THE MUSE IS MOVING!

Hey...

I have moved my musings to my own site. You can find me (and all the blogs I've written) at...

http://www.ameymuses.com

All new posts will be at the new site...
Come see me!

Amey

Worship & Intercession

When Worship and Intercession are joined together, they reproduce.

What do they reproduce?

The manifestation of the Kingdom of God on the earth.

Selah.

Jesus' Miracles

I keep hearing ministers talking about miracles and especially creative miracles.

Did Jesus do any creative miracles?

There were restorative miracles - restoration of sight, use of legs and hands - even the restoration of life - but I don't remember anything about creative miracles.

Not to imply that I don't believe in them.

In fact, I've often wondered about Jesus' statement that we would do greater works than He did after He returned to the Father. Many times that statement is explained as "greater" meaning "more in quantity" rather than "more in quality." I never bought the explanation.

I haven't done greater works yet, though. I'll keep you posted...

Amey

 

The Process

Dr. Renny McLean (www.globalglory.org) has been teaching at our church this week. One of his key points - time is eternity's child - resonates within me. The quickest way to describe what he's talking about is this: God never sees a caterpillar. He only sees butterflies. In God, who is outside of time, all things are already complete.

So I was talking to some friends the other night and Holy Spirit reminds me of Isaiah 46:10 - "I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. "

The things we experience on our journey to become like Christ - our process - isn't revealed to us in advance. Only the end result is spoken - the hope set before us - to encourage us to continue in the process.

I began thinking about Joseph and his process. God revealed his end in the beginning but never spoke to him about the process. I believe his process was a result of choices he made and the people around him made. If he'd kept his dreams to himself, instead of sharing them with his brothers, the process may have been different.

Which, of course, made me think about my own life.

I have the free will (authority) to make any part of the process last as long as I choose. God won't take me beyond my obedience to Him. There are things Holy Spirit is addressing in my life but I can choose to take as long as I want to respond to His direction. I can choose to disobey. But God knows the end from the beginning and keeps enticing me with what is to come.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Daddy,

Help me to trust Your leading and choose wisely to accelerate the process. I choose today to be obedient to Your Spirit. I don't understand the process sometimes, but I thank You that You have placed a desire for the eternal in my heart and that You have made me beautiful in You.

I love You,
Amey

 

The Church & Homosexuality - CORRECTION

So I shared this post with my mentor and he corrected me on something.

It seems that I have believed something I've heard from the pulpit all my life that actually isn't true.

He asked me if Jesus ever intentionally offended people and I answered that he offended religious people but was not offensive to others.

Busted. That's just not true. Jesus intentionally offended people all the time - from his disciples down to the Gentile woman who was begging for healing ("even dogs get crumbs from the table").

So, what it comes down to, is this... we must be led by Holy Spirit in our dealings with everyone. There will be times when we may be directed to offend by confronting issues in people's lives. BUT, no matter what, there is a very important heart issue involved.

It's not about NOT offending. It's about NOT sinning. We must speak the truth in love - it's always about what's in our hearts.

Amey

The Church & Homosexuality

In a prayer meeting this morning we were praying about the vote in Congress on Wednesday... the one that will establish a Constitutional Amendment defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. We repented for not taking our responsbilities as Americans seriously by participating in elections and government.

As I continued to pray, Holy Spirit said to me that we have brought some of this on ourselves because of the way we've reacted to homosexuals and the wounds we've inflicted. I repented on behalf of the church and myself, but I really think that it is a key.

Most gays that I know and have met on outreaches, etc., came out of the church and have been deeply wounded. In fact, most of them suffered from rejection from fathers or betrayal from mothers and are seeking to fill those needs through their same-sex relationships.

What we are faced with is learning how to love them without accepting their sin... or how to love them while allowing Holy Spirit to deal with their sin. In my life there was a time when I was really struggling with a sin issue and went to the elders of my church for prayer and counsel. I was judged instead of helped. But God granted me favor with the Pastor and he heard the cry of my heart. He stood and cried with me openly after service one Sunday - told me how much he understood and begged me not to give up on God's grace and mercy. His love kept me from running away from God. As I learned to keep my focus on Jesus the sin in my life fell away - it lost its grip.

All I know is that I'm learning that it's never about me or my righteousness or even my attempts at holiness... it's all about Him... and if it wasn't for His constant working in my life and His abundant grace for my shortcomings... I'd be on my way to hell, too.

Daddy,

Pour Your love into my heart so that I may love those around me the way You love me... with a love that brings healing and hope and life to the brokenhearted. Let me be one who binds up the wounds.

In Jesus' name,

Your little girl

Kingdom Resources

I went to another prayer meeting tonight... one of the specific topics focused on the sale of property belonging to the church. There are very mixed feelings about the sale of the property - which is always to be expected when we encounter change. Our prayer echoed the Lord's Prayer... "Your kingdom come, Your will be done."

While we were praying, Holy Spirit began to speak to me about Kingdom Resources. In the coming days, the Last Days, the Church must align itself with God's Kingdom plans. Holy Spirit led me to pray that this property be recognized as a Kingdom Resource - and for God to raise up the steward He wanted to care for this resource.

I believe God wants to do away with competition between churches. If we begin to see our resources - buildings, worship teams, pastoral staff, even sheep - as belonging to the Kingdom - then we will be able to usher in the Kingdom of God.

I recently listened to a teaching by Graham Cooke and he spoke about giving his best leaders to struggling churches. He even split up the worship team and sent them to two different churches. God is changing their community because they are willing to embrace Kingdom plans - even when they fly in the face of tradition.

Daddy,

I ask You to help me to see things from Your Kingdom perspective. I repent for making my plans on Your behalf, instead of yielding myself to Your plans. Your Kingdom come, Lord, Your will be done.

Daddy's Girl

What are we doing wrong?

Tonight I attended a night watch - The Watch of the Lord - basically a 4 hour prayer meeting and worship time starting at 11pm and going until 3am. We covered 4 different themes in the worship time. For the hour of 1-2am we were focused on repentance.

During the repentence time we repented for our own sins, the sins of our region, nation, etc. - and especially the church. I began thinking about the church - or the traditional church system. It seems as though churches are emptying all across America - at an alarming rate. What are we doing wrong?

I believe Holy Spirit gave me some insight...

1. We're more interested in promoting programs than loving people. Can you imagine what would happen if we really loved the lost and other believers unconditionally? We'd be fighting for a seat every time the doors opened.

2. We believe the saying "If you build it, they will come." We should spend more time and money building people - and releasing them to go and multiply their efforts.

3. We spend more time elevating men and women of God than elevating Jesus. It's so clear in Scripture... "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me."

4. We compete with one another instead of working together to reach our region. Can you imagine the healing God would do if we would serve one another with humility?

I'm guilty of all of these things. I am undone.

Please forgive me, Daddy. Help me to understand Your Kingdom, Your plans, Your heart for the people all around me.

I love You. Amey

Ministering to God

This past weekend I was part of a worship team ministering at the House of Prayer for All Nations in Largo, FL.

The worship times at the House of Prayer are not about leading people in worship - they're all about worshipping God. It's definitely a different atmosphere from a corporate worship service.

Our block lasted until midnight (this HoP isn't open 24/7 yet) and as we packed up to leave I was left thinking about what God wants from us. I felt like I was just singing songs to Him... or even at Him.

How do I minister to God? Would I want someone to just sing to me? It seems like there should be more to it than what I've always known. Is He just happy to have my (hopefully) undivided attention for a while? It just felt like something was missing all night.

I'll keep asking...

Amey

Tattoos

A friend of mine called yesterday and asked me to recap my Bible study about tattoos.

The only verse that mentions tattoos is Lev. 19:28 and comes in the middle of a list of things that Hebrews were not to do because the practices were symbolic of or a part of pagan worship. Most modern Bible translations do use the word tattoo. In the commentaries, a couple of key points come out…

1. Tattoos were part of pagan rituals to honor the dead and/or pagan gods. (For example, if you were a worshipper of Dionysius you might have a brand of an ivy leaf burned into your flesh to show who you belonged to – the same word is used for tattoo and branding.)

2. Tattoos were prohibited solely from the standpoint of being idolatrous.

One of the commentaries mentions that we shouldn’t do things that are representative of unbelievers but acknowledges that our culture changes all the time so it’s not a black and white issue. Back in the 70's, long hair on men was a huge deal and considered “pagan” but culturally things have changed so it’s not a big deal anymore.

In a nutshell, I believe that tattoos are not fundamentally evil or sinful, but I would be very careful about what the design is. I would also be careful to make sure that I wasn’t getting one as a form of worship to anything other than Jesus. Find a Christian artist, though. (Christian Tattoo Association - http://www.xtat.org/)

And pray about it first... they don't go away.

Amey

Christians & Politics

I’m not sure if anyone who’s aware of the political climate of our country wouldn’t realize how important our elections are and the radical effect the results can have in our lives.

For a long time I’ve seen Christians be reluctant to participate in politics. How sad that the enemy has gotten us to agree with the separation of church and state.

The truth about our founding fathers is that nearly half of them were pastors. They served God and sought to obey Him while laying out the plans for this nation. What they were wise to avoid was the “state-imposed” religion advocated in most of Europe.

The government plan they received from God is truly brilliant. Rather than allow any one person complete control, the system of checks and balances keeps the three branches of the government accountable to one another. At least that is the plan.

The Legislative Branch (House of Representatives and Senate) is the branch responsible to write laws. This branch is the one we, as citizens, have the most direct influence over. Not only are they elected to their positions by us directly, their contingencies – the people they represent – come from within their own communities and should affect their votes in Congress. One of their responsibilities is to approve or disapprove the President’s nominees for the courts.

The Judicial Branch (the courts system) should be the most unbiased of all political leaders. In fact, they should do nothing more than interpret the laws written by Congress – when a discrepancy arises or an inequity is found.

The Executive Branch (President and his chain of command) has the right to approve or reject the laws passed by Congress, the responsibility to appoint judges to the court system and the authority to protect our nation.

However, all too often these days we find the courts exercising their political bias rather than correctly interpreting the laws we have in place.

For example, in Massachusetts the people want to ban gay marriages. Regardless of the wishes of the people, a bill was proposed to the state legislature which legalizes gay marriages. Instead of voting against the bill, the Congress decided to put the bill on the ballot – which will take 2 years. This decision gives the appearance of allowing the people to vote for or against this new law. It all sounds good – until you realize that the Mass. State Supreme Court decided to ignore the will of the people for the next 2 years. As it stands, legal marriages are being performed in Massachusetts with the stipulation that they will only be binding for marriages of legal and long-term residents of the state.

But it’s just another smokescreen. Any marriage recognized in any state MUST be recognized by all states. We’re being forced to accept policies and laws in a way our founding fathers never intended.

So it comes down to this. Are you registered to vote?

We have an opportunity people all over the world envy – don’t bury the “talent” God has given you. Be responsible and make a difference in the direction of our nation – every chance you get.

Communicate with your representatives in Congress – on a state and national level. Campaign or at least vote for the leaders of our Executive Branch. Encourage your legislative representatives to approve godly judges to the courts of our nation.

Just don’t sit around and wait to see what might happen.

Amey

Wooing the Bride

Just a thought…

If Jesus’ relationship to the Bride (His Church) is a larger example of the marriage covenants we enter into with our spouses, then would our relationships need to mirror His example in every way?

For at least the last 15 years I have seen women become emotionally attached to THE ONE long before any relationship has ever been pursued or considered by him. At the risk of making sweeping generalizations, it seems as though women are inclined to invest emotionally in relationships long before the men are. I’ve seen many relationships end badly because the woman was passionately in love with the man before the man had even considered her as a potential mate.

Very rarely does this emotional inequity end in a healthy marriage.

Often, because the women are already emotionally invested in the relationship, the men feel trapped – or pressured – or controlled – and end up running the other direction. When the men run, the women are left wondering if they heard from God.

However, I believe God made men naturally desire to pursue and woo and win their mate.

Jesus certainly pursued each of us.

I didn’t watch Jesus from a distance, fall madly in love with Him and then try to force Him to respond to me with love in return. He loved me from the beginning. He pursued me and wooed me to Himself. My love for Him grew and continues to grow more passionate every day, but His love for me came long before I knew Him at all.

The Song of Solomon talks about this, too. The Shulamite woman tells her friends not to awaken love before it is time. I’m sure there are many levels of revelation about this passage, but I think it certainly applies to us, as women, because we need to guard our hearts and take care to keep our emotions in check. Sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers quickly – but He will answer them – and when He does – and both parties are on board with His plan for them – let the wooing begin!

His first and forever,
Amey