Posts in the month of: Jan, 2010
From the Prayer Room
Yesterday, during the 8:00am set, Justin Rizzo’s team was singing based on a passage in 1 Corinthians 15, concerning the hope of the resurrection of the saints when Jesus returns. As soon as the prayer leader, Brandon Hammonds, introduced the passage to be sung you could feel a shift in the atmosphere in the prayer room. It was as if the spirit of prophecy instantly came upon us in the room, and especially on the singers. Jon Rizzo, the chorus leader for the set, sang out a spontaneous oracle and broke it open. People all over the room began to be filled with the “wine” of the Holy Spirit; people were laughing, rejoicing, and worshiping our beautiful God as He came and rested upon us. What a way to spend your Wednesday morning!
Jesus has defeated death. It has been swallowed up by the power of God. On that glorious day when He comes again, He will openly manifest His power over sin and death as He raises the dead and transforms those still alive to be like Him. Amen and amen. Be blessed today as we look for and beckon the return of Jesus.
Click here to watch the Prayer Room
Forerunner Evangelism Intensive
Have you ever talked yourself out of bringing up Jesus with your unsaved neighbor because you didn’t know what you would say if she was actually interested? Has fear of rejection or a busy schedule kept you from acting on a burden to share the gospel with that guy who mows your lawn every week? Or do you feel a call to evangelism on your life but don’t know how to start walking it out?
Probably any of us can say yes to one of these questions. Evangelism can be an intimidating and nerve-wracking proposition, and it’s often easier to just avoid it altogether. But Mom always said the best way to get over your fear of the high dive was to get up there and jump off, and then keep doing it until you’re not afraid anymore.
For those interested in getting in that line for the high dive, the IHOP–KC Evangelism Department has just the thing. The evangelism team has combined prayer and devotion, specialized training, and hands-on experience in a twelve-week program called the Evangelism Intensive. In three short months, you can get grounded in the theology of salvation, learn how to cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit, cultivate faith in times of devotion and meditation on the Word, practice your public speaking skills, develop a deeper burden for the lost as you intercede on their behalf, and overcome your fears as you consistently see people respond to your message of the gospel as the Holy Spirit moves upon their hearts.
The Evangelism Intensive at IHOP–KC has three sessions in 2010. The next one begins February 15. For more information, visit the Forerunner Evangelism page on our site or click here.
A New Look at Our Looks
“Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). Mankind tends to put considerable emphasis on outward appearance. Many children grow up believing their worth is defined by how they look. Adults are tempted to make divers assumptions about others based on physical attractiveness. We think we know how fun, how smart, or how wealthy people are by what our eyes see. How misleading is our human evaluation! Through it we have not recognized the Lord of glory.
Jesus Christ, the Everlasting God, took on flesh and accepted an unattractive frame. Can you believe it? It almost sounds like heresy to say the God-man was unattractive. But Isaiah says it clearly: “He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isa. 53:2, emphasis mine). He had no special appearance that we should love Him on this basis.
People are ever grasping after a more stunning physical show—in our day there are all sorts of surgeries to change undesirable traits—and here is the Christ, the One most worthy of a stunning image, and He chose a plain one. He who is destined to be the Desire of All Nations was born in an animal stable. He is more awesome than all the sons of men, yet He came to us with a physical appearance that did not attract people. When He reigns from Jerusalem, all peoples of the earth will stream there to learn from Him; but when He first came, He was despised and rejected.
One day, Christ will be the most sought-after and desirable Man in all heaven and earth. How we will crave His presence. We will love to hear Him speak and laugh and sing. Oh, the glory of His person! We will be so drawn to Him. For all the ages to come, we will be fascinated by His beauty! His joy, humility, wisdom, tenderness, and power will ignite yearning for Him again and again. But back to His first coming—He did not choose a stunning frame to attract crowds. He wanted His influence to come from the inside out.
When Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me . . . ‘I have come to do your will, O God’” (Heb. 10:5–7, emphasis mine). It may be more accurate to say that the Father chose a simple frame for Jesus, and Jesus accepted it. He fully entered into the physical weakness of human experience (Phil. 2:6–8). He knows what it’s like to cultivate grateful love with what we’ve been given, to receive the invitation to grow in inward glory. We struggle against bitterness over what the Father hasn’t granted; He rejoiced in what the Father gave Him (Ps. 40:8; 16:5–6).
The Lord is calling us to repent of internalizing man’s fallen definitions of worth. He wants us to agree with Him that His creation of us is good. He planned us with great thoughtfulness (Ps. 139). He designed how all aspects of our person—appearance, personality, gift mix, and more—would blend together. And He loves how He made us. Oh, we should not hate what He so deeply loves!
I think the deceiver assigns demons to linger at mirrors, waiting to breathe foul lies upon us when we awaken in the morning and prepare for the day. He sows thoughts of rejection of the “raw material” God has given us to work with, which leads to comparison, envy, and self-hatred. All the while, our heavenly Father would tell us there is stunning uniqueness in what we see as ordinary. Even through our lowly traits, He is inviting us to grow in glory on the inside—“the incorruptible beauty” of a yielded heart “which is precious in the sight of God” (1 Pet. 3:4). God wants us to renew our minds according to what He thinks about us, rather than being conformed to the world’s evaluation of worth (Rom. 12:1–2).
What would happen if we took a minute to confess—to say out loud—Psalm 139:13–14 before we got out of bed to look in that mirror? Perhaps it would transform the way we see ourselves and others. Perhaps a new culture (one of life and joy!) would be created within us that is more powerful than the culture of despair outside of us. Perhaps it would transform us day by day.
O Lord, give us a new look at how You have made us.
“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well” (Ps. 139:13–14).
Haiti Relief Effort
Shortly before 5:00pm on Tuesday, January 12, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the nation of Haiti near its capital city, Port-au-Prince. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that this is the strongest earthquake to hit Haiti since 1770, with its effects being felt more than 200 miles away. Approximately 3 million Haitians (nearly one-third of Haiti’s population) have been immediately affected, and over 100,000 people are currently feared dead or missing. The United Nations is releasing $10 million in aid while many countries, including Iceland, Venezuela, China, UK, Israel, Russia and France are also sending help. (Sources: CNN.com, FOXNews.com)
Join us free via live webstream to cover Haiti and its people in prayer at this time of disaster and tragedy. We’re praying for Haiti during all our intercession sets (12:00am, 4:00am, 6:00am, 10:00am, 4:00pm, 8:00pm).
IHOP-KC will be sending aid and supplies through relief teams in the months ahead. Our desire is to see the churches in Haiti directly touch the helpless, the widows and the orphans.
To partner with IHOP–KC in the relief effort for Haiti, please click here.
Intercessors, please pray that the Lord would open a door for the gospel to go forth in this nation and for many lives to be saved and touched by the love of Christ!
The Gift of the Present Moment
Henri Nouwen wrote an excellent book called Here and Now in which he seeks to give a holistic view of the Christian life by expounding on the present reality as a means to commune with God. Every aspect of our day-to-day lives is a gift which, if yielded to, can move our hearts and minds into a deeper level of love and communion with the triune God. Jesus said it similarly when He said, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things” (Mt. 6:34). He was stressing the importance of being aware of the present moment and not worrying about the future.
One of the highlights of the onething’09 conference, for me, was the revelation that I, along with this generation, was designed and fashioned to be alive and in union with Christ for such a time as this. Every believer in every generation is made for a specific purpose, for a specific time frame. God has made all things beautiful in their time, and the time of trouble that is coming upon the whole earth will likewise be made beautiful through the message of the gospel of the kingdom that will be declared by those prepared for that specific day and hour.
7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who proclaims peace, who brings glad tidings of good things, who proclaims salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8 Your watchmen shall lift up their voices, with their voices they shall sing together; for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord brings back Zion . . . 10 The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. (Isa. 52:7–8, 10)
Rightly did Isaiah prophesy that God had this specific generation in mind when He declared that His house would be a house of prayer for all nations (Isa. 56:7). God is doing a new thing in the earth, and He is raising up houses of prayer all over the world to actively participate with His heart in preparing the peoples for the return of His son.
Each of us, in all walks of life, in every workplace, in every field of education, in all denominations, and in all nations, has an invitation to partner with the Lord as He releases His purposes in the earth. This is not about where you are from or how gifted you may be, it is about being alive on the planet right now, with a heart on fire for the things of God. There is no limit to what the Lord can do through an empty vessel, fully surrendered to His love. Now is the time for all of God’s people to join in His work of preparing the earth for the culmination and climax of this present age, the return of His son Jesus!
God’s Definition of Success
What is God’s definition of success for His people in this life? How does He define greatness? It’s simple, but it upsets our worldly paradigm. “Whoever wishes to be great . . . must be the servant . . . just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and give His life a ransom for many” (Mt. 20:26–28, emphasis added).
God’s definition of success is that we be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ—that our nature be increasingly changed to be like His (Rom. 8:29). There’s a purpose in the mind of the Potter; there is joy in the heart of our Maker as He fashions our hearts like the clay. Will we let Him mold and bend us? Or will we stiffen and harden under the pressures He allows? Do we recognize the invitation that lies in every moment of suffering and in every blessing? To be conformed. Or is our goal merely momentary satisfaction?
I believe the primary thing God has in mind when He works to conform us into Christ’s image is meekness. Love. Humility. These are all essentially the same quality—the willingness to go low; to use my strength to serve rather than to enslave; to entrust my soul to the Father rather than grasp for its so-called rights. Jesus possesses many attributes, but the heart qualities He attributed to Himself are meekness and lowliness. “For I am meek and lowly of heart” (Mt. 11:29).
In 1 Corinthians 3:11–15, Paul gives a stunning picture of what will happen when believers stand before Christ:
“Now if any man builds upon the foundation [of Christ Jesus] with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it, because it is to be revealed with fire; and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. If any man’s work which he has built upon it remains, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as through fire” (emphasis added).
All of our life’s investments—our attitudes, actions, words, choices—will be revealed as worthless or valuable. We do not carry possessions into the next age. But we do carry reward into it—or the lack thereof.
What endures into the age to come? Is it not a humble love (1 Cor. 13)? You could say that at the end of our lives the question will be: did you learn to love? Not, how big was your ministry? Or, how many people did you please? Now, there is nothing insubstantial about this word that sums up all the Law and the Prophets. Love is all-consuming and demands flesh and blood expression to its claims. Just as Christ’s love for His Father and for us led to His poured-out life, so will love lead us.
On the one hand, this is weighty, because we spend so much energy building a glittering image, while God works in us to produce a lowly heart. On the other hand, I find it incredibly freeing. You mean everything counts with You, God? What amazing news. Doing dishes counts. Serving someone who has no ability to return the favor counts. Honoring my spouse’s desires when I want to do my own thing counts. Fasting a meal in secret counts. Praying for someone who has wounded me counts. Choosing righteousness when I am tempted with sin counts. If it lines up with God’s Word and it’s done in love, it counts as success in God. We have a Father who sees in secret, who will one day openly reward us (Mt. 6:1–18).
This truth can transform each day. Music in the mundane—each moment can be a love-song unto God. Especially when no one is looking. Yes, I would dare to say that the sweetest sounds of this song come forth when no accolades of man accompany them. O Father, give us revelation of Your definition of success. Let it become ours.
From the Forerunner Bookstore: Mourning for the Bridegroom (Reviewed)
“The suspension between the two comings of Christ was not meant for our disillusionment but was ordained both for the salvation of many and for the full maturity of the Bride of Christ, the delay drawing forth our desperate desire for Him. He will come—but when He comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Candler, 7)
The above is a quote straight from the pages of Dana Candler’s newest book, Mourning for the Bridegroom. The reality of the paradox between hopeful desire and painful mourning that we, as friends of the bridegroom experience, is one of the predominant themes of Dana’s journey to discover fullness now while waiting for the consummation of the wedding promised by Christ to His Bride.
Dana highlights some of the struggles and challenges that we experience as Jesus’ friends, reaching for Him in the delay of His second coming. Dana clearly and comprehensively addresses dullness of heart, offense, cultural paradigms, and false expectation. In her meditative style, she dwells upon the blessing of God’s ordained design through His invitation to us to live as strangers and pilgrims in this earth, eagerly awaiting what He has promised through His written Word and through His Son.
Dana captures the essence of contemplative longing by reminding us that Jesus is not a religion, a doctrine, a set of beliefs, or an intellectual idea but a real person and that our mourning is to be rooted in this joy and hope—joy of His promises and hope in His reappearing.
This book should be read prayerfully and contemplatively. With the potential to awaken that mystical hunger for encountering the Living Word and for laying all else aside for the sake of knowing Christ, it is a reminder to return to our “first love” and to press on in the knowledge of God.
I recommend this book as a great resource for reengaging in wholehearted pursuit of the One who so passionately and wholeheartedly pursued us. This is a book that can be read over and over simply because it is, in its purest form, a prayer to be prayed incessantly until He returns!
Available at the Forerunner Bookstore. Click here to purchase.
