Yellow Light

The first time I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me it was so moving that I had to pull off the road and sit there for a while. Tears of joy flowed freely because of his affirmation and assurance, while I basked in the warmth of His love. That was back in the days when it was still okay to receive messages while you were driving. I was in the midst of an intense demonic deliverance ministry with a teenage girl, and the only help and support I could find was from outside the church.  Everyone in the church was belittling, even mocking of the effort. I was discouraged, to say the least. And God said to me, “I called you, and you alone, to help. Don’t expect anyone else to understand.”

My theology about the Holy Spirit changed. As I grew up in the church, and eventually seminary, I was well indoctrinated that the Holy Spirit no longer spoke to individuals today. “Sign gifts”, I was taught, including God speaking to individuals, ended with the conclusion of the apostolic age and the completion of the New Testament writings. But another wise friend set the stage for me when he counseled me, “Dave, you need to know what you believe, and why you believe it, but hold it loosely.” Fortunately, this was one of the times when my mistaken theology came into the light of truth.

Since that time I have continued to hear the voice of God speak to me, usually a still small voice like what Elijah heard, or a dream in the night like countless saints in the Scriptures. Call it a word of knowledge, or word of wisdom, or even prophecy, his messages to me are strategic for ministry, enlightening in times of confusion, and always a source of encouragement. I liken it to hiking up a stream to a cave in the mountain side, where the source of living water flows, and sitting on the tailgate of a bright red 1954 Ford pickup, talking with the keeper of the spring.

Now here’s the catch, the bug in the ointment. There are many Christians who say, “God spoke to me and told me this.” I am all for the fact that the Holy Spirit is poured out on all believers (Acts 2:18), but sometimes I am not sure whether to trust that person’s statement. I have a good friend who always says that a red light comes on for him whenever someone says that they heard God speak to them. Funny thing is, he usually says that whenever I mention that God told me something. He is like I used to be, entrapped in the teaching of his youth, unable to change. I heard him say this so often that it made me assess my acceptance and reaction to other Christians claiming to have heard God speak. How do I respond?

When I first began to associate with Holy Spirit led believers I was excited to hear the message that God had given them. I was green light, all the way.  But after a few sour experiences, watching believers try to accuse, or persuade, or control, or deflect, all in the name of hearing from God, I now use the yellow light. The yellow light allows for me to listen and evaluate, to test, to question, rather than presume. The yellow light leaves room for faith and agreement, in due time (I Thes 5:19-22).

There have always been false prophets, lots of them, and God always warns about listening to them. So, I take that serious. Even with friends who I would normally trust, the yellow light is important. But I would never suggest that the best way to keep from being deceived is merely and only to trust Scripture and wisdom. Oh my, and miss out on the fellowship and guidance of the very person of God in me, the Holy Spirit (John 16:13). Or squelch the joy of God speaking to another. No, no, no. Furthermore, I know, and I believe that God could speak to someone else with a message for me. You know why? Because I have seen too many believers become so full of pride that they are misled and spouting off messages from God, deceiving themselves and others. It’s a sham, and it’s a shame. And I never want to become one of those, deceiving myself by thinking that what God says to me is the only message to be trusted.

Got that? Don’t be deceived! But don’t be red light, either. Yellow light is good for me.

Thank you, God, for giving your son, Jesus. Your love is amazing. Thank you, too, for sending the Holy Spirit, the Helper, to abide in me as I walk in your love.

Submit? No Way!

The county told me that I cannot do what I want to do with my twenty acre parcel in rural Clackamas County, Oregon.  I called them on several occasions trying to find a way to develop my land -- something more than just one dwelling and nineteen acres of Christmas trees and timber.  First I asked if I could legally partition the land into five-acre parcels. “Absolutely not”, came their reply, “because it is zoned Ag-25, allowing no more than one dwelling per twenty-five acre parcel.”  And they assured me that there was no hope that the zoning would change any time before the end of the world. “Don’t bother to apply for a zoning change.”

I had only recently watched a former county planning department employee build an apartment as part of a huge new shop on his property.  He lived on only 3 acres, and already had a large house. The county told me that his permit was for a shop and a studio.  I told them that the “apartment” had two stories, a full kitchen with counters, two restrooms with bath and shower.  But they said that it did not have a laundry facility nor a 220–volt hookup for a stove.  So it did not qualify as a living space. “Hey, I‘m no dummy,” I told them. “I know exactly what that studio was intended to become.”

Another good Christian friend has a 20-acre parcel farther out in the woods than mine.  He has an apartment over his barn that he used while he built their house.  After they moved into their house they started renting out the apartment.  Then he built a shop.  After the inspectors were gone he turned one of the bays into an apartment for their son and daughter-in-law.  That apartment will become another rental in due time.  Three living sites on a parcel zoned for one.  So I thought to myself, why should I be a dummy and abide by the law.  No one else takes the zoning laws seriously. I must be stupid to submit to regulations that I don’t like and certainly don’t agree with.

But goody two-shoes me, I called the county again and asked exactly what I could build.  I was told I could add onto the existing house, but it could not become a duplex. No kitchen, no laundry. It could only be additional living area for the existing house. If I wanted to build a stand-alone structure, a guest quarters, it could not be larger than 600 square feet, and once again, no kitchen, no laundry.  And all I really want to do is build a little “mother-in-law” type apartment for me and Carol to retire in.

Help came to me from a very unlikely source.  John Calvin.  Yes, that John Calvin. The granddaddy of the Reformers. He moved to Geneva to escape persecution in France (I think, maybe, he didn’t like submitting to authorities either). He founded a Protestant-political utopian society.  He wrote the Institutes, which have become the foundational truth of most Reformed and Calvinist theology, to this day.  One of his lesser known themes is that of “mutual submission”.  Today it is applied more to the roles of men and women, and husbands and wives. (Whether that is massaging the Scriptures to one’s own liking is debatable.) But Calvin applied it more directly to government and the people governed.  His teachings became the groundwork for the grand concepts of republicanism, and capitalism.  At the heart of his theology was the cavalier teaching that the government should submit to the people, mutually, not just the governed submit to authority.

Now it all makes sense to me.  I think I now know why we evangelical, Bible toting, NRA loving, NASCAR rooting, conservative, red-neck American Christians believe so much in individual rights, and understand so poorly the Godly concept of submission¹.  We got it from the father of capitalism, John Calvin.  We don’t need to respect Obama or Trump. We can thumb our nose at the county planning department. We don’t need to drive the speed-limit, or put away our cell phone while driving.  We can fudge on our taxes and call it mutual submission. And surely, with a clear conscience, I can ignore the county and build what I want, where I want, the way I want.  Hallelujah!  Thank you, Calvin.  We love mutual submission!

Here I go!  Bring on the excavator! In fact, I may just go all in.  Why should I even bother to get permits?  Hey, then they won’t know to increase my property taxes.  Wow! This is sounding better all the time!

¹  Submission, simply stated, is trusting the God-appointed authority and leadership of others. But in the modern church it has become a dirty word, a teaching point to be avoided at all costs, or a concept to be massaged to fit the new cultural norm.

Brother, Are You Ready?

Scott and Andrea were planning a trip to Rome over Spring Break.  The third week of March, every year, they go on a great big, fabulous vacation.  My wife, Carol, goes down to Phoenix that week, each year, to spend time with her elderly parents.  She relieves Andrea, her sister, who takes care of Mom and Dad the rest of the year.

Sometime near the end of February we heard that Scott was completely packed, ready for the vacation. Totally packed.  His suitcase was full, zipped up, by the foot of the bed, ready to load in the car and head for the airport.  Then we heard, just before vacation, that Scott unpacked his suitcase, took out the shirts, ironed them, and then repacked.

Now if that isn’t being ready for the big trip then I don’t know what ready is.  They say that perhaps the best part of a vacation is the anticipation and preparation.  But Scott took it to the next level.

Those of us who know Jesus as Lord and Savior are planning for a big trip, too.  We are going to be resurrected or raptured, caught up to be with Jesus when He returns (I Thes 4:14-18).  Some of us will be able to anticipate our death and prepare our heart to meet the Lord. But many of us will meet Jesus unexpectedly, either in a sudden unexpected death, or in the rapture.  Any way it happens for me is fine, but it would sure be amazing to be caught up into the air to meet the Lord when he returns.

I asked a group that I was teaching, recently, how many of you are ready to stand face to face with God.  Not one of them could say they felt ready.  Not one of them could say that they were anxiously awaiting that encounter, like Scott looking forward to his vacation.  I was somewhat shocked, thinking the response would probably be about fifty-fifty.

I regularly read and evaluate writings and speculations concerning end times. And I am growing more and more secure in saying that the Lord’s return is “right at the door” (Mt 24:33).  We cannot be careless and carefree about our eternal destiny, living as though His promised return is nowhere near. That is sheer foolishness.

Are you ready to meet Jesus? Or are you living independent of God, selfish and aloof?  Are you so full of guilt and shame, even though you try hard to be “righteous”, that you are afraid to look him in the face?  If so, relax, and trust His love and grace, walk with the Spirit, trust a friend and live in light rather than hiding.  Then, even though you may still stumble along the road of grace, you will be ready.

Do you have your bags packed?  Are you ready?