Quick Change of Subject...

We will get back to the Workings of the Holy Ghost in a little bit... but just for a second I need to talk to you about something...

Over the last week a young man in my church, Curtis McLaughlin had an accident, in which he fell. I am not clear on all the details (I will add comments as I find out more), but ultimately after being sent home an infection developed in is spine and has now spread to his brain. He just got out of surgery, where they removed a portion of him skull to relieve some of the pressure from the swelling.

Curtis is only 16-17 years old.

As I write this, Curtis is in an induced coma for the next 47.5 hours. Curtis is in desperate need of your prayers. Being so young and having so much ahead of him, only worsens the blow of such a tragedy.

I must say Curtis is a great guy. Although I don’t know Curtis all that well, he always has been involved. Now typically he was the funny, lazy sidekick, but was always there. Recently during our Easter Program he played an angel that removed the stone from the tomb of Jesus. Curtis is ALWAYS involved.

To be honest with you, I am stricken. For one of the first times in my life, I don’t have much to say. All my words seem to be lacking. Every time I open my mouth what comes out doesn’t console, doesn’t fix, doesn’t heal, and doesn’t help. I am at a complete loss.

In August I lost my father. He was 51 and died of Lung Disease. My dad had been sick for a long time. Since I was a child he had either been hurt or sick. But the real agony for him and my family started in 94 when he got to the point he couldn’t work. In 96 he had a liver transplant.

With my father always being sick, to be honest, I became calloused to it. Dad was in the hospital... it really didn’t faze me. Dad went in for a double bypass... Call me when he’s done. Dad goes in for back surgery... Let me know if he’s ok. He being in the hospital was second nature to me. It was the norm. Even today the process of death for my father is almost surreal. It has hit me every now and then. When I need some advice about my car, I can’t call the best mechanic in the US. Some times I think, "You know I haven’t called my Dad in a while... I wonder what he's up to." Just to come to the disappointing realization, that I can’t call him.

I would be lying if I said; I had mourned the loss of my father. I would be telling you a lie if I said that I am fine with how calloused I turned to my fathers health. I would rather die 1000 deaths a day than to have had the calloused emotions, of a son with a forever sick, ill, dying father. Everyday I realize a little more what I lost by not being involved in the death of my father.

But with Curtis it is different. This young man wasn’t sick. This kid had only tasted life. He had only experienced a small amount of what even I have experienced. There’s a chance he won’t even marry. There’s a chance he won’t ever graduate college. There’s a chance he won’t ever have children. There’s a chance he won’t ever have hi son crawl into his lap and wrap his arms around his neck and tell him how much he loves him.

And somehow all these thoughts help me mourn my father. They rip away the calluses in my heart. The remove the distance I placed between me and my father’s death. Today I feel as if my Dad has died all over again. It is today that I begin my mourning. It is today that my dad died. It is today my heart fills empty.

Thank you Curtis for helping my dad die.

And although I fear Curtis's death I am reminded of the story of the Ruler whose daughter was dead at home. He came to Jesus and asked him to come and lay hands on her that she may rise from the dead. Immediately Jesus rose along with the disciples and followed him.

But during his exit, the woman with the issue of blood came behind him and touched the hem of his garment. Jesus turned, answered her prayer and once again followed the Ruler to his daughter’s bedside. You realize that if the ruler had not come, Jesus might not ever have risen, the crowd might never have parted to let him through, and the sick old women might not have gotten close enough to touch Jesus.

For me, a similar thing has happened. Jesus is on his way to heal a young man whose chances of living are small. But along the way, he turned and answered my prayer. Christ has healed my calluses. He has reunited me with my father, and I was able to let him go.

Now as you left that woman and continued on to heal the Rulers daughter, go and heal Curtis. He could use your help about now.

Thanks Bro, for getting Jesus’ attention to turn your way, and heal me.

Cookie cutter answers never work!!!

If the HG wasn’t given to us to fix all our problems... what’s the solution???

One of the very first questions asked in the Bible is a question that is commonly forgotten within the ranks of Christiandom. Cain, the Son of Adam, asks "Am I my brother’s keeper?"

Now we all know the story of Cain and Able. Cain killed his brother due to jealousy over Gods acceptance of Abel’s meat offering compared to Cain’s grain offering. God see's this and asks Cain of Abel’s whereabouts... He answers with the age old question, "Am I my brother’s keeper?"

The word keeper in this verse is the Hebrew word "sha-mar". This Hebrew word has a few very special meanings than our modern use of the word. Today the word keeper could be suggested to mean, responsible, or overseer. But the Hebrew word shamar makes this word come alive. It means to hedge about with thorns, to guard, and to preserve, and most of all to save.

When Cain answers Gods question, it might be more contextually accurate to say it this way...

"Am I the one who is supposed to protect him, guard him as a solider guards the King? Am I responsible to preserve his life with my own? Is it my job to save your child?"

By Gods angry response to Cain’s question, you could easily decide the answer is... YES, it is your responsibility to look after your brother. It is your responsibility to make sure you build a thorny hedge around him to protect him. It is your responsibility to keep him from danger. It is your duty to save him.

Uh oh.... here we go again.... Its one of those words which we read over so quickly we forget to take it literally.

Please, forgive me for beating a dead horse, but it is necessary we understand that this word save, is written in a way that it would indicate there is a need of saving... In other words... there is a need to be saved from something. What could that something be??? Hmmmmm I wonder.....

Please, don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t read my last entry (although it is good), but if you did read it, you know what you and I as Brothers and Sisters in Christ are responsible for, concerning saving our other Brother and Sisters. Baggage.

Maybe now would be a good time to explain what I mean by "baggage". Baggage is:

Getting cheated on by your husband
Being raped by your next door neighbor, uncle, or family friend.
Growing up without a father, or mother
Having a lack of trust b/c your trust has been broken so many times
Thoughts of suicide due to a low self esteem
Feelings of anger towards someone who really needs you
Always being broke, b/c you cant balance your check book, b/c a teacher told you you were stupid b/c you had trouble doing simple math

You catchin what I'm talkin about???

We ALL have baggage. Some of us are rather talented at hiding it. Others of us display it and use it as a crutch. And then there are those who share it, but get that age old response, "Oh honey, Now that you have the Holy Ghost, all those things are taken care of!!!"
Tell that to the scars that mar the lives of millions of Christians who have baggage... Take that statement and internalize it for your own baggage??? Feel any better about your baggage??? Is it getting lighter??? Did it go away, never to be remembered again? Never to hurt you again??? No, its still there. The weight of that baggage is still hanging on your shoulders, and the people who said they cared most about you, your Christian family, have given you a crappy answer that didn’t do anything except make you feel that your Holy Ghost must not be real, b/c you still carry your baggage.

Well rest assured. Your Holy Ghost is real. The real problem is an ignorance of the workings of the spirit of God, and a lazy attitude of our responsibility as Christians to someone who has baggage. We are charged to be our brother’s keeper.

Problem is, we don’t know how so we give cookie cutter answers that do nothing but confuse.
Check your own life. Are looking for ways to help your fellow Christian brothers and sisters in their fight with baggage? If so, come back within the next few days and we’ll talk more about it.

And so it begins...

So, I've tried to have 3 different blogs as of this one. All 3 have started and ended quite quickly. I'm not sure why??? Ok maybe I know why... I find it hard to complete anything. But how do you complete a blog? A blog is possibly a daily thing, or maybe it’s a weekly thing. Better yet, maybe it’s a yearly thing.

Ok, I've just made a decision... Although this is #3 for me... the other 2 blogs are 10 year blogs.... so every 10 years I am obligated to post something. For those of you keeping score... call me in 10 years!!!

With that said... Let's begin.

Over the last few weeks God has been dealing with me concerning ministry on a larger scale. Maybe saying "larger scale" is a little vague, so let me explain.

Over the last 5 years, I have been involved in many types of ministry. Sound Ministry, Music Ministry, Youth, Administration, and even recently an Associate Pastor for a small independent church. I was used effectively in all these areas, yet there has always been something missing. Yeah, I've touched people’s lives with the words the Lord has given me. Yeah, I have laid hands on the sick and seen them healed. Sure, I’ve seen people filled with Gods Spirit and changed forever. (Please don’t take my passive speech as though I find none of this important, b/c that would be the farthest from the truth) I've seen many things in my short life as a Christian. But God has always called me to something "bigger".

Ministry in itself isn’t what people want. People don’t want to sit in a pew, and just feel touched. People don’t want to attend a church and only get preached to, or even at. People are looking for an experience. People are looking to see an everlasting change in their lives. And I know this may offend some, if not most of you, but the presence of God in our lives does not fulfill all that change.

Yep, I said it. The Holy Ghost living inside us doesn’t change us to the point that we no longer carry the baggage we had prior to this event. The Spirit of God dwelling in us, does not rid us of temptation, and always keep us from sinning. The Holy Spirit making residence in us doesn’t fix all our hang up, problems, or attitudes.

Many Apostolics/Pentecostals have this false belief that as soon as the Holy Ghost fills us, we are "fixed". That we are freed from our baggage that we've been carrying for weeks, months, and years. Well once again. They're wrong.

Please don’t get me wrong. There are and have been situations where God has done just that. Rid someone of their problems, addictions, debt, and hang ups when they receive the Holy Ghost. It is possible. But just think of what Jesus called the Holy Ghost... he called it, the Comforter.

Now explain this to me. How can the Comforter comfort if there is nothing there to comfort? Did ya catch that??? If not go back and read it again.

If there is no baggage, problems, or hang ups, there is no need for a comforter. Get it??? No??? Ok let me explain further.

The word "Comforter" is a noun. A noun is a person, place, thing, or action. This means that the word comforter is an action. The act of comforting. If Christ was sending the Holy Spirit to dwell within us to fix all our problems, he would have called the Holy Ghost, the Comfort. You picking this up??? Good!!!

So… What do we do then? If the Comforter is there to help us along, do we ever have the ability to drop our baggage? Do we ever find reconciliation with our problems?

Come back in a few days… and I’ll tell you!