Leanness of Soul

Part of the tragedy of many Church-goers today is that they don’t understand they are not living in the will of God. Due to very poor teaching that is pumped through several of today’s Christian television broadcast, podcast and webcast, many have been led to feel validated merely because God has answered their prayers.

Today, we want to show you that answered prayers are not always a validation from God. Did you know that you can insist on having your way with so much intensity and defiance that God will give in to your demands?

Here’s proof!

When the Psalmist recalled a couple of incidents where God’s own people made demands of Him, we clearly see that He met their demands, but He also added something else.

Psalm 106: 13-15 reads: "They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tested God in the desert. And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul."

Could it be that a huge reason why the Church is so week in America is because God has sent leanness into our souls? A lean soul is a heart, mind and spirit that are never satisfied. They’re never content, never at peace or resting in divine security. A lean soul is always longing for a something new, something special, or something more, but it never obtains what it craves. 

So the lean soul searches beyond the boundaries of God for fulfillment and satisfaction. A lean soul cannot provide help and depth to others in their journey. A lean soul cannot offer wisdom from the word of God. It can offer personal experience and that experience is basically a shallow relationship with God that gets depressed and quits on God when things go wrong. It throws a temper tantrum and quotes scriptures to demand blessings from God. It threatens to leave the faith if he or she does not get their way.

Here’s the worse part, many of today’s preachers teach that this kind of lifestyle is a Godly lifestyle. Lean-souled preachers tell lean-souled Believers that all they have to do is quote scriptures when they are in trouble and demand that God perform His Word. 

Now there are thousands of Believers who have no idea what it means to live under the commands and constraining love of God. They have no depth of wisdom and peace within them and they feel justified in their rebellious and compromising lifestyle simply because every time they get themselves in trouble, God always bails them out. 

They don’t understand that with every bail out, their soul becomes even more lean, even more malnourished, even more dry, even more hardened against the will and purpose of God. That’s why we have thousands and maybe even millions of Believers who have bought into the world system and world’s views on social, economic and political issues.

We don’t claim to have all the answers and we don’t claim to be perfect in our journey. But we do declare that we refuse to teach that every time God answers your prayers, it is a sign of His approval of your lifestyle and choices.

While it remains true that God loves us and will do anything for us, the true mark of a son or daughter of God is that they strive to love God unconditionally, too. They strive to please HIM and not just please themselves. While they realize God will always be there for them, they also start living in such a way as to show God that they will be there for Him, too. True followers of Christ have longing souls instead of lean souls. They have a desire for God that goes beyond their own desires.

So what are we doing to stem the tide?

We are trying to obey the strategy the Lord gave us for this ministry. He told us to return to the pattern of the early church in the second chapter of Acts: We are giving ourselves to apostolic teaching and fellowship, to breaking of bread and to prayer.

We’re not avoiding the tough issues of life and we’re making every effort to hold everything, including our personal opinions and views, to the standard of God’s word. We want you to be like the Bereans of Acts 17 and check out the scriptures for yourself to see if what we are teaching is really what the Bible says and if it’s what the Bible really means.

Let’s continue on this journey together. 

Psalm 107:9 assures us, “…He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.”

The Boiling Frog

If you plunge a frog into boiling water, it will try to jump out. But if you place the frog into cool water and slowly heat it to boiling, the frog won’t notice and will slowly cook to death. Even though this is a myth, the thought behind it is what many are attempting to communicate to a nation that is right now boiling in debilitating bliss.

While millions of Christian Believers remain focused on the latest reality TV shows and the personal pursuit of prosperity, the world is falling apart around them. Like the clueless frog, they don’t seem to notice or care. They live under the delusion that none of these things will affect them.

When they see the 12 seconds video bytes on the news, they conclude that they are observing the problems of THOSE people, in THOSE countries and none of that will have any effect on them.

However, the reality is that the Islamic Jihads are already taking place right here in America. Numerous cases have already been buried as attacks on Christians by Muslims are hidden away by the police and the media.

The gay agenda has done a great job of masking their agenda behind human rights and acceptance, but even the people who have escaped from the gay lifestyle have come out and spoken boldly that the gay agenda is not about civil rights or acceptance. Their goal is to completely take over society and the best way to do that is to take over media, education and politics. They have done all three. 

Did you know they have a manifesto? It was written and published back in the late 1980’s.

Before someone assumes that I might be homophobic, here’s a direct quote from their published agenda: 

“We shall sodomize your sons, emblems of your feeble masculinity, of your shallow dreams and vulgar lives. We shall seduce him in your schools, in your dormitories, in your gymnasiums, in your locker rooms, sports arenas, seminaries, truck stops, male clubs, and in your Houses of Congress.

Wherever men are with men together, your sons shall become our minions and do our bidding.They will be re-cast in OUR image. They will come to crave and adore us.

All laws banning homosexuality will be revoked. If you dare cry "homo", "fairy", or "queer" at us, we will stab you in your cowardly hearts.

All churches who condemn us will be closed. Our only gods are handsome young men.

We shall be victorious because we are fueled with the ferocious bitterness of the oppressed.

We too, are capable of firing guns and manning the barricades of ultimate revolution.”

Wow! If a church came out with a threat to even take up guns to advance their cause, the pastor would be jailed immediately.

However, the one person they won’t confront is the Muslim. Even though they know Islamic law condemns homosexuality and even penalizes it with death, they won’t dare speak out against Islamic nations are people. Why? Well, because the people behind the radical gay agenda are bullies. Everyone knows that bullies pick on the people they feel are the easiest ones to intimidate. They obviously think Christians are an easy target. 

So as more Christians are moved out of power and influence and as more Muslims and Gays are moved into power and influence, these two sides are headed for a major collision. 

This is just one aspect of why the waters are boiling in America and why God is awakening His true Church.

So what is the response from you and your family today? Carol and I won’t be like the boiling frog, that’s for sure.

God has given us an assignment to rebuild, restore and renew hearts and homes. In the midst of these ideological, philosophical and moral wars, there will be casualties of war and we must be ready, like today’s first-responders, to go into the fire and rescue the wounded.

So let’s stay on course, stay united in prayer, and stay united in purpose.

Everything Has Led to This Moment

A couple weeks ago I shared a bit of our story with an assembly of prayer leaders and ministers, as we met to strategize and prepare for a prayer gathering that will be held in August at the Giant Center in Hershey, PA.

I told them how the Lord led Carol and me to Harrisburg in 2004, to start a ministry that would rebuild, restore and renew hearts and homes. Along the way we have had many battles and yet, we have met many other leaders in this community, most who also seemed to be very down and disappointed about how their lives and ministries have progressed through the years. Mostly it was the lack of progression that had so many of them so discouraged.

In our ten-year journey in Harrisburg, there have been several pastoral prayer gatherings that seemed to get started with great fire and then fizzled out. Then there have been large prayer gatherings of Believers that seemed to spark some movement, but that faded out, too. There have been various pastors and leaders experiencing personal battles and ministry failures. Each time something has been launched in this region, it seemed to fade out over time.

I told the group how God has been connecting us to certain people and specific leaders over the past ten years. All of those connections, in spite our disappointment, still led to me sitting at that table, that night, at that moment. It all still led to this opportunity to become part of the preparation of this upcoming national prayer gathering.

I told them we must all stop looking back at the disappointments because all of those disappointments are merely the result of things not turning out the way WE expected. But what if things were actually going according to God’s plan?
I asked everyone, ‘What if God was accomplishing, all along, what HE had in mind?’ Maybe the other prayer gatherings and special meetings were simply God’s way of connecting the right people to someday come together at just the right time, in the right place, to pray for our nation.

I watched the Holy Spirit bring a lot of people encouragement through that revelation. That night everyone got on board with this new initiative of prayer.

I share this story with you today because the same thing applies for our little church family.

Somehow, your journey to various churches and ministries still led you to wherever you might be today. Your winding path has led you to the precious brothers and sisters that you have now come into fellowship with and you now share in Holy Communion and divine intercession. Now you can know for sure that you are not alone in the journey. There really are others who are seeking God just like you. There really are others who want to praise and worship God, just like you. There really are others who love God and want to live for Him, just like you.

From our perspective, as ministry leaders, we were praying and asking God for a congregation that wanted to serve Him with all their hearts, the same way WE wanted to serve God with all our hearts. Eventually the paths finally crossed and look where we all are today. The journey for each one of us has led us to this open door to sit at the same table with the Lord and to dine together, with Him.

Now we must stop allowing the disappointment of the past to hinder us from embracing this moment of destiny that has been set before us.

Our nation, state, city, neighborhoods and families are in crisis and WE have the solution. We have the answer. God has given us a testimony. He has given us gifts and abilities. He has given us technology. He has given us a strategy. And we’re going to take what God has placed in our hands and go forth to make a difference in our world.

Think about this blog as you go to your church, assembly or home group next week, to continue to learn more about our God and how He wants to use all of us to change the world.

Happy Father's Day

Thank You Daddy

I have some very fond memories with my dad. He was a fun-loving dad who always threw caution to the wind. It got him in trouble many times, but it also gave his children a sense of adventure and daring that proved to be very helpful for us when we found ourselves called in to the ministry.

My dad saw my love for sports and took me to my first baseball game. The St. Louis Cardinals were playing the Montreal Expos and Jose Cardenal hit a two run double in the seventh inning that gave them a 4-2 victory. I couldn’t believe I was actually there, in a 50,000 seat stadium, looking at the high tech scoreboard, the massive crowd, and experiencing all the sounds I always heard when I listened to games on the radio. I had become a devoted fan; and dad gave me a chance to experience the real thing; to actually see my heroes live and in person. I have cherished that memory all of my life. 

There were many other games in the years that followed. I especially loved the day I sat between my dad and his dad and watched Bob Gibson, my all time favorite Cardinal baseball player, pitch on Labor Day. I actually realized I was experiencing something very special that would never happen again; three generations, sitting together, enjoying our favorite sport.

James Green (My Dad)

Those were the times that established something in my heart that I have tried to give my children. There are once-in-a-life-time opportunities that come your way, and I tried to stay prepared for those moments with my sons. Then there are some things you cannot wait for, because some memories you simply have to make.

Through the years, I hope my children have had special moments that they can recall with the same kind of fondness and deep impacting love that I feel when I think back on special moments with my dad.

My dad didn’t always put his arms around my shoulder, or say 'I love you' in those moments. He wasn’t that kind of man. He gave us nicknames and he always told us he was proud of us. When I was struggling in arithmetic, he started calling me 'math major' and it built my confidence to try harder and I found success. I became a straight-A student in math.

My dad is not perfect. He had his issues with his children from time to time, like any father. I was sort of a middle child. He married my mom, who already had a precious little girl, and they had three sons before I came along. One son died while my mom was pregnant with me. Then they had two more children after me. 

There were many times when life was very hard. It was downright harsh and cruel for him. I was angry with him a few times, mainly because I had no idea what it took to be the head of the household. I learned from his mistakes, as well as his resiliency. And maybe that’s the greatest thing my dad gave us; resiliency.

Just like my dad’s journey, as a husband and father, life has been hard, sometimes harsh and downright cruel for me, but I learned from my dad how to get up and go to work every day, no matter how you feel. When I lost jobs, opportunities, homes, friends, and loved ones, I knew how to get up and keep going. Dad demonstrated to us that you should never give up, even after a failure. You never stop, no matter how you feel.

So in honor of my dad and ultimately, God, my heavenly Father, I wrote a song many years ago that expresses thanks. I gave it an informal title: Thank You Daddy.

I just want to share that song with you this week. 

The original recording can be heard HERE.

The lyrics are:

There’s so much I take for granted, Like the rising of the sun

Every time I see the morning, Never thankful for the dawn

Like a father who’s always there, With the same things every day

So consistent and expected, Sometimes I forget to say

(Chorus)

Thank you daddy

For the blue that’s in the sky

Thank you daddy

For the light that’s in Your eye

Thank you daddy

For the life beat I’ve been handed

I get so busy

I'm taking you for granted

There’s so much you’re always doing, You watch my life and keep me safe

Sometimes you throw in extras, Giving me a little bit more grace

You take the time to listen, When all I bring are complaints

You carry me on your shoulders, And you sing to me in the rain

I can always recall the discipline you gave

All the nights you spent with me, And the path that you have paved

You’ll give more love tomorrow than all my yesterdays

So please forgive me daddy, I never take the time to say 

Thank you, thank you

For every single day

Thank you, thank you

For every breath I take

Thank you, thank you 

You made us sons and daughters

Thank you, thank you

Because you are our Father

Thank you

© Green, Christopher 2001

For the least of these,