Three Voices

Posted: July 7, 2009

John 10:27 (NASB): “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

Do you ask God for guidance regarding life decisions? Do you believe God can speak to you regarding your situation? These are very important questions because many people (Christians included) don’t believe God will speak to them.

At any point in time we hear three voices which we must recognize and separate. The voices are our own voice, the voice of satan, and the voice of God.

Imagine that you are in a conversation with three people all at the same time. Each of the three people are trying to give you directions to a particular destination. All these voices, speaking at the same time, makes it impossible to know what direction to go because you can only give full attention to one person. This is the scenario that is replayed over and over again as we try to hear God’s voice regarding the direction we need to go and the decisions we make.

Do you ever “talk to yourself?” Let me answer the question for you – YOU TALK TO YOURSELF. Your voice is developed from all the life experiences you have had throughout your life. Our voice speaks based on our perception of reality regarding our past history, our present situation, and our expectation for what will happen in the future. But you may or may not have an accurate perception of reality. It is crucial that you are aware of your own voice because your preconceived notions can interfere with hearing God’s voice.

The second voice we hear is the voice of satan. In John 8:44 (NASB) Jesus describes Satan by saying, “he is a liar and the father of lies.” In 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, Satan is described as one who “disguises himself as an angel of light” for the purpose of deceiving people with his lies. Satan is a counterfeit. He is always trying to imitate the voice of God by speaking in what seems to be truth, but ultimately leads people away from God’s truth.

The third voice is the voice of God (the Holy Spirit). Just as satan is “a liar and the father of lies,” who only speaks partial truth so that he can distort it and deceive you, God’s voice (the Holy Spirit) is the voice of all truth. John 6:13 (NASB): “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.” Based on this passage the Holy Spirit is: 1) the voice of all truth, 2) guides us in the right direction, and 3) He discloses what is to come.

Satan’s goal is to do just the opposite. He wants to: 1) distort the truth, 2) guide you in the wrong direction, and 3) keep you from seeing God’s plan for your life.

Hearing the voice of God is the birthright of every born-again believer. God is always speaking – the real issue is can you hear Him. Your ability to hear God’s voice is based on three things: 1) Being a believer (born again), 2) filled with the Holy Spirit, and 3) discerning the three voices.

Mt Bethel and Facebook

Posted: May 31, 2009

Last year, a group from Mt. Bethel attended Saddleback Church’s small group conference. It was an amazing event for all, and we gained a greater understanding of the limitless potential small groups can have within our congregation. One of the more interesting concepts was small group networking and management software available for churches. These different networking softwares have great features for managing and connecting people into small groups, but they also have the ability for small group leaders to connect with their groups and to create group discussions among the members of the group. This one feature was my favorite because it allows small groups the ability to stay connected in a really unique way outside of the small group meeting times and to have ongoing discussions about relevant topics.

We currently don’t have the ability to purchase small group networking software, but we do have the ability for our small groups to stay connected, and it’s totally free. The many different social media sites have made it possible for people to connect and stay connected to friends and family all around the world. Using these sites you can send messages, chat (audio and video), and share pictures and video of special occasions. These sites also give you the opportunity to create special interests groups. Using Facebook, for instance, you can create any kind of special interest group you would like and invite people to join those groups. There are several hundred of these special interest groups alone on Facebook related to Mt Bethel. For example, there is our main Mt. Bethel group, a Mt. Bethel Missions group, an Encounter worship service group, multiple youth groups, and many small groups. There are presently around 2,000 members of Mt. Bethel who use Facebook (WOW). I use Facebook as a way to stay connected to our congregation and the different Life Groups I facilitate.

I would like you to consider using Facebook as a means for staying connected with your Life Group, Sunday School class, or Bible study group. I’ve asked Mickey Mellen, our webmaster at the church, to show you in this short video how to create a group using Facebook and some of the creative ways you can use this technology to stay connected. Oh, by the way, it’s FREE!!

Disturb Us Lord

Posted: May 28, 2009

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.

“Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

“Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.”

Yes Lord, let it be so.
Confront us with our complacency and fill us with a Holy Hunger that is insatiable.
Instill within us a Divine Desperation to see Your Kingdom come and to cease from building our own kingdoms.
Pull the rug out from under our frivolous ambitions and give us eyes to see our own true motives and frailties.
Send us into the depths of  adversity, if need be, to cause us to stretch our hands toward yours, lest we perish.

We admit and confess to you that we have no way of knowing you, and your ways, without your divine intervention working in us to show us the way.  Lead us on Father , lead us on.

Prayer of Sir Frances Drake, circa 1590

….and my prayer tonight for us.

Jody

Reaching Your Potential

Posted: April 29, 2009

Our trip to work with the “7 Bridges” ministry this past weekend was awesome!  I was excited to see members of our church working with other churches sharing God’s love with people who needed food and clothing.  At the end of the day, as I reflected on all that we had encountered, I realized that we gave food and clothing to every single person that lived under those bridges and not a single one of them will go hungry tonight.  Our church has great potential!  When we come together, joined by great vision, there’s really nothing we can’t accomplish.  There is nothing that we can’t overcome together.

Webster’s Dictionary defines potential in this way: “Something that has power; something that is very potent, but it’s unrealized and hasn’t come into being.”  I’m not saying that we don’t do awesome things together as a church, but I do believe we haven’t come close to realizing our God given potential.

If we are going to reach our potential, we must develop “spiritual vision.”  Spiritual vision is knowing where God is calling you to go and then having the faith to pursue that calling.  Spiritual vision is the ability to see the direction God is leading you – it’s having the ability to “walk by faith and not by sight.” (2 Corin. 5:7)

Proverbs 29:18 states: “Where there is no progressive revelation the people cast off restraint.”

What this verse is really talking about is having “spiritual vision.”  When you don’t have  ability to see things in the spirit, you run the risk of chasing every whim that comes your way, and you never get to where God wants you to go.  Ultimately, you will never reach your God given potential.

I want to give you four things spiritual vision will do for you.

Spiritual Vision will ….

1.  Help you make difficult decisions. When you have a clear revelation of what God’s calling you to do you will be able to make difficult decisions because you know where you’re going.

2.  Cause you to pay the price. Your God given potential is bigger than you are – that’s why it’s God given.  If it’s not bigger than you are, then you aren’t seeing the capacity of your potential.  Do you have a dream inside of you today?  Then it’s going to cost you something to get there.  When people don’t know where they’re going, they’re unwilling to pay the price to get there.

3.  Cause you to overcome your fears. When you really see what God wants for your life and when you understand your potential in Him, your insecurities will vanish.  Fear is the greatest road block to reaching your potential.  You must overcome the temporary fears if you want to reach your potential.

4.  Cause you to live for the eternal and not for the immediate. Many times people don’t reach their potential because they react to temporary circumstances instead of focusing on the big picture.  The greatest problem in the world today is our obsessive desire for immediate gratification.  Pursuing the immediate gratifications in life will always keep you from reaching your potential.

Dr. David Yonggi Cho is the senior pastor of the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea.  The church has 900,000 members and 3,000 pastors on staff.  WOW!!  Dr. Cho once said something that is imprinted in my mind.  He said, “Tell me your vision, and I’ll tell you your future.”  Because if you can’t see it – you can’t have it.

I want you to know that you have great potential!  The God who created you has already given it to you, but you must go get it!  The key is having spiritual vision to see where God is leading you even when your present circumstances make it look impossible.

What’s All This Talk About “A Dangerous Church?”

Posted: April 16, 2009

A Dangerous ChurchI’ve invited Chris Dunagan, a member of the Mt Bethel family, to be my guest blogger today.  I hope you will take a couple of minutes to read his blog post.  Let us know what you think.

What’s all this talk about a “dangerous church”?  What does that look like?  Does a “dangerous church” see something we don’t see?  Is that what Paul had in mind when he wrote to Timothy about that which was revealed to us by the incarnate living God in the person of Jesus Christ?  Is this something new, or is it already done?

Paul writes to Timothy, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.”  2 Timothy 1:8-11 (NASB)(emphasis supplied).

Biblical scholars tell us 2 Timothy is Paul’s last letter.  Paul is in prison awaiting his execution.  Paul is a death row inmate, waiting his turn to walk “The Green Mile,” so to speak.  Paul is in a sobering season of waiting for his head to be separated from his body in a dramatic and decisive way.  While he waits, Paul is thinking of others more than himself.  Paul, in his final days, is concerned to care about Timothy, to build him up and encourage him.  Paul writes to remind Timothy “of the sincere faith within you” and to “kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you[.]”  v1:5-6 (partial).  Paul then goes on to instruct and encourage Timothy.

Do you see how Paul is a very dangerous man?  Do you see how Paul is a great threat to the spiritual forces of wickedness and the evil powers of this world?  Do you see how Paul, so very dangerous to the enemy, is a powerful encourager to those who build the Kingdom of God?  I believe the greatest encouragement Paul offers to Timothy, the greatest encouragement 2 Timothy offers to me and the encouragement I want to share with you, is when Paul says, essentially, “Timothy, it’s already done.  You just need to receive it and walk it out in faith.”  (My paraphrase.)  Friends, I believe when we catch hold of what was revealed to us “from all eternity,” and believe it’s already done, we are going to be a very dangerous church full of very dangerous followers of Christ.

What do I mean, “It’s already done?”  How can that be?  Well, what does “from all eternity” mean in Paul’s letter to Timothy?  When I first think of eternity, I think of the future.  I think of an unending future that goes on forever, for all eternity.  Fortunately, God is not limited by my logical, analytical, linear concept of time.  “From all eternity” is not limited to the future.  A popular lexicon defines “eternity” as “without beginning and end, that which always has been and always will be.”  Eternity is something qualitatively different than time.  Eternity both succeeds and precedes time.  Different modern translations give additional insight to the words translated in the NASB as “from all eternity.”  The NRSV translates the same phrase as “before times eternal.” The NKJ version says “before time began.”  The ESV says “before the ages began.”  Do you see where this is going?  What God revealed to us in Jesus Christ was not new from God’s perspective.  From God’s perspective, it’s already done.  God already has it handled “before the ages began.”  What the Father revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ, already is handled “from all eternity.”  We see it in the biblical meta-narrative of creation and redemption.  That is to say, we see it in the story of the Bible, from Genesis to Abraham to Moses and the prophets to Jesus to Paul and the other apostles to Revelation.  God revealed to us in Jesus Christ what was already granted to us from all eternity.  Abraham was reckoned righteous through his faith, before he was circumcised.  Romans 4:10-11.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.”  Ephesians 2:8-9.  The nature of God’s purpose is unchanging.  It’s already done.  We just need to receive it and walk it out … in faith.

Does that mean that our salvation is predestined?  No.  The eternal fate of “Israel,” the collective body of the people of God, already is determined.  The identity of “Israel,” however, those who are of the faith of Abraham, is a choice that is in our hands.  Will we choose to accept God’s grace to believe and follow Jesus and be the people of God, or will we choose to follow culture, or a myriad other idols, and be people of the world?

Today, some of us are on the brink of something big.  Some of us are at the decision point of a breakthrough.  Some of us, metaphorically speaking, are on the edge of the promised land and we have to decide whether we are going to run back to the false security of Egypt or whether we are going to drive out the Canaanites and take the land that God has prepared for us.  That is to say, some of us are on the brink of decisions between spiritual death and spiritual life.  Today, some of us are at the foot of the cross and we have to decide whether we will deny Christ and indulge our flesh or whether we will die to self and be crucified with Christ so that He may live in us and we may have eternal life.  Today, some of us have to decide whether we will cling to our commitment to our plans for what we think life is supposed to look like or whether we will take that hard right turn and surrender to God’s plans for our life in Christ.  Today, some of us need the encouragement of Christ to sustain us.  Today, some of us are wounded and hurting and we just need a bear- hug of love from the nail-scarred hands of Jesus.

Where are you today?  Where is your land of Canaan?  Do you believe the grace of God is sufficient to overcome your giants?  What areas of your life do you need to surrender to Jesus for the glory of God?  Are there any relationship issues in your life that need God’s healing grace?  Is there any part of your being that stands between you and the full measure of God’s grace, mercy, hope, love and purpose for your life?  “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12.  Do you believe you are set free, through Jesus Christ, from the law of sin and death.  “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”  Romans 8:1-2.

Wherever you are today, God loves you right where you are.  He also loves you too much to leave you there.  “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.”  1 John 4:9.  I ask myself today, am I going to keep trying to do things my own way, or will I yield and follow Him?  Have I had as much grace and transformation as I can stand, or will I continue to follow Him daily?  Am I going to quit the race, or am I going to finish the race marked out for me?  Am I going to shrink back in spiritual timidity, or am I going to be dangerous to the pattern of this world, walking in faith, blanketed by the peace of knowing it’s already done?

A little more than two years ago, I was a partner in a successful law firm.  With 14 years of law practice under my belt and closing in on 40 years old, I was heading into my prime.  Then one day God messed up my plans for my idea of success with a few, very simple, very dangerous, words:  “It’s time to get out of the boat.”  God did not speak to me in an audible voice, but the message was as unmistakably clear as the sound of a large truck falling into a small pond.  The next day, I got out of the boat – with a wife, two kids and a mortgage.  It was a huge leap of faith.  (Note well:  I am not suggesting anyone should quit their job.  No one should follow me.  Everyone should follow Jesus.)  As we began walking in faith, things started taking shape.  The full path was not immediately made visible, but God has been incredibly faithful as we have taken the steps revealed to us.  Along the way, Jesus Christ changed me.  Jesus Christ flipped my perspective upside down, or, perhaps I should say, inside out.  In a way, He healed me from something that was holding me captive.  For a long time, I thought I had to be something other than what God created me to be in order to “be somebody.”  I was a slave to my professional identity, and true satisfaction and fulfillment were always just one step away.  Jesus Christ changed my identity.  Now, I am His child and I find true satisfaction and fulfillment in His purpose for my life.  There has been a dangerous, formative thread running through this season of my life.  God has been faithful in preparing the way and making provision.  Through this experience, which continues today as a walk of faith, He continues to form and mold me to trust in Him and not my own abilities.  He continues to reveal to me the false sense of security of ever preferring my own abilities to His redeeming grace.

Sign me up for the dangerous church, the one that finds its identity in the biblical meta-narrative of creation and redemption through Jesus Christ.  Sign me up for the dangerous church that scouts the land of Canaan, counts the cost and says, “the sovereign God is with us.  By His grace, we can turn from idols, worship Him and take the land for the glory of His Kingdom.  It’s already done.”

Wherever you are today, my prayer for you is that you will remember the sincere faith within you, kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you, and receive it and walk it out in faith through the power of God’s grace and blanketed in Christ’s peace because it’s already done.  Praise God, it’s already done from all eternity and I pray for God’s grace for you to just receive it and walk it out in faith with renewed power and strength in the name of Jesus Christ, to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been granted.  May your walk be cloaked with the authority of the most powerful Ambassador of all eternity.  Thanks be to God for the blood of the Lamb; thank You Jesus for showing us how to walk it out in faith all the way through to the finish line.  Thank you Father, Son and Holy Spirit, “It is finished!”  John 19:30.  Great, worthy God, encourage us with the grace to experience the joy of believing it’s already done!  In Christ’s name, Amen.

Chris Dunagan