- Specimen book for Buddy August 24, 2010
- New release! Buddy: the sans companion to Contenu August 24, 2010
- Classes mess up Opentype Glyph generation August 9, 2010
- A history of the alphabet August 9, 2010
- Going after the look of old fonts? Not likely August 7, 2010
One of the more common heresies running around the church today is that we must always speak positively, that negative confessions are, by definition bad. The truth of the matter is quite different.
II Timothy 3:16 {NKJV}
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,”
God tells us the purpose in the next verse [let's use New Living this time]:
“God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”
Please notice that the second use of scripture if “for reproof”. The amplified expands this (and correction) to the following:
“for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience”
This does not sound like the power of positive speaking to me.
Jesus could be quite negative
Take the verse I harp on all the time—spoken to the church-goers of the day:
Matthew 7:21-23 [Amplified]
“Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].”
Notice that these are people using the name of Jesus in power—those whom we would call spirit-filled today. They prophesied, did exorcisms, and miracles in the name of Jesus. Yet, Jesus says to them the scariest words in scripture, “I never knew you: depart from me”.
May it never happen to any of us!
So, how are we to speak?
Paul says it best in Ephesians 4:15
“speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him”
OK, I understand speaking the truth, but that is to be done “in love” . Again Paul says it best in I Corinthians 13: 4–6 [NASB]
“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;”
So, even if the truth hurts we are responsible to be patient, kind, humble, meek, un-offended, in the moment, and happy with the truth as it is reveled. But, we mustn’t pull back if the truth requires a rebuke, a warning, or a so-called negative expression.
If we are prayed for about healing, we are not to lie if it still hurts but positively confess that we’re healed. However, I see nothing wrong with saying, “I haven’t seen the manifestation yet, but I am convinced that He will heal me and stop the pain.” [But only if that is really the truth about how you feel.]
God never requires us to lie. If you think that is what is happening in your life, bite your lip, zip your yap, and don’t say anything until you can say the truth. Sure that is difficult sometimes. But the Christian walk requires nothing less.
Guilty as charged!
Maybe it’s just me, but I rarely find a place where I can really say what I feel. A lot of it is my shyness and timidity on social situations. I can hear the laughing and the “yea, right!”s—but I ask you, “How many of you have seen me in a social situation?” Surely you can see my motivation to teach and write.
However, as a writer and teacher, I really need to be careful. First of all, scripture says I’ll be judged more severely than non-teachers.
James 3:1 esv Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
So, I really want to be in control of what I say. In addition, I really find that it is easy to miss opportunities by offending people—especially Christians. I really don’t know why that is such a problem. One of the fruits of the spirit is to not be easily offended. I usually write it off to personal taste; that I do not like fashion; that I do not like crowds; that I do not like sports; and on & on. It’s more likely that my flesh is really obnoxious.
However, there’s no place for speaking in the flesh
That’s one of the main reasons I do not like the phone or face-to-face meetings. It’s not that my reactions are bad—they’re not thought out. Every time I get off the phone and talk about the conversation I always get, “Why didn’t you ask…” “What are they doing…” I never have an answer. Talking in reaction to interaction is fearful for me because I do not trust my flesh at all. It always gets me in trouble.
What about my call?
Maybe the problem is who I am designed to be. I know the Lord has used me as a prophet—and no one likes prophets. I know that I was trained as an “artist” dealing with getting in touch with my personal vision. I know that I’m creative, in my limited up-tight manner. But this cannot be an excuse to be rude or uncaring or self-centered. I must put down my flesh and walk by the Spirit. Only in the Holy spirit do I have any hope of getting past myself.
I must pull my punches
There is no room for me to allow the flesh free rein at all. My ideal and goal is peace, joy, gentleness, self-control. I have to focus on my audience and seek to hear what they need—what the Lord would have me share, what Jesus wants to say in the situation.
It is always fascinating to watch one of these postings as it develops. So far I have written and tossed a half dozen complete paragraphs and several more sentences. I began with a four/five paragraph stream of consciousness and I think all of that is gone now. The entire point and focus of it has radically changed as I pray and repent to hear better. This is the way it should be. I’m not an apostle or leader. I’m a prophet/teacher. My responsiblility is to be much more careful of what I say. Jesus’ words are really scary to me,
Matthew 12:36-7 esv “… I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
What could be more worrisome to an artist/author who merely tries to be a good steward of the ideas he is given? Before Jesus, I was the arbiter. I was taught in school that good is defined as what I like. What a shock it was to discover absolute truth and its personification [& what a relief]. Now, the Holy spirit has the final say—I hope.
The basic question is simple:
Why is so much so-called christian product
so bad, boring, trite, brain-dead, and so on?
I don’t pretend to have all the answers, but I believe I understand the basics problems. This so-called Christian stuff comes under several categories that believers need to be aware of. Let’s mention a few off the top of my head:
- Large companies covering their bases: Often these are so-called Christian companies who have left the realm of anointed leadership and have become an organization which no longer needs God to survive. They tend to start producing work for all areas of the church on the basis of statistical analysis and stereotypes. “Ain’t God awesome?” An excellent, life changing book on this is Watchman Nee’s “Love not the World”. Once a work becomes an organization we get things like Walmart’s marketing to Christians. Originally it was well intended, but now that Sam is gone — highly suspect.
- Ministries focused on survival: Much junk is generated in this category. Once we get our eye off the Lord — trying to figure out how to generate money instead of where the Lord is leading, we are lost in what Paul warned us about in Ephesians 4:17: “you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds” esv. Our minds always tend toward evil — it’s a constant battle. It is one that we are not equipped to fight unless we are focused on Jesus and where he is leading.
- Ministries forget their audience: Though this is a basic of marketing it is a truth we often ignore. This is why Durer’s praying hands have no power. We must know who the Lord has us ministering to and why. We must talk to them in their language. We must meet their need or lead them to the One who can.
- Evil: of course, the enemy is in this arena. One of his favorite tactics is the angel of light mask.
We could go on for a while, but that’s enough to get started.
So how do we stay real?
Paul tells us clearly in Thessalonians 5:17… “pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” esv
To put this in real terms: we are constantly praying, about everything we do and maintaining vigilant awareness of what He is doing. The thanks naturally proceed from that as He is working constantly on our behalf.
We do what we do because that is who we are
If that is not true, you need to seriously seek the mind of the Lord for your life because you are out of His will doing something you are not called to do. Is that a gross overstatement? NO! It is a basic truth of the believers’ walk through daily life.
If you are doing something that you are not called to do you need to get that fixed right away.
Your fruit and maybe even your salvation depend on it.
Ask Him & then listen until you are sure that you have heard Him
The listening is the key. Not many believers spend much time listening to the Lord. He speaks to us constantly and we are so busy we are not listening.
He/she who has ears let him/her hear.