• About
    • Welcome
    • Prayer Partners
    • Ministry Partners
    • Angel Partners
    • How to Promote
    • Crowdfunding
    • Statement of Faith
    • The Desert Warrior
    • The Temptations of the Cross (A Novel)
    • Jesus was an Alien (and Other Stories of Faith)
  • Desert Warrior
    • Tears of the Desert Warrior – The Absurdity of an Abnormal Existence
      • Prologue
      • Introduction
      • 1. The Secular Problem of Evil
      • 2. The Essence of Religion
      • 3. The Heart of the Human Experience
      • 4. The Moral Interpretation of Religion
      • 5. Finding Life in the Face of Death
      • 6. Reality, Language and Meaning
      • 7. The Myth of Human Morality
      • 8. The Dangers of the Divine Ethic
      • 9. The Religious Problem of Evil
      • Conclusion
    • Whispers of the Desert Warrior – Evidence of the God who is There
      • Prologue
      • Introduction
      • 1. The God Who is There
      • 2. The Breath of Life
      • 3. Pride and Prejudice
      • 4. The Divine Perspective
      • 5. Return to Babel
      • Conclusion
    • God of the Desert Warrior – Evil and the Goodness of God
      • Prologue
      • Introduction
    • The Desert Warrior – Finding Strength in Difficult Times
      • Series Introduction
      • Prologue
      • Introduction
    • The Way of a Desert Warrior – How the Desert can give you Courage
      • Prologue
      • Introduction
    • The Heart of a Desert Warrior – How Reality can set you Free
      • Prologue
      • Introduction
    • The Life of a Desert Warrior – How a Conversation can Change your Life
      • Prologue
      • Introduction
  • Family Secrets
    • Family Secrets – Chapter One
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Two
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Three
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Four
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Five
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Six
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Seven
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Eight
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Nine
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Ten
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Eleven
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Twelve
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Thirteen
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Fourteen
  • Jesus was an Alien
    • Preface
    • Created For His Pleasure
    • 1. Charles Benton. Neighbor.
    • 2. The Wedding
    • 3. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
    • 4. Truth in Flip Flops
    • 5. Jesus was an Alien
    • 6. Lucifer at the Cross
    • 7. The Way of the Desert Warrior
    • 8. The Anointing
    • 9. The Tower of Babel
    • 10. The Eight Year Old Evangelist
    • 11. Dr. House. Brilliant. Idiot.
    • 12. The Old Lady and the Giant
    • Return of the Prodigal
  • Seeking Jerusalem
    • Seeking Jerusalem – Days 1 to 10
      • Day 1 – The Plan
      • Day 2 – The Confession
      • Day 3 – The Rebuke
      • Day 4 – The Denial
      • Day 5 – The Judgment
      • Day 6 – The Power and The Glory
      • Day 7 – Holiness
      • Day 8 – The Cost (1)
      • Day 9 – The Cost (2)
      • Day 10 – Transfiguration
    • Seeking Jerusalem – Days 11 to 20
      • Day 11 – Desert Warriors
      • Day 12 – Revealing the Glory
      • Day 13 – Maturity
      • Day 14 – Spiritual Conversations
      • Day 15 – Hard Questions
      • Day 16 – The Weakness
      • Day 18 – Your Life Ministry
      • Day 19 – The Gift of Significance
      • Day 20 – Joshua
      • Day 17 – Spiritual Warfare
    • Seeking Jerusalem – Days 21 to 30
      • Day 21 – True Confessions
      • Day 22 – The Courage of Confession
      • Day 23 – Brokenness
      • Day 24 – The Culture of Grace
      • Day 25 – FaithWalk
      • Day 26 – Dr. House. Brilliant. Idiot.
      • Day 27 – Healing Power
      • Day 29 – Spiritual Unity
      • Day 28 – Spiritual Trust
      • Day 30 – The Anointing
    • Seeking Jerusalem – Days 31 to 40
      • Day 31 – The Sanctification Gap
      • Day 32 – The Sweet Spot
      • Day 33 – Hosea and Gomer
      • Day 34 – The Wedding
      • Day 35 – The Delivery
      • Day 36 – The Struggle
      • Day 37 – The Helper
      • Day 38 – The Secret
      • Day 39 – Messianic Prophesy
      • Day 40 – The Gathering Darkness
    • Seeking Jerusalem – Days 41 to 50
      • Day 41 – Dark Night of the Soul
      • Day 42 – The Divine Irony
      • Day 43 – Truth on Trial
      • Day 44 – The Descent into Hell
      • Day 45 – Death Comes in Darkness
      • Day 46 – The Divine Sting
      • Day 47 – Divine Visitation
      • Day 48 – The Kingdom Come
      • Day 49 – Transformation
      • Day 50 – The Road to Jerusalem
  • Temptations
    • Prologue
    • 1. Death of a Warrior
    • 2. The Old Man in the Temple
    • 3. Memories from the Past
    • 4. Battle Over Jerusalem
    • 5. Passover in the Holy City
    • 6. The Shedding of Blood
    • 7.Messianic Prophecy
    • 8. Ten Divine Words
    • 9. The Days of Artistry
    • 10. Breaking the Alliance
    • 11. The Covenant of Promise
    • 12. Birth Pangs
    • 13. Temptation in the Desert
    • 14. Prophet, Priest, and King
    • 15. Mobilizing the Forces
    • 16. The Gathering Darkness
    • 17. The Dark Night of the Soul
    • 18. The Divine Irony
    • 19. Truth on Trial
    • 20. The Descent into Hell
    • 21. Death Comes in Darkness
    • 22. The Divine Sting
    • 23. Divine Visitations
    • 24. Thy Kingdom Come
    • 25. Transformation
    • Epilogue
  • The Roman Road
    • Walking the Roman Road of Salvation – Days 1-10
      • Day 1 – All Roads Lead to Rome
      • Day 2 – “Let me Introduce myself….”
      • Day 3 – “….and my Ministry”
      • Day 4 – The Fight with Peter
      • Day 5 – Getting our Hearts in the Right Place
      • Day 6 – Getting our Heads on Straight
      • Day 7 – ……and the Demons tremble.
      • Day 8 – The Five Pillars of Evangelism
      • Day 9 – Truth in Flip Flops
      • Day 10 – A Conversation with Jesus
    • Walking the Roman Road of Salvation – Days 11-20
      • Day 11 – Jesus Was An Alien
      • Day 12 – Don’t Kill the Messenger
      • Day 13 – The Holy Hiatus
      • Day 14 – The Dilemma of Love
      • Day 15 – The Enigma of Evil
      • Day 16 – Dr. House. Brilliant. Idiot.
      • Day 17 – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
      • Day 18 – No Wonder God is Upset
      • Day 19 – Suppressing the Truth
      • Day 20 – A Law Unto Themselves
    • Walking the Roman Road of Salvation – Days 21-30
      • Day 21 – Intelligent Design for Stupid Fools
      • Day 22 – Evil is it’s Own Punishment
      • Day 23 – The Revelation of Wrath
      • Day 24 – But for the Grace of God
      • Day 25 – I’m A Good Guy
      • Day 26 – The Sin of Jonah
      • Day 27 – Reality is the Ultimate Judge
      • Day 28 – Obedience is the Ultimate Goal
      • Day 29 – The Heart is the Ultimate Standard
      • Day 30 – Blasphemer or True Heart
    • Walking the Roman Road of Salvation – Days 31-40
      • Day 31 – Sin Addiction
      • Day 32 – Friendship with God
      • Day 33 – Breaking the Alliance
      • Day 34 – Religious Virtues
      • Day 35 – Spiritual Warfare
      • Day 36 – The Path
      • Day 37 – The Holy Guarantee
      • Day 38 – Charlie Benton. Neighbor.
      • Day 39 – The Sacred Moment
      • Day 40 – The Nature of Our Struggle
    • Walking the Roman Road of Salvation – Days 41-50
      • Day 41 – The Quality of Our Struggle
      • Day 42 – Walking In The Spirit
      • Day 43 – More Than Conquerors
      • Day 44 – Living Sacrifices
      • Day 45 – Love Must Be Sincere
      • Day 46 – The Secret
      • Day 47 – Resurrection Maturity
      • Day 48 – Kingdom Evangelism
      • Day 49 – Seeking Jerusalem
      • Day 50 – Walking with Purpose

Desert Warrior Ministries

~ A Burden of Glory

Desert Warrior Ministries

Monthly Archives: April 2018

“Relationships”

29 Sunday Apr 2018

Posted by Bert Amsing in Uncategorized

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We’re the generation that doesn’t want relationships.

We want a second cup of coffee in our Instagram’s of lazy Saturday mornings.

We want a second pair of shoes in the artsy pictures we take of our feet.

We want that Facebook official relationship that everyone can like and comment on.

We want the post that wins relationship goals.

We want that date for Sunday morning brunch, someone to drown our sorrows for the Monday blues.

We want that Taco Tuesday partner, someone to text us “Good morning” on a Wednesday.

We want a +1 for all the weddings we keep getting invited to.

How did they do it?  How did they find their happily ever after?

But we’re the generation that doesn’t want a relationship.

We swipe left in hopes of finding the right one.

We try to special order our soul mates like we do on Postmates.

We read “5 Ways to Know that he’s into You” and “7 Ways She Will Fall For You”

Thinking we can upcycle a person into a relationship like a Pinterest project.

We invest more time in our Tinder profiles than we do with our personalities

Yet we’re the ones that don’t want a relationship.

We talk and we text.  We snapchat and we sext.  We hang out and we happy hour.

We go get coffee and grab a beer.  Anything to avoid an actual date.

We private message to meet up, small talk for an hour

Only to return home and then small talk via text.

We forego and chance of a real connection by mutually playing games with no winner.

The only thing we end up winning is most likely to be alone.

We want the facade of a relationship without the work of a relationship.

We want the handholding without the eye contact.

We want the teasing without the serious conversations.

We want the pretty promise without the actual commitment.

We want to celebrate the anniversaries without the 365 days leading up to them.

We want the happily ever after without the effort in the here and now.

We want to have deep connections but still keep things shallow.

We want that World Series kind of love without willing to go to bat.

We want someone to hold our hands but we don’t want to put the power to hurt us in their hands.

We want to be swept off our feet but at the same time remaining safely, independently, standing on our own.

We want to keep chasing love but we don’t actually want to fall into it.

We don’t want relationships.  We want friends with benefits.

We want Netflix and Chill and nudes on Tinder.

We want everything that will give us the illusion of a relationship without an actual relationship.

We want the rewards with no risk, the payout with no cost.

We want to connect enough but not too much.  We want to commit a little but not a lot.

We take it slow, see where it goes.  We don’t want to label things, just go with the flow.

We keep one foot out the door, we keep one eye open.

We keep people at arm’s length, toying with their emotions.

But mostly toying with our own.

When things get too close to being real, we run, we hide, we leave, we say to ourselves “there’s more fish in the sea.”

We want the downloadable person that’s a perfect fit, just like an app you can update whenever there’s a hitch.

Compartmentalized into a folder that we can delete when we have no more need for it.

We don’t want to unpack our baggage, or worse help someone unpack theirs.

We hide everything behind an Instagram filter, we choose a Netflix show over a real conversation.

We feel entitled to love like we feel entitled to full-time jobs out of college.

We want a placeholder not a person, we want a warm body not a partner.

We want someone to eat with while we scroll through our newsfeed.

See, what we need to recognize is that the things we truly want, the things that are deeply meaningful, the things that are genuinely fulfilling all require patience.

They all require work.  They all require energy.

See, the challenge is we all want to be with someone who makes us happy,

When what we need to do is be someone who makes us happy.

We sit with our friends discussing the rules but no one even knows what game we’re trying to play.

Because the problem with our generation not wanting relationships is that

At the end of the day, we actually do.

Performed by Jay Shetty.  Adapted from Krysti Wilkinson. 

 

 

 

 

“The Three Truths of Holiness”

28 Saturday Apr 2018

Posted by Bert Amsing in Uncategorized

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Tags

cross, crucifixion, Death, holiness, Lent, Lenten Season, Suffering, Three Truths, Three truths of Holiness, Truth

Temptations2The Way of the Cross – Lenten Season 2018

“I am the vine, you are the branches.  If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;  apart from me you can do nothing……if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.  This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15: 5,7,8 NIV).

The Three Truths of Holiness

The first truth of a holy life is that the abundant life of full surrender and consecration to His service is the NORMAL Christian life (which includes unconscious and unintentional sin and pollution of sin lived in humility in the shadow of the cross).  The abundant life is the normal Christian life.

The second truth of a holy life is that living in sin (whether intentional, conscious sin or spiritual drift) is dangerous to your spiritual health and demands a relational answer to the question of whether or not we are saved and if so, whether or not we want fellowship with God more than we want to live in sin (if saved and immature we are like a married man living like a single guy in a bar flirting with the barmaid).  Living in sin and complacency is dangerous to your soul.

The third truth of a holy life is that relational maturity is the “complex good” work of God which he does as we seek the “simple good” of character maturity making every effort in faith to please God while living the abundant life walking in the Spirit but sometimes failing and falling into conscious sin temporarily.  Holiness is a heart set apart for God.

Holiness is the desire to be exclusive (set apart) to God and intimate with Him so that you can know Him and enjoy Him forever and expresses itself in a heartfelt participation in the process of  growing in Christlike character in the context of relational maturity. 

Without holiness, the Bible says, we will not see the Lord.  The problem is that holiness is not merely moral perfection but a heart set apart exclusively for God  growing in character in the context of ongoing growth in relational maturity.

It’s like saying, without true love, every marriage is a sham.  True.  Relational and character growth in the context of a marriage commitment empowered by the humility of confession, repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation based on the cross of Christ makes for a very romantic and ministry oriented marital relationship.

True oneness (unity).  True glory.  True holiness.

But it is a oneness or unity in Christ. It is the glory of Christ in us and it is the holiness of Christ lived out in our lives.  That holiness is relational.

Holiness is being set apart for a relationship with God resulting in service to others.  Holiness is revealing the glory of God through a Christlike character in the context of a growing intimate love for God.

It is the holiness of walking in the Spirit in the righteousness of Christ set apart unto good works as a living, walking testimony of someone who loves God and wants to please Him out of true love not for the temporal benefits.

Without that true love for God rooted in Christ, we will not see the Lord.

You may be married, but the question is “do you truly love your spouse?”  Given that 50% of marriages end in divorce and the other 50% mostly live in complacency and often stay together for the kids and or their social/spiritual reputation or fear of being alone and rejected, the question stands.  Yes, there are bright spots and exceptions, but the question still stands.

Do you truly love God?  If the answer is no, but I truly want to, you are on the right track.  That is the evidence of the Holy Spirit in your life.

And furthermore, how do you know?  What is the evidence of your love?  or your desire to learn to love?

Is it passive and complacent or passionate and romantic?  How does it hold up under pressure, temptation and time?  If true love is the litmus test of our salvation, would we admit that we aren’t actually Christians at all or perhaps luke-warm and immature and in desperate need of repentance?

If the call to abundant living makes you feel guilty and pressured, it’s time to recheck your relationship to God.  Are you in a relationship with God through the work of Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit, or not?

If the abundant life is something you desire, then get on your knees and humble yourself and pray because adventure and power and blessing beyond measure await those who are committed to true love (in marriage and in spirituality).

Holiness is a matter of the heart.  Holiness is a mature, exclusive, true love for God in full surrender and consecration to his service in the context of quick confession and ongoing repentance/discipleship when we sin.  We desire fellowship with God over a life apart from Him in sin and rebellion and it is possible because of the cross, the glory of God expressed in the work and person of Jesus Christ.

It is the holiness of Christ in us that is our hope of glory.

The Desert Warrior

P.S.  Let’s talk to God…..

Lord, you know the cry of my heart is to live in your presence, in the abundant life in your Spirit.  I cannot do it without your help but I also know that I must make every effort as well.  I also know that this lifestyle of faith and abundance was meant to be lived together with other believers.  Help me to find a small group of believers that can help each other live this normal Christian life of abundance and spiritual prosperity even in the desert.  In your name I pray.  Amen.

 

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Seeking Jerusalem – Day 50 “The Road to Jerusalem”

04 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by Bert Amsing in 5. The Road to Jerusalem, Seeking Jerusalem

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Tags

cross, crucifixion, Death, Discipleship, Lent, Lenten Season, Resurrection, Spiritual Unity, Suffering, Way of the Cross

THE WAY OF THE CROSSThe Way of the Cross – Lenten Season 2018

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.  I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them.  They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away……One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”  And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.  It shone with the glory of God….I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.  The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp…..On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there….”(Revelations 21:1-4, 9-11a, 22,23,25 NIV).

The Road to Jerusalem

When my daughter was 12 years old, she was full of curiosity.  And she would ask very good questions too.  But she didn’t always like the answers.

“Why is God hiding?” she would ask.  “Why doesn’t he protect me from hurting myself.  Doesn´t he love me?”  “If God loves the whole world, why doesn’t he just get rid of hell and let everyone go to heaven?”  Those were the hard questions.

But she had other questions as well.  “Who was Cain’s wife?”  “Who created God?” and “What is heaven like?”  Obviously, we had a lot of talks together coming home from school, walking in the park, sitting in my office.

Everyone knows that by age seven or so, kids become able to make moral distinctions between right and wrong, good and bad.  By age eleven or twelve, they are full of curiosity about their world (and spiritual things).  By eighteen, society deems them to be responsible for their own actions but it is still an open question when real maturity sets it.  For women it seems to happen earlier than with men but in both cases it appears to have to do with relationships.  Marriage for women and a firstborn child for men.

The curiosity of a twelve year old is part of the natural order of things.  They are curious about everything.  There is nothing all that strange in it.  It is more of an innocent curiosity directed toward a multitude of subjects.  If you are a spiritual family, it will naturally evoke a lot of spiritual questions.  That doesn’t indicate spiritual maturity necessarily, just spiritual curiousity.  Which is great!

The truth is that when an adult is curious about spiritual things, even hungry to understand the things of God, we would consider that NOT to be normal for an adult and therefore it may be an indication of a holy curiousity, perhaps even evidence of the presence and work of the Holy Spirit within.  But whether twelve or twenty, the answers can still be frustrating.

Why is God hiding?  Well, he is and he isn’t….

Why doesn’t He protect me?  Well, he does and he doesn’t…..

Why am I not perfect?  Well, you are but you aren’t…..

A lot of answers are like that in the spiritual realm because of the disconnect between the way we see the world and the way God sees the world.  We think the world is normal.  God thinks the world is deeply abnormal.  We judge things by what we can see.  God judges things by what is unseen.  We think in terms of the temporal.  God thinks in terms of the eternal.  And this difference makes all the difference in the world.

Yes, by all rights, if the Bible is true, if the resurrection has already happened, if Jesus has triumphed over the grave, then things should be different.  But they aren’t.  And yet they are.  Things are already true but they have not yet been revealed as true.  It isn’t obvious to the entire world that God exists, that Jesus is king, that the Devil is defeated.  The book of Revelations talks about war, and people dying, and great disasters happening before the end will come.  There is still a purpose, a job to do, a war to be won in the hearts and minds of people, and churches, and nations.

We live in an in-between time, a purgatory of sorts, that defines our worldview.  This is the time of already but not yet,  here but coming, true but not yet revealed.  Nothing makes sense if you don’t understand this one truth.  This existence is abnormal and strange.  It is a truce of sorts between God and a world in rebellion.  God stays His hand in judgment so that He might turn His face toward us in grace.  All of this is made possible by the cross.  We are at war.  We are working for the King behind enemy lines.  Our union with Christ is our identity.  His great rescue attempt is our purpose.  Our role and testimony is crucial in the process and that is our significance  This identity, purpose and significance is what brings meaning to our lives.

Yet, most people are living their own lives with their own purposes, usually focused on business and family success as defined by the world.  There may be a religious veneer to give it a better shine but, at heart, their stewardship is not on behalf of the king but on behalf of their own lives and projects.  They are hedging their bets, doing enough in the church to calm their own consciousness but not enough to upset the apple cart of their own worldly ambitions.  I am just as guilty as they are.

Somedays I just give up on seeking Jerusalem.  I no longer have the energy or the will to continue to fight for something that nobody else wants.  The book of Revelations describes the new Jerusalem in absolutely wonderful terms, glowing with gems and gold, perfect in dimension, like a bride beautifully adorned for her bridegroom, Jesus.  All of those things are metaphors of course.  John makes it clear that we are the bridegroom of the King, the true church, all believers from every tribe and nation, those who have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb.  It sounds wonderful and it will be when we are in glory.  But what about now.

We are already now the bride of Christ.  Yes, I know that we live in the already but not yet but the already is already here.  We are the bride of Christ.  Our unity in Christ, our spiritual unity in following the way of the cross, in confession, repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation is already here.  It is what marks us as Christians, that we love one another as Christ has loved us.  It is our calling card, our testimony, our holiness set apart for his use as vessels of mercy and clay pots filled with the treasure of a new relationship with God through Christ.  And in that spiritual unity we receive the anointing of God to be and do what He has called us to be and do.  A holy nation.  A called-out people.  A light in the darkness.  The new Jerusalem where God dwells among men not just as individuals having the Holy Spirit within but as a community where the Holy Spirit is evident in the relationships between those same people.

It sounds good but where is it to be found?  Can anyone name a place?  I had a taste of it in Bible College (even more than Seminary).  They say that the L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland was that kind of place.  Many parachurch organizations (especially among the youth) have achieved some real spiritual unity.  The evangelical revivals in sub-sahara africa seem to bear the marks of this kind of fellowship.  Individual churches such as the Brooklyn Tabernacle in NY or Rey de Reyes in Buenos Aires have accomplished it to some degree. Perhaps there are even more places that I am not aware of right now.  Certainly in many small group ministries this kind of fellowship is achieved at least for a while depending on the leader. And there are many instances where one person will reconcile with another regardless of what is going on in their church.  God always has his remnant who follow Him.

And yet, my point still stands.  Why is it that so many churches do not exhibit the marks of a true church, a true spiritual fellowship living under the anointing of God?  I think there are a number of reasons.

Wheat and Tares

1.  Jesus told us that there would be both wheat and tares (weeds) in the church and that we should not try to tear them up but rather leave them until the final judgment and let God separate the sheep from the goats.  The only problem is that I think Jesus was assuing that the wheat would be in charge of the church and not the weeds.  Or perhaps Jesus simply doesn’t care much about the institutional church and believed that the wheat is always the wheat and the weeds would always need to be ministered to, evangelized and transformed before the final day comes.

Leadership Positions

2.  But, even so, the institutional church still has a role to play and we should hope and pray that the leadership of the visible church, local or national or international, would still be wheat and not tares.  That is also not always true.  In my own church, it is amazing to point out that over the years, anyone and everyone has been invited into leadership whether they were Christians or not, spiritually mature or not, good leaders or not.   It was a question of bodies and getting positions filled.  If we are so foolish as to give up our positions of leadership to people who are weeds (by their own confession) or even wheat but immature and not yet ready for leadership, then we are just asking for trouble.

The Spirituality of the Pastor

3.  Even when we have a group of leaders who are Christians with varying levels of maturity, a lot depends on the Pastor and his or her spiritual life.  In worldly terms, we say that the leader determines the culture of the organization.  The same is true spiritually.  If the Pastor does not practice the way of the cross and prioritizes the spiritual unity  of the leaders (at the very least) in order to get the anointing of God on all of their efforts, then nothing much will actually happen.

The Spirituality of the Board

4.  When it comes time to choose a Pastor, the Board needs to be clear about what kind of Pastor they are seeking.  But if the Board members themselves are not seeking Jerusalem (spiritual unity that brings the anointing of God) then they will not choose a Pastor who is seeking Jerusalem.

Jim Collins, in his book Good To Great, describes companies that make the leap from being a good company to being a great company  The key element seems to be that the Board chooses what he calls a Level Five leader.  Most of the time the Board did it by accident but, once it was done, the Level Five leader would create an executive team of up and coming Level Five leaders as well as encourage and transform the Board into a group of Level Five leaders.  That is his main work so that he can leave behind him an organization deeply rooted in the culture of  Level Five leadership which knows how to transform themselves into a great company on an ongoing basis.

That same idea is necessary for the church.  It all starts at the leadership level.

Spiritual Conversations

5.  That doesn’t mean that the spiritual leadership doesn’t have a lot of work to do in the congregation as a whole (which is full of wheat and weeds).  It does.  Their focus is, of course, in ministering to the weeds, bringing even more weeds into the church and ministering to them as well.  The leadership will become adept at Spiritual Conversations in terms of salvation as well as discipleship.  They will encourage people to accept the cross and to walk in the way of the cross.  Every elder (as well as other spiritual leaders) will have a small group to work with but also be trained and expected to engage in spiritual conversations whenever and whereever possible.  Each one of them have a Life Ministry in which they share their walk with God, their faith, their hunger and thirst for righteousness, answering questions, giving comfort, and lighting up the darkness with the truth of the word of God.  If they aren’t able to do this kind of work, why are they elders?  The administration of the church can be done by a small executive council of three people who can take care of the mundane issues in the church.  Any strategic issues can be brought to the Board once a month.  The idea is to stay focused on the real work of an elder.

Preaching the Cross

6.  Pastors need to preach about the way of the cross.  When was the last time you heard a sermon on sin in your church?  Or confession?  Or repentance?  We always hear about forgiveness but not about reconciliation.  Many Pastors have lost their edge (or they never had it in the first place).  The Devil works hard to keep us confused about the heart of the gospel.  He doesn’t care about moralistic sermons or twenty minute talks about something in the Bible that everyone has heard a hundred times before.  It makes no difference.  It doesn’t change any hearts.  The Devil laughs on the back row.  How many times I have seen the Pastor (or a preaching elder) preach on a topic one moment and right after church do the exact opposite.  One elder preached on mercy but in a meeting right after church with a young woman who needed some help and asked for some mercy, he denied it, even getting mad at her for having the gall to try to hold him to the very thing that he just preached about.  How dare you?  Pastors need to live the way of the cross but they also must preach it.  Paul said that he preached Christ, and him crucified.  Nothing else.  We would do well to do the same.

The Priority of Prayer

7.  Finally we need to talk about Prayer.  The whole point of God giving us an impossible job to do is to remind us that we cannot do it alone.  It must be done in dependence on the Holy Spirit in prayer.  Without individual and corporate prayer focused on our purpose and rooted in our unity in Christ where we take hold of the will of God and the promises of God by faith and apply them to our daily situations, we have no resurrection power to get the job done. Resurrection power is within in the presence of the Holy Spirit but it can only be accessed through ongoing reconciliation with others and full surrender to God.  In prayer, the anointing falls.  In prayer, the solutions come.  In prayer, our focus sharpens.  In prayer, God acts.  In prayer, we are transformed.  Nothing happens without prayer in spiritual unity.

The Religious Spirit

Let me try to be clear.  What point is there in going to church on a Sunday morning if you are not willing to get right with God in full surrender or reconcile with your brother or sister before you come before God?  That is the whole point after all.  How difficult it is to go to church knowing that your Pastor doesn’t know, like or trust you.  How hard it is to see him or her preaching their heart out and yet knowing that this guy over there and that woman over here are stiff and hard to anything he has to say because he hurt them so deeply.  Whether in high church tradition or low church informality, whether the Pastor weeps as he preaches or calls everyone to literally fall to their knees in worship as we sing “Holy, Holy, Holy.”  It means nothing, it transforms noone because there is sin in the camp.  I’m not saying that God, in his mercy, cannot still minister through a Pastor like that, because he can.  But Jesus also said to those who claimed that they cast demons out in his name, that he never knew them.  Ministry effectiveness is no excuse for spiritual deadness and disobedience.  This is the religious spirit and we are all prone to fall prey to its deception.  Having the form of religion but denying its power.

Seeking Jerusalem is a question of seeking the spiritual unity that brings the anointing of God upon his people for effective ministry.  Seeking Jerusalem is about seeking the presence of God as a body of believers (or at least as a group of leaders).  Seeking Jerusalem is about walking in the Spirit together as a body.  The problem with mankind is broken relationships between us and God and between us and others.  The solution is the cross.  Jesus came to die on the cross to heal relationships.  Healed relationships are the highest priority in the church.  It is already true that we are reconciled to each other but it is also not yet complete.  It is in that focus, that struggle, that priority that we will discover the resurrection power of God within us as a group of believers that will transform our world and empower our ministry.

The Desert Warrior

P.S. Let’s talk to God……

Lord, the truth is that I don’t love you enough to do things your way.  Help me to have that focus, that priority and help me to fight for it everyday.  Of course my sinful habits draw me away from that unity to my individual life and concerns.  Obviously, my lack of love makes me selfish about my own issues and desires.  I need your help to overcome.  Seeking Jerusalem is the struggle but it is a struggle already won even though it has not yet revealed itself fully.  Help me to stay focused and to work hard towards that spiritual unity.  In Jesus’ name I pray.  Amen.

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The Desert Warrior

Artwork by Astray-Engel.

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© 2012 vanKregten Publishers and Desert Warrior Ministries. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to vanKregten Publishers, Desert Warrior Ministries and/or Bert A. Amsing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Specific reprint permission will be granted upon request via email for inclusion in digital and print media.

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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2012 by vanKregten Publishers. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

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