The BEST of plans!

Following Plan B (where B stands for BEST)!

Did you ever have a plan that you were so determined to make happen and then it completely fell apart?  It is SO HARD to admit it even when others around us can see the plan not materializing.  We keep scrambling, make some tweaks, but at some point it’s dead in the water.  Sometimes Plan A is a bust.

I had one of those plans and it was called VISION 2008 for the church I was leading at in Milton, Ontario.  It was 2003 at the time and I really felt it was from God.  I saw our church growing from 110 to 1000.  I saw at least 50 small group with 20 people in each.  I had a vision statement, core values and the town was exploding.  I had been reading about church growth and I wanted to see us expand our sphere of influence.  I memorized the words, the strategy and even catch phrases like ‘transitional disequalibrium’.  This meant that people who move into a community are very open to changes in behavior, habits and I wanted them to be part of our church.  We had a window of opportunity and I was ready to seize the moment… but it didn’t happen. The year 2008 came and we were still trying to grow past 200.  It never happened like I thought.

Moving on from PLAN A to PLAN B

Plan B is that moment of pain or recognition of failure where you realize maybe you weren’t listening well to God especially if you sensed the plan was from Him.  It is also the point where maybe you were listening to God, but you had this idol in your heart called “my definition of success”. Plan B “the BEST plan” wasn’t your plan, you could never have dreamt it up, but it unfolded and became your gameplan!

Let’s do a quick overview of someone in the Bible who I’m convinced went from Plan A in his own dreams to PLAN BEST!

In Genesis we ready about Joseph the boy with a coat of many colors. His father, Jacob, loved him more than any of his brothers and Joseph had dreams of greatness.  He told his family about them and it involved ruling over them.  In his dreams, he and his brothers were binding sheaves of grain and his sheaf stood upright and all the sheaves around it were bowing to his sheaf.  The sun, moon and the stars were bowing to him in his second dream.

How do you think his family felt or more importantly his brothers about the dreams? Remember, at this time, he was the youngest.  One day his father asks him to check on his brothers who were looking after their flocks in Dothan and they decide to throw him in an empty well.  They then decide to sell him for 20 pieces of silver to a travelling group called the Ishmaelites who sell him to Potiphar, a captain of the guard. He does really well here until he is accused of rape with Potiphar’s wife and thrown into prison.

Right here it looks like broken plans, crumbled dreams and deep disappointment.  So much for his dreams and plan A.

Through the power of God, he is able to interpret dreams in prison and most importantly the Pharoah’s dreams and enables Egypt to become a super power through the 7 years of feast that prepared the nation for the upcoming famine.

What can we learn from all this?

Hold on to your plan loosely

Jeremiah 29:11  For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Remember this verse was originally given to the children of Israel while they were taken captive and in exile in Babylon.  It didn’t look at all like a prosperous plan.

God has a great plan for your life, a plan that will bring peace and real joy that Jesus came to give you.  If you’ve surrendered your life to Him and submitted to His guidance, you don’t have to fear when any plan goes down the tubes.  Here’s the thing about the church in Milton.  We ended up getting really involved with the women’s shelter in town.  We helped move ladies out and get set up in a new home.  Sharon also started a ‘Good For Nothing’ clothing store.  It was a free clothing store for people in need in our community.  The funny thing is that when people heard about our church and all that we were doing, they assumed we were a church of 1000 people!

Another reason that plan A doesn’t come together is that God may be protecting you from something.   In our excitement to accomplish something, it’s easy to run with the wrong plan.  Who wants to keep doing something that ultimately ends in futility?  Not me. 

Finally, God may be preparing you for something greater.  Isaiah 55:9  His ways are ultimately higher than our  ways and all things are really possible with God  It was never our PLAN A to start a church in as strip club.  We just kept listening to the Holy Spirit and God led us in to our BEST PLAN, serving and working with the people who live and work at the Manor!

Joyce Meyer gives some practical examples of this as she writes:

If you tried to restore a friendship, but that friend insisted on ending the relationship, God may be leading by closing a door.  This may have been a friendship that would cause you damage down the road.

If you worked as hard as you could, but your employer laid you off, God may be protecting you from a job that would never fulfill His plan for you.

Just because something doesn’t work out doesn’t mean you failed.  God may be using it to ultimately guide you into His plan.

Mistakes and Swing Bikes!

One of the things we have been teaching on at the Manor is “Not Wasting Our Mistakes!’  I had fun the other week riding my Swing Bike in the Manor.  I bought that bike back in 1981 along with my brother Edwin, who got an orange one. Those bikes raised our “coolness” factor for sure.  However, I failed a lot in the process of figuring this bike out, but I was so glad I stuck with it.  Pop a wheelies and  back wheels circles got me to the place where I was the toast of McKenzie-Smith Middle School back in the day! 

Now, here’s what we need to absolutely know about mistakes.  The enemy wants to condemn you for your mistakes; our heavenly Dad wants to convict us through the Holy Spirit. 

What’s the difference?

Condemnation is all about feeling judged, feeling guilty, feeling like you will always be the way you are…past performance determines future behavior and messages like that.  Condemnation also says “I will always be stuck, I will never get out of this pit.  (notice the absolutes?)  I am a failure, a repeat offender, I will never change.  Condemnation is always being reminded of past failures and how you will never measure up, never be good enough…you suck!

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1,2

And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God's righteousness, and of the coming judgment. John 16:8

Conviction is the Holy Spirit showing you where you’ve gone and enabling you to where you need to be.  Conviction corrects the failure and reminds you that God’s grace is available every moment of every day. 

You don’t have to let your past define you.  God does not hold your past against you.  It is forgiven in Jesus’ name.  You don’t have to perpetuate negative behaviors or cycles of sin in your family.  These patterns can be broken,  the chains of generational ties can stop with you! 

One of my favorite verses in dealing with the past and moving forward is in Philippians 3

13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,[a] but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

Joyce Meyers makes this so practical when she writes:

Just because your coworkers are all gossiping about a certain situation doesn’t mean you have to fall into the same trap. Say: “Lord, I see how they talk and I also notice they are never joyful.  I’m going to learn from that and refuse to participate.  With Your help, I’m going to resist that temptation.”

Just because your friends spend their days stressed out and worried about their lives doesn’t mean that you have to do the same thing.  Say: “ Lord, I see the damage that stress and worry can bring.  I know Your presence brings peace and joy.  With Your help, I refuse to live worried and stressed about situations beyond my control.”

Manor Church People

I want to devote the rest of this blog to sharing Tiara’s story.  She has been attending Church at the Manor since our first Sunday on April 20^th 2014 to present and recently shared her testimony at the Princess Ball a

At the age of two things things began to unravel in her life as her father began to sexually assault Tiara and she went through horrific abuse in her early years.  One thing that went through her mind was, “What did I do to deserve this?”  and “Maybe if I tried a little harder it would stop.”

She was four years old when her life drastically changed forever. It was the night of the Super Bowl and she wanted to play.  She had no interest in going to bed and was being disruptive.  An abusive uncle who was drunk and high at the time picked her up and shook her as hard as he could and then dropped her to the ground. In the process her spine was compressed and her spinal cord was separated and as a result she became a paraplegic.

A year later her mom decided to place her in a bathtub of scalding hot water because she just couldn’t cope and care for her and her siblings.   As a result she not only had to deal with her physical limitations,  she now also struggled with depression and dealing with why she should even live on this earth.

Family and Children Services stepped in when she was six and removed her from her home.  While this can be a very negative experience of being bounced from home to home, thankfully for Tiara it wasn’t.  She met a wonderful mother and father who are still a part of her life.   It was in this home that she finally got care through her night terrors and where she had three meals a day and could ask for me if  still hungry.  For the first time she felt love that she had never experienced before.  It was here on a hobby farm that she could pick up eggs from the hens and pick dandelion bouquets for her new family. She was even allowed to bring the eggs into her own room too!

One of the things that she was told by others was that she would never be able to live on her own.  She wasn’t capable or smart enough to do this.  Well, at the age of nineteen she moved out and started living on her own.  She received money because of her disability, but still it was hard to make ends meet.  At the age of 21, she gave birth to a son and even that was something she was told that would never happen. She was told she would never be able to carry to full term because of her condition and if the child was born, he would have many issues.  Tiara’s prayers to God during this time were answered as she asked God to give her a sign that He loved her.  She had a healthy son.   He is eighteen now and has taught her so much about what perseverance is and how to overcome sadness and fear.

Tiara’s life hasn’t always been hard, she has been able to water ski, play wheel chair basketball and if her future husband ever has a chance to see her play again, he may have a heart attack because they play rough and they don’t care. She has rock propelled and has been a wheel chair track athlete.  Track has been a major accomplishment for her.  In 1996, she was a provincial gold medallist.  She was the one with one hand in front of the other saying to herself, “I think I can, I think I can!”  When she crossed the finished line, she told herself that she was the little engine that could!  Quitting in not in her vocabulary.

She has also also had many moments of weakness.  In 2004,  Tiara ended up breaking the law and realized what a huge disappointment that was.  However, she knew that even though this happened, she still could call on the mom and dad who raised her.  While sobbing on the phone telling her mom that she pleaded guilty to the charges, her mother said, “I still love you.” The strength that she had to say those words to her have really inspired Tiara to get through many difficult times in her life.

She also spent almost a year at Parkview Motel where many people struggle and where she pretty much was overdosing on pain killers every single day.  At one point she tried to take her life because she was so low and didn’t have a hope in the world.  “I felt like I let God down and I had so disappointed my family who loved me.  Little did I realize that God had a bigger plan for me and while I was ready to stumble and fall and give up, He wasn’t.”

After at a bad overdose, she was on a ventilator for five days.  It was a wake-up call and she realized that she needed to clean up her act. Tiara’s  son looked at her and said, “Am I not worth fighting for?”  She had been so wrapped up in feeling sorry for herself that she forgot how much she was hurting others.  After this, she prayed and prayed and prayed.  She pushed her wheelchair aside and got down on her hands and knees.  She prayed, “God, could you help me find a home?”  I just wanted a place where I could call home. Shortly after, she met a lady at the Drop In Center who told her about Sue’s Inn (the Manor Motel).  She wasn’t sure at first because she didn’t think anyone would give her a chance since she had a record, but Roger, the owner, took a chance on her. 

On her journey through Sue’s Inn, she came to Church at the Manor, heard the story of God’s love and learned that she was worthy.  She was never told that she was worthy of God’s love. Those were hard words to wrap her mind around after living your whole life wondering if you are good for anything.  Tiara shares “I now have people who have faith in me, who stick by me and who have patience.  They push me towards God when I try to push away and with that I was able to heal.  I was able to go back to my uncle and tell him that I forgive him even though he still told me that he had no regrets.

Tiara was baptized in the parking lot of the Manor in 2014 and we have seen so much growth in her life from the ways that she volunteers her heart out with the Humane Society of Guelph to pet adoption at Pet Smart, she glows with the love of Jesus.  Recently she has been sharing her testimony and has spoken with amazing calm and ease at the Princess Ball to approximately 200 ladies.  We see God using her to speak hope into the lives of others and it is evidenced by how many come up to speak with her afterwards.

Tiara and her precious dog, Tanna, moved out of the Manor Motel a year ago.  She has a two bedroom apartment that she can truly call home.  She was engaged this fall and will be married in the coming year.  ‘Tanna Banana’ as we affectionately call her by the way is our church mascot! J

Tiara shares, “If you give God a chance, He can turn your life around like He turned my life around.”

The Day Everything Came to A Screeching Halt!

Jordan and I had just completed a roofing job on Wednesday and it was that time of the week to switch gears, focus on the Manor Ministry and make plans for visits etc… However, that evening I didn’t sleep very well and complained to Sharon about stomach cramps, but tried some natural remedies like “apple cider vinegar and raw honey” mixed in a hot drink.  I was good to go and went about my errands and activities on Thursday.  When I arrived home around 6pm, the cramps were acting up again and I had no desire to eat supper so I headed upstairs feeling like I was dealing with some kind of stomach flu. I tried to curl up in a ball on the bed and felt my cramps intensify to the point where I started to heave and vomit a lot, 6 or 7 times all the while thinking  that this too will eventually pass… I just needed to get it out of my system.  I know many people would not think to turn experiences like this into a spiritual one, but I did this time.  I remembered just being on my knees over the toilet and saying LORD this is what I want to remember about my new nature… that it won’t stomach the presence of sin in my life and personally I don’t want the sinful nature to have any grip on me!  So I kept hurling and kept praying through all of it. I know weird maybe, but that was my experience. It was also interesting to note that I had been reading earlier in Romans 6 about dying to sin and being made alive in Christ. 

Around 10pm the stomach pain I was experiencing was like no other flu bug I had and there wasn’t even a reprieve like you sometimes experience after vomiting.  I knew I had to get to emerg and I off I went to Guelph General where they told me pretty quickly that I wasn’t going home that night and placed me on morphine for the pain.  They suspected appendicitis and after the CT scan in the morning it was confirmed. Then the wait began until the surgery was performed.  It was a busy Friday and it wasn’t until 2am Saturday morning that I went under. In the meantime God allowed me to have some amazing divine appointments with the nurses and staff who looked after me.

Now on the other side of the surgery, I have a number of limitations, I move around gingerly and I’m not standing on my feet for great lengths of time.  As I went to the Manor Church on Sunday, I didn’t do any of my normal setup duties.  I’m not allowed to lift 30lbs for at least 3 weeks.  All I could do was just show up and sit down, but it was another good experience for me.  It allowed me to have more meaningful conversations with many of those who attended and also learn to receive love instead of just looking to show love.

As Matthew 11:29,30 states in the Message, God is showing me “how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.” 

Fridays with Roger…

My most recent conversations with Roger have surrounded the theme of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year as he has passionately shared the significance of these holidays and his own focus on being prepared for Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, as well. As he clearly wants to honor his roots and his background, he has taken time to go to services where the Rabbi has shared and then return to me for more discussion.  It’s always a lively discussion, but never more meaningful to me when I can show him how Jesus has paid the price and there’s nothing that we could ever do to measure up to the ultimate demands of a holy Father.  So there is definitely a battleground on mindset and where the assurance of our forgiveness comes from but it was great just reading Psalm 103 with him to show the power that God has to remove our sins from us as far is the East is from the West.

Getting Unstuck!

At the beginning of September I competed in my 10^th triathlon and it was an exhilarating experience to see that I finished the race 5 minutes faster than my time from 5 years ago!  However, I would never have known that unless I dove in the water and began the race.  Here’s the truth, a lot of Jesus followers get stuck in the starting blocks.  It doesn’t matter how many people are cheering you on, or how much we believe in each other.  

Others can say, GO FOR IT, but we MUST take the first step

.

Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin!  Zechariah 4:10a

Here’s another truth about our heavenly Father.  He doesn’t always give me the entire plan; He usually just gives me the next step and we need to follow through in obedience.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.  Hebrews 11:8

At the Manor Church we focused on different ways that we feel stuck in the starting blocks:

·         stuck in our finances or ongoing debt

·         stuck in a marriage or bad relationship

·         stuck in unforgiveness and past hurts

·         stuck in the enemies lies! 

       The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy John 10:10a

“Inaction in one of the main culprits.  Inaction will anchor you to “too late” every single time.  Fear, disbelief, worry and anxiety will do everything to keep you stuck in the starting blocks.”  

Joyce Meyer

After a time of prayer, participating in communion and focus on healing our inner self, we then took the time to rip up all those ways that we get stuck. We also then affirmed each other’s gifts and talents and focused on the dreams that God has given us.  It was an amazing turnaround.

So, just as we learned in the story of the talents that Jesus told in Matthew 25:14-30 we came full circle to the huge importance of investing and focusing on what God has blessed us with.  We can either get stuck, sit on our gifts or worse, bury them like the servant in the story with the single talent (we used gold chocolate coins J ) who dug a hole and carefully buried his master’s money or we can invest our lives and talents in others like the other two servants who then were offered the position of partnering with their master in his business.

The amazing truth is that Jesus is calling us to partner with Him in Kingdom business… what an AMAZING opportunity.

So to practically work this out, members of our core team including Kristen and two of her children went to the apartment buildings behind the Manor.  The goal was just to bless the people living there with little boxes filled with goodies and treats. However, here’s the thing, they had to be let in first. So, they prayed at the entrance and no sooner did they finish that a lady from the third floor balcony yell down, “hey, do you want to get in the building.” It was a great faith builder!

Another amazing faith builder us at Church at the Manor is for us to see who God is leading to us.

 Here is a note that was shared with Sharon from a bartender at the Manor.

Hey Sharon just wanted to share something with you...last night I went to work same as every Sunday ... But this time I had this dancer run up to me just glowing about the wonderful day she had had at the manor church. She is new to the club and decided to check out the church anyway she couldn't say enough good things about you and the church she truly felt she had been sent a message and was sent to the manor for a bigger reason ...I continued to watch her throughout the night telling customers about her great experience and about the church. I just thought you should know what a positive meaningful impact you had on this young lady. Keep up the good work xo

Sometimes all you have to do is just ask!

Matthew 7:7Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

Sharon and I were shopping in Costco last Friday afternoon when Maggie from Father’s Heart Ministries texted us.  She asked us to invite Roger to her healing conference taking place that evening.   We hadn’t invited him to a service and up to this point in his new adventure of faith.  Bible studies in his office were the only spiritual thing developing.  I wasn’t sure, but I made “the ask” and to my surprise, the response was “I will try…what’s the dress code?”  So Roger showed up and sat in the front row beside me.  He was wearing a Canada belt buckle and was greeted by Maggie who had a Canadian flag wrapped around her waist.  She was bringing a message to inspire Christians to be mobilized, to be the hips and feet of Christ to serve our nation.  We sang the national anthem, then worship.  He clapped and leaned over to say, “that lady sings with conviction”!  Then later after the service went on…  he asked if there was going to be an intermission… lol  It went amazingly well and afterwards he was so impressed with Maggie’s message, he asked me where did she go to school to speak like that?  I responded that she didn’t and God gave her that ability. He still didn’t believe me.  So as we reflected on the whole Canada connection, he looked at me and said, “the Lord works in mysterious ways” to which I wholeheartedly agree!

In John Ortberg’s latest book, he shares about the fact that we must abandon a closed-door way of looking at God.  Closed door thinking may look like prudence or even common sense. 

“ Closed door thinking is David’s brothers telling him Goliath can’t be fought. It’s the Israelites telling Joshua and Caleb that their enemies are like giants and the Israelites are like grasshoppers, so they should return to Egypt and slavery.  It is the Rich Young Ruler deciding that discipleship would be nice, but it’s a little overpriced.  It’s me every time I choose hoarding over generosity or silence over speaking hard truth in love.”

I learned a long time ago to abandon common sense when it comes to following after God and I’ve never been disappointed by those decisions.  Common sense would tell me that Roger would never be interested in coming to an event like that.  He now is interested in Sharon and I meeting a rabbi who does a 12 step program based on the Bible…imagine that! We have been reading through Matthew together and even some Tim Keller on “The Reason For God”.  Our conversations and Bible study time are always animated and full of questions.  It’s been a great journey and looking forward to each new chapter.

Now, have said that it’s not easy to follow through.  Often we are not really sure what will happen when we make the big ask.  However, the truth when it comes to matters of faith, we may be turned down, but that’s ok, be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading and absolutely don’t give up on people regardless.

Very rarely in the Bible does God come to someone and say, “Stay.” Almost never does God interrupt someone and ask them to remain in comfort, safety and familiarity.  He opens a door and calls them to come through it!

John Ortberg

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all

Hellen Keller 

The unpredictable, surprising and inspiring life of pastoring at the Manor!

So we have an amazing healthy garden behind the Manor with a ton of tomatoes growing on the vines along with zucchinis increasing in size! Sharon and Jen made salads from the lettuce plants and it was so fun delivering them to the people living there but the real fun is still coming when we started doing toasted tomato sandwiches!

Here are a few more stories of the amazing things that God is doing over the past month!

As I was setting up for the church service, one of the guys pulled me aside and asked me to visit
Lawrence* who was in his room.  When I arrived he was in deep distress and pain and he really felt like his body was shutting down on him.  He had everything wrote out for me on a piece of paper regarding all of his details and it felt like he was getting ready to die.  He then handed me his ecstasy pill and asked for prayer.  I laid my hand on him and prayed with all my heart for his healing.  It was a powerful moment for both of us and since that time he has shared that he has felt stronger, got his appetite back and God continues to work in his life.

We showed up on Friday morning two weeks ago and it was a Friday morning like no other.  Roger was reading an article on the lack of affordable housing in Guelph and shared his openness to being part of the solution.  It was a real time of honesty as the conversation shifted and he spoke of his past.  He shared about his regrets.  From there Sharon challenged him on putting his trust in Jesus, the Messiah! Then I had the opportunity to lead him in a prayer of salvation.  At every point he responded “Amen” and “absolutely”…it was amazing.  This past week we had our first Bible study, praying and reading through the Beatitudes together.  

On Monday we did a special day out to the West End Recreation Center for Todd and ‘sweet Dave’.  Dave is a Vietnam vet and gets around in a wheelchair and Todd deals with a lot of pain and instability due to MS.  So, going to the pool was a huge hit as Todd just loved the jets and the warmth of the therapeutic pool;  it took Dave a little longer to warm up to the leisure pool, but once he got in, there was no stopping him.  We then found soft inflatable balls to ping each other from close distance. 

I sat down for coffee today with Greg as he shared with me about his battle strategy for his video game. We then talked about the recent loss of his dog, Chuckles, followed by a conversation about the possibility of landing a rescue dog.  He talked about God’s timing with me and we ended our time together with prayer.  Our bond continues to grow as he shares about his desire for baptism as well.

On Sundays of late, we have had a greater focus on teaching as Jen spoke on mind renewal from Romans 12:2.  We also have just begun a Bible study walking through Joyce Meyer’s book, “You Can Begin Again.”.

 I shared most recently on the gospel through the life of the Gerasene Demoniac – a man who was bound by the power of Satan, but who found freedom among the tombs by the power of Jesus in Mark 5:1-20.  This is where the focus of this blog will now take. This story of Jesus’ encounter with the demoniac is a parallel  picture of  our “story” of our  life “before” Christ; then your encounter with Jesus; then your life “after

His story reminds me of the recent song by the Strombellas…

I got guns in my head and they won't go

Spirits in my head and they won't go

But the gun still rattles the gun still rattles oooh

I got guns in my head and they won't go

Spirits in my head and they won't go

I spend a lot of nights on the run

And I think "Oh, like I'm lost and can't be found."

I'm just waiting for my day to come

And I think "Oh, cause I don't wanna let you down."

But something inside has changed, and maybe we don't wanna stay the same

I. BEFORE: In the “grip” of the enemy

This was definitely someone who was in the grip of Satan.  In verse 2 it says he had an “unclean spirit” –meaning a demon. But this was not “just” a demon; when Jesus told the demon to come out, and He asked him his name in verse 9, he said “My name is Legion, for we are many.” So there were evidently MANY demons in this man. He was totally in the grip of Satan’s power and he showed it.  The passage shares, ‘he lived among the tombs, and they tried to bind him with chains, but he just broke them in pieces. Verse 5 says that day and night he screamed among the tombs, and gashed himself with stones. This is a very graphic picture, of one who was totally and helplessly under Satan’s grip.

I cannot let them go – or these spirits will kill me. He lived in fear.– the truth was, THEY had a grip of fear on HIM!

Here is the crazy thing, his story parallels the power of the enemy over our lives before we trusted Christ… look what Paul writes -

Ephesians 2:1-2 says: “And YOU were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” Do you see what God says there? When you are walking in sin apart from God, you are not walking “your own way” – you are actually under the influence of Satan – “the prince of the power of the air”! HE is “the spirit now working (that word means “energizing”) in all those who disobey God

C.S. Lewis writes in his book The Screwtape Letters of a fictitious mentor demon who is writing to his apprentice nephew on the “strategies” he is to use to keep the man to whom he is assigned in Satan’s grip, and to lead him to hell. In the book, the “uncle/mentor” demon, “Screwtape”, writes to his nephew, “Wormwood”:

“I once had a patient, a sound atheist, who used to read in the British Museum. One day, as he sat reading, I saw a train of thought in his mind beginning to go the wrong way … Before I knew where I was I saw my 20 years’ work beginning to totter … I struck instantly at the part of the man which I had best under my control and suggested that it was just about time he had some lunch … Once he was in the street the battle was won. I showed him a newsboy shouting the midday paper, and a No. 73 bus going past, and before he reached the bottom of the steps I had got into him an unalterable conviction that, whatever odd ideas might come into a man’s head when he was shut up alone with his books, a healthy dose of ‘real life’ (by which he meant the bus and the newsboy) was enough to show him that all ‘that sort of thing’ just couldn’t be true … He is now safe in Our Father’s House.”

A fictitious story,but Lewis makes a great point: if you are not “in the grip” of God, you are in the grip of someone who comes to ‘steal, kill and destroy. You may think you are just “so intellectual” that you are beyond God – but the truth is, your mind is being manipulated by dark spiritual forces. You may think that you are “above” faith.  You just need to believe in yourself – but you are enslaved to sin; you just have a different master, you are not your ‘own’ person

II. JESUS: the gamechanger!

v6 “seeing Jesus, he ran up and bowed down before Him”!

This man was in the grip of Satan’s power – but there is a greater power; the power of Jesus!  As strong and evil as is the power of Satan’s grip, Jesus’ power is greater still. Note all the evidences of Jesus’ power over Satan’s forces in this passage:

v6 he bowed before Him – significantly, this is the Greek word “proskuneo” – the word for “worship” – it means to fall down before one greater than you. This demon-possessed man fell down in worship and obeisance before the King of Kings!

In v7 he spoke: “I implore you”;  v10 says: “he began to implore Him not to send them out of the country”, and in v12 it says “the demons implored Him.”  

–:13 “Jesus gave them permission”. Those demons could do NOTHING without Jesus’ permission. JESUS is the absolute sovereign power here!

We need to remember that. Satan’s power is nothing to toy with, and you do not want to expose yourself or your family to his power and influence. That’s one reason why you shouldn’t dabble in the occult, or pornography, or horoscopes, or any of those kinds of things that open you up to Satanic influences. His power is destructive – as we see in the life of this demoniac. BUT, if you are a Christian, you do not need to fear his power; your Lord is infinitely greater than demonic forces.    Pastor Shawn Thomas

There is no contest  here; Jesus is the sovereign power. The demons shudder at the name of Jesus!

Jesus’ power freed that man in the country of the Gerasenes – He set that demoniac free; He cast the demons out, and restored him to his “right mind”  and Satan’s grip on his was no more.

 Jesus can save you from Satan’s grip. BUT … you must have a personal experience with Jesus to be set free from Satan’s grip. It is not enough just to have some “acquaintance” with Jesus – this passage makes that clear.

And you have to understand that it is the same with you, too. You may have a “head knowledge” of who Jesus is; you may have grown up in the church, knowing that He is The Son of God; you may believe that He died on the cross; you may know all those facts, and have grown up with them. But knowing those facts does not release you from Satan’s grip any more than it did those demons did. You must have a personal experience with Jesus in which He becomes YOUR Lord & Savior.

John 1:12 says “as many as received Him, to THEM He gave the right to become the children of God, to those who believe on His name” – the Bible says that you must have a personal experience with Jesus in which you repent of your sins, and put your trust in Him as YOUR Lord & Savior.

III. The “AFTER”: bringing our story home!

This man’s “before” story was that he was in Satan’s grip, and then he was freed by Jesus’ power. Now we come to the “after” part of his story. When this man had been freed from the demonic grip by Jesus’ power, :18 says he “implored” Jesus that he might let him accompany Him. But Jesus said to him: :19 “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” Jesus said to him, you don’t need to follow Me to unnamed places – go home, and just tell the people you know, where you are, what I have done for you. Serve Me where you are. His “after” story was one of sharing and serving Jesus in his own home town.

I finish with a great story from WWII that resembles the dramatic encounter when we meet Jesus.

When Hitler conquered France, he immediately shut down the borders to keep the people from leaving the country. But one small border town saw its population diminish rapidly, so the Germans searched for the answer. It turned out, this town had a cemetery that straddled the border with the neighboring country, which was free from Nazi control. The locals opened up an ancient gate in the wall of the cemetery, and they kept having “funerals” – except the people never came back! They went out to the tombs, but they just kept on walking, right out the back gate, to their freedom!

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here!

I Can See Clearly Now!

Learning to see is a lifelong journey.  Some things we see more clearly later in life.  I can remember a time when people prayed for the Manor to be burned to the ground and now, here we are over two years later still holding services on Sunday, seeing lives changed and planting a garden at the Manor...who knew??!

I am pictured here with Jesus on my right....lol, actually two students from Acton District High School who came to the Manor Church to do a project on Christianity...who knew?!

What are some things you see more clearly now than when you first became a believer in Jesus?

Some blind people have the ability to see far better than those who have sight and that is the point of John 9.   The message of this story is more than just about mud, spit and a miracle.  It truly is about seeing; however it is learning to see on different levels.  There is so much more going on here that what meets the eye and the writer of the gospel, John, wanted us to see that the ultimate healing needed in our lives is not a physical one, but a spiritual one.  We all suffer from spiritual blindness until we put our faith in Jesus.

I want us to look at a story that teaches us all about how we see people.

The main character in John 9 is a man born blind.

Who did the disciples see? V1-5

The disciples saw the blind man as a problem to be explained.  It was assumed in that day that if you had a sickness or disease, it was ultimately the result of a personal sin or generational sin.

They wanted a reason to satisfy their own understanding.  They saw his condition and they were students looking for answers.  They were looking for answers to alleviate their concerns because they believed in their hearts that bad things don’t happen to good people. 

However, they only needed to be reminded of the story of Job and this kind of thinking doesn’t hold water.

Jesus’ response to the disciples was  for them to realize that here is a man in need of the light of the world.  He saw a man whose need would reveal the glory and the power of God.

A work of God on display! V6,7

We have the authority in Jesus’ Name to pray for healing, for peace, for reconciliation, for strength, for joy, for endurance!  John 14:12.

One teenager came up to me after the first service and shared how God had impressed on her heart that she need to pray over her friend for her healing.  I love that kind of faith!

Who did his neighbours see?  V8-12

They saw a new man… changed so completely that they hardly recognized him for who he was.  He had to protest their disbelief. 

The community learned just to expect people to stay the way they are…once blind, always blind.  It was simple.

It also confirms the power of our stories.  It is the value of a testimony and why we need to continue to share what Jesus is doing in us and through us!   God did it!  We need to tell those stories for the glory of God!

Who did the religious leaders see?  V13-34

They saw a problem that they wanted to go away.  It was an inconvenient truth, the blind man was trouble, upsetting the norm, the traditions.  They just wanted to see the status quo!

WHY?

To do any work on the ‘Sabbath’ was to break religious law and in their minds that included healing.  So the religious leaders get very tight under the collar because it doesn't fit into their understanding of God.  So, they work hard at trying to invalidate his story and also go after his parents to see if he was really blind.  They want him to admit that this Jesus is a felon because he broke the law.

So, they look to discredit him by seeking out his parents.  The parents are pretty straightforward in their response.v20,21   Then they say, ask him, he’s a grown man, he can speak for himself.  They aren’t looking to start a fight or controversy.

Here is a story of a man who has been blind from the time of his birth.  As soon as he is healed by Jesus, (albeit in a most unusual way) he goes under severe questioning by the religious leaders.  They are so intensely offended because

1      He healed on the Sabbath.  They couldn’t fit it into their own grid of understanding how God works.  God would never go against His own rules…right?

I’ll never forget being disciplined in Bible school for playing tennis on Sunday afternoons.  My school was pretty stringent on following the rules and the crazy thing was God gave us the opportunity to lead a few people to the LORD through those Sunday afternoon tennis matches!

2    

They wanted to charge Jesus with a crime.  They wanted to silence him and/ or discredit him.

The blind man was a walking advertisement of the power and authenticity of Jesus.  It proved that He had the power and authority to heal.   They knew He was gaining fame and notoriety and he was stealing their sheep (pulling followers away from them).

They don’t like his initial answer because He gives all the credit and glory to Jesus.

Sometimes we just choose to see what we want to see.

Here is the cool, amazing thing.  The former blind man operates under the gift of wisdom in his response to them.

 v25He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

26Then they asked him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”

27He answered, “I have told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples too?”

28Then they hurled insults at him and said, “You are this fellow’s disciple! We are disciples of Moses! 29We know that God spoke to Moses, but as for this fellow, we don’t even know where he comes from.”

30The man answered, “Now that is remarkable! You don’t know where he comes from, yet he opened my eyes. 31We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. 32Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. 33If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”

34To this they replied, “You were steeped in sin at birth; how dare you lecture us!” And they threw him out.

So, here is the reality.  We were all steeped in sin at birth, but they were blinded by their own sense of self-righteousness

We have to move from the achieving system to the receiving system!

A former beggar, who had spent a brief time with Jesus, outwitted a whole panel of professional debaters.  That’s the Spirit’s gift of the word of wisdom!  Robert  Morris

We often can learn so much from a new believer or a non-Christian for that matter.  I’ll never forget listening to a new Christian pray for the faith of his family members.  He would pray that they are not believers YET…To him it was just a matter of time before they did!

Who  did Jesus see? v35-41

He saw a man kicked out of church as we would know it!

He sought out a man who was courageous.

Jesus saw a man who truly was seeking

He saw a man who had faith

There were two kinds of blindness and Jesus saw one as more worse than the other…

Physical blindness – no problem

Spiritual blindness when recognized… no problem

Claiming to see without Jesus – a major problem!

Jesus saw his progression of faith!

He see a blind man go from a place where he stated a simple statement to his neighbours …the man named Jesus did it to the belief that he may be a prophet, to a belief that “the man must be from God” to a place where he says Yes, I believe in the Son of Man and worships Him.

The Takeaway

What  do we need to see?

·     

Sometimes faith is muddy and messy.  

It doesn’t happen exactly as we think it should but that shouldn’t stop us from believing that God works in mysterious and amazing, wonderful ways.  We look at something and say, “well that can’t be God” because where in Scripture can you point to something like that?

Why did Jesus choose to use dirt and spit to create a miracle?  I asked that very question as part of an interactive time in a service and one response was really profound.  A lady shared and said just imagine how long he had sat in the dirt...most of his life and more than likely been spit upon as a beggar and now here's Jesus taking these two very lowly and despised things and completely flipping them on their head to do an incredible miracle in the life of this man. 

Often it is through some of our most difficult and painful moments that God uses to create the greatest turnaround and miracles in our lives!

         We need to see ourselves as people who were once blind.

The blind according to Jesus are those who know that there is no light in them.  They are wandering, stumbling in their own sin.  They are lost and in need of a guide. They are in spiritual darkness.  They need a Saviour, Jesus.  Don’t forget where you came from.

The religious leaders were steeped in their own pride, in their own sense of what God required of them.  It was their own pursuit of religion that had made them fall miserably short.  They weren’t ready to humble themselves.

·      We need to see  PEOPLE!  …through the eyes of Jesus

Jesus didn’t see problems, He didn’t see projects, He saw people.  Do we see the excluded, the marginalized, the one who is difficult to love?

Affirm one another’s equal importance in Christ. 

Romans 15:7: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you” James 2:1: “Don’t show favoritism”

Show concern for others.   1 Corinthians 12:25: “Have equal concern for each other”;1 Peter 5:5: “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another” 

A New Thing SPRINGS UP!

“Forget the former things;

    do not dwell on the past.
¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.
²⁰ The wild animals honor me,
    the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland,

to give drink to my people, my chosen,
²¹     the people I formed for myself
    that they may proclaim my praise

Often we understand God’s forgiveness, but deep down we don’t receive it; we hold on to our past and allow it to keep defining us.  The truth is that we are called to not dwell there, but we hear voices from others and ourselves like “past performance determines future behavior” or "you will always be that way, so just accept it".

So, what do we do, we stew there, we get stuck in the muck like ‘quick sand’.  I remember a time with my brothers when we were crossing a dried up riverbed (or so we thought!) and then I started to sink….fast!  It wasn’t until I reached out and received the branch that my brother was extending to me that I was able to get out of that mess.  The same is true in the life of a Jesus’ follower.  I need to actually receive the forgiveness that my Heavenly Father is extending to me.  When I do that, it means a shift of focus to look forward and not back, to press on to the high calling that Jesus has for me.

Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

There is a preferred future, a place of victory, a place of greater strength and resolve.  The question is do we realize it or better, do we perceive it as Isaiah points the question?  God was doing a new thing then and He is still doing a new thing now, and we are a new creation.  The old is gone and the new has come!  It springs up like the Holy Spirit flowing through us like living water and the greater control we extend to Him, the more He empowers and transforms us.  The well that we need to be drinking from is the everlasting love, strength and provision of the Holy Spirit.  Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom! 

In order to move forward we can’t be stuck in the past, we can’t be asking the “what if” questions.  It’s time for the “what’s now” question and the desire to say, do it in me, Lord!  He loves when we ask and He loves to answer those prayers!

Remember too as Crystal McDowell has said, “Satan is the mastermind of bringing our past mistakes to the forefront of our thoughts. He tends to remind us right before we are ready to take steps of faith.”

Practically it was great to hear how one of the guys we worked with spoke of his own focus on God doing a new thing in Him and how he is walking in newness.  For him, it meant a move to a new city, getting involved in Celebrate Recovery there and starting a worship band for those gathered on those nights.  He entered a rehab program for six months and leaned on a friend that was at Teen Challenge with him.  He spoke of renewing His mind through Scripture, filling his heart with worship music and trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit to transform him. 

My prayer is that you will receive God’s forgiveness and trust in the power of the Holy Spirit to do a new thing in you today and everyday!

Laying Down Our Stones!

Today we are going to explore the life of a woman and her accusers in John 8:1-11.  This is the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery and brought before Jesus to pronounce judgment on and let the stoning begin…

The whole trap for the religious leaders was this; If he permits her to be stoned, the crowds will never forgive him, but if he doesn’t and shows mercy then he is a lawbreaker.  They thought to themselves, ha, we got him, but you know what I love about Jesus?? He always found real treasure in those who knew they were already condemned and beyond hope.

Before we go on, have you ever held a stone in your hand?

Historically, sins have been separated into two categories, outward sins and inward sins, or sins of the heart.  Now sin is sin equally and we are all guilty of breaking God’s laws; however let me describe –

Outward ones are ones that are easily seen by others and they are most often appetites that get out of control like laziness, lust, greed, addictions.

The second category is sins of the spirit that have more to do with our heart than with our bodies like arrogance, a  judgmental attitude, self- righteousness.  They usually don’t provoke as much gossip though.

Often in the NT we read the story of Jesus confronting sins of the heart more than the obvious outward sins… most people who sinned outwardly were pretty honest about their condition.  However, it was those who were trying to come off as ‘more righteous than thou’ that were guilty of arrogance and Jesus called them blind.  They thought they were good moral, upright citizens yet Jesus saves his harshest words for them.  They thought they had their act together and yet they had a smugness that smelt like death.  He clearly laid out that the sins of the heart were the most destructive and dangerous of them all as seen in Luke 18.

What do you imagine that Jesus wrote in the sand? 

John doesn’t tell us.  Some have thought the 10 commandments, another idea more popular, dating back to the 5^th century, was that Jesus was writing down the sins of the men in the group.  He confronts these men with a decision.  If you are going to condemn her, first take a good, hard look at yourself.  When sinful people start passing judgment on others, they pass judgment on themselves

So, what happens?

So what does Jesus do?  He bends down and starts writing in the sand and then he straightens up and says, to them, “If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.

The people start to walk away, the older, wiser one first….they drop their stones and leave the scene.

So, what can we learn from this story?

Remember Who You Are   v1-6
- but for the grace of God go I.
We are in the lifeline business and our lifelines come mainly in the form of words.  Every word has the opportunity to bring hope, healing and strength or destroy vitality and their spirit.
We can choose to accept, to build up, to extend mercy and grace or we can pass judgement, condemn someone and wound them even more.
The apostle Paul tells us to accept one another in Romans 15:7 and 12:10 – honour one another above yourself. Jesus demonstrated it.

Remember What We Are All About  v7-11

-we are all about what Jesus is about.

What are the kind of things that people do that are like ‘throwing stones’?

·        Posting something on FB about someone else that isn’t true.

·        Speaking negatively about someone in a situation that you aren’t directly connected to.

·        Making a judgement call about someone solely based on appearance.

Why do people throw stones?...Maybe we must let people let know how much we disapprove of them so we can feel better about ourselves

Do you have any stones that you need to let go of?

·        Judgmental thoughts

·        Superior attitude

·        Impatient words

·        Bitter resentment

·        Little room for love

Paul said that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus  Romans 8:1.  On Jesus’ team we don’t need to condemn people who stand condemned already.  The question is what are we going to do about it?  How are we going to love them back into relationship?

How will we let go of a judgmental attitude?

So, what stones do you need to let go of?  

Is it against an ex-spouse, your mom or dad, your husband or wife a coworker, someone who has hurt you deeply?

To lay down your stone may mean action for you.  You may have to go to someone and confess to them, set things right.  If your heart is hard against someone, do an act of service for them.  Don’t tell anyone.  Ask God to change your heart. 

I once had a very difficult relationship with my lead pastor while serving as a youth pastor in a church.   I was challenged by a friend to pray for him for 30 days straight before making any decisions or speaking to him on that matter.  As it would turn out for me, our relationship changed and we had the best camaraderie that year.  I'll never forget when he asked me for the opportunity to speak to the youth and then proceeded to wash my feet in front of all of them. It was so powerful, so believe for change!

And, really, when these teachers of the law first signed up, it probably started out well I’m sure they were motivated by love, but somewhere along the way, all their study of Scripture had filled them with pride and their giftedness had made them impatient with the weaker ones.

What is so insidious about the sins of the heart  is that the carriers usually have no clue.  When you sin outwardly, you know you have messed up.  With the sins of the spirit, you have the potential to just continue to walk through life with a stone in your hand.

Now as we close, notice that Jesus doesn’t stop there, He tells her to go, now and leave your life of sin.  He was the only one who had the right to throw stones, but He doesn’t.  Go and sin no more…These words fill her with pain because of her past, but they fill her with hope because the future looks bright, someone’s believes in her!

So, when people finally open up to you and tell you their secrets, don’t stand there in shock, but listen and then respond, continue to love them in to the light, into the truth, into freedom, into the hope of newness of life.

Failure to confront, to speak the truth in love can be as fatal to the growth of a community as much as being judgmental

We are in the life saving business. Radical acceptance and forgiveness produce what a judgmental heart and condemnation cannot -  a  transformed life.  We walk through their sin or failure and give them hope, courage and strength to overcome.

Let’s be authentic and share our struggles and in doing so give others to freedom to share and realize, hey, we don’t have it all together.  We are just humbled by God’s grace and forgiveness in our lives.  Let’s lay down our stones