The Coming of the King - My Advent Journey 2018

This is my schedule for a "Five-Week Spiritual Journey."

Week 1 – December 2nd – Focus: Preparation for the Journey

Week 2 - December 9th – Focus: The Throne of God

Week 3 – December 16th – Focus: The Darkness of the World

Week 4 - December 23rd – Focus: The Hope of the World - Christ the Light

Week 5 - December 30th – Focus: The Mission of God

Epiphany – January 6th – Focus: Celebration of the Journey - The Presence of Christ the King

An Advent Journey

In 2014 after spending time with Oscar and Kat Delgado in Mexico City, I felt impressed to share with them an “Advent Journey.” Our purpose was to set aside time in anticipation of a fresh appearing of Christ and that He would speak to us regarding our future. The weeks we shared even at a distance helped me to hear the voice of God and to give me hope in God’s work of redemption, particularly in Mexico City.

Since then I have tried to set aside during the busy holiday season time to focus my heart on the coming of the “Messiah” and the coming of the “Day of the Lord.” I think of this as a journey with God to seek Him in order that I might follow Him. Advent traditionally begins on the Sunday four weeks before Christmas Day. This year, Advent begins on Dec. 2. Church traditions include special times of prayer and fasting. During Advent those traditions include wreaths and lighted candles and the singing of hymns are sung --- one of my favorites is “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”

This verse from the prophet Isaiah is often associated with the Advent Season:

“Rain down, O heavens, from above,

Let the skies pour down righteousness;

Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation,

Let righteousness spring up together.

I, the Lord, have created all.” (Isaiah 45:8)

Christmas Day, which has been traditionally celebrated by the church on Dec. 25th. In some traditions it is the first day of the "12 days of Christmas." In America, we have commercialized Christmas Day and often it has become simply a day of eating a Christmas Dinner and gift exchanges. Once we clean-up the wrapping paper, Christmas is over and we start making plans for New Year’s Eve parties.

At the end of the twelve days of Christmas the day of Epiphany is celebrated. In some traditions, Epiphany is observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi. In the Eastern Orthodox Church tradition, it commemorates the baptism of Christ. An epiphany is “a sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something,” such as the appearance or manifestation of the Messiah and a revelation of the mystery of the gospel.

For me, Epiphany is a “celebration” of God’s revelation to me of His work in my own life and an anticipation of His work of redemption in my world. This has led me to affirm and anticipate the plans God has for me for the coming year, as opposed to making my own New Year’s resolutions. I am asking God to guide me on a new Advent journey and that I will have a deep sense of the presence of the Lord during this holiday season.  I plan to share my journey in the days ahead. Perhaps this will be an encouragement to you to seek the coming of the Messiah.

The Mystery of the Gospel

The Mystery of the Gospel: Jesus is a Revolutionary  

True revolutionaries change everything in the existing order.  Everything that was before is now turned around or turned upside down. Jesus was a true revolutionary. He was the fulfillment of the first order. He was the promised Messiah. Jesus came in the fulfillment of time when the culmination and completion of the Old Covenant which was made by God with mankind in Creation.  This New Covenant plan of the Triune God was made in the heavenly realm, in the throne room of God the Father, Son and Spirit before the creation of the heavens and earth, of space and time, of human-beings, and of the entire physical universe.

The plan of God was to establish a new order in society and in the universe through Jesus. The New Covenant began when Jesus was crucified, was buried, was raised from the dead, ascended to the heavenly realm and together with the God the Father sent the Spirit of God to fill the hearts of human-beings on the day of Pentecost.  The revolution of Jesus overruled the old order which was only a shadow of the new order. The revolution gives new meaning to mankind’s place in society and in the universe.

For those of us who are like the wise men who saw the star of Bethlehem, we must find and follow the new King of heaven and earth who was born of a virgin lying in a manger. Matthew writes in chapter 2, “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.”

Herod and others who are the guardians of power of the old order conspired together to maintain their positions by rebelling against God and killing all the children born around the birth of Jesus. Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.” This way of dealing with Jesus also led humanly speaking to his death on a cross. The kings and religious authorities of the earth are always seeking to destroy anyone who threatens their authority or their power position in society.  This way of dealing with Jesus as a revolutionary and of those who have joined the ranks of Jesus continues to this day, but this should not deter us on our journey of following Christ.

As wise men and women, we could begin our journey in the Gospel of John, as John knew Jesus and understood that He was the incarnate eternal living “Word” of God.  John writes, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth…And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (Chapter 1:14-16) John then writes of himself, “This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (Chapter 21:24-25)

Jesus becomes the living Word of God then completes the written word of God for the Old Order of human history.  How then do we understand the Law and the Prophets of the old covenant? They all find their fulfillment in Jesus.  For example, Jesus makes it clear that the laws given to Moses had served their purpose and now the “Great Commandment” was to be followed, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.” Matthew 22:36 Paul, the writer of the letter to the believers in Corinth teaches that the rules of the new covenant are not the “ten commandments written on tablets of stone,” but written on human hearts by the Spirit of God. “Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.” 2nd Corinthians 3:3.

The mystery of the gospel cannot be debated and understand by reason but only by “revelation.” So today any human authority who claims a unique understanding of the mystery of the gospel stands against the revolution of the new covenant that Jesus initiated as the first-born from the dead and denies the power of the resurrection, the ascension and of the new life of the Spirit that flows from the throne of God.  Jesus as the Head (Source) of the church, which is the temple of God is not being built with stones but with men and women who have joined in the revolution of Jesus and who are together in a community of mutual submission regardless of ethnic background, gender, or station in life. They live in submission to the Rule of Jesus who is building a new order in society in the midst of His enemies.

What then is the mystery of the gospel? One answer may be that Jesus was both fully human and fully God at the same moment in human history in space and time.  Another mystery of the gospel is that Jesus serves as the only true Prophet, Priest and King of God all in the same eternal visible expression of an invisible God.  Another mystery of the gospel is that God the Father, Son and Spirit is one person forever complete with one mind, one heart, one spirit and one personality. He is both the Creator and Sustainer of the whole universe, both visible and invisible, both transcendent and eminent, He was and is and ever will be forever and forever, and in so many ways He is beyond our human understanding.  Another mystery of the gospel is that Jesus could be in his humanity both biologically masculine and complete as a human being made in the image of God, male and female together in his being at the same time just as he was both fully human and fully divine at the same time. For me as a man I must follow Jesus who fully understood women, who described himself as a mother would in caring for her own children, and in his death became the Savior of both men and women completely.

This Advent Season of 2018 may men and women of good will everywhere know the unmeasurable, unconditional love and forgiveness of God. May we humbly renounce our human arrogance that keeps ourselves and other human-beings in the prisons of our own making. May we pray for the revolution that Jesus leads to succeed in overturning every power and authority that stands in opposition to God and to the truth of God. It is the truth of God that sets each of us free to be the full and whole human-being that God created us to be. May we by grace through faith receive the mystery of the gospel.

A Prayer for My Brothers: Sons of Adam

Red Clay Pots in Pieces on the Ground

How far have we fallen since the days of our youth?

Who can put our broken souls together again and make us whole? Only the worship of the triune God, one person, one soul, with one heart and one personality.  Only the experiential knowledge of the “whole gospel” of promise with the power to save us here and now, with the power to transform us here and now, and with the fullness of glory of the risen Lord of heaven and earth in us and through us here and now.

I pray for myself and my brothers we are “born again to new life” every day. I pray for the bread “manna” of the heavenly realm to cover us each day as the dew covers the dawn of a new day in Athens, Georgia in October. May we by faith have our senses opened to the revealed truth of God so that we may by faith receive the grace of God

A Prayer for My Brother Boomers

1976 - A rainy day but a bright future

Born in a world of promise. A bright future was ours.

Our father's fought and died to crush the head of the serpents of tyranny and ethnic cleansing.

God was held in high esteem by our “fellow Americans” because He had delivered our band of brothers from the valley of the shadow of death.  One nation “under God” with liberty and justice for all was added to the pledge of loyalty to our flag which proudly flew over the conquered cities of Berlin and Tokyo.  The “rule of law” had triumphed over the rule of “fascists in Europe” and “emperor gods in Asia.” We stood together as we sang, “We are the home of brave and the land of the free.”

In society the power of the Spirit of God unleashed a great civil rights movement lead by a King who had the voice of a Prophet and the non-violence of a Priest. He inspired our nation with a dream of a new day when the rights of former slaves denied by injustice of their birth-right declared on July 4, 1776 on the day of our nation’s independence, “All men and women are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

We the people, a nation of immigrants hoped that we would live in peace as brothers and sisters regardless of our station in life, our age, our religion, the color of our skin, our ethnic background, or our language. As citizens we hoped equality would become a reality. But with gunshots in Dallas on November 22, 1963 and Memphis on April 4, 1968 the dreams of our nation were dashed.

As Christians, we witnessed a new season of revival and individual salvation. Giant gatherings born of the Spirit of God with a vision from Mount Herman. A humble man named Billy from North Carolina was the leader. We also witnessed a season of renewal on the great universities of America where Christ-centered radicals recaptured the intellectual high-ground with the banner of the cross and a message of “revolution.” I witnessed a gathering in Dallas, Texas in 1972 on the cover of Life Magazine. The Word of God was a “Blueprint for Revolution,” and the gospel of salvation was proclaimed without apology. I responded to the challenge by Bill Bright to “Come Help Change the World” at the Atlanta Solution Bowl in December of 1976 as a junior in college. I returned to launch a movement of spiritual multiplication among students at Augusta College with my new found friend Angela Givens.

I soon realized that my home church under the teaching of John Oliver and my conversations with missionaries and the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ, I was a part of the larger global movement of "Evangelicals." The “Evangelical” movement was born in 1942 at a conference in St Louis seeking a thoughtful middle way. The movement grew in the rise tide of revival in America to unite Christians of different institutions in order to fulfill the Great Commission.  A great gathering of 150 nations was convened in Lausanne Switzerland in 1974. A covenant was written to inspire cooperation among evangelicals around the world and a committee was formed in 1976 to give guidance to this movement.

As followers of Jesus we hoped to stand together against the powers and authorities that were held captive to the ancient Angels of Death and we hoped the love of our neighbors would change the world. From the Lausanne Covenant, "We affirm that God is both the Creator and the Judge of all men. We therefore should share his concern for justice and reconciliation throughout human society and for the liberation of men and women from every kind of oppression. Because men and women are made in the image of God, every person, regardless of race, religion, color, culture, class, sex or age, has an intrinsic dignity because of which he or she should be respected and served, not exploited."

A Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Women in My Life

I am so grateful for the women of our community of Global Service.  I am honored by your presence and your willingness to be in a mutual relationship with the men of Global Service. Together we are servant leaders and ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Savior.  I encourage you to continue “speaking the truth in love, that together we may grow up in all things in Him who is the First Born of Creation and who is the Source ("Head") of the Church.  Jesus Christ the Lord of Heaven and Earth.” (Ephesians 4:11-16 and 5:15-21)

This is my prayer on the morning of September 26th 2018 beside the Crystal River near Redstone, Colorado:

"Thank-you Holy Father, Holy Son, and Holy Spirit three in One for opening my eyes to see the wonder of the virgin Mary the mother of the body of Jesus. Mary, you gave life to the Savior and Redeemer of the heavens and earth. Mary, thank-you that you as a young woman in spite of the cultural norms of your day choose to receive by grace through faith the gift of God in your womb to conceive the body of Jesus who was born in Bethlehem on that first Christmas Day. Mary, you are the giver of the life of God, and therefore, of love, of beauty, of joy, of grace, of reconciliation, of nurture, of learning, of language. Because of your surrender to the will of God I can now experience the presence of God. May the heavens and earth be filled with the Glory of God forever and ever." Amen

For all the women of Global Service who I love (“phileo”) as a brother, I pray for you to enjoy all the gifts of creation today. I pray for healing from the wounds of angry sinful men who covet the power of life that you possess. I pray for you to have wholeness of life, for abundance, for provision of food and clothing, protection and shelter. I pray that you may have freedom of movement and expression in your home, in your workplace, in the marketplace, in your neighborhood, in your church, and in society. I pray that you will experience the love of God and be energized by the life (“eros”) of God so that your mind will be renewed, your body will be strengthened, your voice will sing of the truth of God and your soul will be refreshed by the unconditional love (“agape”) of God.

Today I pray that you will see the beauty of creation, that you will smell the fresh air of the Spirit of God, that you will taste the goodness of God, and that you will hear the voice of God’s assurance, and feel the gentle touch and comfort of the heart of God. May all creation be filled with the voices of women today to drown out the voices of self-serving and self-centered men who have joined in the rebellion of the ages against God.

I pray Holy Father, Holy Son, Holy Spirit three in one that you hear my voice, a man broken by my own sin and the sins of men who are held captive by the angel of Death (“Azreal” in Hebrew and “Thanatos” in Greek).

By His Grace and For His Glory! Amen

Originally, I wrote this pray for my wife of 41 years, Brenda, my daughter of 37 years, Kelly, and my granddaughter Ruby who is 4 years old. I later decided to share this prayer with the women of our mission.

Born Again Church

In every generation the Lord extends his kingdom through the church as it is born again by the gospel of the kingdom. This new birth in no way diminishes the timeless "never-changing" truth of the scripture or the timeless "never-changing" message of the gospel, but the "church" must be recreated so that it will be salt and light in an "ever-changing" culture where it lives. Peter refers to the church as "aliens" in a foreign land living a life that is radically different then the world.

The church through no malice will naturally seek to either conform, to confront or to hide from the changing culture and world around. She grows comfortable with it's forms, with it's practices and with it's expectations of what it is supposed to be and as the world changes the church loses it's ability to "connect to the culture," and to "influence the world with kingdom values." The salt becomes tasteless and the light grows dim or is covered by the forms and practices that seemed best 40 years ago.

So as followers of Jesus we are faced with the choice of being "crucified, dead and buried with Christ," in order that we might by faith be reborn as a new creation to reflect the beauty and the new life of the resurrected Jesus in this new generation. The church must see herself as entering into the mission of God in the earthly realm with wisdom from the heavenly realm.