Prophecy: Conclusion

Well, as I look back, I see that I really expanded from "prophecy" to include all the manifestation gifts, but I think the arguments for/against are generally related.

I have really been brief relative to what I would really want to say about the subject, and I have been all over the board. But I think I got it off my chest sufficiently enough to not have to revisit it for awhile.

To sum up: I am in neither court, and both. The manifestation gifts exist, but the charismatics have misrepresented and misused them. However, there are certain advantages to charismatic experiences; the intimacy of worship, building up of faith by miracles, and their refreshing encounter with God. Likewise, there are certain advantages for the cessationists who find their only experience of God in the Bible, they get more of it! In choosing to use the word "get", I mean they experience more of it and they can often understand more of it. Their dedication to the study of the Bible and their measure of unwavering faith even absent of the experience of "miracles" (as defined by the charismata) are enviable.

But why must we be either or? I guess that is my key point. Why must we choose one side of the equation? Rather, could we choose not to define it systematically or mathematically, but flexibly?

My God is fluid and flexible, not cornerable or definable by any human interpretation.

BOTH/AND rather than EITHER/OR.

Is that your God, too?

Prophecy: Part 4

So I finally find myself ready to continue my thoughts on manifestation gifts. Today I read this over at 21st Century Reformation, titled "The 'Charismatic Reformed' Position and the Thid Way of Unity, by Brad Hightower.

"This discovering a new way and a new position of unity is what I think the new media is all about. As bloggers, we do not need to fit in a system of thinking, a paradigm, that we are utterly beholden to. This freedom allows us to state the obvious. With respect to both "cessationism" and "pentacostalism", the emperor has no clothes. Both of these positions an paradigms are so flawed and poorly describe the biblical position or my personal experience. Pentacostalism is horribly Arminian in practice and lacks a good foundation for God-centered peace. Also, the pentacostal practice of tongues and often prosperity is so infiltrated the church that it needs a serious critic. Let's just state the obvious and form a new middle ground of doing church in a more sober way.

"At the same time the cessationist position and the lack of power and experience in the reformed churches and much of evangelicalism in the USA lacks the liberating reality of the kingdom. The full assurance of the experience of Charismatic worship and the comfort of the spiritual life which leads to true holiness and a truly transformation of our affections is lacking in the evangelical churches. A new way is needed."

Please take the time to read the whole thing, if you can. Brad refers to a post at Adrian Warnock titled "What is a reformed Charismatic", also a good read.

So moving right along...

Here I outline my problems with the current state of the charismata as I have experienced them. I don't believe the charismata can be "used", as we would "use" an umbrella or "use" a pencil sharpener. I believe they are graciously bestowed, as one would receive an unexpected gift or visitor. One appearance (or even many appearances) of a manifestation gift does not ensure continual availability of that gift. I believe the gifts are given at the Father's will. They may or may not manifest at any give time, they are not "on-demand". I also believe they are "gifts". Freely given, freely received. I don't believe you must be more righteous or more holy in order to experience them. And they are not to be "practiced" or "refined". They are given in the timing and intensity the Father so wishes for any given situation.

I also like to wonder this: Is it possible that not all gifts are meant for everyone? I wonder if there is something lost in the charismatics outright demand of the manifestation gifts? I wonder if some people are not meant to experience them at all...not because they are less worthy but because they have some other task or gift that the Father wishes to bestow on them.

I wonder, no, I know from experience, that cessationists tend to have a corner on the bible. I received more bible teaching, and met more people that have a great degree of biblical understanding, in a cessationist church than ever in a charismatic church. As I have said before, my husband's family is deeply rooted in a cessationist denomination. I can ask my father-in-law the most confusing, difficult questions about any aspect of the bible, and he will typically have an understandable answer for me on-the-spot. I can't say that I can think of a time when he didn't have an answer for me. Not to say that couldn't happen, but I like to think it would be an unusual situation. And I don't always agree with his interpretations, I have tremendous respect for his level of knowledge. He always is willing to take time to help me understand.

And I don't have any personal relationship with anyone in my charismatic denomination who possesses this same level of understanding. Certainly the Pastors at my church are extremely knowledgeable, but to approach them with a spiritual question of any depth or complication would be generally met with "Make an appointment to see me and we'll discuss it." So my personal experience with that type of wisdom in charismatic circles is limited.

Now that very easily could just be me and my experience. I'm not suggesting that it's the norm. And I am not saying there aren't people in a charismatic church who have a great understanding of the bible. But that knowledge generally comes from one of two places: bible college or seminary; or having grown up in a cessationist church. I, myself included, know more people who have spent most of their life in a charismatic church who have very little understanding or knowledge of the bible, theology or any application of biblical study.

I understand all the arguments against the current existence of the charismata. Boy do I understand. But I wonder, does the misuse or misrepresentation of something disprove its existence, or only prove its misapplication? There is my problem with the arguments against. The cessationists want (rightly so) to throw out all the manifestation gifts because of the charismatics over-emphasis and blatant misuse of them.

So the charismatics wield the Spirit like a weapon against the cessationists, claiming power and grace and experiences and passion, and the cessationists use the Bible in the reverse, claiming wisdom and righteousness and certainty and conviction.

So where's the middle ground?

As for me and my house, we will choose "all of the above".

"Too Much Stuff Guilt"

A friend of ours recently moved across this great continent and up north a-ways. She took only what could fit in the back of her standard-sized sedan (and her cat). She gave everything else away. It amazed me...I know she rid herself of some things I would have kept...sentimental stuff and practical stuff...but she was like a turtle, with the belief that there is always more stuff and more memories to make around that stuff.

I think it was then that I realized the depth of my problem with stuff.

I have a problem with the fact that I have so much stuff that I feel compelled to give stuff away. I try not to be a ridiculous consumer, and find that as I get older and more mature, it's easier not to feel the desire to accumulate...but I have had problems in the past...and I find increasingly that the "stuff" I've accumulated over the years really irritates me...even makes me feel ashamed...and I give more and more of it away all the time.

Recently a family here in Oregon won some $350 million or something in the lottery. Now my issues with lottery are another story, but I couldn't help thinking about what I would do with that kind of money. I don't really need it, but what if? Let's say after taxes and such it's $110 million. Certainly I would immediately give away the top 10% (I hate to say tithe, because that would indicated my intention to give it to my church, and honestly there are worthier causes than that - like the Red Cross.) I would provide for the kids college and our old-age, pay off the house, save some for a rainy day, maybe buy one newer (not new) car, take the kids to Disneyland...then what? What about the other $98,000,000? I mean I can THINK of what I COULD spend it on, but WHY? Will it make me happier? What, I think, would really make my day is to give sizeable chunks to our family, friends, and everyone we know (like to the tune of paying off mortgages and such). Make someone else's day! Give $100 tips to every waiter/waitress, gas station attendee, teacher, grocery clerk or other service-related individual I meet for the rest of my life. Pay heating bills, electric bills, gasoline bills and medical insurance premiums for as many people as we can that need it. Hire a security guard for our house, with the instructions that if anyone tries to break in tell them we'll pay their rent or their rehab or whatever, and save them the trouble. (OK, so maybe that's overly idealistic? So what, it's my fantasy!)

I have realized over the last year or so that there aren't many things that I possess of more value to me to keep than the value of giving them away. They are just things. Not that I would be willing to give EVERYTHING away, probably not my house, cars, computers, credit card numbers, eyeglasses, major appliances, of course my one highlighted Bible (I have many others), sentimental stuff like photos or journals or my wedding dress...maybe it's selfish that there are so many things that I WOULDN'T give away...ya know...but if you saw my house you'd know there are so many, many things that I could give away and live without...and feel good for having shared them.

And I thoroughly detest the thought that something is lying in wait in one of my closets, when someone somewhere could be using it. It seems really asinine to have tons of stuff filling up space, just to make me feel good...like look at me...I'm so special...look at all the stuff I have!

So we have this pile in the garage of things...stuff...I've been cleaning out closets and such, feeling overwhelming guilt and shame at the size of the pile, lying awake at night thinking about how ridiculous it all is. Some of it is decidedly junk that we would never give to anyone. This stuff will be recycled...but then there's still so much. We are working to give it all away.

What kind of Christian am I? I certainly have always KNOWN I wasn't supposed to accumulate, ya know...store up treasures in Heaven and all...I guess I just never really got it until recently... I've always been ashamed of my limited giving capacity. Taking any spiritual gifts assessment, giving was always one of my lowest, usually right after celibacy (I am married, ya know).

Now I want nothing more than to rid myself of excess stuff. I understand that there are many definitions of excess, and I initially will have the greediest definition, but as time goes by I'm sure I will lighten up.

And in spite of the guilt I feel for having the problem in the first place, it's a really comforting and amazing prospect to me that I can, eventually, grow out of it.

Giving Thanks

Whew! Survived that...had 15 people for Thanskgiving, not that many by some standards, but a lot of work anyhow. Took me all weekend to get the dishes and leftovers cleaned up, ran the last load of dishes last night. We had little bits of quite a few things left in the fridge, but while I was making dinner last night (chocolate chip waffles!) I had the news on and they were saying that at that point (Sunday evening) any Thanksgiving leftovers should be thrown out. So I dutifully obeyed, since our neighbors just had a good bout of food poisoning...I love my kids more than I love leftovers. But I praise God for the event with all it's stress and mess and wasted leftovers...they are all symbols of how blessed I am.

So last week I was instinctively thinking about what I was thankful for. I decided that beyond the obvious (God, love, family, health) my greatest thanks was for freedom. Not just the freedom of living in America, which in spite of what anyone says is still the greatest place to live (not that I've lived anywhere else, wouldn't want to...no offense to any Canadian, UK, or other visitors that might be here...and I'm sure you love where you live just as much and for just as valid reasons), but also my newfound freedom from religiosity.

I think about political and religious freedom, things our forefathers were willing to go to great lengths, even risk of death, to obtain. Some people I know like to talk all the time about what's wrong with America, and sure, we're not perfect...but some of the alternatives make me appreciate that we have 547 kinds of breakfast cereal on the store shelves, we have a govenment that we get to at least have SOME say in, we have a house with running water, a/c and heat, we have healthcare at all (even if we like to gripe about what little costs medical insurance actually covers when all is said and done), and especially that we will be allowed to celebrate Christmas in our homes in relative safety...not having to fear arrest and imprisonment for the faith we practice (at least not yet?).

Certainly America isn't perfect, and most complaints a person could make I agree are true, at least to some degree. But I like to look for the good...

Recently, my heart has also been thankful for my new recognition of my individual freedom to believe the way I want and to be myself. A freedom that has healed my life in so many ways, a freedom that I have never really known before...having spent my life trying to be what I thought other people expected me to be. Realizing that conforming to others' legalistic or unreasonable standards for my life is exhausting...as long as God and hubby and I are on the same page, we're good. That's a generalization, but for the most part true.

Maybe that is a selfish thing to be thankful for, but I feel spiritually healthier, stronger in my faith and more complete than ever before in my life, and I thank God for that.

Gonna be busy...and Anyone Need an Inch?

The next few days will be pretty busy for me (as they probably will for most of you, too). Having my family for turkey day, and have much cleaning and shopping to do. Also have several other things going on this week...conferences...haircuts...school Thanksgiving program...

So I may or may not have much time to post.

There is one thing I read over the weekend that I wanted to mention. I really got a great laugh out of it. Here's the story in the Chicago Tribune.

Apparently in Jackson Township, Indiana, there is a one-square-inch piece of land for sale. Once upon a time, in the 60's, a homeowners association decided that only property owners could have access to Cataract Lake. So one clever homeowner deeded a single square inch to his family members so they could use the lake.

As time passed, that homeowner didn't pay his property tax bill. The bank eventually foreclosed in 2002, but because of the unusual deed, the bank decided to separately sell the 1-inch plot. Even though the larger property sold, the smaller one has not. The 1-square-inch piece of land now has a $1224 Owen County tax bill to its name. It was on the county's auction block for $1500, which is the county's minimum bid for tax-auctioned land

Interestingly enough, no one bid.

It is now listed on e-bay. Just over 3 days remaining, current bid is $1575.

Any takers?

The "Be Better" Gospel

I read something at The Ooze today that got me thinking. It's "The 'Be Better' Gospel" by Sam Radford.

I love his introduction.

"Some time ago God dropped a word into my heart that momentarily surprised me. He said, ‘Don’t try to become better; become you.’ But isn’t the Christian about: becoming a better Christian? Read the Bible more. Pray more. Don’t swear, don’t drink, and don’t smoke. Be nice. Be good. Be better. I don’t know about you, but none of that particularly inspires me. It certainly doesn’t feel like freedom.

Missed the point?
Could we have totally missed the point? Why did the word God gave surprise me? Have we slipped so far to honestly think the Christian life is all about becoming a better Christian? God is trying to tell us He never intended for our lives to be the dutiful pursuit of morality. He designed us to live from our hearts and the desires He placed there. This ‘be better’ gospel mirrors the Pharisees' – the very one Jesus came to undermine and tear apart. Trying to be better is a religious attempt to have the right outward appearance before men. The message Jesus brings is that what’s on the outside is not what's important – it's about having a heart inwardly right before God."

Well, that about sums it up for me. I can go home now.

Oh, wait, I am home.

Whatever.

We wonder why the rest of the world thinks Americans are weird...

OK, if you don't live on a deserted island or in a mountain-top cave, I imagine you've heard of Margurerite Perrin a.k.a. "God-warrior". She is the woman (she-devil?) who took "Trading Spouses" by storm last week.

If you missed it and haven't heard about it, here's a clip.

Now, the issue at hand for Christians is obvious. For petessake...SHE represents ME to the world?! Sheesh, I'm going to slink off to a hole to hide my face in shame. Or maybe I should scream about the evils of SCREAMING!!!

It's a darned good thing we Christians can laugh at ourselves, or we'd be preparing a stake and bonfire for her. (I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. Forgive me!)

But with all the obvious discussion and banter and shame we Chrissssstshunnns are facing as a result of her tirade, there's a whole 'nother side to this story...

I think American weirdness has very nearly topped the scale of measure. I usually say "it never ceases to amaze me what things we Americans can find ways to capitalize on."

Well, I think I've seen it all...

E-Bay - God-Warrior pins
E-Bay - Dark-Sided T-shirts
And OF COURSE the infamous e-Bay - God-Warrior Bobblehead

But I do have to say I admire good creativity when I see it...

Slagkicks remix
Dorksided - The Marguerite Perrin remix

Please excuse me now, I'm going to have an ungodly, tainted, darksided...

"Marguerita!"

Bring on the tequila.

Sheesh.

For a good laugh...and GoogleVideo

This link was at Addison Road under Phreaky Friday...

When people talk about laughter relieving stress...boy, did I ever need that!

On a related note...I want to point towards GoogleVideo Beta, where virtually anyone can upload video. Interesting stuff around there...no worries, though, all video is screened and must meet meet Google's content policy guidelines. Hoepfully that means I would never come across something...shall we say..."ahem".

Two thoughts...

One...I am still working on part 4 of my Prophecy series. I haven't forgotten. It's one I like to be able to devote some time to and I just haven't been able to get to it.

Two...I wonder if the term "emerging" embodies a far deeper personal meaning than it's typical corporate one.

"Emerging" certainly is an excellent representation of the new manifestations of church that are building from the rubble of the IC.

Could "emerging" also be a descriptive for the beautiful, life-changing personal and spiritual transformation people undergo when they begin to allow God to free them from the constraints, expectations, programs and performances that are characteristic of the established church, venturing instead into (as Brian McLaren puts it) "terra nova"?

I see myself as belonging to the "emerging" church, if only in a symbolic way. I certainly identify with all that I have read about the emerging/postmodern church, even if I have never attended/participated in any church or community that identifies itself as such. I hope that when I refer to the "emerg-ing/-ent" church as "we" or "us", that I am not stepping on any toes, since I don't technically belong to any aspect of it. I am only making a statement as to which camp I more closely identify with.

More importantly, though, I am spiritually emerging...emerging from a lifetime of church control and institution into the freedom to express my opinions and make up my own mind; emerging from my old self to my new one; emerging from primarily focusing on how God relates to me to primarily focusing on how God wants me to evidence Him to others; emerging from prison into freedom as a follower of Christ.

Why Bother?

Someone asked me not too long ago why I bother spending so much time writing a blog that no one ever reads? (Well, there may be a few of you that have happened over here by accident, but I don't know of anyone who comes here on purpose, save my husband.)

It's simple. I don't know anything more than anyone else. I don't have any theological or other relevant education. I have no wise insight or meaningful inspiration. I only have my experiences. If I share those experiences and one person reads one thing I have written and feels less alone or more encouraged, it will have been worth it.

Some of my more recent experiences in the established church have been painful, and after trying to mentally sort through them for nearly a year, I realized that I process things much more clearly when I write them down. I specifically wanted to write about how I was sorting through the hurt, the discontent, the discouragement.

Normally, I would just write a bunch of Word docs and be done with it, I was extremely hesitant to share my personal experiences in a public forum. (I began three blogs, and couldn't bring myself to follow through on any of them.) I was afraid in doing so I would hurt someone I knew, which was far from my intent. I chose to write under a pseudonym, though now I am rethinking that choice, because I believe the anonymity can rob my thoughts of authenticity. However, because I am still called to return at some point to the church I am out-of, I do not want to burn any bridges. I believe God still has a place for me there, as much as I am opposed to the idea. So, for now, I am Lily.

So anyhow, I post here about my process, about things that are or were, things I hope someday will be. I comment on things other people write that help me or hit close to home for me, or that I feel impact my journey in some way. And I bring things here that I believe, were I to have a reader, would be of interest or encouragement.

I like to think I am a writer, at least in mission if not in skill. Only time will tell if anything I have had to say has made a difference to anyone, but even if not, having a place to put all my thoughts together in one place, to be able to reflect on them, and work it all out will have been well worth the effort.

:Emergent What? and Paul Proctor

Not that anyone reads my site, but if someone did, they probably already know about these two subjects. I can't say anything (much) that hasn't already been said, but I'm gonna talk about it anyhow. I think these subjects are worthy of one or two more posts.

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First: In a nutshell (or as emergent-me likes to say "in a cubbyhole"): Paul Proctor has had a few not-so-nice things to say about the tragic passing of Pastor Kyle Lake. I would link to Mr. Proctor's statement, but in the words of Joe Thorn:

"I am not interested in driving more traffic to those sites which, in this case, are revealing puerile theology and haughty words."

If you really want to read it, you can visit one of my links at the end of this section, and they will direct you there.

I (unfortunately for me) was not familiar with Mr. Lake prior to when the news of his passing flooded most of my daily blog-reads. However, I do have enough faith in the judgment of my many brothers and sisters who DID know and love him to say this: it is clear to me he was well-loved and will be greatly missed.

I wish to comment on the controversy that has transpired due to Mr. Proctor's unkind approach to this situation. I wish to quote Mr. Proctor briefly, to give you a sense of his thoughts, but I don't care to spend any more time than necessary on this man's ideas.

"I would only add that the Emergent Church is also in a really bad place right now; that many spiritual laws are also being violated; and they would do well to heed the Word of God and repent before their artsy-craftsy plans for the future are unexpectedly altered, like Rev. Lake's."

The forefront of this issue (and maybe the whole emergent-postmodern vs. traditional-conservative-fundamentalist-evangelical debate) is really very simple to me. It's one thing to disagree, even to vehemently disagree, which is a subject I intend to discuss in the second half of this post. There is a lot to be said for good-natured, good-spirited debate and firmly held beliefs. However, as far as I'm concerned, the moment you wish ill will towards (or exploit ill that has befallen) one of your brothers in Christ, that is the moment a serious problem in your faith becomes evident. I cannot for a moment imagine Christ speaking this way about the death of a man who served Him. Now, I understand that Mr. Proctor doesn’t seem to believe that Mr. Lake WAS serving Christ, but even so…when a well-loved Jewish Rabbi, or any other religious leader, dies in some unexpected accident, I would never be inclined to say that person died because they did not repent for their wrong beliefs or improper teaching.

When I realize some of the ways in which Mr. Proctor used the bible to support his beliefs about Mr. Lake, I wonder…didn’t Christ also teach love, mercy, peace, gentleness…? I believe we must always be seeking the appropriate balance between calling people to the table for every perceived "unrighteousness", and dispensing liberal mercy and grace…after all, last time I checked, we ALL are still human.

What I don't see is a biblical argument that proves to me that Christ would ever wish a Pastor to die as punishment for any of the things Mr. Proctor has suggested that Mr. Lake was guilty of.

I hope Mr. Proctor's final words will be of some comfort to Mr. Lake's family:

"And we know that all things work together for good to the87 that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28

Here are links to just a few things some emergent-type-folks have to say about this subject:

Jordan Cooper
Bob Hyatt: Here and here
Andrew Jones
Joe Thorn

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Now, on to other matters:

Justin Baeder, of Radical Congruency, has opened a can of worms...not to say that it's a bad can of worms. He has decided to...hmm...how shall I say...fight blog with blog.

It's called :Emergent What?

I'll let him describe it for you:

"This site is an aggregator for several anti-emerging-church blogs. Comments are welcome from people of all theological perspectives and backgrounds. Authors retain copyright for their work; see the permalink at the end of each post to view the original and any comments on the author's site."

The anti-emerging blogs in question are "Slice of Laodicea" and "EmergentNo". I won't link to them, either (see above).

Briefly...the two blogs in question (henceforth referred to as the TBIQ) tend to be pretty darned anti-emerging. Now, I personally have only visited either a handful of times, but I hear plenty more about it in this grapevine called RSS FEEDS. The way I understand it is the TBIQ tend to censor their comments to the point that no one of any differing opinion is allowed to post a comment. Justin Baeder believes everyone should have a right to comment on the issues raised by the TBIQ, so he has created a blog allowing people to do just that.

For brevity, I'm not going to discuss the specifics or give examples. I'll include some links at the bottom where you can find some other people's thoughts about :EmergentWhat?...for now, I just want to stop and think about this whole thing for a moment. And I may raise some hackles...

I can't say how much I love my emerging brothers and sisters. I have found my place among them, and have more peace than ever before in my life. For the first time in my life, I feel a sense of belonging to something bigger than me and yet a part of me.

Please know my following questions are just that. They are not a call to arms, they are only questions...

And yet...I suspect there is something larger at play here. We emergent types are so accustomed to defending ourselves, our beliefs and our practices of our faith, is it possible that sometimes we don't realize when it's time to let go? I have certainly not been faced (yet) with the types of personal criticism that are typical of the folks behind the TBIQ. I cannot say how I would respond if it were me, and I'm not saying I would do differently.

I wonder if we can't send a louder message by ceasing to listen to/engage with our critics. I understand that one of the points of the emerging church is conversation, discussion. I can imagine how frustrating it could be when those critics refuse to converse or discuss with us.

Can we move on? Can we, as the collective EC, feel confident enough in our identity to feel secure in our beliefs and practices? Can we show, by example, that we are not concerned enough with differences of belief/theology/doctrine (isn't that one of the "tenets" of the EC?) to be bothered by this anymore? Can we turn the other cheek?

I am not questioning the motives or character of those that want badly enough to converse with the TBIQ, that they are willing to take matters into their own hands. I understand and agree with the reasoning behind this.

But I wonder if it's necessary. In the end, who do we answer to? Who will judge our loyalty to the Gospel? Certainly not the folks as the TBIQ.

I would appreciate and be interested in any views on this matter. I am only thinking out loud, not saying that I have decided to condemn the approach to discussion.

After all, I subscribe to the "grapevine" feed of :EmergentWhat? What does that make me?

Some other thoughts on the subject:

Scott Berkhimer
Chad at Addison Road
Alan Hartung
Bob Hyatt
Leighton Tebay

Endnote (and why I have discussed these two different subjects in the same post): It seems the authors of the TBIQ seem to be somewhat of the same sentiment as Mr. Proctor (see above) regarding Pastor Kyle Lake's passing. I think this relates the person who can be so callous about a person's death and a person who can be so critical and unaccepting of discussion. It's fundamentalism at it's worst.

A Little Humor

Many of you have probably seen this, but I got this in my inbox from my sister, and I wanted to share, for a few laughs. Edited for appropriateness.

Ways to Maintain a Healthy Level of Insanity:

1. At lunch, sit in your parked car with sunglases on and point a haridryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.

2. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.

3. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask them "Do you want fries with that?"

4. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it "IN".

5. When trying on clothes in a dressing room, yell out "There is no toilet paper in here!"

6. Finish all your sentences with "In accordance with the prophecy".

7. Dont use punctuation

8. Skip, rather than walk, as often as possible.

9. Specify that your drive-thru order is "to go".

10. Sing along at the opera.

11. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.

12. Put mosquito netting around your work area and play tropical music.

13. When money comes out of the ATM, scream "I WON! I WON!"

14. When leaving the zoo, run towards the parking lot yelling "Run for your lives, they're LOOSE!"

Prophecy Part 3: The Gifts

Before I Go further, it occurred to me that I haven't differentiated between different types of gifts as I understand them: motivational, ministry and manifestation.

In the following paragraphs, I am stepping out of my normal "postmodern" frame of mind. I want to say, for the record, that I do not believe the "gifts" are quite so easily or clearly categorized as I have outlined here, but for the sake of the ongoing charismatic/cessationist argument, I want to provide some context. I only desire to emphasize that there are different types of gifts, and that not all of them are being questioned by cessationists, not necessarily to emphasize the particular gifts or their categorization.

"Motivational" gifts are most easily defined as "character traits". These are gifts we are born with and will always have, they are given to keep. If you were to say someone has a "gift" of generosity, you might mean they are a particularly giving person.

The "ministry" gifts are most easily described as "job description" gifts. These gifts will enable a person to fulfill a certain role in ministry. These gifts will often always be evident in a person, much as the spiritual gifts, the difference being they are usually a "calling". For example, your Pastor probably (maybe has, might have) has the Pastoral gift.

The "manifestation" gifts are most easily recognized as "miraculous" gifts. These are referred to as the charismata, or charis gifts. These are given only for the exhortation of the body, never given for the exaltation of the individual. These are the gifts in question by the cessationists.

As I understand them (with the help my Hayford's Bible Handbook and various other teachings) the Gifts are as follows:

Motivational Gifts (Or Gifts of the Father, Romans 12:3-8):
Prophecy (general, as would belong to every believer)
Ministry
Teaching
Exhortation/Encouragement
Giving
Leadership
Mercy
**Hospitality (As charachterized in Matthew 25:35, 40)

(**In Hayford's Handbook this is listed as a "Special Grace" along with celibacy and martyrdom, and I am certian there are reasons it is categorized this way. However, for my own personal study purposes, I generally consider hospitality to be a motivational gift. This is not saying that I know better than the Bible or it's scholars, but only that I know people whose primary spiritual motivation is hospitality.)

Ministry Gifts (Or Gifts of the Son, Eph 4:11, 1 Cor 12:28)
Pastor/Teacher
Apostle
Evangelist
Missionary (can be understood as Apostle or Evangelist)
Prophet (The "Office" gift: must meet both OT and NT requirements for accuracy and character)

Manifestation Gifts (Or Gifts of the Spirit, 1 Cor 12:8-10, 28):
Words of Wisdom
Words of Knowledge
Faith (not the faith that every believer possesses, but faith in God in particularly adverse circumstances)
Healings
Miracles
Prophecy (Supernatural prompting)
Discerning of Spirits
Different Tongues and Interpretation of such

There also are two others generally called "special graces": celibacy and martyrdom, which for my purposes here in this discussion are not necessary to define. They speak for themselves and I don't believe they are in question.

Shades of Grey...

shades of grey and wintertime
darkness shadow and hazy grime
rain and sleet and overcast
depression and demanding

polarized lenses and shade trees
bats and panthers and black-eyed peas
charcoal ebony and soot
sadness is so branding

sepia and faded hues
monochrome and muted blues
black and white and opaque
color notwithstanding

pastel tints and semidark
fading in and start and spark
translucent and delicate
winter is disbanding

rose colored glasses and peachy keen
ocean blue and putting green
amethyst and jade and red
palette is expanding

jewel tones and primaries
sunshine rays and honeybees
summer breezes and tradewinds
melancholy ends

Some reading...

Just going to post links to some posts/topics/articles that I have either read and liked, or are on my "to read" list.

An Emerging Day - Scot McKnight "Some stuff for Emerging Movement today: First, I drove down to Wheaton to speak to the staff and interns at College Church of Wheaton about the Emerging Movement. I sense more and the more the need to have a clear definition more readily available. Here’s why: if the EM is not simply a theological innovation (which it is not), then the Evangelical world will have a hard time grasping it since it wants things defined by theology. The EM is not “that” kind of movement. I think our time together was very good.

Releasing the Captives - Wayne O'Leary "As hard as it may be for people to believe, many of God's people are held captive (by church programmes) within the church, rather than Sunday, the Lord's Day being a day when God's people come to rest together before the Lord and worship him. A day of refreshing and encouragement, a day of celebrating together the good things God has done, a day of liberty where everyone can speak, share, testify or bring a song before launching again into the work of building the Kingdom of God."

First Things First - John Alan Turner "The Bible is an amazing book and is filled with all kinds of great principles. But it's possible to read the Bible and come away from it less like Jesus than before you started. In fact, most of the meanest people I've ever met have known the most Bible. They even use the Bible to justify their meanness."

Sister Gertude - Adam Cleaveland "One thing that I love about hanging out with cool people (like Jonny Baker) is that you get fun music recommendations. Jonny used a song from this album in the alt.worship service a few nights ago, and I just downloaded it from iTunes. It's sweet stuff. The deal is, you have to go here and read the story about this woman, Sister Gertrude Morgan. Basically she was a woman who used to wear a white nurse's uniform and wander the streets of New Orleans with a tamborine and sing gospel songs and served as a street preacher. Someone recorded her before she died in 1980."

With Regrets, All My Love - Michael Spencer "I have really wrestled with posting this piece. It is highly personal, is intended primarily for my family, and has the potential to be controversial in a way that I wouldn’t desire. Some of you will read it and conclude I have lost my bearings. I have decided to post this because I know some people will, in the providence of God, find this piece and see themselves in it. It may save a marriage or a home. I do not want to discourage anyone in ministry, but I do not want to pretend that all of us who are in certain kinds of ministry should be there or have taken stock of what it means for us to live like we are living, especially in regard to our families. May God do with this as he chooses. I dedicate this to my son, who may one day actually be the writer that I could have been, and much more."

Dear Jesus - Fr'nklin The following is a letter I wrote to Jesus in January, 2005. Some may find this letter shocking and objectionable, but sometimes I wonder if it isn't the truest thing I've ever written. In many ways, I still feel the same...and I'm not angry...and I don't think I was when I wrote it. I think it expresses the frustration I feel, and that many others feel when it comes to "Church". I just can't reconcile what I see in America w/ what I see in scripture...especially Jesus (can you see him preaching to thousands on t.v.???, running capitol campaigns, and doing marketing studies about how to grow a church?). I want so much for the church, and perhaps I've made an idol out of my desires for her. For what it's worth...I'm still IN the church...learning how to forgive and love...as God forgives and loves me. So...prepare yourself...here goes..."

Next Wave interview with Neil Cole "Neil Cole is the Executive Director and a founder of Church Multiplication Associates Neil has been in pastoral ministry for fifteen years and is an experienced church planter, author and consultant. Neil is also a founding leader of the Awakening Chapels and of Organic Church planting movements. His most recent book is entitled, Organic Church, Growing Faith Where Life Happens."

Went to the Doctor...

...yesterday about my allergies (no biggie) and my seasonal depression (biggie).

It's actually a really long story. There are so many pieces, angles and facets to this story...I will try to summarize so I can get the point about SAD. Forgive me if I digress from time to time.

So...I'm a conformist. A pleaser. All my life, if someone was displeased with me, I would conform myself to what they thought I should be. In other words, I was a wuss, completely unable to stand up for myself, or to tell anyone that I was OK just the way I was. I wanted people to like me; I lived for people to like me. Every time someone pointed out something they didn't like about me, I changed to make them happy. It's really a marvel that I kept it up for so many years, the first time I remember conforming was at age 7. For whatever reason, I felt thoroughly unlikable. It's not necessary to go into at this point why I was so concerned about people liking me. I have some ideas, but I don't really have all the answers, even if I was inclined to share them.

Gradually, I became a neutral person. I was shades of grey. On issues, I would side with whoever I was with at the time. I never really expressed an opinion, I dressed conservative and neutral. I had no specific interests. I had little motivation to do anything outside of the basics (caring for the kids etc.) Relationally, I always erred on the side of caution.

For reasons I won't go into now, I realized about a year ago that I had no idea who I really was. No clue. I was depressed. In the technical definition...I was de-pressed. I had been de-pressing myself for so long that I could not remember who was really in there. As an informational point, check out Dysthemia at Wikipedia. That's me. Low-grade, long-term depression. Commonly lasting a decade or more. Not causing inability to function, but causing inability to experience joy. Yup.

So, in a nutshell, I realized about a year ago that I had no idea who I was, and I no longer had the strength to keep up appearances. I began failing to maintain. I had to go through whatever process was necessary to unbury myself. I began searching. The search wasn't always pretty, but I surrounded myself with people who loved me just the way I was. The good thing was for the first time in my life I could face myself and felt safe revealing my identity, hashing through the ugliness I had been hiding and the masks I had been hiding behind.

Eventually I began rediscovering myself.

You may wonder where God is in all this. He's there, don't worry. It would take me pages to tell you how He has been there through this. So let's just say His hand was in it every step of the way, He had to work hard to protect me form myself and my choices during this season of self-discovery, and He proved His love and loyalty in awesome ways.

Anyhow, the really interesting thing is, I suffered from SAD from about age 12 to age 19, then it mysteriously disappeared.

It's taken me over 10 years to come to terms with that.

Now I realize I have been in some state of depression for over 10 years, maybe as long as 20. But I think it got worse in my early 20's. My SAD didn't go away, it just lost contrast to how I normally felt. I was down all the time, so I wasn't aware of the SAD.

Well, through my experiences and self discovery and mending in the last year, I can say I am, for the most part, no longer de-pressed. This has been fantastic and amazing. However, this healing has provided contrast to the SAD this fall. It seems like it has returned, but in reality, it was always there, I just wasn't aware of it.

So the Doctor formally diagnosed my SAD and said he would prescribe light therapy or medication for me. I am generally against anti-depressants for myself (not to say I couldn't get to a point where I wanted to try them, but I'm not there yet), adn the Dr. said he hadn't prescribed light-therapy for over 5 years, because most people choose meds, but he would look into it and get back to me.

Since I find that tanning once or somtimes twice a week seems to remedy my SAD, I think I will self treat for the time being. I did talk to the Doctor about this, and although he said he couldn't recommend tanning as a solution, he doesn't refute my claim that it works.

So today I'm going to my "therapy session". Aside from moving south, somewhere below 30 North, I don't have much choice at the moment.

You can start throwing the SPF 50 now. It's OK, I forgive you.

Prophecy Part 2: Charismatics and Prophets

I knew from a very young age that I had a certain kind of "gift". I was frightened of it, confused by it and undiscipled in it until about 5 years ago.

Today, I am proud to say that, thanks to the charismatics, I still do not know how to define it, but I am no longer frightened, confused, undiscipled.

I want to talke a little about the "gift" of prophecy. It is the ONLY gift included in all the NT lists (Rom 12, 1 Cor 12, Eph 4). I would venture a guess maybe that indicates it's of some particular importance, or some particular commonality. I would say "both".

I am no expert. I have studied the charismata primarily from a defensive perspective, so I may not be accurate in my understanding of the perceptions and beliefs of cessationists.

Herein lies much of the problem in charismatic circles. Definition. We charismatics have worked so hard to defend our experiences using scriptural examples that we have pidgeon-holed our definitions, chasing away those who don't feel their "gifts" fit into the oft-abused categories. In comparing the present-day "manifestation" gifts to the NT experiences and examples, we have set up for ourselves and impossible to live up to standard for the charismata. And we have failed miserably. No wonder the cessationists are riled!

I'm sorry, but I have studied and heard prophecies by some of the world's "leading" prophets, and they almost always trigger an alarm in my Spirit. Prophecy primarily functions simply as a reminder of what we already know to be Biblically true. If someone give you a word that you will win the lottery in 6 months...umm...be sensible. If someone tells you to be encouraged because you are a beloved child of God, precious in His sight, then believe it! In other words, God might inspire someone to remind you of something you already know, and that is biblically true. This, I believe, is the Spirit of Prophcy as we are presently meant to understand it.

There is much discussion about the different levels of prophetic anointing. We all, as believers, have the gift and responsibility to encourage each other with reminders from the Word. Most Christians do this, but do not recognize it as prophecy. Some people have a greater measure of this gift, a measure that can be a blessing to groups of people or even entire congregations. This is a person who is able to sense what God might be doing in or focusing on for a group of people. Then we have the "office" of a Prophet. There certainly is a great debate about the correctness of this. Obviously the title of "office" is not found in the Bible. I believe it functions more as a "description" than a "title". This would be a person who has an incredible humility, tremendous accountability and a proven accuracy record. A person who is far more a teacher than a future-teller, who teaches us about who we are in God and what we can expect out of His love for us, guiding and directing us toward God's purposes. I personally know of only a handful of people who fit this description, who I will not name because I don't believe they care to be heralded (this is an important aspect to thier charachter). There is only one person, who, out of the many teachings I have heard, their teachings never have made my spirit flinch.

So I would argue that people with true, deep, prophetic anointing are few and far between.

But they do exist.

Prophecy Part 1: My Personal Background

I have been following a good-natured pseudo-debate at JollyBlogger. Essentially there are some emergent-type individuals who are discussing the issue of cessationism vs. charismata. This seems to be a reawakening or rehashing of a discussion from awhile back.

This issue is close to my heart. I grew up charismatic, my husband grew up cessationist.

Wow! You say? Yeah, wow.

Growing up, I had the tremendous blessing of being Pastored by one of our area's most amazing, highly respected men of God. He was the most gracious and gentle and generous man I ever had the privilege of being taught by. I never knew him well personally, but his demeanor permeated the Body he presided over. He had a local radio show that was known to be listened to by non-christians as much as by christians, not because he diluted the Gospel, but because he was so gentle in his administering of it. We (we being anyone and everyone who ever loved him, knew him, or heard him speak) sadly lost him to complications of cancer about 18 months ago. Although in truth, I am not sad, because he fought illness for so long and served the Lord so faithfully that he was probably more deserving of "true rest" than anyone I have ever known (Save my paternal Grandmother, but that is another story).

Growing up, my husband had a legacy to live up to. I have gone in to more detail in other posts; suffice to day that my husband's paternal Grandfather founded many churches of a particular conservative (cessationist) denomination across the country. He was a navy man, a bootlegger, living the wild life until God found him. He then sparked an unquenchable wildfire of the Word of God. His impact was tremendous and his influence can still be heard and found, carried on by his children and grandchildren and their spouses, and in the lives of many others who were taught by him. My father-in-law grew up with this, and became a Pastor himself. However, my husband is the only son of the only son of a fire-and-brimstone Preacher! The expectatations placed on him by his family history were tremendous. I have, in the past, been critical of my husband's upbringing and the "narrow-minded and tight-knit" familial enclosure surrounding him. As I have matured, I have grown to greatly respect this f