An Unexplained Healing

Listen to this!

•  This Soul on the Street has been mentioned before in our update posts. He is an older man. He has a chronic illness in stage 4. After routine blood work, his doctor scheduled him an appointment.  Usually the doctor adjusts medications over the phone but this time they asked him to come in face to face to discuss the results.

All they wanted to do was tell him good news!

He was told he would be chronically anemic -but he is no longer anemic!

He was told he would be chronically low potassium - but he is no longer low potassium!

His blood pressure and cholesterol came back perfect!

He has been hypothyroid for years and years and they cut his dose to 1/3!

But that's not all.  He had another appointment leading up to last week regarding his chronic illness.  Today he told us this:

"For two and a half years I have gotten no worse in being Stage 4.  This is a progressive disease, so the fact that it has not worsened is atypical.  Today they told me that I have actually gained back some of my function.  I'm scoring better than I did two and a half months ago!  I know this is because God is still trying to show me that He has plans for my life."

A year ago I tuned in to the webcast of the Verge 2013 conference in Austin, where I watched this video:



It changed me.  It changed what I wanted, out of being a Christian and serving Him.

I have been looking to pray specifically for God's restorative miracles in the lives of the Souls on the Street.  It has been hard at times to pray with faith and with the authority the Father gives us because of the Son of God.  There are waves where the Spirit has made me obedient.  I am just thankful that sometimes my prayers resemble the Christianity I see in scripture. Ephesians 1:20-21; 2:6,

He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named.... ...and [He] raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus....  

He is sharing this dominion over every spiritual force, freely given to us through faith in Jesus Christ. Unbelievable!!


Jesus, Praise You!  You are the King.  I long to see Your power, I long to see you glorified.  God without you we can do nothing.  We can ask You for our needs, we can share Your Words.  But only You give the increase.  Thank you for being there in the spaces between our prayers.  Thank you for keeping our hearts on course.  Please continue to show Your might through real people, real stories of transformation.  Thank you for meeting my needs specifically this week as well!

Prayer as a Woman Giving Birth

Kinda hilarious how coarse the Bible is, sometimes, right?  T.M.I.!!

Lord, in trouble they have visited You,
They poured out a prayer when Your chastening was upon them.
As a woman with child
Is in pain and cries out in her pangs,
When she draws near the time of her delivery,
So have we been in Your sight, O Lord.
We have been with child, we have been in pain;
We have, as it were, brought forth wind;
We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth,
Nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

I am absolutely filled with wrong attitudes like these!  This kind of prayer was self-focused.  There is nothing wrong with asking for God to help; the point is that this was the bulk of their relation with God.  The by-product?  They had all the pains and symptoms of a woman about to give birth, but what they delivered was bodily gas.  No baby.  Eew!!

How many times have I labored with no fruit?  Something is missing.  John 15:8,

By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

I am constantly using my busyness for God to "make up" for something lacking in me.  Eew!  It just isn't about me!   Christian tasks are not meant to fill in the gap left by my failings.  Matt. 5:20,

For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

Not hating lands, homes, possessions, even our own children and spouse and parents for the sake of the fruit in Jesus Christ will leave us with impure motives.  I repent, a lot!  In my heart, these repentant prayers go something like this: "God, I know You walk with me through this suffering.  In the meantime, will You act in power for my friend, for this city?"

We have not accomplished any deliverance in the earth.
Nor have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

The loud noises of labor pains built expectation of impact in the culture.  This scripture describes a kind of Christianity that does not impact beyond its own people-boundary.  We will not give birth in the world if we wait for the city to come on to a church campus to be exposed to Him.  We must have sojourners from our city walk with us through life in order to give birth.  But we need more than just sojourners from the city.  Isaiah 66:7-9,

'Before she was in labor, she gave birth;
Before her pain came,
She delivered a male child.
Who has heard such a thing?
Who has seen such things?
Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day?
Or shall a nation be born at once?
For as soon as Zion was in labor,
She gave birth to her children.
Shall I bring to the time of birth, and not cause delivery?' says the Lord.

If you've grabbed some sojourners - meaning - some unbelieving, post-Christian people, that's awesome.  You've made them privy to your labor pains of life lived for God.  But there's still something left wanting.  To give birth without labor pains, that is what I long for.  Out of all of life's struggles, bearing fruit might be the one effortless pursuit.  I'm ready!  What in the world is this??  It is a reversal of God's curse on Eve in Genesis 3.  Zion is citizenship in the Kingdom of Christ.  Though our ultimate experience of easy birth will be in the Kingdom of God, I believe that if we press into this Kingdom promise, with an eye on the city, He will give it to us today.


Jesus, forgive me.  I want fruit, and I'm spinning my wheels.  This is not what you designed.  Can you let me enter in to effortless fruit bearing?  By the grace stored for me in Christ Jesus?  Teach me to make my life small, teach me humility.  Help me to glorify you.  Teach me to abide in Your love so that I will bear much fruit.  I trust you to do as your Word says, and I am so happy to watch you at work!  Help me to remember to stay in Your love and joy!

Prayer Walking

Galen Currah from People of Yes has made himself accessible to us.  He recommends prayer walking as a way to start a church plant.  He has said that many times they pray to bind Satan in a neighborhood and that hungry people ready for the gospel will receive it.  Many times people have exited their homes, approach the team who is prayer walking, and ask them questions about God.

This person of peace, this Gospel seeker, begins a whole new church plant with his or her entire network of family and friends.

We haven't been prayer walking lately but hope that as the weather turns for the better we can do it more regularly.  I hope to boast in God and not in ourselves.  I am not awesome, or a great Christian because of the religious things I do.  I want to continue to write about what God does.  I write to invite and encourage.  

Do you believe that you have the power within you to start your own church?  It's true!  Will He not give you the power and authority to do exactly what He commands?  Of course!  Jesus commanded us to go make disciples who make disciples.  This is a church - a community of people whose legacy is obedience to God.  This is what these street Christians are looking for; this is what they believe in the depths of their soul.  It is why they are on the street.

On the People of Yes website it says,

The irony of our age: many people who avoid the big brick church down the street crave precisely what Scripture requires… 

• Warm, relational atmosphere, serving one another in love (1 Cor. Chapters 12 and 13),

• Lively music that everybody sings (the last two Psalms), 

• Interactive discussion of God’s Word (the many New Testament “one another” commands such as “teach one another” and “exhort one another”),

• Experiencing Jesus’ Presence rather than merely learning abstract truths about Him (1 Cor. 14:24-26).

Father, please be with us today.  Show us your presence.  Show the people on the streets of Salem, your Presence.  Let us enjoy who you are.  Let us see who you are.  Let us have ears to hear.  God, cause those who are willing to repent to be joined to us, and us joined to them, in the joy of your Holy Spirit.

Authority for Women, Part 5

If you decide to live in limbo land like me, with one foot in the church door working complimentarily with appointed overseers, and another foot in high rebellion for the sake of righteousness, I will warn you it's miserable for awhile.  You're "discipling down," you're "discipling up."  You're calling people to get out of the system and plugging people back into the system.  Nobody likes you.  Nobody understands why you're both angry and loving at once.

Why stay?  Why bother them?  Why bother yourself?

KING JOSIAH HAD AUTHORITY

As King, Josiah had all the authority he could want - what he wanted to know was God's opinion on how he should next lead the people.  Even those in authority need assurance, they need inspiration, they also need revival.  They need someone outside the structures of what is, to speak the truth and to demonstrate it.

It is good for tender hearts to be collected in trust and love.  Although "discipling up" can be the most difficult kind of love to give away, it is the most rewarding.  If you want to be faithful to the church as you embrace a calling others cannot understand, I will hold your hand as you grit your teeth.  What you are doing is the most noble kind of thing.  Thank you for your leadership when no one else comprehended it.

The members of the Body need one another.  Overseers need the truth, because they bear a heavy burden.  They are godly people too, who, if exhorted, will be thankful for someone bold enough to promote God's will, and godly, powerful leaders like David and Josiah recognize it in women like Abigail and Huldah.

FOR WOMEN WHO FEEL GOD POINTING AT THEM

Start now with God's authority, and obey.  The approval of overseers comes later after you get your ball rolling.

Yes, on paper Jesus was respectful to send healed people in to the system in the prescribed ways, back to the very ways and rulers who were rejecting Him.

But what was most deeply on Jesus' heart?  What is this really all about?

Is it all about the lost?
Is it all about the backslidden?
Is it all about my personal calling?

Actually it's not about any of those.  Significance and purpose is derived from the church.

(Just as what you found you tolerated at church drew you to lead in Christ's authority, the church just goes to show you it gave you the direction in mission by pointing your hope back to Christ.  You wouldn't have heard your calling if you hadn't hung out with fellow worshipers.  How clever is Lady Wisdom!  See how we catalyst-types learned to be annoying?  We learned from the best!  We learned it straight from the Bride of Christ herself.)

We have got to have a love for the church.  It has to drive all that we do.  We don't win lost people if the church has lost its vibrancy.  We don't win the backslidden if the church has lost its vibrancy.  Our personal calling doesn't have its complete impact if the church we depart from has lost its vibrancy.  We don't lead our children well if their bigger picture of what it means to be a Christian, in the local church, has lost its vibrancy.  It is through the church that Jesus is accomplishing His mission.

One lone hero, one great rogue Christian visible to the world at large isn't enough to win back the culture to Jesus.  If all of us don't make it, none of us will.  Ephesians 3:10,

...now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places....

Calling and authority must be wielded in such a way to mobilize the larger body of Christ.

Authority for Women, Part 4

Huldah proves I don't need to be a lot of things in order to serve Christ.  Gender ought to be irrelevant, as should probably a lot of factors such as a seminary degree.

Part of me wants to cry, if God gives authority to do that which He calls us to do, what are we waiting for?  And yet at the same time I'm contradictory, I'm desperate to warn that it's not that simple.

I have had people tell me I care far too much about what people think who don't understand what God has called me to do.  They are usually those who've discovered that authority and power come directly from God Himself.  They're outside the usual church structures doing what they love, speaking back to me in limbo land.  They don't like me.  They're frustrated that I don't just keep it simple and obey Jesus.  They don't get why I stay.

I have had people tell me I care far too little about what leadership believes is important.  The way this is verbally expressed in church culture (not specific to my life) is "Well you may be called to do that, but I don't know if you can do that here."  So their best recommendation is to skip around churches in town, looking for a backer.  Yes, that obtains unity and peace for God's people.  But the ends do not justify the means (unfaithfulness).

Nobody likes me because I don't accept either of those.  It is absolutely wise not to ruffle feathers of godly men and women.  And yet it is godly to ruffle Kingdom feathers.

"DISCIPLING UP"

Remember Zacchaeus?  He hung out in the tree, gathering who Jesus was for some time before he had a change in heart.  This is typical discipling, "discipling down."  But leaders need time to take things in, too.  They need to have time to listen and observe.  Overseers of church need "tree-time."  They are no different.

On paper, consider Jesus.  When he healed people, He commanded them to go show themselves to the priest, as prescribed by the laws of Moses.  He commanded others to follow all the laws, be approved to enter society again through the God-ordained channels.  His ultimate passion was blessing the people and blessing the community of God by sending back people made well.  Yes - He told them the truth about God's commands.  However He still had respect for God's leaders.  Many of the leaders rejected Jesus, but not all.  Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, two temple authorities, eventually joined this Kingdom movement.  His respect bore fruit in the leadership.  We call this "discipling up."

Women are very familiar with another scenario they are often called, to "disciple up."  1 Peter 3:1-2,

Wives, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the Word, they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives, when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear.

Consider Abigail.  She had a husband who was a fool.  She was accustomed to being sought out by the servants in her household to bridge the gap of her husband's poor choices.  When she heard that David was nearby and in danger, she was quick to bring in true righteousness.  Nobody told her to do what was right; she did it under the authority of God alone.  She went out to meet David.  Did she tell him what to do?  No way!  She bowed in respect and waited to speak.  Even David had lost his head and was making the wrong decision.  And while Abigail saw that and wanted to stop it, she was quiet and submissive as many times as a man decided to take the lead.

Let's evaluate the wisdom of the counsel "you can do that, but you can't do that here."  It teaches us to be unfaithful to our local assembly.  Where would a godly wife be if she didn't remain faithful to an unbelieving husband?  Where would Israel be if Christ put away His inheritance for another nation who would say yes to Him?

This is why I believe that there are scriptures such as "women should be silent at church" and "I do not permit a woman to teach a man or be in authority over a man."  I believe that women are not in authority when a man shows up, ready to lead.  During those moments, a woman's godly response is to respect the leadership and authority given by God to men.  It is part of MY sanctification to remain in unity with the church in which I was born.

But that doesn't mean I'll forget my calling.

Authority for Women, Part 3

Why do I do what I do?

There was some unnecessary frustration due to confusion about how I obtain authority for ministry.  I'm glad to be rid of that!  But I can't form ministry referenced out of a perfect vacumn.  My zeal will be contexualized to other ministries out there, for better or for worse.  I do those things which God has wired me sensitive and responsive.  Yet because of Huldah, I unconditionally can say I do what I do because I am called.

I can imagine someone asking, "You say you lead when you see things that are overlooked.  Why do you focus on what is not being done?"  My answer: Somebody is called to spaces that haven't gotten the same attention, and that somebody is me if I am to walk in the Light.

Frame it differently, like God did to King Josiah; 2 Kings 22:19,

"... because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the LORD.

Josiah's men found a scroll of unattended commands while they restored the temple.  King Josiah took one crucial step before gathering all the people and making vows to obey God.  That step was consulting someone with the gift of prophecy.  Those with the gift of prophecy are most deeply concerned that people know and do God's will.  They are ambassadors of reform and change and godly growth.

He was 26 when he bypassed both Jeremiah and Zephaniah to ask Huldah.  He needed assurance before he implemented what he felt God would have him do in response to the text.

Why in the world would a man choose a woman when two men were available?  I can only conclude that it is because gender simply does not matter.  What mattered is that they exhibited tender hearts toward the disobeyed portion of God's commands.

AUTHORITY - WHERE DOES IT COME FROM?

if you hear it, it's your authority in God

But wait - she uses authority over a man.  Paul forbade that.  Where did she get this from?

I've heard that question before.  The leaders of the temple questioned Jesus where He got His authority.  "By what authority do you do these things?" they asked Jesus.  He said, "Where did John the Baptist get his authority?"  They could not.  Here John was, doing righteousness without being raised through the channels provided in the local assembly.

There are two sources for authority.  One comes from overseers, another from God Himself.

Overseers are God-empowered leaders over His people.  That is what the temple system was set up for in the giving of the laws of Moses.  It is also what we find in the New Testament as a mandatory feature to any body of believers calling themselves a "church" - there must be elders, spiritual overseers, who we submit to as those who will give account for our souls.

Therefore it makes sense that the leaders of the temple ask for Jesus' "church-community pedigree."  In simple English they might have said, "We ought to know who you are, and you ought to want our approval.  Because God gave us to be the leaders of righteousness."

But they are not the only leaders ordained by God for ministry.  God can do whatever He wants, and He also chooses people outside His own structures of ordained overseers.

In what context does God appoint leaders outside of His own leadership structures?  When there is righteousness undone, authority comes directly from God, Himself, to His servants.  Matt. 5:19-20,

Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

"Who knows if you were appointed for such a time as this?" Esther was asked.  Only David looked out from his home of cedar to the tarp covering the Ark of God and said it should not be, and planned the Temple.  Nobody told Moses to intercede for Israel when they angered God, but Moses begged God to relent from His wrath.  Nobody told them to do it.  No other person in authority gave them the job.  But there these saints are, standing in the gap.

Where are the gap-standers of this generation?  I want to meet tender hearts like Josiah, eager for God's will.  Where are those who are ready to enter into tension because God has called them to stand up for "the least commandments" in our culture?

How do we navigate conflict with God-appointed leaders as we embrace our calling?  Part 4.

Authority for Women, Part 2

Being a girl is not easy.  Don't believe me?  Read this!

I have been angry.  Seeing how I looked to Deborah and Jael as the rare models for women in authority, I can figure why.  How confusing it is to try and lead and yet desire the authority from men to lead, yet they aren't immersed in my passion to take over the calling that I want to pass off to them one day?  Does that even make sense?  What a mess!

Huldah's outstanding example leaves me a little baffled.  I ask myself, do I still want to lead?

If my ministry is not in reference to anyone else's ministry, do I still want it?

What is innately, me?  I have observed my heart for the last couple of weeks.  I see someone around town and wonder if they know how awesome God is, how worthy He is of trusting and obeying!  I still envision Christ followers doing their own brand of the life of God in Christ.  I have found myself crying over the city of Salem as long as I can remember being a believer.  But the anger, well, I also innately have that too.

Specially intrinsic to me, I don't need to lead - but if someone is overlooked somehow and no one else is taking care of it, that's when I become a leader and I will take care of it.

COMPASSION & ANGER - THE SAME POINT

Emotions are an indication of calling.  Compassion drove Jesus.  Occasionally anger did too.

Most of the time Jesus didn't relate His work to the ministry of others.  A man with leprosy asked Jesus if He was willing to cure him, and Jesus was moved with compassion and said, "I am willing."  When Jesus looked over the city of Jerusalem, He was moved with compassion to gather and comfort the people.

Sometimes Jesus referenced His ministry to what others were up to.  He was angry while standing in the Court of the Gentiles.  He said "My house shall be a house of prayer!"  Something important was left undone.  This scripture means that outsiders should be in His courts themselves, offering prayers to God from every tribe and kind and collection of people.  It is the picture of a world-wide revival - that was God's plan for His temple.

What really lies underneath anger, anyway?  Pain.  Brokenness.  In the article Uncovering the Pain Behind Your Child's Anger from Focus on the Family, contributor Shana Shutte points out that anger is a response to pain, and that Christians sometimes teach children that it is not okay to express anger.  Instead, God commanded that Christians be slow to anger, and not to sin in their anger.  Anger submitted to God for its ultimate resolution is called "zeal."

What about you?  We all experience feelings while embracing our ministry.

"He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works" (Titus 2:14).  Whether you have compassion or anger, being broken over what breaks God's heart is worth the price.  Does it come out like sympathy, standing in the gap, going to places that are dark and being satisfied by God's will to do so?  Then you're alright.  What is our responsibility if not to rebel against the absence of God?

I doubt men will ever go through all the stress Christian women do regarding authority.  It is so complicated!!!  I've certainly hemmed and hawed with women at the various issues involved.  Part 3.

Authority for Women, Part 1

I get to write about my life again!  This is great.

This Christmas was amazing.  I was praying about leadership, and God answered me.  The next morning God opened my Bible at Hezekiah.  I read about the evil Mannaseh and then godly Josiah.  I drank my coffee, and turned the page.  The title of an insert caught my eye: "Female Prophets" [1].  Here is what it says:

Huldah played a significant part in the history of Israel, although she appeared only once on the stage of the nation's history, during a time of religious defection.
In Jerusalem, King Josiah of Judah initiated renewed interest in the Book of the Law, and Huldah participated in the subsequent spiritual revival.  She was the wife of Shallum, who was 'keeper of the wardrobe' (possibly either royal robes and attire or priestly garments and vestments.)  They lived in the Second Quarter, a newer section of Jerusalem which developed as a westward or northern expansion of the old city (perhaps somewhat like a modern-day suburb).
Huldah, not Jeremiah or Zephaniah (both of whom were active as prophets during this time), was consulted when the king instructed the priests to "inquire of the LORD" as to the meaning of the Book of the Law, a scroll that had been found during the work of restoration and cleaning in the temple.  It was significant that with the number of prophets living in Jerusalem at that time, the priest Hilkiah and the rest of the king's advisors turned to a woman for a word from God.  This nullifies the reasoning some use to suggest that God only uses women for ministry when no men are available.  Obviously, whether in a private audience or in the presence of the congregation, God used Huldah to bear testimony and deliver a message from Him to the high priest and to the king (22:14-20).
The tradition of female prophets is mentioned only sporadically in the Old Testament, but Huldah is not the only one highlighted.  She is in good company with Miriam and Deborah (Ex. 15:20, Judg. 4:4); however, another female, Noadiah (Neh. 6:14) was a false prophet who worked against the people of God.
The regard for Huldah's own integrity and authority as a woman of God made her validation of the recently discovered Book of the Law all that was required for immediate action on the part of the king.  Her message was not her own, but from the Lord.  The fact that the phrase, 'Thus says the LORD,' is repeated four times in her short prophecy emphasizes that Huldah understood her responsibility and opportunity to be a channel through whom God delivered His word (22:15-17, 19).
All of the reforms set forth by King Josiah were based on the word of God as given to a woman.  Huldah was apparently so well known as a woman of God and so highly trusted with regard to her understanding of God's Law that for a time her nation's whole religious consciousness and practice were re-ignited in faithfulness to God.  Huldah, a deeply devout woman, made her God-given spiritual gifts available to God, and she was obedient and faithful to deliver the Word from God to her people.

Well - this is very different!

Remember my post titled, "The Dispatching and Disbanding of Deborah"?  I wrote it a few years ago.   I believed until now that women lead in the absence of men.  This means that if I have been given a calling by God, it's because somebody had not reached the potential their job required or was absent from their job.

I used to believe that if I have authority, it's borrowed; on loan.  It is a stewardship and the real deal belongs to someone else.  My ministry is to be "returned to owner" as soon as a worthy candidate becomes available.  I was actually okay with stewarding authority, because I really don't need to be a leader.  I don't feel like it's something I HAVE to do or be.  I prefer others to lead.

But here is the corrective truth in black and white.  Godly men who wrote my Bible's footnote have interpreted God's Word in this passage, saying that women lead regardless of the circumstances based on their gifting - period.  A woman's leadership is without reference to the capacity and availability of men.  I also read the passage for myself and agree.

This makes much more sense - because I knew that God gives authority directly to believers, which takes us to PART 2.


[1]  Radmacher, Earl D.  (2007) NKJV Study Bible, Second Edition.  Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.