Advent and Lent in a Modern Church

I am not a very traditional kind of church person. The church I lead is not formal. Most people call me by my first name, we drink coffee in our auditorium (I usually call it an auditorium rather than a sanctuary). I wear jeans, or slacks, but I never wear a tie, or a robe. Most people wear shorts when it is warm outside, and this is Florida, so that is most of the time. We have guitars and drums and I really do not like hymns, even when they are played on a guitar. So then people are always surprised about the role of Advent and Lent in our church (although we don't even do them in a traditional way). It's not because I dislike the pageantry or the liturgy of tradition, I am just not very formal personally.

For me, Advent and Lent are not about tradition, but about discipleship.  My doctorate degree is actually in Christian Education. So while my dissertation was about the role of biblical literacy in relationship to discipleship and transformation, I spent a lot of hours reading studying about education and learning. I am convinced that the reason things like liturgy and spiritual disciplines resurface again and again, is because they work. These practices of fasting, the lighting of candles and the keeping of church calendars, reading of prayers and so forth year after year, all reinforce what we believe with doing, smelling, and seeing, and sharing. It is the shared practice, and the sight, sound, doing combination that burns these things deep into our minds and evoke emotional responses within us. Nothing in modern education has been able to replace these simple practices.

The intent of Advent and Lent at the Vineyard isn't about time honored traditions, it isn't about being avant-garde or trendy, it is about repurposing and reinvigorating things that really work, so that they do not become routine and empty but instead create a great experience that deeply imbeds our hearts and our minds with truth.

As we make our way into this Advent season, my prayer is that you will use the tools of this great tradition to make room for Christ and the message of peace to those who know and do his good will.
  

I Felt Like an Angel From Heaven in Their Midst

 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. -Hebrews 13.2

Did you know that the average person makes up there mind about a church between their car door and their seat? Before a song is sung, before the pastor speaks, most people have already made up their mind about a church. Those first impressions mean more than we imagine.

Over the years as a church planter I have visited more churches than most people, doing research. As a pastor I know the drill of finding my way around a church and I am usually looking to be “off-the-radar” as I try to learn from that church without getting any special attention because of being a pastor. A few churches I have visited were down-right unfriendly, but most were reasonably polite. Still even the friendliest of them were a little awkward at first, simply because I didn't know where things were, or what the expectations were.  That is why a hospitality team is honestly the most important ministry in the body. Those greeters, ushers, and security people make the church seem not only more welcoming but they determine if a person will stick around.

Recently I visited a church that broke the mold on hospitality. I have never been so impressed by any church’s first impression in all my life. To top it off, I was only at a satellite campus, not even the main campus of this fast growing church. What was so radical? Well, they had a huge team of hospitality people. Out of the 300 people at least 50 of them were involved in hospitality, but I was never mobbed. Instead every guest was greeted individually. A host walked every guest around so they could find everything they needed, including their seat, and they gave us s small packet of information, including a CD. Once we were settled they invited us to come back to the welcome center for a gift. A real gift! When I returned to the Welcome Center they answered all of my questions, and helped me fill out a connect card, had I lived in the area they would have also helped me sign-up for anything I wanted to get involved in. Then the host did one more thing after I left, while my name was still fresh on her mind, Sarah wrote me a brief postcard thanking me for my visit, and invited me back. That postcard went out the same day, and got to my house 800 miles away in two days. If I am ever back there I already know Sarah by name, because she greeted me and escorted me around the church so I didn’t feel lost, and her note reminded me of her name too. Moreover, Sarah answered all of my questions because she had been to a briefing that morning to give her all the info she needed and to remind her of that church's core values.

I was stunned by what I experienced. I thought I knew what good hospitality was all about, but then I got taken to school. I quickly figures out I have a lot to learn.  My teenage children talked about their experience for nearly two hours after church. (It takes a lot to impress a couple of PK’s.) After I visited the church I posted about my experience and several people asked to explain what was so powerful about my experience. To be honest, reading this post does not even begin to do it justice. I must also add that I sensed the presence of God, and I heard a Southern Baptist talk about healing and the power of the Spirit in a very meaningful way. Yet, I also have to say that the church wasn’t perfect. The music was so loud one of my kids said she wished she had taken the earplugs. Even my son who loves it loud said, it would be hard to do that every week. The music and the preaching were good but not awesome. Yet this church has grown from handful of people in 2006 to over 20,000 people in 2015. So they have done a great job in making people want to stay. All I know, is that I am planning on going back to visit that church and learn more.

My take-away? Well, People ask me all the time, "How can I serve? What can I do to make a difference?" My first response has always been hospitality because I can't think of any more impacting role than to be part of the hospitality team. Too often people look at that role as beneath them, they take that role for granted, but the truth is, that's why most churches don't make much of an impact. I would love for everyone to feel what I felt when I visited that church. They made me feel like I was an angel from heaven that had landed in their midst.  So I am going to spend the next several weeks with my team learning and growing in the ministry of hospitality.

Who Can Hear the Voice of God (part 4 of 4)

With the last post I mentioned briefly this idea of follow-through when it comes to hearing the voice of God. Follow through encompasses a number of different issues, but central to growing in your ability to hear is what do you do once you have heard the voice of God on an issue. Do you share what you have heard from God if it’s for someone else? Do you share what you heard if you think it is for the church?  And then there is some bad teaching out there that says, if you do not do what God tells you to do, in the instant he tells you, that God will stop speaking to you. Let’s get this straight, only people are that dysfunctional, God is not nearly that easily offended, or he would have given up on humanity a long time ago. That is not to say that there are never any consequences to not listening. For instance, if God tells you to get out of the burning building you might get trapped in it if you don’t listen. Then the next voice you may hear will likely be the voice of God telling you that you weren’t supposed to have arrived at your final destination so soon. Burning house aside, if you stumble in your obedience today, but avail yourself to God in the future, God will still speak to you. Everyday with God is fresh, with no mistakes in it.

If you have been following this article through all four parts you know that in the first article I shared a story about hearing the voice of God on April 1, 1996. I was given a six-month plan for getting out of debt, because God was calling us to plant a church. I also mentioned that it took longer than six months because I was reluctant to obey part of the plan (I didn’t want to sell our van). The other part of my disobedience was that in the summer, after we were mostly out of debt, (I had finally sold the van and paid-off my big school loan) I felt certain that God wanted me to start a church right then, to jump-in by faith and that God would provide the net, and that I didn’t need an income. I choked!  You know what else? Because I did not follow to the letter the instructions for getting out of debt it not only took a little longer, but I could have sold the van for a little more money because it was pristine, but in my disobedience we not only added many miles, but some of the interior was damaged. I should have obeyed and sold it in April but I sold it in July, after a few more family trips and youth group trips. The point is that I did not obey all of the instructions, and the ones I obeyed I did not always do it well, but God did not stop talking to me. The worst part of that season in my life was that someone told me my failure to obey to the letter was going to cost me, and that I would never get to plant a church with the Vineyard. Wow, well they obviously nailed that one… I am planting my third Vineyard Church. That incredibly fleshly (neurotic) teaching on the voice of God was the source of incredible pain over the next few months. Then God who has an amazing way of using everything, for the good of those who love him, brought me to a place of renewed commitment to Christ, and to hearing the voice of God for my life. God hadn’t given up on me, nor did he stop speaking to me. God is more committed to the outcome of my life and yours than we will ever be. 

LET GO OF YOUR ‘BUT’ AND OBEY.

Do you know what a ‘but’ is, don’t you? Not a b-u-t-t. A but is really big word for only three letters. It’s the word we interject that keeps us from doing the will of God.  It is that little interjection that keeps us walking by sight rather than walking by faith (2 Corinthians 5.7). Most of us need to let go of it, and get on with what God has for us, but moving-on is a step of faith. That struggle is likely why the writer of the book of Hebrews said it this way: “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Hebrews 11.6) The desire of God is that you will let go of your but and obey him, yet most of us have a long list of interjections. One of the things I have learned over the years is that the bigger the but the more likely it is God. God often asks us to do what we could not do on our own, so that we will have to rely on God for strength and wisdom.

Little buts on-the-other-hand are things like: but I might be wrong, but I am no one special, but I am embarrassed, but they might not listen to me, like me, believe me, etc. While those things are real, it is even more certain that you won’t get it right, and no one will listen if you never speak up. These little personal risks can potentially make us feel like a fool, but these are the steps to God entrusting us with bigger things, because those who are faithful in little things are the ones to get the shot at being faithful with big things, but not until they are faithful with the little things. As a side note, calling these things little is not demeaning their importance, rather if the little ones are tough the big ones are even more so. But faithful in little, faithful in much Got it?

So then, if we are willing to let go of our buts, then we can go with God, because the very essence of the but is our flesh. It is the limit our flesh imposes on our spirit’s desire to go with God. What we need in contrast to our but is faith. In 1 Corinthians 2.4-5 it says, our faith should not rest on men’s wisdom but on God’s power.  Jesus said, in Matthew 17.20 that all it takes is for us to have faith as small as a mustard seed to go with God.  Jesus also said, that if we would go in faith that we would do even greater things then he did (John 14.12).

God does not reveal himself to you for your entertainment, or to make you seem important in church, rather God speaks because he has something for us to do and the appropriate response on our part is to listen and get to it. In 1 Samuel 15.22 we read, Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD?  To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. The point being, that as wonderful as worship is, God does not delight in worship that comes from a heart that isn’t yielded to him. The best worship is obedience, and obedience means not just doing the right things, but being attentive to his voice and doing his will.

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO WHEN YOU HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD FOR SOMEONE ELSE?

First of all, if it really is for someone else, chances are they already know on some level what you are about to tell them. Nine times out of ten when I share with someone something that God has laid on my heart for them, they already knew it, and it was simply confirmation. That’s easy isn’t it? But most of us just don’t want to stop there . . .

I don’t know why it is, but it’s bewitching really, that having delivered a message from God, that we had nothing to do with, that somehow people suddenly feel they have BECOME the Holy Spirit incarnate and now they feel the need to make things happen, or bring about conviction, or to make people follow through a particular way, or something meddlesome like that.  Please, please, please, remember that is not your job, that is the job of the Holy Spirit (John 16.8). What happens next is up to them and God, but the most common mistake is to try and make people do something. Which often leads to control, manipulation and other sin on the part of the one trying to make it happen. If God does not overrun the will of a person, I am certain that you don’t know better than God, nor do you have the right to force anything on anybody, nor can you make them obey what you heard, nor can you make them repent though forcing them, pushing them, brow beating them, or threatening them. God does not do it that way, and you shouldn’t either. Instead the Bible invites us in 1 Thessalonians 5.20-21 to test for ourselves these kinds of personal messages that are said to be from God to determine if it is God’s word for us, and to keep what is good, but to reject the rest of it. No personal word or prophecy should ever have the weight of scripture.

There are three guidelines you always need to follow when it comes to sharing what God has said to you.

First, ask God, do you want me to tell them about this?  Not everything you feel is from God is meant for the consumption of others, but it could be a matter that God has given you to pray about. In 2 Corinthians 12.4 Paul says, that he had things revealed to him that he was not permitted to tell. Don’t just assume that you are supposed to say everything that comes to your mind. The Bible is quite clear that only a fool does that (Proverbs 10.21, 15.2, 17.28, 18.7). The prophet Daniel had a vision about the distant future concerning the kingdoms of the earth, and he was the top advisor to one of the Kings in the vision but he was told that he should not tell of it now but record it for later (Daniel 8.26).  Even though Daniel lived to see some of the vision come true, and it may have helped Daniel in making some of his decisions, he was not allowed to share it until later. We do know that later on that recoded vision of Daniel kept Alexander the Great from destroying the Jews and their culture because they showed Alexander the prophecies in the Book of Daniel that foretold of his great conquest and his rise to world dominion. The moral is that unless you ask God you might actually cause yourself or those around you pain in a way that is unnecessary. So what should you do?

Secondly, ask the Lord if this is the right time for you to share it? Just like Daniel, maybe you should be silent now, but later it may be needed to help someone. The caution is not that you never share it but maybe its simply, not right now. Or maybe there are issues of private sins, or some personal stuff that probably should not be said in front of others. Matthew 18.15-17 gives us steps for confronting one who has sinned.  It does not begin in front of anyone, but it starts one-on-one, with a heart full of mercy and compassion not judgment.

Third, ask yourself about your attitude and the nature of the message. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14.3 that prophecy strengthens, encourages, and comforts.  The correction may be needed but it should always build-up rather than tear someone down.  If it seems condemning in nature then it is not the voice of God, even if it is true. Romans 8.1 makes it quite clear, there is now therefore no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. That means if you are condemning the other person, then you are not speaking for God, even if the message was accurate.

One last thing to consider, sometimes God will tell me something about a situation or a person that is not for me to share at all, but it is meant to prepare me to deal with a situation, or confront a lie, when I hear it later on or whatever.  There can be any number of reasons why God will tell me something in secret but I need to keep my mouth shut.

HEARING FROM GOD FOR THE CHURCH.

The the same basic rules apply here as with individuals, the greatest difference being is that you not only have the autonomy of the individual to consider, but also the leadership of the church, and the body at large. If you have heard from God, for the body, then it should prove-out when the leadership of the church hears it.  God does not give leaders the responsibility to lead and then keep them in the dark.  Even when they sin, they should know if a word of warning is for them or not. If they can’t recognize that, then you need to go somewhere else, but don’t take it upon yourself to usurp authority; that is dangerous ground. Look at this in Hebrews 13.17, Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. Those who have been called by God to lead must give account to the Lord for what they do and how they lead, and nothing you can say or do could possibly weigh in heavier than that. But if they are still disobedient, the truth is that God has the responsibility to deal with them not you, remember, you are not the Holy Spirit. On the other hand, I would not stay under the leadership of leaders who are not listening either.

Wrapping Up

Throughout this series of blog posts the emphasis has been that every Christian hears God’s voice, it’s just a question of are you listening. Secondly that the language of the Holy Spirit is first the Bible, then people, events, dreams, visions, circumstances and numerous other ways, but not in any particular order after the Bible. The point is that God is communicating with his people. The third message was that we put up hurdles to hearing God and we need to take them down, so that we can hear him when he is speaking to us. Then finally, having heard God that we need to obey God when he speaks.  Every time you obey God your “hearing” gets better and clearer, and your faith gets larger, and you learn a little more about God’s will for your life. In contrast, every time you ignore or reject the voice of God, it means that you are going to miss out on what God has for you because you are going to do everything in our own strength, and by our own understanding.  We are most fruitful when we work with God rather than in spite of him.

Who Can Hear the Voice of God (Part 3 of 4)

One of my favorite phrases about avoiding weirdness and excess in the ministry of the church is the term coined by John Wimber, Naturally Supernatural. It means to fully embrace God’s supernatural activity in the world but to avoid all the hype & weirdness that tends to accompany much of some Pentecostal & Charismatic church cultures, especially on TV. So whether we are talking about seeing God’s hand in a series of events, or telling of dreams/visions, the prophetic, words of knowledge, or simply answered prayer, or even vague impressions, we believe that everyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior hears from God and just needs to learn to listen to his voice. We know that not everyone prophesies, not everyone hears audible voices, not everyone has dreams or visions, but we also know that God speaks to every Christian and he has already been talking to you.  The goal is simply to help you discern his voice. 

OVERCOMING HURDLES TO HEARING
When it comes to listening to the voice of God it is important to remove things that can build-up in our spiritual ears like wax. The obvious things are sin (especially pride) or unbelief, but just as deafening are things like motive, and/or preconceived ideas/prejudices, or even experience (or the lack thereof). Remember, God searches the hearts while man looks at the outward. Two examples of how motive can make us spiritually deaf are in the book of Acts. The first example of motive is in Acts 5.1-11, a couple named Ananias and Sapphira sold their property with the stated intent to give the money to the church, but somewhere in the course of events they decided to keep part of the money  (which they had every right to do) but rather than tell people that they kept part of the money they lied about the amount they sold the land for, and pretended that they gave the church all the money.  By withholding the change in plans they lied to the church (and the Holy Spirit). We can only guess what their motive was but we know the end result was that Ananias and Sapphira were both struck-down by the Holy Spirit. Whatever the motive was it is clear that it was not pure.  In another incident in Acts 8.9-25 a man named Simon, who had been a sorcerer, had recently come to Christ. When he saw the Apostles laying hands on someone to impart some spiritual gifts for ministry, Simon wanted the ability to give spiritual gifts to others, and then offered the Apostles money to give him that gift. Peter rebuked Simon sternly, and told him that he would never have a part in that ministry, and that Simon and his money will perish together because his motives were wrong. Then Peter urged Simon to repent before his condition became permanent; which Simon did. The point in each of these events was that motive is a big deal to God, and it can be a big barrier to hearing God’s voice. You can fool some of the people, some of the time, and you can fool some of the people all of the time, and some can even fool themselves, but you can’t ever fool God. God knows what is in our hearts, and if we are out to test him or to gain notoriety, or selfish riches, God will not play along. 

The other issue is preconceived ideas or prejudices. In the Bible, it is pretty rare that God takes a Saul of Tarsus and slams his face in the dirt and says, I am God, and you're off track.  Most often, God will allow us our prejudices and preconceived ideas about people, the world, and even religion because of our will. The Bible says that all of creation testifies to God, and for those who want to see, God’s hand can be seen in everything, but if you look at all of creation, and conclude that this is all just an accident of nature, God won’t force you out of your preconceived ideas. You can chose naturalism over all the wonder and splendor of God’s world, and see the world as random chance, but the problem is that as a Christian if you let naturalism dominate your worldview, you probably will never hear God’s voice, because you have already shut out the supernatural. I see this happen to believers who have an anti-supernatural bias when they try to read the Bible. They conclude that when Jesus delivered someone from a demonic-attack that it was just seizures or epileptic fits, but ignore the fact that Jesus healed them supernaturally.  By insisting on a natural explanation (prejudice) they close themselves off from supernatural input. You don’t have to see a demon behind every bush to be a Christian. In a biblical world-view sometimes seizures are demons and other times they are physiological problems. 

What other prejudices can block you from hearing? You could have theological presuppositions that are not grounded in the Bible but in rationalism or denominational teachings. If you have been told in church that God does not speak today, or if your church background has limited the ways in which God is allowed to speak, you may miss the voice of God. One such example was the Pharisees. They thought God only spoke through their traditions in Jesus’ day because it had been so long since they had a prophet. So when Jesus spoke to them outside of their traditional interpretations they rejected what he said even though it was according to the Scripture. Jesus addressed the issue when he said to them in John 5.39-40, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” Even though they knew that there was a Messiah coming and that God had spoken in the past through the prophets about him, they rejected the voice of God because their hearts were hard to God speaking outside of their traditions.  Probably the biggest prejudice is “experience.” 

Often experiences (or the lack thereof) dictate what people are willing to believe. If they had a bad experience with someone telling them that God said, and then they made bad choices, they may rightly conclude that it wasn’t God, but they may also decide that God doesn’t actually speak today. Or if you have never heard God’s voice (felt led by God, or had any kind of supernatural experience) you might conclude that God does not speak today.  

Another prejudice that we need to be aware of is one that isn’t usually thought of as a prejudice, but it is one; it’s the fear of making a mistake. If you live in fear of making a mistake you will never hear God’s voice. If you do not listen to the voice of God you will certainly make big mistakes because of failed judgments and lack of information. Making mistakes is part of life, if we are too prideful to risk a mistake, then we will never enjoy the fruit of having God lead you further than your own intellect and information can carry you. I have often heard fear spiritualized as not wanting to mislead someone else or create expectations that God then does not fulfill. It is God who invites us to listen to his voice and follow his lead. It is God who invites us to pray and ask. Worrying about what God will or will not do may be an indication that we think we know better than God how to handle people, and may actually be revealing the real issues that fear is masking. 

PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR HEARING WELL.
Once you clear the spiritual earwax out you need some practical instructions for hearing God’s voice. First, “dial down.”  You can hear better when you turn down the emotional noise. It is hard to hear anyone when you are amped up emotionally. In everyday life a discussion that gets emotional usually leads to people not hearing each other. Sometimes it means we need to calm down, sometimes it means we need to turn off the religious hype. Working yourself into an emotional frenzy does not help you hear God. As you develop in your hearing you may well need to discern God’s leading under extreme circumstances but those are rescue situations; they are not normal.  The sooner you learn to dial down and listen, the easier it will be to recognize the leading of the Holy Spirit and then to later identify his voice under duress. The reason that many people reject the notion of hearing the voice of God is that they associate it with fleshly emotional and religious hype. All kinds of weird things get said, and God gets blamed for the weirdness. Keep in mind the words of the Psalmist, Be still, and know that I am God… (Psalm 46.10).  Consider this, there isn’t even one verse where God’s people get all worked-up into frenzy in order to hear his voice, but in 1 Kings 18.25-29, the prophets of Baal get all worked up into a frenzy and no one answers. In contrast, Elijah then steps up to the plate in this battle of the gods and in verse 36 Elijah prayed a simple (no hype) prayer that God would answer. Then fire poured out from heaven and the frenzied false prophets were defeated. God is not a religion, he is our Father in heaven and he is relating to us. When God speaks it is not an event, it is a normal occurrence that flows out of love and a desire to lead us. 

Secondly, it may take time for you to learn to listen. Some people can get on the bike and ride from day one. Others take a little more time to get their balance, but once you learn you will never forget.  Don’t be hard on yourself just because you don’t get it right the first time; condemnation is from the enemy. If you fall down God says get back up. God is not expecting you to be perfect; that’s why he gave us Jesus. It is a forgone conclusion that you will not do it perfectly. 

Lastly, remember that each time God speaks it is unique to the individual.  There is only one burning bush, only one altar consumed by fire in battle with false prophets, one talking donkey, etcetera. Don’t look for God to repeat events in history, but let God speak to you without your determining how it must happen. Those past events were uniquely designed by God to speak to them. God will speak to you in the way that best speaks to you in each event or circumstance.

LEARNING TO LISTEN MEANS LEARNING TO LISTEN.
One of the most common complaints in relationships is communication, but chances are the problem isn’t speaking, they do that fine, it’s that neither one is really listening. That’s why we offer a class called, Listening for Heaven’s Sake, it's not called talking for heaven’s sake. In communications most people are busy building their response to the other person before the other person gets done speaking. They are only technically listening but they are interpreting incorrectly. They filter everything through their own motives, experiences, prejudices, and such then interpret what they think is being said rather than what was meant. The real issue of listening is one of relationship. When someone approaches another person with a desire to get their own way, or to win an argument, or any motive other than listening, their desire is not to relate. For you to really hear what the other person is saying, you have to listen to God, not just what you want to hear.

First, one of the most common complaints about hearing God is that God never answers my prayers. That is an emotional roadblock to hearing God before you ever get started. In the Gospel of John 8.47 it reads, he who belongs to God hears what God says. That is a promise you need to hold on to. Often a few questions reveal that like most of us, they made no connection between what they prayed for, and what happened. They chalked-it-up to coincidence or the actions of others.  We are like the atheist that gets lost in the Alaskan wilderness. He got so lost and he runs out of food, so in desperation he prays, “Oh God if you are really there please get me out of this mess.” Moments later a dog sled team comes along and rescues him. But, later when someone asks him about his experience, when they say, “Wow, God was really with you.” The atheist replies, “No, I tried praying but God didn’t rescue me, it was that dog sled team.” Listening involves trusting God to answer. 

Second, good listening involves knowing God through Christ and learning about God. If you don’t have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and you don’t know anything about the character of God, then you are open to all kinds of other spiritual voices. Demonic voices are spiritual too but they won't lead you to life and godliness. Often times people get involved in other forms of religion or spiritualism and then attribute these other spirits' leadings to the true and living God. Or they have recently come to faith in Christ but they have some really awful images in their head about God, from non-Christian teachings or unorthodox teachings and then filter events through unbiblical ideas, or false teachings. So if you want to grow in hearing the voice of God you need to know him through Jesus Christ, and you need to learn about him.  Otherwise you may be in danger of misinterpreting what God said or did, and be led astray from what God intended.

Third, don’t go beyond what God revealed. If God shows you that there is sin involved, don’t jump to conclusions about who sinned. If God leads you to give, don’t judge the situation or their worthiness. If God leads you to pray for someone or share the gospel with them, just do that, don’t go beyond or do less than how God is leading. One of the biggest roadblocks to hearing from God in the future is a lack of follow through when you do hear. If you have already done that, the need is to repent, and on the next opportunity you get to follow through on God’s leading. Likewise, if God tells you to stop doing something or to start doing something don’t assume that God’s direction is for anyone other than you. On the other hand, if you are praying for someone else, do not interpret what you get. Just relay the impression, dream/vision, verse or whatever without your interpretation or thoughts on the matter. If you get a word, let the other person determine what that word means. Keep you out of God’s Word to them. More about this in part four of this article series.

God’s voice is available to every Christian, but learning to listen is also an art. Some people pick-up on it quickly; others take more time. Give yourself permission to learn, and forgive yourself when you fail. The goal is not to be a superstar or the center of attention. Only God is a superstar, and only God deserves the credit and attention. So use the practical steps to start you on the journey to discerning God’s voice in your life, and be on the look-out for more about follow through in part four of this series. 

Who Can Hear the Voice of God (part 2 of 4)

Back in my Bible College days I belonged to a denomination that believed that God did not speak to his people anymore, because that had ceased with the passing of the Apostles, but they still taught me to pray and to expect God to answer, but they never taught me how, but they implied that God would answer me somehow. This created a lot of anxiety for me, and left me to wonder how would I know if it was God or just bad mushrooms on the pizza.

Meanwhile, I was struggling with the fact that I really sensed God’s leading me to do and say certain things, especially when I was preaching at this little church on the weekends in Ripley, Oklahoma and that God was answering my prayers in ways that were outside of my prescribed theology. During this time I often got up to preach only to ditch my notes, and speak extemporanously on subjects I had not prepared. My good friend and neighbor at the time, Keith Brown, who is a fine preacher, used to go with me on some of my preaching trips just to hear what I would say without any preparation; he was a real encouragement to me. He would say, “Hal, I think you’re a good preacher but when you just go with your intuition over your perspiration I think you are the finest preacher I have ever heard.” (You know, Keith is just about the only one of my old Bible college buddies that still keeps in touch.) Despite my small box theology, God kept working with me, and eventually I began to let God show me just how he speaks today and to teach me through the Bible about how he does it. Today, I have lots of theology to explain how God speaks and I want to share a few things here with you about that.

HOW DOES GOD SPEAK?
Our tendency is to break this down into two artificial categories: Naturally and supernaturally. People put those distinctions on things to explain what we think is natural (i.e. normal) and what we think is super-beyond- normal. Actually, God speaks to us through five primary means: People, Prayer, Experiences, the Bible, and dreams/visions. Keeping in mind some people's presupositions about the natural and the supernatural in mind, this short blog post is going to explore each of these five means of God speaking, and address how it happens in both natural and supernatural ways to help those from a cessationist background get a hold of this teaching. I will begin with the Bible because it is the foundation of all our understanding, and should be the thing we can agree on most, regardless of church background.

GOD SPEAKS THROUGH THE BIBLE.
 The Christian Church has always held the Bible to be God’s primary way of speaking to humankind. In fact, within church circles, the Bible is often referred to as the WORD OF GOD. The Bible refers to itself as the Scriptures, meaning they are a written record of God’s words, but if you look throughout the Bible the term Word is used in many different ways, referring not only to all kinds of speech, but specifically in John 1.1-14 the Word of God is Jesus himself. Since the Bible is the only recording we have of Jesus’ actual words, and because all Christians agree that God speaks to us through the Bible, it is often referred to as God’s Word. In truth, it reveals Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who is the Word of God, and it records God’s words to us.

The Apostle Paul said it this way to a young leader in the church in 2 Timothy 3.16-17: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Paul’s choice of words is interesting- it is God breathed! The Bible as the very breath of God; he spoke it. In some of the older translations the word “inspired” is used. Inspiration in the Bible is not limited to the literary sense in which one receives some kind of transcendent influence or thought, but it goes on to reflect the very intent of God.  We can illustrate this in the playing of wind instruments. If the musician plays the very same song on several different wind instruments you will hear the song and know that it is the same song. Even though the same musician is playing the same song, with the same breath, heart, and intent, because the instrument is different, there is a difference between the instruments. In other words, a saxophone does not sound like a trumpet or a piccolo. In the same way, the Bible authors, as the instruments of God wrote down what was spoken through them, but they were different instruments of God. God spoke with the same breath, heart, and song through each author, giving continuity to the Bible, but because each author is a different instrument it also means that each author’s own personality and style of communicating comes out, too. It’s that harmony of different authors playing the same song that tells us God is speaking through the Bible, and it is a great comfort to the church.

Because of the Bible, I know that God wants me to live Holy, that he wants me to do good to others, to love everyone, and that I must come to him, those things are true for everybody. If you look at the great commission in Matthew 28.18-20 Jesus says to us, Go to all the nations, to the panthe ta ethne, meaning to all ethnicities, and teach them to obey all that I have commanded you.  In that Jesus was telling his disciples that everyone needed his commands. The Bible is the collection of those things that we all need to know, God’s general will for all people. In our Western minds there is a natural edge to the Bible because it is a book and anyone can read it. Anyone that can read, can turn to John 3.16 and understand that God gave us his Son so that we could have eternal life. They may not accept what John 3.16 says, but they can read it for themselves. That seems natural! What we can’t account for is the influence that the Scripture has over people and how it repeatedly changes lives, and transforms people with its power; that is supernatural.  Even in churches where they do not embrace signs and wonders as being for today they will sing a song about the miracle of salvation through Jesus Christ, every Christian can hold onto that, but when it comes to hearing God through the Bible more than that some will roll their eyes. Yet, it is undeniable the power that a verse of the Bible can have in someone’s life.

I am intrigued, too, how many times I have needed help and I have opened the Bible and my eyes focus on a specific verse that brings comfort to me in times of trouble, or clarity in confusion, or it gives us an example from the life of someone else on how to handle the situation. For instance, I have often found comfort in David’s Psalm 34.18 “The Lord is close to the broken hearted and saves those who are crushed in Spirit.”  That is always true for every believer in Christ. On the other hand, God has touched my heart over and over again through the life of King David in a way if I tried to explain it to anyone else they would say that it was totally subjective, and in a worldly sense it is. But, I have watched over the years how God has brought those things to pass that I felt he was saying to me through the life of David. While I would not teach out of those kind of personal applications for the entire church, it has some great personal application for me. Here are some tests about personal application: First of all, does your personal application contradict the plain teaching of the Bible? For instance, the Bible says plainly not to commit adultery. If you ignore the plain teaching of the Bible and then twist some verse in the Bible around to justify your desire to commit adultery then that’s not hearing the voice of God. In John 14.7 it says that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and that he leads us unto truth. Since God is not a deceiver, and deception is the work of the Devil (he is the deceiver) clearly this would be a poor personal application. (We will be offering a course on how to read the Bible in the near future.)

GOD SPEAKS THROUGH PRAYER.
My friend, Tony Vaughn, once told a seminary class that didn’t believe that God spoke today, that the biggest difference between him and the other students was that when he prayed he believed that it made a difference, because he expected God to answer. Consider that we pray to God hoping he will guide us. By very nature we are expecting God to answer us in some manner. Christian prayer is not a psychosomatic cure for the weak-minded. Prayer is not just some kind of religious activity but a relational encounter with God. Look at this verse in Romans 8.26-27: Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
I guess I can get down on my knees and speak words and take some solace in that exercise, but prayer goes beyond that, because God wants to connect with us and even helps us pray. The translation here is a little on the weak side actually. In the original language it means that when all you have to offer in prayer is groaning, the Holy Spirit will interpret, and will help us to pray. The Holy Spirit will speak to the Father and translate those things that we don’t even have words for so that when you come to that place where all you have is a groan God’s Spirit will search your heart and present your request to the Father. Jesus said it this way in John 10.4 that we will hear his voice, His sheep hear his voice. It is his guarantee that he will speak to us. Sometimes he calls to mind a particular passage of the Bible, or we get a thought that is not our own. Sometimes he will bring other experiences into our path, or people, or events and so on. But God answers our prayers and we test the things we hear against the standard of the Bible.  Do you see how this is all interlocking?

GOD SPEAKS THROUGH PEOPLE.
God does this in several ways. Sometimes God will bring good people into your life.  When I came to Christ God used a man named Andy McCampbell to get me into the Bible. Later on when God was leading me toward the ministry of the Holy Spirit he used Don Finto to help me work through some doctrinal errors that I had been taught, but over and over these two men took me back to the Bible, and they gave me advice that was gleaned from years of reading the Bible. The interesting thing about Don Finto was that he sometimes in praying for me, or speaking with me, would share things with me that he felt God had told him; today I would call that prophecy. He did not claim to be a prophet but he knew things about my life that he could not have known through any natural means. He did not claim any authority over my life. He just shared with me what I already knew to be true about my life and then some principles from the Bible, and pulled it all together in a way that was very personal. I knew that it was God speaking to me through Don Finto, because Don Finto did not know those things about me, nor did he know the groanings of my heart. This type of prophecy is spoken of in 1 Corinthians 14.3: On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. It is very encouraging and it always agrees with God’s word if it is real. It is important to note that not everyone God speaks through is a prophet. Sometimes they can be real donkeys . . . Seriously! If you look at Numbers 22.28-31, you find Balaam arguing with his donkey because the Lord opened its mouth. The fact that Balaam argued with the donkey makes us ask which one really was the donkey, Balaam or the animal? The point is that if God can use a donkey to speak on his behalf, he could use anyone to speak to you, but just because God uses someone in your life to speak for him does not mean that they are anyone special, they are just a vessel, the only one who is special in that encounter is God.

GOD SPEAKS THROUGH EXPERIENCES.
This is a broad category that includes everything from blatant miracles to seemingly natural events.  The Bible teaches us that God spoke through the miracles of Jesus, to which the Apostle John said in his gospel, Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (John 20.30-31).
When God was first inviting people to believe in his Son, the church was very Jewish in those days and there was no place for the gentiles.  It is recorded in Acts 10 that God spoke to the Apostle Peter though a vision.  Now a vision is like a dream, only you are wide-awake for the dream, and people experience them in many ways. Some see visions supernaturally imposed over their natural view, while others get them in their minds- eye. In Acts 10 it seems Peter’s vision was almost like a virtual reality, and that Peter was even participating in the vision. From that vision Peter was prepared by God to share the gospel with the gentiles so that they could be saved also.  Then in Acts 11, Peter is standing before the leaders of the church to explain why he gave the gospel to the gentiles, which had created a huge uproar. In verse 18 Peter appeals to their shared experience of conversion and won the Jewish Christians over to his position. Then again when issues arise over the gentiles in Acts 15, what does Peter do?  In verse 8 he appeals yet again to the events of Acts 10 as proof of God’s acceptance of the gentiles, then in verses 9-12 Paul and Barnabas share what God did through them on behalf of the gentiles. Thirdly, James, the pastor of the Jerusalem church, and brother of Jesus, in verses 13-18 cites Amos 9.11-12 as proof that the gentiles would bear God’s name, and argued, therefore, that based on the experience of the Apostles, and the proof of the Scriptures, that this was God’s desire. Experience played a large part of discerning God’s voice in the matter!

That, no doubt, opens all kinds of questions, but we are out of time, so if you want to know more about this subject keep reading through this series of articles. There are two more parts coming this week, and consider investing in some great study tools on the subject click on the links below:


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Who Can Hear the Voice of God (Part 1)

On April 1, 1996 I was returning from the Detroit area to West Michigan (Muskegon) with a van load of teenagers who had gone with me to Michigan Christian College (Rochester College) in Rochester Hills, Michigan for the day.  I had spoken at chapel that morning, and then later that I day I spoke in one of the Bible classes.  It had been a full day and everybody was talking excitedly about the days events and about how much fun it was to see some of their friends and so on.  I was just outside of Portland, Michigan when suddenly the car fell silent, a miracle itself if you have ever made a road trip with a van full of teenager’s before, but in the sudden quiet I heard a deep male voice call my name.  Startled I looked around the van to find everyone sound asleep.  I checked the radio only to find it turned completely off. A moment later I heard the voice again, this time much louder and clearer. I was stunned. My response was shaky at best but I inquired of the voice as to what was wanted of me.  I was then very clearly told that the Lord wanted me to get out of debt over the next six months, and then it proceeded to tell me how I could do it, right down to exact figures of how much to pay on what debts, and even how much to sell my van for.  As soon as I had taken down all the information the teens all simultaneously awoke and began to chatter in the same way that they had been speaking previously.  I was bursting on the inside to get home and share this plan with my wife.  I had no sooner arrived home than I told her the whole thing, which was met with a little skepticism. Dawn had been working on a plan to get us out of debt for sometime, and the quickest she could see clear of the debt was three years. How could we possibly do it in six months?  As I lay out the entire plan Dawn was somewhat speechless, in part because I had exact dollar amounts of what we owed.  Understand that at that time I had very little interest in our finances, and I did not know what all of our bills were, let alone any dollar amounts. In her quizzical response she asked me what the password was for the Quicken program;  I didn’t know. She then began to re-crunch the numbers and told me, you must have heard this from God. In the months that followed it was a really hard thing to do.  Honestly, I didn’t really want to do everything the Lord told me to do (like see the van) and in the end, because of my delay in doing some of those tasks, it took more like eight months to get completely out of debt, but we did it.  Had I not heard so directly from the Lord I probably would never have involved myself so deeply in our finances, nor would I have done anything so radical to get out of the debt, but getting out of debt the way the Lord had instructed me was what cleared the way for us to be able to walk away from my job, just over a year later, to begin the ground work on a church plant.  

When I explain those events to others some have asked me if it was an audible voice? You know, I am not sure, it seemed so but there was no one else who heard it.  What I can tell you is that if it was an audible voice that it was the only time God's voice has been audible to me. I have heard God's voice many times before in other ways, and after that event, but not the same way. Sometimes I hear more clearly, and other times ever so faintly, but what I have discovered is that the degree of clarity by which I hear his voice usually is directly proportionate to the task I must tackle. I don’t mean how hard the task is, some tasks like watching my youngest son Matthew go through heart surgery were more difficult, but rather the difficulty in my being able to follow through. It was not really a hard decision to have Matthew operated on, even though it was a painful decision, the alternative was to let him die. However, getting me to engage in the finances, be disciplined in my spending, and make the hard calls that I didn't want to make, and did not absolutely have to make . . . that was hard, but with Matthew I really had no choice, the circumstances dictated my response.

For some, what I just said is no big stretch, but for others that sounds too incredible.  Most of the time when we talk about God speaking to people we want to know what could be so special about that person that God would speak to them. Or even why God spoke to them but not to us. Let me address those two things. What is so special about the person who hears God’s voice that they get to hear God’s voice? Then second, Why do some Christians hear God’s voice and why do other Christians feel they do not hear his voice?

What’s So Special About The Person Who Hears God’s Voice?

The very nature of the question says more than the question asks. Our assumption is that God speaking to someone automatically makes them somehow better than those around them. In fact, one of the greatest turn off for many people is when they see someone who is a hypocrite saying that they have heard from God on something.  They immediately think how could that be?  For some of us that’s enough to write-off the whole idea of hearing God speak to anyone.  Just the other day I heard someone ask, what was so special about the Jews that they became God’s chosen people?  The answers to those two very different questions are really the same.  God does not arbitrarily choose people. God chose the Jews because Noah, in Genesis 6, chose God before the flood, and again in Genesis 9 after the flood. Then one of his son, Shem, chose God (Genesis 11) and then in Genesis 12, Shem’s Great, Great, Great, Great, Great grandson Abram chose God. Abram was the father of Isaac, and Isaac was the Father of Jacob, whom God renamed Israel, and he chose God also. And to each of those men, and their families, God made promises to them based on their decision to keep choosing God in the same way that he chose them. (Not that they did it perfectly.) In fact, they did it quite imperfectly, as we all do, but it is better to choose God imperfectly, then to not choose God because we can do that perfectly. Right? Just to be clear, God did not just look down one day and pick a favorite nation or race. In fact, the Bible is quite clear on this topic in Romans 2.11, speaking of God’s relationship to the Jews as his chosen people, as well as his relationship to those who are not Jews, and it says, “For God does not show favoritism.”  God chooses those who choose him.

So then in John 8.47 it says very clearly in reference to hearing the voice of God, He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God (NIV84). Now with that verse some of you who are Christian's might feel as if you just came under a heavy judgment, but don't judge this yet. The point is that God speaks to his people, and that one must belong to Jesus Christ to hear God's voice. 

That brings us to our second point. Some of you may be thinking why haven’t I heard his voice? Without much explanation you might get one of two responses. One would be to question if you have ever really been saved (and for some people that could be a legitimate concern). As Rick Warren is fond of saying, "Sitting in a church house does not make you a Christian anymore than sitting in a hen house makes you a chicken" but don’t camp out there.  Another common response is to reject the idea that God is speaking today.  In other words, to let a subjective experience (or lack of experience) dictate what you believe. So if you think that you have never heard God’s voice then you conclude that God does not speak today. So the pendulum swings to two extremes? Consider these other options.

  

First, every Christian can and does hear the voice of God. You may need to get still and quiet long enough to listen but every Christian hears from God, but there isn't any second class Christians. Also, it is not an issue of maturity, or even some kind of second work of grace either. Every Christian church teaches Christians can pray, meaning they can speak to God, and expect that when you talk to God will get guidance from God. That’s why Christians pray! Christians expect that God is going to respond. Prayer for the Christian is not just some kind of mental gymnastics or meditation technique. The effects of Christian prayer are not just psychosomatic.

Christians pray expecting God to respond, because God cared enough about them to that Jesus died for them, and they assume that if God loves you enough to send his Son to die for you that God also loves you enough to talk to you?  Prayer is not just a formula, or method to manipulate God. Prayer is intimacy and relationship with God.  The point is that many Christian’s do not hear from God simply because they have never been taught to identify God's voice. There are other issues that can interrupt people hearing from God, we call those problems, SIN.  

Sin is a common problem in not hearing God. Just like those who do not know God are separated from God by sin, and therefore cannot hear his voice, sometimes Christian's wallow in their sin and can’t hear God either (God knows the proud from afar. 1 Peter 5.5) Being prideful in our sin, or being religious, keeps us at a distance from God. Consider the nature of God, Jesus became a man, and was born in a stable with the stench of animals, to reach us. God who had every reason to be prideful was/is humble. In contrast, if you look at pride, all the way back to the garden when the serpent told Eve, 'eat this and you will be like God'  nothing deafens a believer like pride.  Author, C. S. Lewis, once said, the hardest part about pride is that it is easy to see in others but to discover it in ourselves it must be revealed to us.

Another issue that can make believers spiritually hard-of-hearing is how they treat others. In 1 Peter 3.7 it warns the men to treat their wives with respect so that nothing hinders their prayers. The same can be said about how believers treat any human being. No one is exempt, male or female, from treating others with respect. 

So what if you are a Christian, and you are not wallowing in sin, but you still don’t think you hear God’s voice? The next few articles on my blog are going to be about helping you, so make sure to follow along through this series of articles on hearing the voice of God, because the primary reason some Christians do not hear God’s voice is because they have never been taught. Even Jesus' disciples had to ask Jesus, to teach them to pray.