Not Dressed for the Occasion

Cited

Introduction

Several years ago, I was motivated to write articles from a Christian world viewpoint for a local newspaper. In the last three years, that activity has been directed to our local congregation and now perhaps a much larger audience through this book. I believe there is place for the Christian view to be applied to our personal life experiences, our behaviour, the local church, and world situations. Not Dressed for the Occasion touches on politics, history, sexuality, social agendas, and theology. Nothing is sacrosanct from the debate.

This book is an accumulation of experiences and my attempt at capturing them in short articles with the hope that they can be of value to others. They are the result of my walk with God, my professional career, involvement with all levels of leadership in local churches, and, not least of all, my opportunity to experience many cultures in the business world around the globe. I have been an itinerant business traveller for many years, and this has enabled me to see something of the real differences that each nation and culture has developed and how they impact my Christian world view.

Originally I had no intention of turning these articles into a book, but I experienced something of a revelation from God that simultaneously scared and elated me. As I reread some of the articles, I had the most unusual experience of feeling that they were not mine—they were someone else’s work. Christine Winter has been my right hand in advising, editing, and suggesting changes, but that was not what I encountered; it was not our work. Because I have gone through this process a thousand times in the creative world of interior design, I knew that this was totally different.

As I mused, I recalled that I had experienced this before when teaching or preaching. I was moving in another dimension than my natural man. I was speaking beyond myself. My religious mind screamed, Heresy! He thinks he is God, so I checked my heart for the arch enemy, pride. I know him well; he is no stranger to me, but I saw nothing. At this point I appealed to God in prayer to help me understand what was happening, and this is what I heard. You be the judge: "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Ephesians 2:10). Was this a manifestation of his workmanship? But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord … the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18). Perhaps part of the transforming from glory to glory? Then I thought of the ultimate intention for us all: until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and to the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). I leave you to meditate on that one!

To further endorse my experience, I was reminded of a series of meetings I led in the U.K. where, after preaching, I would then pray for everyone who indicated the desire. One time out of the corner of my eye I noticed a youngish couple following me as I moved from person to person. Eventually I stopped, turned to them, and asked Can I pray for you both?

I was stunned by the reply of, No, it’s like watching Jesus. I was totally oblivious of myself; my complete focus was to bless those I was praying for, and at that moment I had become in their eyes Jesus. Heresy? It is a common saying that the only Christ this world will see is us, His church, and we will not even be aware of those moments. My desire is that it would be 24/7 for me.

My hope is that those who read this book will garner some knowledge and understanding of life, but most of all be transformed into the image of His Son. In that sense, my appeal is primarily to Christians of any age who are open to learning from my life, but it’s also for those who have never embraced the Christian faith. It’s my prayer that this book will be a window into my world view and thinking. I write from the perspective of someone who has been a follower of Christ for over six decades.

Shalom.

1.

Feel You Don’t Count?

Many times I am impacted by the events happening to our families and churches both locally and internationally. They all appear bigger than me, and I feel controlled by them, as though I were a pawn in their game. Some people get to achieve great power or influence and they use it to control churches, homes, and nations, but my observations reveal that this very controlling ends up destroying both the controller and the controlled. We are witnessing this destruction in countries around the world; however, there is resistance. I’ve also seen that, as Christians, we have weapons for the mass blessing of people and for the annihilation of principalities and powers ruling over those churches, homes, and nations. This opportunity to bring mass blessing is our responsibility as Christ’s church, but how do we do this in the light of such opposition?

The answer is prayer—not the feeble bless me Lord variety, but the taking of the sword of the Spirit and praying with both understanding and in the Spirit. Seeing ourselves as God’s representatives of His Kingdom on earth is the most effective weapon the church can exercise. Prayer is the most powerful weapon on earth for defeating the enemy and delivering God’s people. The fact that we pray so little and that our prayers are focused mostly on our own well-being means we have not been effective in impacting history for Christ.

We need to learn how to pray as David prayed; Lord, teach us to pray! "… teacheth my hands to war"¹ not against people, but against those spiritual forces in high places.

"The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all."² From the natural, carnal man’s standpoint, this appears foolish. But from God’s position, He has called us to be co-workers with Him through the process of prayer: "your kingdom come, your will be done …"³ The weapons of our warfare are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.

We have relied on the wisdom of man. We organize and plan seminars, conferences, and programs, but God asks us to take the sword of prayer out of the sheath, clean it off, and do battle for His Kingdom in the heavens as well as on earth.

God’s power can only be released through prayer. We cannot change ourselves, but as we pray, He changes us and the circumstance around us. God has His part and we have ours. In God’s view, everything is provided, but we must take the sword of the Spirit and pray. We need Holy Spirit-anointed prayer. He has delegated authority and power to His church, but we stand impotent! Because we have been so ineffective, the enemy of our souls has ravaged us, our homes, our churches, our bodies, and our nations. You say, But isn’t God sovereign? "The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein."⁴

God gave the land of Canaan to the Israelites, but it was full of wicked, cruel, demon- worshipping tribes. What sort of gift is this? How would we in this modern age like those sorts of gifts for Christmas, when we get frustrated because the kids complain that it’s too difficult to rip off the plastic wrapping?

The process of possessing the land, God’s gift, was twofold: Firstly, He owns the original design. It was and is God’s by creative right, despite the fact that it was polluted by sin and Satan. Secondly, it was necessary to develop God-like character in His people so that they could rule the land in righteousness. "… the battle is the Lord’s,"⁵ but we must take it by His power and authority with the same purpose in mind—taking possession of the land from an already-defeated enemy who pretends he still owns it. Though futile, the adversary continues defending every last inch, using lies and deceit and hoping we will believe them.

"And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak …"⁶ but "… the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.⁷ We need to heed the word God gave to Joshua: Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses."⁸ Our part is to set our foot, and it is always on someone else’s—the enemy’s! Take no prisoners, because they will do the same as the existing inhabitants in Canaan—they will infect us with their sin.

We cannot be passive if we are to possess the land. Jesus said: "… the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force."⁹ Remember that our weapons are God’s provision and they are spiritual, not natural. Man’s planned programs, seminars, brilliant teaching and preaching, and even conferences will not cut it. They are helps, but it is the troops on the ground, God’s infantry, that is needed—that’s you and me persevering in anointed Holy Spirit prayer.

God is looking for an army—not of conscripts, but of those who volunteer to suffer with Him, to fight to the death of the enemy by the sacrifice of their own lives. This is the time; this is the season; this is the call to take God’s most powerful weapon of mass blessing and pray until we see the Kingdom of God rise in power in the earth.

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done …¹⁰ (emphasis added).

The church militant! "… the sword of the Lord, and of Gideon"¹¹ (emphasis added).

Shalom.

2.

Made in His Image and Likeness—Beauty

One of the characteristics of man’s nature is his ability to appreciate beauty. If we approach this experience with the view of the evolutionist, this encounter with beauty has no rational explanation for existence. For most people, the theory of evolution has become the fact of evolution, so one must ask, Where in that process did this intangible pleasure ‘evolve?’

I have observed agnostics and atheists waxing eloquent about the awesome beauty of this species of animal or insect, a cosmic happening, or a scenic view of earth. But what is the source of such ability to enjoy an insight into the material universe, or even the simple pleasure of viewing a mountain or stream? Those who discard the idea of creation say, Surely they are only the result of the folding earth’s crust and the moving tectonic plates. Why the pleasure experience?

We seem to be able to find beauty in almost any aspect of life, from the simplest life forms observed under a microscope to the complexity of man’s brain, the uniqueness of snowflakes, or the majesty of the Rocky Mountains. These pleasurable experiences of beauty become entrenched memories that we keep in order to savour them at a later date, but we also look for opportunities to share them with others. The very act of sharing brings a new dimension to this encounter with beauty that is not only different but often deeper and richer than the original experience. It is as though the original engagement is not complete until we have found others with whom to share it. Those who find no pleasure in beauty are thought to need some form of therapy, or as lacking some important human quality of life.

The biggest question then is not Why are things beautiful? but Why do we find them beautiful and then need to share this experience with others?

One of the confirmations of God’s existence is that we repeat His process of creation; we create watches, cars, and buildings—none of which evolve but are deliberate decisions and acts by mankind. Creation is a God procedure, and because we are made in His image and likeness, we repeat the Creator’s process. We just can’t stop creating!

Beauty is such a vital part of this creative process that even the success of automobile sales rises and falls on their visual beauty. This illustration can be extended to all walks of life. Technology has to be clad in beauty for us enjoy it more fully. Ugly houses people do not buy.

But is beauty only in the eye of the beholder? Well, to some degree, yes, but there is a process of increasing human capacity to embrace higher degrees of every subject. The joy of music follows the same parallel; we start with simple melodies and progress to more and more complex sounds. So it is with beauty; it is conditioned and developed by both experience and exposure. Even so, this still does not explain the sense of wonder and awe we encounter when exposed to something totally new to our sight: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge."¹²

The higher value we place on an object, the greater the level of pleasure. For example, our pleasure encountering insects will be less than with cats, dogs, and horses. The reason for this progression is that we enjoy feedback and response to our enjoyment of these creatures. A relationship is developed between the parties involved. This leads us to human relationships, where we find that beauty is often the door of attraction between men and women. There is a very profitable industry built on this intangible experience of creating, improving, and maintaining beauty.

We can now see how beauty is linked to the potential of relationships, but there is another dimension of beauty that the eye does not see—that of the beautiful qualities of life, the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.¹³ These God qualities point us to at least two conclusions: First, man is designed to delight in people, objects, values, character, and other qualities, as well as desire to share these pleasures and experiences with others. This is what the Bible calls worship. The second is that this encounter also changes us. The degree of change will depend on our reaction to that in which we delight. We embrace the splendour we see in beautiful things and acquire them so that we can extend the enjoyment. In terms of people, we plan to share time with them or even marry them. The more time and effort we invest in these encounters, the more we are changed by them and become like them. Sometimes the dog owner starts to look like the dog!

The ultimate transformation occurs when we see the beauty of God’s character of mercy, love, and forgiveness balanced with justice and righteousness. The degree of exposure to such beautiful qualities has the impact of us desiring to be like Him.

For this we were made, created in his image and likeness. But you say, Mankind is a nothing like this. The world is not a pretty picture. How can this be? Well, that is the reason for Jesus Christ’s teaching, His life, and humiliating murder on a Roman scaffold. Human nature has an ugly side. It indulges in filth and cruel behaviour and is completely opposite to our ability to embrace beauty. The vandal in us wants to spoil all that is beautiful. We break windows, bully, kill, steal, hurt, and destroy all that is wholesome and beautiful. Some go as far as to describe these activities as being beautiful, but in reality, we know they are only perversions.

The appeal of Christianity as expressed in Christ is the process of dealing with both the cause of our failure and our restoration to the ultimate vision—made to be like God. Don’t you think this is something so important that it’s worth exploring further?

Shalom.

3.

Corporate Mind—Unity in Diversity

One of the unique expressions of God’s creation is the corporate mind. You may well ask, What is the corporate mind and what has this to do with our Christian life and walk? If you place heart cells from different people in a Petri dish in a laboratory setting, all of them will beat with the beat of their own original heart. But soon, as if an unseen hand is guiding them, a miracle takes place and gradually all hearts beat with the same rhythm. This same miracle applies to five million flying starlings that are able to make incredibly fast course changes as though they were one bird.

What is the unseen hand that makes them move as one? In a similar, miraculous way schools of small fish confuse their large predators by flowing in the same way as the birds. Where is the conductor of these brilliant manoeuvres? Huge herds of animals migrate across the African plains as though driven by herdsmen, but with no leader or organization. Millions of monarch butterflies travel thousands of miles as though hearing the call of some distant destiny. What is the unseen hand that makes them move as one? Human beings rage in mobs of violence, striking terror and destruction in their path as though guided by one angry hand. Who drives this ride of death?

One hundred and twenty souls waited in an upper room for a promise of an encounter with God that would change the world, in "…one accord in one place."¹⁴ They experienced a divine encounter enabling them to fulfill the great commission of Christ to make disciples of all nations.

In the natural kingdom, scientists are at a loss to explain this ability of multiple numbers of creatures acting as one mind, but for Christ’s body, the church, God gives us the key. The one accord and one place orchestrated by the Holy Spirit is the uniting of God’s sovereign timing of Pentecost and the unity of men.

A reporter from the London Daily newspaper visited the Welsh Revival in 1904 and wrote of his experience, noting that the recognized leader, Evan Roberts, appeared not to be leading. "The last person to control the meeting in any way is Evan Roberts. You feel that the thousand or fifteen hundred persons before you have become merged into one myriad-headed but single soul personality … Repentance, open confession, intercessory prayer, and above all this marvellous musical