TATTOO on the HEART

An introduction to the nameless, faceless revival…

// July 6th, 2011 // No Comments » // EVERYDAY LIFE, FEATURED, featured_video, OUT LOUD THOUGHTS

I’d like to introduce you to the nameless, faceless revival on the West Coast. I shot this during a casual conversation with a bunch of organic firestarters at my home last night. They are not a part of a traditional church.

This is Chad & Matt from Fresno. I encourage you to watch this, because I’m telling leaders and pastors about what I’m seeing, but sometimes it’s best to see where it’s happening, how it’s happening, & who it’s happening with. This is not an anomaly.

Video is just over 10 mins total so I had to split:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4NJbgNbBN8

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ao4FeeFWA0

• Chad & Matt are both 18.
• Their gatherings started after a year of off and on fasting.
• In their opinion, church = revival. And if revival isn’t a reality then it should be the normal reality.
• In the beginning stages as Chad was pressing in, he met with pastors who he assumed wanted revival & were pressing in (because I guess that’s what pastor’s do? I don’t know) and they blew him off.
• He reached out for a relational covering with friends of ours in our larger community in SoCal.
• Healings are a regular occurrence.
• They study the Bible (they call them Glory Time) where the point is the encounter with God.
• They are out on the streets regularly feeding & clothing the poor and praying for the sick.
• Even though there is a larger impact of people (I personally know that they have a larger influence of 50 attenders) they seem to only be able to count fruit – what Chad calls “fully submitted.” And he’s almost embarrassed to talk or take credit for the 50 or so that they regularly are in contact with, much less the 100’s that they impact monthly in service.
• The organized church doesn’t know they exist and they are probably “not organized enough” to do anything with them.
• They are already fathering the next generation.

My takeaway:

Tell me what gathering to encounter God – as Chad put it: “When we hang out, what else is there?”; tell me what praying for the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the poor, evangelism, discipleship, equipping, living in submission, etc is?

I dare to say it is Church.

The call is for a new wineskin. Some pastors might think they’d like to have these guys in their church because it would light up the rest. Truth is, these guys would blow up their churches. They would either ruin the old wineskin or they would be tamed or they would willingly leave their churches.

We’d have to admit that in the typical church there are very few that are truly hungry for Holy Spirit to move. We’re getting excited right now in some institutional churches where the Holy Spirit is making some appearances, but without a new wineskin, this can’t happen on a larger fuller scale.

It’s obvious that it’s God’s good pleasure to give these kids the Kingdom. If you want #’s, I can tell you of literally 100’s (dare I say 1000’s) of people in the San Diego area who have either gotten healed, delivered, saved or all of the above this year alone by people with no name, no face, and no budget. It’s so subversive that they organized church doesn’t even know it’s happening.

And the call for us now is to be spiritual fathers & mothers for this generation of the Church who are teaching us to be relentless, to be fearless, to accept nothing short of the full manifestation of the Kingdom of God. I’m fortunate enough to have my feet in both places – institutional & organic – and I have a hope & vision to reconcile the two (Malachi 4:6).

I’m also going to ask for a favor:

Don’t ask your churches to pray for revival. It’s already here. God can’t give you what He’s already answered. Instead, pray for hunger. Pray for alignment with what He’s already doing.

About a year or so ago, I told a 20 something that we were seeing the first fruits of revival. And he said, “What are you talking about, we’ve been living in revival for like 2 years.” I was thinking, “Yeah, but I haven’t heard about this.” But instead of doubting and questioning how a bunch of disorganized Holy Spirit seekers can call upon and live in revival without a single big name person attached to it, I said, “I’m all in.”

I hope you’re all in! You probably have a lot more seemingly to lose than I do. I still hope you’re all in.

I’m giving a relational covering to alot of these guys these days. This has become a large part of our community and I’d love to talk to you more about it if you’re curious.

Blessings. Fire fall on you & not just your churches, but on your community, on your cities.

What is missional? Part 2: Missio Dei

// July 12th, 2009 // No Comments » // OUT LOUD THOUGHTS

Missio Dei is a heavy Latin phrase that brings a smile to my face everytime I hear it or see it in print.

When kept in the context of the Scriptures, missio Dei correctly emphasizes that God is the initiator of His mission to redeem through the Church a special people for Himself from all of the peoples (τα εθνη) of the world.  He sent His Son for this purpose and He sends the Church into the world with the message of the gospel for the same purpose.

Furthermore it means that God is not a passive God, but that He is actively at work throughout the world trying to bring the Kingdom (His rule and reign) into the world and upon people.  The result of His Kingdom means that people are set free, they are transformed, they are given a new identity, and they live empowered by the Holy Spirit and out of a heart repaired by the overwhelming love of God that enables them to, in turn, love and reach out to the world.

This is who’s mission?  It’s God’s mission.  He started it.  And He will finish it.

Now when Jesus walked the planet He was the “sent one.”  He proclaimed this Kingdom of God not just with words, but His very deeds demonstrated the power and love of God and left no question as to His love for the world.

But what most people don’t take notice of is the fact that Jesus lived a life of relationship and dependency on the Father as He was on mission with God.

John 5:16-19

Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

Would you have said that Jesus’ life was normal? You might be thinking, “No, it’s not normal.” It really depends on who’s saying normal. Because in Jesus life and times, what He did on a daily basis drawing crowds to Himself of the people who just wanted to hear Him speak, blessing kids, feeding thousands of people with a kid’s meal from Long John Silver’s was normal. People walked who’d never walked. People gained hearing who’d never heard. People saw the sunrise who’d never seen the light of day. People dead and in their graves – rigormortis had settled in; they were stinking and somehow their lungs expanded and the blood flowed through their veins again – this was all a day in the life of Christ. It was normal.

RELATIONAL RESPONSE

How did Jesus live out this life? If you notice, no place was safe when He was walking the planet. He did a few things in church (the synagogue), but the whole of His ministry was spent among real people, among the broken, in a broken world. Things broke out when Jesus was walking into cities, attending weddings, fishing – even when he was 3 days late for funerals. And the reason wasn’t just because He was God in the flesh.

Jesus modeled a way of relating to God as He did ministry. Jesus remained intimately connected to God the Father. He got away if that’s what He needed to do. But the important thing is that when He left those times of solitude, He didn’t walk away from the Father. He remained with Him.

The very nature of being sent was to reveal and represent the Father.

We toss this term “incarnational” along very loosely these days and thereby render it powerless.  Truly being incarnational doesn’t mean you hang out in coffee shops and that you do social justice in your community.

For Jesus it meant:

“You want to see the Father? Then take a good look at me.”

“Do you want to know how the Father desires to respond in this situation?  Then take a look at what I’m doing.”

Jesus wasn’t trendy, or cool, or hip like the Church often tries to be.  Jesus simply intimately connected to the Father; He knew what God was doing, and God’s heart desire was the engine that propelled the heart of Jesus.

Anything that is NOT initiated by the heart of the  Father is religion; because all mission is birthed out of relationship.

If it’s not what God is up to, then it’s just what we are up to and trying to initiate in the absence of God.  And, quite frankly, it’s not just religion, but it’s sin.

Do you want to be incarnational?  Then speak the words of the Father.  Do precisely what God desires to do in the moment.

That’s scary for a lot of people, for a lot of reasons:

• They are afraid to assume that they know what God wants to do.
• They aren’t hearing the voice of God so they have no clue what to do.
• They’re pretty sure that God hasn’t sent us the same way He sent Jesus.
• They think it’s audacious to say, “You want to see what the Father desires to do at this moment? Then take a look at what I’m doing.”

I think Scripture has made it abundantly clear that God reveals what He is desiring to do in a relational way just like it was for Jesus.

John 15:15

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think Jesus is holding back anything.  But often I do question our desire to actually seek and sometimes to wait for the Father to reveal what He’s wanting to do.

And the  other matter with regard to audacity is simply this:

The world already thinks that you speak for God.

The world already thinks we’re audacious.

And I think it’s pretty audacious how we’ve assumed that God wants a distant, general relationship with humanity that is so superficial that it causes us to be so uncreative and distant in the everyday places where God was once known to work, to heal, to transform, to save through the life of our Master Jesus Christ.

And if you think it’s pretty dangerous to send people out like Jesus with them doing the works and speaking the words of the Father, then you probably wouldn’t be comfortable with Jesus’ discipleship program:

I am sending you just as the Father sent me – John 20:21

Misso Dei.  Seek to save what has been lost.

Join God in what He is doing.

Make the unseen Father seen in the moment.

Allow every moment and every space the place where we pray: “Father, let your Kingdom come right here, right now.  Whatever is not what you’re desiring, let it be undone.  It has to stop.  And Father, whatever it is in Your Kingdom, let it me so in this place in this moment.”

What is missional? Part I: The Wrong Question

// July 8th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // OUT LOUD THOUGHTS

What are you guys doing?

In my opinion, the question often precedes the deathnail in the coffin for a church or ministry.

What are you guys doing for evangelism?
What are you guys doing for disicipleship?
What are you guys doing…

And we go to conferences to hear professionals who’ll sell us their next book or give us the step-by-step so that we can do what they’re doing.

What are you guys doing?

Is it just me who feels like there is something wrong with that question?

What is who doing?  You guys?  Them?

What about the question: “What is God doing?” Or an even better question: “God, show me what You’re doing.”

I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to speak at various churches and youth events across the country.  I’m still genuinely in awe of the fact that I get to do this.

And when a pastor or youth pastor calls me to ask me about coming in, I always ask them: “What’s God up to in your ministry?  What do you see Him doing?  What has God been speaking about specifically?”

And this isn’t a shot on anyone, but, you know, I almost never get a clear answer (if one at all) when I ask that.  I hear some stories about the group and where they’ve been and what they’re trying to accomplish, but I never hear: “God’s at work doing this…”  “God has told us to…”  “God has put _____ in our hearts.”

I almost never hear that.  It’s the norm unfortunately.  And it speaks to a much deeper issue.

Because if we don’t know what God’s doing, if we aren’t hearing His voice on a regular basis, if we don’t even hear Him for ourselves, how can we possibly know what He’s doing in our communities?

And so, because we don’t hear Him or have a clue, we go to conferences, seminars, workshops, blogs, podcasts, etc.  Because someone out there has the answer.  Surely Rick Warren or Bill Hybels or Alan Hirsch or Brian McLaren or Alan Roxburgh is hearing from God.

And I wonder if these guys are feeling the pressure to hear from God for your community.  Because what God is doing in their community may very well NOT be what He’s intending to do in your community.

Listen: a core value, an essential, a mark of being a follower of Jesus – of being His – is that we hear and know His voice.  Look at this:

JOHN 10:3-5
The watchman opens the door for this man, and the sheep listen to his voice and heed it; and he calls his own sheep by name and brings (leads) them out. When he has brought his own sheep outside, he walks on before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will never [on any account] follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not know the voice of strangers or recognize their call.

Here’s Jesus:  “You can tell which ones are Mine, because my voice is unmistakable to them.”
But we don’t know God’s voice often but we know Rick Warren’s PEACE plan, and we have an acrostic for the 5 Purposes.

I’m not knocking great men of God; I’m only saying, why is seeking God’s voice so worth it to them and it’s not to us?

Are we afraid He’s not going to give us a mega ministry?
Are we even more afraid that He’s expecting too much of us?
Are we just afraid that God’s not going to speak?

No offense, but if you’re not hearing from God, you don’t have any business directing people towards a vision He hasn’t given you.

And how can you move forward if you haven’t been lead? How can you not ask the question: where is my Master going?

God’s not general and He’s not hiding His will from anyone.  He’s incredibly generous with details.

EPHESIANS 5:14-17
Therefore He says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine (make day dawn) upon you and give you light.Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.

It’s God’s mission.  He started it.  He’s already at work around us.

Being missional or being “sent” means that we have to know what the Sender is up to.  We must know His intentions.

Father, Sender, show us what You are doing.

to be continued…Look for Part II

Smashing Success

// July 7th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // OUT LOUD THOUGHTS

I’m becoming more and more convinced that the modern expression of the church has effectively ripped the arms and legs from the average Christian.

I was talking to a new friend of mine who told me how there are a lot of people in her church who are ready and willing to reach out to the
community, but they are “looking for a place to do it.”

And that’s the tragic thing that we have modeled (taught).

Because of egos and because of our insecurity as to need proof of God’s blessing by the number of people showing up on a Sunday, we’ve convinced them that the only thing that counts is our weekly gathering.

We don’t validate the spaces where stories collide in the everyday.

We’ve left them unprepared for a life that’s mostly lived outside the church.

And, in so doing these things, we’ve claimed the exclusive right to the presence of God to only been in our midst.

We’ve mistakenly not emphasized that the life Jesus lived was on dusty roads in the commonest of places – that God’s Kingdom comes  not in the large, gaudy, and audacious things, but in the foolish, simple, weak, and underwhelming ones.

I indict myself in this matter because while, for many years, I talked about the Kingdom being in us and God showing up anywhere and at anytime, I overemphasized the need for people to connect their friends with “what God was doing here.”

Discipleship reality check…

// June 29th, 2009 // No Comments » // OUT LOUD THOUGHTS

“…whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple”

- Jesus; LUKE 14:33

At times, I think I’ve made “disciple” and “Jesus follower” so simple, so weak, so shallow.  I think all too often it means something drastically different than what we’ve seen lived.

Being a disciple doesn’t mean that you live some teachings of your master.  It means you take on the life and lifestyle of your master.

In Luke 14, Jesus shares a few examples of what that looks like: taking up a cross, loving Him so much that the way you treat your life in sacrifice would suggest that you hate your life.  He talks about the cost involved.  He’s very specific, concise, clear, and speaks pointedly.

Because this is what HE did.

And He wasn’t asking people to merely follow Him because He did it, but He was asking them to do the same – to lose everything as He had for the sake of others.

Be my disciples.  Take on my life and lifestyle.

“Do as I did” – it’s really the simplest way to put it.  Jesus was saying, “What you see me doing, you go do.  I’m giving you authority and power and a mandate.  That’s all you need.”

But we don’t think of making disciples who do those same things.  Heck, our “disciples” don’t even do what we do.

So we’re not truly making disciples.

Or maybe, we’re not disciples ourselves in the first place.

These days the Church doesn’t have a reputation for dying for its people.

1 John 2:6