Yep, I know. It's been a month since my last newsletter. I think I'm getting into a pattern here. But fortunately my schedule is starting to open up. My VISTA worker for Feed Spokane came on board last week and is starting to relieve me of some projects, which frees up time for me. Yea!  I hope to get back to a more consistent writing schedule now and am contemplating some podcasts & radio programs. I simply haven't had time to produce anything. a simple 20-minute podcast can take an hour and a half of production time (assuming everything goes right the first time with recording, mixing, posting, etc.). I may even have time now to update the website (which is in serious need of updating! 

We live in a generation of believers who have lost their fear of God. Scripture has much to say about fear. Most Scriptural teaching on fear center’s around God instructing His people not to fear people, events or circumstances. But Scripture recognizes and even commands, a good kind of fear, namely, the "fear of God". At the end of his search for wisdom the Preacher of Ecclesiastes (Solomon) declared, "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). I would dare to say that our lack of fear toward God reflects our lack of understanding concerning His holiness. Holiness is that attribute of God’s nature whereby He is totally and completely separated from sin and is singularly devoted to His own glory. Because we do not appreciate the Holiness of God, we do not fear Him in a genuine biblical sense. Isaiah rudely discovered this reality when he was confronted in the Temple by a vision of God in all His terrible holiness (Isaiah 6:ff). That encounter with God’s holiness transformed Isaiah. And Isaiah discovered what David meant when he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "The fear of the Lord is clean . . ." (Psalm 19:9). The New Testament Church was rudely introduced to God’s holiness in Acts Chapter 5 when He struck Ananias and Sapphira dead where they stood for the sin of intentionally lying to the Holy Spirit. The impact upon the Church of that encounter with God’s holiness was profound: "And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all who heard of these things" (Acts 5:11). God’s holiness is not something to be trifled with.

Holiness is that penetrating light of God’s presence which exposes our sin for the terrible rebellion and offense against God it truly is. How terrible is sin? So terrible that the wrath of God Himself is reserved for one thing and one thing only - the punishment of sin. God responds to sin as a personal affront to His holiness. So terrible is sin that it demands either the eternal punishment of the offender, or the substitute of a Savior sufficient to pay sin’s price. The "fearfulness" of hell only makes sense in the blinding light of God’s holiness. I do not believe that the biblical doctrine of eternal punishment in "hell" can be fully appreciated or understood apart from an understanding of God’s holiness.

Ideas have consequences. And so does their loss. The present day loss of any genuine sense of God’s holiness, and the biblical fear which accompanies it, has produced consequences in the life of God’s people which are nothing short of catastrophic. The love of God has been distorted into little more than grand-fatherly sentimentality. The holiness, fear and wrath of God have been excluded from our vocabulary. Repentance has been forgotten while sin has been sanctified. The judgments of God have been muted and the Cross of Christ has been reduced to religious jewelry. Not only does this emasculated God want you to have your best life now, but he now promises that when you die, regardless of your condition, you will eventually end up in heaven, an uncomfortable citizen of a Kingdom whose motto is "holy to the Lord" (Zechariah 14:20). Richard Neibuhr summarized the condition of the Church today in his classic observation:

"A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross."

"You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, ‘My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.’ It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed." (Hebrews 12:4-13)

We could spend a great deal of time on this passage and still not exhaust it. Like all of Scripture, it is a pool that a child can wade in or that an elephant can swim in (No, that’s not original. I borrowed if from Leon Morris and his commentary on the Gospel of John) But for now I want to highlight three words and their relationship to each other in this passage. Those words are "discipline," "holiness," and "healed". Let’s begin with the word "discipline". The Greek word here is paideia which literally meant "tutorage" or "the education and training of a child" (the writer contrasts paideia with nothos which meant "bastard, illegitimate, counterfeit, or spurious"). By implication paideia could also mean "correction" or "punishment," but that was not it’s primary or necessary meaning. It meant to tutor, train and educate a child. In case you missed the fine point here, we’re the children and God is the parent. He is in the process of "tutoring" us in what it means to be a child of God. It is this process of "tutoring" which leads to the second word. The discipline or tutorage of God in our lives is both "good" (in and of itself) and is "for our good," even if the circumstances He uses to accomplish is discipline is not. If you have any doubt about this point, just re-read Job. The writer of Hebrews seemed to be addressing people much like you and me. Their tendency was to "lightly esteem" what God was doing in their lives. Another way of putting it is that they had a certain degree of contempt toward what was happening in their lives, and this presented a problem which called for strong language. Either recognize and submit to God’s Fatherly discipline in your life, as any child should, or acknowledge that you are not a true child of God. Rather, you are an imposter, a counterfeit . . . even a "bastard" (ouch!).

The second word is "holiness" (hagiotes, from hagios, "holy"). The purpose of God’s "discipline" or "tutorage" in our lives is so that we "may share his holiness". Holiness represents the very nature and character of God. It is that attribute and perfection of God’s nature whereby He is uniquely separated from sin and wholly devoted to His own glory. It is not a list of rules or laws to be obeyed, but a nature and a character to be shared. We are to be "holy" because He is holy. And because, as Peter tells us, we have become partakers of the Divine Nature, we have been called to share this aspect of His nature & character. Hmmm. That’s a big bone for us small dogs to chew on, so I’ll leave you alone with it for just a moment.

The third word I want to mention is found in verse 13, "healed". The Greek word iaomai ("to heal or make whole") is used frequently in the New Testament for physical healing (see Matthew 8:13; 15:28; Mark 5:29; Luke 5:17; 6:19). While that seems to be the metaphor here, it raises some interesting thoughts. In some way that the writer of Hebrews does not explain or elaborate on, there seems to be a relationship between God’s fatherly tutorage, sharing His holiness and healing. In the Greek text, verse 13 is constructed as a purpose clause: "strengthen the hands . . . and the knees . . . and make straight paths for your feet, so that (literally, "in order that") the limb which is lame may . . . be healed". This begs a question, namely, what does it mean to "strengthen and make straight" so that healing can occur? Within the context of the passage the answer would seem to be: submit to God’s Fatherly discipline and pursue His holiness.

In early 1940 the British and their allies sent a force of some 350,000 men into the low countries of Europe to stem the tide of German advance into France, Belgium and Holland. Caught in a brilliant pincer movement by the invading German forces the beleaguered British Expeditionary Force was pushed back to the beaches of the small Belgian town of Dunkirk. To everyone’s surprise the Germans halted their advance to regroup. As England and the world waited for what appeared to be the sure and certain annihilation of 350,000 men, a three word message was transmitted from the besieged army at Dunkirk. It read simply, "And if not." The British people understood the biblical import of the cryptic message. It was a reference to the Old Testament book of Daniel, where Daniel and his friends chose death rather than worship an image of the pagan king, "If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up" (Daniel 3:17-18). The British Expeditionary Army, surrounded, cutoff and on the brink of destruction was declaring to Britain and to the world that even in apparent defeat they were, in fact, victorious. The message, more eloquent than a sermon delivered in St. Paul’s Cathedral, galvanized the British people. In a matter of hours thousands of boats of every description headed across the dangerous waters of the English Channel and, at the risk of their own lives from enemy fire, began the evacuation of the heroic but beleaguered army in what historians now refer to as "the miracle of Dunkirk."

If you are a "Trekkie" then you will remember "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." There is a scene early in the movie in which a group of Federation trainees are undergoing the "Kobayashi Maru". At first you think that the ship has been destroyed and the crew killed in an attack. Then you learn that it was only a training exercise - a simulated attack and an impossible situation in which there is no right or wrong answer. It is a test of character designed and intended to reveal the true character of those aspiring to leadership. Later in the movie you discover that young trainee James Kirk had "cheated" on the "Kobyashi Maru" test by reprogramming the computer to allow him a way to win. "Received a commendation for original thinking", he boasted. Isn’t that the American way - find a way to win, even if it means cheating?

Let me pose a question. Think of it as a "Kobayashi Maru" question. Suppose for just a moment that God the Father were to come to you and offer you a choice between sharing His Character (i.e., holiness) on the one hand, and experiencing His gifts (healing, signs & wonders, financial blessing . . . you know . . . all "the stuff". You fill in the blank) on the other hand. Which would you choose? Why? Like the "Kobayashi Maru" the offer and the question are a test of character, especially of those aspiring to leadership in God’s Church. And what if He were to tell you that it was an "either/or" choice for the rest of your life? Would you be willing to walk in His holiness & fear, repentance and intimacy for the rest of your Christian life, even if it meant you would never experience another miracle, sign or wonder? Like Daniel & his three friends before the fiery furnace, or the besieged British Expeditionary Force in the face of certain annihilation, the test of genuine biblical character is the spiritual humility to pray for a miracle but the spiritual integrity and resolve to say "And If Not".

Our home church gathering last Friday evening turned interesting when, mid-way through our prayer and worship time, one of our prophetically gifted intercessors had a vision that our meeting was under demonic attack. We quickly dealt with the attack and returned to worship & prayer. A few minutes later this same intercessor said that the attack had subsided, and in its place there were three angels in our midst, attired in simple robes but covered with armor. She went on to say that they were there to deliver a single word: "Remember". Remember what? Their names said it all. The names of the three angels were: 1) Holiness/fear, 2) Repentance and 3) Intimacy (Then they were gone as quickly as they had come). Does that ring a bell? If not, review our newsletter for May 2, 2007.

Let me be blunt and get straight to the point. I believe that the Church in America is in the midst of a spiritual battle, a spiritual "Kobayashi Maru," if you will, that is confronting us with a test of spiritual integrity. It is a choice that we must make. On the one hand we are confronted with the Lakeland "phenomenon" and all of the extremism increasingly associated with it. On the other hand we have God calling His Church to remember and pursue holiness/fear, repentance and intimacy. And these two choices are, at this point in time, irreconcilable.

Make no mistake. The River of God’s Spirit, the River of Ezekiel 47 is about to flow in immense power and blessing. But this River is going to flow through those channels where He is welcomed on the terms and conditions which God Himself has set for this season of divine visitation: holiness/fear, repentance and intimacy. Is your house church a vessel through which He can flow?

It’s time to choose. And If Not . . .