Monthly Archives: May 2009

May 8, 2009 · 12:42 pm

Swimming Upstream: “Ouch!That hurts!”

There are times when God’s words do not comfort [us], they sting! This is because we want God on our side. However, He has no side but His own! To be truly comforted, we must see our situation from God’s angle. Comfort will come not by understanding God’s perspective, but by adjusting to it. Real comfort comes through submission. (Graham Cooke, Permission Granted)

Ouch! That hurts!

Swimming Upstream appears at this blog site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s a little of this and a little of that, all written to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian journeys.

Where’s America’s Most Important Church Located?

Christ Church Stellarton

Is America’s most important church located in Lake Forest, California? At Pastor Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church.

Or in Houston? At Pastor Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church.

Or how about South Barrington, Illinois? At Pastor Bill Hybel’s Willow Creek Church.

Or maybe it’s your personal church where you go an hour or two each week to hear a sermon that may change your life?

No. No. No. No to all of the above.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:31-32)

The most important church in America is your home … with you and your spouse as the main members.

So, is your home a house of prayer?

6 Comments

May 6, 2009 · 9:21 am

Swimming Upstream: “Hate Crimes Legislation…Ho-Hum! Bring It On!”

“Oh no! The sky is falling!” said one Christian blog after another about the new Hate Crimes Prevention Act. “What shall we do? What shall we do?”

If you haven’t been paying attention, the U.S. House of Representatives has passed H.R. 1913 which will provide federal money to train law enforcement officers to identify and criminally prosecute speech and thought offensive to homosexuals.

What does this mean? Specifically, it means that preachers and Christians will be not be able to legally open their mouths and say, “Homosexuality is a sin!”

Now, what if preachers and Christians ignore the law and speak up anyway, then what? They could end up paying fines or serving jail sentences!

So, what’s my take on H.R. 1913?

Ho-hum! Bring it on!

The Lord God of Hosts before whom I stand has not been caught off guard by H.R. 1913. He had a plan readied and set in place before these idiots even had a glimmering thought about this heinous bill.

And guess what?

This is a battle the governmental Ahab’s and Jezebel’s can never win. I repeat: this is a battle the governmental Ahab’s and Jezebel’s can never win.

Why?

The Lord hates sin…and loves homosexuals. In fact, the Lord loves homosexuals so much that He is willing to send an army to set them free. Not just any army, but rather, he is sending in His special forces…the hidden-away, unknown Elijah’s.

So, sit back. Relax. Grab some popcorn. The show is about to begin.

3 Comments

May 5, 2009 · 9:55 am

Hey, Listen Up!

The wife of a missionary couple from the Philippines visited our church. Like most good evangelical groups, we held a potluck supper in her honor.

After the meal, I was in the kitchen scrapping and washing dishes. The lady visited the kitchen, saw what I was doing and wept. Her heart was broken by the huge amounts of food we threw away.

Just that morning, she had talked to her husband on the phone. He and the twenty orphans they housed and supported had eaten the last of their food. They were hungry.

And we were throwing food away. We called it waste; she saw it as life-giving.

What a paradox, right?

Mark and Christine Pedder, a couple of Aussies with a heart for God, have an awesome ministry in one of the worst slums of the world, BASECO. If you want your heart broken, check out the pictures on their blog site. Pictures don’t lie, they tell the story.

At this moment, they have posted this post asking for sponsorships for BASECO school children.

So, if you can, help them out.

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Filed under Christian Conservative, Christianity, Christians, Church, Emergent Church, Faith, Gifts of the Spirit, God, grace, Home Church, Inspirational, jesus, Kingdom of God, morality, Prayer, Prophecy, Red Letter Christians, reformation, Religion, Spirituality

May 4, 2009 · 8:19 am

Swimming Upstream: “Casting Stones At Fallen Brethren”

In the late 1980’s, the ministry of Jimmy Swaggart was involved in a scandal that rocked the Christian world. And of course, the media had a field day exposing the scandal. It was ugly!

But out of this, I learned something that has forever changed my life.

My revelation came from hearing how two Christian leaders reacted to the news about Swaggart’s scandal.

The first man told how he jumped up and down, called his friends and said, “Isn’t it great how God has finally judged Jimmy Swaggart?” He was elated.

The second man said that when he heard the news, he pulled the curtains in his living room, laid on the floor and wept for hours. The only words he could say were, “Have mercy on him, Lord.” He was devastated.

I made up my mind to be like the second leader, and not the first.

…Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:13)

4 Comments

Filed under Christian Conservative, Christianity, Christians, Church, church planting, Emergent Church, Faith, Gifts of the Spirit, God, grace, Home Church, Inspirational, jesus, Kingdom of God, morality, Prophecy, Red Letter Christians, reformation, Religion, Spirituality

May 1, 2009 · 9:23 am

Swimming Upstream: “Disagreement In My Home…For Now!”

“I’m not you,” Honey said as she sipped her morning coffee. “It’s great that you have a passion to change cities, such as San Francisco, but that’s not for me. I don’t want that demonic principality stomping all over me.”

I shrugged. “Well, sudden death also means sudden glory, right?” A gentle cliche sometimes (not always) helps in a disagreement with Honey.

“Yeah, sudden death sudden glory – right!” she said. “I’m just like the Church. I’m selfish and I only care about me.” She shook her head.

As you can see, my number one fan periodically disagrees with me.

Now, why didn’t the Lord hitch me up to a mate who would at the drop of my hat, jump on her faithful charger, pick up her lance and gallop off to joust with demonic principalities in far-off cities while shouting, “Hi Ho Silver” over her shoulder at family and friends?

Two words will suffice here: death and timing.

Death. The Lord gave me the vision about certain West Coast cities, not her. It is my responsibility to die daily for it.

Timing. Marital government, like the church, is not supposed to be based on democratic votes or dictatorial edicts, but rather, on consensus. And consensus only comes via agreement. ..and this takes time.

Thus, when we finally reach agreement on this issue, I will be a lot deader than I am right now and it will be the proper timing for us to move forward.

REMEMBER: It is the Lord’s responsibility to make a calling and vision come to pass and He is well able to change all parties involved in the plan.