Digging into the word, and expository preaching

"God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Tim 3:16)

The Lord has been speaking to me about being "trained in righteouness", which I understand to mean knowing the Word of God.  I firmly believe that this is one of the prerequisites of growing in the prophetic. To me, the preciousness of the prophetic is the value of the rhema word, the word in season, but rhema words are from the logos word, the whole counsel of God.

In this day, there is also so much "mixture" / "syncretism" in the teaching out there, especially in the Charismatic. Truth is mixed with error, wheat with tares. Those of us who move in the Spirit must be especially cognizant of the importance of being schooled in truth, to be like Bereans, because those who worship God must "worship in spirit and truth". We need to be anchored in the Word because in the last days, deception will increase, and it will be subtle.

In Matthew 24, when Jesus speaks of the End Times, he says one of the signs will be that "false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect".

We need to be careful about this because God has warned "my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6)

So I am praying for the discipline to dig in and to really know the Word of God, not just topically, but in its context. To be trained in a way so I can "rightly divide the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15).

On this note, I really appreciate expository preaching, in which the Word is taught chapter by chapter, so it is not taken out of context/ distorted to suit one's whim. There are not many good expository teachers I know - since many preachers teach topically - but here are three who are excellent, and whose material is freely available on the Internet - David Pawson, Lance Lambert and Singapore's own Aw Swee Eng :)

"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth." (2 Tim 2:15)

Our God (Aaron Schweinberg)

Stumbled upon Aaron Schweinberg accidentally while buying Christian music from the itunes store. Really like his voice and his piano playing! What incredible anointed worship :)

Friendship with God (Bill Johnson)

I love this preaching by Bill Johnson. Servants are task-oriented, friends/ lovers know the heart of God, and do out of relationship.

The end of this sermon also packs a punch. It reminds us that whatever gifting God has put in us, without the Spirit of God on it, we won't get very far...

Says Bill: "I don't care if you can sing, if you can lead, if you can preach, doesn't matter what you can do, you're a businessman, a schoolteacher, doesn't make any difference to me. That gift is like a sail on a boat, it's useless without wind.

We need the breath of God on who he's made us to be. There has to be the supernatural element with whatever it is that God has given us to do. The breath of the Almighty God is what empowers that which we can do. The horse is prepared for the day of battle but the victory belongs to the Lord.

We take that which is natural, we get everything in order, we've done what we know to do in the natural, then we anticipate the breath of God to come to make that which is natural, supernatural, and then we give Him all the glory for it. And then just be thankful that he let us be in the room."

Wow. Awesome preaching!

We Wait For You (Shekinah Glory)

Endless Hallelujah (Matt Redman)

When I stand before Your throne
Dressed in glory not my own
What a joy I'll sing of on that day
No more tears or broken dreams
Forgotten is the minor key
Everything as it was meant to be

And we will worship, worship
Forever in Your presence we will sing
We will worship, worship You
An endless hallelujah to the King

I will see You as You are
Love You with unsinning heart
And see how much You paid to bring me home
Not till then, Lord, shall I know
Not till then, how much I owe
Everything I am before Your throne

And we will worship, worship
Forever in Your presence we will sing
We will worship, worship You
An endless hallelujah to the King

No more tears, no more shame
No more sin and sorrow ever known again
No more fears, no more pain
We will see You face to face
See You face to face

And we will worship, worship
Forever in Your presence we will sing
We will worship, worship You
An endless hallelujah to the King
An endless hallelujah to the King
We'll sing
An endless hallelujah to the King

The Resting Place - Bill Johnson

Listened to two sermons today.

The first was by Heidi Baker, when she preached at Cornerstone on "A resting place for the Lord". Was deeply, deeply struck by the testimony she shared of time when she was hospitalised for a life-threatening infection. She says, "There I was. Sick. Waiting, longing, longing for the presence of God. And the presence of God was so precious to me. Day and night I listened to the bible (on my ipod) and I worshipped, day and night, and the presence of God got so thick in my room that the nurses would walk in and start weeping. Here I was, weaker than I’ve ever been at anytime in my life and they would come in and say there is strength in this room, there is life in this room, there is presence in this room. At they would come and weep, and try and change the sheets and they’d be weeping. They’d come at 2-3am in the morning asking for prayer, lining up, asking for prayer. The presence of God was just in the room, and this little dove would come in the morning, a literal dove, I’m not giving you a vision, I’m telling you what happened. It would fly in front of my window, cock its head, look at me. And in the cool of the evening, it would come back. And the Lord said to me, “Who will become a resting place for me?”

How can we carry the presence of God? How can we become a resting place for the Lord?

Bill Johnson says, "Let the Holy Spirit remain on you so you can impart that presence everywhere you go." This is at the heart of his sermon below, which is so powerful, so wonderful, so inspirational. I am so heartsick, so jealous to host the presence of God, so that it may be released into the earth, into situations, to people. This is such a deep sermon, such a packed one, but one that bears listening to again.



"Work in me, O lord, so I can actually impart the presence of your Holy Spirit. Amen."

Thoughts from The Dark Knight Rises

Warning: Spoilers below!



Watched "The Dark Knight Rises" yesterday, and it was good, action-packed entertainment. Am saddened to hear about the shooting in Colorado though :(

Towards the end of the movie, there is a real danger that Gotham City will be destroyed by Bane. Batman (Bruce Wayne) is determined to stop him, at the expense of his own life.

Batwoman says to him, "You don't owe these people anymore. You've given them everything."

Batman replies, "Not everything. Not yet."

He goes on to sacrifice his life to save the city.

At that moment in the film, the verse popped into my mind: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)

The analogy is not perfect of course. Batman felt like he had an obligation to save Gotham City. God doesn't owe us that obligation. Batman is a creation of Marvel Comics, a fictional superhero. Jesus is Unseen, but as real as life itself.

But there are parallels. Both Jesus and Batman willingly laid down their lives because of love. Both were willing to shed blood that others may live.

Jesus died that we may have life, and to have it abundantly. He died that our sins would be atoned for, and that the burden of our guilt and the punishment that is ours may be rightfully wiped out. He died that we would have the peace and joy that comes from knowing we are forgiven. He died that we may be reconciled to the Father, and be restored to rightstanding with God Himself. He died that we may be adopted into His family, and call God "Abba Father." He died that our names would be written in the Lamb's book of life, and that we would have our citizenship in Heaven. He died that we would have eternal life.

"Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him." (Psalm 32)

How blessed indeed.

Some days I wonder, why would Jesus die for me? Why would He do that? Why would the Son of God do that? His love confounds me.

Today, if you are reading this, and do not yet know Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, please know that He died for you that your sins may be forgiven and that you may be reconciled to Him. He came to give His life as a ransom for many; yes, including for you!