miami@gmail.com. Please let us know if you're OK with us posting your email for others to read and pray over. Thanks!

See you at Bible study!

Grace & Peace,

Daniel