Acne & Herpes – Puberty of the Soul

Posted on August 28, 2012 by chaplaincasey

Updated 8/27/15

Kingdom Principle: The war of the Kingdom is not of flesh and blood, but first we must win the war that wages within us.

Song of Solomon 2:8-13 Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 James 1:17-27 Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

I hated it in high school when I fought a losing battle with acne. I remember hearing my mom say – drink more water and eat more vegetables…. And yet I confess – my body was neither disciplined enough to make such a change nor my soul developed enough to hear such wisdom. Instead, I scrubbed my face with wash until it was raw, then covered it with ointment until it was burned. I was fighting a problem on the inside with a war on the outside. I thank God I never had to fight the battle with an STD…. the expression of herpes on your body doesn’t have to do with a problem on the outside; it has to do with a problem on the inside. That problem is an undeveloped soul, and when it rules your life with lust and immorality, eventually it will leave its mark as well.

This year we have looked at the concepts of body, soul and spirit; please take the time to review them, 1. Understanding that you have a body, soul and spirit. 2. How submission of the body and soul takes place to the spirit. 3. The role of faith in the body, soul, and spirit.  Last week focused on the body and spirit, this week we focus on the interplay of the body and the soul. The body is to be disciplined, the soul is to be developed, and the spirit is to be directed. A simplistic overview of the three– the body focus is right actions, the soul focus is right attitude, the spirit focus is righteous attire (where is it Christ’s righteousness in which we are clothed, based on no work of our own.)

The tongue is the mouth piece of the soul, as they eyes are the window to the soul – the later taking things in, the tongue expressing them out.  Reviewing last week you can pray in the spirit, with no use of your tongue, and you can see that which is spiritually true, beyond what is physically present. But your soul needs to be expressed via the body. In fact, if your body shuts down (as when under anesthesia) so does the soul.. When the body and the soul are disengaged from one another – the devil has taken a foothold and lies rather than truth flow freely.

When the body is disciplined, yet the soul is repressed (lack of emotion, will and understanding) the body will find victory in its own superiority. The disciplined body yearns to become its own god, making itself an idol for others to lust after and for temporal expression to rule one’s life. Contrasting this with the undisciplined body, it becomes a tool of the soul chasing after the world in extremes; cravings of the flesh, lust of the eyes or boosting in what he has or does. (1 John 2:15-17) The disciplined body in partnership with the soul longs to express love, and all of the fruit of the Spirit.

How then does the soul develop? Servant Leadership is at the crux of the soul development. This servanthood is  more about attitude than action and the creating of space for all persons involved (both served and server) to grow. However the soul foolishly seeks to independently thrive without either the body or spirit. The focus then becomes how much service I can do, or am I am better than you because I do.  The soul develops when we grow in leadership through posture rather than position and in relationships through listening rather than controlling.

This week:  We see the beauty of the body and soul integrated and in submission to the spirit – yielding the true expression of beauty of the body and expressing love relationships in the Song of Solomon and the Psalm. We also see the Jesus; rebuke of the Pharisees who are allowing their disciplined bodies to be the ruler of their lives. The body and soul want to find a way for them both to win – the result is that both loose in eternity. The only way that both will win is in submission to the spirit. Most people choose either the body or the soul to focus on – You can be highly moral yet morbidly obese. You can have the body of an athlete and give your soul to the devil. The result of either is that you not able to give your life to the King, rather you find yourself being pursued by the Father of lies who steals, kills and destroys. (John 8:44, 10:10).

Overall as the creation of God – we are the greatest of the good and perfect gifts from the Father. As the church we are called to represent and express that and boost in our obedience demonstrating true religion.

Three signs of an undeveloped soul:

1.  Living life in the extremes – either being a work-a-holic, or having no will to work at all; being addicted to physically “working-out” or finding to ambition or ability to exercise; reading the Bible and studying exhaustively all sources of insight and teaching to accumulate knowledge or seeing no power in the Word of God – letting other to feed you what is need from Scripture. Where do you sense that there may be an imbalance in your life?

2. Being Shamed or Shamelessness. When the Song of Solomon is read some people are uncomfortable (shamed) because is deals with the beauty of the woman and the intimacy of a sensual/sexual relationship of a husband and wife, others have no shame at any level when is comes to the human body, and as a result also have little intimacy or true beauty to pursue concerning sensuality and sexuality. In your relationships with the opposite sex, does shame or shamelessness find its way where it should not be?

3. Playing the role of the fool. The post was two weeks ago, but the idea of being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger is a reality of an undeveloped soul.  How has God revealed to you in the last two weeks  – any foolish behavior in your life or areas where you are lacking in wisdom?

Posted in After Pentecost, Year B | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Puberty of Prayer

Posted on August 21, 2012 by chaplaincasey

Updated 8/18/15

Kingdom Principle: The veil of the heavens and earth has been torn. – Thy Kingdom can come to earth and prayer moves you into the realm of the heavens.

1 Kings 8:(1,6,10-11), 22-30, 41-43 Psalm 84 Ephesians 6:10-20 John 6:56-69

The most common catalyst to prayer is crisis. While we will see below that this catalyst for prayer is most often a self-ish motivation it still serves to teach us to pray. Engaging in the act of prayer shifts our focus from what is happening to what can happen. Prayer shifts our focus from the reality of this world to the realm of the heavens. Prayer changes your view, even if it doesn’t result in your desired answer. Prayer is a conversation with God, in which you learn to ask, seek and find. It opens your ears to listen to the response of God. (see last week) Prayer opens our eyes to see what God is doing or is not doing. Prayer guides us in the journey of faith, teaching us the very Will of the Father.  (This post will most likely be as desirable as the stage of puberty; however without it we never reach maturity)

Prior to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the veil was not torn. The movement of God to this earth was exceptional… meaning it was the exception not the norm. In Christ, the Word became flesh and dwelt (tabernacle) amongst us. (John 1:1-14) This shift culminated in the tearing of the veil in the temple physically(Matt. 27:51)as well as the veil of heaven and earth being torn spiritually (Matt. 16:19, Rev. 3:7-8)A future post will explain in more detail how everything is a spiritual reality prior to being a physical reality….  This veil is also spoken of as covering the hearts of those who do not turn to the Spirit, but rather trust in the laws of the this world. But for those who the veil is removed, the result is transformation into the likeness of God in the power of the Spirit.(2 Cor. 3:15-18) This change is the very change that we speak of when we say, “Prayer Changes things”.  You are the very “thing” that is being changed when you engage in prayer.

Last week we read Solomon asking for wisdom, because the Lord asked him what we wanted. This conversation came in the form of a dream and resulted in a prayer. This prayer is not a request for more; it is a declaration of all that already is.  God has and is already at work prior to your prayer being expressed. When you pray, God is confirming in you the work that He has already begun.  READ CAREFULLY – Not praying actually causes more change than praying. God is at work prior to your act of prayer and in prayer God is transforming your will unto His…. Therefore, not praying is to actually working against the will of God and to thwart desires of God’s heart.  We can delay God for God is patient and willing to wait, His plans are not our plans and He is greater than all. What happens when we delay God is we engage in painful repeating patterns of our problems – but while in prayer we participate in the movement of God and continue the plans of God.  So for those who feel that change is hard, how much harder is not seeing change happen and painful patterns repeat. The greater change to experience the seamless transformation that God desired for our very lives which is rooted in prayer.

Bottom line – Prayer removes any separation between us and God.  Prayer is an expression of our intimacy with the Father. This is only accessible through the Son, Jesus Christ.  From this place we engage kingdom warfare, which is to serve the King of Kings rather than the prince of this world. Our fight is not of this world, and we are called to be wise in how we engage this world. We can and do have access to the Throne Room of God which is where the war is fought. (Hebrews 3:1-3, 4:3, 12-16) Therefore the Psalm of this week is not wishful thinking rather a very reality, right here and right now.

If prayer is a difficult thing for you…. It will be my guess that you may as well struggle with wisdom. Wisdom is a gift of the Spirit, for which you must ask for in prayer. (see last week)  Therefore… don’t start by setting out to pray, if prayer for you is “you talking to God”. Rather start by realizing that God has already opened up the heavens for you, and your act of prayer is an expression of your faith based on the Grace of God received. Again – if you struggle with prayer – don’t try to start praying, start listening to someone in the “flesh” who you believe has the wisdom of God. The problem with prayer is not in our ability to express our wants; it lies in the resistance of our hearts to receive God’s will. So rather than declaring that prayer does not work, work on listening.

Food is unto the body, Prayer is unto the spirit. Is your spirit starving? Much like food, our palette changes and our desires are shaped by what we feed it. So if you want to eat more “healthy” you have to introduce healthy food  – even if they don’t taste good. Then soon that will shift and you will not only like the healthy food, you will no longer desire the junk food. How can you introduce prayer to your diet?

Does Crisis prompt you to pray more than Contentment? If so – join the crowd of the masses. However the way of the cross is narrow –So if you desire to not only pray in crisis – next time you are moved to pray because of crisis (crisis is anything that prompts you to ask for help, because you cannot achieve the desired result without help from God). Rather than asking God to change what is going on…. Ask God what is going on. God is at work long before we become aware of His actions. So we can ask, “Jesus what is your prayer for me in this situation? Then wait to for an answer, then pray as Jesus is praying for you. (Romans 8:26-39)

Listening is the foundation of relationship.  Prayer is often mis-categorized as us sharing our ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) to God…  if this summarizes our prayer life, then it also indicates the infancy of your relationship with Jesus. Jesus wants intimacy not infancy.  Three weeks ago we looked at this – growing our listening ears will increase our wisdom, produced in us based on child-like faith.  How is God growing you from infancy to intimacy?

Posted in After Pentecost, Year B | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Don’t be fooled; your time is valuable.

Posted on August 14, 2012 by chaplaincasey

Updated 8/13/2015

Kingdom Principle:  Wisdom wastes no time with a fool and does not entertain evil.

1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14 Psalm 111 Ephesians 5:15-20 John 6:51-58

If you can have anything you want – what will you wish for?  The passage this week demonstrates the power of asking for wisdom. If you don’t have wisdom, then you can simply ask for it. (James 1:5) If you have trouble believing that it is that easy, then read last week’s post and discover if your faith has child-like qualities or is it more child-ish. However the result of child-like qualities will be growth… not to become grown-up without God, rather to grow in faith. The result of having wisdom is seen throughout the book of James and we will get there in just a few weeks….

We have looked much at the body, soul and spirit – wisdom is a movement of the spirit within you. The Ephesians passage makes it clear this week – be filled with the spirit for you are to move as wise not as unwise. The passage in John takes us to a whole new understanding of communion. For many we think of communion as something we do at church with the bread and cup – calling it a sacrament. In this passage Jesus is demonstrating beyond the “sacrament of institution” he is revealing the “sacrament of incarnation” inviting us into his very life is a sacrament and we can approach life in communion with him. Resulting in communion with Christ, and our lives as a sacrament.  Again –communion is a movement of the spirit.  The final expression of movement of the spirit in our lives is conscience. (Many Thanks to Streams Ministries  for this teaching) Over the last few weeks, we have been gently touching this as it is grace moves us to engage our conscience in relationship to the growth of the body.

OKAY – so what about my life, the scriptures this week and the Kingdom Principle.  Just because a person is a believer in Jesus Christ, does not mean that they are wise. All are called to be, but not all answer the call. Those who ask for wisdom receive it, those who receive it still need to discern if they are going to use it. There is a very big difference between knowledge and wisdom. Wisdom is applied knowledge and enhanced understanding. Wisdom leads you to the Kingdom of God as outlined in Matthew 6:33 – seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and all things will be added unto you…. Therefore, why would one seek anything else if by seeking the kingdom all is added? Yet you can have the knowledge and not apply it and you have read these words by fail to understand. Do you long for wisdom? If so, you will be confronted with knowledge and understand about the world around you and the love of God that will lead you to celebrating freedom, or leave you crushed under the current reality and fear of change.

There is so much more I wish to say here, but to keep it short – I am going to draw from two books: “Necessary Endings by “Dr. Henry Cloud and “Bold Love” by Dan B. Allender. Both of these books are amazing reads for the spiritual insight leading about healthy relationship and the role of wisdom being applied.  Overall there are three types of people in the world. The Wise, The Fool, and The Evil. A very quick and simple summary of these types of people:

  • The wise have an open ear and open heart to learn God’s will.
  • The fool have closed ears to God’s will and open mouth to share their own.
  • The evil are fools, who have a closed heart to God and haughty eyes looking for opportunities to thwart God’s will.

Most of us assume that we are not fools, yet our actions reveal something much different. Read a summary of this kind of thinking from the wisdom proverbs of Solomon.

Overall – Wisdom helps us to navigate our time we invest in the lives of those around us. True wisdom is bold love directing us to make necessary ending where soil is not fertile for the Kingdom of God. If you desire to discover more about your wisdom verse folly – the first step is to admit you need to learn from someone else. (The fool has all the answers, even the ones they aren’t choosing to apply at this time) The second step is to ask God as outline above. The Third step is to listen. (See James 1:19)… Listen to what God shares and listen to those you deem wise….

Posted in After Pentecost, Year B | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Cry-Baby vs. Cry! Baby… Cry

Posted on August 8, 2012 by chaplaincasey

Kingdom Principle: Grace grows us from a “child-ish” attitude to “child-like” faith.

2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 Psalm 130  Ephesians 4:25-5:2 John 6:35, 41-51

If you haven’t cried in awhile, you may be losing touch with your emotions. Your emotions which are a part of your soul are God given.  (To read the foundation of emotions and discovering when anger is a righteous emotion – read this previous post.) When we lose touch with our emotions, it is usually because we have either learn to “control” emotion in order to prevent it or our emotions are “out-of-control”  and seem to control us and our relationships.  Both of these places are dangerous and child-ish. Grace as we learned last week is to grow us – and that growth will move us from a child-ish attitude to a child-like faith.  When we have child-like faith – we need to cry out to the Lord – so cry!  baby, cry with all your being.

I have heard at various times that people think that Jesus never cried as a child. (Supposing that would infer that Jesus was a perfect child…) Why then do you think that Jesus would then begin to cry as an adult.  (over Jerusalem – Luke 19:41-42, the death of Lazarus – John 11:35, in Gethsemane – Luke:39-44  and on the cross – Matt. 27:24 to name a few… ) For infant children, to cry is to communicate.  In is the nature of being a child, in fact when a child does not cry at birth, the doctor knows something is wrong. As the child grows crying becomes the indicator that something is needed or necessary – this is to be child-like. But then there is a switch from the cry of child saying something like, they are hungry or uncomfortable, to the cry of a child that  is simply child-ish wanting their way and wanting it NOW!

As we looked at last week again – it is easy to point out the short comings of others, not always so in our life. This of spoiled children – it is always easier for another to see it, rather than the parents which created it. (And even that statement is a judgment pointing out the fault lying with the parents) However – God wants to father us and grow us – this act of parenting through the means of grace is the very act of developing our cry.  We are to cry out for mercy and grace. But that cry is not to be that of a child-ish tantrum, rather from a child-like faith that believes that without God no other comfort is possible or real.

This week we see the psalm as a cry of faith, we see Joab in a child-ish tantrum with David, that will eventually lead to their parting of ways, and we see Paul leading us to have the actions of faith being the children of God.  These very actions demonstrate what it looks like to grow in faith, rather than being like the Jews who are rejecting the teachings of Jesus, and are stuck wanting things their way grumbling and complaining.  The gospel of John does not have an infancy narrative (showing the child-like nature of Jesus was always there.) That can still mean that Jesus grew from being what we might call being child-ish, having the action of a child at the age appropriate stage.

But we are called to grow – So – let us be the body of Christ and grow up into the full measure of the faith as Christ has apportioned it to each of us.

Questions to reflect on this week:

1. Are there people or circumstances in your life that tend to lead you to react in a more child-ish way rather than child-like? You may have certain place of life where it is harder to express your feelings and emotions in a child-like way verses child-ish way. These are footholds of the enemy. Identifying these places is to take the first step toward growth. (Let grace be sufficient here, but not cheap)

2. What indicators do you look for in a child to decide if a child is acting child-ish verses child-like? What indicators would you suggest are there for the church to look at one another in this way? Most often the church gets frustrated with child-ish actions and simply shuns or pushes out such people, or caves into the pressure and they get their way, resulting in a lack of growth for the body.

3. Where do you most freely express your emotions? Where do you shield or control your emotions? Submitting your soul (root of emotions) unto the spirit is only possible once we discover the power of our emotions and the usefulness of our emotions then directing such emotion to the purpose of the Kingdom of God. Notice in the Ephesians passage – anger is not a sin, rather it is holding of anger and how your express it that leads to the sin.

Posted in After Pentecost, Year B | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

Grace is free, but Freedom will cost you everything

Posted on July 31, 2012 by chaplaincasey

Kingdom Principle: To move with grace in the kingdom, you must count every step

2 Samuel 11:26 – 12:13a Psalm 51:1-12  Ephesians 4:1-16 John 6:24-35

Back in November  I wrote a post about Mercy and Grace –“Are you aware of what God isn’t giving you” there the focus was mercy – here the focus is grace. You can read that post to fill in some content about Grace & Mercy in the Kingdom of God.

Growing up in church and serving on multiple church staffs, when someone made a mistake or there was an issue of delicate concern – I heard it said over and over – “Let us error on the side of grace”. However, if to err is human & to forgive is divine, then how might we seek to forgive with honesty rather than settling for errors. I believe there is no error in Grace. With the greatest of intentions – this statement has the intent to say – Let us not condemn another for we ourselves know that we are no better and we can fall to sin at any moment…. The problem is that this is not grace, it is defeat. In reading Deitrich Bonhoeffer’s  Cost of Discipleship you can begin to understand the costly side of Grace and that we ought to never cheapen grace. In Bonhoeffer’s words:

“cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.”

Further, we cheapen grace when the gospel preached as follows: “Of course you have sinned, but don’t worry about it, everything is forgiven, so you can stay as you are and enjoy the freedom of forgiveness.” The error of such a proclamation is that it contains no demand for discipleship. In contrast to this is costly grace:

“costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

The Cost of Discipleship was written built on the words of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, in much the same way Dallas Willard has written Divine Conspiracy based upon the same text expanding our understanding of the calling of Christ to live fully into the Kingdom. A quick quote from Dallas – along the same lines, “A Consumer Christian is one who utilizes the grace of God for forgiveness and the services of the church for special occasions, but does not give his or her life and innermost thoughts over to the kingdom of the heavens.”

There is no Error in Grace – for if grace is given – which it is freely given – the error has already taken place in the life of the one receiving grace not the act of grace. Grace is the means by which salvation and life transformation (sanctification) take place. Mercy is God withholding punishment. Grace is God giving possibilities.  Grace is the giving of Discipline, such that growth might take place. Discipline and grace are tied…. the giving of Grace does not require us to grow, but it opens the door to growth. Mercy does not open the door to growth, rather it celebrates what we can not ever grow into or do, but God has done for us. We need Grace (growth) to appreciate Mercy.

In the texts this week – We see the grace given to David – Forgiveness… but there is not Mercy – read on the child dies, and his house is divided. The Grace given to the sick and hungry by Jesus does not move the people to grow, they want more cheap grace.  They are asking the right questions, but missing the answers – the answer is grow in grace and you will come to know mercy. The people are saying give us more grace and we won’t need mercy. It is clear the people following Jesus want to direct and dictate the work of Christ, rather than to grow into being His Disciple.  When Grace is received – there is no error, but there is growth – that growth is found both in Psalms 51:10-12, and Ephesians 4.

Grace is Free – but it does not lead to Freedom from actions, rather is makes your action all that much more costly.  Obedience(Discipline) is the result of Grace, Thanksgiving is the result of Mercy. Compassion is the movement of the Spirit uniting the two.

Do you struggle with others who cheapen grace? (That was David’s response) If you have “mastered” the art of growing in Grace – then grant them Mercy. If not – then it may that God is using their life to bring a new teaching of grace to you.  When another cheapens Grace how might you demonstrate the grace which is in you through an expression of mercy.  (this the beauty of compassion)

Do you desire to be more disciplined or dedicated to Christ – yet seem to lack motivation or come up short  in daily life?  Ask for Grace, not Mercy…. If you want to grow, confess where you have fallen short, and the Lord will give you grace – which opens the door to growth. Most often we recognize our weakness and ask for God to lower the bar (mercy). Here I am asking you to recognize your weakness and proclaim it – then asking Jesus to be your personal trainer to increase your discipline. To know go into training with Jesus is to error in being human, but has nothing to do with grace.

What is the difference between Mercy and Grace? (this is simply a review question for you to put mercy and grace in your own words.) Mercy opens the door to Grace.  Grace deepens our understanding of Mercy.   We don’t deserve mercy, we can’t earn grace. But in receiving grace we grow to demonstrate the mercy of God to others.

Posted in After Pentecost, Year B | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Quit Working – Start Worshiping

Posted on July 25, 2012 by chaplaincasey

Updated 7/20/15

Kingdom Principle: Your Work is to be an expression of Worship.

2 Samuel 11:1-15 Psalm 14 Ephesians 3:14-21 John 6:1-21

For a long time I have lived by the saying, “Work to Live, rather than Live to Work” which implied the basic truth that working is a means to an end and that the end is to Live your life to the full. Over the last few of years I ask many people the question – “If money was not object what would you do with your life?”  Often I have to clarify and simplify the question to– “If you had all the money you needed and could do anything you wanted with your time – what would you do?  The answers usually begin with: I would quit my job and travel or spend time with family or help those in need how might you fill in the blank____. I used to answer this way but no longer, and it is not because I changed my profession or work for a better “company”. I have discovered a very important secret, that very few know and the I believe the  “western modern day” church has even attempted to cover up – My work is one of my greatest forms of worship. Therefore – If I was to quit my job because I could – I would be cutting out the most consistent and regular aspect of worship in my life.

This raises many questions for most people like: What if I don’t like my job, what if I don’t work in for Christian company or location,  what if I don’t like the people I work with  or they even make me want to sin, what if?  what if?  what if… What about changing the questions –How can my work be a form of worship? How does this change what I do on Sunday that I currently call worship? If my work is supposed to be worship and its not, then what am I doing wrong?

In this short post I am not going to do a Biblical Defense of this idea or really answer the questions above, (It begins with Cain & Able and is traces through Revelation) but what I am going to do is encourage you to look at what you give your life to (most of our waking hours) and ask you, “what would have to change for you to consider your work as an offering of worship as unto the Lord. So that everything you do is done your best and unto the Lord. I’m not talking about one’s perspective or attitude- rather the actual labor of your day, being an act of worship.

Here is why – God had called you and designed you for a specific purpose – It is the favor of God in our lives for us to discover that purpose and give our lives to it. May people end up doing jobs they hate, but remain there for fear of the outcome of losing that job. This prevents us from truly living in the Kingdom of God where God provides and protects, and it is His peace which is our refuge.  The Scriptures this week point out that if we are not working with God, we are working against God. God has called us into his family and He desires us to serve alongside his efforts in the world. If we resist and want to do things our own way – It will take 10 times (or more) the effort to reach the same outcome – that is a foolish investment of your time. As King, David was not foolish with his time-prior to the text of this week – His hands had not been idle, and now we discover why “idle hands are the devils playhouse”. He choose to delegated his work  – in a sense he had the option to “quit” and do what he wanted – which cost him more than we can summarize or simply see on the surface here.

Work as Worship rather than Worship as Work, is now how I choose to live my life. It is not that I worship my work, or that because I am employed as a part time pastor that this is easier, rather it is in discovering  God’s design in me – my life becomes an act of worship.  So I don’t have to worship at set times or in specific ways (such as singing), overall worship is not to be work, rather it is a joy to be in worship. As I take this to heart I find myself asking God, are there other ways that I can worship, and in doing so my work is increasing with things I have not imagined… (taking is one step farther – Jesus is clear that this applies to food as well – (John 4:34)

The disciples learned over and over – doing it their way is a lot of work, doing it the Lord’s way is an act of worship. Let us not be fools and give ourselves to folly – Let us seek God and to understand his righteous ways for our life.

1. What makes Sunday morning a worship time for you? What prevents you from seeing work as a worship experience? Do you set aside Sunday morning as a time of worship (or other time)? What is your pattern of worship?

2. What has the Lord asked you to do…. To which your response has simply been  – that will cost too much? (Phillip’s answer to the Lord was right on – he did not exaggerate or misunderstand the Lord’s direction, he simply looked through his lens and with his power rather than the Lord’s.)

3. Is there anything you have been working toward or hoping to achieve that has been a long time in coming, longer than you anticipated or what is normally expected? Are you willing to ask the Lord if this is preventing you from a purer form of worship?  (Think about unmet expectations – things you longed for our expected but have yet to have met …ex. relationships, financial freedom, family matters, promotions, acknowledgements etc…

Posted in After Pentecost, Year B | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Followership preceeds Leadership

Posted on July 16, 2012 by chaplaincasey

Updated on 7/15/15

Kingdom Principle: Knowing God’s Purpose gives us our Purpose.

God’s purpose is established through His Covenant and His Kingdom because of His Character.

2 Samuel 7:1-14a Psalm 89:20-37 Ephesians 2:11-22 Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

The Kingdom of God is both spiritual and physical, it is both now and yet to come, it is both in you and beyond you, and it is together the rule and the reign of God.  Following the Principles of the Kingdom will establish you as a leader in this world. Principles of the Kingdom are determining characteristics which yield the fundamental direction for all those under the rule and reign of the King.

The rule of God is the expression of God’s sovereignty over all things, the reign of God is the expression of God’s shalom in all things…. His reign reaches to everywhere and from under his rule no one can escape. Throughout the Bible we find God’s rule as the establishment of his Covenant relationship with his People. It is not based on their faithfulness, rather rooted in His. Again in all of Scripture we find God’s reign in the establishment of his Kingdom over and against the world.  I see the Purpose of God being laid out like railroad track. One rail is His Kingdom, the other is His Covenant. ( A great book on the theme’s of Covenant and Kingdom is by Mike Breen with 3dm.) They are “tied” together by the characteristics of God which are communicated to us and do not change – his Grace, Love, Righteousness, Judgment, Beauty, Mercy  etc…. Thus the rule and reign of God move us down a path to discovering our purpose which is our destiny. Does that mean we all share the same purpose – yes and no….  the “yes” for all of us is that our purpose is coming to know the rule and reign of God, discovering the true comfort of belonging to the Great King of Kings.   This is expressed in obedience of our worship and service  to Christ as an act of love, overflowing  with Thanksgiving and Compassion to love the world as we have been loved. The “no” is that God has uniquely designed and gifted each of His Children with a calling and destiny for which only that person is purposed.  (last week we touched on the “no” side of this purpose – meaning we each have a unique imprint of God which gives us a personal God given purpose.)

God has called His People to be his own, we first learn this Exodus 6 as God is revealing himself to Moses, then later in Ezekiel 34; God shares to “his” people that they have been like wandering sheep without a shepherd.  This passage declares God’s Sovereignty and that He will be their shepherd protecting and providing them.  This Covenant of God is being renewed even after they have turned away again and again. Further in this passage God establishes that He will establish a pasture or land for the flock to be find peace, and over this land He will appoint a leader to reign over them.  (verse 24 points out that David is this leader).

Another lens for this same repeating reality of the expression of the Kingdom is that of Authority and Power – Authority is to Covenant via relationship as Power is to Kingdom via revelation. Here we see how we move in the world as leaders; Authority and Power are the rails leading us on our way and our Character is the “tie” that hold the two together…

In all of the passages this week – we find movement and mobility. It is not the tracks themselves that are purpose; it is for the purpose of movement that the tracks are established.  We cannot find our purpose either on a personal level or in general without movement. In the Gospel of Mark over the last few weeks – (chapters 3-6 read it quickly) count movements of the disciples with Jesus. In Ephesians we see the same metaphoric movement in being brought near from a far off through the Blood of Christ. Next week we will read the passage of David’s sin and we find the one of the roots of this sin, is his choice not to be in movement with his warriors in battle. We are called to be mission… not on a mission, but to be mission.

  1. Do you desire/see the Peace of Christ reigning in your life? (Kingdom)
  2. Do you desire/see the Sovereignty of God ruling in your life? (Covenant)
  3. Do you desire/see the Movement of the Holy Spirit as the guide in your life? (Mission)
  1. Where the Peace of Christ reigns in your life your power will be revered.
  2. Where the Sovereignty of God rules in your life your authority will be realized.
  3. Where the Movement of the Holy Spirit guides your life your Character will be refined.
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You can’t fail on purpose

Posted on July 10, 2012 by chaplaincasey

Kingdom Principle: God’s purposes triumph over God’s favor

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 Psalm 24 Ephesians 1:3-14 Mark 6:14-29

To be the in there right place, at the right time, doing the right thing – is to know God’s favor through the lens of God’s purpose in your life. This remains true even if; doing the right thing means giving your life, being persecuted and abandoned, or simply experiencing a trial unto the glory of God.  Our first pass looking at God’s favor assumed that receiving blessings in life (a good life) was favor, then further last week’s post drew to light the fact that where there is Spiritual maturity, there will be a physical demonstration of such reality.(Again showing that blessings/favor and goodness in life come with growth in God) And yet – not all things in life go the way we “want” and “bad” things happen to good people. (We will address that book later) But for now – The Principle here simply states that to know God’s purpose for your life is to have the greatest expression of favor in your life. Favor is a fruit of faith (view post Life’s not fair – so don’t play by the rules) without faith in God, you will not discover the fullness of your purpose nor can you truly enjoy the fruit of favor. Simply because that which you attain will be at exclusively by your own effort, and that means that which you lose will be simply by your own failure. Here is the crossroads of today’s principle. There is no failure in Christ. The quickest road to discovering your purpose is by learning from your failures, hence removing the worldly label of failure all together. If you are always successful you may simply think that favor is your own golden touch, or something that you deserve.

It was Elijah’s purpose to be a prophet of God at a time where the world needed to know and see the power of God’s Kingly Rule in contrast to the rule of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. John the Baptist came as a prophet in the wilderness, as a fore-runner to Jesus. His call (purpose) to prepare the way, was in both life and death. Did John have favor? He lived in the desert, wore camel’s hair and ate locust….? Anyone signing up for favor like that – Yet the Spirit of Elijah rested on him like none other since he was taken up to Heaven on a chariot of fire…. And yet John’s head ends up on a plate at the hand of a manipulating queen. Does anyone want the favor of Paul? For as we saw last week he delighted in all hardship, persecution and trial….  Yet each of these men know their purpose and have become hero’s of the Bible.

We find in the Scriptures this week – Purpose triumphs all things and it redefines favor. King David never expected what happened when he went to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant, but that was because he forgot the purpose of the Ark, and simply wanted its favor…. In being reminded of its purpose at the cost of Uzzah’s life – for he himself was not following the purposes set out by God regarding the Ark.  David cry’s in the Psalm is that God is in control and how blessed are those who know the His favor. This favor comes in turning only to God and having a clean heart. Even the gates of the city have a purpose and they fully embody their purpose.

If there are any doubt that God has a plan and purpose for your life –Read Ephesians 1 – it is the most beautiful description of Paul’s understanding and prayer for the church. All this is to the praise of God’s Glory. A quick note on the book, “Why bad things happen to good people” In short this book attempts to bring comfort to people who are “good” and want an answer to why “bad” things happen. The conclusion of the book is because God is limited to stop the bad things that happen,  because we live in a bad world, bad things will happen. I do not share the book’s view. God is not limited nor is God evil (the book only says God is limited, but the logical conclusion is if God is almighty and bad things happen then God wants bad to happen making God evil). Rather God is all powerful and his purposes triumph over all things – and to know this purpose is to know His favor such that – nothing that happens is good or bad – it is purposed.

Our choice remains alive and free to move into the will of God or to blaze our own trail. Do you wish to pray, Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done, or to build your own kingdom and to find your own favor….

Do you have a “defined personal God given purpose” for your life? If you aren’t sure, it doesn’t mean that you don’t rather it means you may have simply not spent time listening to God to hear what he has to say about your life. Would you like to articulate your God given personal purpose? Reply below and I’ll email you a series of questions that will set you on the journey of that discovery.

Why do you think, bad things happen?

Why do you think, good things happen?

Do both good things and bad things happen?

Do you believe God to be all-powerful, love and just? (If not all three which ones not?)

If both good and bad things happen and God is all-powerful, loving and just, then what makes something good or bad?

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I married into it, we found our way out of it

Posted on July 2, 2012 by chaplaincasey

Kingdom Principle:  The Kingdom of God is rooted in the spiritual realm and expressed in the physical realm. However, the physical expression is often over valued and mis-understood.

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10 Psalm 48 2 Corinthians 12:2-10 Mark 6:1-13

When I married into the “Dutch” culture – I learned that cleanliness is next to godliness – how far from the truth this is if the “presentation of cleanliness is used as a cover-up to pretend like you have your house in order when it comes to other issues such as relationships, finances or secret sin” and yet – when your house is not in order, it is an indication that there is an spiritual “dis-order” that is being expressed. How great is the gift of God it is when that which is spiritual is matched in the physical.

It is the responsibility of a King to ensure protection and provision for their people and in all this the people serve for the King’s pleasure. (This concepts was presented on June 5 – post Loki is a puny king) In the Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ our King, and he provides  protection and provision first in the spiritual realm, then it is expressed in the physical.  (read the gospels of Jesus’ healing, most often healing in spiritual precedes healing of the physical.) The pleasure of our King is for his people to discover their purpose in life, serving him as their expression worship.

The psalm paints the picture of the physical expression of protection and provision of God being made true  because of the spiritual reality that preceded it. Yet it also shows how those who do not fear God, will mis-understand that which is physical and fear man instead, yet those who put their faith in God are not impressed with that which is physical.

King David is lead into Jerusalem by the hand of God… yet others tried to make this happen by their own hands. (a desire of the ignorant is to make the physical proceed the spiritual) The building up of the area around the City of David – expresses the spiritual reality of the rule of God over the City of David. The protection comes from God not the build-up of the walls, but the build-up is right and appropriate to demonstrate that which God is already doing. Some might say, why build-up the walls is God is already protecting, but why not demonstrate in the physical that which is true in Spiritual… it is foolish to try and convince the blind of what they cannot see, but to demonstrate by physical reality (something the blind can touch is real) can lead others to seek out the source of such truth.

The discrediting of Jesus in his hometown is the physical expression of a spiritual void and lack of faith. How else are the people of Nazareth to know that it is them that fails to believe – than to see the realities of healing and transformation in all other villages around them? The fixation on the physical leads them to miss the spiritual.

The charge to the disciples to  take no physical comforts when they are sent out by Jesus  – helps them to see the provision & protection of their God as the King– the physical provision becomes the demonstration of the spiritual presence and power.

Paul knows that to have a physical weakness is the way in which the spiritual will shine more greatly. Paul has great pleasure in letting Christ’s power to be made know through him. Without a physical limitation being obvious – others might misunderstand the source of the power – thinking it to be Paul’s.

Where in your life do you perceive to be more spiritual mature than there is a physical reality to demonstrate such truth? Meaning you feel like you have grown in your faith greatly, but the physical reality of such growth seems to be lagging behind.  In this place, seek the Lord and ask His counsel.

Where can you see a physical demonstration of the King’s provision and protection over you? In this place are you fully aware of what is the spiritual reality behind such truth. If you are not pressing into and trusting in this spiritual provision, it can be lost.  (If David say’s I’m fine with Hebron, and avoids becoming King of Israel, he has missed all that God has ordained for him.  – Provision and protection does not mean life become easy – ready 2 Samuel 2-4 the battle was fierce, but the provision and protection were always made known.

Are you having pleasure in your daily routine?  Where you are lacking pleasure in your daily life your actually declaring that the work of God in your life is not enough. That may seem harsh, but God has ordained your days and if in Him you move and have your being and yet you are not finding pleasure in what that movement looks like, something is out of line – either spiritually or physically. You may be aligned with God and growing, but the dis-pleasure comes from God wanting you to move in a new direction, it is your maturity not lack thereof that is preventing pleasure…  for this to be worked out – return to discovering your disciplined body, developed soul and directed spirit.  The last three weeks posts.

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Is Rich Christians an oxymoron?

Posted on June 26, 2012 by chaplaincasey

This post was updated on 6/24/15

Kingdom Principle: Forgiveness redefines others understanding of your faith.

Favor is not about what you can “get” from God – it is rather being able to give everything away – even your own rights, security and well-being.

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27 Psalm 130 2 Corinthians 8:7-15 Mark 5:21-43

A wise friend told me  – Many Christians have never walked by faith – they trust in their financial savings, credit cards and worldly possessions…. If you really want to learn to walk by faith – you will only do so when those are all gone. Jesus said this as well to a young ruler who wanted to attain eternal life. Jesus simply said, sell all you have and give it to the poor, then you will have eternal life. (Luke 18:18 – it is important to know that his man was wealthy and very obedient to follow law carefully.  (“sin” according to the world was not his issue keeping him from eternal life.)  Rather his faith was in his wealth – and for many this may on the outside be seen as if God was blessing him. (moral, believer, wealthy, powerful, yet  sad and rejected) Here at the crossroads of Faith yielding Favor is the reality of Forgiveness. Favor from God is revealed through the heart of Forgiveness. How much can you give away?

Can you imagine David – teaching all of Israel to lament over Saul’s death? This man who used him, denied him, and tried to kill him repeatedly. Beyond this, David knows that Saul’s death means the beginning of his anointed rule as King – that which he has been waiting roughly 30 years to claim. Yet read Psalm 130, and you can understand the lens by which David is approach this.  How is it that Jesus disregarding his own rights and personal space to be violated so that others might find life? (Jesus according to the law was made unclean by being touched by the woman or by touching the dead girl.)  Paul declares to the church in Corinth, that favor in finances is nothing if it is not accompanied by conviction – to give it away when others are in need. This is a tangible expression of the forgiveness taught repeatedly by Jesus as well – to whom much is given, much is expected, and if you have been forgiven much and yet forgive little, pain and destruction awaits you….

So over the last three weeks we have laid the foundation of Faith in the Kingdom setting you apart in body, soul and spirit – which yields favor in this world, not from the world but beyond what the world can give. Now all this is on the verge of being misunderstood and taken away. If in fact you do not give it all away. It is taken from you. But the Favor of the Lord is not yours to give, so what shall you give? Give Forgiveness, Finances, Freedom.

Giving such things does not increase your favor – rather it is an indicator that you are in not need of more favor, rather you trust that you can give this all away and the Lord can replace it in a moment of time.

Give Forgiveness: If it is favor you have – you did not earn it, therefore don’t expect others to earn your forgiveness. Give it away freely. (There are many woundedness issues that arise here, but the concept remains true regardless…..) In forgiveness you surrender your right to get even, and allow God the place of authority over relationships. If forgiveness is hard for you– don’t start here – start is disciplining your own body and developing your own soul.

Give Finances: Being rich is not bad or a prohibiting factor or entering the Kingdom. However the greater your wealth, the greater faith in the King must be. This reality is taught through tithing…. Teach your children to given when they have little – then the principle will be in place when the Lord’s favor blesses them later. Beyond the personal principle of giving, we give because people are in need. The hard part here is not for us to determine the need, but to be Spirit Directed – allowing the Lord to prompt our hearts to give beyond our measure.

Give Freedom: My life is not my own, I was bought with a price.  (1 Cor. 6:19-20) How do you measure your time – What is free time to you? If you have a gift of healing, but chose not to use it, who loses more – you or the broken? I will argue it is you…. For you gift will be taken, the Lord can call out another healer. In our culture (western/American/consumer driven) we value our choices and our freedom over most other things. In fact we view money as time, and we want our time often more than money. Acts 17:28 states, “In Him we live and move and have our being.” This summary is the declaration of one who allows God to rule over their purpose and time of life….  You can not declare Acts 17:28 part time…

Is there anyone you would rather avoid, due to your unwillingness/inability to forgive them? Where do you still hold pain or personal disappointment from your own mistakes – Where has forgiveness not intersected your faith? Do you ask others to forgive you on a regular basis?

Does giving of finances seem to be impossibility? If you had more do you would think you would give more? Where have finances replaced your foothold of faith in the Kingdom?

Do people come to you when they have a need? Do you feel guilty when you take time for yourself? (time to discipline your body, develop your soul or to let God direct your spirit) What would you do if you had more time?

Posted in After Pentecost, Year B | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments