God's Release

When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." "Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you." Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside.
John 2: 3-9

I love this story because it gives me a picture of a Jesus with "skin on."

Jesus is out at a wedding with his mother and we would assume many other friends. Here is a snapshot from the family phot album of the real Jesus, a real man, gathering together with family and friends after likely having walked to the village of Cana, where Nathaniel lived, nearby his home in Nazareth.

He is standing around after the wedding just enjoying conversation, laughing, talking and enjoying the friendship and community, when the normal flow of the day takes a supernatural turn.

The thing that strikes me most as the story unfolds in real time is Jesus' sensitivity and obedience to moving, only when the Father told Him to move and act and not before.

"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."

John 5:19

Here in Cana as the day unfolds, Mary, Jesus mother, prods Him to do a miracle and to act. He gently reproves her and says, "my time is not yet come."

The lesson and encouragement to me in this story is that when you are waiting upon God or sense you are in the desert with no permission to move, it is right and appropriate to sit still. We must not move until God tells us to move.

The other encouraging part of this story for me is that, sometimes in the desert, you feel....when....when when will God break the silence and release me to move and to do things for Him. Will it ever happen again.

The answer is that the release can come at anytime. In one moment when Jesus mother pushed Him to act He said, "NO....I do not have release....it is not my time" But, after an undisclosed time, likely not too long after His Mother's prodding, He obviously felt confident of His release from God to act.

So take courage and rest dear saint that is in a time of waiting. You are not lazy and irresponsible when the activist culture of doers around you says get up and do something. You must not move until the Father tells you to move and you sense release.

But also be encouraged and listen for the wisper of God's permission. Your release may be closer that it feels. It could be any minute!

Roots of the Modern Missions Movement:Clapham Sect

The Chapham Sect–A Company of Friends

William Wilberforce (1759-1833) was the Member of the English Parliament who led the campaign to abolish the slave trade in England. A committed Christian, Wilberforce received the following note from the aging John Wesley:

…unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you?

Wilberforce’s forty years of public life and activity were filled with one moral and religious project after another. In addition to his abolition work, he was consistently involved in church work which included the Church Missionary Society, the British and Foreign Bible Society, the School Society, the Sunday School Society and others.

His public philanthropic efforts were many, including relieving the suffering of the manufacturing poor and French refugees while always working actively in reform movements addressing such injustices in hospital care, asylums, infirmaries, and penitentiaries. A great public reformer, Wilberforce was also a strong family man and deeply disciplined in his dedication to Jesus Christ.

What’s little known is that he had an amazing circle of friends.Throughout history groups of men and women have banded together to promote causes they believe in. When abolition was defeated in Parliament in 1789, Wilberforce and his closest friend, Henry Thornton, called together such a group–the Clapham Sect, as it became known. This informal group of friends included Charles Grant and Edward Elliot, brother in law to William Pitt. William Smith, Granville Sharpe, James Stephen, Zachary and Selina Macaulay, and others joined these “Saints” in the village of Clapham, a prosperous suburb five miles from the heart of London.

The common bond that held these friends together was “the desire to apply their faith in Jesus Christ to personal, social, political, national and international matters.” Making no claim to be theologians, they worshiped together, prayed together and studied the Bible seriously, believing that they were representatives of God’s kingdom on earth and faithful stewards of all God had given them.

Richard Gathro said the Chapham Sect shared these characteristics:

1. A common commitment to Jesus Christ and a clear sense of calling.

2. A commitment to lifelong friendship and mutual submission.

3. A thoughtful pursuit of causes marked by careful research, planning and strategy.

4. A friendship that was inclusive and focused on essentials. (Wilberforce, for example was Wesleyan and his closest friend Henry Thornton a Calvinist.)

5. A long view on completing projects. Abolition of the slave trade took over 20 years.

6. They saw no dictonomy between evangelism and social action. Their magazine, The Christian Observer, exemplified this.

7. Their faith was integral to all of life…family, career, friendship and more. They allowed no compartmentalization.

8. They made family life a clear priority and delighted in each other’s marriages and children.

9. They enabled one another. They recognized each other’s passions and supported one another in them.

10. They worshiped both privately and publicly, gathering twice weekly at the Clapham Church.

Taken from On Movements (Source: C.S. Lewis Institute Report, Summer 2001. See article by Richard Gathro)

Roots Of the Western Missions Movement: Moravians

Count Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf

As I have been spending time looking at movements that shaped the face of the modern spead of the Gospel and Christianity it has been eye opening to see how God used small pockets of beievers. Two that hold impressive lessons for those who long to be used by God, are the Moravians and later the Clapham sect in England. From these two passionate groups one can see the hand of God shaping the modern Western Missions Movement. I am impressed again on how God can swing history on the hinge of a single life, or how a small group of individuals that are committed to a dream and vision that is bigger than themselves can have such a far reaching impact that stretches far beyond their lifetime.

Zinzendorf was born into one of the most noble families of Europe. His father died when he was an infant, and he was raised at Gros Hennersdorf, the castle of his influential Pitetistic grandmother. Stories abound of his deep faith during childhood. As a young man he struggled with his desire to study for the ministry and the expectation that he would fulfill his hereditary role as a Count. As a teenager at Halle Academy, he and several other young nobles formed a secret society, The Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed. The stated purpose of this order was that the members would use their position and influence to spread the Gospel. As an adult, Zinzendorf later reactivated this adolescent society, and many influential leades of Europe ended up joining the group. A few included the King of Denmark, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Archbishop of Paris.

During his Grand Tour (a rite of passage for young aristocrats) Nicolas visited an art museum in Dusseldorf where he saw a Domenico Feti painting titled Ecce Homo, "Behold the Man." It portrayed the crucified Christ with the legend, "This have I done for you - Now what will you do for me?" The young count as profoundly moved and appears to have had an almost mystical experience while looking at the painting, feeling as if Christ himself was speking those word to his heart. He vowed that day to dedicate his life to service to Christ.

Zinzendorf married Erdmuth Dorothea von Reuss, a cousin, and assumed his duties as a young noble in the courst of King August the Strong. In 1722, he was approached by a group of Moravians to request permission to live on his lands. He granted their request, and a small band crossed the border from Moravia to settle in a town they called Herrnhut, or "the Lord's Watch." Zinzendorf was intrigued by the story of the Moravians, and began to read about the early Unity at the library in Dresden. His tenants went through a period of serious division, and it was then in 1727 that Zinzendorf left public life to spend all his time at his Berthelsdorf estate working with the troubled Moravians. Largely due to his leadership in daily Bible studies, the group came to formulate a unique document, known as the "Brotherly Agreement," which set forth basic tenets of Christian behavior. Residents of Herrnhut were required to sign a pledge to abide by these Biblical principals. There followed an intense and powerful experience of renewal, often described as the "Moravian Pentecost." During a communion service at Berthelsdorf, the entire congregation felt a powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, and felt their previous differences swept away. This experience began the Moravian renewal, and led to the beginning of the Protestant World Mission movement.

In 1731, while attending the coronation of Christian VI in Copenhagen, the young Count met a converted slave from the West Indies, Anthony Ulrich. Anthony's tale of his people's plight moved Zinzendorf, who brought him back to Herrnhut. As a result, two young men, Leonard Dober and David Nitchmann, were sent to St. Thomas to live among the slaves and preach the Gospel. This was the first organized Protestant mission work, and grew rapidly to Africa, America, Russia, and other parts of the world. By the end of Zinzendorf's life there were active missions from Greenland to South Africa, literally from one end of the earth to the other. Though the Baptist missionary William Carey is often refered to as the "Father of Modern Missions," he himself would credit Zinzendorf with that role, for he often refered to the model of the earlier Moravians in his journal.

Zinzendorf himself visited St. Thomas, and later visited America. There he sought to unify the German Protestants of Pennsylvania, even proposing a sort of "council of churches" where all would preserve their unique denominational practices, but would work in cooperation rather than competition. He founded the town of Bethlehem, where his daughter Benigna organized the school which would become Moravian College. His overwhelming interest in the colonies involved evangelising the native Americans, and he travelled into the wilderness with Indian agent Conrad Weiser to meet with the chieftains of several tribes and clans. As far as we have been able to identify, he is the only European noble to have gone out to meet the native American leaders in this manner.

Zinzendorf's theology was extraordinarily Christ-centered and innovative. It focussed intensely on the personal experience of a relationship with Christ, and an emotional experience of salvation rather than simply an intellectual assent to certain principles. Dr David Schattschneider, Dean of Moravian Theological Seminary in Bethlehem, PA, says that it is probably the fact that Zinzendorf did not attend seminary that allowed his thinking could be so creative. Zinzendorf cast the Trinity and the believers in terms of a family, referring often to the Holy Spirit as "mother." He accorded women a much more substantial role in church life than was normal for the eighteenth century, and suffered great criticism as a result. He allowed women to preach, to hold office, and to be ordained. Anna Nitschmann, the leader of the Single Sisters and later Zinzendorf's second wife, seems to have functioned as a bishop among the women.

But all Zinzendorf's thinking also focused on missionary outreach and renewal. He envisioned the Moravians not as a separate denomination, but as a dynamic renewal society which would serve to revitalize existing denominations and help create new work in mission areas. There are numerous churches in Pennsylvania where Moravians would start a church and school for the settlers and native Americans, and then turn it over to the Lutheran Church, the Reformed Church, or whatever denomination they perceived to be the strongest in that area.
Zinzendorf came to know John and Charles Wesley, who had been converted through their contact with the Moravians. The Wesleys later had a split with Zinzendorf, and founded the Methodist Church; both retained warm affection for the Moravians throughout their lives.

Zinzendorf died in 1760 at Herrnhut.

Republished from Zinzindorf: The Count Without Boarders

The Father Heart of God

Mark was a well respected up and coming leader in his denomination. He had come from a long line of pastors and was finally hitting his stride as a leader in his own right.

His grandfather had been head of the denomination. His dad had risen through the ranks to to the same position as well. The family was a bit of an icon, as their reputation for godly leadership, was well known throughout the country.

Mark was pastoring a rapidly growing congregation. This past year he too had been asked to step into a national leadership role by the denomination. It was a role that set him up for massive influence and huge possibilities. Everything he dreamed of was coming to pass. The third generation was now stepping up to wear the mantle of leadership that had been the heritage of a great Godly family.

Then it happened. Seemingly out of nowhere.What began as a honest compassionate act of pastoral ministry would viciously ravage Mark's whole world in a matter of weeks.

Mark's world came crashing to the ground as violently and publicly as the World Trade Centers while all around him watched in pain and disbelief.

Unmet needs and lack of safe boundaries turned a counseling relationship into a seductive trap. Destruction wreaked havoc and pain not only Mark's life and the woman he was counseling, but also both their families, his church, and the denomination that had just placed so much trust in him as a leader.

In the ensuing turmoil and torment Mark lost everything. His beloved wife, his kids, the respect of the church and the denomination. Everything gone!
Like an octopus, tentacles of shame began to strangle and squeeze every ounce of life from Mark's existence.

"How could this have happened? What have I done? Why did I sacrifice my family... and for what? How could I have destroyed the reputation of my family and the legacy of my father and grandfather? This cannot be happening to me. How could I have destroyed everything I have dreamed and prayed for?"

The accusatory questions reverberated through his mind and heart in a self and guilt imposed Inquisition that had no end. In contrast to his own self-damnation and self-hatred, there were a few good brothers who did try to reach out to Mark with healing compassion and forgiveness. But as the weeks and months passed Mark continued in a downward spiral of destructive guilt.

Deep waves of shame that continually washed over him would not allow him to face friends, family, church members or others in the denomination that he had let down in his failed leadership. More than that, Mark could not face God. Instead he walled off every entrance and exit to his being from anything that would lead to a face to face encounter with God. Certainly God wanted nothing to do with him after what he had done.

At last the pain of failure was so great that Mark could stand it no longer. He despised his very existence. The loss of all that he loved and held dear was too acute to live with anymore.

In the dark recesses of his mind he determined it. He planned it. He would end his life.

The white line of the highway became a dull blur as he made his way up the mountain road. In a mental and emotional fog, he found himself high in the mountains with nothing but the clothes on his back and a gun. The very gun he had often used on frequent hunting trips to those very same mountains.

Distant and now painful recollections of wonderful and magical times hunting with His father, welled up inside him as he trudged through the fresh fallen snow. He passed the all too familiar landmarks of his childhood. Memories of times with his dad and the countless hours they spent hunting, reeled through his mind like recollections of a paradise lost.

Uncontrollable sobs issued from the core of Mark's being as he pondered the shame and the hurt he must have created in the heart of his father. He had so idolized and loved his dad growing up. He so wanted to be like his father. All his life there was no one he more wanted to emulate and be like in his lifetime. Now he had shamed and brought disgrace to the very one he so wanted to make so proud.

The pain was too much to bear. "How could he have become such a loser? How could such subtle pride and undetected arrogance from his success have left him open to such a fall? How could he have been so busy about the things of God that he was unaware of the huge needs for intimacy with God and his wife he had left unmet? Those very deficits emotionally had become the seeds of his destruction.

He knew all that! He had preached on that so many times!

"What a fool! What a fool!" The voice of condemnation echoed over and over again through the corridors of his mind. The shouts of indictment increased in intensity with every step he took through the powdery snow.

The moon began to cast a dull glow as the partially cloudy sky darkened the path in front of him. Soon the beauty of the surroundings became barely distinguishable silhouettes. Much like the dull images that met his eyes, Mark's despair cast a eerie fog over memories that used to be so real. Vivid pictures of the things that were so dear to him, were now barely distinguishable silhouettes of things that once were but were no more.

Somewhere in the dark of the night Mark lost the will to live. He was ready to end it all.

As he resigned himself to pull the trigger a yearning to hear his wife's voice one more time made him pause. A strange prompting to listen to her voice mail on his cell phone he had saved and listened to so many times before made him stop. He climbed to an outcropping of rocks and amazingly he saw one bar as he opened his cell phone. The ring signaled the connection.

What happened next shocked Mark at the core of his being. "You have two new messages," the polite and businesslike voice said at the prompt.

Mark pushed the star key and punched in his password.

"Mark, it's dad," the familiar voice said. Just the sound of his gracious voice brought a rush of emotion to Mark's heart.

"Mark, I know you don't want to see anyone son, but I want you to know how much I love you."
The next words, and the sound of the wind whistling behind his father's voice on the recording, confirmed what Mark instantly knew in his spirit.

"Mark, I am on the mountain son, and I am looking for you. I know you know this mountain like the back of your hand and that if you do not want me to find you I won't find you easily. But I want you to know I am looking for you son. I am going to stay up here on this mountain until I find you Mark.

I love you son and nothing you have done can change that or my love for you."

The emotions began to flow uncontrollably. As Mark heard his earthly father's voice, he also miraculously heard and saw the face of of his Heavenly Father saying to Him, "Mark, I love you son. I am up on the mountain looking for you. If you don't want me to find you, I know you can hide, but I am looking for you and I am not leaving until I find you."

Almost instantly weeks and months of self-hatred and hopelessness, gave way in Mark's heart, to the torrent of God's furious love and forgiveness. But God was not finished with his work of redemption and reconciliation.

As Mark's mind and heart spun with feelings of love and acceptance he had long lost hope of ever feeling again in this life, the voice mail clicked over to the next message in the queue. It was Mark's wife Mary. Not the old message he had saved and listened to again and again, just to hear her voice. A new message was there, sent just after the one from his father.

"Mark, it's Mary... A long pause ensued and then her quiet voice half crying and half talking spoke again.

"Mark, I want you to know how much you have hurt me and the kids. It has not been easy for us and I have been angry with you. I know you are hurting too. I know I told you I want a divorce ... but Mark I want you to know that I forgive you and I want to start over.

I chose you when I married you Mark, and today I want you to know that I am re-choosing you again. Please call me and come home. We can rebuild. I need you and the children need you."

What followed on the mountain that day between Mark and his dad is a picture that was only beheld in the heavenlies.

A lost son was saved and reconciled to a father in a sacred scene that I am sure made the angelic host cry, and a Heavenly Father experience unspeakable and indescribable joy.

Do you know that the Father Heart of God seeks after you relentlessly? His pursuit of you knows no end and has no bounds.

Do you know that there is nothing in the hidden recesses of your secret life that God is not aware of? Others may not be aware of the things that plague your spirit and vex you with a sense of worthlessness and self-hatred, but God knows it all intimately.

He would say to you today, "I know if you don't want me to find you there are a lot of places you can hide. You can make it difficult to find you. But I want you to know I am tirelessly looking for you and I am not going to quit until I find you.

I love you and I died for those ugly things you keep hidden in the round tower of your heart. You need not be held captive by them anymore. I want to make your life new. I want you to bask in my forgiveness and love. I want you to know how much you are worth to me.

Come home son. Come home daughter. It will bring me unspeakable joy if you will accept my love and let me lavish you with my grace and care.

Speaking God's Love Language: Depending on Him

My morning ritual of answering e-mails was interrupted the other day by the ring of my cell phone.

"Hi dad, where are you?", asked my oldest daughter Leisa. My spirits quickly shifted from the heavy intensity of my workload to a sense of joy that only a dad understands when he talks to his daughter.

"I am down at Yellowood Coffee doing e-mails and working," I responded. "What's up?"

"Oh awesome, I really really need to talk to you and get your advice on a big business decision I need to make. I have a contract I want you to look at before I sign it. Can I come down there, I am almost there."

"You bet honey, come on down. I would love to hear what's going on," I responded.
In reality, I had a ton to get done that morning. I was hiding out, away from my office to plow through a number of things. But immediately my sense of stress and drivenness to get alot done turned to a twinge of joy and excitement.

What dad doesn't want to spend time with his daughter! And what dad doesn't feel incredibly satisfied and fulfilled when his daughter expresses her need for help and dependence on him. There is an unspeakable joy when our kids allow us to meet needs in their lives and recognize that we have something to offer them.

It is especially true I think when it is a grown up child and they don't have to come to you, but seek you out anyway.

As I waited for her to show up my mind drifted to this past August when I walked this same daughter down the aisle and gave her away to Tyson, her new husband. I remember thinking, "she will now look to him to meet her needs." There was a mixed sense of loss but also a sense of peace and joy, knowing that this fine young man would truly take care of my girl. I had been the primary male care giver for her over the last 24 years. Now she would look to him.

As I watched the two of them together it all seemed right. I could see the amazing sense of security on her face as they embraced. She knew that she was loved and cared for. I could see the tremendous sense of joy on Tyson's countenance, knowing he was finally the man in her life, and would have the chance to care for Leisa and provide for her needs.

Did you know God finds the same unspeakable joy and satisfaction when we entrust ourselves to Him?

Just as my heart was filled with joy at Leisa including me in her big business decision, God's heart overflows with joy whenever we depend on him even for the smallest things in our life.
We speak His love language every time we turn our heart to Him in child like dependence.
Take a look at the picture above of my daughter Leisa as she lays her head on Tyson's chest. Is that a picture of your relationship with God?

Scripture says that those of us that name the name of Christ are called His Bride. Nothing speaks more to God about your love for Him than when you cast aside your own self-reliance, in exchange for deep trust and abandonment to His tender care.