Fan the Flame

2 Timothy 1:5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Practice makes perfect right? I don't know about perfect, but it definitely yields improvement if done with right motives and a right mind. Take my son Cal for instance, his 3rd grade fottball team practices four days a week for about 2 hours a day. While there are many times when I may think that is too much practice, there is no doubt in my mind that both Cal and his team have improved dramatically. If you watch a game from last year and comapre it to this year, you would think it was a different team altogether. Good coaching, hard work and a desire to improve is yielding fruit on the gridiron.

While Paul is not speaking of football, but rather of the more important topic of Faith, He has a similar charge to Timothy. He tells Him to fan the flames of the Gift Of God that were entrusted to Him to preach the Gospel. What is Paul talking about? Well He is speaking generally about the gift of Christ, salvation and the Holy Spirit in Timothy and specifically about His gift of preaching the Word. Paul's charge to fan the flames must be understood in a spiritual sense though, not in a checklist fashion. I belive that Paul is challenging Timothy to intensify His reliance on God through praise, prayer and a yielding to Preach the Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16). Paul is keenly aware of the challenges and opposition that will arise against Timothy, and he is also aware of the obvious purpose and Gifting of Timothy as a preacher. His advice to Timothy about intensifying His worship of Christ and therefore His love for Christ further empowers both Timothy's walk with God, and his role and mission for God's Kingdom. The power for this lies solely with God and required Timothy to grow in intimacy with Christ so as to be able to accomplish the mission of Christ more intently.

While not all of us are preachers in a church setting. If we are saved, we are all lovingly posessed by Jesus and therefore should be communicators of the Gospel. God prepares each one of us with different giftings and roles as He has a plan to make His grace known to teh world through his Church.

Are you aware of your role? Are you aware of your giftings?

Those questions will be no if you have no intimacy with God and no passion for Him. If you approach bible reading as a checklist as opposed to sifting through a treasure chest of riches, your motives and mindset will limit your improved intimacy with Christ. When praying, if you approach God as a routine with a memorized script of words that is not from deep within a heart of praise, you should not expect that the flames of the Holy Spirit will be flamed within you.

If we truly want to Honor Christ, it starts and ends for us with passionate praise and pursuit of Him. Only after this happens will we be walk in His Power and not our own. When we walk in His power, the world changes as teh Glory of the Lord is revealed.

How will you fan the flames of what God has entrusted in You today?

Horror

Jeremiah 24:8 “But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them.

Last Thursday the men of our small group made our regular visit to a local men's shelter. The faces of the men there tell many different stories. Some tell of hope, but most of them tell the grim painful story of a life spent worshipping at the altar of alcohol or drugs. Last week, there was one young guy in his twenties whose face I can still see vividly. Many missing teeth, thin hair, baggy skin on an emaciated frame announce his addiction to Meth before he even had to speak. The effects of Meth have robbed Him of any sign of health, joy or happiness. His countenance was literally that of a beaten down, cursed man.

In the last post, we learned about God's intentions with us as we rightly worship Him. He wants us to "be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory (Jeremiah 13:11). Jeremiah 13:11 ends with "but they would not listen". Jeremiah 24 above spells out with detail what occurs when false worship of counterfeit gods occur.
Idolotry turns men who were designed to be a people, a name, a praise and a glory into a reproach, a byword, a taunt and a curse. Notice with careful detail the exact opposite four word comparisons.

>People (of God) vs. Reproach (rebels against Him)
>A Name (of God) vs. byword (meaningless word that is lacking relevance)
>A Praise (for God) vs. A Taunt (Against God and everyone else)
>A Glory (reflecting God's Holiness) vs. A Curse (reflecting the curse of sin)

Long story short, there is no middle ground of worship. We are either engaged with Christ, as we cling to Him and He is shaping us dramatically as His Holiness is infused in us, or our false worship is eating away at our souls, our health and our bodies. We either are lovingly engaged in the truths of God or we are rebelling against Him.

I think one of the most deadliest places to be in as an American today is falling blindly to a false worship that includes a little church attendance that empowers a lifestyle of sin devoid of true worship. I walked this miserable road for years and looking back, it is easy to see how the false gods of alcohol, gambling and tobacco demanded my allegiance, consumed my thoughts and in turn me. Jesus is the only one capable of bringing down the false gods that men serve. He will not receive sloppy seconds from you.

If you want to take a quick test of what idols may be in your life, ask yourself what are the things you will "slit throats" over. For some it is an addiction, for others it may be politics, football or even theological knowledge. You can be rest assured that you have a major problem if when people threaten yoru idol, you threaten them yet when they use the Lord's name in vain it does not burn your ears and soul. Why? Your disposition reflects that you will defend what man has made, but will do nothing to defend the Glory and Holiness of the one true God.

Clinging to God

Jeremiah 13:11 For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, but they would not listen.

Leaving my house in the mornings is my least favorite part of the day. Luke (age 22 months) and Eli (3.5) are determined for me to stay. Cries of "stay daddy" are accompanied with some hand and leg locks around my legs in both an emotional and physical attempt at preventing my departure. They literally cling to me, and it is heartbreaking to have to leave them. I feel like a dog as I shut the door and jump in the Tahoe.

God has shown me in many verses like Jeremiah 13:11 above, that the picture of my boys clinging to me desperately should be walked out in my dependence, praise and worship of Jesus. Man, I have made that way too complicated at times as I love theology and bible exposition. The clarity and simplicity stated by God is startling in this passage.

Positionally we need to cling to him in love as he is our provider, strength and grandest Treasure. Do You do that? Do you even think you need Him that desperately to cling to Him?

Look at what God defines as His purpose for the redeemed body of faith: that they may be a people, a name, a praise and a glory.

In a nutshell, God says that our purpose is to be clear markers of grace that point to the one true God. We exist to bring glory to His name and praise Him. As our lives are changed by His work in us, people see "Christians as Christ"-the name given to us is then synonomous with the God we love and serve. We are His physical body producing faith led works of a divine inspiration.

So lets break it down. When people interact with you, do they know you are His?

Do you reflect the worthiness of Christ as you bear the name Christian?

How much praise is in your day for Him?

Are you bent on bringing glory to God each day?

We are designed to be his people, bear His name, be a praise and to glorify him. This will only happen if we cling to Him as Luke and Eli cling to me as I leave. The fun part is discovering God's unique relationship he wants to have with you. Go to Him, cling to Him and let Him have His way. Unlike me, he will not have to close the door and leave, for He desires our hearts commune with Him in worship.

Slick Willy

Jeremiah 3:10 Yet for all of this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the Lord.

Monica Lewinsky and the blue dress exposed ex-president Bill Clinton's scandalous affair with the young intern. It was interesting to me the different reactions to the most powerful man in the world's display of a severe lack of judgment and discipline. His supporters tried to make it seem like the affair was no big deal and of course the conservatives made the best of trying to bury the man. The one thing that was hard to miss to me was that Bill spent far more time trying to weasel out of the situation, than he spent in true life changing repentance and flat out admittance of guilt. He seemed more concerned about being caught than the damage His actions did to God, Monica, the U.S., and the integrity level of the office presidency.When we sin it hurts God first, everyone who is directly involved secondly and everyone who is under our headship as we invite wickedness in to our soul that clouds our judgment and actions. I am not his judge and I will make mistakes in my life as well, but it is clear to the world when someone is truly damaged at the core by what their actions do to others. It is also clear when someone with pretense will say what they need to say to just get through the situation so they can get back to their old lifestyle. SInce that time their have been multiple scandals from both Republicans and Democrats with similar issues so let's be clear this is a sin issue in the Heart of man and not a political issue.

Jeremiah 3:10 is a clear look at true repentance. Returning to God with your whole heart and not in pretense is the bottom line. What does it mean to return with your whole heart? I think it means acknowledging the fact that you alone are totally accountable for hurting the heart of God, yourself and others and that your soul has an intense deep remorse for the damage and evil that you produced. It also means that you totally submit to the only power that can forgive and permanently restore the damage, God and his son Jesus Christ. Lastly your desire is no longer to return to that sin but to praise the God that delivered you from the very sin that was going to destroy you and your family.

So what does your repentance look like in your life? Do you have a casual relationship with sin that you think is no big deal? When your sin becomes exposed what is your reaction?

When you pray, do you pray for God to change you and turn you away from sin, or do you pray that others will simply forget your sin?

Rivals

John 16:8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment

November 15, 1997. We were in Athens, Ga. celebrating a huge upset win by our Tigers in the South's oldest rivalry game, Auburn vs. Georgia. We found ourselves hungry and standing in a Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakery, waiting for our food to be ready when it happened. A combination of loose tongues, pride and adult beverages fueled the entire absolutely stupid scene that hit its climax as the eight of us found ourselves in a position where about 70 Georgia fans furiously wanted to expel us from their midst. I am still unsure exactly how it got started, and it does not really matter, but it is safe to say that it is a minor miracle that their was not a large brawl that night. The battle lines were clear: happy gloaters pridefully wearing orange and blue and disgustingly infuriated folks wearing red and black. Tensions and emotions were high on both sides. At that moment, there was no neutral ground, and no way for us all to peacefully exist in the same restaurant. Rivals in the heat of the battle can not intermingle, so we got our pizza and left ......

In the above passage, John is detailing the Holy Spirit's role in the life of a believer. His Holiness convicts of Sin, Righteousness and Judgement. Simply put, He highlights and instructs us about the horror of sin,the Exclusive righteousness of Christ and the war between the two and He makes sure we all see that judgement is real. Sin and Holiness are more than just football rivals, they are cosmic forces that are diametrically opposed to one another. Holiness is a term used to describe the uniqueness of God. Sin in a broad sense means all things against opposed to God.

If we are unable to see that Jesus came to make war against sin and that the Holy spirit rallies us against it as well, we have missed a basic point. God and sin can not commune with one another. Like a Klu Klux Klan member showing up at a black panther rally in downtown Detroit - there will be an extremely large clash when the two forces encounter one another.

I am at a loss when I hear of churches having leaders that are openly living in a lifestyle of sin. Instead of these leaders allowing God to deal with their sin they start to rewrite what is sin. They want to make something that is anti-God, pro-God. No wonder the church confuses people. We all have sin, but if there is no conviction of continuous sin and that is the role of the spirit, we should question if the spirit is in us. If the Holy spirit is not in us - we are not saved. I don't see any where in the bible where the Holy bride of Christ is accepting of continuous sin that flies in the face of God. I definitely do not see any place where people get away with telling God what are the new "acceptable actions" that He just needs to get over and understand. We have lost our fear of a Holy God.

If you are indwelt with the Holy Spirit, sin will be a rival that you will wage war against, not make excuses for. No matter the sin, the Holiness of God has nailed it to the cross victoriously. He did not come so that we could be comfortable in our sin, but that we would be thankful from being delivered from it.

Massive Distractions

Matthew 13:15 For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

Have you stopped and looked around to see how distracted everyone is today? It makes my brain hurt to think through the intense demands on schedules and up to the second information sharing of every kind. While being informed about the world around us in broad strokes can be fruitful, having our senses consumed by the continuous broadcast of worldly thought, entertainment and news is quite deadly.

Christ, in the above verses, is speaking about people and the Gospel. The words He used in 30 A.D. above are still amazingly accurate today, even with all of our enlightened learning and gadgetry. Maybe even especially because of our enlightened learning and gadgetry. Jesus says that there Hearts are dull, their ears are ineffective and their eyes are almost shut to God, because they are quite satisfied without Him as they are enjoying all of their stuff. They all sense in a dull way that they are sinful and need some religious action to justify themselves, but are comfortable as long as they get to stay in control and right the rules. In their erroneous life, they do not sense the need of a savior as "Life is Good". That should start to sound familiar.

Jesus Clearly states how the Gospel germinates in one's soul:

1) See with your eyes
2) Hear with your ears
3) Understand with your Heart
4) Turn from sin and Follow Christ
5) Then Christ Heals

These first three are easy to interpret. We see, we hear and then we understand. The challenge to all of us is this: How much of what we see and hear is from God, if anything? If we do not seek "The Shepherd who leaves the 99 for the 1", we will not see or hear, and we will not understand the things of God. Why? Our senses are over run with things of this world and the Spirit's outpouring is beyond our faculties. It is only when God humbles us in the core of our gut to the point when we know we are in desperate need of Him, and we die to ourself, that we can see and hear the things of the Kingdom. It is then, when we are in the spot of a drowning swimmer yelling out to the lifeguard for help, that we are able to truly hear and see the things of the Kingdom. Once we know we need, we can hear, see and understand the things of the Kingdom of God.

That leads us to the fork in the road. Which way we will choose. If we truly understand our position as sinners hanging by a thread in need of God in a mighty way, that does not mean we are in. We must turn from sin, and follow Christ. This repentance is a life attitude of "God you are right, I am wrong , and I am going to let your cross crucify those things that I want to do". While this salvation power does not immediately make you eternally sinless, it definitely makes sin taste like an ashtray and the things of God taste as sweet as Honey as the Holy Spirit convicts and guides us. It is at the point of true salvation where God shows us how we had it all upside down and backwards. The things our sin nature craved were not really fun, they were destructive....kind of like Eve taking a bite of death thinking she was going to get more life.

So how much of the bible do you see clearly?
How much of the Good News about Christ, the way He explains Himself do you really know?
Do you understand, "I desire Mercy and not sacrifice'?
Have you turned your sin over to God's wrath on Christ?
Finally, Have you been healed by Him and you can testify to His power to defeat sin?

This is what Jesus came to do right? Make war on sin and heal and regenerate. He did not come to just inform people but to overthrow evil and make that possible for us.

There are a lot of people this day and age doing the first three, yet refusing to repent and turn form their sin and so they remain unreleased from their sin. They believe that God will accept them being an "informed, yet content raging drug addict" or a"Knowing its wrong in the bible, yet ultra content homosexual". These people have little regard for what God states about salvation throughout the bible and have invented a synthetic gospel which has some elements of truth to it, but fails to apply the Power of God to their sinful lives. The Gospel is a bout regeneration and restoration from sin to God's truth and life, not a bunch of theories and a church routine to clean your conscious. Most importantly they miss the fact that a good God wants to unshackle them from the bonds of the sin that enslaves them. A person outside the kingdom doesn't see it that way. They don't see removal of sin as a blessing. When repentance comes up they see someone messing with the thing that identifies them as unique or special, makes them an independent thinker and is their flaming desire. What they see is Jesus trying to topple their God - and they will have none of it.

"The idea that God will let a rebel into heaven that has not quit his rebellion is not only unbiblical, it lacks common sense" A.W. Tozer

If I am not mistaken I think the Devil already tried that - didn't he?

A belief that marvels Christ

Matthew 8:5 When he entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but l only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with n no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.

What does it mean to believe in Jesus? I am definitely not the scholastic authority on this, but this passage makes a couple of huge points about Faith that pleases and marvels Christ. It is critical to note that this passage occurs immediately after the sermon on the mount. In this sermon Jesus lovingly says, you can not please God in your actions so enter the kingdom through the narrow gate and build your house on the rock -ME!

With the fact that only Christ's life is pleasing to our father acting as our lens to look through, we can then easily appropriate the huge truths about True Faith and Belief. The first thing we see in the centurion is that he addresses Christ and says "Lord I am not worthy to have you under my roof". The centurion has an appropriate view of both himself and Christ. he is unworthy but Christ is the ultimate worth. The centurion's belief started with a correct understanding of his Holy inadequacy and Christ's over flowing Holiness. In verse 9 we find a second key point about this faith that pleases Christ. The man understands the authority, power and capabilities of Christ. He understands that Christ has complete dominion as He says- you just have to say a word Jesus. You don't have to go to my house physically. You don't have to go do some ceremony Jesus- just speak a word and your complete dominance over all will show itself.

Jesus marvels at the centurion. Stop and think about that - this same Jesus just preached a sermon about the near impossibility of truly pleasing God. This sermon on the narrow gate and the wideness of human depravity that will not squeeze through it, and he goes to Capernaum and a gentile centurion has appropriated a faith that demands Christ as the centerpiece. Jesus is pleased by this man's belief......it is the belief that is mentioned in John 3:16.

We must remember that even the devil knows of Christ's Holy authority. The acknowledgement of Holy Authority must be intertwined with a total submission to Him, based on a complete understanding of our inability to be Holy outside of Him. It is only when we allow the Christ's Cross to crucify our flesh and impart the spirit that Christ's fruitful life walks in our shoes.

This type of faith avoided me for much of my life. My belief was that God was Good and I needed to try to be as much like Him as I could. I was trying to do what only Jesus could do -live a life pleasing to God. I was miserably failing and my faith was in me and my attempts, not in Christ Alone. I had no true belief that just as the sky is blue, I was incapable of pleasing God. Like the centurion, I now understand that no matter how much I tried to be good apart from Christ, I had nothing good to give and the only way for Him to work in my life was to fall at His feet permanently not as an emotional, semi-frequent, half hearted religious routine. As my worship of Christ has intensified, His way is made known through my life...I pray that I please Him.