This song by Steve Taylor, On the Fritz, was prophetic. A short time after this song came out in the late 80s several well known TV evangelists fell morally. Around the same time, so did my youth pastor. And it hasn’t slowed down since then. If only we all would take to heart the words of this song and kept close tabs on our integrity, especially those in any kind of leadership.
I’ve just started reading Francis Chan’s latest book, Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit. Chapter One hits with a question that is a sobering. Take a look at these words and allow them to sink in a few minutes.
And this is the question I just can’t get around: If It’s true that the Spirit of God dwells in us [Romans 8:9 -- You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ] and that our bodies are the Holy Spirit’s temple [1st Corinthians 6:19-20 -- Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.], then shouldn’t there be a huge difference between the person who has the Spirit of God living inside of him or her and the person who does not?
This may be a silly illustration, but if I told you I had an encounter with God where He entered my body and gave me a supernatural ability to play basketball, wouldn’t you expect to see an amazing improvement in my jump shot, my defense, and my speed on the court? After all, this is God we’re talking about. And if you saw no change in my athleticism, wouldn’t you question the validity of my “encounter”?
I took Charisse to her crib the other night–but before I put her down I decided to spend a few minutes with her in the rocking chair. I am not even sure what I was saying–but all of a sudden she opened her eyes really big and just stared at me.
To be honest–I got lost in that moment. She didn’t look away–she didn’t even hardly blink–she just stared right at me and I nearly melted right there. There is NOTHING that pleases a father more than when he has the undivided attention of his child. I will have to say that up until this point it was probably the most special time I have had with just she and I…and I felt SO connected with her.
Walking out of her room down the steps I felt the Lord whisper to me, “Hey Perry, that is what I want with you! Not some ritual…but an intimate connection.”
From time to time I get caught up in “having a quiet time” just to say I had one? Sure, a verse or two will stand out to me…but if I am not careful I will forget that my time with God in the mornings isn’t about a spiritual to do list–it is about a connection…a connection that I need and God wants.
God doesn’t want our lip service–He wants our undivided attention. And that is SO hard in today’s society–everything competes with our time with Him…ESPECIALLY technology. I just know that what I experienced with my daughter was REAL…and the Lord used it in my life to show me that I need to take my walk with Him to the next level!
Then I was reminded of Jesus–the Bible says in Luke 5:16 that He often withdrew to lonely places and prayed–translation–He got alone and LOCKED EYES with His Father…amazing! We see this again in Mark 1:35 where the Bible says that the first thing in the morning Jesus went to a solitary place to lock eyes with His Father…and the result was direction and power. (See Mark 1:36-39)
BUT–I believe the most intimate and challenging time Jesus had with the Father was in the garden of Gethsemane where we see Him praying in Matthew 26:36-45 one of THE most unselfish, sold out prayers EVER recorded in history. Translation–when we LOCK EYES with the Father there is NOTHING that we are not willing to do for Him!
My prayer lately has been that I will have my eyes LOCKED–focused on Him! It blows my mind that He wants that–and I know I need it!!! I never want to merely offer God lip service–He knows my heart. My desire is to LOCK EYES with Him and then to do whatever He asks…how about you?
OK, so here is a good video of the guy jumping 35′ 9″ up into the 12″ of water in the kiddie pool @ Catalyst last week. Amazing but still not sure it was smart.
Conference is over. Waiting in line for CDs and then off to Ipolitos for dinner again.
Dude jumping from 39 feet into 1 foot of water in kiddie pool.
Apparently Pastor Paul isn’t the only guy who can’t put on of the earpiece mics on. Chuck Swindoll’s is ready to fall off.
Flippin Chuck Swindoll now taking the stage to a huge standing ovation to receive the Lifetime Acheivement Award. Awesome morning.
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