I think a new breed of christian is being birthed.
The seeds have been there for a long time, the whispers of the spirit.
A breed that isn't concerned with the law, with principles, obsessed with applying keys and steps.
The law becoming a distant memory - grace superseding the law
A breed that isn't obsessed with cause and effect, with living up to expectations.
Creatures who are so in love and passionate about Jesus that they don't even think about if they are sinning or not - they are just living in Father's presence - gladly, joyfully, playfully doing life with Father.
Not even concerned about being obedient but happily living, loving, crying, partnering, worshiping their wonderful God - who talks, plays, confides, laughs and cries with them.
Birthing a new era of freedom that ascends way beyond the walls of church buildings, doctrines, denominations.
A thing of such incredible beauty and power that the world won't know what's hit it.
Of course, I could just be dreaming, but I can feel it...
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Mins songs
To all you fans of Min's songs. I've put all of the songs we did back in '94 up for listening and download.
Please bear in mind it was a fairly primitive recording setup and the keyboard was dreadful (to say nothing of the guy over-playing it).
Please bear in mind it was a fairly primitive recording setup and the keyboard was dreadful (to say nothing of the guy over-playing it).
Monday, 2 May 2011
The Theory of Everything Part 2
Its been some time since my last post. I've attempted a followup many times only to end up scrapping it.
The last few months have stretched me to the limits and I've had a chance to really think about and apply my Theory. It comes down to this: If I don't have an intimate friendship with God based on the absolute freedom given to me by Jesus Crucifixion and Resurrection, then I have nothing.
Nothing sounds a little extreme but that is really the truth. I tend to end up applying a principle or method to a situation to get a result. I can see what the bible says about a particular problem and apply all the right principles and expect the right result. The scary thing is, it works most of the time. If I apply all the principles of blessings and curses in the Old Testament (not just the Mosaic law but stuff in Psalms and Proverbs etc - good stuff that makes sense, I'll live a good life and be blessed. But will I walk in the power and wisdom that comes from knowing my loving Father as a friend/lover/master/brother? Will I hear the whisper of His loving voice guiding and directing in every step of my life? Will I know without a doubt then when he says "pray for that guy and he will be healed" that he will? Can I live a truly miraculous life doing greater things than Jesus did (which he said we would)?
I don't want to live a good life and just do the good things we are supposed to do. I have tasted enough intimacy with God to be spoiled for anything else. When I was first "saved" as a teenager, it was totally amazing. I only knew the Anglican church and yet I was overwhelmed by this amazing God who lived a miraculous life in Jesus and poured out his love and power, for us to do the same, into his church. I was spoilt for it from day 1.
So I can hardly pray sometimes because its just a ritual - a good ritual, I know all the right things to do and I know God hears me. Its not like there's anything wrong as such - its just not good enough, not like I'm relating intimately to a lover, or confiding in my oldest bestest friend, or cuddling into my daddy's arms and just resting there feeling loved. And yet this is what the bible screams at me every time I read it. Its like, this has to be the centrality of my christian life and everything comes from there. I pray something because that's what Father said I should pray, as I sat snuggled on his lap. I help someone because my "best friend" told me that's what they really needed. I actually healed someone because Holy Spirit said that they were ready and all I need to do was lay hands on them. I don't read the bible and do all the good things it says because that's what it says - I do it because I love my Dad so much and I have such an amazing relationship with him that I just wholeheartedly and willingly do the very next thing he says to do without any thought of "doing the right things". I read the bible then to keep me on track, to draw me closer, to pull me back to him if I wander off, to help in the hard times when I can't get close because the pain and circumstances of life get in the way.
I can't go back, I can't live like a good christian. I want to live in his wonderful presence every moment. And the strangest/scariest thing of all, is that's how he wants it and is inviting me to live like it. Its there in his word - all the way through from Genesis to Revelation, and I just keep missing it. Or calling it too hard and/or super spiritual and/or unrealistic. But its the greater reality, and once you taste it, anything else is just compromise and second best.
So that's where I'm at, heart on my sleeve, and a not really adequate description. But this is no sudden thing, its 40 years of a journey that really feels like I've just begun.
The last few months have stretched me to the limits and I've had a chance to really think about and apply my Theory. It comes down to this: If I don't have an intimate friendship with God based on the absolute freedom given to me by Jesus Crucifixion and Resurrection, then I have nothing.
Nothing sounds a little extreme but that is really the truth. I tend to end up applying a principle or method to a situation to get a result. I can see what the bible says about a particular problem and apply all the right principles and expect the right result. The scary thing is, it works most of the time. If I apply all the principles of blessings and curses in the Old Testament (not just the Mosaic law but stuff in Psalms and Proverbs etc - good stuff that makes sense, I'll live a good life and be blessed. But will I walk in the power and wisdom that comes from knowing my loving Father as a friend/lover/master/brother? Will I hear the whisper of His loving voice guiding and directing in every step of my life? Will I know without a doubt then when he says "pray for that guy and he will be healed" that he will? Can I live a truly miraculous life doing greater things than Jesus did (which he said we would)?
I don't want to live a good life and just do the good things we are supposed to do. I have tasted enough intimacy with God to be spoiled for anything else. When I was first "saved" as a teenager, it was totally amazing. I only knew the Anglican church and yet I was overwhelmed by this amazing God who lived a miraculous life in Jesus and poured out his love and power, for us to do the same, into his church. I was spoilt for it from day 1.
So I can hardly pray sometimes because its just a ritual - a good ritual, I know all the right things to do and I know God hears me. Its not like there's anything wrong as such - its just not good enough, not like I'm relating intimately to a lover, or confiding in my oldest bestest friend, or cuddling into my daddy's arms and just resting there feeling loved. And yet this is what the bible screams at me every time I read it. Its like, this has to be the centrality of my christian life and everything comes from there. I pray something because that's what Father said I should pray, as I sat snuggled on his lap. I help someone because my "best friend" told me that's what they really needed. I actually healed someone because Holy Spirit said that they were ready and all I need to do was lay hands on them. I don't read the bible and do all the good things it says because that's what it says - I do it because I love my Dad so much and I have such an amazing relationship with him that I just wholeheartedly and willingly do the very next thing he says to do without any thought of "doing the right things". I read the bible then to keep me on track, to draw me closer, to pull me back to him if I wander off, to help in the hard times when I can't get close because the pain and circumstances of life get in the way.
I can't go back, I can't live like a good christian. I want to live in his wonderful presence every moment. And the strangest/scariest thing of all, is that's how he wants it and is inviting me to live like it. Its there in his word - all the way through from Genesis to Revelation, and I just keep missing it. Or calling it too hard and/or super spiritual and/or unrealistic. But its the greater reality, and once you taste it, anything else is just compromise and second best.
So that's where I'm at, heart on my sleeve, and a not really adequate description. But this is no sudden thing, its 40 years of a journey that really feels like I've just begun.
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