I think one of the reasons why the SGM drama/crisis affected me among so many others is that it has shaken our faith mainly in church leadership but also has caused us to evaluate what we really believe. My church history background has been based in based in reformed/charismatic evangelicalism that emphasized most of our problems were sin-related. We were also taught to respect and honour our leaders. In both situations - my faith in our leadership was shaken.
In Dunstable, Stanley - our senior pastor - made a major shift in his theology on the Holy Spirit and such a change unfortunately coincided with my baptism in the Holy Spirit. However God worked this together for good - and I had to dig deep into the Word of God and such teachers as Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones and Terry Virgo who led me to see the glorious truth.
In SGM, my history and subsequent observation of C J Mahaney and Dave Harvey's behaviour as revealed by Brent Detwiler shook my faith again. But I am believing that God is working this together for good and is leading me step by step away from this sin-focused obsession and step by step into His glorious grace.
I was running on the treadmill at the gym today and by chance (I run my iPhone on shuffle) a wonderful old chorus of Dave Fellingham's came on (squashed in between Steps and Lady Gaga);
"At Your feet we fall, mighty risen Lord,
As we come before Your throne to worship You.
By Your Spirit's power You now draw our hearts,
And we hear Your voice in triumph ringing clear.
I am He that liveth, that liveth and was dead,
Behold I am alive forever more.
There we see You stand, mighty risen Lord,
Clothed in garments pure and holy, shining bright.
Eyes of flashing fire, feet like burnished bronze,
And the sound of many waters is Your voice.
Like the shining sun in its noonday strength,
We now see the glory of Your wondrous face.
Once that face was marred, but now You're glorified,
And Your words like a two-edged sword have mighty power".
An amazing song! But it was a tremendous reminder of the unchanging nature of the living God. I've been spending time tonight re-visiting the past promises, dreams and visions that God has been so favourable to grant me (nothing compared to a man like Rob Rufus - but still - I am BLESSED!). For example, I was amazed to have completely forgotten these few dreams;
"Terry Virgo and Angels Snipers!!" - a dream I had back in 2009.
"Dreams, dreams, dreams!!" - documenting some of the key dreams I have had in my life - one back in 2001 about a call to "ministry", one involving a tidal wave of glory speeding towards Brighton in 2006 (that I shared with Terry Virgo) and another about walking in a field of corn with my dear friend Pete Day.
A reminder - a glorious one at that - of the power of children prophesying - "your daughters shall prophesy!".
"The tide is turning" - a prophetic promise from Terry Virgo back at the glorious Brighton conference in 2007 - is still true I think. But tides ... who can predict when they reach fullness? I found this quote from Jim Goll;
"When God seems silent, there are several things you can do.
1. Stick with what you already know.What was the last thing the Lord said to you or told you to do? Have you done it? Why should He tell you something new until you have completed what He has already revealed?".
Showing posts with label Jim Goll. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Goll. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Aspects of Knowing the Manifest Presence of God!!
I've just come back from almost a week down in Cornwall visiting Myriddin - a dear friend of mine that I haven't seen for a while. We had an incredible time chatting about all sorts of things mainly about knowing God. I haven't seen him since I came into contact with Rob Rufus and his ministry from Hong Kong. I took him on the internet and showed him all sorts of quotes and also Rob's prophetic song that he brought during the "Miracle Healing Weekend". Myth was really impacted with what he heard and hopefully will be able to come with us to "Grace and Glory Conference" in Hong Kong next year!
Facing 4 or 5 hours on the train was made slightly less hideous by taking two new books again mainly centred around knowing God. They were from different theological positions but I found myself hugely encouraged along the same path after reading them both. The first was a large hardback book called; "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" by Thomas R Schreiner. There is an amazing section on the "Holy Spirit" which is almost equal to Gordon Fee's outstanding; "God's Empowering Presence". I will be posting quotes here throughout this evening.
The second book was called "The Seer - The Prophetic Power of Visions, Dreams and Open Heavens" by Jim W Goll. It was particularly looking at ways of experiencing God personally and corporately and very similar to Todd Bentley's book; "The Reality of the Supernatural World: Exploring Heavenly Realms and Prophetic Experiences". Again there were some quotes most worthy of remembering. But what impressed me the most was that the foreword to Jim Goll's book said this;
"We live in a day when all too many "scholars" and even believers have reduced the Word of God to a purely rational and logical explanation. Granted the Word of God appears as reasonable and logical in it's unfolding to the human mind; provided that the mind is surrendered, yielded and in the process of being transformed by the Spirit!".
That I think is a fair enough comment that few would have a problem with. I approached Schreiner's book with a degree of suspicion that this would be a more objective approach to knowing God as written by the said scholar - rational and logical. However I was thrilled to read that on the one hand Schreiner rightly states;
"The Holy Spirit's role in the writing of Scripture is one example of the alliance between the Spirit and the Word. The Spirit speaks through the written word of Scripture and the human authors of Scripture spoke their words under the aegis of the Holy Spirit".
A typical reformed statement some might say. However he also goes on to speak about;
"We should also observe that Jesus described the whole of His ministry here, so that every dimension of His work depended on the anointing power of the Spirit. Every good work detailed in Luke stems from the Spirit Himself. Jesus truly was the bearer of the Spirit, the Man marked out by the Spirit, the man uniquely strengthened by the Spirit".
Theology does not have to be guilty of "dry and dead orthodoxy"! Oh for more scholars that are not afraid or intimidated to recognise that the Holy Spirit is a Person and is more than free to act as He will and when He will and how He will! Perhaps if we could see more of this mind-set grafted into the evangelical church then our mission would advance more rapidly walking not in word only but in power and in signs and wonders!
Facing 4 or 5 hours on the train was made slightly less hideous by taking two new books again mainly centred around knowing God. They were from different theological positions but I found myself hugely encouraged along the same path after reading them both. The first was a large hardback book called; "New Testament Theology - Magnifying God in Christ" by Thomas R Schreiner. There is an amazing section on the "Holy Spirit" which is almost equal to Gordon Fee's outstanding; "God's Empowering Presence". I will be posting quotes here throughout this evening.The second book was called "The Seer - The Prophetic Power of Visions, Dreams and Open Heavens" by Jim W Goll. It was particularly looking at ways of experiencing God personally and corporately and very similar to Todd Bentley's book; "The Reality of the Supernatural World: Exploring Heavenly Realms and Prophetic Experiences". Again there were some quotes most worthy of remembering. But what impressed me the most was that the foreword to Jim Goll's book said this;
"We live in a day when all too many "scholars" and even believers have reduced the Word of God to a purely rational and logical explanation. Granted the Word of God appears as reasonable and logical in it's unfolding to the human mind; provided that the mind is surrendered, yielded and in the process of being transformed by the Spirit!".
That I think is a fair enough comment that few would have a problem with. I approached Schreiner's book with a degree of suspicion that this would be a more objective approach to knowing God as written by the said scholar - rational and logical. However I was thrilled to read that on the one hand Schreiner rightly states;
"The Holy Spirit's role in the writing of Scripture is one example of the alliance between the Spirit and the Word. The Spirit speaks through the written word of Scripture and the human authors of Scripture spoke their words under the aegis of the Holy Spirit".
A typical reformed statement some might say. However he also goes on to speak about;
"We should also observe that Jesus described the whole of His ministry here, so that every dimension of His work depended on the anointing power of the Spirit. Every good work detailed in Luke stems from the Spirit Himself. Jesus truly was the bearer of the Spirit, the Man marked out by the Spirit, the man uniquely strengthened by the Spirit".
Theology does not have to be guilty of "dry and dead orthodoxy"! Oh for more scholars that are not afraid or intimidated to recognise that the Holy Spirit is a Person and is more than free to act as He will and when He will and how He will! Perhaps if we could see more of this mind-set grafted into the evangelical church then our mission would advance more rapidly walking not in word only but in power and in signs and wonders!
Friday, May 16, 2008
Why "Spiritual Disciplines" is a Bad Name!!
I've been enjoying reading Jim Goll's book; "Dream Language" on my night shift last night and was interested to read the following paragraph. Some may argue that the term is just semantics but in the last couple of posts I have been increasingly re-horrified by legalism and I think the concept that Jim Goll offers is worth thinking through if it further rids our lives of legalism;
"Some people would describe journaling as a spiritual discipline. I prefer another term. Like many others I have used the phrase "spiritual discipline" for years to describe any habitual pactice we undertake to facilitate spiritual growth. When composing my book; "The Lost Art of Practicing His Presence", however the Holy Spirit said to me;
"You're not disciplined enough to have a spiritual discipline!".
That nailed me! "Okay" I replied surprised and a bit miffed (deep in my heart I knew He was right). He said; "These are spiritual privilidges". That put a whole new angle on things. I really like the phrase "spiritual privilidges" because that is what they are. Looking at them as privilidges rather than as disciplines completely changes your mindset because doing something as a discipline can sometimes lead to a performance-based mentality.
Doing the same thing as a privilidge however means doing it because you can do it, or because you want to do it - not because you have to do it to please God or stay on His good side". It becomes a matter of perspective, like the difference between saying the glass is half empty or half full. Praying, studying, fasting, worshipping - they are all amazing spiritual privilidges - with great benefits!".
It's a great perspective worth trying! The spiritual privilidge of reading our Bibles!! Of worshipping!! Of praying to God and knowing we are being heard!! Surely this should enable a greater degree of excitement to getting up in the morning!
"Some people would describe journaling as a spiritual discipline. I prefer another term. Like many others I have used the phrase "spiritual discipline" for years to describe any habitual pactice we undertake to facilitate spiritual growth. When composing my book; "The Lost Art of Practicing His Presence", however the Holy Spirit said to me;
"You're not disciplined enough to have a spiritual discipline!".
That nailed me! "Okay" I replied surprised and a bit miffed (deep in my heart I knew He was right). He said; "These are spiritual privilidges". That put a whole new angle on things. I really like the phrase "spiritual privilidges" because that is what they are. Looking at them as privilidges rather than as disciplines completely changes your mindset because doing something as a discipline can sometimes lead to a performance-based mentality.
Doing the same thing as a privilidge however means doing it because you can do it, or because you want to do it - not because you have to do it to please God or stay on His good side". It becomes a matter of perspective, like the difference between saying the glass is half empty or half full. Praying, studying, fasting, worshipping - they are all amazing spiritual privilidges - with great benefits!".
It's a great perspective worth trying! The spiritual privilidge of reading our Bibles!! Of worshipping!! Of praying to God and knowing we are being heard!! Surely this should enable a greater degree of excitement to getting up in the morning!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)