When it comes to life planning, I suck.

And:

All the best things in life I’ve slipped into by accident.

What am I talking about? I’m talking about me coming to the curious realization that nearly everything good that’s ever happened to me was not the result of a devious scheme I hatched up to make my life fantastic, but just happened rather out of the blue through a set of strange and uncontrollable circumstances. I just “happen” to be at the right place at the right time with the right people doing the right things, and life unfolds. Which begs the obvious question:

Why do I grit my teeth and spend so much effort trying to make life go the way I think it should?

God has been showing me a lot over the past few months, and one of the things I’ve been learning is how desperately I need to trust Him with my destiny. You see, the interesting thing about destiny is that it isn’t so much about what you end up doing at the end of the road, but what happens to you along the way. To quote Yeesha from the game Uru: “some will seek the destination, but you should seek the Journey.”

Thus, getting back to my original statement, I really suck at planning my life. Just about everything I’ve sat down and planned out in great detail turned out to be a bunch of nothing. And just about everthing that came at me unawares and unintended ended up being awesome. Now don’t misunderstand me — I am not saying we should just sit back and be passive and let life pass us by. We need to be intentional and active about our attitudes and our behaviors, towards ourselves as well as others. What I am saying is that most of the time we waste our time focusing on the huge, overarching, big picture when we should be spending our time focusing on the little things day by day. God gives us a little, we steward a little faithfully, and then He gives us much. This is a Biblical principle and one that Jesus repeats in various forms over and over and over again.

So I give up. I don’t want to plan my life. I totally suck at it. God seems to be doing a much better job of it than I ever have, so I’d better wait on Him and let Him work His magic. Who am I to blow against the wind?

I’ve been wondering what I should blog about coming out of this period of time. So much to talk about…where do I begin? Then all of a sudden it came to me…write about the oil of gladness. For that is what I believe God has given me as a reward for my struggles. Contained within this oil of gladness is an element of favor, an element of revelation and understanding, an opening of the “eyes of the heart” and a seeing into one’s purpose and destiny. I’ll be writing about this much more in the coming weeks. It should be good.

In the meantime, a couple of relevant passages in Scripture are Psalm 45:7 (quoted again in Hebrews 1:9) and Isaiah 61:3. Wonderful verses to meditate on!

Only it’s a sham. Success is a moving target. Every time you get “there”, it’s not good enough. You want more. You need a new dream. You need further challenges. Once something becomes easy, it becomes boring. My grandfather was a brilliant and passionate man who could accomplish almost anything he imagined. Yet he died having truly accomplished nothing. His legacy was of a life spent always pursuing the next big thing while abandoning the previous thing before its time.

I never met my grandfather, as he died just before I was born, but I see that same tendency in me, and it scares me at times. Yet I know for certain that I am not the little boy that I saw in that home video any more. My identity has changed, or rather I have discovered my true identity. I am not defined by what I own, or where I live, or who I’m networked with, or how I dress, or the things I do. My identity lies in who God says that I am. For I am His child, precious in His eyes, bought with a price, hidden with Christ and seated with Him in heavenly places, destined to rule and reign with Christ for eternity. My Father loves me and I love Him. Jesus said “I and my Father are one” and Jesus brings that same depth of relationship to me. He can bring it to you, if you desire it.

I know God has big plans for me, and great things are in store. Yet that’s not my focus anymore. I grew up believing I was an Artist. Now I may be an artist in the sense that God has given me artistic talents to use for His glory, but I am not an Artist. Nor am I a “Computer Geek” (well… ). I am a disciple of Jesus. And that gives me great comfort, because success is always at hand! Empowered by the Holy Spirit, I can live each day in a love dance with God, doing His will with joy and abandon, and some day when I look back on my life, I can see that the more I spent my time submitted to Him, the more fulfillment and true success I achieved in my life. And that’s not just a legacy left here on earth but is something I can take into eternity with me!

I know this is an oft-used verse, but I think it is one of the most awesome statements Jesus ever made. We would all do well to keep this close to our hearts.

“Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” — Matthew 6:33

I’m not saying I agree wholeheartedly with this view…I’m simply reporting it and trying to understand my own feelings on these issues. For a really good read by a voice in the blogosphere that I respect, Extreme Charismatic Makeover by Kingdom Grace is worth your while.

I’m torn. I’m torn because I see much good happening on both sides of the equation. Perhaps I’m not skeptical enough, or cynical enough, but my life has been radically transformed by the ministry of many of the “top dogs” in the charismatic world such as Bill Johnson/Bethel Church and Patricia King/Extreme Prophetic in particular. The reason I know I’m on a better path is because there is fruit in my life now and sin habits that have been conquered that was not the case in years past. So it’s very hard for me to throw out the baby with the bath water.

Perhaps God will lead me into a new (or old?) understanding of how to do church that takes me into alternate places, but I absolutely believe that humility and grace are needed in this moment in time so that we don’t enter into a spirit of bitterness or mockery. The Bride of Christ is too valuable, even in the messed up state it’s in. Jesus loves all of it, the good and the bad. I can do no less.

For your reference, the previous posts in this series are:

• 1: Paths
• 2: Immanuel
• 3: Direction
• 4: Voices
• 5: Prophecy

So let’s get down to it. You’ve realized that you want to venture forth on the adventure of a lifetime and that you need God’s help to get to where you’re going. You want to make sure you’re hearing His voice and obeying His command. You need supernatural revelation to give you the keys to unlocking your destiny. That’s all very well and good, but how do you actually do all that? Just thinking about these ideas is not enough. It’s time to put your money where your mouth is and take that first baby step.

Based on my own experience thus far, an overall strategy has emerged that I believe can aid you in your quest. I’m not saying that this is a magic formula or appropriate to your stage in life, but it’s generally a pattern that I’ve seen repeated over and over again and has been tremendously helpful in my life. I hope it blesses you and gives you newfound confidence that God is going to do great things in you and through you!

So what is this strategy? It is this:

1. Walk away. The first step in following after God’s own heart is realizing you have to repent. To repent means to turn away, to change course. It’s easy to get fixated on repenting from outright sin and forget that in many cases we need to repent from desires, affections, ambitions, and pursuits that are holding us back from what God has for us. Don’t just mumble “sorry” and then fall right back into it all. Don’t hesitate. Just walk away. Say goodbye and never look back. If you want to reach your God-given potential, then Jesus has to be The Boss.

2. Give up your ideology. When you start living life for Jesus with passion and zeal, expect Him to smash your ideology, crush your theology, and demolish your philosophy. When I rededicated my life to Christ a few years ago, it began a chain of events which ended up redefining almost everything I thought I knew about God and what it meant to be a Christian. The key is to make yourself vulnerable to the corrections and convictions of the Holy Spirit. Trust me, it’ll be good.

3. Get connected. You can’t do the Christian life alone. Christianity is not an individualistic spiritual path, it is a Spirit-filled community. You are not just some organic robot that needs the right software to work right, you are a vital member of the worldwide Body of Christ. You need help! You need to be loved! You need people to pray for you and prophesy over you! While I don’t believe in the “any church is good church” doctrine that says you must go to church to be a good Christian, I do believe that God has a place for you in His body — though it may take some time to find that place. Don’t give up — once you get there, it’ll be like coming home. It’ll be like Heaven on earth.

4. Ask, seek, knock. Start consuming books, podcasts, videos, etc. of godly Christian leaders with a proven track record in humility, pure faith, and spiritual fruit. No, these people aren’t perfect, and not everything they say is going to be The Truth, but they may have more experience in walking with God and following His ways than you do. Wisdom is worthy to be sought. Also, if you have the ability to travel, invest your time and money in attending some awesome conferences or revival meetings to get a feel for what God is doing around the earth. They will open your eyes to things you never dreamt were possible!

5. Face time. You can pray and read the Bible on a daily basis, but sometimes that ain’t gonna cut it. You need to get down on your knees before Almighty God and remove every other distraction for a significant period of time. Here’s a challenge: spend at least two full hours by yourself in a room with nothing but a Bible, a journal, and water. Don’t allow yourself to be interrupted by ANYTHING or ANYONE. Give a couple of hours of your life to God. And if you want a REAL challenge, try spending eight hours with God. I’ve done it once, and I can tell that just doing it once was life-changing. I’m looking forward to doing it again. It was incredibly hard at first, but believe it or not I was actually sad to leave His Presence after a while! (BTW, don’t feel bad if you snooze a little bit. God can speak to us through dreams, remember?)

6. Take action. Once you’ve repented of sin and unnecessary pursuits , given up your prideful presumptions about God and your destiny, gotten connected with fellow believers who can pray for you and prophesy into your life, sought out important spiritual truth and ways of worship that others have discovered, and spent meaningful and consecrated time alone in the Presence of the Lord, then it’s time to act out the faith that’s stirring in your heart. The things that the Holy Spirit has been showing you, the person that He’s called you to be — you need to take steps to move in that direction. Perhaps that means seeking out someone to mentor you. Perhaps it means changing jobs. Perhaps it means talking to your family about some serious things you have been keeping to yourself. Perhaps it means seeking counseling or prayer therepy to deal with past issues that must be dealt with. Perhaps it means launching out into a new endeavor. Perhaps it means simply going out into the world and ministering to people in need just like Jesus did! Whatever “action” represents in the context of your life, you need to step out in faith and believe in what God has shown you. The Christian life isn’t talk, it’s walk, after all.

Rinse and repeat as necessary. I’ve gone through this cycle more than once, and probably every time that God leads me into a new season, I have to go through the process. Don’t feel bad if you falter at any one of these points, because it’s never, ever too late to try again! Remember, God’s grace and mercy is fresh and new every day. He will give you the strength to overcome your weaknesses and fulfill your destiny!

Thank you for embarking on this voyage of discovery with me. I was greatly blessed myself just writing it, so I truly hope it blesses you as well. If anything here has raised some questions or perhaps led to some testimonies, please let me know in the comments. May God richly reward you in everything that you do in Christ Jesus!

Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress.

Welcome to the fifth installment of God is the Ultimate Travel Agent! We’ve learned a lot in this series already, such as what it means to devote yourself to following the path that God has for your life, comprehending the wonderful “good news” of Immanuel…that God is with us everywhere we go, and humbling yourself to receive direction and insight from the Holy Spirit. It isn’t enough to be moving fast in one direction, because if that direction is leading you towards destruction, it’s better to stand still and wait on the Lord to hear where your real destination lies. Last time we discussed how to position yourself to receive revelation from God; now we will delve further into the ways that God speaks to us and imparts knowledge into our souls.

Given to You by Prophecy

Possibly the most dramatic way God can give you direction and meaning in life is via the prophetic gift in others. When godly people under the anointing of the Holy Spirit speak words of knowledge (divine awareness of current or past truths) and prophecy (divine foretelling of future truths) into you, the course of your life may be forever altered.

In the verses cited above, Paul instructs his young protégé, Timothy, to remain steadfast in his calling to be a teacher of the Word and to instruct his fellow believers in the faith. What I find fascinating is that Timothy’s gift was not something he just happened to have when he received Christ but was given to him by the laying on of hands by the church elders. Paul also mentions the prophecies for Timothy earlier in chapter 1 verse 18, and the laying on of hands in 2 Timothy 1:6. The elders, including Paul, saw in Timothy the ultimate person that God had created him to be, and Timothy very likely had little awareness of this spiritual reality. A wise man once said that the spiritual reality is always superior to the physical reality, and that’s essentially what prophecy is all about — taking that which is true in the Spirit and declaring it forth into the world around us.

I encourage you wholeheartedly to seek out sincere Christians who believe in the gift of prophecy and words of knowledge and allow them to lay hands on you and speak into your life. The blessing you will receive from hearing those words spoken over you is incalculable. Many facets of my life at the present time only came to pass because of a prior prophetic word. I can honestly say I would still be floundering around trying to figure out what to do without that inspired direction that flowed from the throne room of God.

Dreams

Another huge, though tricky, area of revelation is in dreams. Dreams are funny things. We dream by day and we dream by night. Our daydreams reflect the missing aspects of our lives that we long to acquire, and our dreams in the night reflect our most intimate fears or aspirations. The key is discerning where in the midst of dreaming God is. Because God most assuredly is there.

A few years back, my mom bought a book that talked about the ways God speaks to us through dreams when we are asleep. I’ll be honest with you: I thought it was a load of horse manure. Yeah, a few people in the Bible heard from God via dreams (sometimes via angels in dreams), but come on. Give me a break.

Then I had what I can only describe as a God dream. I woke up with a conviction in my spirit like nothing I’d ever felt before that this dream was holy and was from God. I then proceeded to have a series of dreams, dozens of dreams, over the course of only a few months that were all filled with spiritual insight and direction. I have yet to experience such a season of revelation as I did at that time.

If you are interested in placing your sleep and your dreaming under the authority of the Holy Spirit, here’s what you can do. Ask God to give you revelation in your dreams. Don’t be discouraged if you still have the usual wacky or bizarre dreams for a while that we all have. Keep asking Him to touch you, and sooner or later I believe you’ll wake up from something profound — possibly even Biblical or ministerial in nature — with a feeling that God wants to tell you something. Write down the dream immediately, even if the clock reads 3:17 AM, and then go back to sleep. In the morning, you can pray and ask God to give you an interpretation of what the dream meant. Sometimes it’s good to go to someone else with a gift of dream interpretation via the Holy Spirit and see what they perceive. In my case, I usually find that there is a knowing in my spirit of what the dream meant literally the moment I wake up from it — that’s often how I know the dream was from the Lord.

Day-to-Day Walk

This is probably a post all its own, so I’ll try to keep it short, but one of my favorite ways to hear from God is just talk to Him. Talk talk talk. Don’t ever give up. Ask Jesus to show you a picture of Himself in your mind, and then just focus on Him and talk. Tell Him what you love, what you hate, why you’re happy, why you’re sad, why you’re lonely, why you’re enthused. Talk about the weather. Talk about your health. Talk about your job. Talk talk talk talk talk. You see, we as Christians have been beaten down into thinking that God only communicates to us through Scripture, and therefore all we can do is pray in some kind of pseudo-spiritual manner and then try to read the Bible to get an answer. Oh, of course that will work. But it’s not the only way. You can also just talk. When you talk, listen. Don’t just speak words, but pause and wait for an answer. Sometimes the answer comes as words (and don’t be surprised if you don’t hear some huge gigantic voice like in the “Ten Commandments” movie), sometimes as just a “knowing” in your spirit, sometimes as images or impressions, sometimes even as music or a song. Other people get strange sensations in their body. I often just get a feeling of overwhelming peace and serenity.

How do you know you’re hearing from God, and not just demons or your own head? Ah, the big question. My only reply is that the more you submit yourself to the Spirit of God and stay steadfast in His Word (that’s why it is very important to know Scripture!), the more you will know the peace and comfort of His Spirit that accompanies any revelation He gives you. Remember, if you ever receive anything that contradicts Scripture, you will know it is false. Remember the famous “love” chapter of 1 Corinthians 13? Read that. God is Love, therefore, what you receive from the Holy Spirit always rides on the back of love. So if you receive revelation that denies who God is, who His people are (the Church), requires you to hurt or deceive your fellow man in any way, or that gratifies your flesh or ego regardless of the welfare of others, then it is not of God.

Stay true to the faith, and weigh every prophecy carefully. There have been many abuses in the Church over the last several decades due to the egregious misuse of the prophetic gift, so use discernment, wisdom, and sound judgement as you seek the Lord for revelation. Some people snub prophecy because of abuse, but that’s like outlawing cars because they can run over people and kill them. Cars are simply vehicles that carry things to their destinations. It’s how they get there that counts. Prophecy is simply a vehicle that carries a supernatural word. It’s what we do with the prophecies we receive that counts.

Conclusion

We have more access to divine insight and counsel than most Christians are willing to admit. Let’s not shirk our responsibilities out of fear or religious traditions. Remember, God is speaking to us, all the time. Maybe if we had the courage and the humility to listen to what He has to say, we would discover the incredible, miraculous, and awesome destinies that He has for our lives and for the worldwide Christian Church.

Next week’s installment will be the last one in this series, and I want to focus squarely on how to put all we’ve learned into practice. You may want God to hold reign over your life, you may be willing to let Him lead you on a grand new adventure, you may be seeking Him for spiritual revelation, but how do you take all that and translate it into concrete change in your life? Good question. Let’s find the answer together!

“For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk in it, when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, Be gone!”

There is a lot of prophetic content in this passage and the text surrounding it, but I would like us to focus today on a promise that I believe is for all of God’s people at all times: if we strive to listen to the voice of the Lord and hear His decree in our spirits, He will be gracious and give us the knowledge and the strength we need to walk in His ways and in the destiny He has for our lives.

Last time in this series, I shared my testimony of God’s grace and mercy in my life and how God oriented me in the right direction to step forward into the journey He created for me. It is a process that is still ongoing, but the point I must emphasize above all others is that this process can only work to its fullest potential when two conditions are met: God speaks to you, and you are willing to humble yourself and receive what He shows you.

The first condition is of far less concern than the second, because the greatest revelation I’ve discovered in my short life is that God is speaking all the time! When we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and He sends the Father’s promise of the Holy Spirit to indwell in our bodies and souls, we gain access to a treasure trove of divine knowledge, insight, and wisdom — far above anything the world has to offer. If we are having trouble hearing from Him, perhaps we’re just not tuned into His spiritual frequency. Or, in many cases, we are receiving communication but we don’t know how to interpret it. In Luke 12:54-55, Jesus expressed it like this:

“When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, A shower is coming. And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, There will be scorching heat, and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”

The very manifestation of the Son of God had come working miracles, signs, and wonders and preaching the Good News to a lost generation, and yet many people completely missed the boat and were unable to discern what was happening all around them. And so it is even with us today: we see God working all around us, we see His handiwork in our very lives, and we miss it. Perhaps we’re too focused on our own needs, our own desires. Perhaps we have plans that we aren’t willing to submit to God’s authority. James says it best in chapter 4 starting at verse 13:

“Come now, you who say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit — yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

Let’s unpack this for a moment, because I think there is something very telling in James’ example. I am probably safe in saying that everybody has a very detailed idea of what they expect to do in life. Some people even have names, dates, and places all mapped out in their heads. Such dreaming is not without its usefulness, but the danger lies in expecting our imaginations to dictate reality. Only God has the power to do that. Jill Austin warns of living in a self-made fantasy world and missing out on the true destiny that God has which always starts wherever you are right now on your life’s journey.

James warns of such foolishness. We are only to move forward in God’s will. We can make plans, but only if the Lord wills it do we accomplish it with His favor and blessing. To do otherwise is arrogance and conceit and will only come to an evil end. I find the end of this passage of James’ very interesting: “whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” That begs the question: how do we know what the right thing is to do? How do we know what God’s will is? How do we know we’re walking forward in His plan and His timing?

Again, if we take it as a given that God is always speaking, yet we can’t hear Him, then something is wrong on our end. Jesus says that His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. We are very precious to our God, and Jesus reminds us that He will leave the nighty-nine sheep safely penned up to go pursue the hundredth sheep who has strayed. So He is coming after us, hard. What should our response be?

There are three sources of information feeding into you at all times. The first is the devil and the evil kingdoms of the world. These voices are loud, persistent, and never let up. Every time you turn on the TV, read the paper, surf the Internet, or just chat with people not walking with God, you are inputting this sickly information stream. You can’t get rid of it, for God told us to go out into the world to be His hands and feet and to be the salt of the earth. But as soon as you forget these voices are to be kept at a safe distance, you are in trouble.

The second source of information is your own voice. I talk to myself all the time, and I know for a fact that I can logically rationalize almost any behavior I care to. I can easily fool myself into believing everything’s cool when it’s not. Conversely, I can fool myself into believing that God is mad at me and I’m a bad boy when in fact God loves me and thinks I rock. Really, my own voice can’t be trusted — unless I submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit.

Which brings me to the third source of information: the Holy Spirit! When we are born again and receive the Holy Spirit, we have a direct RSS feed from Heaven’s throne room, and we can send e-mail to god@heaven.eternity at any time we choose. And guess what? He actually answers! I have an inbox full of messages that have given me strength, solace, knowledge, and a heart of love that I never could have conjured up in my own power. I honestly don’t know how anyone can live the Christian life without apprehending this incredible connection we have with the Spirit of God that gives us everything we need in order to follow in the footsteps of Jesus!

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:1-4

Children are utterly dependent on their parents for protection, nourishment, instruction, and loving guidance. Children know that when danger looms, the refuge of the open arms of their fathers and mothers is the place to be. And so it is with our Heavenly Father! We must not listen to the voices of others but only the Father’s Voice which speaks to us and equips us to set forth on the adventure of a lifetime. God gives us protection, God nourishes our bodies and refreshes our souls, God gives us lawful instruction and wise counsel. Only if we humble ourselves, like a little child, will we be exalted and live forever in glory in the Kingdom of Heaven. What an awesome promise!

In part 5 of this series, I will elaborate a bit on how we can “dial in” the right frequency to hear God’s voice and not any other. Blessings be upon you! See you then!

However, I do have a subject in hand today, and it’s…pr0n. What precipitated this train of thought was the Ron Jeremy/Monique Alexander vs. Craig Gross/Donny Pauling debate at Yale that was sponsored by Nightline on ABC News. You can watch the whole thing online here.

First, a few comments on the debate. The “anti-porn Christian” position was clearly the minority position in this particular arena. I don’t know if that was just how the audience demographics turned out or if its emblematic of Yale in general. I suspect the latter (and thus transfer my suspicions to the other prominent/Ivy League universities in this country). I definitely felt for Craig and Donny as it was obvious they were not coming in with the wind at their backs. A pastor telling people not to watch porn? Lame.

Objectively speaking, I think all sides did an admirable job presenting their case. Ron Jeremy and Monique Alexander came prepared, witty, and quite intriguing as multifaceted representatives of the porn industry. Craig Gross and Donny Pauling know what they’re about and how best to go about it, which is to say they were careful not to condone any censorship of the porn industry (citing the importance of freedom of speech) and instead took the tack of education and self-responsibility as the best weapons against porn. In other words, you can smoke, but smoking isn’t good for you, so you should probably stop doing it — and porn is arguably a worse sin.

On to my reaction. I could have intellectually predicted that Craig and Donny would not receive a warm welcome, but frankly I was shocked and deeply disturbed by the whole presiding. The extent to which porn has become mainstream and even influential in pop culture is very substantial, and I fear the only thing that will convince many people that it’s something to abhor is for them to discover that their lives have been wrecked by it. XXXChurch deals with ruined marriages, sexual offenders behind bars, and former porn stars every day. They are intimately aware of the dark underbelly of the sex trade. It’s too bad their message is falling on deaf ears.

Pornography, like prostitution, disturbs me because it is the ultimate example of dehumanization, short of slavery. Humans are spiritual beings, albeit living in animal-like bodies. We are more than walking meatbags, we are soul and spirit. We think, we express, we understand, we perceive, we create. Sexual intimacy is a physical outworking of the spiritual intimacy a man and a woman share in holy matrimony. Even sex outside of marriage, or fornication, between two people in love seems more palatable to me than porn, because the former is a shadow of true marriage, whereas the latter is a lie, a deviant fantasy designed, produced, and packaged for a deceived public to consume in ever greater numbers.

In the debate, Ron commented on how women getting into the porn industry are still frowned upon by some because, while dads tell their sons to “go get ‘em, boys” and show off their manly prowess, women aren’t allowed such freedom. In other words, it’s empowering and a stand for sexual equality for women to stoop to the level of sexual predator just like men. All I can say to that is: Ron, not all fathers teach their sons to hop into bed with every vixen that crosses their path. Whatever happened to the lost art of chivalry? There used to be a cultural strain that encouraged men to cherish, honor, and protect the “weaker sex” and prove their manliness by pledging to uphold the purity of femininity. Love was forged out of mutual admiration of virtue and respect for the Imagio Deo within the object of affection. Sexuality and sensuality were framed within the context of the grace of God to give men and women feelings of passion and enjoyment of His creation.

The hippies of the 60′s brought the idea of free love into the mainstream, but it was still a somewhat recognizable shadow of true Biblical love. Fast forward only a few decades, and the 60′s seem blissful in comparison. Porn has so degraded love and perverted sex that now the only recognizable thing left is animalistic lust. Whatever bizarre deviancy one can conjure up in the foul recesses of the imagination can now be bought for a few greenbacks. Sex is now mass entertainment, pure and simple. Wanna have some fun and relaxation after a hard day’s work? Watch porn.

I’ll close with this statement: what saddens me most about porn is that the awesome beauty of God-given sexuality is obscured by a disgusting counterfeit. When a man and a women get married today, are they going to gaze into each other’s eyes and see a gift from the Almighty, or are they going to see a video fantasy looming horrifically before them? Ron Jeremy says it’s OK to fantasize about other women when you’re with your lover. I say that is sin. Sin may not be a popular word anymore, but sin has lasted throughout every age and 2008 is certainly no exception.

The thing that makes you different from everyone else is the thing that makes you powerful.

Amazing how true this is and how often we forget it. In our need to be accepted by others, we moderate our true personality and try to morph into something that perhaps we’re not. I can literally feel myself “changing” at times as I interact with people, as if I’m acting out a role instead of just doing what comes naturally. In certain cases, this is wise — for instance, if I’m working on a project with someone else, and I’m more skilled at a certain task than they are, I may “slow down” what I’m doing so that the other person can learn from my actions. I don’t want to be intimidating, and I appreciate similar reciprocation from others when I’m a newbie.

But in the long run, we may be limiting ourselves by our own fearful perceptions. Any time you start thinking thoughts like this:

“I shouldn’t try doing that, people will think I’m crazy.”

or

“I should refrain from getting involved with that…people might think I do too many other things already.”

or

“I should spend less time and effort trying to be excellent, since nobody else cares or they think I’m arrogant.”

then you know for sure you are on the wrong track. That isn’t powerful thinking, that’s weak thinking.

Some might argue that, from a Christian standpoint, we’re supposed to be gracious to others and moderate our own impulses. My answer to that is simple: weak does not equal meek! You know, Jesus may have been meek, but he certainly was not weak! He was powerful, because he was doing things differently than anybody else. Jesus was intimidating, shocking, and politically incorrect! Jesus did crazy, bizarre stuff that made lots of people angry which resulted in an instigation of violence against his person. After all, his worldview was so different from humanity’s that he was executed for his statements! Those don’t sound like the actions of a weak person, but of a powerful person.

I want my life to be a balance of meekness and power. I think it’s possible to have the best of both worlds! What do you think?

I want to believe that a man can work a sixty-hour week, spend quality time with his wife and kids, be involved in his community, find time for leisure, and still be an effective disciple of Jesus Christ. The kind of man who prays big prayers and knows God intimately for those prayers. The kind of man who readily leads many others to his Savior and disciples those same people to maturity. I want to believe, but I don’t know any men like that.

Well, it’s sad that Dan doesn’t know any men like that. I’m not sure I know too many myself, but one thing I do know. Separating out all those pursuits, and tacking on “and still be an effective disciple of Jesus Christ”, is the very thing that has caused the problem in the first place.

Why can’t I be an effective disciple of Jesus Christ when I work a sixty-hour work week? Why can’t I be an effective disciple of Jesus Christ when I spend quality time with my wife and kids? (Frankly, all the full-time ministry people out there need to spend a lot more quality time with their wife/husband and kids. A LOT more.) Why can’t I be an effective disciple of Jesus Christ when I get involved with my community, or when I take time off for leisure?

There is a man by the name of Chuck Ripka. Here’s a page about him on his ministry site. He’s a banker. He co-founded a “Christian” bank several years back, and when I say Christian, I mean people call up the BANK for prayer. They go to the bank and get healed. People have been saved by coming to the bank. In fact, that bank is more church for some people than church.

Chuck wrote an awesome book called God Out of the Box which explains his life and his ministry within the context of business, politics, and local community. His work, his family, and his friends are his mission field. It’s a great read.

So, my conclusion is this: you can indeed do it all. But first you need to get out of the horrible mindset that says that ministry is something you do within the confines of “church” that you aren’t doing when you’re working, playing, and generally doing life. That’s wrong, and that mindset must be crushed if we are at all going to have a major impact on future generations.