The Anointing Of Second Place

We are addicted to leadership. Everything in the Church seems to be geared to developing good leaders. Seminar after seminar, conferences, books, internet teaching all centered around leadership. We have developed quite the industry on just this one subject.

We seem to have this compulsion that when we find an intelligent or gifted person we fling the leadership mantle around them, whether they are gifted leaders or not. We don't look for the anointing. We don't examine God's calling. We don't see if God's hand is on that person. As long as they are educated, intelligent, gifted and good looking, they fit the bill. We will even overlook the last two as long as the first two are in place. Sometimes, if we are desperate enough, it is sufficient that they are educated.

What happened to the training of the warriors? You know, those guys who are not anointed for leadership but are anointed with God's gifts as workers in the Kingdom. Those guys who take the anointed vision of God, laid on the hearts of the leaders, and put it into action. Those guys who are anointed with energy, enthusiasm, intelligence, strength, determination, and a servant's heart.

We all consider King David to have been a great leader and we often lift up leaders with the same hope that they possess a David's heart, but what would David have been without his mighty men? There is a reason God took time to make sure that all their names were recorded for us. These are the men who responded to David's love for God, his vision and his compassion for the people of the nation. They chose exile with him. They chose to face death with him. They chose to defend him. They chose to give up the right over themselves to obey him as their chosen leader.

We all consider Peter, John, James, Paul as great leaders of the Church but Stephen was not any less anointed by the Spirit. He was a leader but not of the variety that we think about. His was a supporting role. He took the pressure off of the Apostles by looking after Church affairs so they could preach and teach. He was still full of the Holy Spirit, powerful, standing out in a crowd, but he was a warrior, carrying out the vision of the leaders. He was a mighty man.

I don't think it's leaders we are lacking in the Church but rather the warriors to follow the leaders. We are missing the Jonathans, Stephens, Timothys. All leaders in and of themselves but also mighty men who stood with and fought for the anointed leaders of the day. I mention Jonathan here because, even though he was the crown prince according to the flesh, he knew he was not God's appointed leader. In fact, he told God's appointed leader (David) that he would gladly serve him as one of his mighty men. That takes more guts than what a lot of people realize.

This is a call to my fellow mighty men. Let us not be tempted to take on a mantle that does not belong to us. We know, we can see for ourselves, where God's anointing lay. Let us pledge ourselves to these imperfect, chosen, anointed leaders of our day. Let us not try to out due them but encourage them by standing with them in the fight. It is not easy bearing the mantle of leadership but neither is it easy to resist the flesh and take our appointed position in support of God's anointed. Know the ground you have been given, and stand.

    

Why Are We Playing Church?

Many of us go through the motions with God without any substance to it. It is like a well worn routine, like what you do in the morning. Your alarm goes off. You slowly get up, put on a house coat, use the washroom, take a shower, brush your teeth, get dressed, have some cereal, have a cup of coffee, catch the same bus at the same time every day, because that is your morning routine. You don't think about it, you just do it. Most of us are like this with God. But that is not what he intended for us and it is not what honours him. In fact, there is no value to it unless it is by faith and empowered by the Spirit.

I have heard countless times from Christians, "How do I know he is real?" Well, if you have to ask that question you have never experienced the anointing of God; you have never been bathed in the Spirit; you have never stood in his presence. And this is the problem: Too many Christians are living a religious life instead of a Spirit-filled life.

Don't you want to know that he is real and present every moment of your day? Don't you want to hear from him and receive instruction from him? Don't you want to experience his power as you speak his Word and act on his love? That is what it is to be controlled by the Spirit.

Consider Peter for a moment. Peter was an Everyman. He represents you and me, the simple and common people. There was nothing special about him. He was uneducated. A fisherman. He got it wrong as often as he got it right. He lived by extremes; all or nothing. This was the man who first confessed Jesus as the Son of God one minute and then tried to dictate to him the next. He is the man who pledged his undying support to Jesus one day and then denied him three times the next. But then something happened to change Peter into what Jesus called him to be; the same thing that is suppose to happen to us.

The cross provided salvation, forgiveness, for everything in Peter's life, even the denials. It opened the door to the possibility of transformation, going from what he had been to the new creation the Father desired for him to be. But the power for this transformation came later. The power to live a victorious life in Jesus came after the cross. Jesus, in us, took place after the cross and it happened with the receiving of the Holy Spirit.

Peter went from a hot and cold guy to a spiritual giant. Soon after receiving the Spirit, Peter addressed a crowd and the anointing was so strong on him, the power of God so evident that three thousand people accepted Jesus under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. That is the difference between doing things for God in our strength and knowledge compared to doing it under the conviction and power of the Holy Spirit. We need that anointing.

Good is not good enough in this dying world. I am sure Peter would have served Jesus adequately, with lots of ups and downs, but compare that to the man Peter became. The man who people lined the streets to see in the hopes that his shadow would fall on them and they would be healed. Check it out for yourself in Acts 5. That is the power of God worked through us by the Holy Spirit. It was intended for us as much as the apostles.

We have settled for the ordinary. We go through the motions but they lack conviction and power. That doesn't mean our love isn't real. It simply means that we have lost the knowledge we once had and because we no longer understand the Spirit and who we are in Jesus, we live our religious lives in the best way we can, honestly loving God. But we are wrong for it.The Word clearly states that anything that does not come by faith is sin. It's one and the same.

Jesus stated we would do greater things than he had done, but now we scoff and ridicule those who take him at his word, surrender control to the Spirit, and walk as Jesus walked. We should not be operating for God without the anointing of the Spirit. Without the Spirit we are doing it in our own strength and anything we do like that, even though it is in Jesus' name, will not be honoured and will be burnt up.

I know this may sound strange to you and you may be content with your little life and your little service and your little love, but check it out for yourself. Do a study on the Spirit. Search for the Spirit in the gospels and you will discover that Jesus did nothing in his own ability but always by the Spirit. Do the same thing with the book of Acts and you will discover the apostles only operated by the Spirit.

What a travesty that the vast majority of the Church knows nothing of the manifestation of the Spirit, of the anointing, of the power or of the conviction. What are we doing playing at Church? Renew me Lord, in your power and strength. Come great Spirit, we need you. Come great Spirit we pray. Come in your strength and your power. Come in your own special way. I am praying for you and me both friend.

The Change Can Start With You

Isn't life great! We have friends, a job, a house, a couple of cars, the retirement fund is growing nicely, we can afford to travel or just stay home and enjoy our large screen TV. We have the internet, our social networking, YouTube, our music, some books. Who could ask for anything more?

That stuff might be fine for people who do not claim Jesus but it's not fine for you. You are a Christian, the Christ follower, a child of the Father, possessed by the Holy Spirit and as such Jesus instructed you:

Don’t worry and ask yourselves, “Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?” Only people who don’t know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these. (Matthew 6:31-32)

Trust God, is what Jesus is instructing. Don't run after the priorities of this world, is what he says. Your priorities are so much greater:

But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well. (v.33)

The psalmist stated of those who chose the priorities of the world:

You love foolish things,
    and you run after
    what is worthless. (Psalm 4:2b)

Are there any better words to describe the priorities of our life? What are our dreams? What are we pursuing? Some people have noble notions of what they want to do with their life but most people live to exist. They just want to make it through their day. They just want work to be over so they can go home, order in a meal and watch tv. They just want a comfortable life. But those who have chosen Jesus, who have been adopted as the Father's children, are not called to a "normal", comfortable life. We have been told to put God's work first and to do the Father's will. This can lead to uncomfortable and unfamiliar situations.

We have to make some right choices today.

We have to choose Jesus.

Every day we have to make that choice that "today I will serve the Lord". Choosing to pursue our comfort is not choosing Jesus. The great servants who went before us did not choose their own comfort. They set aside the pursuit of self and looked square into the Father's priorities and it changed them. They were not petty in their relationships. They rose in spiritual maturity, throwing off childish attitudes and walked in the anointed calling and purpose of their life. It cost them but the benefits far outweighed the cost.

If your day was put under the microscope would you consider yourself running after what is worthless or being faithful to God's work? Are you building your life, collecting your possessions, finding comfort in this place or are you doing what our Father wants? It's not completely our fault if we have it wrong. We were taught wrong. We were not coached and helped along or if we were it was from a wrong perspective. The Church has done an appalling job of directing and instructing people in the priorities of the Father, of instructing them in what is holy and what is common. As long as our mega churches are full and we have a form of Christianity, as long as the bills are being paid. What a foolish people we are! The Church is pursuing the same things that the confused children of God are pursuing.

There needs to be some changes to move us from the acceptable practices of this world to a passionate service to our King; to move from the common to the Holy. That change can start today. That change can start with you. There are choices to be made today. There are priorities to uphold. Jesus' words

You cannot be the slave of two masters! You will like one more than the other or be more loyal to one than the other. You cannot serve both God and money. (Matthew 6:24)

Who will you serve?

An Uneducated Pastor

Can you imagine volunteering for your job instead of getting paid? Imagine walking into your boss and telling him you don't need the company computer, you are going to provide your own. Or a bus driver telling the city he's going to provide his own bus? Silly, right? Yet so many of us do that with God. He doesn't want anything from us except our friendship, love, emptiness and availability  For everything he calls us to he equips. Yet, most of us turn down his provision and try to resource the tasks ourselves.

How many things do you do in God's name that actually come from you? How many times have you spoken from your wisdom, served in your strength, reacted by your conviction, given from your riches? We can do a fair job in our own ability but God intends for us to go beyond fair to supernatural, beyond anything we could have ever imagined. When we do things in his anointing everything changes. He doesn't need anything we have to offer, he pours it out on us. Wow! do we ever have it backwards.

This is what the great apostle Paul requested the Ephesians to pray for him:

Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians 6:19-20)

"Words may be given me", he writes. Paul did not speak from his own great knowledge and training. Paul did not speak from his own opinion or speculation. Paul did not study for four years to come up with the gospel of grace. Paul was in-filled by the Spirit. equipped, enabled and empowered to be the apostle to the Gentiles. He was given the revelation of the gospel of grace through the Spirit of God.

We've gone crazy with education. Knowledge is great. All minds should be expanded to the best of our capacity but God is not dependent on our education. We do not have to go off and be trained according to the methods of man before we can preach, teach and evangelize. A pastor does not need letters after his name and neither do apostles, prophets, evangelists and teachers. There is nothing wrong with Bible colleges but God doesn't require them. We need to have Paul's understanding of God's equipping.

Style and methods do not mean anything compared to the anointing of God. We need more servants who are dependent on God for all things than we need educated men and women filling the positions in the Church. We need men and women who say to God "here am I send me" and desire their lips to be touched by the burning coal. We need men and women who understand that their power to serve comes from the Holy Spirit not seminary courses. We need men and women of God who are more interested in the anointing than in man's recognition of their studies.

I would rather sit under the training of an uneducated former alcoholic, saved by grace, empowered by the Holy Spirit than the best trained and educated seminary graduate. The anointing of God is all that we need to serve him to the full potential to which he has called us. Do not let anyone tell you any different. God's training school is all you need. Put your confidence in Jesus and you will be amazed how he uses you for his glory.

Are You Called To Be An Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor Or Teacher?

What would you say if I told you that education isn't everything? What would you say if I told you that not everyone behind the pulpit was called by God to be there? What would you say if I told you that our way is not God's way, and our thoughts, ideas, opinions and traditions are not God's? Somewhere along the way we have forgotten that people have to be chosen and sent by God, not by man. Paul opens his letter to the Galatians like this:

Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. (Galatians 1:1)

Sent not from men nor by man. Because of this assurance Paul was able to face sufferings, trials, and hardships that no normal man would have been able to endure. If I thought my calling had come as a result of a man I would have quit a long time ago. No one convinced me of anything and no one tagged me to go. In fact, there are a number of people who are called by God that man has rejected because of some fault that we do not consider acceptable. Today, those who try to answer God's call have to submit themselves to a barrage of psychological, physical and mental tests. If these had been around in the 1800's I doubt many of the greats would have made it through.

God's calling is not based on good looks and talents, intelligence and speaking ability, management and people skills. God's calling is based on the anointing and gifting of God. God chooses by the condition of a person's heart not their ability to draw people. He looks for those who are willing to believe that all things are possible, who are willing to obey and who know how to confess and repent their disobedience. He is looking for a David's heart. King David, who should have been fired many times because of his mess ups but who always pleased God because, despite his mess ups, he loved the Lord.

For God it is always a question of the heart and no test can ever reveal that to the selection board. The thing that mature Christians can see is the anointing and calling of God, not revealed by outward mannerism but revealed by the Spirit of God. There are great speakers in the Church, with wonderful talents and intellect. We have others that are great managers and others who know how to follow the formula for building large churches. But the real question is, were they sent by man or God? I would rather sit under the anointed preaching of a plumber or brick layer than under the intellectual teaching of a man. I would rather be prayed over by an anointed garbage man than by a well meaning degreed pastor. We have to change our thinking to come back in line with God's heart.

We are trying too hard to be like the world, forcing the chosen to go to colleges and universities to earn degress so they can be more acceptable to the world. Some are called to go this way because God has a plan for them but others he has sent out to the highways and by-ways, to preach from the roof tops and in the gutters, to preach the good news of Jesus Christ. The person sitting in the tavern, drinking their lost and pathetic life away because they cannot find any purpose, does not need to hear the various theories of who wrote the letter to the Hebrews. He does not need to hear the various arguments around baptism or the latest debate on hell. What he needs to hear is that God has purpose for him, that Jesus loved him enough to die for him and that God has launched a rescue plan just for him, to bring him from the darkness into the light. Perhaps that someone chosen to bring him this good news is you.

It doesn't matter that you don't have a Bible College degree and it doesn't matter if you are awkward with people. It doesn't matter if you are afraid of talking in front of people or if you have no background in working with the homeless. It doesn't matter if you have had not training in how to craft a sermon. All that matters is if you are willing to be obedient to God's calling. If he has called you then he will equip you. I should know, after he called me he completely changed me to fit the purpose he had for my life.

Sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ.

And that is all that matters.