God At Work

I know that God is very present in my life and constantly working in, and on, me. What's cool is seeing God work in others's lives, as well. This past Saturday night, I got to witness an awesome God experience.

Please note, as I tell this story, there may be issues that come up that you may disagree on with me, or that you don't necessarily believe. This is not a discussion on those topics; this a sharing of an amazing act of God in people's lives. We can discuss, debate, deal with, etc. these issues at a later time. For now, please allow God to encourage your spirit as he displays his glory in the following tale:

What started out to be a perfect, early January evening in southwest Oklahoma transformed into a cutting, cold blistery night in the matter of seconds. A wintry front blew in from the north with little warning, and everyone gathered around the outdoor fire suddenly clamored to get inside. A few brave souls fought the wind and the cold to put out the fire, and once they were safely inside, next to a simulated fire on the tv, the blustered bunch of believers began their bout with the Bible.

Ok, seriously, we were meeting together to eat and hang out and had to come inside because it got too cold outside. Then we started talking about what God was doing in each of our lives. We had two new couples at the gathering, so it was great to hear about their walks with God. After the elder of the two couples shared some things, my wife was moved to have the rest of the group pray over them. So, we did.

Iceman and Fiona* sat on our couch in the middle of the room while the rest of us gathered around them. Then we prayed. Good prayers for faith, strength, supernatural intervention, and the like were offered up. And they were offered in various languages. "Tongues" some people call it. It has become natural for several within the group to pray in such a way, but not everyone is familiar with, comfortable with, or understands praying in tongues. As was the case with Iceman.

After praying over this wonderful couple, we all sat back down when the other new couple, Maverick and Ariel, spoke up. You could tell that it wasn't easy for him, but he asked if any of us had ever had our "tongues" interpreted. Um, no. Of course, I thought that was odd, because I didn't realize that my "prayer language" should or could be interpreted. Maverick quickly teared up, because he was trying to be obedient to the Lord telling him to tell us what we had said in our prayer. Thus, he continued.

He told us that I was saying over and over, "Praise be to God!" To another in the group, she was saying, "Jesus is in control!" Wow. How cool is that? To have God tell you what you were saying to him in the "deep calling deep!" Maverick said that God has anointed him with the gift of interpretation, but he hasn't always used it when he felt God prompting him. So he was taking a big step that night to speak in front of strangers in obedience to God. Major move of Messiah in Maverick's life.

After Maverick spoke, and we all were trying get over the coolness of that, Iceman spoke up. He described how, while we were praying, and he heard us praying in "tongues," he told God that if this was real, we wanted an interpretation. Um, double wow. He went on to explain how he had had two very negative experiences with "tongues" and those who "spoke" them. He said he had a very large mountain in his life pertaining to this topic, and Maverick had completely crumbled it. (still get goosebumps thinking about it) Iceman said that if he hadn't received an interpretation, that the mountain would've only grown.

Well, Maverick gave God the glory for bringing down the mountain, and Iceman agreed. But Iceman also told him that if he hadn't been obedient, that the mountain would probably still be there. To add to the validity of it all, the words being prayed were ones that spoke directly into Iceman's life and situations for this particular season. God is so good. He moves in unexpected ways. We were all pretty stoked from seeing God at work in the lives of our new brothers and sisters in Christ. For me, God fulfilled his promise in Matthew 18:20 -

"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."

And where he is, the Kingdom can be crossed.

Soli Deo Gloria

*names have been changed to protect the innocent (and not so innocent)

Instinct

Two Sundays ago, after church, I was standing on the stairs that lead to the balcony of the sanctuary/theater with my youngest son. He was just a few steps up from the floor holding some papers from children's church and his gameboy. His hands were full. Suddenly, my "spider-sense" went off and I turned to see him stumbling down the stairs. However, not being trained on my "spider-sense", I did not react in time to try to catch him. It was like a scene out of the Matrix.

As he stumbled, his feet stayed put on the step they were on, and his knees hit the step below. Then, as he's falling forward, sure to do a face plant into the tiled, lobby floor, he quickly releases everything from his grip and springs his arms forward to catch himself before he hits ground zero! Wow! It was actually pretty cool; like a superman discovering his powers, or something. He stayed there, with legs up on the stairs and hands on the ground holding himself up like a strong ninja move, or something.

I said, "whoa, buddy, are you alright?" He said that he was, and I helped him back up and gave him a high-five for his actions. His papers and gameboy were ok, too. I couldn't believe his wits. He was aware enough to let go of everything in his hands to catch himself and keep from getting hurt. I just knew he was a goner. You know, what 4 year-old kid knows to drop his gameboy and save his hide? I was impressed with his instinct.

A few days later I was driving and heard the Gloria Gaynor song, "I Will Survive". I immediately thought of the episode with my son and his instinct of self-preservation - his instinct to survive. I guess that instinct comes naturally to us. Or, at least, to most of us. Adam and Eve had to develop that instinct after they sinned. One of the first things they did was fix some clothes to hide their nakedness.

Yeah, looking out for "#1" usually comes pretty easily. What's not so easy is looking out for the other guy, or taking care of others. That's more of a pastoral instinct. A pastor is more like a shepherd. He is to care for, feed, protect, and love his sheep. Jesus is the Great Shepherd. This particular instinct came naturally for him. It's not so easy for us. We have that other instinct with which to compete.

A pastoral instinct comes from spending time with God. The more we read his words to us, the more we talk to him in prayer, the more time we spend with him, the more we become like him. While some people are given an extra grace and anointing to pastor, the pastoral instinct is one that, I believe, can be developed in anybody. But like anything else worth having, it takes time and discipline to learn. Some learn it easily; some don't. But, it is the instinct that needs to prevail.

Don't get me wrong. An instinct of self-preservation is important, too. Especially if you're stumbling down some stairs. But, when it comes to dealing with other people, we need to learn to sacrifice a little. Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) If people looked out for their fellow man more than themselves, I believe this world would be a much better place in which to live. Don't you? Let's show the world His love. Let's develop the right instinct.

Be encouraged.